December 9: The government has blacklisted six construction companies from one to three years for not meeting the deadlines to construct projects as per the…
December 9: The government has blacklisted six construction companies from one to three years for not meeting the deadlines to construct projects as per the…
December 9: The Insurance Board is preparing to form a special task force to resolve the dispute over a directive that requires mandatory reinsurance from domestic reinsurance…
December 9: The International Conference on Reconstruction-2078 organized to exchange learning, experiences and achievements of post-earthquake reconstruction of 2072 BS has started from Wednesday.…
December 9: Although the government has facilitated the import of raw material for the textile industry, the carpet industry is deprived of the same…
December 9: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has said that the contribution of the automobile sector in revenue should be reduced below 25…
December 9: The Ministry of Health and Population has decided to administer booster dose of vaccine against coronavirus to senior citizens, who have already been received the full-dose of…
December 9: Postal tickets bearing the image of Rastrakavi Madhav Prasad Ghimire have been published in recognition to his contribution to Nepali…
December 8: The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security has formed three separate taskforces in a bid to address the problems that persist in the creation of employment opportunities within the country and in the foreign…
December 8: Huaxin Cement Industry is set to start production of cement on trial basis within the next three…
December 8: Unilever Nepal Limited and Maiti Nepal have announced collaboration to create employment opportunities for victims of human trafficking and domestic violence in the country.…
December 8: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has promised to develop Budhigandaki Hydropower Project and begin the construction works during his…
December 8: Krishna Gopal Agrawal, who is allegedly the main investor of the 33.5 kilogram gold scam, has been released on…
December 8: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale said that the government has been working to ensure safety of aviation…
December 7: At a time when arrival of tourists is growing in Nepal, a new variant of coronavirus is expected to push the tourism sector towards another…
December 7: The Ghodepani and Poonhill areas along the Annapurna Circuit now feature new tourism infrastructures constructed in collaboration between the government and the local community.…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 9: The government has blacklisted six construction companies from one to three years for not meeting the deadlines to construct projects as per the agreements. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Public Procurement Monitoring Office on Wednesday took a decision to this effect. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to a notice issued by the Office on December 9, the construction companies that have been blacklisted include Nilgiri Construction Service, Elite Construction Company, Chyangrasi Construction Service and SSM Construction Pvt. Ltd., all based in Kathmandu, and Banke-based Tridev Construction Company and SNC Construction Pvt. Ltd. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The companies were blacklisted in line with Clause 63 (1) of the Public Procurement Act, 2063. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nilgiri Construction Service has been blacklisted for three years upon the recommendation of the Road Division Office, Lahan. Similarly, Elite Construction Company and Chyangrasi Construction Service have faced action for two years each upon the recommendation of Chandranagar Rural Municipality in Sarlahi district and Tarakeshwor Municipality in Kathmandu respectively. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">SSM Construction Pvt. Ltd., Tridev Construction Service and SNC Construction Service Pvt. Ltd. have been blacklisted for one year each. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The blacklisted companies are not allowed to take part in any construction work of the government during the period for which they have been banned. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14194', 'image' => '20211209062329_unnamed.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 18:22:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14448', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Board to form Special Task Force to Resolve Reinsurance Dispute', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: The Insurance Board is preparing to form a special task force to resolve the dispute over a directive that requires mandatory reinsurance from domestic reinsurance companies.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 9: The Insurance Board is preparing to form a special task force to resolve the dispute over a directive that requires mandatory reinsurance from domestic reinsurance companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board had issued a directive on November 25 asking all non-life and life insurance companies to purchase reinsurance policy with the domestic reinsurance company. The board had ordered the companies to reinsure with a foreign company only in case the domestic company refuses to take reinsurance policy. The directive was criticised by all the insurance companies and stakeholders and sought for its immediate withdrawal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Following its widespread protest, the board is preparing to form a special task force to resolve the issue. Rajuraman Poudel, CEO of the board, said that a special task force is being formed to resolve the dispute. "The stakeholders will be summoned for discussion where they need to present their recommendations. We will take necessary decisions in this regard on the basis of the investigation by the task force,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After two weeks since the directive was issued, Life Insurance Association and the Nepal Insurers Association have submitted a memorandum to the Insurance Board against it. Poudel confirmed that they have received memorandum from both organizations. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The associations have also demanded withdrawal of the directive stating that it was against the principles of insurance. According to them, the directive could create more problems as reinsurance companies do not have the capacity to take cent per cent reinsurance. They may not be able to pay the claims so the board must withdraw the directive and that the insurance companies should be allowed to conduct business independently.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board will also discuss about the memorandum with the task force. "Stakeholders should come to the task force and have their concerns reported. Then it will be easier for us to make decisions," Poudel added.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14193', 'image' => '20211209054859_20210627122025_20200417105653_Beema-Samiti.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 17:48:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14447', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Lessons from Nepal’s Reconstruction Exemplary, says President Bhandari', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: The International Conference on Reconstruction-2078 organized to exchange learning, experiences and achievements of post-earthquake reconstruction of 2072 BS has started from Wednesday. ', 'content' => '<p><em>President Bidya Devi Bhandari attending an internationa conference organised by the National Reconstruction Authority on Wednesday. Photos: RSS</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 9: The International Conference on Reconstruction-2078 organized to exchange learning, experiences and achievements of post-earthquake reconstruction of 2072 BS has started from Wednesday. The conference was inaugurated by President Bidya Devi Bhandari. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, President Bhandari said that the support offered by the international community has proved to be a milestone in the post-earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation of Nepal</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The experiences and lessons learned during post-earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation will be exemplary for the international community and our future generations,” said Bhandari, adding, “I believe that the documents prepared by the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) including all parties involved in the reconstruction work will be a source of valuable knowledge for anyone involved in the field of disaster risk reduction and management.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/CKC_KTM_JANARDANSHARMA.jpg" style="height:297px; width:400px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the program, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said that the reconstruction has helped the country enhance its decision-making capacity, introduce new technology and produce skilled manpower. Stating that a high level of political understanding and support from allies would be important in disaster management and reconstruction, he said that some of the remaining works would be done through the regular mechanism of the government. At the program, Foreign Minister Dr. Narayan Khadka said that the support of donors and development partners has given significant support to build the confidence of the people and uplift them.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/CKC_KTM_NARAYANKHADKA.jpg" style="height:382px; width:400px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chief Executive Officer of the National Reconstruction Authority, Sushil Gyawali, said that the reconstruction has reached the stage of completion with the support of all stakeholders including development partners. He said that the political leadership should express a strong commitment and understanding, empower autonomous bodies, mobilize the community and adopt an inclusive policy while carrying out reconstruction and disaster management work in the coming days.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Recorded messages from Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, British FCDO Minister Lord Ahmed, and Japanese Minister of State for External Affairs Honda Taro were presented at the inauguration ceremony. Similarly, recorded messages of Neil Buhne, regional director of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; ADB Vice President Shixin Chen; European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic; Patricia Danzi, director general of the SDC, and Delhi-based Charge d'Affaires Amanda Strohan of Canada, who also looks after Nepal were presented as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The event was addressed by US Ambassador to Nepal Randy Berry, World Bank’s Country Director for Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lankan Faris Hadad Zervos and UNICEF South Asian Regional Director Laryea Adjei. Similarly, Norwegian Ambassador to Nepal Torun Dramdal read out a message from Norway's Minister for International Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim. Ambassador of India to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra, Ambassador of China Hou Yanqi and Ambassador of Switzerland Elizabeth Von Kepler were also present at the inauguration ceremony.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Following the inauguration program, 10 subjective sessions of the conference have been completed as well. After completing 10 more sessions on Thursday, the conference will conclude in the afternoon in the presence of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba as the chief guest.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14192', 'image' => '20211209020105_CKC_KTM_BIDHYADEVIBHANDARI.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 13:58:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14446', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Carpet Manufacturers Demand Facilities Given to Textile Industries', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: Although the government has facilitated the import of raw material for the textile industry, the carpet industry is deprived of the same facility. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 9: Although the government has facilitated the import of raw material for the textile industry, the carpet industry is deprived of the same facility. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The carpet industry operating in the country with a total investment of Rs 1.5 billion has been at the receiving end due to the unfair policy of the government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The import of yarn required for textile and carpet industries is subject to 5 percent customs duty. However, the raw material (polypropylene) required for making the same yarn is subject to 10 percent customs duty. Anupam Rathi, the director of Hitex Carpet, said that the industries have been facing problems due to the fact that the customs duty for raw material is more expensive than the customs duty for manufactured materials. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rathi also complained that the carpets produced by the industry did not get subsidies like other carpet and textile industries. However, the garment industry is getting this facility, said Rathi. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He handed over a letter to Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, who arrived in Biratnagar three days ago, to resolve the problems faced by the industries in production and export of yarn and carpet. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rathi argues that the carpet industry must be categorized as a textile industry and provided with the facilities that a textile industry is given. He has been putting forth this demand since the last four years.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“In all the major carpet producing countries including India, such industries are considered as textile industries,” said Rathi, “However, in Nepal, textile means garment industry that makes shirting and suiting products. The jute industry also falls under the textile category.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hitex Carpet is also producing yarn itself. “We are producing carpet yarn. However, the customs duty has made it difficult for us,” he said, adding, “Importing ready-made yarn costs 5 percent customs duty, the customs duty on raw material for yarn is 10 percent.” </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14191', 'image' => '20211209011249_20190526022115_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 13:12:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14445', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Commits to Reduce Tax Contribution of Auto Industry', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has said that the contribution of the automobile sector in revenue should be reduced below 25 percent.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 9: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has said that the contribution of the automobile sector in revenue should be reduced below 25 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Inaugurating the 45th Annual General Meeting of NADA on Wednesday, he pledged to reduce the direct taxes imposed on automobiles below 25 percent but to increase the overall contribution to 50 percent by imposing indirect taxes. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma said that emphasis should be laid on vehicle production in Nepal rather than importing them. "I am less literate on economics, but I have heard people who do not know economics run the finance ministry. However, I know the way to make this country self-reliant," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the people will not get benefits without the country becoming prosperous and self-reliant, he said that no changes will occur without moving the business sector forward. "Imports cannot be banned, not even by the means of various laws, but imports can be reduced by making domestic production more competitive," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the government will provide subsidies on electricity and also allocate land if investors are willing to set up industries to produce vehicles within the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the government will address the issue of instable policy, Minister Sharma said that the focus will now be on building electric charging stations. "All petrol pumps have to be converted into electric charging stations,” he added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Chandra Prasad Dhakal urged the government to update the traditional policies on time for the rapid economic development of the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"It's not just about the automobile sector. It is in the interest of all parties to change the old policies by discussing with the stakeholders and incorporating the suggestions of the private sector as a whole,” he said, adding that the state should move ahead. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He thanked the government for providing additional facilities to the assembling plants and said, "Batteries used in electric vehicles can be produced in Nepal. Such industries should be encouraged."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NADA Vice President Karan Chaudhary urged the government to help the auto dealers. Chaudhary said that although the establishment of the auto industry was encouraging, the state is not able to put in all the efforts immediately. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The NADA general assembly will elect a new executive committee. A still competition is expected between the panels led by Karan Chaudhary and Dhruva Thapa as there is no consensus for a new leadership.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14190', 'image' => '20211209122607_20150914010543_travel-map.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 12:25:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14444', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Senior Citizens to get Booster Dose', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: The Ministry of Health and Population has decided to administer booster dose of vaccine against coronavirus to senior citizens, who have already been received the full-dose of vaccine.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 9: The Ministry of Health and Population has decided to administer booster dose of vaccine against coronavirus to senior citizens, who have already been received the full-dose of vaccine. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry, on the basis of the recommendation made by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, is going to provide booster dose to the senior citizens above 60 years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Family Welfare Division of the Department of Health Services, Dr Bibek Kumar Lal, shared that senior citizens above 60 years including those already vaccinated with full-dose of vero cell, will start getting the booster dose in the first phase. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">At a regular press brief organised at the ministry on Wednesday, he said that the WHO has recommended administering booster dose to those citizens who have already received full-dose of vero cell vaccine and are above 60 years. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14189', 'image' => '20211209082127_20210713023934_1626133196.Clipboard05.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 08:20:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14443', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Postal Tickets with Rastrakavi’s Image Unveiled', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: Postal tickets bearing the image of Rastrakavi Madhav Prasad Ghimire have been published in recognition to his contribution to Nepali literature. ', 'content' => '<p> <em> Photo: RSS</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 9: Postal tickets bearing the image of Rastrakavi Madhav Prasad Ghimire have been published in recognition to his contribution to Nepali literature. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, unveiled the new tickets in honour of the late poet on Wednesday, December 8. On the occasion Minister Karki said that poet Ghimire took Nepal’s national glory to a new height. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Born in Lamjung on September 23, 1919, poet Ghimire had died at the age of 101 on August 18, 2020. Ghimire is known as the poet representing the trend of romanticism. Ghimire was conferred the title of ‘Rastrakavi’ 18 years ago.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He was born during the Rana regime, when people were banned from writing poems. It was during those days that he wrote some revolutionary and inspirational poems like Nava Yubak, a youth who has the power to change the society.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He once said in an interview that it is quite strange that the Rana regime had banned them from writing in a free manner but interestingly great poets were born during that very period. He was inspired by the poems of LekhnathPoudel and was very fond of the poems written by Kalidas and RabindraNath Tagore.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During Wednesday's programme, Minister Karki urged everyone to contribute from their sides to realize the dream of the late poet, and the visions in his poems. “Rastrakavi was loved by all. He was an inspiring figure to all. He is eternal indeed,” Minister Karki reminded, adding that postal stamp is therefore commemorative to the national luminary. <em>(With inputs from RSS)</em></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14188', 'image' => '20211209081714_RS_KTM_ministerkarki-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 08:15:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14442', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three Taskforces formed to Address Issues of Employment Sector ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security has formed three separate taskforces in a bid to address the problems that persist in the creation of employment opportunities within the country and in the foreign employment. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 8: The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security has formed three separate taskforces in a bid to address the problems that persist in the creation of employment opportunities within the country and in the foreign employment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The taskforces have been formed under the leadership of joint secretaries Badri Nath Adhikari, Ram Chandra Dhakal and Shesh Narayan Poudel. The objectives include making labour administration efficient, creating employment opportunities within the country, producing skilled workforce and addressing the challenges in the foreign employment sector, said the Ministry. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The taskforces have been tasked with providing advices for running skill development trainings through an integrated structure, managing foreign employment and making policy level reforms and labour diplomacy effective. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The taskforce will submit separate reports to the ministry with necessary recommendations within 15 days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Joint secretary Adhikari leads a six-member taskforce comprising representatives from various ministries and the National Planning Commission. It deals with the creation of job opportunities and vocational and skill-enhancement training. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, another six-member taskforce led by joint secretary Dhakal will look after the organisational situation of the ministry and its sub ordinate bodies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Also, another seven-member taskforce led by joint secretary Poudel will deal with foreign employment management and its overall work system. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14187', 'image' => '20211208073207_20211005120055_20201125033543_20200315123851_1111.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 19:31:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14441', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Huaxin Cement to begin Test Production in 3 Weeks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Huaxin Cement Industry is set to start production of cement on trial basis within the next three weeks.', '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 8: Huaxin Cement Industry is set to start production of cement on trial basis within the next three weeks. The industry has stated that necessary preparations are being made to this end.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"We are in the process of finalizing the test production. Necessary equipment have been connected, and only some basic works remain. They will be completed in a few days,” said Dilliraj Pokharel, deputy general manager of Huaxin Cement Industry. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Electricity has been made available to the industry since Monday. The cement factory will start operation with the joint investment of Nepalese and Chinese businessmen. The industry has received electricity from the Marshyangdi-Kathmandu 132 KV transmission line.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 industry has invested Rs 1 billion for the construction of the transmission line.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 cement industry will get a total of 20 MW of electricity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Electricity Authority (NEA) is requesting industries to demand additional electricity as per their capacity. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising said that they are making efforts to ensure that the industries consume more electricity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On Monday, the Benighat Rorang Municipality had requested the locals not to go around the tower saying that the transmission line was about to come into operation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industry under construction in Taldi of Benighat Rorang rural municipality has constructed a switching station for transmission of electricity within a year. About 14 kilometers of transmission line and 132 KV substation have been constructed from the switching station to the industrial complex. Switching stations and substations have been constructed with the technical assistance and supervision of NEA.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Ghising, the power supply in Dhading has improved after the construction of the switching station.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the operation of the switching station, it has become easy to provide electricity to other industries that are about to open in the Naubise area of Dhading Gorge. Dozens of new industries are opening in the highway area as the capital is close to Kathmandu.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA's infrastructure has also been prepared to provide electricity to these industries easily.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the supply of quality and reliable electricity in the highway area, the revenue of NEA is also expected to increase.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies has taken a policy to build a transmission line to the industrial complex, Huaxin has prepared the structure itself to expedite the 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"">Covid pandemic, natural disasters, and other factors have increased the cost of the industry. While making the initial agreement with the Investment Board, the cement industry had estimated to pour in Rs 14.40 billion, but due to various reasons the cost has increased by an additional Rs 3 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board had signed an agreement with Huaxin to produce quality cement in Nepal. Another cement industry with Chinese investment, Hongsi, has been producing cement regularly for the past three years. The industry has been receiving 30 MW of electricity for some time now. Cement will be available in the Nepali market at a cheaper price with the operation of these industries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Pokharel, their main duty is to provide quality cement to the country which is moving ahead with the pace of economic development. The Huaxin Cement Industry will produce 3,000 metric tons of cement daily. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Maha Prasad Adhikari, Chief Executive Officer of the Board, and Xu Gang, Vice-Chairman of Huaxin Cement, signed the agreement on 6 June 2018 in Beijing, China. Although the agreement says to set up the factory within six months, it has taken a long time due to various reasons.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board estimates that 350 people will get direct employment and 1,000 people will get indirect employment from the industry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 currently has a demand of about 3.5 million metric tons of cement. The production capacity of the cement industries established in Nepal has reached 5.5 million metric tons annually. -- RSS</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14186', 'image' => '20211208015835_fbb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 13:57:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14439', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Unilever and Maiti Nepal Collaborate to Support Victims of Human Trafficking', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Unilever Nepal Limited and Maiti Nepal have announced collaboration to create employment opportunities for victims of human trafficking and domestic violence in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 8: Unilever Nepal Limited and Maiti Nepal have announced collaboration to create employment opportunities for victims of human trafficking and domestic violence in the country. The collaboration aims to enhance their social, economic and legal capacity by providing the victims, especially women, with adequate training.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 main aim of this collaboration is to provide opportunities to generate sustainable income for targeted women. Training programs for women will be conducted under the guidance of experts for running beauty parlors as well as for excavator operation and sales training. As per the agreement, arrangements have been made for the trainee women to stay at the Rehabilitation Center of Maiti Nepal during the training 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"">Both organizations believe that women’s employment will improve their living standards along with their families and communities. The training program was inaugurated by Anuradha Koirala, the chairperson of Maiti Nepal and Amlan Mukherjee, the managing director of Unilever Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Everyone has a responsibility to contribute to the society, more than what we have received from the society. We encourage women for a long term sustainable journey by providing them necessary skills for the future. It will contribute to building a socially inclusive world. We will continue to serve the community through similar initiatives in future as well,” said Mukherjee.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14184', 'image' => '20211208013149_Unilever-Nepal-Maiti-Nepal-Asha.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 13:31:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14438', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Reaffirms Commitment to Budhigandaki Hydel Project ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has promised to develop Budhigandaki Hydropower Project and begin the construction works during his tenure. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 8: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has promised to develop Budhigandaki Hydropower Project and begin the construction works during his tenure. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Addressing the Tripurasundari fair in Dhading, Minister Sharma vowed to initiate the Budhigandakri project. The Nwagi area of Tripurasundari in Dhading district is a catchment area of the project and would be inundated after the project development. The owners of the land plots there have received compensation for land acquisition. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Minister Sharma assured to allocate budget to blacktop the road from Tripurasundari to Salyankot. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Seeking public support to carry out the development works, Minister Sharma pledged to complete the development of Mid-Hill Highway. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14183', 'image' => '20211208114508_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 11:44:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14437', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Alleged Investor of 33 KG Gold Scam Released on Bail', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Krishna Gopal Agrawal, who is allegedly the main investor of the 33.5 kilogram gold scam, has been released on bail.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 8: Krishna Gopal Agrawal, who is allegedly the main investor of the 33.5 kilogram gold scam, has been released on bail.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">District Court Judge Bharat Lamsal of Morang on Tuesday issued an order to release Agrawal on a bail of Rs 200,000.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">District Court official Tikendra Bir Jung Rana told New Business Age that Agrawal, who is also known as Kale, posted the bail amount and was released as per the judge’s order.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Investigations had revealed that Agrawal was the main investor involved in smuggling gold into Nepal via Tribhuvan International Airport. The gold imported through the airport customs went missing and a carrier named Saman Shakya of Urlabari was killed by the smugglers’ group allegedly led by Chudamani Upreti. Eight people including Upreti have convicted of Shakya’s murder and sent to prison. He was deported to Nepal from the UAE with support from INTERPOL. Others accused in the scam have been released by the court. Cases were filed against a total of 77 people including high-ranking police officials in connection to this case. While convicting the eight people involved in the crime, the District Court Morang released 48 others. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14182', 'image' => '20211208113313_20200828033702_gold.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 11:32:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14436', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Working to Ensure Aviation Safety: Tourism Minister', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale said that the government has been working to ensure safety of aviation sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 8: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale said that the government has been working to ensure safety of aviation sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Tourism Minister made such remark during a programme organized by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on the occasion of the International Civil Aviation Day-2021 on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"I am firm in my stand and goal. The cabinet meeting convening in six days would endorse the programme and budget for the aviation safety," said Minister Ale.</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"">Stating that the concerned agencies should be aware to control the prospects of risks for aviation related accidents, he urged the experts to provide recommendations so as to reform the aviation sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, former director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Hari Bhakta Shrestha and vice-chairperson of Himalayan Airlines, Bijaya Shrestha, among others presented papers on how the flights could be made safe from accidents that occur due to wild animals and birds, especially in airports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Tourism Secretary Maheshwor Neupane directed the subordinated bodies to present action plans on how the aviation sector could be made safe from wildlife and birds. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The International Civil Aviation Day is observed to commemorate the first successful flight made by the American Wright Brothers on December 7 in 1903. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14181', 'image' => '20211208081616_20190213013056_pinterest.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 08:15:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14435', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Booking of Tourists put on Hold amid Fears of Omicron Outbreak', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 7: At a time when arrival of tourists is growing in Nepal, a new variant of coronavirus is expected to push the tourism sector towards another crisis.', '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 7: At a time when arrival of tourists is growing in Nepal, a new variant of coronavirus is expected to push the tourism sector towards another crisis. According to hoteliers, tourists have kept their booking on hold after the Omicron variant was detected in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In November 2021, more tourists visited Nepal than the previous month. According to the Nepal Tourism Board, 26,135 tourists visited Nepal in November compared to 23,284 in October. As the number of tourists was gradually increasing, Omicron variant has once again created panic. Therefore, various countries have banned flights and travel, while Nepal has also banned people coming from nine countries from entering Nepal, including South Africa and Hong Kong.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Yogendra Shakya, a tourism entrepreneur who is also the executive chairman of Ace Hotel and Resort, said that the overall occupancy of hotels on average is 30 percent in 2021. He said that the booking could freeze till January, February, and spring.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 India has stopped tourists from entering India from Lumbini, he said that there is a situation of ‘wait and see’ for some time 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"">“While the surge of Covid-19 has started to grow, we had projected that we would have to wait until 2024 for the tourism to return to normalcy,” said Shakya. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 tourists are now waiting and watching the impact of Omicron. "Tourists are in a hold-on situation right now," he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Tourism Board, on the other hand, has claimed that it will continue the work of tourism promotion and publicity. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Board Dhananjay Regmi said that the current publicity will get continuity by adopting caution. "We were horrified at the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, but it didn't create a catastrophe for this sector," 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"">He added that the board will organize tourist marts in all seven states and continue the promotion of Border City. He said that the board will work to increase the number of tourists now. With the identification of the new variant that appeared in the country, the board has resorted to the strategy of attracting tourists from India more than other countries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-07', 'modified' => '2021-12-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14180', 'image' => '20211207050643_1638833065.1 (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-07 17:05:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14434', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ghodepani-Poonhill Trek Features New Tourism Infrastructure ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 7: The Ghodepani and Poonhill areas along the Annapurna Circuit now feature new tourism infrastructures constructed in collaboration between the government and the local community. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 7: The Ghodepani and Poonhill areas along the Annapurna Circuit now feature new tourism infrastructures constructed in collaboration between the government and the local community. The Ghodepani-Poonhill route is one of the 100 new tourist destinations identified by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation for infrastructure development. The local communities too are attracted to invest for the development of physical infrastructures along this renowned trekking route as the tourist arrival here is encouraging these days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Twenty-three solar lamps have been fixed along the route to illuminate it during the night time. A three-room concrete building has been built at Poonhil to provide a safe resting place for visitors during rain and snowfall. Moreover, an RCC building has been constructed for the Magar Museum at Ghodepani. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The cleanliness of community and a courtesy to visitors have been the priorities of locals. A newly constructed trekking route of around two kilometers stretches from Poonnhil to Ghandruk via Mohare, Ghodepani, Chitre and Khiwang. It seems that investors of Ghodepani are competing to attract tourists through better accommodation facility. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Ghodepani Hotel Management Committee, the hotels here had capacity to accommodate 500 people daily six year ago while the capacity of these hotels has now increased to accommodate 1,000 people. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Vice-Chairperson of Hotel Management Sub-Committee, Mina Pun, said that a four-kilometer road connecting Ghodepani via Chitre has been graveled. Gandaki Provincial government invested Rs 270 million to blacktop the 18-kilometer road linking Pokharebagar to Chitre. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A hotel to accommodate 40 people has been brought into operation at Khopara under a new concept of taking tourism benefit to community for the first time in Nepal. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-07', 'modified' => '2021-12-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14179', 'image' => '20211207030300_468356_589584351065292_436622630_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-07 15:02:14', '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' => '14449', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Blacklists Six Construction Companies', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: The government has blacklisted six construction companies from one to three years for not meeting the deadlines to construct projects as per the agreements. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 9: The government has blacklisted six construction companies from one to three years for not meeting the deadlines to construct projects as per the agreements. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Public Procurement Monitoring Office on Wednesday took a decision to this effect. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to a notice issued by the Office on December 9, the construction companies that have been blacklisted include Nilgiri Construction Service, Elite Construction Company, Chyangrasi Construction Service and SSM Construction Pvt. Ltd., all based in Kathmandu, and Banke-based Tridev Construction Company and SNC Construction Pvt. Ltd. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The companies were blacklisted in line with Clause 63 (1) of the Public Procurement Act, 2063. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nilgiri Construction Service has been blacklisted for three years upon the recommendation of the Road Division Office, Lahan. Similarly, Elite Construction Company and Chyangrasi Construction Service have faced action for two years each upon the recommendation of Chandranagar Rural Municipality in Sarlahi district and Tarakeshwor Municipality in Kathmandu respectively. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">SSM Construction Pvt. Ltd., Tridev Construction Service and SNC Construction Service Pvt. Ltd. have been blacklisted for one year each. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The blacklisted companies are not allowed to take part in any construction work of the government during the period for which they have been banned. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14194', 'image' => '20211209062329_unnamed.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 18:22:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14448', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Board to form Special Task Force to Resolve Reinsurance Dispute', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: The Insurance Board is preparing to form a special task force to resolve the dispute over a directive that requires mandatory reinsurance from domestic reinsurance companies.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 9: The Insurance Board is preparing to form a special task force to resolve the dispute over a directive that requires mandatory reinsurance from domestic reinsurance companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board had issued a directive on November 25 asking all non-life and life insurance companies to purchase reinsurance policy with the domestic reinsurance company. The board had ordered the companies to reinsure with a foreign company only in case the domestic company refuses to take reinsurance policy. The directive was criticised by all the insurance companies and stakeholders and sought for its immediate withdrawal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Following its widespread protest, the board is preparing to form a special task force to resolve the issue. Rajuraman Poudel, CEO of the board, said that a special task force is being formed to resolve the dispute. "The stakeholders will be summoned for discussion where they need to present their recommendations. We will take necessary decisions in this regard on the basis of the investigation by the task force,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After two weeks since the directive was issued, Life Insurance Association and the Nepal Insurers Association have submitted a memorandum to the Insurance Board against it. Poudel confirmed that they have received memorandum from both organizations. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The associations have also demanded withdrawal of the directive stating that it was against the principles of insurance. According to them, the directive could create more problems as reinsurance companies do not have the capacity to take cent per cent reinsurance. They may not be able to pay the claims so the board must withdraw the directive and that the insurance companies should be allowed to conduct business independently.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board will also discuss about the memorandum with the task force. "Stakeholders should come to the task force and have their concerns reported. Then it will be easier for us to make decisions," Poudel added.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14193', 'image' => '20211209054859_20210627122025_20200417105653_Beema-Samiti.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 17:48:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14447', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Lessons from Nepal’s Reconstruction Exemplary, says President Bhandari', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: The International Conference on Reconstruction-2078 organized to exchange learning, experiences and achievements of post-earthquake reconstruction of 2072 BS has started from Wednesday. ', 'content' => '<p><em>President Bidya Devi Bhandari attending an internationa conference organised by the National Reconstruction Authority on Wednesday. Photos: RSS</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 9: The International Conference on Reconstruction-2078 organized to exchange learning, experiences and achievements of post-earthquake reconstruction of 2072 BS has started from Wednesday. The conference was inaugurated by President Bidya Devi Bhandari. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, President Bhandari said that the support offered by the international community has proved to be a milestone in the post-earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation of Nepal</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The experiences and lessons learned during post-earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation will be exemplary for the international community and our future generations,” said Bhandari, adding, “I believe that the documents prepared by the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) including all parties involved in the reconstruction work will be a source of valuable knowledge for anyone involved in the field of disaster risk reduction and management.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/CKC_KTM_JANARDANSHARMA.jpg" style="height:297px; width:400px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the program, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said that the reconstruction has helped the country enhance its decision-making capacity, introduce new technology and produce skilled manpower. Stating that a high level of political understanding and support from allies would be important in disaster management and reconstruction, he said that some of the remaining works would be done through the regular mechanism of the government. At the program, Foreign Minister Dr. Narayan Khadka said that the support of donors and development partners has given significant support to build the confidence of the people and uplift them.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/CKC_KTM_NARAYANKHADKA.jpg" style="height:382px; width:400px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chief Executive Officer of the National Reconstruction Authority, Sushil Gyawali, said that the reconstruction has reached the stage of completion with the support of all stakeholders including development partners. He said that the political leadership should express a strong commitment and understanding, empower autonomous bodies, mobilize the community and adopt an inclusive policy while carrying out reconstruction and disaster management work in the coming days.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Recorded messages from Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, British FCDO Minister Lord Ahmed, and Japanese Minister of State for External Affairs Honda Taro were presented at the inauguration ceremony. Similarly, recorded messages of Neil Buhne, regional director of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; ADB Vice President Shixin Chen; European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic; Patricia Danzi, director general of the SDC, and Delhi-based Charge d'Affaires Amanda Strohan of Canada, who also looks after Nepal were presented as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The event was addressed by US Ambassador to Nepal Randy Berry, World Bank’s Country Director for Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lankan Faris Hadad Zervos and UNICEF South Asian Regional Director Laryea Adjei. Similarly, Norwegian Ambassador to Nepal Torun Dramdal read out a message from Norway's Minister for International Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim. Ambassador of India to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra, Ambassador of China Hou Yanqi and Ambassador of Switzerland Elizabeth Von Kepler were also present at the inauguration ceremony.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Following the inauguration program, 10 subjective sessions of the conference have been completed as well. After completing 10 more sessions on Thursday, the conference will conclude in the afternoon in the presence of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba as the chief guest.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14192', 'image' => '20211209020105_CKC_KTM_BIDHYADEVIBHANDARI.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 13:58:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14446', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Carpet Manufacturers Demand Facilities Given to Textile Industries', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: Although the government has facilitated the import of raw material for the textile industry, the carpet industry is deprived of the same facility. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 9: Although the government has facilitated the import of raw material for the textile industry, the carpet industry is deprived of the same facility. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The carpet industry operating in the country with a total investment of Rs 1.5 billion has been at the receiving end due to the unfair policy of the government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The import of yarn required for textile and carpet industries is subject to 5 percent customs duty. However, the raw material (polypropylene) required for making the same yarn is subject to 10 percent customs duty. Anupam Rathi, the director of Hitex Carpet, said that the industries have been facing problems due to the fact that the customs duty for raw material is more expensive than the customs duty for manufactured materials. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rathi also complained that the carpets produced by the industry did not get subsidies like other carpet and textile industries. However, the garment industry is getting this facility, said Rathi. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He handed over a letter to Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, who arrived in Biratnagar three days ago, to resolve the problems faced by the industries in production and export of yarn and carpet. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rathi argues that the carpet industry must be categorized as a textile industry and provided with the facilities that a textile industry is given. He has been putting forth this demand since the last four years.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“In all the major carpet producing countries including India, such industries are considered as textile industries,” said Rathi, “However, in Nepal, textile means garment industry that makes shirting and suiting products. The jute industry also falls under the textile category.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hitex Carpet is also producing yarn itself. “We are producing carpet yarn. However, the customs duty has made it difficult for us,” he said, adding, “Importing ready-made yarn costs 5 percent customs duty, the customs duty on raw material for yarn is 10 percent.” </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14191', 'image' => '20211209011249_20190526022115_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 13:12:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14445', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Commits to Reduce Tax Contribution of Auto Industry', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has said that the contribution of the automobile sector in revenue should be reduced below 25 percent.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 9: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has said that the contribution of the automobile sector in revenue should be reduced below 25 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Inaugurating the 45th Annual General Meeting of NADA on Wednesday, he pledged to reduce the direct taxes imposed on automobiles below 25 percent but to increase the overall contribution to 50 percent by imposing indirect taxes. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma said that emphasis should be laid on vehicle production in Nepal rather than importing them. "I am less literate on economics, but I have heard people who do not know economics run the finance ministry. However, I know the way to make this country self-reliant," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the people will not get benefits without the country becoming prosperous and self-reliant, he said that no changes will occur without moving the business sector forward. "Imports cannot be banned, not even by the means of various laws, but imports can be reduced by making domestic production more competitive," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the government will provide subsidies on electricity and also allocate land if investors are willing to set up industries to produce vehicles within the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the government will address the issue of instable policy, Minister Sharma said that the focus will now be on building electric charging stations. "All petrol pumps have to be converted into electric charging stations,” he added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Chandra Prasad Dhakal urged the government to update the traditional policies on time for the rapid economic development of the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"It's not just about the automobile sector. It is in the interest of all parties to change the old policies by discussing with the stakeholders and incorporating the suggestions of the private sector as a whole,” he said, adding that the state should move ahead. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He thanked the government for providing additional facilities to the assembling plants and said, "Batteries used in electric vehicles can be produced in Nepal. Such industries should be encouraged."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NADA Vice President Karan Chaudhary urged the government to help the auto dealers. Chaudhary said that although the establishment of the auto industry was encouraging, the state is not able to put in all the efforts immediately. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The NADA general assembly will elect a new executive committee. A still competition is expected between the panels led by Karan Chaudhary and Dhruva Thapa as there is no consensus for a new leadership.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14190', 'image' => '20211209122607_20150914010543_travel-map.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 12:25:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14444', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Senior Citizens to get Booster Dose', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: The Ministry of Health and Population has decided to administer booster dose of vaccine against coronavirus to senior citizens, who have already been received the full-dose of vaccine.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 9: The Ministry of Health and Population has decided to administer booster dose of vaccine against coronavirus to senior citizens, who have already been received the full-dose of vaccine. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry, on the basis of the recommendation made by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, is going to provide booster dose to the senior citizens above 60 years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Family Welfare Division of the Department of Health Services, Dr Bibek Kumar Lal, shared that senior citizens above 60 years including those already vaccinated with full-dose of vero cell, will start getting the booster dose in the first phase. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">At a regular press brief organised at the ministry on Wednesday, he said that the WHO has recommended administering booster dose to those citizens who have already received full-dose of vero cell vaccine and are above 60 years. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14189', 'image' => '20211209082127_20210713023934_1626133196.Clipboard05.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 08:20:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14443', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Postal Tickets with Rastrakavi’s Image Unveiled', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: Postal tickets bearing the image of Rastrakavi Madhav Prasad Ghimire have been published in recognition to his contribution to Nepali literature. ', 'content' => '<p> <em> Photo: RSS</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 9: Postal tickets bearing the image of Rastrakavi Madhav Prasad Ghimire have been published in recognition to his contribution to Nepali literature. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, unveiled the new tickets in honour of the late poet on Wednesday, December 8. On the occasion Minister Karki said that poet Ghimire took Nepal’s national glory to a new height. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Born in Lamjung on September 23, 1919, poet Ghimire had died at the age of 101 on August 18, 2020. Ghimire is known as the poet representing the trend of romanticism. Ghimire was conferred the title of ‘Rastrakavi’ 18 years ago.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He was born during the Rana regime, when people were banned from writing poems. It was during those days that he wrote some revolutionary and inspirational poems like Nava Yubak, a youth who has the power to change the society.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He once said in an interview that it is quite strange that the Rana regime had banned them from writing in a free manner but interestingly great poets were born during that very period. He was inspired by the poems of LekhnathPoudel and was very fond of the poems written by Kalidas and RabindraNath Tagore.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During Wednesday's programme, Minister Karki urged everyone to contribute from their sides to realize the dream of the late poet, and the visions in his poems. “Rastrakavi was loved by all. He was an inspiring figure to all. He is eternal indeed,” Minister Karki reminded, adding that postal stamp is therefore commemorative to the national luminary. <em>(With inputs from RSS)</em></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14188', 'image' => '20211209081714_RS_KTM_ministerkarki-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 08:15:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14442', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three Taskforces formed to Address Issues of Employment Sector ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security has formed three separate taskforces in a bid to address the problems that persist in the creation of employment opportunities within the country and in the foreign employment. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 8: The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security has formed three separate taskforces in a bid to address the problems that persist in the creation of employment opportunities within the country and in the foreign employment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The taskforces have been formed under the leadership of joint secretaries Badri Nath Adhikari, Ram Chandra Dhakal and Shesh Narayan Poudel. The objectives include making labour administration efficient, creating employment opportunities within the country, producing skilled workforce and addressing the challenges in the foreign employment sector, said the Ministry. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The taskforces have been tasked with providing advices for running skill development trainings through an integrated structure, managing foreign employment and making policy level reforms and labour diplomacy effective. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The taskforce will submit separate reports to the ministry with necessary recommendations within 15 days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Joint secretary Adhikari leads a six-member taskforce comprising representatives from various ministries and the National Planning Commission. It deals with the creation of job opportunities and vocational and skill-enhancement training. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, another six-member taskforce led by joint secretary Dhakal will look after the organisational situation of the ministry and its sub ordinate bodies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Also, another seven-member taskforce led by joint secretary Poudel will deal with foreign employment management and its overall work system. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14187', 'image' => '20211208073207_20211005120055_20201125033543_20200315123851_1111.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 19:31:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14441', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Huaxin Cement to begin Test Production in 3 Weeks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Huaxin Cement Industry is set to start production of cement on trial basis within the next three weeks.', '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 8: Huaxin Cement Industry is set to start production of cement on trial basis within the next three weeks. The industry has stated that necessary preparations are being made to this end.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"We are in the process of finalizing the test production. Necessary equipment have been connected, and only some basic works remain. They will be completed in a few days,” said Dilliraj Pokharel, deputy general manager of Huaxin Cement Industry. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Electricity has been made available to the industry since Monday. The cement factory will start operation with the joint investment of Nepalese and Chinese businessmen. The industry has received electricity from the Marshyangdi-Kathmandu 132 KV transmission line.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 industry has invested Rs 1 billion for the construction of the transmission line.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 cement industry will get a total of 20 MW of electricity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Electricity Authority (NEA) is requesting industries to demand additional electricity as per their capacity. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising said that they are making efforts to ensure that the industries consume more electricity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On Monday, the Benighat Rorang Municipality had requested the locals not to go around the tower saying that the transmission line was about to come into operation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industry under construction in Taldi of Benighat Rorang rural municipality has constructed a switching station for transmission of electricity within a year. About 14 kilometers of transmission line and 132 KV substation have been constructed from the switching station to the industrial complex. Switching stations and substations have been constructed with the technical assistance and supervision of NEA.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Ghising, the power supply in Dhading has improved after the construction of the switching station.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the operation of the switching station, it has become easy to provide electricity to other industries that are about to open in the Naubise area of Dhading Gorge. Dozens of new industries are opening in the highway area as the capital is close to Kathmandu.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA's infrastructure has also been prepared to provide electricity to these industries easily.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the supply of quality and reliable electricity in the highway area, the revenue of NEA is also expected to increase.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies has taken a policy to build a transmission line to the industrial complex, Huaxin has prepared the structure itself to expedite the 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"">Covid pandemic, natural disasters, and other factors have increased the cost of the industry. While making the initial agreement with the Investment Board, the cement industry had estimated to pour in Rs 14.40 billion, but due to various reasons the cost has increased by an additional Rs 3 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board had signed an agreement with Huaxin to produce quality cement in Nepal. Another cement industry with Chinese investment, Hongsi, has been producing cement regularly for the past three years. The industry has been receiving 30 MW of electricity for some time now. Cement will be available in the Nepali market at a cheaper price with the operation of these industries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Pokharel, their main duty is to provide quality cement to the country which is moving ahead with the pace of economic development. The Huaxin Cement Industry will produce 3,000 metric tons of cement daily. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Maha Prasad Adhikari, Chief Executive Officer of the Board, and Xu Gang, Vice-Chairman of Huaxin Cement, signed the agreement on 6 June 2018 in Beijing, China. Although the agreement says to set up the factory within six months, it has taken a long time due to various reasons.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board estimates that 350 people will get direct employment and 1,000 people will get indirect employment from the industry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 currently has a demand of about 3.5 million metric tons of cement. The production capacity of the cement industries established in Nepal has reached 5.5 million metric tons annually. -- RSS</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14186', 'image' => '20211208015835_fbb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 13:57:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14439', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Unilever and Maiti Nepal Collaborate to Support Victims of Human Trafficking', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Unilever Nepal Limited and Maiti Nepal have announced collaboration to create employment opportunities for victims of human trafficking and domestic violence in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 8: Unilever Nepal Limited and Maiti Nepal have announced collaboration to create employment opportunities for victims of human trafficking and domestic violence in the country. The collaboration aims to enhance their social, economic and legal capacity by providing the victims, especially women, with adequate training.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 main aim of this collaboration is to provide opportunities to generate sustainable income for targeted women. Training programs for women will be conducted under the guidance of experts for running beauty parlors as well as for excavator operation and sales training. As per the agreement, arrangements have been made for the trainee women to stay at the Rehabilitation Center of Maiti Nepal during the training 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"">Both organizations believe that women’s employment will improve their living standards along with their families and communities. The training program was inaugurated by Anuradha Koirala, the chairperson of Maiti Nepal and Amlan Mukherjee, the managing director of Unilever Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Everyone has a responsibility to contribute to the society, more than what we have received from the society. We encourage women for a long term sustainable journey by providing them necessary skills for the future. It will contribute to building a socially inclusive world. We will continue to serve the community through similar initiatives in future as well,” said Mukherjee.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14184', 'image' => '20211208013149_Unilever-Nepal-Maiti-Nepal-Asha.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 13:31:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14438', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Reaffirms Commitment to Budhigandaki Hydel Project ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has promised to develop Budhigandaki Hydropower Project and begin the construction works during his tenure. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 8: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has promised to develop Budhigandaki Hydropower Project and begin the construction works during his tenure. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Addressing the Tripurasundari fair in Dhading, Minister Sharma vowed to initiate the Budhigandakri project. The Nwagi area of Tripurasundari in Dhading district is a catchment area of the project and would be inundated after the project development. The owners of the land plots there have received compensation for land acquisition. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Minister Sharma assured to allocate budget to blacktop the road from Tripurasundari to Salyankot. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Seeking public support to carry out the development works, Minister Sharma pledged to complete the development of Mid-Hill Highway. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14183', 'image' => '20211208114508_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 11:44:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14437', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Alleged Investor of 33 KG Gold Scam Released on Bail', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Krishna Gopal Agrawal, who is allegedly the main investor of the 33.5 kilogram gold scam, has been released on bail.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 8: Krishna Gopal Agrawal, who is allegedly the main investor of the 33.5 kilogram gold scam, has been released on bail.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">District Court Judge Bharat Lamsal of Morang on Tuesday issued an order to release Agrawal on a bail of Rs 200,000.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">District Court official Tikendra Bir Jung Rana told New Business Age that Agrawal, who is also known as Kale, posted the bail amount and was released as per the judge’s order.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Investigations had revealed that Agrawal was the main investor involved in smuggling gold into Nepal via Tribhuvan International Airport. The gold imported through the airport customs went missing and a carrier named Saman Shakya of Urlabari was killed by the smugglers’ group allegedly led by Chudamani Upreti. Eight people including Upreti have convicted of Shakya’s murder and sent to prison. He was deported to Nepal from the UAE with support from INTERPOL. Others accused in the scam have been released by the court. Cases were filed against a total of 77 people including high-ranking police officials in connection to this case. While convicting the eight people involved in the crime, the District Court Morang released 48 others. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14182', 'image' => '20211208113313_20200828033702_gold.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 11:32:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14436', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Working to Ensure Aviation Safety: Tourism Minister', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale said that the government has been working to ensure safety of aviation sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 8: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale said that the government has been working to ensure safety of aviation sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Tourism Minister made such remark during a programme organized by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on the occasion of the International Civil Aviation Day-2021 on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"I am firm in my stand and goal. The cabinet meeting convening in six days would endorse the programme and budget for the aviation safety," said Minister Ale.</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"">Stating that the concerned agencies should be aware to control the prospects of risks for aviation related accidents, he urged the experts to provide recommendations so as to reform the aviation sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, former director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Hari Bhakta Shrestha and vice-chairperson of Himalayan Airlines, Bijaya Shrestha, among others presented papers on how the flights could be made safe from accidents that occur due to wild animals and birds, especially in airports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Tourism Secretary Maheshwor Neupane directed the subordinated bodies to present action plans on how the aviation sector could be made safe from wildlife and birds. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The International Civil Aviation Day is observed to commemorate the first successful flight made by the American Wright Brothers on December 7 in 1903. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14181', 'image' => '20211208081616_20190213013056_pinterest.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 08:15:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14435', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Booking of Tourists put on Hold amid Fears of Omicron Outbreak', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 7: At a time when arrival of tourists is growing in Nepal, a new variant of coronavirus is expected to push the tourism sector towards another crisis.', '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 7: At a time when arrival of tourists is growing in Nepal, a new variant of coronavirus is expected to push the tourism sector towards another crisis. According to hoteliers, tourists have kept their booking on hold after the Omicron variant was detected in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In November 2021, more tourists visited Nepal than the previous month. According to the Nepal Tourism Board, 26,135 tourists visited Nepal in November compared to 23,284 in October. As the number of tourists was gradually increasing, Omicron variant has once again created panic. Therefore, various countries have banned flights and travel, while Nepal has also banned people coming from nine countries from entering Nepal, including South Africa and Hong Kong.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Yogendra Shakya, a tourism entrepreneur who is also the executive chairman of Ace Hotel and Resort, said that the overall occupancy of hotels on average is 30 percent in 2021. He said that the booking could freeze till January, February, and spring.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 India has stopped tourists from entering India from Lumbini, he said that there is a situation of ‘wait and see’ for some time 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"">“While the surge of Covid-19 has started to grow, we had projected that we would have to wait until 2024 for the tourism to return to normalcy,” said Shakya. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 tourists are now waiting and watching the impact of Omicron. "Tourists are in a hold-on situation right now," he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Tourism Board, on the other hand, has claimed that it will continue the work of tourism promotion and publicity. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Board Dhananjay Regmi said that the current publicity will get continuity by adopting caution. "We were horrified at the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, but it didn't create a catastrophe for this sector," 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"">He added that the board will organize tourist marts in all seven states and continue the promotion of Border City. He said that the board will work to increase the number of tourists now. With the identification of the new variant that appeared in the country, the board has resorted to the strategy of attracting tourists from India more than other countries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-07', 'modified' => '2021-12-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14180', 'image' => '20211207050643_1638833065.1 (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-07 17:05:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14434', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ghodepani-Poonhill Trek Features New Tourism Infrastructure ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 7: The Ghodepani and Poonhill areas along the Annapurna Circuit now feature new tourism infrastructures constructed in collaboration between the government and the local community. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 7: The Ghodepani and Poonhill areas along the Annapurna Circuit now feature new tourism infrastructures constructed in collaboration between the government and the local community. The Ghodepani-Poonhill route is one of the 100 new tourist destinations identified by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation for infrastructure development. The local communities too are attracted to invest for the development of physical infrastructures along this renowned trekking route as the tourist arrival here is encouraging these days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Twenty-three solar lamps have been fixed along the route to illuminate it during the night time. A three-room concrete building has been built at Poonhil to provide a safe resting place for visitors during rain and snowfall. Moreover, an RCC building has been constructed for the Magar Museum at Ghodepani. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The cleanliness of community and a courtesy to visitors have been the priorities of locals. A newly constructed trekking route of around two kilometers stretches from Poonnhil to Ghandruk via Mohare, Ghodepani, Chitre and Khiwang. It seems that investors of Ghodepani are competing to attract tourists through better accommodation facility. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Ghodepani Hotel Management Committee, the hotels here had capacity to accommodate 500 people daily six year ago while the capacity of these hotels has now increased to accommodate 1,000 people. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Vice-Chairperson of Hotel Management Sub-Committee, Mina Pun, said that a four-kilometer road connecting Ghodepani via Chitre has been graveled. Gandaki Provincial government invested Rs 270 million to blacktop the 18-kilometer road linking Pokharebagar to Chitre. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A hotel to accommodate 40 people has been brought into operation at Khopara under a new concept of taking tourism benefit to community for the first time in Nepal. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-07', 'modified' => '2021-12-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14179', 'image' => '20211207030300_468356_589584351065292_436622630_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-07 15:02:14', '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' => '14449', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Blacklists Six Construction Companies', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: The government has blacklisted six construction companies from one to three years for not meeting the deadlines to construct projects as per the agreements. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 9: The government has blacklisted six construction companies from one to three years for not meeting the deadlines to construct projects as per the agreements. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Public Procurement Monitoring Office on Wednesday took a decision to this effect. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to a notice issued by the Office on December 9, the construction companies that have been blacklisted include Nilgiri Construction Service, Elite Construction Company, Chyangrasi Construction Service and SSM Construction Pvt. Ltd., all based in Kathmandu, and Banke-based Tridev Construction Company and SNC Construction Pvt. Ltd. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The companies were blacklisted in line with Clause 63 (1) of the Public Procurement Act, 2063. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nilgiri Construction Service has been blacklisted for three years upon the recommendation of the Road Division Office, Lahan. Similarly, Elite Construction Company and Chyangrasi Construction Service have faced action for two years each upon the recommendation of Chandranagar Rural Municipality in Sarlahi district and Tarakeshwor Municipality in Kathmandu respectively. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">SSM Construction Pvt. Ltd., Tridev Construction Service and SNC Construction Service Pvt. Ltd. have been blacklisted for one year each. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The blacklisted companies are not allowed to take part in any construction work of the government during the period for which they have been banned. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14194', 'image' => '20211209062329_unnamed.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 18:22:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14448', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Board to form Special Task Force to Resolve Reinsurance Dispute', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: The Insurance Board is preparing to form a special task force to resolve the dispute over a directive that requires mandatory reinsurance from domestic reinsurance companies.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 9: The Insurance Board is preparing to form a special task force to resolve the dispute over a directive that requires mandatory reinsurance from domestic reinsurance companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board had issued a directive on November 25 asking all non-life and life insurance companies to purchase reinsurance policy with the domestic reinsurance company. The board had ordered the companies to reinsure with a foreign company only in case the domestic company refuses to take reinsurance policy. The directive was criticised by all the insurance companies and stakeholders and sought for its immediate withdrawal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Following its widespread protest, the board is preparing to form a special task force to resolve the issue. Rajuraman Poudel, CEO of the board, said that a special task force is being formed to resolve the dispute. "The stakeholders will be summoned for discussion where they need to present their recommendations. We will take necessary decisions in this regard on the basis of the investigation by the task force,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After two weeks since the directive was issued, Life Insurance Association and the Nepal Insurers Association have submitted a memorandum to the Insurance Board against it. Poudel confirmed that they have received memorandum from both organizations. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The associations have also demanded withdrawal of the directive stating that it was against the principles of insurance. According to them, the directive could create more problems as reinsurance companies do not have the capacity to take cent per cent reinsurance. They may not be able to pay the claims so the board must withdraw the directive and that the insurance companies should be allowed to conduct business independently.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board will also discuss about the memorandum with the task force. "Stakeholders should come to the task force and have their concerns reported. Then it will be easier for us to make decisions," Poudel added.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14193', 'image' => '20211209054859_20210627122025_20200417105653_Beema-Samiti.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 17:48:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14447', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Lessons from Nepal’s Reconstruction Exemplary, says President Bhandari', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: The International Conference on Reconstruction-2078 organized to exchange learning, experiences and achievements of post-earthquake reconstruction of 2072 BS has started from Wednesday. ', 'content' => '<p><em>President Bidya Devi Bhandari attending an internationa conference organised by the National Reconstruction Authority on Wednesday. Photos: RSS</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 9: The International Conference on Reconstruction-2078 organized to exchange learning, experiences and achievements of post-earthquake reconstruction of 2072 BS has started from Wednesday. The conference was inaugurated by President Bidya Devi Bhandari. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, President Bhandari said that the support offered by the international community has proved to be a milestone in the post-earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation of Nepal</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The experiences and lessons learned during post-earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation will be exemplary for the international community and our future generations,” said Bhandari, adding, “I believe that the documents prepared by the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) including all parties involved in the reconstruction work will be a source of valuable knowledge for anyone involved in the field of disaster risk reduction and management.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/CKC_KTM_JANARDANSHARMA.jpg" style="height:297px; width:400px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the program, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said that the reconstruction has helped the country enhance its decision-making capacity, introduce new technology and produce skilled manpower. Stating that a high level of political understanding and support from allies would be important in disaster management and reconstruction, he said that some of the remaining works would be done through the regular mechanism of the government. At the program, Foreign Minister Dr. Narayan Khadka said that the support of donors and development partners has given significant support to build the confidence of the people and uplift them.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/CKC_KTM_NARAYANKHADKA.jpg" style="height:382px; width:400px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chief Executive Officer of the National Reconstruction Authority, Sushil Gyawali, said that the reconstruction has reached the stage of completion with the support of all stakeholders including development partners. He said that the political leadership should express a strong commitment and understanding, empower autonomous bodies, mobilize the community and adopt an inclusive policy while carrying out reconstruction and disaster management work in the coming days.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Recorded messages from Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, British FCDO Minister Lord Ahmed, and Japanese Minister of State for External Affairs Honda Taro were presented at the inauguration ceremony. Similarly, recorded messages of Neil Buhne, regional director of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; ADB Vice President Shixin Chen; European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic; Patricia Danzi, director general of the SDC, and Delhi-based Charge d'Affaires Amanda Strohan of Canada, who also looks after Nepal were presented as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The event was addressed by US Ambassador to Nepal Randy Berry, World Bank’s Country Director for Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lankan Faris Hadad Zervos and UNICEF South Asian Regional Director Laryea Adjei. Similarly, Norwegian Ambassador to Nepal Torun Dramdal read out a message from Norway's Minister for International Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim. Ambassador of India to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra, Ambassador of China Hou Yanqi and Ambassador of Switzerland Elizabeth Von Kepler were also present at the inauguration ceremony.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Following the inauguration program, 10 subjective sessions of the conference have been completed as well. After completing 10 more sessions on Thursday, the conference will conclude in the afternoon in the presence of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba as the chief guest.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14192', 'image' => '20211209020105_CKC_KTM_BIDHYADEVIBHANDARI.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 13:58:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14446', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Carpet Manufacturers Demand Facilities Given to Textile Industries', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: Although the government has facilitated the import of raw material for the textile industry, the carpet industry is deprived of the same facility. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 9: Although the government has facilitated the import of raw material for the textile industry, the carpet industry is deprived of the same facility. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The carpet industry operating in the country with a total investment of Rs 1.5 billion has been at the receiving end due to the unfair policy of the government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The import of yarn required for textile and carpet industries is subject to 5 percent customs duty. However, the raw material (polypropylene) required for making the same yarn is subject to 10 percent customs duty. Anupam Rathi, the director of Hitex Carpet, said that the industries have been facing problems due to the fact that the customs duty for raw material is more expensive than the customs duty for manufactured materials. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rathi also complained that the carpets produced by the industry did not get subsidies like other carpet and textile industries. However, the garment industry is getting this facility, said Rathi. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He handed over a letter to Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, who arrived in Biratnagar three days ago, to resolve the problems faced by the industries in production and export of yarn and carpet. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rathi argues that the carpet industry must be categorized as a textile industry and provided with the facilities that a textile industry is given. He has been putting forth this demand since the last four years.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“In all the major carpet producing countries including India, such industries are considered as textile industries,” said Rathi, “However, in Nepal, textile means garment industry that makes shirting and suiting products. The jute industry also falls under the textile category.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hitex Carpet is also producing yarn itself. “We are producing carpet yarn. However, the customs duty has made it difficult for us,” he said, adding, “Importing ready-made yarn costs 5 percent customs duty, the customs duty on raw material for yarn is 10 percent.” </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14191', 'image' => '20211209011249_20190526022115_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 13:12:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14445', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Commits to Reduce Tax Contribution of Auto Industry', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has said that the contribution of the automobile sector in revenue should be reduced below 25 percent.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 9: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has said that the contribution of the automobile sector in revenue should be reduced below 25 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Inaugurating the 45th Annual General Meeting of NADA on Wednesday, he pledged to reduce the direct taxes imposed on automobiles below 25 percent but to increase the overall contribution to 50 percent by imposing indirect taxes. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma said that emphasis should be laid on vehicle production in Nepal rather than importing them. "I am less literate on economics, but I have heard people who do not know economics run the finance ministry. However, I know the way to make this country self-reliant," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the people will not get benefits without the country becoming prosperous and self-reliant, he said that no changes will occur without moving the business sector forward. "Imports cannot be banned, not even by the means of various laws, but imports can be reduced by making domestic production more competitive," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the government will provide subsidies on electricity and also allocate land if investors are willing to set up industries to produce vehicles within the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the government will address the issue of instable policy, Minister Sharma said that the focus will now be on building electric charging stations. "All petrol pumps have to be converted into electric charging stations,” he added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Chandra Prasad Dhakal urged the government to update the traditional policies on time for the rapid economic development of the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"It's not just about the automobile sector. It is in the interest of all parties to change the old policies by discussing with the stakeholders and incorporating the suggestions of the private sector as a whole,” he said, adding that the state should move ahead. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He thanked the government for providing additional facilities to the assembling plants and said, "Batteries used in electric vehicles can be produced in Nepal. Such industries should be encouraged."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NADA Vice President Karan Chaudhary urged the government to help the auto dealers. Chaudhary said that although the establishment of the auto industry was encouraging, the state is not able to put in all the efforts immediately. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The NADA general assembly will elect a new executive committee. A still competition is expected between the panels led by Karan Chaudhary and Dhruva Thapa as there is no consensus for a new leadership.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14190', 'image' => '20211209122607_20150914010543_travel-map.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 12:25:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14444', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Senior Citizens to get Booster Dose', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: The Ministry of Health and Population has decided to administer booster dose of vaccine against coronavirus to senior citizens, who have already been received the full-dose of vaccine.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 9: The Ministry of Health and Population has decided to administer booster dose of vaccine against coronavirus to senior citizens, who have already been received the full-dose of vaccine. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry, on the basis of the recommendation made by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, is going to provide booster dose to the senior citizens above 60 years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Family Welfare Division of the Department of Health Services, Dr Bibek Kumar Lal, shared that senior citizens above 60 years including those already vaccinated with full-dose of vero cell, will start getting the booster dose in the first phase. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">At a regular press brief organised at the ministry on Wednesday, he said that the WHO has recommended administering booster dose to those citizens who have already received full-dose of vero cell vaccine and are above 60 years. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14189', 'image' => '20211209082127_20210713023934_1626133196.Clipboard05.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 08:20:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14443', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Postal Tickets with Rastrakavi’s Image Unveiled', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: Postal tickets bearing the image of Rastrakavi Madhav Prasad Ghimire have been published in recognition to his contribution to Nepali literature. ', 'content' => '<p> <em> Photo: RSS</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 9: Postal tickets bearing the image of Rastrakavi Madhav Prasad Ghimire have been published in recognition to his contribution to Nepali literature. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, unveiled the new tickets in honour of the late poet on Wednesday, December 8. On the occasion Minister Karki said that poet Ghimire took Nepal’s national glory to a new height. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Born in Lamjung on September 23, 1919, poet Ghimire had died at the age of 101 on August 18, 2020. Ghimire is known as the poet representing the trend of romanticism. Ghimire was conferred the title of ‘Rastrakavi’ 18 years ago.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He was born during the Rana regime, when people were banned from writing poems. It was during those days that he wrote some revolutionary and inspirational poems like Nava Yubak, a youth who has the power to change the society.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He once said in an interview that it is quite strange that the Rana regime had banned them from writing in a free manner but interestingly great poets were born during that very period. He was inspired by the poems of LekhnathPoudel and was very fond of the poems written by Kalidas and RabindraNath Tagore.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During Wednesday's programme, Minister Karki urged everyone to contribute from their sides to realize the dream of the late poet, and the visions in his poems. “Rastrakavi was loved by all. He was an inspiring figure to all. He is eternal indeed,” Minister Karki reminded, adding that postal stamp is therefore commemorative to the national luminary. <em>(With inputs from RSS)</em></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14188', 'image' => '20211209081714_RS_KTM_ministerkarki-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 08:15:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14442', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three Taskforces formed to Address Issues of Employment Sector ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security has formed three separate taskforces in a bid to address the problems that persist in the creation of employment opportunities within the country and in the foreign employment. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 8: The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security has formed three separate taskforces in a bid to address the problems that persist in the creation of employment opportunities within the country and in the foreign employment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The taskforces have been formed under the leadership of joint secretaries Badri Nath Adhikari, Ram Chandra Dhakal and Shesh Narayan Poudel. The objectives include making labour administration efficient, creating employment opportunities within the country, producing skilled workforce and addressing the challenges in the foreign employment sector, said the Ministry. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The taskforces have been tasked with providing advices for running skill development trainings through an integrated structure, managing foreign employment and making policy level reforms and labour diplomacy effective. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The taskforce will submit separate reports to the ministry with necessary recommendations within 15 days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Joint secretary Adhikari leads a six-member taskforce comprising representatives from various ministries and the National Planning Commission. It deals with the creation of job opportunities and vocational and skill-enhancement training. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, another six-member taskforce led by joint secretary Dhakal will look after the organisational situation of the ministry and its sub ordinate bodies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Also, another seven-member taskforce led by joint secretary Poudel will deal with foreign employment management and its overall work system. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14187', 'image' => '20211208073207_20211005120055_20201125033543_20200315123851_1111.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 19:31:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14441', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Huaxin Cement to begin Test Production in 3 Weeks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Huaxin Cement Industry is set to start production of cement on trial basis within the next three weeks.', '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 8: Huaxin Cement Industry is set to start production of cement on trial basis within the next three weeks. The industry has stated that necessary preparations are being made to this end.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"We are in the process of finalizing the test production. Necessary equipment have been connected, and only some basic works remain. They will be completed in a few days,” said Dilliraj Pokharel, deputy general manager of Huaxin Cement Industry. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Electricity has been made available to the industry since Monday. The cement factory will start operation with the joint investment of Nepalese and Chinese businessmen. The industry has received electricity from the Marshyangdi-Kathmandu 132 KV transmission line.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 industry has invested Rs 1 billion for the construction of the transmission line.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 cement industry will get a total of 20 MW of electricity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Electricity Authority (NEA) is requesting industries to demand additional electricity as per their capacity. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising said that they are making efforts to ensure that the industries consume more electricity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On Monday, the Benighat Rorang Municipality had requested the locals not to go around the tower saying that the transmission line was about to come into operation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industry under construction in Taldi of Benighat Rorang rural municipality has constructed a switching station for transmission of electricity within a year. About 14 kilometers of transmission line and 132 KV substation have been constructed from the switching station to the industrial complex. Switching stations and substations have been constructed with the technical assistance and supervision of NEA.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Ghising, the power supply in Dhading has improved after the construction of the switching station.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the operation of the switching station, it has become easy to provide electricity to other industries that are about to open in the Naubise area of Dhading Gorge. Dozens of new industries are opening in the highway area as the capital is close to Kathmandu.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA's infrastructure has also been prepared to provide electricity to these industries easily.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the supply of quality and reliable electricity in the highway area, the revenue of NEA is also expected to increase.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies has taken a policy to build a transmission line to the industrial complex, Huaxin has prepared the structure itself to expedite the 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"">Covid pandemic, natural disasters, and other factors have increased the cost of the industry. While making the initial agreement with the Investment Board, the cement industry had estimated to pour in Rs 14.40 billion, but due to various reasons the cost has increased by an additional Rs 3 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board had signed an agreement with Huaxin to produce quality cement in Nepal. Another cement industry with Chinese investment, Hongsi, has been producing cement regularly for the past three years. The industry has been receiving 30 MW of electricity for some time now. Cement will be available in the Nepali market at a cheaper price with the operation of these industries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Pokharel, their main duty is to provide quality cement to the country which is moving ahead with the pace of economic development. The Huaxin Cement Industry will produce 3,000 metric tons of cement daily. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Maha Prasad Adhikari, Chief Executive Officer of the Board, and Xu Gang, Vice-Chairman of Huaxin Cement, signed the agreement on 6 June 2018 in Beijing, China. Although the agreement says to set up the factory within six months, it has taken a long time due to various reasons.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board estimates that 350 people will get direct employment and 1,000 people will get indirect employment from the industry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 currently has a demand of about 3.5 million metric tons of cement. The production capacity of the cement industries established in Nepal has reached 5.5 million metric tons annually. -- RSS</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14186', 'image' => '20211208015835_fbb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 13:57:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14439', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Unilever and Maiti Nepal Collaborate to Support Victims of Human Trafficking', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Unilever Nepal Limited and Maiti Nepal have announced collaboration to create employment opportunities for victims of human trafficking and domestic violence in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 8: Unilever Nepal Limited and Maiti Nepal have announced collaboration to create employment opportunities for victims of human trafficking and domestic violence in the country. The collaboration aims to enhance their social, economic and legal capacity by providing the victims, especially women, with adequate training.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 main aim of this collaboration is to provide opportunities to generate sustainable income for targeted women. Training programs for women will be conducted under the guidance of experts for running beauty parlors as well as for excavator operation and sales training. As per the agreement, arrangements have been made for the trainee women to stay at the Rehabilitation Center of Maiti Nepal during the training 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"">Both organizations believe that women’s employment will improve their living standards along with their families and communities. The training program was inaugurated by Anuradha Koirala, the chairperson of Maiti Nepal and Amlan Mukherjee, the managing director of Unilever Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Everyone has a responsibility to contribute to the society, more than what we have received from the society. We encourage women for a long term sustainable journey by providing them necessary skills for the future. It will contribute to building a socially inclusive world. We will continue to serve the community through similar initiatives in future as well,” said Mukherjee.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14184', 'image' => '20211208013149_Unilever-Nepal-Maiti-Nepal-Asha.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 13:31:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14438', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Reaffirms Commitment to Budhigandaki Hydel Project ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has promised to develop Budhigandaki Hydropower Project and begin the construction works during his tenure. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 8: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has promised to develop Budhigandaki Hydropower Project and begin the construction works during his tenure. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Addressing the Tripurasundari fair in Dhading, Minister Sharma vowed to initiate the Budhigandakri project. The Nwagi area of Tripurasundari in Dhading district is a catchment area of the project and would be inundated after the project development. The owners of the land plots there have received compensation for land acquisition. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Minister Sharma assured to allocate budget to blacktop the road from Tripurasundari to Salyankot. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Seeking public support to carry out the development works, Minister Sharma pledged to complete the development of Mid-Hill Highway. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14183', 'image' => '20211208114508_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 11:44:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14437', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Alleged Investor of 33 KG Gold Scam Released on Bail', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Krishna Gopal Agrawal, who is allegedly the main investor of the 33.5 kilogram gold scam, has been released on bail.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 8: Krishna Gopal Agrawal, who is allegedly the main investor of the 33.5 kilogram gold scam, has been released on bail.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">District Court Judge Bharat Lamsal of Morang on Tuesday issued an order to release Agrawal on a bail of Rs 200,000.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">District Court official Tikendra Bir Jung Rana told New Business Age that Agrawal, who is also known as Kale, posted the bail amount and was released as per the judge’s order.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Investigations had revealed that Agrawal was the main investor involved in smuggling gold into Nepal via Tribhuvan International Airport. The gold imported through the airport customs went missing and a carrier named Saman Shakya of Urlabari was killed by the smugglers’ group allegedly led by Chudamani Upreti. Eight people including Upreti have convicted of Shakya’s murder and sent to prison. He was deported to Nepal from the UAE with support from INTERPOL. Others accused in the scam have been released by the court. Cases were filed against a total of 77 people including high-ranking police officials in connection to this case. While convicting the eight people involved in the crime, the District Court Morang released 48 others. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14182', 'image' => '20211208113313_20200828033702_gold.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 11:32:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14436', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Working to Ensure Aviation Safety: Tourism Minister', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale said that the government has been working to ensure safety of aviation sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 8: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale said that the government has been working to ensure safety of aviation sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Tourism Minister made such remark during a programme organized by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on the occasion of the International Civil Aviation Day-2021 on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"I am firm in my stand and goal. The cabinet meeting convening in six days would endorse the programme and budget for the aviation safety," said Minister Ale.</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"">Stating that the concerned agencies should be aware to control the prospects of risks for aviation related accidents, he urged the experts to provide recommendations so as to reform the aviation sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, former director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Hari Bhakta Shrestha and vice-chairperson of Himalayan Airlines, Bijaya Shrestha, among others presented papers on how the flights could be made safe from accidents that occur due to wild animals and birds, especially in airports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Tourism Secretary Maheshwor Neupane directed the subordinated bodies to present action plans on how the aviation sector could be made safe from wildlife and birds. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The International Civil Aviation Day is observed to commemorate the first successful flight made by the American Wright Brothers on December 7 in 1903. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14181', 'image' => '20211208081616_20190213013056_pinterest.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 08:15:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14435', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Booking of Tourists put on Hold amid Fears of Omicron Outbreak', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 7: At a time when arrival of tourists is growing in Nepal, a new variant of coronavirus is expected to push the tourism sector towards another crisis.', '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 7: At a time when arrival of tourists is growing in Nepal, a new variant of coronavirus is expected to push the tourism sector towards another crisis. According to hoteliers, tourists have kept their booking on hold after the Omicron variant was detected in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In November 2021, more tourists visited Nepal than the previous month. According to the Nepal Tourism Board, 26,135 tourists visited Nepal in November compared to 23,284 in October. As the number of tourists was gradually increasing, Omicron variant has once again created panic. Therefore, various countries have banned flights and travel, while Nepal has also banned people coming from nine countries from entering Nepal, including South Africa and Hong Kong.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Yogendra Shakya, a tourism entrepreneur who is also the executive chairman of Ace Hotel and Resort, said that the overall occupancy of hotels on average is 30 percent in 2021. He said that the booking could freeze till January, February, and spring.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 India has stopped tourists from entering India from Lumbini, he said that there is a situation of ‘wait and see’ for some time 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"">“While the surge of Covid-19 has started to grow, we had projected that we would have to wait until 2024 for the tourism to return to normalcy,” said Shakya. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 tourists are now waiting and watching the impact of Omicron. "Tourists are in a hold-on situation right now," he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Tourism Board, on the other hand, has claimed that it will continue the work of tourism promotion and publicity. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Board Dhananjay Regmi said that the current publicity will get continuity by adopting caution. "We were horrified at the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, but it didn't create a catastrophe for this sector," 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"">He added that the board will organize tourist marts in all seven states and continue the promotion of Border City. He said that the board will work to increase the number of tourists now. With the identification of the new variant that appeared in the country, the board has resorted to the strategy of attracting tourists from India more than other countries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-07', 'modified' => '2021-12-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14180', 'image' => '20211207050643_1638833065.1 (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-07 17:05:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14434', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ghodepani-Poonhill Trek Features New Tourism Infrastructure ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 7: The Ghodepani and Poonhill areas along the Annapurna Circuit now feature new tourism infrastructures constructed in collaboration between the government and the local community. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 7: The Ghodepani and Poonhill areas along the Annapurna Circuit now feature new tourism infrastructures constructed in collaboration between the government and the local community. The Ghodepani-Poonhill route is one of the 100 new tourist destinations identified by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation for infrastructure development. The local communities too are attracted to invest for the development of physical infrastructures along this renowned trekking route as the tourist arrival here is encouraging these days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Twenty-three solar lamps have been fixed along the route to illuminate it during the night time. A three-room concrete building has been built at Poonhil to provide a safe resting place for visitors during rain and snowfall. Moreover, an RCC building has been constructed for the Magar Museum at Ghodepani. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The cleanliness of community and a courtesy to visitors have been the priorities of locals. A newly constructed trekking route of around two kilometers stretches from Poonnhil to Ghandruk via Mohare, Ghodepani, Chitre and Khiwang. It seems that investors of Ghodepani are competing to attract tourists through better accommodation facility. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Ghodepani Hotel Management Committee, the hotels here had capacity to accommodate 500 people daily six year ago while the capacity of these hotels has now increased to accommodate 1,000 people. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Vice-Chairperson of Hotel Management Sub-Committee, Mina Pun, said that a four-kilometer road connecting Ghodepani via Chitre has been graveled. Gandaki Provincial government invested Rs 270 million to blacktop the 18-kilometer road linking Pokharebagar to Chitre. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A hotel to accommodate 40 people has been brought into operation at Khopara under a new concept of taking tourism benefit to community for the first time in Nepal. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-07', 'modified' => '2021-12-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14179', 'image' => '20211207030300_468356_589584351065292_436622630_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-07 15:02:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 9: The government has blacklisted six construction companies from one to three years for not meeting the deadlines to construct projects as per the agreements. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Public Procurement Monitoring Office on Wednesday took a decision to this effect. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to a notice issued by the Office on December 9, the construction companies that have been blacklisted include Nilgiri Construction Service, Elite Construction Company, Chyangrasi Construction Service and SSM Construction Pvt. Ltd., all based in Kathmandu, and Banke-based Tridev Construction Company and SNC Construction Pvt. Ltd. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The companies were blacklisted in line with Clause 63 (1) of the Public Procurement Act, 2063. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nilgiri Construction Service has been blacklisted for three years upon the recommendation of the Road Division Office, Lahan. Similarly, Elite Construction Company and Chyangrasi Construction Service have faced action for two years each upon the recommendation of Chandranagar Rural Municipality in Sarlahi district and Tarakeshwor Municipality in Kathmandu respectively. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">SSM Construction Pvt. Ltd., Tridev Construction Service and SNC Construction Service Pvt. Ltd. have been blacklisted for one year each. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The blacklisted companies are not allowed to take part in any construction work of the government during the period for which they have been banned. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14194', 'image' => '20211209062329_unnamed.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 18:22:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14448', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Board to form Special Task Force to Resolve Reinsurance Dispute', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: The Insurance Board is preparing to form a special task force to resolve the dispute over a directive that requires mandatory reinsurance from domestic reinsurance companies.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 9: The Insurance Board is preparing to form a special task force to resolve the dispute over a directive that requires mandatory reinsurance from domestic reinsurance companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board had issued a directive on November 25 asking all non-life and life insurance companies to purchase reinsurance policy with the domestic reinsurance company. The board had ordered the companies to reinsure with a foreign company only in case the domestic company refuses to take reinsurance policy. The directive was criticised by all the insurance companies and stakeholders and sought for its immediate withdrawal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Following its widespread protest, the board is preparing to form a special task force to resolve the issue. Rajuraman Poudel, CEO of the board, said that a special task force is being formed to resolve the dispute. "The stakeholders will be summoned for discussion where they need to present their recommendations. We will take necessary decisions in this regard on the basis of the investigation by the task force,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After two weeks since the directive was issued, Life Insurance Association and the Nepal Insurers Association have submitted a memorandum to the Insurance Board against it. Poudel confirmed that they have received memorandum from both organizations. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The associations have also demanded withdrawal of the directive stating that it was against the principles of insurance. According to them, the directive could create more problems as reinsurance companies do not have the capacity to take cent per cent reinsurance. They may not be able to pay the claims so the board must withdraw the directive and that the insurance companies should be allowed to conduct business independently.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board will also discuss about the memorandum with the task force. "Stakeholders should come to the task force and have their concerns reported. Then it will be easier for us to make decisions," Poudel added.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14193', 'image' => '20211209054859_20210627122025_20200417105653_Beema-Samiti.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 17:48:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14447', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Lessons from Nepal’s Reconstruction Exemplary, says President Bhandari', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: The International Conference on Reconstruction-2078 organized to exchange learning, experiences and achievements of post-earthquake reconstruction of 2072 BS has started from Wednesday. ', 'content' => '<p><em>President Bidya Devi Bhandari attending an internationa conference organised by the National Reconstruction Authority on Wednesday. Photos: RSS</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 9: The International Conference on Reconstruction-2078 organized to exchange learning, experiences and achievements of post-earthquake reconstruction of 2072 BS has started from Wednesday. The conference was inaugurated by President Bidya Devi Bhandari. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, President Bhandari said that the support offered by the international community has proved to be a milestone in the post-earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation of Nepal</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The experiences and lessons learned during post-earthquake reconstruction and rehabilitation will be exemplary for the international community and our future generations,” said Bhandari, adding, “I believe that the documents prepared by the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) including all parties involved in the reconstruction work will be a source of valuable knowledge for anyone involved in the field of disaster risk reduction and management.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/CKC_KTM_JANARDANSHARMA.jpg" style="height:297px; width:400px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the program, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said that the reconstruction has helped the country enhance its decision-making capacity, introduce new technology and produce skilled manpower. Stating that a high level of political understanding and support from allies would be important in disaster management and reconstruction, he said that some of the remaining works would be done through the regular mechanism of the government. At the program, Foreign Minister Dr. Narayan Khadka said that the support of donors and development partners has given significant support to build the confidence of the people and uplift them.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/CKC_KTM_NARAYANKHADKA.jpg" style="height:382px; width:400px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chief Executive Officer of the National Reconstruction Authority, Sushil Gyawali, said that the reconstruction has reached the stage of completion with the support of all stakeholders including development partners. He said that the political leadership should express a strong commitment and understanding, empower autonomous bodies, mobilize the community and adopt an inclusive policy while carrying out reconstruction and disaster management work in the coming days.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Recorded messages from Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, British FCDO Minister Lord Ahmed, and Japanese Minister of State for External Affairs Honda Taro were presented at the inauguration ceremony. Similarly, recorded messages of Neil Buhne, regional director of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; ADB Vice President Shixin Chen; European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic; Patricia Danzi, director general of the SDC, and Delhi-based Charge d'Affaires Amanda Strohan of Canada, who also looks after Nepal were presented as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The event was addressed by US Ambassador to Nepal Randy Berry, World Bank’s Country Director for Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lankan Faris Hadad Zervos and UNICEF South Asian Regional Director Laryea Adjei. Similarly, Norwegian Ambassador to Nepal Torun Dramdal read out a message from Norway's Minister for International Development Anne Beathe Tvinnereim. Ambassador of India to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra, Ambassador of China Hou Yanqi and Ambassador of Switzerland Elizabeth Von Kepler were also present at the inauguration ceremony.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Following the inauguration program, 10 subjective sessions of the conference have been completed as well. After completing 10 more sessions on Thursday, the conference will conclude in the afternoon in the presence of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba as the chief guest.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14192', 'image' => '20211209020105_CKC_KTM_BIDHYADEVIBHANDARI.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 13:58:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14446', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Carpet Manufacturers Demand Facilities Given to Textile Industries', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: Although the government has facilitated the import of raw material for the textile industry, the carpet industry is deprived of the same facility. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 9: Although the government has facilitated the import of raw material for the textile industry, the carpet industry is deprived of the same facility. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The carpet industry operating in the country with a total investment of Rs 1.5 billion has been at the receiving end due to the unfair policy of the government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The import of yarn required for textile and carpet industries is subject to 5 percent customs duty. However, the raw material (polypropylene) required for making the same yarn is subject to 10 percent customs duty. Anupam Rathi, the director of Hitex Carpet, said that the industries have been facing problems due to the fact that the customs duty for raw material is more expensive than the customs duty for manufactured materials. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rathi also complained that the carpets produced by the industry did not get subsidies like other carpet and textile industries. However, the garment industry is getting this facility, said Rathi. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He handed over a letter to Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, who arrived in Biratnagar three days ago, to resolve the problems faced by the industries in production and export of yarn and carpet. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rathi argues that the carpet industry must be categorized as a textile industry and provided with the facilities that a textile industry is given. He has been putting forth this demand since the last four years.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“In all the major carpet producing countries including India, such industries are considered as textile industries,” said Rathi, “However, in Nepal, textile means garment industry that makes shirting and suiting products. The jute industry also falls under the textile category.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hitex Carpet is also producing yarn itself. “We are producing carpet yarn. However, the customs duty has made it difficult for us,” he said, adding, “Importing ready-made yarn costs 5 percent customs duty, the customs duty on raw material for yarn is 10 percent.” </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14191', 'image' => '20211209011249_20190526022115_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 13:12:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14445', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Commits to Reduce Tax Contribution of Auto Industry', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has said that the contribution of the automobile sector in revenue should be reduced below 25 percent.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 9: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has said that the contribution of the automobile sector in revenue should be reduced below 25 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Inaugurating the 45th Annual General Meeting of NADA on Wednesday, he pledged to reduce the direct taxes imposed on automobiles below 25 percent but to increase the overall contribution to 50 percent by imposing indirect taxes. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma said that emphasis should be laid on vehicle production in Nepal rather than importing them. "I am less literate on economics, but I have heard people who do not know economics run the finance ministry. However, I know the way to make this country self-reliant," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the people will not get benefits without the country becoming prosperous and self-reliant, he said that no changes will occur without moving the business sector forward. "Imports cannot be banned, not even by the means of various laws, but imports can be reduced by making domestic production more competitive," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the government will provide subsidies on electricity and also allocate land if investors are willing to set up industries to produce vehicles within the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the government will address the issue of instable policy, Minister Sharma said that the focus will now be on building electric charging stations. "All petrol pumps have to be converted into electric charging stations,” he added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Senior Vice President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Chandra Prasad Dhakal urged the government to update the traditional policies on time for the rapid economic development of the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"It's not just about the automobile sector. It is in the interest of all parties to change the old policies by discussing with the stakeholders and incorporating the suggestions of the private sector as a whole,” he said, adding that the state should move ahead. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He thanked the government for providing additional facilities to the assembling plants and said, "Batteries used in electric vehicles can be produced in Nepal. Such industries should be encouraged."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NADA Vice President Karan Chaudhary urged the government to help the auto dealers. Chaudhary said that although the establishment of the auto industry was encouraging, the state is not able to put in all the efforts immediately. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The NADA general assembly will elect a new executive committee. A still competition is expected between the panels led by Karan Chaudhary and Dhruva Thapa as there is no consensus for a new leadership.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14190', 'image' => '20211209122607_20150914010543_travel-map.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 12:25:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14444', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Senior Citizens to get Booster Dose', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: The Ministry of Health and Population has decided to administer booster dose of vaccine against coronavirus to senior citizens, who have already been received the full-dose of vaccine.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 9: The Ministry of Health and Population has decided to administer booster dose of vaccine against coronavirus to senior citizens, who have already been received the full-dose of vaccine. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry, on the basis of the recommendation made by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, is going to provide booster dose to the senior citizens above 60 years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Family Welfare Division of the Department of Health Services, Dr Bibek Kumar Lal, shared that senior citizens above 60 years including those already vaccinated with full-dose of vero cell, will start getting the booster dose in the first phase. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">At a regular press brief organised at the ministry on Wednesday, he said that the WHO has recommended administering booster dose to those citizens who have already received full-dose of vero cell vaccine and are above 60 years. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14189', 'image' => '20211209082127_20210713023934_1626133196.Clipboard05.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 08:20:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14443', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Postal Tickets with Rastrakavi’s Image Unveiled', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 9: Postal tickets bearing the image of Rastrakavi Madhav Prasad Ghimire have been published in recognition to his contribution to Nepali literature. ', 'content' => '<p> <em> Photo: RSS</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 9: Postal tickets bearing the image of Rastrakavi Madhav Prasad Ghimire have been published in recognition to his contribution to Nepali literature. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, unveiled the new tickets in honour of the late poet on Wednesday, December 8. On the occasion Minister Karki said that poet Ghimire took Nepal’s national glory to a new height. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Born in Lamjung on September 23, 1919, poet Ghimire had died at the age of 101 on August 18, 2020. Ghimire is known as the poet representing the trend of romanticism. Ghimire was conferred the title of ‘Rastrakavi’ 18 years ago.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He was born during the Rana regime, when people were banned from writing poems. It was during those days that he wrote some revolutionary and inspirational poems like Nava Yubak, a youth who has the power to change the society.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He once said in an interview that it is quite strange that the Rana regime had banned them from writing in a free manner but interestingly great poets were born during that very period. He was inspired by the poems of LekhnathPoudel and was very fond of the poems written by Kalidas and RabindraNath Tagore.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During Wednesday's programme, Minister Karki urged everyone to contribute from their sides to realize the dream of the late poet, and the visions in his poems. “Rastrakavi was loved by all. He was an inspiring figure to all. He is eternal indeed,” Minister Karki reminded, adding that postal stamp is therefore commemorative to the national luminary. <em>(With inputs from RSS)</em></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-09', 'modified' => '2021-12-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14188', 'image' => '20211209081714_RS_KTM_ministerkarki-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-09 08:15:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14442', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three Taskforces formed to Address Issues of Employment Sector ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security has formed three separate taskforces in a bid to address the problems that persist in the creation of employment opportunities within the country and in the foreign employment. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 8: The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security has formed three separate taskforces in a bid to address the problems that persist in the creation of employment opportunities within the country and in the foreign employment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The taskforces have been formed under the leadership of joint secretaries Badri Nath Adhikari, Ram Chandra Dhakal and Shesh Narayan Poudel. The objectives include making labour administration efficient, creating employment opportunities within the country, producing skilled workforce and addressing the challenges in the foreign employment sector, said the Ministry. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The taskforces have been tasked with providing advices for running skill development trainings through an integrated structure, managing foreign employment and making policy level reforms and labour diplomacy effective. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The taskforce will submit separate reports to the ministry with necessary recommendations within 15 days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Joint secretary Adhikari leads a six-member taskforce comprising representatives from various ministries and the National Planning Commission. It deals with the creation of job opportunities and vocational and skill-enhancement training. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, another six-member taskforce led by joint secretary Dhakal will look after the organisational situation of the ministry and its sub ordinate bodies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Also, another seven-member taskforce led by joint secretary Poudel will deal with foreign employment management and its overall work system. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14187', 'image' => '20211208073207_20211005120055_20201125033543_20200315123851_1111.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 19:31:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14441', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Huaxin Cement to begin Test Production in 3 Weeks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Huaxin Cement Industry is set to start production of cement on trial basis within the next three weeks.', '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 8: Huaxin Cement Industry is set to start production of cement on trial basis within the next three weeks. The industry has stated that necessary preparations are being made to this end.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"We are in the process of finalizing the test production. Necessary equipment have been connected, and only some basic works remain. They will be completed in a few days,” said Dilliraj Pokharel, deputy general manager of Huaxin Cement Industry. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Electricity has been made available to the industry since Monday. The cement factory will start operation with the joint investment of Nepalese and Chinese businessmen. The industry has received electricity from the Marshyangdi-Kathmandu 132 KV transmission line.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 industry has invested Rs 1 billion for the construction of the transmission line.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 cement industry will get a total of 20 MW of electricity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Electricity Authority (NEA) is requesting industries to demand additional electricity as per their capacity. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA Executive Director Kulman Ghising said that they are making efforts to ensure that the industries consume more electricity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On Monday, the Benighat Rorang Municipality had requested the locals not to go around the tower saying that the transmission line was about to come into operation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industry under construction in Taldi of Benighat Rorang rural municipality has constructed a switching station for transmission of electricity within a year. About 14 kilometers of transmission line and 132 KV substation have been constructed from the switching station to the industrial complex. Switching stations and substations have been constructed with the technical assistance and supervision of NEA.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 Ghising, the power supply in Dhading has improved after the construction of the switching station.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the operation of the switching station, it has become easy to provide electricity to other industries that are about to open in the Naubise area of Dhading Gorge. Dozens of new industries are opening in the highway area as the capital is close to Kathmandu.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA's infrastructure has also been prepared to provide electricity to these industries easily.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the supply of quality and reliable electricity in the highway area, the revenue of NEA is also expected to increase.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies has taken a policy to build a transmission line to the industrial complex, Huaxin has prepared the structure itself to expedite the 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"">Covid pandemic, natural disasters, and other factors have increased the cost of the industry. While making the initial agreement with the Investment Board, the cement industry had estimated to pour in Rs 14.40 billion, but due to various reasons the cost has increased by an additional Rs 3 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board had signed an agreement with Huaxin to produce quality cement in Nepal. Another cement industry with Chinese investment, Hongsi, has been producing cement regularly for the past three years. The industry has been receiving 30 MW of electricity for some time now. Cement will be available in the Nepali market at a cheaper price with the operation of these industries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Pokharel, their main duty is to provide quality cement to the country which is moving ahead with the pace of economic development. The Huaxin Cement Industry will produce 3,000 metric tons of cement daily. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Maha Prasad Adhikari, Chief Executive Officer of the Board, and Xu Gang, Vice-Chairman of Huaxin Cement, signed the agreement on 6 June 2018 in Beijing, China. Although the agreement says to set up the factory within six months, it has taken a long time due to various reasons.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The board estimates that 350 people will get direct employment and 1,000 people will get indirect employment from the industry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 currently has a demand of about 3.5 million metric tons of cement. The production capacity of the cement industries established in Nepal has reached 5.5 million metric tons annually. -- RSS</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14186', 'image' => '20211208015835_fbb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 13:57:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14439', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Unilever and Maiti Nepal Collaborate to Support Victims of Human Trafficking', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Unilever Nepal Limited and Maiti Nepal have announced collaboration to create employment opportunities for victims of human trafficking and domestic violence in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">December 8: Unilever Nepal Limited and Maiti Nepal have announced collaboration to create employment opportunities for victims of human trafficking and domestic violence in the country. The collaboration aims to enhance their social, economic and legal capacity by providing the victims, especially women, with adequate training.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 main aim of this collaboration is to provide opportunities to generate sustainable income for targeted women. Training programs for women will be conducted under the guidance of experts for running beauty parlors as well as for excavator operation and sales training. As per the agreement, arrangements have been made for the trainee women to stay at the Rehabilitation Center of Maiti Nepal during the training 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"">Both organizations believe that women’s employment will improve their living standards along with their families and communities. The training program was inaugurated by Anuradha Koirala, the chairperson of Maiti Nepal and Amlan Mukherjee, the managing director of Unilever Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Everyone has a responsibility to contribute to the society, more than what we have received from the society. We encourage women for a long term sustainable journey by providing them necessary skills for the future. It will contribute to building a socially inclusive world. We will continue to serve the community through similar initiatives in future as well,” said Mukherjee.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14184', 'image' => '20211208013149_Unilever-Nepal-Maiti-Nepal-Asha.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 13:31:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14438', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Reaffirms Commitment to Budhigandaki Hydel Project ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has promised to develop Budhigandaki Hydropower Project and begin the construction works during his tenure. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 8: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has promised to develop Budhigandaki Hydropower Project and begin the construction works during his tenure. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Addressing the Tripurasundari fair in Dhading, Minister Sharma vowed to initiate the Budhigandakri project. The Nwagi area of Tripurasundari in Dhading district is a catchment area of the project and would be inundated after the project development. The owners of the land plots there have received compensation for land acquisition. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Minister Sharma assured to allocate budget to blacktop the road from Tripurasundari to Salyankot. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Seeking public support to carry out the development works, Minister Sharma pledged to complete the development of Mid-Hill Highway. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14183', 'image' => '20211208114508_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 11:44:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14437', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Alleged Investor of 33 KG Gold Scam Released on Bail', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Krishna Gopal Agrawal, who is allegedly the main investor of the 33.5 kilogram gold scam, has been released on bail.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 8: Krishna Gopal Agrawal, who is allegedly the main investor of the 33.5 kilogram gold scam, has been released on bail.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">District Court Judge Bharat Lamsal of Morang on Tuesday issued an order to release Agrawal on a bail of Rs 200,000.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">District Court official Tikendra Bir Jung Rana told New Business Age that Agrawal, who is also known as Kale, posted the bail amount and was released as per the judge’s order.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Investigations had revealed that Agrawal was the main investor involved in smuggling gold into Nepal via Tribhuvan International Airport. The gold imported through the airport customs went missing and a carrier named Saman Shakya of Urlabari was killed by the smugglers’ group allegedly led by Chudamani Upreti. Eight people including Upreti have convicted of Shakya’s murder and sent to prison. He was deported to Nepal from the UAE with support from INTERPOL. Others accused in the scam have been released by the court. Cases were filed against a total of 77 people including high-ranking police officials in connection to this case. While convicting the eight people involved in the crime, the District Court Morang released 48 others. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14182', 'image' => '20211208113313_20200828033702_gold.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 11:32:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14436', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Working to Ensure Aviation Safety: Tourism Minister', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 8: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale said that the government has been working to ensure safety of aviation sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 8: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale said that the government has been working to ensure safety of aviation sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Tourism Minister made such remark during a programme organized by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on the occasion of the International Civil Aviation Day-2021 on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"I am firm in my stand and goal. The cabinet meeting convening in six days would endorse the programme and budget for the aviation safety," said Minister Ale.</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"">Stating that the concerned agencies should be aware to control the prospects of risks for aviation related accidents, he urged the experts to provide recommendations so as to reform the aviation sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, former director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Hari Bhakta Shrestha and vice-chairperson of Himalayan Airlines, Bijaya Shrestha, among others presented papers on how the flights could be made safe from accidents that occur due to wild animals and birds, especially in airports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Tourism Secretary Maheshwor Neupane directed the subordinated bodies to present action plans on how the aviation sector could be made safe from wildlife and birds. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The International Civil Aviation Day is observed to commemorate the first successful flight made by the American Wright Brothers on December 7 in 1903. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-08', 'modified' => '2021-12-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14181', 'image' => '20211208081616_20190213013056_pinterest.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-08 08:15:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14435', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Booking of Tourists put on Hold amid Fears of Omicron Outbreak', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 7: At a time when arrival of tourists is growing in Nepal, a new variant of coronavirus is expected to push the tourism sector towards another crisis.', '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 7: At a time when arrival of tourists is growing in Nepal, a new variant of coronavirus is expected to push the tourism sector towards another crisis. According to hoteliers, tourists have kept their booking on hold after the Omicron variant was detected in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In November 2021, more tourists visited Nepal than the previous month. According to the Nepal Tourism Board, 26,135 tourists visited Nepal in November compared to 23,284 in October. As the number of tourists was gradually increasing, Omicron variant has once again created panic. Therefore, various countries have banned flights and travel, while Nepal has also banned people coming from nine countries from entering Nepal, including South Africa and Hong Kong.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Yogendra Shakya, a tourism entrepreneur who is also the executive chairman of Ace Hotel and Resort, said that the overall occupancy of hotels on average is 30 percent in 2021. He said that the booking could freeze till January, February, and spring.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 India has stopped tourists from entering India from Lumbini, he said that there is a situation of ‘wait and see’ for some time 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"">“While the surge of Covid-19 has started to grow, we had projected that we would have to wait until 2024 for the tourism to return to normalcy,” said Shakya. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 tourists are now waiting and watching the impact of Omicron. "Tourists are in a hold-on situation right now," he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Tourism Board, on the other hand, has claimed that it will continue the work of tourism promotion and publicity. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Board Dhananjay Regmi said that the current publicity will get continuity by adopting caution. "We were horrified at the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, but it didn't create a catastrophe for this sector," 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"">He added that the board will organize tourist marts in all seven states and continue the promotion of Border City. He said that the board will work to increase the number of tourists now. With the identification of the new variant that appeared in the country, the board has resorted to the strategy of attracting tourists from India more than other countries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-07', 'modified' => '2021-12-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14180', 'image' => '20211207050643_1638833065.1 (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-07 17:05:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14434', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ghodepani-Poonhill Trek Features New Tourism Infrastructure ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 7: The Ghodepani and Poonhill areas along the Annapurna Circuit now feature new tourism infrastructures constructed in collaboration between the government and the local community. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 7: The Ghodepani and Poonhill areas along the Annapurna Circuit now feature new tourism infrastructures constructed in collaboration between the government and the local community. The Ghodepani-Poonhill route is one of the 100 new tourist destinations identified by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation for infrastructure development. The local communities too are attracted to invest for the development of physical infrastructures along this renowned trekking route as the tourist arrival here is encouraging these days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Twenty-three solar lamps have been fixed along the route to illuminate it during the night time. A three-room concrete building has been built at Poonhil to provide a safe resting place for visitors during rain and snowfall. Moreover, an RCC building has been constructed for the Magar Museum at Ghodepani. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The cleanliness of community and a courtesy to visitors have been the priorities of locals. A newly constructed trekking route of around two kilometers stretches from Poonnhil to Ghandruk via Mohare, Ghodepani, Chitre and Khiwang. It seems that investors of Ghodepani are competing to attract tourists through better accommodation facility. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Ghodepani Hotel Management Committee, the hotels here had capacity to accommodate 500 people daily six year ago while the capacity of these hotels has now increased to accommodate 1,000 people. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Vice-Chairperson of Hotel Management Sub-Committee, Mina Pun, said that a four-kilometer road connecting Ghodepani via Chitre has been graveled. Gandaki Provincial government invested Rs 270 million to blacktop the 18-kilometer road linking Pokharebagar to Chitre. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A hotel to accommodate 40 people has been brought into operation at Khopara under a new concept of taking tourism benefit to community for the first time in Nepal. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-12-07', 'modified' => '2021-12-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14179', 'image' => '20211207030300_468356_589584351065292_436622630_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-12-07 15:02:14', '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
