October 28: The Government of Nepal has jointly launched the Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program (NEHEP) in collaboration with the World…
October 28: The Electricity Regulatory Commission has determined new power tariff taking into consideration the welfare of the poor and low income…
October 27: Online application for driver's license has finally…
October 27: With only a week left for the festival of Tihar to start, the business of dry fruits has skyrocketed.…
October 27: Hill districts in the Far Western Province of Nepal have been facing shortage of medicines since a week.…
October 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to sign an agreement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to operate calibration flights at Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa.…
October 27: The Investment Board has been discussing with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) about possible collaboration to attract foreign investment in…
October 27: The Council of Ministers has approved the work procedure to distribute Rs 10,000 each to the families affected by…
October 27: Nepal Rastra Bank has so far provided loans worth Rs 1 billion to the tourism and cottage industries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in order to pay the workers'…
October 27: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale has pledged to revitalize the national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines…
October 26: The government has fixed a new criteria to reduce unnecessary expenses under its austerity…
October 26: By mid-August, the second month of the current fiscal year, various economic indicators have remained negative.…
October 26: In the first three months of the current Fiscal Year 2078/79, Nepal's foreign trade totaled to Rs. 545.57 billion.…
October 26: Paragliding has drawn the attention of domestic tourists in Pokhara with the gradual rise in the mobility of people during the festive…
October 26: Floods and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall last week have damaged 325,000 metric tons of paddy in all the seven…
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]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' => '14201', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Launches Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program in Collaboration with World Ban', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 28: The Government of Nepal has jointly launched the Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program (NEHEP) in collaboration with the World Bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 28: The Government of Nepal has jointly launched the Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program (NEHEP) in collaboration with the World Bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Issuing a recent statement, the World Bank said that the programme was jointly launched on October 26 by the University Grants Commission under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, and the World Bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the statement, the five-year program aims to improve the quality and labor market relevance of Nepal’s higher education, scale up collaborative research and online learning, and expand access to academic institutions for underprivileged and vulnerable students from disadvantages areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Investing in human capital from early childhood to higher education is key to helping young people in Nepal realize their development potential,” the statement quoted Education Secretary Ram Prasad Thapaliya as saying. “This program will help strengthen the higher education sector in collaboration with industries and ensure students across Nepal including those from disadvantaged groups have access to quality higher education.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program builds on the success of earlier higher education projects in Nepal to align its higher education sector with labor market needs, boost collaborative research and entrepreneurship, improve governance, and enhance access to quality higher education in general and especially for disadvantaged students. The COVID-19 pandemic has created strong incentives to expand online platforms and blended learning, which the program will help scale up across all universities in Nepal, the World Bank said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The program will also expand targeted scholarships to disadvantaged students to pursue labor market-driven academic programs and support equity grants to higher education institutions in needy and disaster-affected areas in Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“By improving access of students, especially those from disadvantaged communities, to quality higher education and skills that are in demand in the labor market, this program will support Nepal’s COVID-19 recovery,” said Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank's country director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. “This is critical as the country forges efforts towards green, resilient, and inclusive development, which the World Bank is committed to support.”</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-28', 'modified' => '2021-10-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13946', 'image' => '20211028083803_WB.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-28 08:35:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14200', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Fixes New Electricity Tariff Targeting Low-Income Groups', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 28: The Electricity Regulatory Commission has determined new power tariff taking into consideration the welfare of the poor and low income class.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 28: The Electricity Regulatory Commission has determined new power tariff taking into consideration the welfare of the poor and low income class. </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 newly determined tariff, however, would been implemented only from mid-December, according to the state-owned national news agency RSS. The new tariff of electricity will be based on the consumption of electricity in the month of Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December). So, the consumers will have to pay the new tariff in the bill of the next month. </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 household consumers from poor community would not be imposed electricity tariff for five to 20 units, but a minimum amount of Rs 30 would be charge instead, according to chief commissioner Dilli Bahadur Singh. He said that the tariff for the household class was slashed by an average of 2.8 per cent in a bid to increase the household use of electricity and ensure appropriate price of power. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a news conference organized on Wednesday (October 28), Singh shared that the new power tariff was determined after a detailed study, discussion, analysis, public hearing, and consultation with stakeholders and their inputs. </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 number of electricity consumers in the country currently stands at 4.9 million while there are 1.9 million consumers who consume less than 20 units of electricity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Commission, the minimum charges for households consuming 151 to 250 units of electricity per month using using five ampere, 15 ampere and 30 ampere under single phase have been determined at Rs 100, Rs 125 and Rs 150 respectively. It is Rs 25 less that the existing rate. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, households consuming electricity of more than 400 units per month from single phase supply using five ampere, 15 ampere, 30 ampere and 60 ampere will have to pay Rs 150, Rs 175, Rs 200 and Rs 250 respectively. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-28', 'modified' => '2021-10-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13945', 'image' => '20211028080851_financial-viability-electricity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-28 08:08:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14199', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Online Application for Driving License Finally Resumes after 6 Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: Online application for driver's license has finally opened.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: Online application for driver's license has finally opened. The Department of Transport Management opened the online application from 5 pm on Monday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Department informed that preparations had been made to open the online application of driving license at 12 noon. “But, Madras Security Printers has the key to our system, so it took time to coordinate with them,” said an official of the department. Since the Madras Security Printers has the contract to print smart licenses, the department needed to coordinate with the system servers of the company. The department also informed that the online application could be submitted from all over the country.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Both the online application and the trial exams were suspended due to the prohibitory order issued on April 29 to stop the spread of the Covid-19 infection. The online application was not opened even though the trial resumed before the festival of Dashain. The department refused to open the online application saying that there were a large number of backlogs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department made the online application unlimited but many did not get the opportunity due to the limited number of trial centers present. About 700,000 applicants are waiting for the trial exams. The department has informed that the exams would be taken only after finalizing the quota.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Altogether 5,000 people from 21 offices across the country will be able to take the test daily as per the department. Quotas have been allotted according to the office. For example, the Transport Office Ekantakuna has given trials to 400 people including 130 motorcycles, 60 scooters, 130 four-wheelers and heavy vehicles. As a result, if an online application is submitted now, the applicant has to wait for at least 5 to 6 months for the trial.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13944', 'image' => '20211027013904_20210214015324_20191031104655_1572426091.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 13:38:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14198', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tihar Lifts Business of Dry Fruits ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: With only a week left for the festival of Tihar to start, the business of dry fruits has skyrocketed. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: With only a week left for the festival of Tihar to start, the business of dry fruits has skyrocketed. According to traders, the trade of dry fruits such as cashew nuts, almonds, pistachio, coconut, walnut and dates has increased by about 10 percent this year as compared to the previous year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Amul Kaji Tuladhar, general secretary of Nepal Retailers Association, said that the trade of dry fruits could not take place significantly last year due to the threat of Covid-19 pandemic. However, this year the trade has increased due to the decline in cases of Covid-19. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the traders, dry fruits worth Rs 600 million are traded in Nepal during Tihar alone. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">This time, the price of dry fruits has also increased. According to the association, the price of dates has increased from Rs 115 to Rs 250 per kg. The price of raisins has gone up by Rs 50 per kg from Rs 400 to Rs 450. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, the price of cashew has gone up by Rs 100 per kg from Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,600 as compared to the previous year. Similarly, the price of figs has also increased by Rs 50 to Rs 1,550. The price of betel nut has gone up by Rs 400 per kg as the government had banned its import earlier. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nevertheless, the price of some products is found to have decreased. The biggest drop in prices is seen in cardamom. The price of cardamom has decreased by Rs 2,000 per kg from Rs 5,000 to Rs 3,000 per kg. The price of walnut has also decreased by Rs 50 per kg from Rs 600 to Rs 550 per kg. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As the festival approaches, the number of consumers buying such items in the market is also increasing. Currently, the main business centers of Kathmandu like Asan, Indrachowk, New Road, Khichapokhari and other places are crowded with customers who are busy shopping for the festival. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13943', 'image' => '20211027013024_1635291377.Clipboard04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 13:29:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14197', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Hill Districts of Far Western Nepal Facing Shortage of Drugs', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: Hill districts in the Far Western Province of Nepal have been facing shortage of medicines since a week. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 27: Hill districts in the Far Western Province of Nepal have been facing shortage of medicines since a week. The shortage has surfaced as the supply of essential drugs to Doti, Achham and Bajura have been halted due to the disruption in transport facility triggered by the recent floods and landslides. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Suduar Paschim Province Health Directorate, Dipayal Rajpur confirmed that the obstructions of roadways at several locations have hampered the drug supplies to the hill districts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">District Hospital Doti’s doctor Prakash Thakulla also confirmed the scarcity of medicines in the district. According to him, the hospital pharmacy is running out of stock and private suppliers have also reported shortage. The situation would turn worse if the supplies cannot be restored within a day or two, he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 50-bed Soo-jung Hospital Rajpur reports that the existing stock is hardly sufficient for the next two days. It is said local level here are also struggling with the short supply of general medicines. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Bogatan-Phudsil rural municipality chair Kamal Bahadur Gadsila said they are also facing shortage of essential drugs. According to health professionals, the scarcity of drugs mainly for the control of water-borne diseases and those prescribed for chronic diseases has surfaced in the hill districts following the recent natural disasters. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13942', 'image' => '20211027012500_20200224094248_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 13:24:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14196', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAAN Preparing Calibration Flight at Gautam Buddha International Airport ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to sign an agreement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to operate calibration flights at Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to sign an agreement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to operate calibration flights at Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa. The board meeting of CAAN wrote to AAI on Monday requesting approval for the calibration flight. The agreement will be signed within the next ten days.</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"">Newly appointed Director-General of CAAN Rajkumar Chhetri informed that the board meeting of CAAN held last Thursday took a decision to this effect.</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"">"A letter has been sent to India. The decision was taken at Thursday's meeting and sent to the concerned body of India on Monday. The AAI will sign an agreement with CAAN in 8-10 days," 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"">The calibration flight is operated to check the runway, lighting system, air communication, tower communication, landing, and the radars. After completing the calibration flight successfully, Gautam Buddha International Airport will be ready to serve as an alternative to Tribhuvan International Airport. </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"">CAAN decided to sign the agreement with AAI after canceling the calibration flight agreement with Thai Aero.</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"">Chhetri said that he aims to bid farewell to CAAN after the making the Gautam Buddha International Airport operational. He added that priority has been given for upgrading various other airports including Pokhara International Airport that are in the final stage of construction. </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"">CAAN's budget for the current fiscal year 2078/79 has not been passed. This year, the authority had proposed a budget of Rs 41.76 billion.</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"">Director General Chhetri said that the CAAN board meeting to be held on December 28 would pass the budget. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13941', 'image' => '20211027121932_1635291329.Clipboard10.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 12:18:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14195', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Investment Board, FNCCI Discuss Collaboration to Attract Foreign Investment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: The Investment Board has been discussing with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) about possible collaboration to attract foreign investment in Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: The Investment Board has been discussing with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) about possible collaboration to attract foreign investment in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">CEO of the Investment Board, Sushil Bhatta and FNCCI President, Shekhar Golchha expressed their commitment for collaboration during meeting held on Tuesday (October 26).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhatta expressed that the board has been working on improving of their policies for cooperating with the private sector in order to attract more investments into Nepal. He also emphasized on conducting a thorough study on different aspects before the collaboration.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, FNCCI President Golchha stated that the federation is a responsible and capable body for carrying out discussions and coordination with domestic as well as the foreign private investors. He emphasized on the need to work together with the Investment Board in order to increase exposure and attract foreign investors to Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the meeting, Dr Narayan Regmi, the joint secretary at the Ministry of Industries, Commerce and Supply highlighted the big difference in commitment and the achievement in actual investment in Nepal and stressed on the need for a study regarding this matter. He also assured that the ministry is always dedicated towards improving policies and other issues to attract foreign investments into the country.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13940', 'image' => '20211027115530_20210623122152_20210115025352_20160222122813_ep3.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 11:54:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14194', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cabinet Approves Work Procedure to Distribute Rs 10,000 to Poor Families Affected by COVID-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: The Council of Ministers has approved the work procedure to distribute Rs 10,000 each to the families affected by Covid-19.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: The Council of Ministers has approved the work procedure to distribute Rs 10,000 each to the families affected by Covid-19. The work procedure prepared by the Ministry of Finance has been approved by the recent cabinet meeting.</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"">Replacing the ordinance budget of the current fiscal Year 2078/79, the new budget presented by the incumbent government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, had announced to distribute Rs 5 billion to the poor families hit by COVID-19 pandemic. </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 cabinet has approved the amended work procedure submitted by MoF. Earlier, the cabinet was reluctant to approve the work procedure as it could not define the exact number of poor households and what kind of poor families would receive the relief package. </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"">Government Spokesperson Gyanendra Bahadur Karki informed that the cabinet has decided to approve the work procedure 2078 to distribute cash relief packages to the poor families affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It has now paved the way for the government to distribute Rs 5 billion to 500,000 families. The government is relying on the studies conducted by the National Planning Commission for distributing this relief amount. According to the study, five million people are below the multidimensional poverty line in the country. The work procedure has been prepared considering at least five members in a family, with the objective to reach 2.5 million people of 500,000 households.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has planned to provide the cash amount to the poor family members in their respective bank accounts after completing the process while the families without bank accounts will be provided cash through the respective local bodies. </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"">Two neighbors of the poor family have to recommend that the family is poor and the concerned ward chairperson has to certify the recommendation. Then the family will receive Rs 10,000 each from the government. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13939', 'image' => '20211027113906_Nepal-MPI-04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 11:38:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14193', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Extends Business Continuity Loan of Rs 1 Billion to COVID-19 Affected Industries ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: Nepal Rastra Bank has so far provided loans worth Rs 1 billion to the tourism and cottage industries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in order to pay the workers' salary. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 27: Nepal Rastra Bank has so far provided loans worth Rs 1 billion to the tourism and cottage industries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in order to pay the workers' salary. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Nepal Rastra Bank confirmed that the business continuity loan has been extended to the COVID-19 affected tourism, cottage, small and medium industries for payment of salaries to workers and employees in line with 'Business Continuity Loan Procedure, 2077'. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Under this provision, Rs 1 billion loan has been approved as of mid-September, the central bank stated in the ‘Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of Nepal issued on Monday. </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""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Untitled%283%29.jpg" style="height:260px; width:593px" /> </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that the government has implemented special provisions to provide economic relief to the tourism industry as well as small and medium-scale industries that have been severely affected by the pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Successive governments had announced special relief for the COVID-19 –affected areas in the budget for the previous fiscal year and the current fiscal year. The central bank has incorporated the special policy provisions in favour of businesses and enterprises in the monetary policy since last year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the size of outstanding amount of refinance provided by NRB in mid-September 2021 is Rs 118.85 billion. As of mid-September, the outstanding concessional loan of Rs 187.16 billion has been extended to 1, 20,715 borrowers of which Rs 121.06 billion has been extended to 51,272 borrowers for selected commercial agriculture and livestock businesses followed by Rs 62.37 billion to 66,690 women entrepreneurs. A total of 2,753 borrowers have been provided with Rs 3.73 billion concessional loan to other sectors, according to the NRB. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13938', 'image' => '20211027082731_2021Business Bank Loans.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 08:26:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14192', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Minister Pledges to Revitalize Nepal Airlines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale has pledged to revitalize the national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines Corporation. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 27: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale has pledged to revitalize the national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines Corporation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a programme organized by the Nepal Tourism Board to welcome and congratulate the minister on Tuesday, he reportedly said that the ministry would take crucial decisions to that end. The minister added that the executive chairperson of Nepal Airlines has already been appointed. </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 incumbent government would not repeat the mistakes made by the erstwhile government regarding the management and operation of the aviation sector. The previous government had worked in collusion with the private airline companies to nurture them by limiting the scope of NAC. Our government would never allow such tendency to rise,” the state-owned national news agency RSS quoted Minister Ale as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, Minister Ale also expressed his confidence that new programmes would be put in place to collaborate with the private sector to revitalize the tourism industry has has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Tourism Secretary Yadav Prasad Koirala said that concrete results related to the development of tourism sector have not been visible due to the lack of tourism policy and inter-ministerial coordination. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13937', 'image' => '20211027080509_20191031120033_1572142676.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 08:04:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14191', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Fixes New Criteria to Reduce Unnecessary Expenses', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: The government has fixed a new criteria to reduce unnecessary expenses under its austerity measures.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 26: The government has fixed a new criteria to reduce unnecessary expenses under its austerity measures.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As per the recent cabinet meeting, the government bodies will not be allowed to purchase any new four-wheeler except for health service and election-related works either with funds provided by the government, foreign aid or using loans. The government has adopted a policy to repair the existing four-wheelers as part of its austerity measures. Any vehicle that is older than 20 years and of no use to the government must be mandatorily auctioned, as per the government’s decision.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government has also decided to tighten internal visits as well as foreign trips of civil servants and ministers. According to the latest decision, government officials will not be allowed to utilize resources and funds from the state coffers to attend foreign programmes at the invitation of non-governmental organisations. However, officials can make foreign trip for essential purpose under the preconditions set by the finance ministry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Likewise, office bearers of public bodies cannot make foreign visits sponsored by construction entrepreneurs or the consultants. Similarly, the government has provisioned not more than three persons of any public office to visit foreign countries for official work. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Government officials need to take permission from the concerned secretaries or the chief district officers to use government vehicles during public holidays. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government has also decided not to spend money on unnecessary advertisements. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13936', 'image' => '20211026021019_new_logo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 14:09:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14190', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Report Shows no Improvement in Economic Indicators', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: By mid-August, the second month of the current fiscal year, various economic indicators have remained negative. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 26: By mid-August, the second month of the current fiscal year, various economic indicators have remained negative. The indicators seemed negative since the first month of the current fiscal year and the trend has got continuity in August.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the latest report on the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of the country released by Nepal Rastra Bank on Monday, indicators such as balance of payments, foreign exchange reserves, current account, foreign trade, and remittance inflows have shown negative signs in August.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The balance of payments and current account deficit have widened further in August, while the decline in foreign exchange reserves has continued. The decline in remittance inflows also seems to have continued. At the same time, the foreign trade deficit has skyrocketed. As a result, the report confirms that there are still no signs of recovery in the economy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The current account deficit was Rs 47.90 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year and grew to 106.75 billion during the review period. Similarly, the balance of payments was Rs 38.75 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year and has increased to Rs 83.41 billion during the review period. Thus, the current account deficit and balance of payments have skyrocketed within a month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves have also declined. Last July, foreign exchange reserves, which stood at Rs 1,353.82 billion, declined to Rs 136.95 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. As a result, Nepal's capacity to support goods and imports has also declined, says NRB spokesperson Dev Kumar Dhakal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A large number of goods and services have been imported in August, especially due to festivals. As imports increase, payments in foreign currency also increase automatically. However, the foreign exchange could not be earned during that period through remittances. As a result, foreign exchange reserves have declined, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"It simply came to our notice then. Due to the festival, imports have also been high in September. However, the NRB has not yet received the figures. Therefore, it is necessary to do something immediately in collaboration with the government on issues including imports. We will move forward immediately,” he shared.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the trade deficit increased by 70.8 percent to Rs 270.48 billion during the review period. Such a deficit had decreased by 24.9 percent to Rs 158.40 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year..</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Spokesperson Dhakal says that the current state of the overall economy is not so satisfactory. He also said that it was not possible to say for sure when the economy would recover.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He says there has been some improvement in the financial sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Deposit collection and credit flow of banks have increased during the review period. It should be taken positively,” he said, adding, “But the growth rate of credit flow is higher than the collection of deposits.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Deposits in banks and financial institutions increased by 0.7 percent during the review period. Credit flow increased by 5.7 percent, the report said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the consumer price inflation, which stood at 4.35 percent in July, has come down to 3.49 percent in August. Such inflation was 4.52 percent in August last year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Food and beverage inflation stood at 2.57 percent whereas non-food and service inflation stood at 4.22 percent in the review month. The price of ghee and oil, meat and fish, nonalcoholic drinks, tobacco products and transportation sub-categories rose 28.91 percent, 10.66 percent, 10.25 percent, 9.99 percent and 9.92 respectively on y-o-y basis. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the review month, the Kathmandu Valley, Terai, Hill and Mountain witnessed 3.23 percent, 3.65 percent, 3.96 percent and 3.51 percent inflation respectively. Inflation in these regions was 3.66 percent, 4.71 percent, 4.73 percent and 4.51 percent respectively a year ago, the report states.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13935', 'image' => '20211026014649_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 13:46:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14189', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Trade Deficit Increases Despite Improvement in Export', 'sub_title' => 'Out of Rs 543 billion foreign trade, Nepal exports goods and services worth Rs 65 billion', 'summary' => 'October 26: In the first three months of the current Fiscal Year 2078/79, Nepal's foreign trade totaled to Rs. 545.57 billion. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 26: In the first three months of the current Fiscal Year 2078/79, Nepal's foreign trade totaled to Rs. 545.57 billion. Nepal has imported goods worth Rs 478.52 billion in the last three months.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to data released by the Department of Customs on Monday, foreign trade has increased in the first three months of the current fiscal year as compared to that of last year. Total foreign trade has increased by 68.13 percent. During the corresponding period of last year, the total trade of Nepal was worth Rs 323.31 billion.</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"">Data show an increase in exports this fiscal year. Goods and services worth Rs 65.05 billion have been exported from Nepal. Nepal exported goods worth Rs 31.04 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. Exports have increased by 109.54 percent compared to that of last fiscal year 2077/78.</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"">Trade deficit shows an increase of 58 percent in the review period. According to the department, the trade deficit in the first quarter of the current fiscal stood at Rs. Rs. 413 billion. In the corresponding period of the previous year, the deficit was just Rs 261 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the first three months of the current fiscal year, soybean oil worth Rs 22.02 billion has been exported. Similarly, palm oil worth Rs 4.85 billion has also been exported from 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"">In the first quarter of the current fiscal, carpets and textiles worth Rs 2.45 billion have been exported. Nepal has imported more petroleum products, steel and machinery parts during this period. As of September this year, Nepal has imported petrol worth Rs 12.86 billion and diesel worth Rs 23.32 billion. Nepal has also imported food items worth Rs 17 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the first month of the current fiscal year, Nepal's total foreign trade was Rs 171 billion. During the same period Nepal imported goods worth Rs 20.76 billion and spent Rs 150 billion on exports.</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"">From mid-August to mid-September alone, the total foreign trade was Rs 358 billion. Compared to last year, Nepal's export status has improved in the current fiscal year. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13934', 'image' => '20211026125527_Foreign Trade.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 12:54:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14188', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Domestic Tourists ‘Attracted’ towards Paragliding', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: Paragliding has drawn the attention of domestic tourists in Pokhara with the gradual rise in the mobility of people during the festive season. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 26: Paragliding has drawn the attention of domestic tourists in Pokhara with the gradual rise in the mobility of people during the festive season. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chairperson of Nepal Air Sports Association Krishna Bhandari informed that most of the tourists visiting Pokhara during the festivals of Dashain and Tihar preferred paragliding. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The number of people enjoying paragliding has increased in Pokhara with the rise in the arrival of domestic tourists amid declining cases of coronavirus. “The inflow of domestic tourists has excited paragliding entrepreneurs,” he shared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chairperson of Paragliding Flight Club Bimal Pahari said around 400 flights had taken place every day during Dashain vacation and now the number of daily flights has reduced to 150. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“Increasing attraction of domestic tourists towards adventurous sports has also rekindled the hope of entrepreneurs to sustain paragliding service,” he further said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There are 338 paragliding pilots who have obtained paragliding license from the Air Sports Organization. Twelve out of them are women. As many as 60 paragliding companies are providing service in Pokhara. The sector has a total investment of Rs 1 billion. People can enjoy paragliding for Rs 6,000. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Proprietor of Himalaya Sky Adventure Paragliding Company Madhav Tiwari said paragliding services are being delivered taking into consideration the ‘safety’ and ‘security’ measures. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13933', 'image' => '20211026124400_20180204014556_g.pagespeed.ic.vNbv99l9mh.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 12:43:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14187', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Floods Damage 325,000 Tons of Paddy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: Floods and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall last week have damaged 325,000 metric tons of paddy in all the seven provinces.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 26: Floods and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall last week have damaged 325,000 metric tons of paddy in all the seven provinces. According to the details made public by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, a total of 325,258 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 8.268 billion have been damaged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Earlier, the ministry had released a preliminary data of only three provinces, including Province 1, Lumbini and the Far-West, in which it was estimated that more than 258,000 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 7.22 billion had been damaged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the latest data provided by the ministry, 28,469 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 800 million have been damaged in three districts of Province 1, including Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari. The floods have affected 49,945 hectares of paddy fields in these three districts. Out of that, paddy planted in 7,492 hectares of land have been completely damaged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In Saptari, Siraha and Sarlahi districts of Province 2, a total of 20,350 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 560 million has been damaged. The floods have affected paddy planted in 48,684 hectares of land and completely damaged the crop planted in 5,355 hectares of land. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The lowest damage has been reported in Bagmati Province. A total of 7,500 hectares of paddy fields in Chitwan and Nuwakot districts have been affected by the floods. Out of that, paddy planted in 530 hectares of land have been completely damaged. According to the ministry, 2,068 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 58 million have been damaged in those districts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Districts like Bardiya, Kapilvastu, Banke and Rupandehi of Lumbini Province sustained maximum loss to paddy from the recent floods. Altogether 161,223 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 4.51 billion have been damaged in the province. The floods have affected 93,576 hectares of paddy fields in the province while paddy planted in 42,427 hectares of lands have been completely damaged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, 4,530 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 130 million were damaged in Gandaki Province, 40,219 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 300 million in Karnali Province and 68,400 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 1.91 billion in Far-Western Province. The floods have affected Syangja and Kaski in Gandaki, Dolpa, Jumla, Salyan and Surkhet in Karnali and Kailali and Kanchanpur districts in the far west. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Ministry, Prakash Kumar Sanjel, informed that the Ministry has formed working groups in all provinces to coordinate and facilitate the data collection at the provincial level. According to him, a meeting of agriculture ministers and agriculture secretaries of all the provinces is being held at the ministry on Tuesday (October 26) to assess the extent of damage and provide relief. He said that a decision to provide relief to the affected farmers would be taken after the details of the complete damage would be ascertained after the meeting. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13932', 'image' => '20211026113449_20210512035550_20181125011444_pady-1024x682.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 11:34:09', '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' => '14201', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Launches Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program in Collaboration with World Ban', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 28: The Government of Nepal has jointly launched the Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program (NEHEP) in collaboration with the World Bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 28: The Government of Nepal has jointly launched the Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program (NEHEP) in collaboration with the World Bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Issuing a recent statement, the World Bank said that the programme was jointly launched on October 26 by the University Grants Commission under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, and the World Bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the statement, the five-year program aims to improve the quality and labor market relevance of Nepal’s higher education, scale up collaborative research and online learning, and expand access to academic institutions for underprivileged and vulnerable students from disadvantages areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Investing in human capital from early childhood to higher education is key to helping young people in Nepal realize their development potential,” the statement quoted Education Secretary Ram Prasad Thapaliya as saying. “This program will help strengthen the higher education sector in collaboration with industries and ensure students across Nepal including those from disadvantaged groups have access to quality higher education.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program builds on the success of earlier higher education projects in Nepal to align its higher education sector with labor market needs, boost collaborative research and entrepreneurship, improve governance, and enhance access to quality higher education in general and especially for disadvantaged students. The COVID-19 pandemic has created strong incentives to expand online platforms and blended learning, which the program will help scale up across all universities in Nepal, the World Bank said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The program will also expand targeted scholarships to disadvantaged students to pursue labor market-driven academic programs and support equity grants to higher education institutions in needy and disaster-affected areas in Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“By improving access of students, especially those from disadvantaged communities, to quality higher education and skills that are in demand in the labor market, this program will support Nepal’s COVID-19 recovery,” said Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank's country director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. “This is critical as the country forges efforts towards green, resilient, and inclusive development, which the World Bank is committed to support.”</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-28', 'modified' => '2021-10-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13946', 'image' => '20211028083803_WB.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-28 08:35:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14200', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Fixes New Electricity Tariff Targeting Low-Income Groups', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 28: The Electricity Regulatory Commission has determined new power tariff taking into consideration the welfare of the poor and low income class.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 28: The Electricity Regulatory Commission has determined new power tariff taking into consideration the welfare of the poor and low income class. </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 newly determined tariff, however, would been implemented only from mid-December, according to the state-owned national news agency RSS. The new tariff of electricity will be based on the consumption of electricity in the month of Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December). So, the consumers will have to pay the new tariff in the bill of the next month. </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 household consumers from poor community would not be imposed electricity tariff for five to 20 units, but a minimum amount of Rs 30 would be charge instead, according to chief commissioner Dilli Bahadur Singh. He said that the tariff for the household class was slashed by an average of 2.8 per cent in a bid to increase the household use of electricity and ensure appropriate price of power. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a news conference organized on Wednesday (October 28), Singh shared that the new power tariff was determined after a detailed study, discussion, analysis, public hearing, and consultation with stakeholders and their inputs. </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 number of electricity consumers in the country currently stands at 4.9 million while there are 1.9 million consumers who consume less than 20 units of electricity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Commission, the minimum charges for households consuming 151 to 250 units of electricity per month using using five ampere, 15 ampere and 30 ampere under single phase have been determined at Rs 100, Rs 125 and Rs 150 respectively. It is Rs 25 less that the existing rate. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, households consuming electricity of more than 400 units per month from single phase supply using five ampere, 15 ampere, 30 ampere and 60 ampere will have to pay Rs 150, Rs 175, Rs 200 and Rs 250 respectively. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-28', 'modified' => '2021-10-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13945', 'image' => '20211028080851_financial-viability-electricity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-28 08:08:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14199', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Online Application for Driving License Finally Resumes after 6 Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: Online application for driver's license has finally opened.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: Online application for driver's license has finally opened. The Department of Transport Management opened the online application from 5 pm on Monday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Department informed that preparations had been made to open the online application of driving license at 12 noon. “But, Madras Security Printers has the key to our system, so it took time to coordinate with them,” said an official of the department. Since the Madras Security Printers has the contract to print smart licenses, the department needed to coordinate with the system servers of the company. The department also informed that the online application could be submitted from all over the country.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Both the online application and the trial exams were suspended due to the prohibitory order issued on April 29 to stop the spread of the Covid-19 infection. The online application was not opened even though the trial resumed before the festival of Dashain. The department refused to open the online application saying that there were a large number of backlogs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department made the online application unlimited but many did not get the opportunity due to the limited number of trial centers present. About 700,000 applicants are waiting for the trial exams. The department has informed that the exams would be taken only after finalizing the quota.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Altogether 5,000 people from 21 offices across the country will be able to take the test daily as per the department. Quotas have been allotted according to the office. For example, the Transport Office Ekantakuna has given trials to 400 people including 130 motorcycles, 60 scooters, 130 four-wheelers and heavy vehicles. As a result, if an online application is submitted now, the applicant has to wait for at least 5 to 6 months for the trial.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13944', 'image' => '20211027013904_20210214015324_20191031104655_1572426091.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 13:38:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14198', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tihar Lifts Business of Dry Fruits ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: With only a week left for the festival of Tihar to start, the business of dry fruits has skyrocketed. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: With only a week left for the festival of Tihar to start, the business of dry fruits has skyrocketed. According to traders, the trade of dry fruits such as cashew nuts, almonds, pistachio, coconut, walnut and dates has increased by about 10 percent this year as compared to the previous year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Amul Kaji Tuladhar, general secretary of Nepal Retailers Association, said that the trade of dry fruits could not take place significantly last year due to the threat of Covid-19 pandemic. However, this year the trade has increased due to the decline in cases of Covid-19. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the traders, dry fruits worth Rs 600 million are traded in Nepal during Tihar alone. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">This time, the price of dry fruits has also increased. According to the association, the price of dates has increased from Rs 115 to Rs 250 per kg. The price of raisins has gone up by Rs 50 per kg from Rs 400 to Rs 450. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, the price of cashew has gone up by Rs 100 per kg from Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,600 as compared to the previous year. Similarly, the price of figs has also increased by Rs 50 to Rs 1,550. The price of betel nut has gone up by Rs 400 per kg as the government had banned its import earlier. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nevertheless, the price of some products is found to have decreased. The biggest drop in prices is seen in cardamom. The price of cardamom has decreased by Rs 2,000 per kg from Rs 5,000 to Rs 3,000 per kg. The price of walnut has also decreased by Rs 50 per kg from Rs 600 to Rs 550 per kg. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As the festival approaches, the number of consumers buying such items in the market is also increasing. Currently, the main business centers of Kathmandu like Asan, Indrachowk, New Road, Khichapokhari and other places are crowded with customers who are busy shopping for the festival. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13943', 'image' => '20211027013024_1635291377.Clipboard04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 13:29:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14197', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Hill Districts of Far Western Nepal Facing Shortage of Drugs', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: Hill districts in the Far Western Province of Nepal have been facing shortage of medicines since a week. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 27: Hill districts in the Far Western Province of Nepal have been facing shortage of medicines since a week. The shortage has surfaced as the supply of essential drugs to Doti, Achham and Bajura have been halted due to the disruption in transport facility triggered by the recent floods and landslides. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Suduar Paschim Province Health Directorate, Dipayal Rajpur confirmed that the obstructions of roadways at several locations have hampered the drug supplies to the hill districts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">District Hospital Doti’s doctor Prakash Thakulla also confirmed the scarcity of medicines in the district. According to him, the hospital pharmacy is running out of stock and private suppliers have also reported shortage. The situation would turn worse if the supplies cannot be restored within a day or two, he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 50-bed Soo-jung Hospital Rajpur reports that the existing stock is hardly sufficient for the next two days. It is said local level here are also struggling with the short supply of general medicines. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Bogatan-Phudsil rural municipality chair Kamal Bahadur Gadsila said they are also facing shortage of essential drugs. According to health professionals, the scarcity of drugs mainly for the control of water-borne diseases and those prescribed for chronic diseases has surfaced in the hill districts following the recent natural disasters. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13942', 'image' => '20211027012500_20200224094248_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 13:24:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14196', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAAN Preparing Calibration Flight at Gautam Buddha International Airport ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to sign an agreement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to operate calibration flights at Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to sign an agreement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to operate calibration flights at Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa. The board meeting of CAAN wrote to AAI on Monday requesting approval for the calibration flight. The agreement will be signed within the next ten days.</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"">Newly appointed Director-General of CAAN Rajkumar Chhetri informed that the board meeting of CAAN held last Thursday took a decision to this effect.</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"">"A letter has been sent to India. The decision was taken at Thursday's meeting and sent to the concerned body of India on Monday. The AAI will sign an agreement with CAAN in 8-10 days," 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"">The calibration flight is operated to check the runway, lighting system, air communication, tower communication, landing, and the radars. After completing the calibration flight successfully, Gautam Buddha International Airport will be ready to serve as an alternative to Tribhuvan International Airport. </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"">CAAN decided to sign the agreement with AAI after canceling the calibration flight agreement with Thai Aero.</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"">Chhetri said that he aims to bid farewell to CAAN after the making the Gautam Buddha International Airport operational. He added that priority has been given for upgrading various other airports including Pokhara International Airport that are in the final stage of construction. </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"">CAAN's budget for the current fiscal year 2078/79 has not been passed. This year, the authority had proposed a budget of Rs 41.76 billion.</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"">Director General Chhetri said that the CAAN board meeting to be held on December 28 would pass the budget. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13941', 'image' => '20211027121932_1635291329.Clipboard10.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 12:18:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14195', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Investment Board, FNCCI Discuss Collaboration to Attract Foreign Investment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: The Investment Board has been discussing with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) about possible collaboration to attract foreign investment in Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: The Investment Board has been discussing with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) about possible collaboration to attract foreign investment in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">CEO of the Investment Board, Sushil Bhatta and FNCCI President, Shekhar Golchha expressed their commitment for collaboration during meeting held on Tuesday (October 26).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhatta expressed that the board has been working on improving of their policies for cooperating with the private sector in order to attract more investments into Nepal. He also emphasized on conducting a thorough study on different aspects before the collaboration.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, FNCCI President Golchha stated that the federation is a responsible and capable body for carrying out discussions and coordination with domestic as well as the foreign private investors. He emphasized on the need to work together with the Investment Board in order to increase exposure and attract foreign investors to Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the meeting, Dr Narayan Regmi, the joint secretary at the Ministry of Industries, Commerce and Supply highlighted the big difference in commitment and the achievement in actual investment in Nepal and stressed on the need for a study regarding this matter. He also assured that the ministry is always dedicated towards improving policies and other issues to attract foreign investments into the country.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13940', 'image' => '20211027115530_20210623122152_20210115025352_20160222122813_ep3.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 11:54:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14194', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cabinet Approves Work Procedure to Distribute Rs 10,000 to Poor Families Affected by COVID-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: The Council of Ministers has approved the work procedure to distribute Rs 10,000 each to the families affected by Covid-19.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: The Council of Ministers has approved the work procedure to distribute Rs 10,000 each to the families affected by Covid-19. The work procedure prepared by the Ministry of Finance has been approved by the recent cabinet meeting.</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"">Replacing the ordinance budget of the current fiscal Year 2078/79, the new budget presented by the incumbent government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, had announced to distribute Rs 5 billion to the poor families hit by COVID-19 pandemic. </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 cabinet has approved the amended work procedure submitted by MoF. Earlier, the cabinet was reluctant to approve the work procedure as it could not define the exact number of poor households and what kind of poor families would receive the relief package. </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"">Government Spokesperson Gyanendra Bahadur Karki informed that the cabinet has decided to approve the work procedure 2078 to distribute cash relief packages to the poor families affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It has now paved the way for the government to distribute Rs 5 billion to 500,000 families. The government is relying on the studies conducted by the National Planning Commission for distributing this relief amount. According to the study, five million people are below the multidimensional poverty line in the country. The work procedure has been prepared considering at least five members in a family, with the objective to reach 2.5 million people of 500,000 households.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has planned to provide the cash amount to the poor family members in their respective bank accounts after completing the process while the families without bank accounts will be provided cash through the respective local bodies. </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"">Two neighbors of the poor family have to recommend that the family is poor and the concerned ward chairperson has to certify the recommendation. Then the family will receive Rs 10,000 each from the government. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13939', 'image' => '20211027113906_Nepal-MPI-04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 11:38:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14193', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Extends Business Continuity Loan of Rs 1 Billion to COVID-19 Affected Industries ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: Nepal Rastra Bank has so far provided loans worth Rs 1 billion to the tourism and cottage industries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in order to pay the workers' salary. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 27: Nepal Rastra Bank has so far provided loans worth Rs 1 billion to the tourism and cottage industries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in order to pay the workers' salary. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Nepal Rastra Bank confirmed that the business continuity loan has been extended to the COVID-19 affected tourism, cottage, small and medium industries for payment of salaries to workers and employees in line with 'Business Continuity Loan Procedure, 2077'. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Under this provision, Rs 1 billion loan has been approved as of mid-September, the central bank stated in the ‘Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of Nepal issued on Monday. </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""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Untitled%283%29.jpg" style="height:260px; width:593px" /> </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that the government has implemented special provisions to provide economic relief to the tourism industry as well as small and medium-scale industries that have been severely affected by the pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Successive governments had announced special relief for the COVID-19 –affected areas in the budget for the previous fiscal year and the current fiscal year. The central bank has incorporated the special policy provisions in favour of businesses and enterprises in the monetary policy since last year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the size of outstanding amount of refinance provided by NRB in mid-September 2021 is Rs 118.85 billion. As of mid-September, the outstanding concessional loan of Rs 187.16 billion has been extended to 1, 20,715 borrowers of which Rs 121.06 billion has been extended to 51,272 borrowers for selected commercial agriculture and livestock businesses followed by Rs 62.37 billion to 66,690 women entrepreneurs. A total of 2,753 borrowers have been provided with Rs 3.73 billion concessional loan to other sectors, according to the NRB. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13938', 'image' => '20211027082731_2021Business Bank Loans.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 08:26:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14192', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Minister Pledges to Revitalize Nepal Airlines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale has pledged to revitalize the national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines Corporation. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 27: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale has pledged to revitalize the national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines Corporation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a programme organized by the Nepal Tourism Board to welcome and congratulate the minister on Tuesday, he reportedly said that the ministry would take crucial decisions to that end. The minister added that the executive chairperson of Nepal Airlines has already been appointed. </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 incumbent government would not repeat the mistakes made by the erstwhile government regarding the management and operation of the aviation sector. The previous government had worked in collusion with the private airline companies to nurture them by limiting the scope of NAC. Our government would never allow such tendency to rise,” the state-owned national news agency RSS quoted Minister Ale as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, Minister Ale also expressed his confidence that new programmes would be put in place to collaborate with the private sector to revitalize the tourism industry has has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Tourism Secretary Yadav Prasad Koirala said that concrete results related to the development of tourism sector have not been visible due to the lack of tourism policy and inter-ministerial coordination. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13937', 'image' => '20211027080509_20191031120033_1572142676.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 08:04:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14191', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Fixes New Criteria to Reduce Unnecessary Expenses', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: The government has fixed a new criteria to reduce unnecessary expenses under its austerity measures.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 26: The government has fixed a new criteria to reduce unnecessary expenses under its austerity measures.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As per the recent cabinet meeting, the government bodies will not be allowed to purchase any new four-wheeler except for health service and election-related works either with funds provided by the government, foreign aid or using loans. The government has adopted a policy to repair the existing four-wheelers as part of its austerity measures. Any vehicle that is older than 20 years and of no use to the government must be mandatorily auctioned, as per the government’s decision.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government has also decided to tighten internal visits as well as foreign trips of civil servants and ministers. According to the latest decision, government officials will not be allowed to utilize resources and funds from the state coffers to attend foreign programmes at the invitation of non-governmental organisations. However, officials can make foreign trip for essential purpose under the preconditions set by the finance ministry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Likewise, office bearers of public bodies cannot make foreign visits sponsored by construction entrepreneurs or the consultants. Similarly, the government has provisioned not more than three persons of any public office to visit foreign countries for official work. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Government officials need to take permission from the concerned secretaries or the chief district officers to use government vehicles during public holidays. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government has also decided not to spend money on unnecessary advertisements. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13936', 'image' => '20211026021019_new_logo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 14:09:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14190', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Report Shows no Improvement in Economic Indicators', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: By mid-August, the second month of the current fiscal year, various economic indicators have remained negative. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 26: By mid-August, the second month of the current fiscal year, various economic indicators have remained negative. The indicators seemed negative since the first month of the current fiscal year and the trend has got continuity in August.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the latest report on the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of the country released by Nepal Rastra Bank on Monday, indicators such as balance of payments, foreign exchange reserves, current account, foreign trade, and remittance inflows have shown negative signs in August.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The balance of payments and current account deficit have widened further in August, while the decline in foreign exchange reserves has continued. The decline in remittance inflows also seems to have continued. At the same time, the foreign trade deficit has skyrocketed. As a result, the report confirms that there are still no signs of recovery in the economy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The current account deficit was Rs 47.90 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year and grew to 106.75 billion during the review period. Similarly, the balance of payments was Rs 38.75 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year and has increased to Rs 83.41 billion during the review period. Thus, the current account deficit and balance of payments have skyrocketed within a month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves have also declined. Last July, foreign exchange reserves, which stood at Rs 1,353.82 billion, declined to Rs 136.95 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. As a result, Nepal's capacity to support goods and imports has also declined, says NRB spokesperson Dev Kumar Dhakal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A large number of goods and services have been imported in August, especially due to festivals. As imports increase, payments in foreign currency also increase automatically. However, the foreign exchange could not be earned during that period through remittances. As a result, foreign exchange reserves have declined, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"It simply came to our notice then. Due to the festival, imports have also been high in September. However, the NRB has not yet received the figures. Therefore, it is necessary to do something immediately in collaboration with the government on issues including imports. We will move forward immediately,” he shared.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the trade deficit increased by 70.8 percent to Rs 270.48 billion during the review period. Such a deficit had decreased by 24.9 percent to Rs 158.40 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year..</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Spokesperson Dhakal says that the current state of the overall economy is not so satisfactory. He also said that it was not possible to say for sure when the economy would recover.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He says there has been some improvement in the financial sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Deposit collection and credit flow of banks have increased during the review period. It should be taken positively,” he said, adding, “But the growth rate of credit flow is higher than the collection of deposits.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Deposits in banks and financial institutions increased by 0.7 percent during the review period. Credit flow increased by 5.7 percent, the report said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the consumer price inflation, which stood at 4.35 percent in July, has come down to 3.49 percent in August. Such inflation was 4.52 percent in August last year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Food and beverage inflation stood at 2.57 percent whereas non-food and service inflation stood at 4.22 percent in the review month. The price of ghee and oil, meat and fish, nonalcoholic drinks, tobacco products and transportation sub-categories rose 28.91 percent, 10.66 percent, 10.25 percent, 9.99 percent and 9.92 respectively on y-o-y basis. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the review month, the Kathmandu Valley, Terai, Hill and Mountain witnessed 3.23 percent, 3.65 percent, 3.96 percent and 3.51 percent inflation respectively. Inflation in these regions was 3.66 percent, 4.71 percent, 4.73 percent and 4.51 percent respectively a year ago, the report states.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13935', 'image' => '20211026014649_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 13:46:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14189', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Trade Deficit Increases Despite Improvement in Export', 'sub_title' => 'Out of Rs 543 billion foreign trade, Nepal exports goods and services worth Rs 65 billion', 'summary' => 'October 26: In the first three months of the current Fiscal Year 2078/79, Nepal's foreign trade totaled to Rs. 545.57 billion. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 26: In the first three months of the current Fiscal Year 2078/79, Nepal's foreign trade totaled to Rs. 545.57 billion. Nepal has imported goods worth Rs 478.52 billion in the last three months.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to data released by the Department of Customs on Monday, foreign trade has increased in the first three months of the current fiscal year as compared to that of last year. Total foreign trade has increased by 68.13 percent. During the corresponding period of last year, the total trade of Nepal was worth Rs 323.31 billion.</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"">Data show an increase in exports this fiscal year. Goods and services worth Rs 65.05 billion have been exported from Nepal. Nepal exported goods worth Rs 31.04 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. Exports have increased by 109.54 percent compared to that of last fiscal year 2077/78.</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"">Trade deficit shows an increase of 58 percent in the review period. According to the department, the trade deficit in the first quarter of the current fiscal stood at Rs. Rs. 413 billion. In the corresponding period of the previous year, the deficit was just Rs 261 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the first three months of the current fiscal year, soybean oil worth Rs 22.02 billion has been exported. Similarly, palm oil worth Rs 4.85 billion has also been exported from 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"">In the first quarter of the current fiscal, carpets and textiles worth Rs 2.45 billion have been exported. Nepal has imported more petroleum products, steel and machinery parts during this period. As of September this year, Nepal has imported petrol worth Rs 12.86 billion and diesel worth Rs 23.32 billion. Nepal has also imported food items worth Rs 17 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the first month of the current fiscal year, Nepal's total foreign trade was Rs 171 billion. During the same period Nepal imported goods worth Rs 20.76 billion and spent Rs 150 billion on exports.</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"">From mid-August to mid-September alone, the total foreign trade was Rs 358 billion. Compared to last year, Nepal's export status has improved in the current fiscal year. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13934', 'image' => '20211026125527_Foreign Trade.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 12:54:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14188', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Domestic Tourists ‘Attracted’ towards Paragliding', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: Paragliding has drawn the attention of domestic tourists in Pokhara with the gradual rise in the mobility of people during the festive season. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 26: Paragliding has drawn the attention of domestic tourists in Pokhara with the gradual rise in the mobility of people during the festive season. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chairperson of Nepal Air Sports Association Krishna Bhandari informed that most of the tourists visiting Pokhara during the festivals of Dashain and Tihar preferred paragliding. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The number of people enjoying paragliding has increased in Pokhara with the rise in the arrival of domestic tourists amid declining cases of coronavirus. “The inflow of domestic tourists has excited paragliding entrepreneurs,” he shared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chairperson of Paragliding Flight Club Bimal Pahari said around 400 flights had taken place every day during Dashain vacation and now the number of daily flights has reduced to 150. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“Increasing attraction of domestic tourists towards adventurous sports has also rekindled the hope of entrepreneurs to sustain paragliding service,” he further said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There are 338 paragliding pilots who have obtained paragliding license from the Air Sports Organization. Twelve out of them are women. As many as 60 paragliding companies are providing service in Pokhara. The sector has a total investment of Rs 1 billion. People can enjoy paragliding for Rs 6,000. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Proprietor of Himalaya Sky Adventure Paragliding Company Madhav Tiwari said paragliding services are being delivered taking into consideration the ‘safety’ and ‘security’ measures. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13933', 'image' => '20211026124400_20180204014556_g.pagespeed.ic.vNbv99l9mh.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 12:43:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14187', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Floods Damage 325,000 Tons of Paddy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: Floods and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall last week have damaged 325,000 metric tons of paddy in all the seven provinces.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 26: Floods and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall last week have damaged 325,000 metric tons of paddy in all the seven provinces. According to the details made public by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, a total of 325,258 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 8.268 billion have been damaged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Earlier, the ministry had released a preliminary data of only three provinces, including Province 1, Lumbini and the Far-West, in which it was estimated that more than 258,000 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 7.22 billion had been damaged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the latest data provided by the ministry, 28,469 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 800 million have been damaged in three districts of Province 1, including Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari. The floods have affected 49,945 hectares of paddy fields in these three districts. Out of that, paddy planted in 7,492 hectares of land have been completely damaged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In Saptari, Siraha and Sarlahi districts of Province 2, a total of 20,350 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 560 million has been damaged. The floods have affected paddy planted in 48,684 hectares of land and completely damaged the crop planted in 5,355 hectares of land. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The lowest damage has been reported in Bagmati Province. A total of 7,500 hectares of paddy fields in Chitwan and Nuwakot districts have been affected by the floods. Out of that, paddy planted in 530 hectares of land have been completely damaged. According to the ministry, 2,068 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 58 million have been damaged in those districts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Districts like Bardiya, Kapilvastu, Banke and Rupandehi of Lumbini Province sustained maximum loss to paddy from the recent floods. Altogether 161,223 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 4.51 billion have been damaged in the province. The floods have affected 93,576 hectares of paddy fields in the province while paddy planted in 42,427 hectares of lands have been completely damaged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, 4,530 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 130 million were damaged in Gandaki Province, 40,219 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 300 million in Karnali Province and 68,400 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 1.91 billion in Far-Western Province. The floods have affected Syangja and Kaski in Gandaki, Dolpa, Jumla, Salyan and Surkhet in Karnali and Kailali and Kanchanpur districts in the far west. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Ministry, Prakash Kumar Sanjel, informed that the Ministry has formed working groups in all provinces to coordinate and facilitate the data collection at the provincial level. According to him, a meeting of agriculture ministers and agriculture secretaries of all the provinces is being held at the ministry on Tuesday (October 26) to assess the extent of damage and provide relief. He said that a decision to provide relief to the affected farmers would be taken after the details of the complete damage would be ascertained after the meeting. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13932', 'image' => '20211026113449_20210512035550_20181125011444_pady-1024x682.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 11:34:09', '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' => '14201', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Launches Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program in Collaboration with World Ban', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 28: The Government of Nepal has jointly launched the Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program (NEHEP) in collaboration with the World Bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 28: The Government of Nepal has jointly launched the Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program (NEHEP) in collaboration with the World Bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Issuing a recent statement, the World Bank said that the programme was jointly launched on October 26 by the University Grants Commission under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, and the World Bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the statement, the five-year program aims to improve the quality and labor market relevance of Nepal’s higher education, scale up collaborative research and online learning, and expand access to academic institutions for underprivileged and vulnerable students from disadvantages areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Investing in human capital from early childhood to higher education is key to helping young people in Nepal realize their development potential,” the statement quoted Education Secretary Ram Prasad Thapaliya as saying. “This program will help strengthen the higher education sector in collaboration with industries and ensure students across Nepal including those from disadvantaged groups have access to quality higher education.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program builds on the success of earlier higher education projects in Nepal to align its higher education sector with labor market needs, boost collaborative research and entrepreneurship, improve governance, and enhance access to quality higher education in general and especially for disadvantaged students. The COVID-19 pandemic has created strong incentives to expand online platforms and blended learning, which the program will help scale up across all universities in Nepal, the World Bank said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The program will also expand targeted scholarships to disadvantaged students to pursue labor market-driven academic programs and support equity grants to higher education institutions in needy and disaster-affected areas in Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“By improving access of students, especially those from disadvantaged communities, to quality higher education and skills that are in demand in the labor market, this program will support Nepal’s COVID-19 recovery,” said Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank's country director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. “This is critical as the country forges efforts towards green, resilient, and inclusive development, which the World Bank is committed to support.”</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-28', 'modified' => '2021-10-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13946', 'image' => '20211028083803_WB.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-28 08:35:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14200', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Fixes New Electricity Tariff Targeting Low-Income Groups', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 28: The Electricity Regulatory Commission has determined new power tariff taking into consideration the welfare of the poor and low income class.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 28: The Electricity Regulatory Commission has determined new power tariff taking into consideration the welfare of the poor and low income class. </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 newly determined tariff, however, would been implemented only from mid-December, according to the state-owned national news agency RSS. The new tariff of electricity will be based on the consumption of electricity in the month of Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December). So, the consumers will have to pay the new tariff in the bill of the next month. </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 household consumers from poor community would not be imposed electricity tariff for five to 20 units, but a minimum amount of Rs 30 would be charge instead, according to chief commissioner Dilli Bahadur Singh. He said that the tariff for the household class was slashed by an average of 2.8 per cent in a bid to increase the household use of electricity and ensure appropriate price of power. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a news conference organized on Wednesday (October 28), Singh shared that the new power tariff was determined after a detailed study, discussion, analysis, public hearing, and consultation with stakeholders and their inputs. </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 number of electricity consumers in the country currently stands at 4.9 million while there are 1.9 million consumers who consume less than 20 units of electricity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Commission, the minimum charges for households consuming 151 to 250 units of electricity per month using using five ampere, 15 ampere and 30 ampere under single phase have been determined at Rs 100, Rs 125 and Rs 150 respectively. It is Rs 25 less that the existing rate. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, households consuming electricity of more than 400 units per month from single phase supply using five ampere, 15 ampere, 30 ampere and 60 ampere will have to pay Rs 150, Rs 175, Rs 200 and Rs 250 respectively. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-28', 'modified' => '2021-10-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13945', 'image' => '20211028080851_financial-viability-electricity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-28 08:08:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14199', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Online Application for Driving License Finally Resumes after 6 Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: Online application for driver's license has finally opened.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: Online application for driver's license has finally opened. The Department of Transport Management opened the online application from 5 pm on Monday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Department informed that preparations had been made to open the online application of driving license at 12 noon. “But, Madras Security Printers has the key to our system, so it took time to coordinate with them,” said an official of the department. Since the Madras Security Printers has the contract to print smart licenses, the department needed to coordinate with the system servers of the company. The department also informed that the online application could be submitted from all over the country.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Both the online application and the trial exams were suspended due to the prohibitory order issued on April 29 to stop the spread of the Covid-19 infection. The online application was not opened even though the trial resumed before the festival of Dashain. The department refused to open the online application saying that there were a large number of backlogs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department made the online application unlimited but many did not get the opportunity due to the limited number of trial centers present. About 700,000 applicants are waiting for the trial exams. The department has informed that the exams would be taken only after finalizing the quota.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Altogether 5,000 people from 21 offices across the country will be able to take the test daily as per the department. Quotas have been allotted according to the office. For example, the Transport Office Ekantakuna has given trials to 400 people including 130 motorcycles, 60 scooters, 130 four-wheelers and heavy vehicles. As a result, if an online application is submitted now, the applicant has to wait for at least 5 to 6 months for the trial.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13944', 'image' => '20211027013904_20210214015324_20191031104655_1572426091.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 13:38:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14198', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tihar Lifts Business of Dry Fruits ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: With only a week left for the festival of Tihar to start, the business of dry fruits has skyrocketed. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: With only a week left for the festival of Tihar to start, the business of dry fruits has skyrocketed. According to traders, the trade of dry fruits such as cashew nuts, almonds, pistachio, coconut, walnut and dates has increased by about 10 percent this year as compared to the previous year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Amul Kaji Tuladhar, general secretary of Nepal Retailers Association, said that the trade of dry fruits could not take place significantly last year due to the threat of Covid-19 pandemic. However, this year the trade has increased due to the decline in cases of Covid-19. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the traders, dry fruits worth Rs 600 million are traded in Nepal during Tihar alone. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">This time, the price of dry fruits has also increased. According to the association, the price of dates has increased from Rs 115 to Rs 250 per kg. The price of raisins has gone up by Rs 50 per kg from Rs 400 to Rs 450. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, the price of cashew has gone up by Rs 100 per kg from Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,600 as compared to the previous year. Similarly, the price of figs has also increased by Rs 50 to Rs 1,550. The price of betel nut has gone up by Rs 400 per kg as the government had banned its import earlier. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nevertheless, the price of some products is found to have decreased. The biggest drop in prices is seen in cardamom. The price of cardamom has decreased by Rs 2,000 per kg from Rs 5,000 to Rs 3,000 per kg. The price of walnut has also decreased by Rs 50 per kg from Rs 600 to Rs 550 per kg. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As the festival approaches, the number of consumers buying such items in the market is also increasing. Currently, the main business centers of Kathmandu like Asan, Indrachowk, New Road, Khichapokhari and other places are crowded with customers who are busy shopping for the festival. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13943', 'image' => '20211027013024_1635291377.Clipboard04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 13:29:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14197', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Hill Districts of Far Western Nepal Facing Shortage of Drugs', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: Hill districts in the Far Western Province of Nepal have been facing shortage of medicines since a week. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 27: Hill districts in the Far Western Province of Nepal have been facing shortage of medicines since a week. The shortage has surfaced as the supply of essential drugs to Doti, Achham and Bajura have been halted due to the disruption in transport facility triggered by the recent floods and landslides. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Suduar Paschim Province Health Directorate, Dipayal Rajpur confirmed that the obstructions of roadways at several locations have hampered the drug supplies to the hill districts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">District Hospital Doti’s doctor Prakash Thakulla also confirmed the scarcity of medicines in the district. According to him, the hospital pharmacy is running out of stock and private suppliers have also reported shortage. The situation would turn worse if the supplies cannot be restored within a day or two, he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 50-bed Soo-jung Hospital Rajpur reports that the existing stock is hardly sufficient for the next two days. It is said local level here are also struggling with the short supply of general medicines. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Bogatan-Phudsil rural municipality chair Kamal Bahadur Gadsila said they are also facing shortage of essential drugs. According to health professionals, the scarcity of drugs mainly for the control of water-borne diseases and those prescribed for chronic diseases has surfaced in the hill districts following the recent natural disasters. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13942', 'image' => '20211027012500_20200224094248_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 13:24:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14196', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAAN Preparing Calibration Flight at Gautam Buddha International Airport ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to sign an agreement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to operate calibration flights at Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to sign an agreement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to operate calibration flights at Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa. The board meeting of CAAN wrote to AAI on Monday requesting approval for the calibration flight. The agreement will be signed within the next ten days.</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"">Newly appointed Director-General of CAAN Rajkumar Chhetri informed that the board meeting of CAAN held last Thursday took a decision to this effect.</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"">"A letter has been sent to India. The decision was taken at Thursday's meeting and sent to the concerned body of India on Monday. The AAI will sign an agreement with CAAN in 8-10 days," 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"">The calibration flight is operated to check the runway, lighting system, air communication, tower communication, landing, and the radars. After completing the calibration flight successfully, Gautam Buddha International Airport will be ready to serve as an alternative to Tribhuvan International Airport. </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"">CAAN decided to sign the agreement with AAI after canceling the calibration flight agreement with Thai Aero.</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"">Chhetri said that he aims to bid farewell to CAAN after the making the Gautam Buddha International Airport operational. He added that priority has been given for upgrading various other airports including Pokhara International Airport that are in the final stage of construction. </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"">CAAN's budget for the current fiscal year 2078/79 has not been passed. This year, the authority had proposed a budget of Rs 41.76 billion.</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"">Director General Chhetri said that the CAAN board meeting to be held on December 28 would pass the budget. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13941', 'image' => '20211027121932_1635291329.Clipboard10.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 12:18:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14195', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Investment Board, FNCCI Discuss Collaboration to Attract Foreign Investment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: The Investment Board has been discussing with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) about possible collaboration to attract foreign investment in Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: The Investment Board has been discussing with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) about possible collaboration to attract foreign investment in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">CEO of the Investment Board, Sushil Bhatta and FNCCI President, Shekhar Golchha expressed their commitment for collaboration during meeting held on Tuesday (October 26).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhatta expressed that the board has been working on improving of their policies for cooperating with the private sector in order to attract more investments into Nepal. He also emphasized on conducting a thorough study on different aspects before the collaboration.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, FNCCI President Golchha stated that the federation is a responsible and capable body for carrying out discussions and coordination with domestic as well as the foreign private investors. He emphasized on the need to work together with the Investment Board in order to increase exposure and attract foreign investors to Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the meeting, Dr Narayan Regmi, the joint secretary at the Ministry of Industries, Commerce and Supply highlighted the big difference in commitment and the achievement in actual investment in Nepal and stressed on the need for a study regarding this matter. He also assured that the ministry is always dedicated towards improving policies and other issues to attract foreign investments into the country.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13940', 'image' => '20211027115530_20210623122152_20210115025352_20160222122813_ep3.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 11:54:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14194', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cabinet Approves Work Procedure to Distribute Rs 10,000 to Poor Families Affected by COVID-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: The Council of Ministers has approved the work procedure to distribute Rs 10,000 each to the families affected by Covid-19.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: The Council of Ministers has approved the work procedure to distribute Rs 10,000 each to the families affected by Covid-19. The work procedure prepared by the Ministry of Finance has been approved by the recent cabinet meeting.</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"">Replacing the ordinance budget of the current fiscal Year 2078/79, the new budget presented by the incumbent government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, had announced to distribute Rs 5 billion to the poor families hit by COVID-19 pandemic. </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 cabinet has approved the amended work procedure submitted by MoF. Earlier, the cabinet was reluctant to approve the work procedure as it could not define the exact number of poor households and what kind of poor families would receive the relief package. </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"">Government Spokesperson Gyanendra Bahadur Karki informed that the cabinet has decided to approve the work procedure 2078 to distribute cash relief packages to the poor families affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It has now paved the way for the government to distribute Rs 5 billion to 500,000 families. The government is relying on the studies conducted by the National Planning Commission for distributing this relief amount. According to the study, five million people are below the multidimensional poverty line in the country. The work procedure has been prepared considering at least five members in a family, with the objective to reach 2.5 million people of 500,000 households.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has planned to provide the cash amount to the poor family members in their respective bank accounts after completing the process while the families without bank accounts will be provided cash through the respective local bodies. </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"">Two neighbors of the poor family have to recommend that the family is poor and the concerned ward chairperson has to certify the recommendation. Then the family will receive Rs 10,000 each from the government. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13939', 'image' => '20211027113906_Nepal-MPI-04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 11:38:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14193', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Extends Business Continuity Loan of Rs 1 Billion to COVID-19 Affected Industries ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: Nepal Rastra Bank has so far provided loans worth Rs 1 billion to the tourism and cottage industries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in order to pay the workers' salary. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 27: Nepal Rastra Bank has so far provided loans worth Rs 1 billion to the tourism and cottage industries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in order to pay the workers' salary. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Nepal Rastra Bank confirmed that the business continuity loan has been extended to the COVID-19 affected tourism, cottage, small and medium industries for payment of salaries to workers and employees in line with 'Business Continuity Loan Procedure, 2077'. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Under this provision, Rs 1 billion loan has been approved as of mid-September, the central bank stated in the ‘Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of Nepal issued on Monday. </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""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Untitled%283%29.jpg" style="height:260px; width:593px" /> </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that the government has implemented special provisions to provide economic relief to the tourism industry as well as small and medium-scale industries that have been severely affected by the pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Successive governments had announced special relief for the COVID-19 –affected areas in the budget for the previous fiscal year and the current fiscal year. The central bank has incorporated the special policy provisions in favour of businesses and enterprises in the monetary policy since last year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the size of outstanding amount of refinance provided by NRB in mid-September 2021 is Rs 118.85 billion. As of mid-September, the outstanding concessional loan of Rs 187.16 billion has been extended to 1, 20,715 borrowers of which Rs 121.06 billion has been extended to 51,272 borrowers for selected commercial agriculture and livestock businesses followed by Rs 62.37 billion to 66,690 women entrepreneurs. A total of 2,753 borrowers have been provided with Rs 3.73 billion concessional loan to other sectors, according to the NRB. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13938', 'image' => '20211027082731_2021Business Bank Loans.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 08:26:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14192', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Minister Pledges to Revitalize Nepal Airlines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale has pledged to revitalize the national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines Corporation. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 27: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale has pledged to revitalize the national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines Corporation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a programme organized by the Nepal Tourism Board to welcome and congratulate the minister on Tuesday, he reportedly said that the ministry would take crucial decisions to that end. The minister added that the executive chairperson of Nepal Airlines has already been appointed. </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 incumbent government would not repeat the mistakes made by the erstwhile government regarding the management and operation of the aviation sector. The previous government had worked in collusion with the private airline companies to nurture them by limiting the scope of NAC. Our government would never allow such tendency to rise,” the state-owned national news agency RSS quoted Minister Ale as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, Minister Ale also expressed his confidence that new programmes would be put in place to collaborate with the private sector to revitalize the tourism industry has has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Tourism Secretary Yadav Prasad Koirala said that concrete results related to the development of tourism sector have not been visible due to the lack of tourism policy and inter-ministerial coordination. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13937', 'image' => '20211027080509_20191031120033_1572142676.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 08:04:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14191', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Fixes New Criteria to Reduce Unnecessary Expenses', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: The government has fixed a new criteria to reduce unnecessary expenses under its austerity measures.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 26: The government has fixed a new criteria to reduce unnecessary expenses under its austerity measures.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As per the recent cabinet meeting, the government bodies will not be allowed to purchase any new four-wheeler except for health service and election-related works either with funds provided by the government, foreign aid or using loans. The government has adopted a policy to repair the existing four-wheelers as part of its austerity measures. Any vehicle that is older than 20 years and of no use to the government must be mandatorily auctioned, as per the government’s decision.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government has also decided to tighten internal visits as well as foreign trips of civil servants and ministers. According to the latest decision, government officials will not be allowed to utilize resources and funds from the state coffers to attend foreign programmes at the invitation of non-governmental organisations. However, officials can make foreign trip for essential purpose under the preconditions set by the finance ministry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Likewise, office bearers of public bodies cannot make foreign visits sponsored by construction entrepreneurs or the consultants. Similarly, the government has provisioned not more than three persons of any public office to visit foreign countries for official work. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Government officials need to take permission from the concerned secretaries or the chief district officers to use government vehicles during public holidays. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government has also decided not to spend money on unnecessary advertisements. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13936', 'image' => '20211026021019_new_logo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 14:09:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14190', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Report Shows no Improvement in Economic Indicators', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: By mid-August, the second month of the current fiscal year, various economic indicators have remained negative. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 26: By mid-August, the second month of the current fiscal year, various economic indicators have remained negative. The indicators seemed negative since the first month of the current fiscal year and the trend has got continuity in August.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the latest report on the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of the country released by Nepal Rastra Bank on Monday, indicators such as balance of payments, foreign exchange reserves, current account, foreign trade, and remittance inflows have shown negative signs in August.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The balance of payments and current account deficit have widened further in August, while the decline in foreign exchange reserves has continued. The decline in remittance inflows also seems to have continued. At the same time, the foreign trade deficit has skyrocketed. As a result, the report confirms that there are still no signs of recovery in the economy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The current account deficit was Rs 47.90 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year and grew to 106.75 billion during the review period. Similarly, the balance of payments was Rs 38.75 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year and has increased to Rs 83.41 billion during the review period. Thus, the current account deficit and balance of payments have skyrocketed within a month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves have also declined. Last July, foreign exchange reserves, which stood at Rs 1,353.82 billion, declined to Rs 136.95 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. As a result, Nepal's capacity to support goods and imports has also declined, says NRB spokesperson Dev Kumar Dhakal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A large number of goods and services have been imported in August, especially due to festivals. As imports increase, payments in foreign currency also increase automatically. However, the foreign exchange could not be earned during that period through remittances. As a result, foreign exchange reserves have declined, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"It simply came to our notice then. Due to the festival, imports have also been high in September. However, the NRB has not yet received the figures. Therefore, it is necessary to do something immediately in collaboration with the government on issues including imports. We will move forward immediately,” he shared.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the trade deficit increased by 70.8 percent to Rs 270.48 billion during the review period. Such a deficit had decreased by 24.9 percent to Rs 158.40 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year..</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Spokesperson Dhakal says that the current state of the overall economy is not so satisfactory. He also said that it was not possible to say for sure when the economy would recover.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He says there has been some improvement in the financial sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Deposit collection and credit flow of banks have increased during the review period. It should be taken positively,” he said, adding, “But the growth rate of credit flow is higher than the collection of deposits.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Deposits in banks and financial institutions increased by 0.7 percent during the review period. Credit flow increased by 5.7 percent, the report said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the consumer price inflation, which stood at 4.35 percent in July, has come down to 3.49 percent in August. Such inflation was 4.52 percent in August last year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Food and beverage inflation stood at 2.57 percent whereas non-food and service inflation stood at 4.22 percent in the review month. The price of ghee and oil, meat and fish, nonalcoholic drinks, tobacco products and transportation sub-categories rose 28.91 percent, 10.66 percent, 10.25 percent, 9.99 percent and 9.92 respectively on y-o-y basis. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the review month, the Kathmandu Valley, Terai, Hill and Mountain witnessed 3.23 percent, 3.65 percent, 3.96 percent and 3.51 percent inflation respectively. Inflation in these regions was 3.66 percent, 4.71 percent, 4.73 percent and 4.51 percent respectively a year ago, the report states.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13935', 'image' => '20211026014649_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 13:46:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14189', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Trade Deficit Increases Despite Improvement in Export', 'sub_title' => 'Out of Rs 543 billion foreign trade, Nepal exports goods and services worth Rs 65 billion', 'summary' => 'October 26: In the first three months of the current Fiscal Year 2078/79, Nepal's foreign trade totaled to Rs. 545.57 billion. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 26: In the first three months of the current Fiscal Year 2078/79, Nepal's foreign trade totaled to Rs. 545.57 billion. Nepal has imported goods worth Rs 478.52 billion in the last three months.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to data released by the Department of Customs on Monday, foreign trade has increased in the first three months of the current fiscal year as compared to that of last year. Total foreign trade has increased by 68.13 percent. During the corresponding period of last year, the total trade of Nepal was worth Rs 323.31 billion.</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"">Data show an increase in exports this fiscal year. Goods and services worth Rs 65.05 billion have been exported from Nepal. Nepal exported goods worth Rs 31.04 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. Exports have increased by 109.54 percent compared to that of last fiscal year 2077/78.</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"">Trade deficit shows an increase of 58 percent in the review period. According to the department, the trade deficit in the first quarter of the current fiscal stood at Rs. Rs. 413 billion. In the corresponding period of the previous year, the deficit was just Rs 261 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the first three months of the current fiscal year, soybean oil worth Rs 22.02 billion has been exported. Similarly, palm oil worth Rs 4.85 billion has also been exported from 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"">In the first quarter of the current fiscal, carpets and textiles worth Rs 2.45 billion have been exported. Nepal has imported more petroleum products, steel and machinery parts during this period. As of September this year, Nepal has imported petrol worth Rs 12.86 billion and diesel worth Rs 23.32 billion. Nepal has also imported food items worth Rs 17 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the first month of the current fiscal year, Nepal's total foreign trade was Rs 171 billion. During the same period Nepal imported goods worth Rs 20.76 billion and spent Rs 150 billion on exports.</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"">From mid-August to mid-September alone, the total foreign trade was Rs 358 billion. Compared to last year, Nepal's export status has improved in the current fiscal year. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13934', 'image' => '20211026125527_Foreign Trade.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 12:54:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14188', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Domestic Tourists ‘Attracted’ towards Paragliding', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: Paragliding has drawn the attention of domestic tourists in Pokhara with the gradual rise in the mobility of people during the festive season. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 26: Paragliding has drawn the attention of domestic tourists in Pokhara with the gradual rise in the mobility of people during the festive season. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chairperson of Nepal Air Sports Association Krishna Bhandari informed that most of the tourists visiting Pokhara during the festivals of Dashain and Tihar preferred paragliding. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The number of people enjoying paragliding has increased in Pokhara with the rise in the arrival of domestic tourists amid declining cases of coronavirus. “The inflow of domestic tourists has excited paragliding entrepreneurs,” he shared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chairperson of Paragliding Flight Club Bimal Pahari said around 400 flights had taken place every day during Dashain vacation and now the number of daily flights has reduced to 150. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“Increasing attraction of domestic tourists towards adventurous sports has also rekindled the hope of entrepreneurs to sustain paragliding service,” he further said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There are 338 paragliding pilots who have obtained paragliding license from the Air Sports Organization. Twelve out of them are women. As many as 60 paragliding companies are providing service in Pokhara. The sector has a total investment of Rs 1 billion. People can enjoy paragliding for Rs 6,000. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Proprietor of Himalaya Sky Adventure Paragliding Company Madhav Tiwari said paragliding services are being delivered taking into consideration the ‘safety’ and ‘security’ measures. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13933', 'image' => '20211026124400_20180204014556_g.pagespeed.ic.vNbv99l9mh.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 12:43:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14187', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Floods Damage 325,000 Tons of Paddy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: Floods and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall last week have damaged 325,000 metric tons of paddy in all the seven provinces.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 26: Floods and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall last week have damaged 325,000 metric tons of paddy in all the seven provinces. According to the details made public by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, a total of 325,258 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 8.268 billion have been damaged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Earlier, the ministry had released a preliminary data of only three provinces, including Province 1, Lumbini and the Far-West, in which it was estimated that more than 258,000 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 7.22 billion had been damaged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the latest data provided by the ministry, 28,469 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 800 million have been damaged in three districts of Province 1, including Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari. The floods have affected 49,945 hectares of paddy fields in these three districts. Out of that, paddy planted in 7,492 hectares of land have been completely damaged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In Saptari, Siraha and Sarlahi districts of Province 2, a total of 20,350 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 560 million has been damaged. The floods have affected paddy planted in 48,684 hectares of land and completely damaged the crop planted in 5,355 hectares of land. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The lowest damage has been reported in Bagmati Province. A total of 7,500 hectares of paddy fields in Chitwan and Nuwakot districts have been affected by the floods. Out of that, paddy planted in 530 hectares of land have been completely damaged. According to the ministry, 2,068 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 58 million have been damaged in those districts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Districts like Bardiya, Kapilvastu, Banke and Rupandehi of Lumbini Province sustained maximum loss to paddy from the recent floods. Altogether 161,223 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 4.51 billion have been damaged in the province. The floods have affected 93,576 hectares of paddy fields in the province while paddy planted in 42,427 hectares of lands have been completely damaged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, 4,530 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 130 million were damaged in Gandaki Province, 40,219 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 300 million in Karnali Province and 68,400 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 1.91 billion in Far-Western Province. The floods have affected Syangja and Kaski in Gandaki, Dolpa, Jumla, Salyan and Surkhet in Karnali and Kailali and Kanchanpur districts in the far west. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Ministry, Prakash Kumar Sanjel, informed that the Ministry has formed working groups in all provinces to coordinate and facilitate the data collection at the provincial level. According to him, a meeting of agriculture ministers and agriculture secretaries of all the provinces is being held at the ministry on Tuesday (October 26) to assess the extent of damage and provide relief. He said that a decision to provide relief to the affected farmers would be taken after the details of the complete damage would be ascertained after the meeting. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13932', 'image' => '20211026113449_20210512035550_20181125011444_pady-1024x682.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 11:34:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14201', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Launches Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program in Collaboration with World Ban', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 28: The Government of Nepal has jointly launched the Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program (NEHEP) in collaboration with the World Bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 28: The Government of Nepal has jointly launched the Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program (NEHEP) in collaboration with the World Bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Issuing a recent statement, the World Bank said that the programme was jointly launched on October 26 by the University Grants Commission under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, and the World Bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the statement, the five-year program aims to improve the quality and labor market relevance of Nepal’s higher education, scale up collaborative research and online learning, and expand access to academic institutions for underprivileged and vulnerable students from disadvantages areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Investing in human capital from early childhood to higher education is key to helping young people in Nepal realize their development potential,” the statement quoted Education Secretary Ram Prasad Thapaliya as saying. “This program will help strengthen the higher education sector in collaboration with industries and ensure students across Nepal including those from disadvantaged groups have access to quality higher education.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Nurturing Excellence in Higher Education Program builds on the success of earlier higher education projects in Nepal to align its higher education sector with labor market needs, boost collaborative research and entrepreneurship, improve governance, and enhance access to quality higher education in general and especially for disadvantaged students. The COVID-19 pandemic has created strong incentives to expand online platforms and blended learning, which the program will help scale up across all universities in Nepal, the World Bank said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The program will also expand targeted scholarships to disadvantaged students to pursue labor market-driven academic programs and support equity grants to higher education institutions in needy and disaster-affected areas in Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“By improving access of students, especially those from disadvantaged communities, to quality higher education and skills that are in demand in the labor market, this program will support Nepal’s COVID-19 recovery,” said Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank's country director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. “This is critical as the country forges efforts towards green, resilient, and inclusive development, which the World Bank is committed to support.”</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-28', 'modified' => '2021-10-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13946', 'image' => '20211028083803_WB.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-28 08:35:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14200', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Fixes New Electricity Tariff Targeting Low-Income Groups', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 28: The Electricity Regulatory Commission has determined new power tariff taking into consideration the welfare of the poor and low income class.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 28: The Electricity Regulatory Commission has determined new power tariff taking into consideration the welfare of the poor and low income class. </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 newly determined tariff, however, would been implemented only from mid-December, according to the state-owned national news agency RSS. The new tariff of electricity will be based on the consumption of electricity in the month of Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December). So, the consumers will have to pay the new tariff in the bill of the next month. </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 household consumers from poor community would not be imposed electricity tariff for five to 20 units, but a minimum amount of Rs 30 would be charge instead, according to chief commissioner Dilli Bahadur Singh. He said that the tariff for the household class was slashed by an average of 2.8 per cent in a bid to increase the household use of electricity and ensure appropriate price of power. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a news conference organized on Wednesday (October 28), Singh shared that the new power tariff was determined after a detailed study, discussion, analysis, public hearing, and consultation with stakeholders and their inputs. </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 number of electricity consumers in the country currently stands at 4.9 million while there are 1.9 million consumers who consume less than 20 units of electricity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Commission, the minimum charges for households consuming 151 to 250 units of electricity per month using using five ampere, 15 ampere and 30 ampere under single phase have been determined at Rs 100, Rs 125 and Rs 150 respectively. It is Rs 25 less that the existing rate. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, households consuming electricity of more than 400 units per month from single phase supply using five ampere, 15 ampere, 30 ampere and 60 ampere will have to pay Rs 150, Rs 175, Rs 200 and Rs 250 respectively. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-28', 'modified' => '2021-10-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13945', 'image' => '20211028080851_financial-viability-electricity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-28 08:08:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14199', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Online Application for Driving License Finally Resumes after 6 Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: Online application for driver's license has finally opened.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: Online application for driver's license has finally opened. The Department of Transport Management opened the online application from 5 pm on Monday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Department informed that preparations had been made to open the online application of driving license at 12 noon. “But, Madras Security Printers has the key to our system, so it took time to coordinate with them,” said an official of the department. Since the Madras Security Printers has the contract to print smart licenses, the department needed to coordinate with the system servers of the company. The department also informed that the online application could be submitted from all over the country.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Both the online application and the trial exams were suspended due to the prohibitory order issued on April 29 to stop the spread of the Covid-19 infection. The online application was not opened even though the trial resumed before the festival of Dashain. The department refused to open the online application saying that there were a large number of backlogs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department made the online application unlimited but many did not get the opportunity due to the limited number of trial centers present. About 700,000 applicants are waiting for the trial exams. The department has informed that the exams would be taken only after finalizing the quota.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Altogether 5,000 people from 21 offices across the country will be able to take the test daily as per the department. Quotas have been allotted according to the office. For example, the Transport Office Ekantakuna has given trials to 400 people including 130 motorcycles, 60 scooters, 130 four-wheelers and heavy vehicles. As a result, if an online application is submitted now, the applicant has to wait for at least 5 to 6 months for the trial.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13944', 'image' => '20211027013904_20210214015324_20191031104655_1572426091.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 13:38:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14198', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tihar Lifts Business of Dry Fruits ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: With only a week left for the festival of Tihar to start, the business of dry fruits has skyrocketed. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: With only a week left for the festival of Tihar to start, the business of dry fruits has skyrocketed. According to traders, the trade of dry fruits such as cashew nuts, almonds, pistachio, coconut, walnut and dates has increased by about 10 percent this year as compared to the previous year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Amul Kaji Tuladhar, general secretary of Nepal Retailers Association, said that the trade of dry fruits could not take place significantly last year due to the threat of Covid-19 pandemic. However, this year the trade has increased due to the decline in cases of Covid-19. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the traders, dry fruits worth Rs 600 million are traded in Nepal during Tihar alone. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">This time, the price of dry fruits has also increased. According to the association, the price of dates has increased from Rs 115 to Rs 250 per kg. The price of raisins has gone up by Rs 50 per kg from Rs 400 to Rs 450. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, the price of cashew has gone up by Rs 100 per kg from Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,600 as compared to the previous year. Similarly, the price of figs has also increased by Rs 50 to Rs 1,550. The price of betel nut has gone up by Rs 400 per kg as the government had banned its import earlier. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nevertheless, the price of some products is found to have decreased. The biggest drop in prices is seen in cardamom. The price of cardamom has decreased by Rs 2,000 per kg from Rs 5,000 to Rs 3,000 per kg. The price of walnut has also decreased by Rs 50 per kg from Rs 600 to Rs 550 per kg. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As the festival approaches, the number of consumers buying such items in the market is also increasing. Currently, the main business centers of Kathmandu like Asan, Indrachowk, New Road, Khichapokhari and other places are crowded with customers who are busy shopping for the festival. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13943', 'image' => '20211027013024_1635291377.Clipboard04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 13:29:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14197', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Hill Districts of Far Western Nepal Facing Shortage of Drugs', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: Hill districts in the Far Western Province of Nepal have been facing shortage of medicines since a week. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 27: Hill districts in the Far Western Province of Nepal have been facing shortage of medicines since a week. The shortage has surfaced as the supply of essential drugs to Doti, Achham and Bajura have been halted due to the disruption in transport facility triggered by the recent floods and landslides. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Suduar Paschim Province Health Directorate, Dipayal Rajpur confirmed that the obstructions of roadways at several locations have hampered the drug supplies to the hill districts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">District Hospital Doti’s doctor Prakash Thakulla also confirmed the scarcity of medicines in the district. According to him, the hospital pharmacy is running out of stock and private suppliers have also reported shortage. The situation would turn worse if the supplies cannot be restored within a day or two, he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 50-bed Soo-jung Hospital Rajpur reports that the existing stock is hardly sufficient for the next two days. It is said local level here are also struggling with the short supply of general medicines. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Bogatan-Phudsil rural municipality chair Kamal Bahadur Gadsila said they are also facing shortage of essential drugs. According to health professionals, the scarcity of drugs mainly for the control of water-borne diseases and those prescribed for chronic diseases has surfaced in the hill districts following the recent natural disasters. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13942', 'image' => '20211027012500_20200224094248_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 13:24:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14196', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CAAN Preparing Calibration Flight at Gautam Buddha International Airport ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to sign an agreement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to operate calibration flights at Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) is preparing to sign an agreement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to operate calibration flights at Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa. The board meeting of CAAN wrote to AAI on Monday requesting approval for the calibration flight. The agreement will be signed within the next ten days.</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"">Newly appointed Director-General of CAAN Rajkumar Chhetri informed that the board meeting of CAAN held last Thursday took a decision to this effect.</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"">"A letter has been sent to India. The decision was taken at Thursday's meeting and sent to the concerned body of India on Monday. The AAI will sign an agreement with CAAN in 8-10 days," 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"">The calibration flight is operated to check the runway, lighting system, air communication, tower communication, landing, and the radars. After completing the calibration flight successfully, Gautam Buddha International Airport will be ready to serve as an alternative to Tribhuvan International Airport. </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"">CAAN decided to sign the agreement with AAI after canceling the calibration flight agreement with Thai Aero.</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"">Chhetri said that he aims to bid farewell to CAAN after the making the Gautam Buddha International Airport operational. He added that priority has been given for upgrading various other airports including Pokhara International Airport that are in the final stage of construction. </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"">CAAN's budget for the current fiscal year 2078/79 has not been passed. This year, the authority had proposed a budget of Rs 41.76 billion.</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"">Director General Chhetri said that the CAAN board meeting to be held on December 28 would pass the budget. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13941', 'image' => '20211027121932_1635291329.Clipboard10.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 12:18:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14195', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Investment Board, FNCCI Discuss Collaboration to Attract Foreign Investment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: The Investment Board has been discussing with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) about possible collaboration to attract foreign investment in Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: The Investment Board has been discussing with the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) about possible collaboration to attract foreign investment in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">CEO of the Investment Board, Sushil Bhatta and FNCCI President, Shekhar Golchha expressed their commitment for collaboration during meeting held on Tuesday (October 26).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhatta expressed that the board has been working on improving of their policies for cooperating with the private sector in order to attract more investments into Nepal. He also emphasized on conducting a thorough study on different aspects before the collaboration.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, FNCCI President Golchha stated that the federation is a responsible and capable body for carrying out discussions and coordination with domestic as well as the foreign private investors. He emphasized on the need to work together with the Investment Board in order to increase exposure and attract foreign investors to Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the meeting, Dr Narayan Regmi, the joint secretary at the Ministry of Industries, Commerce and Supply highlighted the big difference in commitment and the achievement in actual investment in Nepal and stressed on the need for a study regarding this matter. He also assured that the ministry is always dedicated towards improving policies and other issues to attract foreign investments into the country.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13940', 'image' => '20211027115530_20210623122152_20210115025352_20160222122813_ep3.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 11:54:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14194', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cabinet Approves Work Procedure to Distribute Rs 10,000 to Poor Families Affected by COVID-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: The Council of Ministers has approved the work procedure to distribute Rs 10,000 each to the families affected by Covid-19.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 27: The Council of Ministers has approved the work procedure to distribute Rs 10,000 each to the families affected by Covid-19. The work procedure prepared by the Ministry of Finance has been approved by the recent cabinet meeting.</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"">Replacing the ordinance budget of the current fiscal Year 2078/79, the new budget presented by the incumbent government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, had announced to distribute Rs 5 billion to the poor families hit by COVID-19 pandemic. </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 cabinet has approved the amended work procedure submitted by MoF. Earlier, the cabinet was reluctant to approve the work procedure as it could not define the exact number of poor households and what kind of poor families would receive the relief package. </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"">Government Spokesperson Gyanendra Bahadur Karki informed that the cabinet has decided to approve the work procedure 2078 to distribute cash relief packages to the poor families affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It has now paved the way for the government to distribute Rs 5 billion to 500,000 families. The government is relying on the studies conducted by the National Planning Commission for distributing this relief amount. According to the study, five million people are below the multidimensional poverty line in the country. The work procedure has been prepared considering at least five members in a family, with the objective to reach 2.5 million people of 500,000 households.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government has planned to provide the cash amount to the poor family members in their respective bank accounts after completing the process while the families without bank accounts will be provided cash through the respective local bodies. </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"">Two neighbors of the poor family have to recommend that the family is poor and the concerned ward chairperson has to certify the recommendation. Then the family will receive Rs 10,000 each from the government. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13939', 'image' => '20211027113906_Nepal-MPI-04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 11:38:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14193', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Extends Business Continuity Loan of Rs 1 Billion to COVID-19 Affected Industries ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: Nepal Rastra Bank has so far provided loans worth Rs 1 billion to the tourism and cottage industries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in order to pay the workers' salary. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 27: Nepal Rastra Bank has so far provided loans worth Rs 1 billion to the tourism and cottage industries affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in order to pay the workers' salary. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Nepal Rastra Bank confirmed that the business continuity loan has been extended to the COVID-19 affected tourism, cottage, small and medium industries for payment of salaries to workers and employees in line with 'Business Continuity Loan Procedure, 2077'. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Under this provision, Rs 1 billion loan has been approved as of mid-September, the central bank stated in the ‘Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of Nepal issued on Monday. </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""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Untitled%283%29.jpg" style="height:260px; width:593px" /> </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that the government has implemented special provisions to provide economic relief to the tourism industry as well as small and medium-scale industries that have been severely affected by the pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Successive governments had announced special relief for the COVID-19 –affected areas in the budget for the previous fiscal year and the current fiscal year. The central bank has incorporated the special policy provisions in favour of businesses and enterprises in the monetary policy since last year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the size of outstanding amount of refinance provided by NRB in mid-September 2021 is Rs 118.85 billion. As of mid-September, the outstanding concessional loan of Rs 187.16 billion has been extended to 1, 20,715 borrowers of which Rs 121.06 billion has been extended to 51,272 borrowers for selected commercial agriculture and livestock businesses followed by Rs 62.37 billion to 66,690 women entrepreneurs. A total of 2,753 borrowers have been provided with Rs 3.73 billion concessional loan to other sectors, according to the NRB. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13938', 'image' => '20211027082731_2021Business Bank Loans.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 08:26:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14192', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Minister Pledges to Revitalize Nepal Airlines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 27: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale has pledged to revitalize the national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines Corporation. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 27: Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale has pledged to revitalize the national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines Corporation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a programme organized by the Nepal Tourism Board to welcome and congratulate the minister on Tuesday, he reportedly said that the ministry would take crucial decisions to that end. The minister added that the executive chairperson of Nepal Airlines has already been appointed. </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 incumbent government would not repeat the mistakes made by the erstwhile government regarding the management and operation of the aviation sector. The previous government had worked in collusion with the private airline companies to nurture them by limiting the scope of NAC. Our government would never allow such tendency to rise,” the state-owned national news agency RSS quoted Minister Ale as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, Minister Ale also expressed his confidence that new programmes would be put in place to collaborate with the private sector to revitalize the tourism industry has has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Tourism Secretary Yadav Prasad Koirala said that concrete results related to the development of tourism sector have not been visible due to the lack of tourism policy and inter-ministerial coordination. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-27', 'modified' => '2021-10-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13937', 'image' => '20211027080509_20191031120033_1572142676.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-27 08:04:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14191', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Fixes New Criteria to Reduce Unnecessary Expenses', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: The government has fixed a new criteria to reduce unnecessary expenses under its austerity measures.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 26: The government has fixed a new criteria to reduce unnecessary expenses under its austerity measures.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As per the recent cabinet meeting, the government bodies will not be allowed to purchase any new four-wheeler except for health service and election-related works either with funds provided by the government, foreign aid or using loans. The government has adopted a policy to repair the existing four-wheelers as part of its austerity measures. Any vehicle that is older than 20 years and of no use to the government must be mandatorily auctioned, as per the government’s decision.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government has also decided to tighten internal visits as well as foreign trips of civil servants and ministers. According to the latest decision, government officials will not be allowed to utilize resources and funds from the state coffers to attend foreign programmes at the invitation of non-governmental organisations. However, officials can make foreign trip for essential purpose under the preconditions set by the finance ministry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Likewise, office bearers of public bodies cannot make foreign visits sponsored by construction entrepreneurs or the consultants. Similarly, the government has provisioned not more than three persons of any public office to visit foreign countries for official work. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Government officials need to take permission from the concerned secretaries or the chief district officers to use government vehicles during public holidays. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The government has also decided not to spend money on unnecessary advertisements. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13936', 'image' => '20211026021019_new_logo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 14:09:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14190', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Report Shows no Improvement in Economic Indicators', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: By mid-August, the second month of the current fiscal year, various economic indicators have remained negative. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 26: By mid-August, the second month of the current fiscal year, various economic indicators have remained negative. The indicators seemed negative since the first month of the current fiscal year and the trend has got continuity in August.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the latest report on the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of the country released by Nepal Rastra Bank on Monday, indicators such as balance of payments, foreign exchange reserves, current account, foreign trade, and remittance inflows have shown negative signs in August.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The balance of payments and current account deficit have widened further in August, while the decline in foreign exchange reserves has continued. The decline in remittance inflows also seems to have continued. At the same time, the foreign trade deficit has skyrocketed. As a result, the report confirms that there are still no signs of recovery in the economy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The current account deficit was Rs 47.90 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year and grew to 106.75 billion during the review period. Similarly, the balance of payments was Rs 38.75 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year and has increased to Rs 83.41 billion during the review period. Thus, the current account deficit and balance of payments have skyrocketed within a month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves have also declined. Last July, foreign exchange reserves, which stood at Rs 1,353.82 billion, declined to Rs 136.95 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. As a result, Nepal's capacity to support goods and imports has also declined, says NRB spokesperson Dev Kumar Dhakal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A large number of goods and services have been imported in August, especially due to festivals. As imports increase, payments in foreign currency also increase automatically. However, the foreign exchange could not be earned during that period through remittances. As a result, foreign exchange reserves have declined, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"It simply came to our notice then. Due to the festival, imports have also been high in September. However, the NRB has not yet received the figures. Therefore, it is necessary to do something immediately in collaboration with the government on issues including imports. We will move forward immediately,” he shared.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the trade deficit increased by 70.8 percent to Rs 270.48 billion during the review period. Such a deficit had decreased by 24.9 percent to Rs 158.40 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year..</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Spokesperson Dhakal says that the current state of the overall economy is not so satisfactory. He also said that it was not possible to say for sure when the economy would recover.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He says there has been some improvement in the financial sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Deposit collection and credit flow of banks have increased during the review period. It should be taken positively,” he said, adding, “But the growth rate of credit flow is higher than the collection of deposits.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Deposits in banks and financial institutions increased by 0.7 percent during the review period. Credit flow increased by 5.7 percent, the report said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the consumer price inflation, which stood at 4.35 percent in July, has come down to 3.49 percent in August. Such inflation was 4.52 percent in August last year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Food and beverage inflation stood at 2.57 percent whereas non-food and service inflation stood at 4.22 percent in the review month. The price of ghee and oil, meat and fish, nonalcoholic drinks, tobacco products and transportation sub-categories rose 28.91 percent, 10.66 percent, 10.25 percent, 9.99 percent and 9.92 respectively on y-o-y basis. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the review month, the Kathmandu Valley, Terai, Hill and Mountain witnessed 3.23 percent, 3.65 percent, 3.96 percent and 3.51 percent inflation respectively. Inflation in these regions was 3.66 percent, 4.71 percent, 4.73 percent and 4.51 percent respectively a year ago, the report states.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13935', 'image' => '20211026014649_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 13:46:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14189', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Trade Deficit Increases Despite Improvement in Export', 'sub_title' => 'Out of Rs 543 billion foreign trade, Nepal exports goods and services worth Rs 65 billion', 'summary' => 'October 26: In the first three months of the current Fiscal Year 2078/79, Nepal's foreign trade totaled to Rs. 545.57 billion. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 26: In the first three months of the current Fiscal Year 2078/79, Nepal's foreign trade totaled to Rs. 545.57 billion. Nepal has imported goods worth Rs 478.52 billion in the last three months.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to data released by the Department of Customs on Monday, foreign trade has increased in the first three months of the current fiscal year as compared to that of last year. Total foreign trade has increased by 68.13 percent. During the corresponding period of last year, the total trade of Nepal was worth Rs 323.31 billion.</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"">Data show an increase in exports this fiscal year. Goods and services worth Rs 65.05 billion have been exported from Nepal. Nepal exported goods worth Rs 31.04 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. Exports have increased by 109.54 percent compared to that of last fiscal year 2077/78.</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"">Trade deficit shows an increase of 58 percent in the review period. According to the department, the trade deficit in the first quarter of the current fiscal stood at Rs. Rs. 413 billion. In the corresponding period of the previous year, the deficit was just Rs 261 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the first three months of the current fiscal year, soybean oil worth Rs 22.02 billion has been exported. Similarly, palm oil worth Rs 4.85 billion has also been exported from 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"">In the first quarter of the current fiscal, carpets and textiles worth Rs 2.45 billion have been exported. Nepal has imported more petroleum products, steel and machinery parts during this period. As of September this year, Nepal has imported petrol worth Rs 12.86 billion and diesel worth Rs 23.32 billion. Nepal has also imported food items worth Rs 17 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the first month of the current fiscal year, Nepal's total foreign trade was Rs 171 billion. During the same period Nepal imported goods worth Rs 20.76 billion and spent Rs 150 billion on exports.</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"">From mid-August to mid-September alone, the total foreign trade was Rs 358 billion. Compared to last year, Nepal's export status has improved in the current fiscal year. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13934', 'image' => '20211026125527_Foreign Trade.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 12:54:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14188', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Domestic Tourists ‘Attracted’ towards Paragliding', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: Paragliding has drawn the attention of domestic tourists in Pokhara with the gradual rise in the mobility of people during the festive season. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 26: Paragliding has drawn the attention of domestic tourists in Pokhara with the gradual rise in the mobility of people during the festive season. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chairperson of Nepal Air Sports Association Krishna Bhandari informed that most of the tourists visiting Pokhara during the festivals of Dashain and Tihar preferred paragliding. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The number of people enjoying paragliding has increased in Pokhara with the rise in the arrival of domestic tourists amid declining cases of coronavirus. “The inflow of domestic tourists has excited paragliding entrepreneurs,” he shared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chairperson of Paragliding Flight Club Bimal Pahari said around 400 flights had taken place every day during Dashain vacation and now the number of daily flights has reduced to 150. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“Increasing attraction of domestic tourists towards adventurous sports has also rekindled the hope of entrepreneurs to sustain paragliding service,” he further said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There are 338 paragliding pilots who have obtained paragliding license from the Air Sports Organization. Twelve out of them are women. As many as 60 paragliding companies are providing service in Pokhara. The sector has a total investment of Rs 1 billion. People can enjoy paragliding for Rs 6,000. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Proprietor of Himalaya Sky Adventure Paragliding Company Madhav Tiwari said paragliding services are being delivered taking into consideration the ‘safety’ and ‘security’ measures. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13933', 'image' => '20211026124400_20180204014556_g.pagespeed.ic.vNbv99l9mh.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 12:43:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14187', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Floods Damage 325,000 Tons of Paddy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: Floods and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall last week have damaged 325,000 metric tons of paddy in all the seven provinces.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 26: Floods and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall last week have damaged 325,000 metric tons of paddy in all the seven provinces. According to the details made public by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, a total of 325,258 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 8.268 billion have been damaged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Earlier, the ministry had released a preliminary data of only three provinces, including Province 1, Lumbini and the Far-West, in which it was estimated that more than 258,000 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 7.22 billion had been damaged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the latest data provided by the ministry, 28,469 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 800 million have been damaged in three districts of Province 1, including Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari. The floods have affected 49,945 hectares of paddy fields in these three districts. Out of that, paddy planted in 7,492 hectares of land have been completely damaged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In Saptari, Siraha and Sarlahi districts of Province 2, a total of 20,350 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 560 million has been damaged. The floods have affected paddy planted in 48,684 hectares of land and completely damaged the crop planted in 5,355 hectares of land. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The lowest damage has been reported in Bagmati Province. A total of 7,500 hectares of paddy fields in Chitwan and Nuwakot districts have been affected by the floods. Out of that, paddy planted in 530 hectares of land have been completely damaged. According to the ministry, 2,068 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 58 million have been damaged in those districts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Districts like Bardiya, Kapilvastu, Banke and Rupandehi of Lumbini Province sustained maximum loss to paddy from the recent floods. Altogether 161,223 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 4.51 billion have been damaged in the province. The floods have affected 93,576 hectares of paddy fields in the province while paddy planted in 42,427 hectares of lands have been completely damaged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, 4,530 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 130 million were damaged in Gandaki Province, 40,219 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 300 million in Karnali Province and 68,400 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 1.91 billion in Far-Western Province. The floods have affected Syangja and Kaski in Gandaki, Dolpa, Jumla, Salyan and Surkhet in Karnali and Kailali and Kanchanpur districts in the far west. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Ministry, Prakash Kumar Sanjel, informed that the Ministry has formed working groups in all provinces to coordinate and facilitate the data collection at the provincial level. According to him, a meeting of agriculture ministers and agriculture secretaries of all the provinces is being held at the ministry on Tuesday (October 26) to assess the extent of damage and provide relief. He said that a decision to provide relief to the affected farmers would be taken after the details of the complete damage would be ascertained after the meeting. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13932', 'image' => '20211026113449_20210512035550_20181125011444_pady-1024x682.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 11:34:09', '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
