September 14: The government's new policy on import of sponge iron and billets has been mired in…
September 14: The government's new policy on import of sponge iron and billets has been mired in…
September 14: Industries that produce MS billet by importing sponge iron have welcomed the provisions related to the steel industry in the budget replacement bill presented by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma last…
September 14: The government-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited is preparing to operate fair-price shops for the upcoming festivals from September…
September 14: A good three years have passed by since the preliminary study of the Kathmandu Raxaul Railway construction project was carried out.…
September 14: The Ministry of Health and Population has urged the public to remain alert regarding the possible risk of Nipah Virus (NIV) infection after its outbreak was reported in neighbouring…
September 13: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has defended the budget replacement bill stating that the main opposition party CPN-UML compelled the government to introduce…
September 13: Karnali Province, which is considered to be lagging behind other provinces, has a lot of business potential especially in the field of herbal trade, tourism, energy and…
September 13: With the power generated from Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Power Project getting connected to the national grid, around 400 MW of surplus electricity has remained unused during the night…
September 13: Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma has announced that the government has set a target to achieve economic growth of 7 per cent for the current fiscal…
September 13: Internet penetration in the country has reached 102 per cent of the total population of Nepal, according to a report prepared by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority…
September 12: The Salt Trading Corporation (STC) has been producing 1000 metric tons of wheat seeds annually.…
September 12: Nepal and India have signed an agreement to jointly invest in the construction of the 400kVA Butwal-Gorakhpur cross border transmission line on the Indian…
September 12: A workshop on labor market information system to assess the demand of labour in the domestic market of Nepal has concluded.…
September 12: Industrialist and former ambassador Rukma Shumsher Rana is credited for setting up an outlet of a renowned multinational company in Nepal in the late…
September 12: Vice-President of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Fatema Sumar, has uarged Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to ratify the MCC grant agreement at the…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 14: The government's new policy on import of sponge iron and billets has been mired in controversy. The replacement bill introduced by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma on Friday has now reduced the customs duty on import of sponge iron to zero and has significantly increased the excise duty on import of billet. This new provision has been criticised by industrialists involved in production of steel stating that it has posed risk to investment of Rs 100 billion of 24 industries. </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 says it adopted this new policy with the aim of protecting domestic industries and promoting the establishment of billet plants in the country. However, industrialists argue that the policy has been introduced without any prior discussions and is aimed to discourage existing industries. There are now 30 such industries across the country, of which, six industries produce steel rod in the country by importing billet and sponge iron.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Nepal Steel Rolling Mills Association, an umbrella organization of iron rod manufacturers, denounced the new policy during a press conference in Kathmandu on September 13 and demanded that the provision should remain as it was before.</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"">Pradip Kumar Shrestha, the founding chairman of the association, who is also the managing director of Panchakanya Group, said that 24 industries would be shut down due to the discriminatory policy on customs and excise duty.</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 him, the new provision would make 10,000 people working in this sector jobless and the government would also lose up to Rs 5 billion in revenue. "The country has been importing up to two million metric tonnes of iron and iron related materials annually," 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"">Anjan Shrestha, Managing Director of Laxmi Group, which has been producing Siddhi Laxmi Steel, claimed that such a policy was brought for the interest of few industries without discussing with the other stakeholders. He said that although the government's decision was not wrong, it would have negative consequences. He said that it should be stalled for now and moved forward after discussions. Industrialists who import billet directly from India have started pressuring the government to revoke the decision.</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"">Speaking at the program, Kiran Sakha, Managing Director of Sakha Steel, said that this decision would force industries to shut down. He said the decision would risk the investment of the industrialists as well as the financial institutions.</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 association has said that the price of iron rod produced using billets will automatically go up due to customs and excise duty. It would lead the majority of the industries to shut down, incurring huge losses. The association claims that iron rod would be dearer due to zero percent customs duty on sponge iron and 4.75 percent customs duty on billets as well as excise duty. Though it aims to promote domestic business, the goods produced by this type of industry will not be of high quality.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13702', 'image' => '20210914022912_20170326103544_cs.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 14:28:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13957', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sponge Iron Importers Welcome New Customs Policy on Billet', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: Industries that produce MS billet by importing sponge iron have welcomed the provisions related to the steel industry in the budget replacement bill presented by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma last Friday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 14: Industries that produce MS billet by importing sponge iron have welcomed the provisions related to the steel industry in the budget replacement bill presented by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma last Friday. The Nepal Steel Billet Producers Association has issued a statement welcoming the difference of 4.75 percentage points in customs duty between sponge iron and readymade billet.</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"">Rajendra Raut, the central member of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry and operator of Swastik Rolling Mill, claimed that the new policy in the budget would increase employment, electricity consumption and reduce the price for consumers by at least Rs 6 per kg. "From our point of view, it seems that this is a good decision for improving domestic production," 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"">Raut said that the government's policy is in the interest of the country in the long run. He said that the industry operating on the basis of raw materials would not only increase electricity consumption but also increase employment, which would have a positive impact on the country's economy.</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"">However, Pawan Kumar Sarda, operator of Premier Steel Industries and former president of Morang Trade Association, objected to the government's sudden adoption of such a policy without any study for the vested interests of some industrialists.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the government took a discriminatory policy.</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"">Due to the wrong policy taken by the government, importing MS billets and constructing iron bars will cost Rs 6 more than importing an iron sponge and making billets, he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He added that the industry which produces 400 tons of iron rod daily cannot operate at a regular loss of up to Rs 2.5 million.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13701', 'image' => '20210914024156_cs5(17).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 14:41:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13955', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Operate Fair-Price Shops for Dashain from Friday', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: The government-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited is preparing to operate fair-price shops for the upcoming festivals from September 17.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 14: The government-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited is preparing to operate fair-price shops for the upcoming festivals from September 17. Aiming to facilitate the customers during the upcoming Dashain, Tihar and Chhath festivals, the company is preparing to operate fair-price shops at 43 places in 39 districts of the country including Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur this year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the information provided by the company, consumers will be able to buy food items including rice, pulses, chickpeas, beans, buckwheat, cooking oil, ghee, flour, sanitizer and goats at a discount rate.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The company will give a discount of Rs 5 per kg on pulses, rice, chickpeas, flour and sunflower oil this year, while the prices of soybean oil, meat and beans have been slashed by Rs 10 per kg, said Sharmila Neupane Subedi, information officer of the company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> The company says that the fair price shops will help in preventing the problem of unnecessary price hike during the festival and interference in the market price. This year, the company is estimated to bring around 3,000 goats for Dashain and Tihar.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the Kathmandu Valley, the company will operate fair-price at four places including Thapathali, Ramshah Path, Nakkhu and Suryabinayak. The company said that the fair price shops will be operated by adopting all safety measures keeping in mind the physical distance as the threat of Covid-19 pandemic is still there. The company has also been providing goods through online order within the Kathmandu Valley.</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"">Although other daily necessities are easily available in the fair-price shops, sugar does not seem easily available. The company had sent a letter to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies about eight months ago seeking permission to purchase 10,000 metric tons of sugar for the festivals. However, the letter has been stuck at the Ministry of Finance and the government is yet to give permission to purchase sugar. Due to this, the consumers who go to buy food at affordable prices are more likely to not get sugar.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13700', 'image' => '20210914123644_20201123043159_92926.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 12:36:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13954', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kathmandu-Raxaul Railway Project in Limbo ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: A good three years have passed by since the preliminary study of the Kathmandu Raxaul Railway construction project was carried out. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 14: A good three years have passed by since the preliminary study of the Kathmandu Raxaul Railway construction project was carried out. However, the process for the construction of this project has not moved forward. The railway connects the federal capital of Nepal with Raxaul of Bihar State in India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the preliminary study of this project has been done, the construction works have not been initiated as the two countries are yet to sign an agreement to this effect. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deepak Bhattarai, Director General of the Department of Railways, said the process would be forwarded only after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) is signed by the Government of Nepal and the Government of India. According to him, the MoU is ready but the date for signing the MoU has not been fixed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"It (the MoU) is ready for signing between the two countries at an appropriate time," he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Director General Bhattarai added that the Indian side had completed the preliminary engineering and traffic survey in 2018. According to him, although the first phase work regarding the project has been done, more important works are still remaining. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The final location survey would be done through the detailed study. But first the two countries should sign MoU for this," he elaborated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Department said it was not immediately in a position to carry ahead works as the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport is without the minister for nearly two months. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Preliminary study shows that the railway will be 135 kilometres long. Bhattarai said the investment for the construction of the railway is not yet secured. According to him, the amount would be fixed after the detailed study is done and discussions would be held how to mobilize the amount. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The modality of the investment is also not yet clear. Whether to approach the Indian government or any other donor agencies for the investment would be decided only after the exact investment of the project is available. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The railway project is expected to minimise transportation costs of supplies made from India. As a result of relatively low transportation fees, prices of goods imported from India would decrease. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the process to construct the East-West electric railway has been moved forward with the investments of the government itself. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The governments of Nepal and India had reached an understanding in 2012 to construct railway at five different places in Nepal. Among them, two railway projects, one Kathmandu-Raxaul railway and another Bathanaha-Biratnagar railway—are in the process of construction. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the construction of 10 kilometres of the 18-kilometres Bathanaha-Biratnagar railway has been completed so far. Other three projects are yet to start. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There used to be railway service between Raxaul and Amlekhgunj in 1984 BS during the Rana regime. Jayanagar-Janakpur railway service was also operational during 1994 BS. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13699', 'image' => '20210914112433_20190325112130_Clipboard43-5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 11:23:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13953', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Issues Warning against Nipah Virus ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: The Ministry of Health and Population has urged the public to remain alert regarding the possible risk of Nipah Virus (NIV) infection after its outbreak was reported in neighbouring India. ', 'content' => '<p><em>Photo Courtesy: MoHP</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 14: The Ministry of Health and Population has urged the public to remain alert regarding the possible risk of Nipah Virus (NIV) infection after its outbreak was reported in neighbouring India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Spokesperson for the Ministry Dr Krishna Prasad Poudel informed in a press statement that the risk of the virus outbreak in Nepal cannot be ruled out as Nepal and India share open border. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the ministry, the infection of the deadly NIV is transmitted to humans from animals and then human- to- human. The virus has been detected in the Indian state of Kerala, the ministry said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Spokesperson Poudel, although the virus has not been detected in Nepal so far, the risk remains considerable. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Ministry informed that the fatality rate of NIV is 45 to 75 percent. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recognizes NIV-caused illness as one of 10 deadly diseases in the world, the ministry said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The statement further says that fruit bat is the natural host of the virus and it is transmitted to pig, cattle and then to humans. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“Nipah Virus infection is a zoonotic illness that is transmitted to people from animals, and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly from person-to-person,” the ministry said citing the World Health Organisation (WHO). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The WHO has reportedly said there is no treatment or vaccine available for either people or animals affected by the new virus and has suggested supportive care as the primary treatment for humans. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The symptoms of the virus include fever, dizziness, headache, muscle pain, nausea, breathing complication and tonsillitis are the symptoms of NIV infection. The ministry say that the infection rate of NIV is relatively high. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry has recommended people to properly clean fruits before consuming, eat only well-cooked vegetables, keep cowsheds and farms clean, use gloves and masks during animal slaughtering and cook meat, drink boiled water, wash hands with soap and water time and again and use mask in public as preventive measures against the virus. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Ministry has urged one and all to promptly seek medical intervention in case of having the above mentioned symptoms. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has ensured of supportive care for the NIV-caused illness, the statement added. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/nipah.jpg" style="height:367px; width:800px" /> </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13698', 'image' => '20210914105250_newnipa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 10:32:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13952', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Defends Replacement Bill on Budget ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has defended the budget replacement bill stating that the main opposition party CPN-UML compelled the government to introduce it.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 13: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has defended the budget replacement bill stating that the main opposition party CPN-UML compelled the government to introduce it.</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"">Speaking at a press conference organized at the Ministry of Finance on September 12, Minister Sharma said that the bill had to be passed in three days because the opposition party UML refused to pass the ordinance budget introduced its own government led by KP Sharma Oli. He claimed that Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had held discussions with the UML to endorse the ordinance budget but the opposition party refused to do so.</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 UML did not agree to pass the budget brought by itself through the ordinance, so the replacement bill had to be introduced," Sharma said. According to Sharma, the budget has been revised to maintain financial discipline. The budget has been amended only in some significant sections, while most of the provisions and plans introduced by the earlier government have got continuity. </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 Finance Minister Sharma, the incumbent government’s action plan will be based on the belief that every plan should pay off and the budget has been prepared to support the economy as specified by the constitution. He defended the replacement bill amid criticism over the inclusion of populist programmes. He claimed that the budget he brought through the replacement bill was not a populist one but aimed to fulfill the responsibility of the state.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma said that the government is trying to help the critically ill people who can't fend for themselves and the political warriors who were involved in the political movements. He claimed that the government has introduced a programme to give Rs 10,000 each to 500,000 poor families. The government plans to distribute this amount to the extremely poor families affected by the COVID-19 before Dashain. He informed that criteria of the poor family meant to receive the beneficiary amount has been set. </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"">Sharma claimed to spend 10 percent of capital expenditure every month. He also said that a mechanism would be set up to monitor capital expenditure as well as the progress of any project, and problems plaguing the project. Stating that the government has increased the capital expenditure even though it has reduced the total size of the budget, he said monitoring would be prioritized to make the expenditure more effective.</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"">Explaining that the economic growth rate of the current fiscal year has been increased in the replacement bill compared to the ordinance budget, Minister Sharma said that the availability of COVID-19 vaccine is the major reason behind it.</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 succeeded in bringing the vaccine and the rapid vaccination campaign would help in the economic growth, so the growth rate has been revised. The previous budget had targeted the economic growth rate of 6.5 percent. However, Finance Minister Sharma has revised the target saying that economic activities have been increasing recently.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also revealed why the government has remained silent over controversial programmes brought in the previous ordinance budget. As the Cabinet meeting had already scrapped the budget provision of extraction and export of stones, pebbles from the Chure region, it was not necessary to state the same in the budget programme. He also informed that the government has not taken any decision to involve the private sector in the import and trade of salt.</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 led by KP Sharma Oli had announced in the budget to involve the private sector in salt trading and its import, but this program will not be implemented as the replacement bill has not addressed this issue.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13697', 'image' => '20210913014226_20210528094601_20210501025837_11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 13:41:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13951', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Study finds High Potential for Herbal Industries and Tourism in Karnali Province', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: Karnali Province, which is considered to be lagging behind other provinces, has a lot of business potential especially in the field of herbal trade, tourism, energy and agribusiness.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 13: Karnali Province, which is considered to be lagging behind other provinces, has a lot of business potential especially in the field of herbal trade, tourism, energy and agribusiness.</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 study report on economic activities of Karnali Province by Nepal Rastra Bank shows that there is high potential for herbal industry in the region as the province has reserves of herbal raw materials. NRB had studied the economic activities of Karnali in the first six months of the 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"">The study has shown that most of the territory of the state is made up of hills and high mountains and there are also reserves of valuable herbs and mineral oil, mines and gems. Similarly, the central bank says that the business related to agriculture also has high potential. The report mentions that employment opportunities can be created by making youth entrepreneurs run agriculture and herbal related industries in the province.</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"">Furthermore, according to the bank, as Karnali also has potential for organic agribusiness.</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 study has also shown that there is high potential of tourism in Karnali. Beautiful lakes like Rara, Phoksundo, Bulbule and the areas of religious and cultural significance such as Kankrebihar, Deuti Bajyai, Chandannath, and the holy flame of Panchkoshi as well as various temples, pilgrimage sites and valleys are located in the province.</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"">Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr Prakash Kumar Shrestha also said that there is a high potential for tourism entrepreneurs in Karnali. “The state has beautiful lakes and offers beautiful scenery of the Himalayan range. At the same time, there is also geographical diversity,” he said, adding, “In this case, Karnali can be made a tourism hub.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the report states that there is high potential for hydropower business in the province due to water resources and geographical diversity. Commercial farming and entrepreneurship as well as production and productivity can be increased by introducing modern technology and irrigation from big rivers and other water sources.</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 study suggests that workers going for foreign employment can also be attracted to agribusiness. According to the study, a large number of workers from the province go for foreign employment. It is said that if they can be attracted to agribusiness, the production and productivity of the agricultural sector will also increase.</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"">There is a possibility to develop and expand small and medium enterprises in Karnali by maximum utilization of concessional loans. In addition, the study report states that there is a need for investment in the education and health sectors in the province.</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"">Dr Shrestha says that despite such commercial viability, there are also lots of challenges in the province. He states that the main challenge is the lack of necessary infrastructure.</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 number of tourists who go to see the Fewa lake in Pokhara is not the same as the number of tourists visiting Rara Lake in Karnali," he said, “If the infrastructure can be developed, there is business potential in the region including tourism.”</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"">Moreover, the report also states that there is a challenge to reduce the poverty and unemployment by creating employment opportunities in the province for most of the young people who travel to India and Gulf countries for foreign employment.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13696', 'image' => '20210913013121_20190912013703_aafddf.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 13:30:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13950', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Seeks Market for Surplus Power ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: With the power generated from Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Power Project getting connected to the national grid, around 400 MW of surplus electricity has remained unused during the night time. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 13: With the power generated from Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Power Project getting connected to the national grid, around 400 MW of surplus electricity has remained unused during the night time. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The reserve electricity in day is 200 MW. There was a time when the country was struggling for a single unit of power. The power distributing companies are facing more power surplus during the monsoon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Executive Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), Kulman Ghising, said that the country has become self-sufficient on electricity with the Upper Tamakoshi being connected to the national grid. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This has resulted in a large volume of power going unused. The NEA is incurring a daily loss equivalent to Rs 40 million due to surplus power, according to Ghising. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">India could be the best market for surplus power, but the neighbouring country has not given any green signal towards this end.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During his recent visit to India, Ghising urged Indian officials to facilitate in finding an accessible market for the surplus power generated in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NEA delegation discussed with the Indian side about exporting surplus power to India and importing power from India during the lean period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NEA has proposed mutual seasonal electricity exchange with Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited to utilise surplus power generated during monsoon from various hydropower projects including the 456-megawatt Upper Tamakoshi hydropower, said Ghising. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"A proposal has been prepared for Nepal to supply the surplus electricity to Bihar during the monsoon and to bring it from Bihar during winter. In case of unequal amounts of electricity exchanged between Nepal and Bihar, its price will be fixed through an appropriate method," he said. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There has been an electricity exchange between Nepal and India since 1971. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">So far, the NEA has reached the power purchase agreement with 346 hydropower projects to purchase 6,176 megawatts of electricity. Of them, 111 projects with 1,300 megawatts have come into operation. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, 136 projects with capacity to produce 3,034 megawatts of electricity are under construction. And other 99 projects of 1,841 megawatts capacity are under financial closing process, said the NEA. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13695', 'image' => '20210913093007_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 09:29:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13949', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Economic Growth of 7 Percent Easily Achievable: Finance Minister', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma has announced that the government has set a target to achieve economic growth of 7 per cent for the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 13: Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma has announced that the government has set a target to achieve economic growth of 7 per cent for the current fiscal year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He expressed hope that the economy would remain afloat thanks to the increasing activities due to the slowdown of COVID-19 infection. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a news conference on Sunday, Minister Sharma said that the economic growth rate of 7 per cent was easily achievable. He said that the environment is being gradually created for this. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the finance minister said that the impacts of COVID-19 have gradually slowed down, economic activities have gained pace and a clear roadmap has been drawn to increase capital expenditure while policy-level reforms have also been ensured to meet the target of economic growth in the current fiscal year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We have set an achievable target. We are confident of meeting the target," RSS quoted Minister Sharma as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The finance minister reportedly said that the economy will gain momentum after expediting activities of development, widened tax ambit and subsidies given to the raw material-based industries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, he said that massive reforms would be ensured in market monitoring, test and investigation while payment system would be further simplified and the problem of low billing would be resolved to further expand the country's economy, RSS further reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Sharma said that the government would unveil concrete programmes for poverty reduction soon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Regarding trade deficit, he said that the government was focused on self-reliant economy and its top priority was import replacement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that the budget has given top priority to the industrial sector, Sharma said that crop insurance has been increased to 80 per cent to make the country independent in agriculture. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini said that the incumbent government has only made slight changes to the budget unveiled by the erstwhile government led by KP Oli. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He added that a mechanism would be developed to access the progress details of the projects every month. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13694', 'image' => '20210913075855_1631281254.janardan.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 07:58:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13948', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Internet Penetration in Nepal is 102 Percent of the Total Population: NTA', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: Internet penetration in the country has reached 102 per cent of the total population of Nepal, according to a report prepared by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 13: Internet penetration in the country has reached 102 per cent of the total population of Nepal, according to a report prepared by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The state-owned NTA prepared the report based on population projection of 2011 to 2030. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report was prepared by assuming Nepal's population to be 29.87 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the NTA report, almost 31 million population is connected to internet facility till the end of the last fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report further states that mobile internet has the largest contribution to the internet penetration in the country. As of July 15, the contribution of mobile internet alone is 76.03 per cent while 3G internet service has given access to more than 12.89 million population. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Among them, the users of Nepal Telecom are the largest contributors as their number is 10.04 million followed by 2.46 million Ncell users. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The contribution of fixed broadband is 25.66 per cent with 700,285 users of ADSL and more than 727,000 FTTH internet users. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the number of 4G service users has increased in the recent days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NTA stated that the number of 4G users is almost 10 million till the end of the last fiscal year (July 15, 2021). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It is said that Nepal Telecom has 4.74 million 4G users. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Ncell has more than 5 million 4G users while the number of 4G users of Smart Telecom is 166,000. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13693', 'image' => '20210913073203_20210208112726_wi-fi-internet-connection-on-a-smartphone-icon-vector-7350115.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 07:31:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13947', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Salt Trading Corporation Producing 1000 Metric Tons of Wheat Seeds Annually', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: The Salt Trading Corporation (STC) has been producing 1000 metric tons of wheat seeds annually. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: The Salt Trading Corporation (STC) has been producing 1000 metric tons of wheat seeds annually. The corporation has been producing high-quality hybrid seeds in collaboration with the farmers under the Contract Farming programme. The programme started in 2004 aims to address the issue of shortage of high-quality wheat seeds. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The company had been producing 200 metric tonnes of seeds annually in the initial phase and has increased its quantity to 1,000 metric tonnes in recent days. The state-owned company has been producing improved varieties of wheat seeds in collaboration with more than 50 farmers from three districts-Bara, Parsa, and Chitwan. The STC and farmers are producing seeds in 500 bigahs of land to meet the demand for 15,000 bigahs of cultivable land.</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 STC sells improved varieties of seeds worth more than Rs 50 million annually to the farmers. The Salt Trading Corporation sells the seeds to farmers after purchasing the seeds from the farmers and processing them through its processing plant in Hetauda. The STC started processing wheat seeds in 2004 by bringing a processing machine from Agrosa Industries Company, Haryana, India.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the STC, 30,000 metric tonnes of edible wheat is produced annually from the seeds of improved varieties in 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"">According to Krishna Kumar Khadka, departmental manager of Salt Trading Corporation, improved varieties of seeds have been produced from the original seeds provided by the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC).</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"">After purchasing and packaging the improved varieties of seeds produced by the farmers, the organization sends them to the market. The farmer can buy the seeds through various agro-vets and cooperatives.</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 seed production has provided job opportunities to around 200 people including farmers, daily wage workers, and other employees. The STC says that the farmers have been able to get a good yield from the improved varieties of seeds produced in this way.</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"">Khadka said that the production of high quality seeds within the country would stop the outflow of millions of rupees abroad, and it would help the overall economy.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13692', 'image' => '20210912021306_OrganicWheat_Lead.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 14:12:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13946', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Sign Agreement to Build Second Cross-Border Transmission Line', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Nepal and India have signed an agreement to jointly invest in the construction of the 400kVA Butwal-Gorakhpur cross border transmission line on the Indian side.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: Nepal and India have signed an agreement to jointly invest in the construction of the 400kVA Butwal-Gorakhpur cross border transmission line on the Indian side. An agreement to this effect was signed between the Nepal Electricity Authority and the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited in New Delhi on September 8, Wednesday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The agreement was signed by Kulman Ghising, managing director of NEA on behalf of Nepal and YK Dixit, managing director of Power Grid Corporation , India. This has paved the way to set up a joint venture company to build a transmission line to India.</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"">As per the agreement, Nepal and India will each hold 50 percent share in the company. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prabal Adhikari, director of NEA, said that an agreement has been reached to build the transmission line through a joint investment model. "It's not just an investment agreement, it is also about building the transmission line in a joint venture model," he said, adding, "Both the parties will have equal equity in this project."</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 total length of the transmission line, which is considered significant to export electricity, will be of 120 kilometers. Nepal will build a 20 km transmission line itself on its side. The transmission line on the Nepal side is being constructed under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) project. The 100 km transmission line on the Indian side will be constructed jointly.</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 meeting held on August 3, 2021 had allowed NEA to invest in 50 percent shares of the company to be set up to build the transmission line on the Indian side. Following the cabinet decision, the agreement was signed between the two parties. </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 estimated cost of constructing the transmission line on the India side is said to be around Rs 4.61 billion. A total of 20 percent of the investment will be chipped in by the two sides as equity and the remaining 80 percent will be financed by banks. The transmission line on the Nepal section is estimated to cost Rs 2.31 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"">A secretary-level meeting of energy ministries of Nepal-India held in October 2019 had finalized the construction model of the project. The construction work of the transmission line has moved forward accordingly.</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"">Earlier, a bilateral agreement was reached to build a transmission line jointly on the Indian side. Such agreement was signed at the meeting of Secretary and joint secretary level of the two countries. However, the process could not move ahead due to delay in getting approval of the government of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA says that the process has moved forward after the government gave the green signal. As per the agreement, a joint venture company will be established in India. The company will then sign the agreement regarding the transmission service and the process of securing loan investment will be initiated. </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 construction of the cross-border transmission line is expected to be completed within three and a half years. </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"">Currently, the 400 KV Dhalkebar Muzaffarpur transmission line - the first cross border transmission line between Nepal and India - is in operation. It is said that the capacity of Butwal-Gorakhpur transmission line will be twice as much as that of Dhalkebar. Altogether 2000 MW of electricity can be transmitted through the proposed transmission line.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13691', 'image' => '20210912012755_20190915092327_20190517010911_aaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 13:27:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13945', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Workshop on Labor Market Information System Concludes ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: A workshop on labor market information system to assess the demand of labour in the domestic market of Nepal has concluded. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: A workshop on labor market information system to assess the demand of labour in the domestic market of Nepal has concluded. The workshop was organised by Employers Led Labor Market Secretariat (ELMS) project on Friday with the participation of five private umbrella organisations. </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 program was organised with the objective of institutionalizing the labor market information system and collecting labor market information. The programme will provide information on the status of workers available in Nepal's labor market. </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"">President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), Bishnu Kumar Agrawal, said at the workshop that the programme would be of great help in establishing a relationship between people looking for employment opportunities and the employers. He said that the programme, which was launched in collaboration with five private sector organizations, would be an example for the future reference as well. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, President of Hotel Association of Nepal Sirjana Rana, President of the Federation of Contractors’ Association of Nepal Ravi Singh and Treasurer of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Sukuntalal Hirachan were unanimous in saying that this programme would help in providing information about the need of Nepali labor market and supply of manpower. They are hopeful that the programme will help solve the long-term unemployment problem in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that there is a lack of competitive and skilled manpower in Nepal, vice president of CNI Birendra Raj Pandey said that the work for capacity building should be done institutionally. </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"">Under this project, 10 professions each related to construction, agriculture and tourism sectors will be selected and professional criteria related to those professions will be prepared. The project aims to develop professional standards with the direct involvement of employers and skilled workers and make them helpful for future curriculum development. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13690', 'image' => '20210912125954_1631404560.Clipboard01.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 12:59:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13944', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'The Business Tycoon who Introduced Dabur Brand in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Industrialist and former ambassador Rukma Shumsher Rana is credited for setting up an outlet of a renowned multinational company in Nepal in the late 80s.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 12: Industrialist and former ambassador Rukma Shumsher Rana is credited for setting up an outlet of a renowned multinational company in Nepal in the late 80s. Rana played a crucial role in establishing Dabur Nepal in 1989. The origin of the company, which is renowned across the globe, dates back to 1884 in India. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rana, who was a partner and managing director of the Indian joint venture company Dabur Nepal, died at the age of 85 at his residence in Battisputali, Kathmandu on Friday (September 10). He was suffering from kidney ailments, diabetes and high blood pressure. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Marketing chief of the Dabur Nepal, Abhaya Gorkhali, says that they have lost their guardian. The company currently employs more than 1000 workers and its annual turnover is above Rs 10 billion, according to a source at Dabur Nepal. The company produces juice, chawanprash and Hazmola candies from its outlet in Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rana, who was involved with the company since its establishment, worked as its managing director for a long time and was appointed its chairman two years ago.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Besides a successful businessman, Rana is also a well-known figure in national politics. . Rana, the youngest son of Nepali Congress leader and founder Subarna Shumsher Rana, served as Nepal's ambassador to India from 2009 to 2011 during the Congress-led government. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also served as the member secretary of National Sports Council twice between 2050 to 2055 BS. Rana also became the president of Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) in 2059 BS. The NOC had recently appointed Rana as its honorary president. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also served as the acting president of the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) and the president of the Nepal Taekwondo Association and the Nepal Athletics Association. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rana was the father-in-law of Anil Keshari Shah, CEO of Nabil Bank. He is survived by a wife and a daughter. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to family sources, he was cremated at Pashupati Aryaghat on Saturday afternoon.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13689', 'image' => '20210912113319_1631334312.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 11:32:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13943', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'MCC Vice President Sumar Urges Finance Minister to Ratify MCC Agreement as Soon as Possible ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Vice-President of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Fatema Sumar, has uarged Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to ratify the MCC grant agreement at the earliest.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 12: Vice-President of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Fatema Sumar, has uarged Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to ratify the MCC grant agreement at the earliest. Sumar made such appeal while paying a courtesy call on the finance minister at his office in Singha Durbar on Saturday, September 11.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the meeting, the two discussed at length about different aspects of the MCC project under which Nepal is entitled to receive USD 500 million in grants. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to a press statement issued by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Minister Sharma told the visiting delegate that the issues relating to the MCC was being discussed at political level in Nepal. The press statement reads that discussions are being held at political level about the compact signed between the MCC and Nepal in 2017. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The statement added that Sumar urged Minister Sharma to ratify the agreement from parliament at the earliest and implement it without any further delay.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC delegation led by Sumar has already held meetings with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Energy Minister Pampha Bhusal and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The visiting team had also held a meeting with CPN (UML) Chairperson KP Sharma Oli, CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairperson Madhav Kumar Nepal and senior leaders of Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal (JSP) on Thursday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC which forms partnerships with developing countries like Nepal for good governance, economic reform and investment is ready to assist Nepal in construction of infrastructures including 312 km road and 400 KV transmission. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC has pledged over Rs 50 billion for these projects while the Government of Nepal will be contributing Rs 12 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Political parties are divided over endorsement of the MCC grant agreement. The CPN UML government led by KP Sharma Oli, which had been pressing for its endorsement, has now adopted a wait-and-watch policy after becoming the main opposition party.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In this context, the MCC delegation led by Sumar had arrived in Nepal on a four-day visit last Thursday (September 9) to expedite the project. The team is scheduled to return back today (September 12).</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13688', 'image' => '20210912104250_20210910125944_20201218014622_1608248580.11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 10:41:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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' => '13956', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ''New Customs Policy on Sponge Iron and Billets Risks Investment of Rs 100 Billion'', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: The government's new policy on import of sponge iron and billets has been mired in controversy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 14: The government's new policy on import of sponge iron and billets has been mired in controversy. The replacement bill introduced by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma on Friday has now reduced the customs duty on import of sponge iron to zero and has significantly increased the excise duty on import of billet. This new provision has been criticised by industrialists involved in production of steel stating that it has posed risk to investment of Rs 100 billion of 24 industries. </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 says it adopted this new policy with the aim of protecting domestic industries and promoting the establishment of billet plants in the country. However, industrialists argue that the policy has been introduced without any prior discussions and is aimed to discourage existing industries. There are now 30 such industries across the country, of which, six industries produce steel rod in the country by importing billet and sponge iron.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Nepal Steel Rolling Mills Association, an umbrella organization of iron rod manufacturers, denounced the new policy during a press conference in Kathmandu on September 13 and demanded that the provision should remain as it was before.</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"">Pradip Kumar Shrestha, the founding chairman of the association, who is also the managing director of Panchakanya Group, said that 24 industries would be shut down due to the discriminatory policy on customs and excise duty.</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 him, the new provision would make 10,000 people working in this sector jobless and the government would also lose up to Rs 5 billion in revenue. "The country has been importing up to two million metric tonnes of iron and iron related materials annually," 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"">Anjan Shrestha, Managing Director of Laxmi Group, which has been producing Siddhi Laxmi Steel, claimed that such a policy was brought for the interest of few industries without discussing with the other stakeholders. He said that although the government's decision was not wrong, it would have negative consequences. He said that it should be stalled for now and moved forward after discussions. Industrialists who import billet directly from India have started pressuring the government to revoke the decision.</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"">Speaking at the program, Kiran Sakha, Managing Director of Sakha Steel, said that this decision would force industries to shut down. He said the decision would risk the investment of the industrialists as well as the financial institutions.</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 association has said that the price of iron rod produced using billets will automatically go up due to customs and excise duty. It would lead the majority of the industries to shut down, incurring huge losses. The association claims that iron rod would be dearer due to zero percent customs duty on sponge iron and 4.75 percent customs duty on billets as well as excise duty. Though it aims to promote domestic business, the goods produced by this type of industry will not be of high quality.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13702', 'image' => '20210914022912_20170326103544_cs.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 14:28:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13957', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sponge Iron Importers Welcome New Customs Policy on Billet', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: Industries that produce MS billet by importing sponge iron have welcomed the provisions related to the steel industry in the budget replacement bill presented by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma last Friday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 14: Industries that produce MS billet by importing sponge iron have welcomed the provisions related to the steel industry in the budget replacement bill presented by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma last Friday. The Nepal Steel Billet Producers Association has issued a statement welcoming the difference of 4.75 percentage points in customs duty between sponge iron and readymade billet.</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"">Rajendra Raut, the central member of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry and operator of Swastik Rolling Mill, claimed that the new policy in the budget would increase employment, electricity consumption and reduce the price for consumers by at least Rs 6 per kg. "From our point of view, it seems that this is a good decision for improving domestic production," 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"">Raut said that the government's policy is in the interest of the country in the long run. He said that the industry operating on the basis of raw materials would not only increase electricity consumption but also increase employment, which would have a positive impact on the country's economy.</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"">However, Pawan Kumar Sarda, operator of Premier Steel Industries and former president of Morang Trade Association, objected to the government's sudden adoption of such a policy without any study for the vested interests of some industrialists.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the government took a discriminatory policy.</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"">Due to the wrong policy taken by the government, importing MS billets and constructing iron bars will cost Rs 6 more than importing an iron sponge and making billets, he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He added that the industry which produces 400 tons of iron rod daily cannot operate at a regular loss of up to Rs 2.5 million.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13701', 'image' => '20210914024156_cs5(17).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 14:41:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13955', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Operate Fair-Price Shops for Dashain from Friday', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: The government-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited is preparing to operate fair-price shops for the upcoming festivals from September 17.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 14: The government-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited is preparing to operate fair-price shops for the upcoming festivals from September 17. Aiming to facilitate the customers during the upcoming Dashain, Tihar and Chhath festivals, the company is preparing to operate fair-price shops at 43 places in 39 districts of the country including Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur this year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the information provided by the company, consumers will be able to buy food items including rice, pulses, chickpeas, beans, buckwheat, cooking oil, ghee, flour, sanitizer and goats at a discount rate.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The company will give a discount of Rs 5 per kg on pulses, rice, chickpeas, flour and sunflower oil this year, while the prices of soybean oil, meat and beans have been slashed by Rs 10 per kg, said Sharmila Neupane Subedi, information officer of the company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> The company says that the fair price shops will help in preventing the problem of unnecessary price hike during the festival and interference in the market price. This year, the company is estimated to bring around 3,000 goats for Dashain and Tihar.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the Kathmandu Valley, the company will operate fair-price at four places including Thapathali, Ramshah Path, Nakkhu and Suryabinayak. The company said that the fair price shops will be operated by adopting all safety measures keeping in mind the physical distance as the threat of Covid-19 pandemic is still there. The company has also been providing goods through online order within the Kathmandu Valley.</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"">Although other daily necessities are easily available in the fair-price shops, sugar does not seem easily available. The company had sent a letter to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies about eight months ago seeking permission to purchase 10,000 metric tons of sugar for the festivals. However, the letter has been stuck at the Ministry of Finance and the government is yet to give permission to purchase sugar. Due to this, the consumers who go to buy food at affordable prices are more likely to not get sugar.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13700', 'image' => '20210914123644_20201123043159_92926.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 12:36:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13954', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kathmandu-Raxaul Railway Project in Limbo ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: A good three years have passed by since the preliminary study of the Kathmandu Raxaul Railway construction project was carried out. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 14: A good three years have passed by since the preliminary study of the Kathmandu Raxaul Railway construction project was carried out. However, the process for the construction of this project has not moved forward. The railway connects the federal capital of Nepal with Raxaul of Bihar State in India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the preliminary study of this project has been done, the construction works have not been initiated as the two countries are yet to sign an agreement to this effect. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deepak Bhattarai, Director General of the Department of Railways, said the process would be forwarded only after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) is signed by the Government of Nepal and the Government of India. According to him, the MoU is ready but the date for signing the MoU has not been fixed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"It (the MoU) is ready for signing between the two countries at an appropriate time," he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Director General Bhattarai added that the Indian side had completed the preliminary engineering and traffic survey in 2018. According to him, although the first phase work regarding the project has been done, more important works are still remaining. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The final location survey would be done through the detailed study. But first the two countries should sign MoU for this," he elaborated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Department said it was not immediately in a position to carry ahead works as the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport is without the minister for nearly two months. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Preliminary study shows that the railway will be 135 kilometres long. Bhattarai said the investment for the construction of the railway is not yet secured. According to him, the amount would be fixed after the detailed study is done and discussions would be held how to mobilize the amount. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The modality of the investment is also not yet clear. Whether to approach the Indian government or any other donor agencies for the investment would be decided only after the exact investment of the project is available. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The railway project is expected to minimise transportation costs of supplies made from India. As a result of relatively low transportation fees, prices of goods imported from India would decrease. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the process to construct the East-West electric railway has been moved forward with the investments of the government itself. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The governments of Nepal and India had reached an understanding in 2012 to construct railway at five different places in Nepal. Among them, two railway projects, one Kathmandu-Raxaul railway and another Bathanaha-Biratnagar railway—are in the process of construction. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the construction of 10 kilometres of the 18-kilometres Bathanaha-Biratnagar railway has been completed so far. Other three projects are yet to start. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There used to be railway service between Raxaul and Amlekhgunj in 1984 BS during the Rana regime. Jayanagar-Janakpur railway service was also operational during 1994 BS. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13699', 'image' => '20210914112433_20190325112130_Clipboard43-5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 11:23:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13953', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Issues Warning against Nipah Virus ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: The Ministry of Health and Population has urged the public to remain alert regarding the possible risk of Nipah Virus (NIV) infection after its outbreak was reported in neighbouring India. ', 'content' => '<p><em>Photo Courtesy: MoHP</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 14: The Ministry of Health and Population has urged the public to remain alert regarding the possible risk of Nipah Virus (NIV) infection after its outbreak was reported in neighbouring India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Spokesperson for the Ministry Dr Krishna Prasad Poudel informed in a press statement that the risk of the virus outbreak in Nepal cannot be ruled out as Nepal and India share open border. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the ministry, the infection of the deadly NIV is transmitted to humans from animals and then human- to- human. The virus has been detected in the Indian state of Kerala, the ministry said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Spokesperson Poudel, although the virus has not been detected in Nepal so far, the risk remains considerable. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Ministry informed that the fatality rate of NIV is 45 to 75 percent. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recognizes NIV-caused illness as one of 10 deadly diseases in the world, the ministry said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The statement further says that fruit bat is the natural host of the virus and it is transmitted to pig, cattle and then to humans. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“Nipah Virus infection is a zoonotic illness that is transmitted to people from animals, and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly from person-to-person,” the ministry said citing the World Health Organisation (WHO). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The WHO has reportedly said there is no treatment or vaccine available for either people or animals affected by the new virus and has suggested supportive care as the primary treatment for humans. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The symptoms of the virus include fever, dizziness, headache, muscle pain, nausea, breathing complication and tonsillitis are the symptoms of NIV infection. The ministry say that the infection rate of NIV is relatively high. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry has recommended people to properly clean fruits before consuming, eat only well-cooked vegetables, keep cowsheds and farms clean, use gloves and masks during animal slaughtering and cook meat, drink boiled water, wash hands with soap and water time and again and use mask in public as preventive measures against the virus. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Ministry has urged one and all to promptly seek medical intervention in case of having the above mentioned symptoms. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has ensured of supportive care for the NIV-caused illness, the statement added. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/nipah.jpg" style="height:367px; width:800px" /> </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13698', 'image' => '20210914105250_newnipa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 10:32:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13952', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Defends Replacement Bill on Budget ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has defended the budget replacement bill stating that the main opposition party CPN-UML compelled the government to introduce it.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 13: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has defended the budget replacement bill stating that the main opposition party CPN-UML compelled the government to introduce it.</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"">Speaking at a press conference organized at the Ministry of Finance on September 12, Minister Sharma said that the bill had to be passed in three days because the opposition party UML refused to pass the ordinance budget introduced its own government led by KP Sharma Oli. He claimed that Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had held discussions with the UML to endorse the ordinance budget but the opposition party refused to do so.</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 UML did not agree to pass the budget brought by itself through the ordinance, so the replacement bill had to be introduced," Sharma said. According to Sharma, the budget has been revised to maintain financial discipline. The budget has been amended only in some significant sections, while most of the provisions and plans introduced by the earlier government have got continuity. </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 Finance Minister Sharma, the incumbent government’s action plan will be based on the belief that every plan should pay off and the budget has been prepared to support the economy as specified by the constitution. He defended the replacement bill amid criticism over the inclusion of populist programmes. He claimed that the budget he brought through the replacement bill was not a populist one but aimed to fulfill the responsibility of the state.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma said that the government is trying to help the critically ill people who can't fend for themselves and the political warriors who were involved in the political movements. He claimed that the government has introduced a programme to give Rs 10,000 each to 500,000 poor families. The government plans to distribute this amount to the extremely poor families affected by the COVID-19 before Dashain. He informed that criteria of the poor family meant to receive the beneficiary amount has been set. </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"">Sharma claimed to spend 10 percent of capital expenditure every month. He also said that a mechanism would be set up to monitor capital expenditure as well as the progress of any project, and problems plaguing the project. Stating that the government has increased the capital expenditure even though it has reduced the total size of the budget, he said monitoring would be prioritized to make the expenditure more effective.</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"">Explaining that the economic growth rate of the current fiscal year has been increased in the replacement bill compared to the ordinance budget, Minister Sharma said that the availability of COVID-19 vaccine is the major reason behind it.</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 succeeded in bringing the vaccine and the rapid vaccination campaign would help in the economic growth, so the growth rate has been revised. The previous budget had targeted the economic growth rate of 6.5 percent. However, Finance Minister Sharma has revised the target saying that economic activities have been increasing recently.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also revealed why the government has remained silent over controversial programmes brought in the previous ordinance budget. As the Cabinet meeting had already scrapped the budget provision of extraction and export of stones, pebbles from the Chure region, it was not necessary to state the same in the budget programme. He also informed that the government has not taken any decision to involve the private sector in the import and trade of salt.</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 led by KP Sharma Oli had announced in the budget to involve the private sector in salt trading and its import, but this program will not be implemented as the replacement bill has not addressed this issue.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13697', 'image' => '20210913014226_20210528094601_20210501025837_11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 13:41:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13951', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Study finds High Potential for Herbal Industries and Tourism in Karnali Province', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: Karnali Province, which is considered to be lagging behind other provinces, has a lot of business potential especially in the field of herbal trade, tourism, energy and agribusiness.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 13: Karnali Province, which is considered to be lagging behind other provinces, has a lot of business potential especially in the field of herbal trade, tourism, energy and agribusiness.</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 study report on economic activities of Karnali Province by Nepal Rastra Bank shows that there is high potential for herbal industry in the region as the province has reserves of herbal raw materials. NRB had studied the economic activities of Karnali in the first six months of the 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"">The study has shown that most of the territory of the state is made up of hills and high mountains and there are also reserves of valuable herbs and mineral oil, mines and gems. Similarly, the central bank says that the business related to agriculture also has high potential. The report mentions that employment opportunities can be created by making youth entrepreneurs run agriculture and herbal related industries in the province.</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"">Furthermore, according to the bank, as Karnali also has potential for organic agribusiness.</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 study has also shown that there is high potential of tourism in Karnali. Beautiful lakes like Rara, Phoksundo, Bulbule and the areas of religious and cultural significance such as Kankrebihar, Deuti Bajyai, Chandannath, and the holy flame of Panchkoshi as well as various temples, pilgrimage sites and valleys are located in the province.</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"">Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr Prakash Kumar Shrestha also said that there is a high potential for tourism entrepreneurs in Karnali. “The state has beautiful lakes and offers beautiful scenery of the Himalayan range. At the same time, there is also geographical diversity,” he said, adding, “In this case, Karnali can be made a tourism hub.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the report states that there is high potential for hydropower business in the province due to water resources and geographical diversity. Commercial farming and entrepreneurship as well as production and productivity can be increased by introducing modern technology and irrigation from big rivers and other water sources.</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 study suggests that workers going for foreign employment can also be attracted to agribusiness. According to the study, a large number of workers from the province go for foreign employment. It is said that if they can be attracted to agribusiness, the production and productivity of the agricultural sector will also increase.</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"">There is a possibility to develop and expand small and medium enterprises in Karnali by maximum utilization of concessional loans. In addition, the study report states that there is a need for investment in the education and health sectors in the province.</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"">Dr Shrestha says that despite such commercial viability, there are also lots of challenges in the province. He states that the main challenge is the lack of necessary infrastructure.</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 number of tourists who go to see the Fewa lake in Pokhara is not the same as the number of tourists visiting Rara Lake in Karnali," he said, “If the infrastructure can be developed, there is business potential in the region including tourism.”</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"">Moreover, the report also states that there is a challenge to reduce the poverty and unemployment by creating employment opportunities in the province for most of the young people who travel to India and Gulf countries for foreign employment.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13696', 'image' => '20210913013121_20190912013703_aafddf.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 13:30:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13950', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Seeks Market for Surplus Power ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: With the power generated from Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Power Project getting connected to the national grid, around 400 MW of surplus electricity has remained unused during the night time. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 13: With the power generated from Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Power Project getting connected to the national grid, around 400 MW of surplus electricity has remained unused during the night time. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The reserve electricity in day is 200 MW. There was a time when the country was struggling for a single unit of power. The power distributing companies are facing more power surplus during the monsoon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Executive Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), Kulman Ghising, said that the country has become self-sufficient on electricity with the Upper Tamakoshi being connected to the national grid. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This has resulted in a large volume of power going unused. The NEA is incurring a daily loss equivalent to Rs 40 million due to surplus power, according to Ghising. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">India could be the best market for surplus power, but the neighbouring country has not given any green signal towards this end.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During his recent visit to India, Ghising urged Indian officials to facilitate in finding an accessible market for the surplus power generated in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NEA delegation discussed with the Indian side about exporting surplus power to India and importing power from India during the lean period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NEA has proposed mutual seasonal electricity exchange with Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited to utilise surplus power generated during monsoon from various hydropower projects including the 456-megawatt Upper Tamakoshi hydropower, said Ghising. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"A proposal has been prepared for Nepal to supply the surplus electricity to Bihar during the monsoon and to bring it from Bihar during winter. In case of unequal amounts of electricity exchanged between Nepal and Bihar, its price will be fixed through an appropriate method," he said. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There has been an electricity exchange between Nepal and India since 1971. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">So far, the NEA has reached the power purchase agreement with 346 hydropower projects to purchase 6,176 megawatts of electricity. Of them, 111 projects with 1,300 megawatts have come into operation. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, 136 projects with capacity to produce 3,034 megawatts of electricity are under construction. And other 99 projects of 1,841 megawatts capacity are under financial closing process, said the NEA. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13695', 'image' => '20210913093007_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 09:29:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13949', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Economic Growth of 7 Percent Easily Achievable: Finance Minister', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma has announced that the government has set a target to achieve economic growth of 7 per cent for the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 13: Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma has announced that the government has set a target to achieve economic growth of 7 per cent for the current fiscal year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He expressed hope that the economy would remain afloat thanks to the increasing activities due to the slowdown of COVID-19 infection. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a news conference on Sunday, Minister Sharma said that the economic growth rate of 7 per cent was easily achievable. He said that the environment is being gradually created for this. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the finance minister said that the impacts of COVID-19 have gradually slowed down, economic activities have gained pace and a clear roadmap has been drawn to increase capital expenditure while policy-level reforms have also been ensured to meet the target of economic growth in the current fiscal year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We have set an achievable target. We are confident of meeting the target," RSS quoted Minister Sharma as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The finance minister reportedly said that the economy will gain momentum after expediting activities of development, widened tax ambit and subsidies given to the raw material-based industries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, he said that massive reforms would be ensured in market monitoring, test and investigation while payment system would be further simplified and the problem of low billing would be resolved to further expand the country's economy, RSS further reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Sharma said that the government would unveil concrete programmes for poverty reduction soon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Regarding trade deficit, he said that the government was focused on self-reliant economy and its top priority was import replacement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that the budget has given top priority to the industrial sector, Sharma said that crop insurance has been increased to 80 per cent to make the country independent in agriculture. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini said that the incumbent government has only made slight changes to the budget unveiled by the erstwhile government led by KP Oli. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He added that a mechanism would be developed to access the progress details of the projects every month. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13694', 'image' => '20210913075855_1631281254.janardan.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 07:58:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13948', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Internet Penetration in Nepal is 102 Percent of the Total Population: NTA', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: Internet penetration in the country has reached 102 per cent of the total population of Nepal, according to a report prepared by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 13: Internet penetration in the country has reached 102 per cent of the total population of Nepal, according to a report prepared by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The state-owned NTA prepared the report based on population projection of 2011 to 2030. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report was prepared by assuming Nepal's population to be 29.87 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the NTA report, almost 31 million population is connected to internet facility till the end of the last fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report further states that mobile internet has the largest contribution to the internet penetration in the country. As of July 15, the contribution of mobile internet alone is 76.03 per cent while 3G internet service has given access to more than 12.89 million population. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Among them, the users of Nepal Telecom are the largest contributors as their number is 10.04 million followed by 2.46 million Ncell users. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The contribution of fixed broadband is 25.66 per cent with 700,285 users of ADSL and more than 727,000 FTTH internet users. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the number of 4G service users has increased in the recent days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NTA stated that the number of 4G users is almost 10 million till the end of the last fiscal year (July 15, 2021). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It is said that Nepal Telecom has 4.74 million 4G users. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Ncell has more than 5 million 4G users while the number of 4G users of Smart Telecom is 166,000. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13693', 'image' => '20210913073203_20210208112726_wi-fi-internet-connection-on-a-smartphone-icon-vector-7350115.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 07:31:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13947', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Salt Trading Corporation Producing 1000 Metric Tons of Wheat Seeds Annually', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: The Salt Trading Corporation (STC) has been producing 1000 metric tons of wheat seeds annually. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: The Salt Trading Corporation (STC) has been producing 1000 metric tons of wheat seeds annually. The corporation has been producing high-quality hybrid seeds in collaboration with the farmers under the Contract Farming programme. The programme started in 2004 aims to address the issue of shortage of high-quality wheat seeds. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The company had been producing 200 metric tonnes of seeds annually in the initial phase and has increased its quantity to 1,000 metric tonnes in recent days. The state-owned company has been producing improved varieties of wheat seeds in collaboration with more than 50 farmers from three districts-Bara, Parsa, and Chitwan. The STC and farmers are producing seeds in 500 bigahs of land to meet the demand for 15,000 bigahs of cultivable land.</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 STC sells improved varieties of seeds worth more than Rs 50 million annually to the farmers. The Salt Trading Corporation sells the seeds to farmers after purchasing the seeds from the farmers and processing them through its processing plant in Hetauda. The STC started processing wheat seeds in 2004 by bringing a processing machine from Agrosa Industries Company, Haryana, India.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the STC, 30,000 metric tonnes of edible wheat is produced annually from the seeds of improved varieties in 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"">According to Krishna Kumar Khadka, departmental manager of Salt Trading Corporation, improved varieties of seeds have been produced from the original seeds provided by the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC).</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"">After purchasing and packaging the improved varieties of seeds produced by the farmers, the organization sends them to the market. The farmer can buy the seeds through various agro-vets and cooperatives.</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 seed production has provided job opportunities to around 200 people including farmers, daily wage workers, and other employees. The STC says that the farmers have been able to get a good yield from the improved varieties of seeds produced in this way.</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"">Khadka said that the production of high quality seeds within the country would stop the outflow of millions of rupees abroad, and it would help the overall economy.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13692', 'image' => '20210912021306_OrganicWheat_Lead.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 14:12:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13946', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Sign Agreement to Build Second Cross-Border Transmission Line', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Nepal and India have signed an agreement to jointly invest in the construction of the 400kVA Butwal-Gorakhpur cross border transmission line on the Indian side.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: Nepal and India have signed an agreement to jointly invest in the construction of the 400kVA Butwal-Gorakhpur cross border transmission line on the Indian side. An agreement to this effect was signed between the Nepal Electricity Authority and the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited in New Delhi on September 8, Wednesday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The agreement was signed by Kulman Ghising, managing director of NEA on behalf of Nepal and YK Dixit, managing director of Power Grid Corporation , India. This has paved the way to set up a joint venture company to build a transmission line to India.</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"">As per the agreement, Nepal and India will each hold 50 percent share in the company. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prabal Adhikari, director of NEA, said that an agreement has been reached to build the transmission line through a joint investment model. "It's not just an investment agreement, it is also about building the transmission line in a joint venture model," he said, adding, "Both the parties will have equal equity in this project."</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 total length of the transmission line, which is considered significant to export electricity, will be of 120 kilometers. Nepal will build a 20 km transmission line itself on its side. The transmission line on the Nepal side is being constructed under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) project. The 100 km transmission line on the Indian side will be constructed jointly.</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 meeting held on August 3, 2021 had allowed NEA to invest in 50 percent shares of the company to be set up to build the transmission line on the Indian side. Following the cabinet decision, the agreement was signed between the two parties. </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 estimated cost of constructing the transmission line on the India side is said to be around Rs 4.61 billion. A total of 20 percent of the investment will be chipped in by the two sides as equity and the remaining 80 percent will be financed by banks. The transmission line on the Nepal section is estimated to cost Rs 2.31 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"">A secretary-level meeting of energy ministries of Nepal-India held in October 2019 had finalized the construction model of the project. The construction work of the transmission line has moved forward accordingly.</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"">Earlier, a bilateral agreement was reached to build a transmission line jointly on the Indian side. Such agreement was signed at the meeting of Secretary and joint secretary level of the two countries. However, the process could not move ahead due to delay in getting approval of the government of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA says that the process has moved forward after the government gave the green signal. As per the agreement, a joint venture company will be established in India. The company will then sign the agreement regarding the transmission service and the process of securing loan investment will be initiated. </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 construction of the cross-border transmission line is expected to be completed within three and a half years. </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"">Currently, the 400 KV Dhalkebar Muzaffarpur transmission line - the first cross border transmission line between Nepal and India - is in operation. It is said that the capacity of Butwal-Gorakhpur transmission line will be twice as much as that of Dhalkebar. Altogether 2000 MW of electricity can be transmitted through the proposed transmission line.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13691', 'image' => '20210912012755_20190915092327_20190517010911_aaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 13:27:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13945', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Workshop on Labor Market Information System Concludes ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: A workshop on labor market information system to assess the demand of labour in the domestic market of Nepal has concluded. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: A workshop on labor market information system to assess the demand of labour in the domestic market of Nepal has concluded. The workshop was organised by Employers Led Labor Market Secretariat (ELMS) project on Friday with the participation of five private umbrella organisations. </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 program was organised with the objective of institutionalizing the labor market information system and collecting labor market information. The programme will provide information on the status of workers available in Nepal's labor market. </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"">President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), Bishnu Kumar Agrawal, said at the workshop that the programme would be of great help in establishing a relationship between people looking for employment opportunities and the employers. He said that the programme, which was launched in collaboration with five private sector organizations, would be an example for the future reference as well. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, President of Hotel Association of Nepal Sirjana Rana, President of the Federation of Contractors’ Association of Nepal Ravi Singh and Treasurer of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Sukuntalal Hirachan were unanimous in saying that this programme would help in providing information about the need of Nepali labor market and supply of manpower. They are hopeful that the programme will help solve the long-term unemployment problem in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that there is a lack of competitive and skilled manpower in Nepal, vice president of CNI Birendra Raj Pandey said that the work for capacity building should be done institutionally. </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"">Under this project, 10 professions each related to construction, agriculture and tourism sectors will be selected and professional criteria related to those professions will be prepared. The project aims to develop professional standards with the direct involvement of employers and skilled workers and make them helpful for future curriculum development. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13690', 'image' => '20210912125954_1631404560.Clipboard01.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 12:59:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13944', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'The Business Tycoon who Introduced Dabur Brand in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Industrialist and former ambassador Rukma Shumsher Rana is credited for setting up an outlet of a renowned multinational company in Nepal in the late 80s.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 12: Industrialist and former ambassador Rukma Shumsher Rana is credited for setting up an outlet of a renowned multinational company in Nepal in the late 80s. Rana played a crucial role in establishing Dabur Nepal in 1989. The origin of the company, which is renowned across the globe, dates back to 1884 in India. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rana, who was a partner and managing director of the Indian joint venture company Dabur Nepal, died at the age of 85 at his residence in Battisputali, Kathmandu on Friday (September 10). He was suffering from kidney ailments, diabetes and high blood pressure. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Marketing chief of the Dabur Nepal, Abhaya Gorkhali, says that they have lost their guardian. The company currently employs more than 1000 workers and its annual turnover is above Rs 10 billion, according to a source at Dabur Nepal. The company produces juice, chawanprash and Hazmola candies from its outlet in Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rana, who was involved with the company since its establishment, worked as its managing director for a long time and was appointed its chairman two years ago.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Besides a successful businessman, Rana is also a well-known figure in national politics. . Rana, the youngest son of Nepali Congress leader and founder Subarna Shumsher Rana, served as Nepal's ambassador to India from 2009 to 2011 during the Congress-led government. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also served as the member secretary of National Sports Council twice between 2050 to 2055 BS. Rana also became the president of Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) in 2059 BS. The NOC had recently appointed Rana as its honorary president. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also served as the acting president of the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) and the president of the Nepal Taekwondo Association and the Nepal Athletics Association. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rana was the father-in-law of Anil Keshari Shah, CEO of Nabil Bank. He is survived by a wife and a daughter. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to family sources, he was cremated at Pashupati Aryaghat on Saturday afternoon.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13689', 'image' => '20210912113319_1631334312.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 11:32:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13943', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'MCC Vice President Sumar Urges Finance Minister to Ratify MCC Agreement as Soon as Possible ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Vice-President of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Fatema Sumar, has uarged Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to ratify the MCC grant agreement at the earliest.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 12: Vice-President of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Fatema Sumar, has uarged Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to ratify the MCC grant agreement at the earliest. Sumar made such appeal while paying a courtesy call on the finance minister at his office in Singha Durbar on Saturday, September 11.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the meeting, the two discussed at length about different aspects of the MCC project under which Nepal is entitled to receive USD 500 million in grants. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to a press statement issued by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Minister Sharma told the visiting delegate that the issues relating to the MCC was being discussed at political level in Nepal. The press statement reads that discussions are being held at political level about the compact signed between the MCC and Nepal in 2017. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The statement added that Sumar urged Minister Sharma to ratify the agreement from parliament at the earliest and implement it without any further delay.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC delegation led by Sumar has already held meetings with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Energy Minister Pampha Bhusal and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The visiting team had also held a meeting with CPN (UML) Chairperson KP Sharma Oli, CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairperson Madhav Kumar Nepal and senior leaders of Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal (JSP) on Thursday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC which forms partnerships with developing countries like Nepal for good governance, economic reform and investment is ready to assist Nepal in construction of infrastructures including 312 km road and 400 KV transmission. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC has pledged over Rs 50 billion for these projects while the Government of Nepal will be contributing Rs 12 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Political parties are divided over endorsement of the MCC grant agreement. The CPN UML government led by KP Sharma Oli, which had been pressing for its endorsement, has now adopted a wait-and-watch policy after becoming the main opposition party.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In this context, the MCC delegation led by Sumar had arrived in Nepal on a four-day visit last Thursday (September 9) to expedite the project. The team is scheduled to return back today (September 12).</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13688', 'image' => '20210912104250_20210910125944_20201218014622_1608248580.11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 10:41:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 14: The government's new policy on import of sponge iron and billets has been mired in controversy. The replacement bill introduced by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma on Friday has now reduced the customs duty on import of sponge iron to zero and has significantly increased the excise duty on import of billet. This new provision has been criticised by industrialists involved in production of steel stating that it has posed risk to investment of Rs 100 billion of 24 industries. </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 says it adopted this new policy with the aim of protecting domestic industries and promoting the establishment of billet plants in the country. However, industrialists argue that the policy has been introduced without any prior discussions and is aimed to discourage existing industries. There are now 30 such industries across the country, of which, six industries produce steel rod in the country by importing billet and sponge iron.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Nepal Steel Rolling Mills Association, an umbrella organization of iron rod manufacturers, denounced the new policy during a press conference in Kathmandu on September 13 and demanded that the provision should remain as it was before.</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"">Pradip Kumar Shrestha, the founding chairman of the association, who is also the managing director of Panchakanya Group, said that 24 industries would be shut down due to the discriminatory policy on customs and excise duty.</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 him, the new provision would make 10,000 people working in this sector jobless and the government would also lose up to Rs 5 billion in revenue. "The country has been importing up to two million metric tonnes of iron and iron related materials annually," 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"">Anjan Shrestha, Managing Director of Laxmi Group, which has been producing Siddhi Laxmi Steel, claimed that such a policy was brought for the interest of few industries without discussing with the other stakeholders. He said that although the government's decision was not wrong, it would have negative consequences. He said that it should be stalled for now and moved forward after discussions. Industrialists who import billet directly from India have started pressuring the government to revoke the decision.</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"">Speaking at the program, Kiran Sakha, Managing Director of Sakha Steel, said that this decision would force industries to shut down. He said the decision would risk the investment of the industrialists as well as the financial institutions.</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 association has said that the price of iron rod produced using billets will automatically go up due to customs and excise duty. It would lead the majority of the industries to shut down, incurring huge losses. The association claims that iron rod would be dearer due to zero percent customs duty on sponge iron and 4.75 percent customs duty on billets as well as excise duty. Though it aims to promote domestic business, the goods produced by this type of industry will not be of high quality.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13702', 'image' => '20210914022912_20170326103544_cs.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 14:28:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13957', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sponge Iron Importers Welcome New Customs Policy on Billet', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: Industries that produce MS billet by importing sponge iron have welcomed the provisions related to the steel industry in the budget replacement bill presented by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma last Friday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 14: Industries that produce MS billet by importing sponge iron have welcomed the provisions related to the steel industry in the budget replacement bill presented by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma last Friday. The Nepal Steel Billet Producers Association has issued a statement welcoming the difference of 4.75 percentage points in customs duty between sponge iron and readymade billet.</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"">Rajendra Raut, the central member of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry and operator of Swastik Rolling Mill, claimed that the new policy in the budget would increase employment, electricity consumption and reduce the price for consumers by at least Rs 6 per kg. "From our point of view, it seems that this is a good decision for improving domestic production," 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"">Raut said that the government's policy is in the interest of the country in the long run. He said that the industry operating on the basis of raw materials would not only increase electricity consumption but also increase employment, which would have a positive impact on the country's economy.</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"">However, Pawan Kumar Sarda, operator of Premier Steel Industries and former president of Morang Trade Association, objected to the government's sudden adoption of such a policy without any study for the vested interests of some industrialists.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the government took a discriminatory policy.</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"">Due to the wrong policy taken by the government, importing MS billets and constructing iron bars will cost Rs 6 more than importing an iron sponge and making billets, he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He added that the industry which produces 400 tons of iron rod daily cannot operate at a regular loss of up to Rs 2.5 million.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13701', 'image' => '20210914024156_cs5(17).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 14:41:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13955', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Operate Fair-Price Shops for Dashain from Friday', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: The government-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited is preparing to operate fair-price shops for the upcoming festivals from September 17.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 14: The government-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited is preparing to operate fair-price shops for the upcoming festivals from September 17. Aiming to facilitate the customers during the upcoming Dashain, Tihar and Chhath festivals, the company is preparing to operate fair-price shops at 43 places in 39 districts of the country including Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur this year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the information provided by the company, consumers will be able to buy food items including rice, pulses, chickpeas, beans, buckwheat, cooking oil, ghee, flour, sanitizer and goats at a discount rate.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The company will give a discount of Rs 5 per kg on pulses, rice, chickpeas, flour and sunflower oil this year, while the prices of soybean oil, meat and beans have been slashed by Rs 10 per kg, said Sharmila Neupane Subedi, information officer of the company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> The company says that the fair price shops will help in preventing the problem of unnecessary price hike during the festival and interference in the market price. This year, the company is estimated to bring around 3,000 goats for Dashain and Tihar.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the Kathmandu Valley, the company will operate fair-price at four places including Thapathali, Ramshah Path, Nakkhu and Suryabinayak. The company said that the fair price shops will be operated by adopting all safety measures keeping in mind the physical distance as the threat of Covid-19 pandemic is still there. The company has also been providing goods through online order within the Kathmandu Valley.</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"">Although other daily necessities are easily available in the fair-price shops, sugar does not seem easily available. The company had sent a letter to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies about eight months ago seeking permission to purchase 10,000 metric tons of sugar for the festivals. However, the letter has been stuck at the Ministry of Finance and the government is yet to give permission to purchase sugar. Due to this, the consumers who go to buy food at affordable prices are more likely to not get sugar.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13700', 'image' => '20210914123644_20201123043159_92926.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 12:36:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13954', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kathmandu-Raxaul Railway Project in Limbo ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: A good three years have passed by since the preliminary study of the Kathmandu Raxaul Railway construction project was carried out. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 14: A good three years have passed by since the preliminary study of the Kathmandu Raxaul Railway construction project was carried out. However, the process for the construction of this project has not moved forward. The railway connects the federal capital of Nepal with Raxaul of Bihar State in India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the preliminary study of this project has been done, the construction works have not been initiated as the two countries are yet to sign an agreement to this effect. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deepak Bhattarai, Director General of the Department of Railways, said the process would be forwarded only after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) is signed by the Government of Nepal and the Government of India. According to him, the MoU is ready but the date for signing the MoU has not been fixed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"It (the MoU) is ready for signing between the two countries at an appropriate time," he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Director General Bhattarai added that the Indian side had completed the preliminary engineering and traffic survey in 2018. According to him, although the first phase work regarding the project has been done, more important works are still remaining. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The final location survey would be done through the detailed study. But first the two countries should sign MoU for this," he elaborated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Department said it was not immediately in a position to carry ahead works as the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport is without the minister for nearly two months. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Preliminary study shows that the railway will be 135 kilometres long. Bhattarai said the investment for the construction of the railway is not yet secured. According to him, the amount would be fixed after the detailed study is done and discussions would be held how to mobilize the amount. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The modality of the investment is also not yet clear. Whether to approach the Indian government or any other donor agencies for the investment would be decided only after the exact investment of the project is available. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The railway project is expected to minimise transportation costs of supplies made from India. As a result of relatively low transportation fees, prices of goods imported from India would decrease. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the process to construct the East-West electric railway has been moved forward with the investments of the government itself. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The governments of Nepal and India had reached an understanding in 2012 to construct railway at five different places in Nepal. Among them, two railway projects, one Kathmandu-Raxaul railway and another Bathanaha-Biratnagar railway—are in the process of construction. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the construction of 10 kilometres of the 18-kilometres Bathanaha-Biratnagar railway has been completed so far. Other three projects are yet to start. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There used to be railway service between Raxaul and Amlekhgunj in 1984 BS during the Rana regime. Jayanagar-Janakpur railway service was also operational during 1994 BS. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13699', 'image' => '20210914112433_20190325112130_Clipboard43-5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 11:23:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13953', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Issues Warning against Nipah Virus ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: The Ministry of Health and Population has urged the public to remain alert regarding the possible risk of Nipah Virus (NIV) infection after its outbreak was reported in neighbouring India. ', 'content' => '<p><em>Photo Courtesy: MoHP</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 14: The Ministry of Health and Population has urged the public to remain alert regarding the possible risk of Nipah Virus (NIV) infection after its outbreak was reported in neighbouring India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Spokesperson for the Ministry Dr Krishna Prasad Poudel informed in a press statement that the risk of the virus outbreak in Nepal cannot be ruled out as Nepal and India share open border. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the ministry, the infection of the deadly NIV is transmitted to humans from animals and then human- to- human. The virus has been detected in the Indian state of Kerala, the ministry said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Spokesperson Poudel, although the virus has not been detected in Nepal so far, the risk remains considerable. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Ministry informed that the fatality rate of NIV is 45 to 75 percent. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recognizes NIV-caused illness as one of 10 deadly diseases in the world, the ministry said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The statement further says that fruit bat is the natural host of the virus and it is transmitted to pig, cattle and then to humans. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“Nipah Virus infection is a zoonotic illness that is transmitted to people from animals, and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly from person-to-person,” the ministry said citing the World Health Organisation (WHO). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The WHO has reportedly said there is no treatment or vaccine available for either people or animals affected by the new virus and has suggested supportive care as the primary treatment for humans. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The symptoms of the virus include fever, dizziness, headache, muscle pain, nausea, breathing complication and tonsillitis are the symptoms of NIV infection. The ministry say that the infection rate of NIV is relatively high. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry has recommended people to properly clean fruits before consuming, eat only well-cooked vegetables, keep cowsheds and farms clean, use gloves and masks during animal slaughtering and cook meat, drink boiled water, wash hands with soap and water time and again and use mask in public as preventive measures against the virus. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Ministry has urged one and all to promptly seek medical intervention in case of having the above mentioned symptoms. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has ensured of supportive care for the NIV-caused illness, the statement added. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/nipah.jpg" style="height:367px; width:800px" /> </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13698', 'image' => '20210914105250_newnipa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 10:32:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13952', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Defends Replacement Bill on Budget ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has defended the budget replacement bill stating that the main opposition party CPN-UML compelled the government to introduce it.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 13: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has defended the budget replacement bill stating that the main opposition party CPN-UML compelled the government to introduce it.</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"">Speaking at a press conference organized at the Ministry of Finance on September 12, Minister Sharma said that the bill had to be passed in three days because the opposition party UML refused to pass the ordinance budget introduced its own government led by KP Sharma Oli. He claimed that Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had held discussions with the UML to endorse the ordinance budget but the opposition party refused to do so.</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 UML did not agree to pass the budget brought by itself through the ordinance, so the replacement bill had to be introduced," Sharma said. According to Sharma, the budget has been revised to maintain financial discipline. The budget has been amended only in some significant sections, while most of the provisions and plans introduced by the earlier government have got continuity. </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 Finance Minister Sharma, the incumbent government’s action plan will be based on the belief that every plan should pay off and the budget has been prepared to support the economy as specified by the constitution. He defended the replacement bill amid criticism over the inclusion of populist programmes. He claimed that the budget he brought through the replacement bill was not a populist one but aimed to fulfill the responsibility of the state.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma said that the government is trying to help the critically ill people who can't fend for themselves and the political warriors who were involved in the political movements. He claimed that the government has introduced a programme to give Rs 10,000 each to 500,000 poor families. The government plans to distribute this amount to the extremely poor families affected by the COVID-19 before Dashain. He informed that criteria of the poor family meant to receive the beneficiary amount has been set. </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"">Sharma claimed to spend 10 percent of capital expenditure every month. He also said that a mechanism would be set up to monitor capital expenditure as well as the progress of any project, and problems plaguing the project. Stating that the government has increased the capital expenditure even though it has reduced the total size of the budget, he said monitoring would be prioritized to make the expenditure more effective.</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"">Explaining that the economic growth rate of the current fiscal year has been increased in the replacement bill compared to the ordinance budget, Minister Sharma said that the availability of COVID-19 vaccine is the major reason behind it.</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 succeeded in bringing the vaccine and the rapid vaccination campaign would help in the economic growth, so the growth rate has been revised. The previous budget had targeted the economic growth rate of 6.5 percent. However, Finance Minister Sharma has revised the target saying that economic activities have been increasing recently.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also revealed why the government has remained silent over controversial programmes brought in the previous ordinance budget. As the Cabinet meeting had already scrapped the budget provision of extraction and export of stones, pebbles from the Chure region, it was not necessary to state the same in the budget programme. He also informed that the government has not taken any decision to involve the private sector in the import and trade of salt.</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 led by KP Sharma Oli had announced in the budget to involve the private sector in salt trading and its import, but this program will not be implemented as the replacement bill has not addressed this issue.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13697', 'image' => '20210913014226_20210528094601_20210501025837_11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 13:41:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13951', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Study finds High Potential for Herbal Industries and Tourism in Karnali Province', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: Karnali Province, which is considered to be lagging behind other provinces, has a lot of business potential especially in the field of herbal trade, tourism, energy and agribusiness.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 13: Karnali Province, which is considered to be lagging behind other provinces, has a lot of business potential especially in the field of herbal trade, tourism, energy and agribusiness.</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 study report on economic activities of Karnali Province by Nepal Rastra Bank shows that there is high potential for herbal industry in the region as the province has reserves of herbal raw materials. NRB had studied the economic activities of Karnali in the first six months of the 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"">The study has shown that most of the territory of the state is made up of hills and high mountains and there are also reserves of valuable herbs and mineral oil, mines and gems. Similarly, the central bank says that the business related to agriculture also has high potential. The report mentions that employment opportunities can be created by making youth entrepreneurs run agriculture and herbal related industries in the province.</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"">Furthermore, according to the bank, as Karnali also has potential for organic agribusiness.</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 study has also shown that there is high potential of tourism in Karnali. Beautiful lakes like Rara, Phoksundo, Bulbule and the areas of religious and cultural significance such as Kankrebihar, Deuti Bajyai, Chandannath, and the holy flame of Panchkoshi as well as various temples, pilgrimage sites and valleys are located in the province.</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"">Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr Prakash Kumar Shrestha also said that there is a high potential for tourism entrepreneurs in Karnali. “The state has beautiful lakes and offers beautiful scenery of the Himalayan range. At the same time, there is also geographical diversity,” he said, adding, “In this case, Karnali can be made a tourism hub.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the report states that there is high potential for hydropower business in the province due to water resources and geographical diversity. Commercial farming and entrepreneurship as well as production and productivity can be increased by introducing modern technology and irrigation from big rivers and other water sources.</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 study suggests that workers going for foreign employment can also be attracted to agribusiness. According to the study, a large number of workers from the province go for foreign employment. It is said that if they can be attracted to agribusiness, the production and productivity of the agricultural sector will also increase.</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"">There is a possibility to develop and expand small and medium enterprises in Karnali by maximum utilization of concessional loans. In addition, the study report states that there is a need for investment in the education and health sectors in the province.</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"">Dr Shrestha says that despite such commercial viability, there are also lots of challenges in the province. He states that the main challenge is the lack of necessary infrastructure.</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 number of tourists who go to see the Fewa lake in Pokhara is not the same as the number of tourists visiting Rara Lake in Karnali," he said, “If the infrastructure can be developed, there is business potential in the region including tourism.”</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"">Moreover, the report also states that there is a challenge to reduce the poverty and unemployment by creating employment opportunities in the province for most of the young people who travel to India and Gulf countries for foreign employment.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13696', 'image' => '20210913013121_20190912013703_aafddf.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 13:30:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13950', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Seeks Market for Surplus Power ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: With the power generated from Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Power Project getting connected to the national grid, around 400 MW of surplus electricity has remained unused during the night time. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 13: With the power generated from Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Power Project getting connected to the national grid, around 400 MW of surplus electricity has remained unused during the night time. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The reserve electricity in day is 200 MW. There was a time when the country was struggling for a single unit of power. The power distributing companies are facing more power surplus during the monsoon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Executive Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), Kulman Ghising, said that the country has become self-sufficient on electricity with the Upper Tamakoshi being connected to the national grid. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This has resulted in a large volume of power going unused. The NEA is incurring a daily loss equivalent to Rs 40 million due to surplus power, according to Ghising. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">India could be the best market for surplus power, but the neighbouring country has not given any green signal towards this end.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During his recent visit to India, Ghising urged Indian officials to facilitate in finding an accessible market for the surplus power generated in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NEA delegation discussed with the Indian side about exporting surplus power to India and importing power from India during the lean period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NEA has proposed mutual seasonal electricity exchange with Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited to utilise surplus power generated during monsoon from various hydropower projects including the 456-megawatt Upper Tamakoshi hydropower, said Ghising. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"A proposal has been prepared for Nepal to supply the surplus electricity to Bihar during the monsoon and to bring it from Bihar during winter. In case of unequal amounts of electricity exchanged between Nepal and Bihar, its price will be fixed through an appropriate method," he said. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There has been an electricity exchange between Nepal and India since 1971. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">So far, the NEA has reached the power purchase agreement with 346 hydropower projects to purchase 6,176 megawatts of electricity. Of them, 111 projects with 1,300 megawatts have come into operation. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, 136 projects with capacity to produce 3,034 megawatts of electricity are under construction. And other 99 projects of 1,841 megawatts capacity are under financial closing process, said the NEA. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13695', 'image' => '20210913093007_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 09:29:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13949', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Economic Growth of 7 Percent Easily Achievable: Finance Minister', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma has announced that the government has set a target to achieve economic growth of 7 per cent for the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 13: Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma has announced that the government has set a target to achieve economic growth of 7 per cent for the current fiscal year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He expressed hope that the economy would remain afloat thanks to the increasing activities due to the slowdown of COVID-19 infection. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a news conference on Sunday, Minister Sharma said that the economic growth rate of 7 per cent was easily achievable. He said that the environment is being gradually created for this. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the finance minister said that the impacts of COVID-19 have gradually slowed down, economic activities have gained pace and a clear roadmap has been drawn to increase capital expenditure while policy-level reforms have also been ensured to meet the target of economic growth in the current fiscal year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We have set an achievable target. We are confident of meeting the target," RSS quoted Minister Sharma as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The finance minister reportedly said that the economy will gain momentum after expediting activities of development, widened tax ambit and subsidies given to the raw material-based industries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, he said that massive reforms would be ensured in market monitoring, test and investigation while payment system would be further simplified and the problem of low billing would be resolved to further expand the country's economy, RSS further reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Sharma said that the government would unveil concrete programmes for poverty reduction soon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Regarding trade deficit, he said that the government was focused on self-reliant economy and its top priority was import replacement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that the budget has given top priority to the industrial sector, Sharma said that crop insurance has been increased to 80 per cent to make the country independent in agriculture. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini said that the incumbent government has only made slight changes to the budget unveiled by the erstwhile government led by KP Oli. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He added that a mechanism would be developed to access the progress details of the projects every month. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13694', 'image' => '20210913075855_1631281254.janardan.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 07:58:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13948', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Internet Penetration in Nepal is 102 Percent of the Total Population: NTA', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: Internet penetration in the country has reached 102 per cent of the total population of Nepal, according to a report prepared by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 13: Internet penetration in the country has reached 102 per cent of the total population of Nepal, according to a report prepared by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The state-owned NTA prepared the report based on population projection of 2011 to 2030. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report was prepared by assuming Nepal's population to be 29.87 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the NTA report, almost 31 million population is connected to internet facility till the end of the last fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report further states that mobile internet has the largest contribution to the internet penetration in the country. As of July 15, the contribution of mobile internet alone is 76.03 per cent while 3G internet service has given access to more than 12.89 million population. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Among them, the users of Nepal Telecom are the largest contributors as their number is 10.04 million followed by 2.46 million Ncell users. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The contribution of fixed broadband is 25.66 per cent with 700,285 users of ADSL and more than 727,000 FTTH internet users. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the number of 4G service users has increased in the recent days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NTA stated that the number of 4G users is almost 10 million till the end of the last fiscal year (July 15, 2021). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It is said that Nepal Telecom has 4.74 million 4G users. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Ncell has more than 5 million 4G users while the number of 4G users of Smart Telecom is 166,000. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13693', 'image' => '20210913073203_20210208112726_wi-fi-internet-connection-on-a-smartphone-icon-vector-7350115.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 07:31:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13947', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Salt Trading Corporation Producing 1000 Metric Tons of Wheat Seeds Annually', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: The Salt Trading Corporation (STC) has been producing 1000 metric tons of wheat seeds annually. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: The Salt Trading Corporation (STC) has been producing 1000 metric tons of wheat seeds annually. The corporation has been producing high-quality hybrid seeds in collaboration with the farmers under the Contract Farming programme. The programme started in 2004 aims to address the issue of shortage of high-quality wheat seeds. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The company had been producing 200 metric tonnes of seeds annually in the initial phase and has increased its quantity to 1,000 metric tonnes in recent days. The state-owned company has been producing improved varieties of wheat seeds in collaboration with more than 50 farmers from three districts-Bara, Parsa, and Chitwan. The STC and farmers are producing seeds in 500 bigahs of land to meet the demand for 15,000 bigahs of cultivable land.</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 STC sells improved varieties of seeds worth more than Rs 50 million annually to the farmers. The Salt Trading Corporation sells the seeds to farmers after purchasing the seeds from the farmers and processing them through its processing plant in Hetauda. The STC started processing wheat seeds in 2004 by bringing a processing machine from Agrosa Industries Company, Haryana, India.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the STC, 30,000 metric tonnes of edible wheat is produced annually from the seeds of improved varieties in 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"">According to Krishna Kumar Khadka, departmental manager of Salt Trading Corporation, improved varieties of seeds have been produced from the original seeds provided by the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC).</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"">After purchasing and packaging the improved varieties of seeds produced by the farmers, the organization sends them to the market. The farmer can buy the seeds through various agro-vets and cooperatives.</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 seed production has provided job opportunities to around 200 people including farmers, daily wage workers, and other employees. The STC says that the farmers have been able to get a good yield from the improved varieties of seeds produced in this way.</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"">Khadka said that the production of high quality seeds within the country would stop the outflow of millions of rupees abroad, and it would help the overall economy.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13692', 'image' => '20210912021306_OrganicWheat_Lead.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 14:12:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13946', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Sign Agreement to Build Second Cross-Border Transmission Line', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Nepal and India have signed an agreement to jointly invest in the construction of the 400kVA Butwal-Gorakhpur cross border transmission line on the Indian side.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: Nepal and India have signed an agreement to jointly invest in the construction of the 400kVA Butwal-Gorakhpur cross border transmission line on the Indian side. An agreement to this effect was signed between the Nepal Electricity Authority and the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited in New Delhi on September 8, Wednesday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The agreement was signed by Kulman Ghising, managing director of NEA on behalf of Nepal and YK Dixit, managing director of Power Grid Corporation , India. This has paved the way to set up a joint venture company to build a transmission line to India.</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"">As per the agreement, Nepal and India will each hold 50 percent share in the company. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prabal Adhikari, director of NEA, said that an agreement has been reached to build the transmission line through a joint investment model. "It's not just an investment agreement, it is also about building the transmission line in a joint venture model," he said, adding, "Both the parties will have equal equity in this project."</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 total length of the transmission line, which is considered significant to export electricity, will be of 120 kilometers. Nepal will build a 20 km transmission line itself on its side. The transmission line on the Nepal side is being constructed under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) project. The 100 km transmission line on the Indian side will be constructed jointly.</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 meeting held on August 3, 2021 had allowed NEA to invest in 50 percent shares of the company to be set up to build the transmission line on the Indian side. Following the cabinet decision, the agreement was signed between the two parties. </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 estimated cost of constructing the transmission line on the India side is said to be around Rs 4.61 billion. A total of 20 percent of the investment will be chipped in by the two sides as equity and the remaining 80 percent will be financed by banks. The transmission line on the Nepal section is estimated to cost Rs 2.31 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"">A secretary-level meeting of energy ministries of Nepal-India held in October 2019 had finalized the construction model of the project. The construction work of the transmission line has moved forward accordingly.</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"">Earlier, a bilateral agreement was reached to build a transmission line jointly on the Indian side. Such agreement was signed at the meeting of Secretary and joint secretary level of the two countries. However, the process could not move ahead due to delay in getting approval of the government of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA says that the process has moved forward after the government gave the green signal. As per the agreement, a joint venture company will be established in India. The company will then sign the agreement regarding the transmission service and the process of securing loan investment will be initiated. </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 construction of the cross-border transmission line is expected to be completed within three and a half years. </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"">Currently, the 400 KV Dhalkebar Muzaffarpur transmission line - the first cross border transmission line between Nepal and India - is in operation. It is said that the capacity of Butwal-Gorakhpur transmission line will be twice as much as that of Dhalkebar. Altogether 2000 MW of electricity can be transmitted through the proposed transmission line.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13691', 'image' => '20210912012755_20190915092327_20190517010911_aaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 13:27:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13945', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Workshop on Labor Market Information System Concludes ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: A workshop on labor market information system to assess the demand of labour in the domestic market of Nepal has concluded. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: A workshop on labor market information system to assess the demand of labour in the domestic market of Nepal has concluded. The workshop was organised by Employers Led Labor Market Secretariat (ELMS) project on Friday with the participation of five private umbrella organisations. </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 program was organised with the objective of institutionalizing the labor market information system and collecting labor market information. The programme will provide information on the status of workers available in Nepal's labor market. </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"">President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), Bishnu Kumar Agrawal, said at the workshop that the programme would be of great help in establishing a relationship between people looking for employment opportunities and the employers. He said that the programme, which was launched in collaboration with five private sector organizations, would be an example for the future reference as well. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, President of Hotel Association of Nepal Sirjana Rana, President of the Federation of Contractors’ Association of Nepal Ravi Singh and Treasurer of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Sukuntalal Hirachan were unanimous in saying that this programme would help in providing information about the need of Nepali labor market and supply of manpower. They are hopeful that the programme will help solve the long-term unemployment problem in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that there is a lack of competitive and skilled manpower in Nepal, vice president of CNI Birendra Raj Pandey said that the work for capacity building should be done institutionally. </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"">Under this project, 10 professions each related to construction, agriculture and tourism sectors will be selected and professional criteria related to those professions will be prepared. The project aims to develop professional standards with the direct involvement of employers and skilled workers and make them helpful for future curriculum development. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13690', 'image' => '20210912125954_1631404560.Clipboard01.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 12:59:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13944', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'The Business Tycoon who Introduced Dabur Brand in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Industrialist and former ambassador Rukma Shumsher Rana is credited for setting up an outlet of a renowned multinational company in Nepal in the late 80s.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 12: Industrialist and former ambassador Rukma Shumsher Rana is credited for setting up an outlet of a renowned multinational company in Nepal in the late 80s. Rana played a crucial role in establishing Dabur Nepal in 1989. The origin of the company, which is renowned across the globe, dates back to 1884 in India. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rana, who was a partner and managing director of the Indian joint venture company Dabur Nepal, died at the age of 85 at his residence in Battisputali, Kathmandu on Friday (September 10). He was suffering from kidney ailments, diabetes and high blood pressure. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Marketing chief of the Dabur Nepal, Abhaya Gorkhali, says that they have lost their guardian. The company currently employs more than 1000 workers and its annual turnover is above Rs 10 billion, according to a source at Dabur Nepal. The company produces juice, chawanprash and Hazmola candies from its outlet in Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rana, who was involved with the company since its establishment, worked as its managing director for a long time and was appointed its chairman two years ago.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Besides a successful businessman, Rana is also a well-known figure in national politics. . Rana, the youngest son of Nepali Congress leader and founder Subarna Shumsher Rana, served as Nepal's ambassador to India from 2009 to 2011 during the Congress-led government. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also served as the member secretary of National Sports Council twice between 2050 to 2055 BS. Rana also became the president of Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) in 2059 BS. The NOC had recently appointed Rana as its honorary president. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also served as the acting president of the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) and the president of the Nepal Taekwondo Association and the Nepal Athletics Association. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rana was the father-in-law of Anil Keshari Shah, CEO of Nabil Bank. He is survived by a wife and a daughter. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to family sources, he was cremated at Pashupati Aryaghat on Saturday afternoon.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13689', 'image' => '20210912113319_1631334312.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 11:32:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13943', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'MCC Vice President Sumar Urges Finance Minister to Ratify MCC Agreement as Soon as Possible ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Vice-President of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Fatema Sumar, has uarged Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to ratify the MCC grant agreement at the earliest.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 12: Vice-President of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Fatema Sumar, has uarged Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to ratify the MCC grant agreement at the earliest. Sumar made such appeal while paying a courtesy call on the finance minister at his office in Singha Durbar on Saturday, September 11.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the meeting, the two discussed at length about different aspects of the MCC project under which Nepal is entitled to receive USD 500 million in grants. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to a press statement issued by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Minister Sharma told the visiting delegate that the issues relating to the MCC was being discussed at political level in Nepal. The press statement reads that discussions are being held at political level about the compact signed between the MCC and Nepal in 2017. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The statement added that Sumar urged Minister Sharma to ratify the agreement from parliament at the earliest and implement it without any further delay.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC delegation led by Sumar has already held meetings with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Energy Minister Pampha Bhusal and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The visiting team had also held a meeting with CPN (UML) Chairperson KP Sharma Oli, CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairperson Madhav Kumar Nepal and senior leaders of Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal (JSP) on Thursday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC which forms partnerships with developing countries like Nepal for good governance, economic reform and investment is ready to assist Nepal in construction of infrastructures including 312 km road and 400 KV transmission. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC has pledged over Rs 50 billion for these projects while the Government of Nepal will be contributing Rs 12 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Political parties are divided over endorsement of the MCC grant agreement. The CPN UML government led by KP Sharma Oli, which had been pressing for its endorsement, has now adopted a wait-and-watch policy after becoming the main opposition party.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In this context, the MCC delegation led by Sumar had arrived in Nepal on a four-day visit last Thursday (September 9) to expedite the project. The team is scheduled to return back today (September 12).</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13688', 'image' => '20210912104250_20210910125944_20201218014622_1608248580.11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 10:41:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 14: The government's new policy on import of sponge iron and billets has been mired in controversy. The replacement bill introduced by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma on Friday has now reduced the customs duty on import of sponge iron to zero and has significantly increased the excise duty on import of billet. This new provision has been criticised by industrialists involved in production of steel stating that it has posed risk to investment of Rs 100 billion of 24 industries. </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 says it adopted this new policy with the aim of protecting domestic industries and promoting the establishment of billet plants in the country. However, industrialists argue that the policy has been introduced without any prior discussions and is aimed to discourage existing industries. There are now 30 such industries across the country, of which, six industries produce steel rod in the country by importing billet and sponge iron.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Nepal Steel Rolling Mills Association, an umbrella organization of iron rod manufacturers, denounced the new policy during a press conference in Kathmandu on September 13 and demanded that the provision should remain as it was before.</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"">Pradip Kumar Shrestha, the founding chairman of the association, who is also the managing director of Panchakanya Group, said that 24 industries would be shut down due to the discriminatory policy on customs and excise duty.</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 him, the new provision would make 10,000 people working in this sector jobless and the government would also lose up to Rs 5 billion in revenue. "The country has been importing up to two million metric tonnes of iron and iron related materials annually," 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"">Anjan Shrestha, Managing Director of Laxmi Group, which has been producing Siddhi Laxmi Steel, claimed that such a policy was brought for the interest of few industries without discussing with the other stakeholders. He said that although the government's decision was not wrong, it would have negative consequences. He said that it should be stalled for now and moved forward after discussions. Industrialists who import billet directly from India have started pressuring the government to revoke the decision.</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"">Speaking at the program, Kiran Sakha, Managing Director of Sakha Steel, said that this decision would force industries to shut down. He said the decision would risk the investment of the industrialists as well as the financial institutions.</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 association has said that the price of iron rod produced using billets will automatically go up due to customs and excise duty. It would lead the majority of the industries to shut down, incurring huge losses. The association claims that iron rod would be dearer due to zero percent customs duty on sponge iron and 4.75 percent customs duty on billets as well as excise duty. Though it aims to promote domestic business, the goods produced by this type of industry will not be of high quality.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13702', 'image' => '20210914022912_20170326103544_cs.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 14:28:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13957', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sponge Iron Importers Welcome New Customs Policy on Billet', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: Industries that produce MS billet by importing sponge iron have welcomed the provisions related to the steel industry in the budget replacement bill presented by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma last Friday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 14: Industries that produce MS billet by importing sponge iron have welcomed the provisions related to the steel industry in the budget replacement bill presented by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma last Friday. The Nepal Steel Billet Producers Association has issued a statement welcoming the difference of 4.75 percentage points in customs duty between sponge iron and readymade billet.</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"">Rajendra Raut, the central member of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry and operator of Swastik Rolling Mill, claimed that the new policy in the budget would increase employment, electricity consumption and reduce the price for consumers by at least Rs 6 per kg. "From our point of view, it seems that this is a good decision for improving domestic production," 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"">Raut said that the government's policy is in the interest of the country in the long run. He said that the industry operating on the basis of raw materials would not only increase electricity consumption but also increase employment, which would have a positive impact on the country's economy.</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"">However, Pawan Kumar Sarda, operator of Premier Steel Industries and former president of Morang Trade Association, objected to the government's sudden adoption of such a policy without any study for the vested interests of some industrialists.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the government took a discriminatory policy.</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"">Due to the wrong policy taken by the government, importing MS billets and constructing iron bars will cost Rs 6 more than importing an iron sponge and making billets, he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He added that the industry which produces 400 tons of iron rod daily cannot operate at a regular loss of up to Rs 2.5 million.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13701', 'image' => '20210914024156_cs5(17).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 14:41:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13955', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Operate Fair-Price Shops for Dashain from Friday', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: The government-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited is preparing to operate fair-price shops for the upcoming festivals from September 17.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 14: The government-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited is preparing to operate fair-price shops for the upcoming festivals from September 17. Aiming to facilitate the customers during the upcoming Dashain, Tihar and Chhath festivals, the company is preparing to operate fair-price shops at 43 places in 39 districts of the country including Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur this year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the information provided by the company, consumers will be able to buy food items including rice, pulses, chickpeas, beans, buckwheat, cooking oil, ghee, flour, sanitizer and goats at a discount rate.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The company will give a discount of Rs 5 per kg on pulses, rice, chickpeas, flour and sunflower oil this year, while the prices of soybean oil, meat and beans have been slashed by Rs 10 per kg, said Sharmila Neupane Subedi, information officer of the company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> The company says that the fair price shops will help in preventing the problem of unnecessary price hike during the festival and interference in the market price. This year, the company is estimated to bring around 3,000 goats for Dashain and Tihar.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the Kathmandu Valley, the company will operate fair-price at four places including Thapathali, Ramshah Path, Nakkhu and Suryabinayak. The company said that the fair price shops will be operated by adopting all safety measures keeping in mind the physical distance as the threat of Covid-19 pandemic is still there. The company has also been providing goods through online order within the Kathmandu Valley.</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"">Although other daily necessities are easily available in the fair-price shops, sugar does not seem easily available. The company had sent a letter to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies about eight months ago seeking permission to purchase 10,000 metric tons of sugar for the festivals. However, the letter has been stuck at the Ministry of Finance and the government is yet to give permission to purchase sugar. Due to this, the consumers who go to buy food at affordable prices are more likely to not get sugar.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13700', 'image' => '20210914123644_20201123043159_92926.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 12:36:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13954', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kathmandu-Raxaul Railway Project in Limbo ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: A good three years have passed by since the preliminary study of the Kathmandu Raxaul Railway construction project was carried out. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 14: A good three years have passed by since the preliminary study of the Kathmandu Raxaul Railway construction project was carried out. However, the process for the construction of this project has not moved forward. The railway connects the federal capital of Nepal with Raxaul of Bihar State in India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the preliminary study of this project has been done, the construction works have not been initiated as the two countries are yet to sign an agreement to this effect. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deepak Bhattarai, Director General of the Department of Railways, said the process would be forwarded only after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) is signed by the Government of Nepal and the Government of India. According to him, the MoU is ready but the date for signing the MoU has not been fixed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"It (the MoU) is ready for signing between the two countries at an appropriate time," he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Director General Bhattarai added that the Indian side had completed the preliminary engineering and traffic survey in 2018. According to him, although the first phase work regarding the project has been done, more important works are still remaining. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The final location survey would be done through the detailed study. But first the two countries should sign MoU for this," he elaborated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Department said it was not immediately in a position to carry ahead works as the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport is without the minister for nearly two months. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Preliminary study shows that the railway will be 135 kilometres long. Bhattarai said the investment for the construction of the railway is not yet secured. According to him, the amount would be fixed after the detailed study is done and discussions would be held how to mobilize the amount. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The modality of the investment is also not yet clear. Whether to approach the Indian government or any other donor agencies for the investment would be decided only after the exact investment of the project is available. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The railway project is expected to minimise transportation costs of supplies made from India. As a result of relatively low transportation fees, prices of goods imported from India would decrease. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the process to construct the East-West electric railway has been moved forward with the investments of the government itself. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The governments of Nepal and India had reached an understanding in 2012 to construct railway at five different places in Nepal. Among them, two railway projects, one Kathmandu-Raxaul railway and another Bathanaha-Biratnagar railway—are in the process of construction. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the construction of 10 kilometres of the 18-kilometres Bathanaha-Biratnagar railway has been completed so far. Other three projects are yet to start. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There used to be railway service between Raxaul and Amlekhgunj in 1984 BS during the Rana regime. Jayanagar-Janakpur railway service was also operational during 1994 BS. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13699', 'image' => '20210914112433_20190325112130_Clipboard43-5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 11:23:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13953', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Issues Warning against Nipah Virus ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 14: The Ministry of Health and Population has urged the public to remain alert regarding the possible risk of Nipah Virus (NIV) infection after its outbreak was reported in neighbouring India. ', 'content' => '<p><em>Photo Courtesy: MoHP</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 14: The Ministry of Health and Population has urged the public to remain alert regarding the possible risk of Nipah Virus (NIV) infection after its outbreak was reported in neighbouring India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Spokesperson for the Ministry Dr Krishna Prasad Poudel informed in a press statement that the risk of the virus outbreak in Nepal cannot be ruled out as Nepal and India share open border. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the ministry, the infection of the deadly NIV is transmitted to humans from animals and then human- to- human. The virus has been detected in the Indian state of Kerala, the ministry said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Spokesperson Poudel, although the virus has not been detected in Nepal so far, the risk remains considerable. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Ministry informed that the fatality rate of NIV is 45 to 75 percent. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recognizes NIV-caused illness as one of 10 deadly diseases in the world, the ministry said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The statement further says that fruit bat is the natural host of the virus and it is transmitted to pig, cattle and then to humans. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“Nipah Virus infection is a zoonotic illness that is transmitted to people from animals, and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly from person-to-person,” the ministry said citing the World Health Organisation (WHO). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The WHO has reportedly said there is no treatment or vaccine available for either people or animals affected by the new virus and has suggested supportive care as the primary treatment for humans. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The symptoms of the virus include fever, dizziness, headache, muscle pain, nausea, breathing complication and tonsillitis are the symptoms of NIV infection. The ministry say that the infection rate of NIV is relatively high. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry has recommended people to properly clean fruits before consuming, eat only well-cooked vegetables, keep cowsheds and farms clean, use gloves and masks during animal slaughtering and cook meat, drink boiled water, wash hands with soap and water time and again and use mask in public as preventive measures against the virus. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Ministry has urged one and all to promptly seek medical intervention in case of having the above mentioned symptoms. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has ensured of supportive care for the NIV-caused illness, the statement added. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/nipah.jpg" style="height:367px; width:800px" /> </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-14', 'modified' => '2021-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13698', 'image' => '20210914105250_newnipa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-14 10:32:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13952', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Defends Replacement Bill on Budget ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has defended the budget replacement bill stating that the main opposition party CPN-UML compelled the government to introduce it.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 13: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has defended the budget replacement bill stating that the main opposition party CPN-UML compelled the government to introduce it.</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"">Speaking at a press conference organized at the Ministry of Finance on September 12, Minister Sharma said that the bill had to be passed in three days because the opposition party UML refused to pass the ordinance budget introduced its own government led by KP Sharma Oli. He claimed that Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had held discussions with the UML to endorse the ordinance budget but the opposition party refused to do so.</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 UML did not agree to pass the budget brought by itself through the ordinance, so the replacement bill had to be introduced," Sharma said. According to Sharma, the budget has been revised to maintain financial discipline. The budget has been amended only in some significant sections, while most of the provisions and plans introduced by the earlier government have got continuity. </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 Finance Minister Sharma, the incumbent government’s action plan will be based on the belief that every plan should pay off and the budget has been prepared to support the economy as specified by the constitution. He defended the replacement bill amid criticism over the inclusion of populist programmes. He claimed that the budget he brought through the replacement bill was not a populist one but aimed to fulfill the responsibility of the state.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma said that the government is trying to help the critically ill people who can't fend for themselves and the political warriors who were involved in the political movements. He claimed that the government has introduced a programme to give Rs 10,000 each to 500,000 poor families. The government plans to distribute this amount to the extremely poor families affected by the COVID-19 before Dashain. He informed that criteria of the poor family meant to receive the beneficiary amount has been set. </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"">Sharma claimed to spend 10 percent of capital expenditure every month. He also said that a mechanism would be set up to monitor capital expenditure as well as the progress of any project, and problems plaguing the project. Stating that the government has increased the capital expenditure even though it has reduced the total size of the budget, he said monitoring would be prioritized to make the expenditure more effective.</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"">Explaining that the economic growth rate of the current fiscal year has been increased in the replacement bill compared to the ordinance budget, Minister Sharma said that the availability of COVID-19 vaccine is the major reason behind it.</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 succeeded in bringing the vaccine and the rapid vaccination campaign would help in the economic growth, so the growth rate has been revised. The previous budget had targeted the economic growth rate of 6.5 percent. However, Finance Minister Sharma has revised the target saying that economic activities have been increasing recently.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also revealed why the government has remained silent over controversial programmes brought in the previous ordinance budget. As the Cabinet meeting had already scrapped the budget provision of extraction and export of stones, pebbles from the Chure region, it was not necessary to state the same in the budget programme. He also informed that the government has not taken any decision to involve the private sector in the import and trade of salt.</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 led by KP Sharma Oli had announced in the budget to involve the private sector in salt trading and its import, but this program will not be implemented as the replacement bill has not addressed this issue.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13697', 'image' => '20210913014226_20210528094601_20210501025837_11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 13:41:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13951', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Study finds High Potential for Herbal Industries and Tourism in Karnali Province', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: Karnali Province, which is considered to be lagging behind other provinces, has a lot of business potential especially in the field of herbal trade, tourism, energy and agribusiness.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 13: Karnali Province, which is considered to be lagging behind other provinces, has a lot of business potential especially in the field of herbal trade, tourism, energy and agribusiness.</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 study report on economic activities of Karnali Province by Nepal Rastra Bank shows that there is high potential for herbal industry in the region as the province has reserves of herbal raw materials. NRB had studied the economic activities of Karnali in the first six months of the 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"">The study has shown that most of the territory of the state is made up of hills and high mountains and there are also reserves of valuable herbs and mineral oil, mines and gems. Similarly, the central bank says that the business related to agriculture also has high potential. The report mentions that employment opportunities can be created by making youth entrepreneurs run agriculture and herbal related industries in the province.</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"">Furthermore, according to the bank, as Karnali also has potential for organic agribusiness.</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 study has also shown that there is high potential of tourism in Karnali. Beautiful lakes like Rara, Phoksundo, Bulbule and the areas of religious and cultural significance such as Kankrebihar, Deuti Bajyai, Chandannath, and the holy flame of Panchkoshi as well as various temples, pilgrimage sites and valleys are located in the province.</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"">Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr Prakash Kumar Shrestha also said that there is a high potential for tourism entrepreneurs in Karnali. “The state has beautiful lakes and offers beautiful scenery of the Himalayan range. At the same time, there is also geographical diversity,” he said, adding, “In this case, Karnali can be made a tourism hub.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the report states that there is high potential for hydropower business in the province due to water resources and geographical diversity. Commercial farming and entrepreneurship as well as production and productivity can be increased by introducing modern technology and irrigation from big rivers and other water sources.</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 study suggests that workers going for foreign employment can also be attracted to agribusiness. According to the study, a large number of workers from the province go for foreign employment. It is said that if they can be attracted to agribusiness, the production and productivity of the agricultural sector will also increase.</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"">There is a possibility to develop and expand small and medium enterprises in Karnali by maximum utilization of concessional loans. In addition, the study report states that there is a need for investment in the education and health sectors in the province.</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"">Dr Shrestha says that despite such commercial viability, there are also lots of challenges in the province. He states that the main challenge is the lack of necessary infrastructure.</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 number of tourists who go to see the Fewa lake in Pokhara is not the same as the number of tourists visiting Rara Lake in Karnali," he said, “If the infrastructure can be developed, there is business potential in the region including tourism.”</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"">Moreover, the report also states that there is a challenge to reduce the poverty and unemployment by creating employment opportunities in the province for most of the young people who travel to India and Gulf countries for foreign employment.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13696', 'image' => '20210913013121_20190912013703_aafddf.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 13:30:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13950', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Seeks Market for Surplus Power ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: With the power generated from Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Power Project getting connected to the national grid, around 400 MW of surplus electricity has remained unused during the night time. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 13: With the power generated from Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Power Project getting connected to the national grid, around 400 MW of surplus electricity has remained unused during the night time. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The reserve electricity in day is 200 MW. There was a time when the country was struggling for a single unit of power. The power distributing companies are facing more power surplus during the monsoon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Executive Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), Kulman Ghising, said that the country has become self-sufficient on electricity with the Upper Tamakoshi being connected to the national grid. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This has resulted in a large volume of power going unused. The NEA is incurring a daily loss equivalent to Rs 40 million due to surplus power, according to Ghising. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">India could be the best market for surplus power, but the neighbouring country has not given any green signal towards this end.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During his recent visit to India, Ghising urged Indian officials to facilitate in finding an accessible market for the surplus power generated in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NEA delegation discussed with the Indian side about exporting surplus power to India and importing power from India during the lean period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NEA has proposed mutual seasonal electricity exchange with Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited to utilise surplus power generated during monsoon from various hydropower projects including the 456-megawatt Upper Tamakoshi hydropower, said Ghising. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"A proposal has been prepared for Nepal to supply the surplus electricity to Bihar during the monsoon and to bring it from Bihar during winter. In case of unequal amounts of electricity exchanged between Nepal and Bihar, its price will be fixed through an appropriate method," he said. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There has been an electricity exchange between Nepal and India since 1971. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">So far, the NEA has reached the power purchase agreement with 346 hydropower projects to purchase 6,176 megawatts of electricity. Of them, 111 projects with 1,300 megawatts have come into operation. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, 136 projects with capacity to produce 3,034 megawatts of electricity are under construction. And other 99 projects of 1,841 megawatts capacity are under financial closing process, said the NEA. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13695', 'image' => '20210913093007_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 09:29:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13949', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Economic Growth of 7 Percent Easily Achievable: Finance Minister', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma has announced that the government has set a target to achieve economic growth of 7 per cent for the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 13: Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma has announced that the government has set a target to achieve economic growth of 7 per cent for the current fiscal year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He expressed hope that the economy would remain afloat thanks to the increasing activities due to the slowdown of COVID-19 infection. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a news conference on Sunday, Minister Sharma said that the economic growth rate of 7 per cent was easily achievable. He said that the environment is being gradually created for this. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the finance minister said that the impacts of COVID-19 have gradually slowed down, economic activities have gained pace and a clear roadmap has been drawn to increase capital expenditure while policy-level reforms have also been ensured to meet the target of economic growth in the current fiscal year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We have set an achievable target. We are confident of meeting the target," RSS quoted Minister Sharma as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The finance minister reportedly said that the economy will gain momentum after expediting activities of development, widened tax ambit and subsidies given to the raw material-based industries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, he said that massive reforms would be ensured in market monitoring, test and investigation while payment system would be further simplified and the problem of low billing would be resolved to further expand the country's economy, RSS further reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Sharma said that the government would unveil concrete programmes for poverty reduction soon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Regarding trade deficit, he said that the government was focused on self-reliant economy and its top priority was import replacement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that the budget has given top priority to the industrial sector, Sharma said that crop insurance has been increased to 80 per cent to make the country independent in agriculture. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini said that the incumbent government has only made slight changes to the budget unveiled by the erstwhile government led by KP Oli. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He added that a mechanism would be developed to access the progress details of the projects every month. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13694', 'image' => '20210913075855_1631281254.janardan.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 07:58:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13948', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Internet Penetration in Nepal is 102 Percent of the Total Population: NTA', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 13: Internet penetration in the country has reached 102 per cent of the total population of Nepal, according to a report prepared by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 13: Internet penetration in the country has reached 102 per cent of the total population of Nepal, according to a report prepared by the Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The state-owned NTA prepared the report based on population projection of 2011 to 2030. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report was prepared by assuming Nepal's population to be 29.87 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the NTA report, almost 31 million population is connected to internet facility till the end of the last fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report further states that mobile internet has the largest contribution to the internet penetration in the country. As of July 15, the contribution of mobile internet alone is 76.03 per cent while 3G internet service has given access to more than 12.89 million population. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Among them, the users of Nepal Telecom are the largest contributors as their number is 10.04 million followed by 2.46 million Ncell users. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The contribution of fixed broadband is 25.66 per cent with 700,285 users of ADSL and more than 727,000 FTTH internet users. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the number of 4G service users has increased in the recent days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NTA stated that the number of 4G users is almost 10 million till the end of the last fiscal year (July 15, 2021). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It is said that Nepal Telecom has 4.74 million 4G users. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Ncell has more than 5 million 4G users while the number of 4G users of Smart Telecom is 166,000. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-13', 'modified' => '2021-09-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13693', 'image' => '20210913073203_20210208112726_wi-fi-internet-connection-on-a-smartphone-icon-vector-7350115.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-13 07:31:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13947', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Salt Trading Corporation Producing 1000 Metric Tons of Wheat Seeds Annually', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: The Salt Trading Corporation (STC) has been producing 1000 metric tons of wheat seeds annually. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: The Salt Trading Corporation (STC) has been producing 1000 metric tons of wheat seeds annually. The corporation has been producing high-quality hybrid seeds in collaboration with the farmers under the Contract Farming programme. The programme started in 2004 aims to address the issue of shortage of high-quality wheat seeds. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The company had been producing 200 metric tonnes of seeds annually in the initial phase and has increased its quantity to 1,000 metric tonnes in recent days. The state-owned company has been producing improved varieties of wheat seeds in collaboration with more than 50 farmers from three districts-Bara, Parsa, and Chitwan. The STC and farmers are producing seeds in 500 bigahs of land to meet the demand for 15,000 bigahs of cultivable land.</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 STC sells improved varieties of seeds worth more than Rs 50 million annually to the farmers. The Salt Trading Corporation sells the seeds to farmers after purchasing the seeds from the farmers and processing them through its processing plant in Hetauda. The STC started processing wheat seeds in 2004 by bringing a processing machine from Agrosa Industries Company, Haryana, India.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the STC, 30,000 metric tonnes of edible wheat is produced annually from the seeds of improved varieties in 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"">According to Krishna Kumar Khadka, departmental manager of Salt Trading Corporation, improved varieties of seeds have been produced from the original seeds provided by the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC).</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"">After purchasing and packaging the improved varieties of seeds produced by the farmers, the organization sends them to the market. The farmer can buy the seeds through various agro-vets and cooperatives.</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 seed production has provided job opportunities to around 200 people including farmers, daily wage workers, and other employees. The STC says that the farmers have been able to get a good yield from the improved varieties of seeds produced in this way.</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"">Khadka said that the production of high quality seeds within the country would stop the outflow of millions of rupees abroad, and it would help the overall economy.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13692', 'image' => '20210912021306_OrganicWheat_Lead.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 14:12:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13946', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Sign Agreement to Build Second Cross-Border Transmission Line', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Nepal and India have signed an agreement to jointly invest in the construction of the 400kVA Butwal-Gorakhpur cross border transmission line on the Indian side.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: Nepal and India have signed an agreement to jointly invest in the construction of the 400kVA Butwal-Gorakhpur cross border transmission line on the Indian side. An agreement to this effect was signed between the Nepal Electricity Authority and the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited in New Delhi on September 8, Wednesday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The agreement was signed by Kulman Ghising, managing director of NEA on behalf of Nepal and YK Dixit, managing director of Power Grid Corporation , India. This has paved the way to set up a joint venture company to build a transmission line to India.</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"">As per the agreement, Nepal and India will each hold 50 percent share in the company. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prabal Adhikari, director of NEA, said that an agreement has been reached to build the transmission line through a joint investment model. "It's not just an investment agreement, it is also about building the transmission line in a joint venture model," he said, adding, "Both the parties will have equal equity in this project."</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 total length of the transmission line, which is considered significant to export electricity, will be of 120 kilometers. Nepal will build a 20 km transmission line itself on its side. The transmission line on the Nepal side is being constructed under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) project. The 100 km transmission line on the Indian side will be constructed jointly.</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 meeting held on August 3, 2021 had allowed NEA to invest in 50 percent shares of the company to be set up to build the transmission line on the Indian side. Following the cabinet decision, the agreement was signed between the two parties. </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 estimated cost of constructing the transmission line on the India side is said to be around Rs 4.61 billion. A total of 20 percent of the investment will be chipped in by the two sides as equity and the remaining 80 percent will be financed by banks. The transmission line on the Nepal section is estimated to cost Rs 2.31 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"">A secretary-level meeting of energy ministries of Nepal-India held in October 2019 had finalized the construction model of the project. The construction work of the transmission line has moved forward accordingly.</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"">Earlier, a bilateral agreement was reached to build a transmission line jointly on the Indian side. Such agreement was signed at the meeting of Secretary and joint secretary level of the two countries. However, the process could not move ahead due to delay in getting approval of the government of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA says that the process has moved forward after the government gave the green signal. As per the agreement, a joint venture company will be established in India. The company will then sign the agreement regarding the transmission service and the process of securing loan investment will be initiated. </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 construction of the cross-border transmission line is expected to be completed within three and a half years. </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"">Currently, the 400 KV Dhalkebar Muzaffarpur transmission line - the first cross border transmission line between Nepal and India - is in operation. It is said that the capacity of Butwal-Gorakhpur transmission line will be twice as much as that of Dhalkebar. Altogether 2000 MW of electricity can be transmitted through the proposed transmission line.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13691', 'image' => '20210912012755_20190915092327_20190517010911_aaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 13:27:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13945', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Workshop on Labor Market Information System Concludes ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: A workshop on labor market information system to assess the demand of labour in the domestic market of Nepal has concluded. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 12: A workshop on labor market information system to assess the demand of labour in the domestic market of Nepal has concluded. The workshop was organised by Employers Led Labor Market Secretariat (ELMS) project on Friday with the participation of five private umbrella organisations. </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 program was organised with the objective of institutionalizing the labor market information system and collecting labor market information. The programme will provide information on the status of workers available in Nepal's labor market. </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"">President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), Bishnu Kumar Agrawal, said at the workshop that the programme would be of great help in establishing a relationship between people looking for employment opportunities and the employers. He said that the programme, which was launched in collaboration with five private sector organizations, would be an example for the future reference as well. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, President of Hotel Association of Nepal Sirjana Rana, President of the Federation of Contractors’ Association of Nepal Ravi Singh and Treasurer of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Sukuntalal Hirachan were unanimous in saying that this programme would help in providing information about the need of Nepali labor market and supply of manpower. They are hopeful that the programme will help solve the long-term unemployment problem in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that there is a lack of competitive and skilled manpower in Nepal, vice president of CNI Birendra Raj Pandey said that the work for capacity building should be done institutionally. </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"">Under this project, 10 professions each related to construction, agriculture and tourism sectors will be selected and professional criteria related to those professions will be prepared. The project aims to develop professional standards with the direct involvement of employers and skilled workers and make them helpful for future curriculum development. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13690', 'image' => '20210912125954_1631404560.Clipboard01.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 12:59:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13944', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'The Business Tycoon who Introduced Dabur Brand in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Industrialist and former ambassador Rukma Shumsher Rana is credited for setting up an outlet of a renowned multinational company in Nepal in the late 80s.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 12: Industrialist and former ambassador Rukma Shumsher Rana is credited for setting up an outlet of a renowned multinational company in Nepal in the late 80s. Rana played a crucial role in establishing Dabur Nepal in 1989. The origin of the company, which is renowned across the globe, dates back to 1884 in India. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rana, who was a partner and managing director of the Indian joint venture company Dabur Nepal, died at the age of 85 at his residence in Battisputali, Kathmandu on Friday (September 10). He was suffering from kidney ailments, diabetes and high blood pressure. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Marketing chief of the Dabur Nepal, Abhaya Gorkhali, says that they have lost their guardian. The company currently employs more than 1000 workers and its annual turnover is above Rs 10 billion, according to a source at Dabur Nepal. The company produces juice, chawanprash and Hazmola candies from its outlet in Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rana, who was involved with the company since its establishment, worked as its managing director for a long time and was appointed its chairman two years ago.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Besides a successful businessman, Rana is also a well-known figure in national politics. . Rana, the youngest son of Nepali Congress leader and founder Subarna Shumsher Rana, served as Nepal's ambassador to India from 2009 to 2011 during the Congress-led government. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also served as the member secretary of National Sports Council twice between 2050 to 2055 BS. Rana also became the president of Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) in 2059 BS. The NOC had recently appointed Rana as its honorary president. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also served as the acting president of the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) and the president of the Nepal Taekwondo Association and the Nepal Athletics Association. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rana was the father-in-law of Anil Keshari Shah, CEO of Nabil Bank. He is survived by a wife and a daughter. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to family sources, he was cremated at Pashupati Aryaghat on Saturday afternoon.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13689', 'image' => '20210912113319_1631334312.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 11:32:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13943', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'MCC Vice President Sumar Urges Finance Minister to Ratify MCC Agreement as Soon as Possible ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 12: Vice-President of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Fatema Sumar, has uarged Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to ratify the MCC grant agreement at the earliest.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 12: Vice-President of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Fatema Sumar, has uarged Finance Minister Janardan Sharma to ratify the MCC grant agreement at the earliest. Sumar made such appeal while paying a courtesy call on the finance minister at his office in Singha Durbar on Saturday, September 11.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the meeting, the two discussed at length about different aspects of the MCC project under which Nepal is entitled to receive USD 500 million in grants. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to a press statement issued by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), Minister Sharma told the visiting delegate that the issues relating to the MCC was being discussed at political level in Nepal. The press statement reads that discussions are being held at political level about the compact signed between the MCC and Nepal in 2017. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The statement added that Sumar urged Minister Sharma to ratify the agreement from parliament at the earliest and implement it without any further delay.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC delegation led by Sumar has already held meetings with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Energy Minister Pampha Bhusal and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The visiting team had also held a meeting with CPN (UML) Chairperson KP Sharma Oli, CPN (Unified Socialist) Chairperson Madhav Kumar Nepal and senior leaders of Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal (JSP) on Thursday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC which forms partnerships with developing countries like Nepal for good governance, economic reform and investment is ready to assist Nepal in construction of infrastructures including 312 km road and 400 KV transmission. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC has pledged over Rs 50 billion for these projects while the Government of Nepal will be contributing Rs 12 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Political parties are divided over endorsement of the MCC grant agreement. The CPN UML government led by KP Sharma Oli, which had been pressing for its endorsement, has now adopted a wait-and-watch policy after becoming the main opposition party.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In this context, the MCC delegation led by Sumar had arrived in Nepal on a four-day visit last Thursday (September 9) to expedite the project. The team is scheduled to return back today (September 12).</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-12', 'modified' => '2021-09-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13688', 'image' => '20210912104250_20210910125944_20201218014622_1608248580.11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-12 10:41:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
