September 8: Four hydroelectricity projects operating in Myagdi, Mustang and Parbat districts have halted power production after a transmission tower recently…
September 8: Four hydroelectricity projects operating in Myagdi, Mustang and Parbat districts have halted power production after a transmission tower recently…
September 8: Mountaineers have shown enthusiasm to climb Mount Manaslu during the upcoming autumn season.…
September 8: The Government of Nepal has reached an understanding with the Government of India to procure chemical fertilizers through the G2G…
September 7: The establishment of new industries in the Bara and Parsa corridor has now become…
September 7: The Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) has announced to release its five-year strategic plan for 2078 BS to 2082 BS along with its business…
September 7: The Nepal Railway Company Limited (NRCL) has expelled its daily wage workers appointed by the NRCL's erstwhile leadership.…
September 7: Bagmati Province has huge business potential in energy, tourism and agriculture, according to a study conducted by Nepal Rastra Bank…
September 7: Sumargi Group of Industries (Muktishree Pvt Ltd) is about to enter the hospitality business with aggressive…
September 7: The price of green vegetables has gone up by 174 percent in a…
September 6: The government is preparing to conduct employment and skill-based training in an integrated manner in order to avoid…
September 6: The Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) has distributed certificates to the newly formed working committee of Bagmati Province chapter of…
September 6: The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project (UTHP) has finally begun commercial production almost a decade after the construction of the project started.…
September 6: A team of experts from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is coming to study the Melamchi Water Supply Project that has been damaged by the recent…
September 5: The debt of Nepal Airlines Corporation has reached Rs 50 billion.…
August 5: The revenue collection of Biratnagar customs office has started to grow after India lifted ban on import of palm oil.…
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The transmission tower at Chuwa of Kushma Municipality-8, Parbat district has fallen down, leading to a disruption in supply of 70.6 megawatts of electricity from two power plants in Myagdi and one each in Parbat and Mustang districts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Number 4 tower of the 132 KV transmission line connecting the powerhouse of the Modikhola-1 Hydroelectricity Project with Modi sub-station had collapsed due to the flood and landslide that occurred last Friday (September 3). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Upendra Gautam, managing director of United Modi, the promoter of the 10-megawatt-capacity Modi-1 Hydroelectricity Project, said the rest of the hydropower projects connected to the national transmission grid via the Modi sub-station have been affected due to this. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Soil and debris have been reportedly deposited in the 500 metres long canal of Modi-1 project. Its dam has also been damaged due to the flooding. </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"">Along with Modi-1, the 42-megawatt capacity Mistrikhola hydroelectricity project at Narchyang, Annapurna rural municipality-4 and the five-megawatt capacity Ghalemdikhola project in Myagdi district as well as the 13.6-megawatt capacity Thapakhola Hydropower Project at Tukuche in Mustang have stopped production. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Representative of Mistrikhola Hydroelectricity Project, Chudamani Niraula said the four hydropower projects were incurring losses of millions of rupees due to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)'s delay in construction of a diversion tower and repairing the collapsed transmission tower. Mountain Energy Nepal is the promoter of the Mistrikhola project. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-08', 'modified' => '2021-09-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13672', 'image' => '20210908103508_20150823012330_ep1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-08 10:34:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13925', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '160 Climbers get Permits to Climb Mt Manaslu ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 8: Mountaineers have shown enthusiasm to climb Mount Manaslu during the upcoming autumn season. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 8: Mountaineers have shown enthusiasm to climb Mount Manaslu during the upcoming autumn season. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the Department of Tourism has granted permission to 160 climbers of 16 expedition teams to climb the 8,163-metre high Mt Manaslu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the department informed that one group has taken permission to climb Mt Kanchanjangha as of September 6. </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"">Mt Kanchanjangha is 8,586 meters tall and the third highest mountain in the world. The department has collected royalty of Rs 3.146 million from the expedition team.</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"">Autumn is considered the best season for climbing mountains. A remarkable number of domestic and foreign mountaineers used to climb mountains in this season before the onset of Covid-19. Domestic and foreign climbers have acquired permission to climb mountains in this season despite the risk of COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A significant number of tourists including some distinguished foreign guests had climbed the mountains during the COVID-19 pandemic last year too, according to the Department. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-08', 'modified' => '2021-09-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13671', 'image' => '20210908100147_mount-manaslu.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-08 10:00:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13926', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Initial Agreement to Purchase Fertilizers from India on G2G Model', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 8: The Government of Nepal has reached an understanding with the Government of India to procure chemical fertilizers through the G2G process.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 8: The Government of Nepal has reached an understanding with the Government of India to procure chemical fertilizers through the G2G process. A team comprising the representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has returned from New Delhi following a preliminary agreement in this regard with India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At a secretary-level meeting between the two countries in Delhi, India agreed to sell fertilizers to Nepal through the G2G process for the next five years. Agriculture Secretary of Nepal, Dr Krishna Prasad Acharya, said that the Indian government has approved Nepal's proposal to purchase chemical fertilizer from India. According to him, the two countries have agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding in October.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">After the signing of the MoU, India will initially sell 150,000 metric tons of chemical fertilizer to Nepal. He informed New Business Age that an agreement has been reached to increase the amount by 10 percent every year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Last year, the government began discussions on long-term fertilizer management after farmers faced an acute shortage of fertilizer due to the dilly-dallying of two contractors, Shailung Enterprises and Honiko Multiple. The process, which the government started with the Indian government in August last year, is finally nearing completion almost after a year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">While the representatives are signing the MoU with India in October, there still an acute shortage of urea for top dressing of paddy during the current plantation season. It is estimated that more than 115,000 metric tons of urea is required for the current paddy and wheat plantation season. However, the government has only 7,000 metric tons of urea in stock at present. Besides urea, 3,800 metric tons of DAP and 3200 metric tons of potassium are in stock at the present.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Farmers in most of the districts are facing shortage of fertilizers. According to the ministry, 14 contracts signed earlier by the Agriculture Inputs Company Limited and Salt Trading Corproation for the purchase of fertilziers have been canceled. Thus, the fertilizers could not be imported on time.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-08', 'modified' => '2021-09-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13670', 'image' => '20210908101407_Flag-Pins-India-Nepal_600x600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-08 10:13:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13924', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Snubs Calls for Setting up Separate Industrial Zone in Bara-Parsa', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: The establishment of new industries in the Bara and Parsa corridor has now become challenging.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 7: The establishment of new industries in the Bara and Parsa corridor has now become challenging. The area is ideal for setting up industries from the point of view of geographical location and physical infrastructure. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">However, the operation of industries is becoming difficult as the price of land in the corridor has skyrocketed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Industrialists say that it would be commercially risky to set up an industry on the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor due to the high price of land.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> According to the entrepreneurs, the price of land, which was available for Rs 400,000 to 500,000 per kattha (3645 sq.ft) a decade ago, has now reached Rs 2.5 billion to Rs 3 billion per Dhur (182.25 sq.ft).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">A recent study report released by the Nepal Rastra Bank also mentions that it is challenging to set up new industries in the area due to the exorbitant price of land.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">It is estimated that there are more than 1,000 large and small scale industries in the Bara Parsa corridor, which is considered to be the only potential industrial corridor in Province 2.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Due to its location in the center of the country, easy access to the main ports and Indian seaports, this corridor has great potential for industrial development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Hari Prasad Gautam, coordinator of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, insists that there should be another industrial zone in Bara-Parsa. “There is a need for another industrial zone in Bara and Parsa. At least 2,000 bigahs of land should be set aside for the industries,” Gautam told New Business Age.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Industries have been operating on both sides of a 26-kilometer stretch of Tribhuvan Highway connecting Birgunj with the East-West Highway. Recently, the conflict between the industries of corridor and public has been increasing. President of the association Subodh Kumar Gupta considers this as another challenge for the industry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The private sector has demanded a new industrial zone in Bara-Parsa, which is connected to the Indian border. Coordinator Gautam complained that they had demanded land for the new industrial area but the federal and provincial governments turned a deaf ear to their demand.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> “We have drawn the attention of the province and federal governments. We were expecting the government to announce some plans in this regard in the budget for the current fiscal year. However, the government did not listen to the private sector,” said Gautam. The government had announced plans to build a new industrial zone in all the provinces five years ago.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Although the government has pledged to build a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Simara, Bara, the progress is not satisfactory. An industrial zone has been proposed in the Sagarnath forest area of Sarlahi for Province 2. However, even this plan has not been able to move forward. The Gajendra Narayan Singh Industrial Area of Saptari, which was built earlier, has not been able to attract industrialists.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Entrepreneurs claim that investors will not be attracted in other areas except Bara and Parsa. Entrepreneurs have suggested setting up an industrial zone in Bara-Parsa as it is easy to set up industries as well as to transport and export raw materials and finished goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the industrialists, the Bara Parsa area is suitable for industry as the dry port is connected to the Indian Railways, and seaports.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13669', 'image' => '20210907050603_20201112065516_1605136001.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 17:05:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13923', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Investment Board to Release 5-Year Strategic Plan ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: The Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) has announced to release its five-year strategic plan for 2078 BS to 2082 BS along with its business plan. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 7: The Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) has announced to release its five-year strategic plan for 2078 BS to 2082 BS along with its business plan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the IBN is marking its 10th anniversary on September 8 with the slogan of '10 Years of Investment Board: Partnership for Economic Prosperity'. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is scheduled to release the strategic plan and Nepal Investment Guide, 2021, informed Assistant Spokesperson of IBN Ramesh Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The then Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai had established the IBN with an aim to bring in foreign investment and facilitate the process of investment in mega projects. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13668', 'image' => '20210907044854_20201112122602_1605135944.Clipboard07.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 16:47:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13922', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Railway Company Dismisses Daily Wage Workers ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: The Nepal Railway Company Limited (NRCL) has expelled its daily wage workers appointed by the NRCL's erstwhile leadership. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 7: The Nepal Railway Company Limited (NRCL) has expelled its daily wage workers appointed by the NRCL's erstwhile leadership. The workers have been asked not to record their attendances at their own will, according to a statement issued by NRCL managing director Niranjan Kumar Jha. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The persons who are told to be appointed at the office as daily wagers have been recording their attendances. Wages are not payable on the basis of attendances recorded at one's own will with the office not deploying anyone for work, reads the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It would take some time to operate the Jayanagar-Kurtha railway due to legal and technical reasons, the company added. --RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13667', 'image' => '20210907122916_20200825030614_1598305318.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 12:28:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13921', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bagmati Province has Immense Potential in Tourism, Agriculture and Energy: NRB Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: Bagmati Province has huge business potential in energy, tourism and agriculture, according to a study conducted by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 7: Bagmati Province has huge business potential in energy, tourism and agriculture, according to a study conducted by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). The study has pointed out that agriculture, tourism and energy have comparatively more potential due to the geographical diversity within 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"">The NRB had conducted the study based on the data of the first six months of the last fiscal year. The study report, which was recently made public, reveals that there is comparatively more potential for agriculture, tourism and energy in Bagmati 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"">Among the districts under this province, Dhading, Kavrepalalchowk and Nuwakot are in the Himalayan region, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur are within the valley and Makwanpur and Chitwan districts are in the inner Terai belt. Thus, there is immense potential due to the geographical diversity within 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"">Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr Prakash Kumar Shrestha said that there is more potential for agriculture, tourism and energy in Bagmati Province. "Of course, there are potentials in other sectors, but the agriculture, tourism and energy sectors are more viable from commercial point of view," he said, adding, “We have come to this conclusion after conducting a field visit itself.”</span></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 report states that Bagmati Province has a suitable geographical location and availability of water resources for hydropower generation. There is a high potential for hydropower, especially in Dolakha, Sindhupalchok and some other districts.</span></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 Dhading, Bhaktapur, Kavre and Nuwakot can be developed as vegetable pocket areas. In addition to the federal capital, Banepa, Dhulikhel, Narayanghat and Hetauda are the most populated cities in the province. The study also states that there is a high potential for the market of processed food, vegetables, fruits, fish, meat and other commodities in these areas.</span></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 study shows that the agriculture sector can be commercialized if the youths returning from foreign employment could be attracted to the agriculture. The report also states that high value agricultural products can be exported through international flights.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the same way, there is high potential for tourism as well in this province. The report mentions s that there is more potential for the development of tourism as there are tourist areas including Kathmandu Valley, Sauraha of Chitwan, Syafrubesi and Helambu within 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"">The report has pointed out to the need for increasing investment in tourism infrastructure for promoting tourism in this 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"">There is religious, cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity in this province. Seven different tourist sites within 7 km of Kathmandu Valley are listed in the World Heritage List. Therefore, according to the study, there is a high potential for internal and external tourism 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"">There is also a high potential for employment opportunities and demographic benefits in Bagmati Province. According to the Economic Census 2075, thirty percent of industrial establishments are located in Bagmati Province. In addition, 20.9 percent of the population lives in this 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"">Similarly, Bagmati Province has high potential in infrastructure development. Major cities including the federal capital Kathmandu are in this state. The study report states that such cities have high commercial potential of modern infrastructures such as rail, mono rail, tram, trolley and cable car. There is also potential for food and milk processing industries. The NRB has stated that there is such a possibility as the process of urbanization is taking place at a fast pace in this state and the capital of the country is also located in this 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"">There is also a possibility of expanding industry and trade by attracting domestic and foreign investment in Bagmati Province. The province has natural resources including mountains, hills, forests, rivers, mines and minerals. Also, it is in the forefront in basic services including internet, transportation and education. The province accounts for 69 percent of the total deposits in the banking sector and 55 percent of the total loans. In such a case, the study suggests industry and trade can be expanded by bringing in domestic and foreign investment.</span></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 also a possibility of speeding up the development work in Bagmati Province by mobilizing maximum revenue. Due to urbanization, population density, industry, trade, business, transportation and communication, etc., the revenue base within this state is wide. NRB has stated that the development work can be expedited by mobilizing maximum revenue.</span></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 are challenges of equal scale in Bagmati Province. In particular, there is a challenge to promote commercial agricultural production by conserving the eroded agricultural land due to increasing urbanization. The study has also revealed that there are challenges in management of environmental pollution, traffic management and systematic urbanization alongside development.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It is said that it would be a challenge to speed up the infrastructure development and maintain the quality of the existing infrastructures. The study has shown that there is a challenge to develop the tourism sector by proper protection and promotion of geographical and religious heritage, biodiversity etc. It will also be a challenge to commercialize agriculture by attracting people going for foreign employment and those migrating to urban areas. In addition, the NRB says that it will be a challenge to encourage collective commercial farming to make the use of barren agricultural land.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13666', 'image' => '20210907122159_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 12:20:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13920', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sumargi Group Preparing to Operate 5 big Hotels with Investment of Rs 7 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: Sumargi Group of Industries (Muktishree Pvt Ltd) is about to enter the hospitality business with aggressive investment.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 7: Sumargi Group of Industries (Muktishree Pvt Ltd) is about to enter the hospitality business with aggressive investment. The company is planning to operate five big hotels in different parts of the country including the Kathmandu Valley, with an investment of around Rs 7 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"">Taking the Covid-19 pandemic as an investment opportunity, the group is set to make the staggering investment in the hospitality sector all at a time. According to Sumargi Group, an apartment hotel is being constructed in Sundhara, Kathmandu. The company informed that the construction work of the apartment hotel in Sundhara has witnessed more than 80 percent physical progress.</span></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 company is preparing to operate a boutique hotel in Kathmandu. The construction of the boutique hotel will be started soon after determining the location. Likewise, the group has started operation of a hotel in Tumlingtar of Sakhuwasabha targeting domestic tourists while the company is preparing to start operation of resorts in Banepa and Dhulikhel of the Kavrepalanchok district.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sumargi Group informed that the resort will be brought into operation in the area soon after finalizing the location. Meanwhile, the company is preparing to operate a boutique hotel in Sarangkot of Pokhara.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Arun Raj Sumargi, Director of Sumargi Group of Industries, informed that the company is making investment in the hospitality sector with the help of foreign investment, profit made by the company in various sectors, and loans taken from various banks and 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"">According to him, the company's objective is to promote the hospitality sector of Nepal and increase employment opportunities.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Preparations are in full swing for the operation of the hotels targeting both internal and foreign tourists. The company will operate hotels of deluxe and boutique categories.</span></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 pandemic, many people are forced to stay indoors. That is why we have decided to invest in the hospitality sector,” 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"">Sumargi Group is preparing to complete the construction work of the hotels by the time the pandemic subsides. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sumargi said that even though the idea of investing in the hospitality sector is already there, there have been various obstacles in the way of bringing in foreign investment.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13665', 'image' => '20210907113036_Hotel.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 11:29:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13919', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Vegetable Prices Jump up to 174 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: The price of green vegetables has gone up by 174 percent in a week.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 7: The price of green vegetables has gone up by 174 percent in a week. It has been reported that the prices have gone up after the vegetables were destroyed by the continuous rainfall since a few days ago.</span></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 prices of green vegetables including lady’s finger, bottle gourd, green beans, local cauliflower, luffa gourd, sponge gourd, brinjal and bitter gourd have gone up.</span></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 daily price list of the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the price of luffa gourd, which was Rs 20 per kg a week ago, has risen by 174 percent to Rs 55 per kg by Saturday. The price of bitter gourd, which was Rs 25 per kg earlier, has now increased by 123 percent to Rs 55 per kg. The price of lady’s finger has increased by 120 percent from Rs 30 per kg to Rs 66 per kg.</span></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 price of clarified butter has also increased by 110 percent from Rs 55 per kg to Rs 115 per kg. The price of long eggplant has gone up by 100 percent from Rs 25 to Rs 50 per kg.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Gita Prasad Acharya, president of the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Entrepreneurs Committee, said that the price of vegetables have skyrocketed after the vegetables planted by the farmers were damaged due to continuous rainfall. </span></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 informed that the traders have increased the import of vegetables from India after the locally-produced vegetables started rotting and the prices started rising. According to him, as the flow of vegetables from India has already started and the pricees will gradually go down again.</span></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 Kalimati vegetable market used to receive 800 to 900 tons of vegetables daily. But the arrival of vegetables had dropped to 300 tons a day after the vegetables started rotting in the fields due to the continuous rainfall. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Low quantity vegetables were imported on August 28, 29 and 30. The daily vegetable arrival report of the committee has shown that 500, 300 and 400 tons of vegetables entered Kalimati on those days respectively. Although the import of vegetables has returned to its previous level since then, the prices of vegetables have not dropped yet.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/20200806125217_1595453904.Clipboard03%281%29.jpg" style="height:450px; width:800px" /></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13664', 'image' => '20210907112000_20201201041204_20200925113442_1600988958.Clipboard06.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 11:18:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13918', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Integrate Employment and Skill Training Programmes', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 6: The government is preparing to conduct employment and skill-based training in an integrated manner in order to avoid duplication.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 6: The government is preparing to conduct employment and skill-based training in an integrated manner in order to avoid duplication.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In a discussion held at the Ministry of Finance on Sunday, high-ranking officials of the concerned ministries and agencies, including the National Planning Commission, concluded that the training programmes should be conducted in an integrated way through a one-door system. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has instructed the officials of the concerned agencies to do their homework accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">After the discussion, the finance minister directed concerned bodies to make policy-level preparations so that the duplicate training programmes would be conducted in an integrated manner.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“The concerned stakeholders carry out the same programme every year and there is no effectiveness in the work in this way,” he said, “We should end the problem of giving the same training to the same person every year but the person does not become self-employed.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">He was of the view that all the trainings related to the labor sector should be conducted through the Ministry of Labor and all kinds of training related to the development sector should be conducted through the Ministry of Education. Minister Sharma added that integrated curriculum should be implemented across the country while conducting trainings and there should be arrangements of providing certificates of integrated structure to all after the completion of the training. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to him, by doing so, the training certificates received in urban areas and rural areas will get equal recognition.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-06', 'modified' => '2021-09-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13663', 'image' => '20210906012649_20210716022924_1626392414.Clipboard14.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-06 13:26:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13917', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NMA forms Bagmati Province Committee', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 6: The Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) has distributed certificates to the newly formed working committee of Bagmati Province chapter of NMA.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 6: The Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) has distributed certificates to the newly formed working committee of Bagmati Province chapter of NMA.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The NMA formed a state branch coordination committee on September 5 amid a program organized at the meeting hall of the NMA Secretariat in Kathmandu. NMA officials welcomed the office bearers and members of the newly-formed committee.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Bagmati Province Committee was formed under the chairmanship of Dal Bahadur Gurung. Gurung has been active in the field of tourism for the last two decades.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Milan Kumar Tamab is the vice-chairman of the Bagmati Province Committee, Fudoma Sherpa is the secretary, and Thakur Dharel is the treasurer. Similarly, Dawa Sibgi Helmo, Amar Gurung, Suppa Tamang, Kuldash Tamang, Sunita Gahatraj, Lopsang Sherpa, Dhruv Shrestha, Akash Gurung, Kami Sherpa, Urja Tamang, and Gyan Bahadur Tamang are members of the committee.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Chairman of the association Santvir Lama presented certificates to the office bearers and members of the provincial committee. Likewise, General Secretary of the Association Kul Bahadur Gurung, Secretary and Coordinator of the State Branch Coordination Committee Tikaram Gurung, Central Members Wabco Sherpa, Tul Singh Gurung, Sanjiv Gurung, Sibgi Lama, and others welcomed the office bearers and members of the new working committee. The association’s Chairman Lama administered the oath of office and secrecy to the office bearers and members of the committee.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-06', 'modified' => '2021-09-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13662', 'image' => '20210906122338_IMG_8048.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-09-06 12:22:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13916', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Project Begins Commercial Production ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 6: The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project (UTHP) has finally begun commercial production almost a decade after the construction of the project started. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 6: The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project (UTHP) has finally begun commercial production almost a decade after the construction of the project started. The project with capacity of 456MW began generating electricity in full swing from Sunday (September 5), according to the state-owned national news agency RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In course of construction, the project faced numerous obstacles such as natural disaster, border blockade, catastrophic earthquake of 2015 and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, RSS reported. The mega project of electricity with sole domestic investment has successfully started commercial production, RSS quoted Chief Executive Officer of UTHP, Bigyan Prasad Shretha as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The beginning of the commercial production was observed with peace prayers as per the Buddhist tradition in Bigu Rural Municipality-1 of Dolakha district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the project was inaugurated on July 5, production in full capacity started only from September 5. The electricity generated from the project has been linked to the newly constructed 220/132 KV substation in Khimti and is connected to a 220 double-circuit transmission line. The substation is again linked to 400 KV substation located at Dhalkebar. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The foundation stone of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project was laid by then Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal on September 3, 2011. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The initial investment of the project was Rs 35.29 billion which has now reached to Rs 52 billion due to various reasons such as change in the design, hike in payment to the consultants for extended term of construction, inflation among others. After adding interest to the investment cost, the total investment of the project has climbed to Rs 84 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has 41 percent share in the project. The cost of producing per unit power is Rs 3.50 in an average. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-06', 'modified' => '2021-09-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13661', 'image' => '20210906105313_20201206012152_1607211371.Clipboard13.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-06 10:52:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13915', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ADB to Study Melamchi Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 6: A team of experts from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is coming to study the Melamchi Water Supply Project that has been damaged by the recent floods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 6: A team of experts from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is coming to study the Melamchi Water Supply Project that has been damaged by the recent floods. It has been learnt that the team will study the geology of the upper part of the project.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The team will study Thegrini in Bhremathang and the current situation of Melamchi, which has been badly affected by flood and landslide during this monsoon. The Ministry of Water Supply and Irrigation had requested the ADB to conduct a study stating that the area was at risk. According to the Ministry of Water Supply and Irrigation, ADB has already sent a letter approving the Terms of Reference (TOR). Spokesperson at the Ministry Ramesh Neupane said the that the ADB team is preparing to visit the site. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"A team of experts will arrive within a week to study the Melamchi Water Supply Project," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Currently, organizations including ICIMOD are studying the geological condition of Bhremathang independently. However, the Ministry of Water Supply and Irrigation has requested the ADB for a detailed study. ADB is also the development partner of the Melamchi Water Supply Project.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Avalanches have been accumulating in the areas above Melamchi for years. This has posed a risk to the Melamchi project. The floods on the Melamchi River have damaged the headworks, two temporary tunnels, and a motorable bridge. The Water Supply Project has submitted an action plan to the Ministry at a cost of Rs 2.5 billion to resume supply of drinking water to Kathmandu temporarily.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Melamchi River has been flooded time and again since July 20. The floodwaters are coming from the upper part of the river. That is gradually damaging the site of the Melamchi Water Supply Project. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Spokesperson of the Melamchi Water Supply Development Board Rajendra Prasad Pant said that it was not certain when the project would be completed as the floods have damaged the headworks and caused more damage than estimated.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The board has proposed deploying the Nepalese Army in the rehabilitation of the Melamchi Water Supply Project. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"It's not just the army that does all the work, we have prepared a blueprint for work division," he said. Accordingly, a rehabilitation plan has been prepared.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Many structures are buried. The board plans to hand over the reconstruction of the structure to SinoHydro and the Nepalese Army. Under this rehabilitation work, reconstruction of Ambathan camp, maintenance of main camps at Melamchi Bazaar, and necessary services like drinking water, electricity, and sanitation will be provided in the camps, said Pant.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-06', 'modified' => '2021-09-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13660', 'image' => '20210906103006_20210420041320_20210212111048_20200317114243_Melamchi 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-06 10:29:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13914', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC’s Debt Reaches Rs 50 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 5: The debt of Nepal Airlines Corporation has reached Rs 50 billion. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 5: The debt of Nepal Airlines Corporation has reached Rs 50 billion. According to the corporation, the debt has reached Rs 50 billion and the accumulated loss has reached Rs 11 billion. Stakeholders pointed out that the loss is increasing due to the negligence of the management and political interference.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In a recent discussion with top government officials, including the finance minister, the corporation's managing director, Dim Prasad Poudel, blamed the corporation's frequent losses on political interference and weak legal system. He said that the financial condition of the corporation has not improved due to overstaffing. He informed that the corporation has more than 500 unnecessary employees.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Poudel said that the corporation has an average of 230 employees per aircraft while various airlines around the world have an average of 125 employees per aircraft. He expressed dismay that various committees have studied and submitted reports for the reform of the corporation but the recommendations have not been implemented.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini and Revenue Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar suggested to Finance Minister Janardan Sharma that it would be appropriate to form a high-level committee to study the future course of action of the Nepal Airlines Corporation and the ongoing staff protest and submit suggestions to the government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">They have requested to include representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the NAC as well as independent experts related to the aviation sector under the coordination of the Tourism Secretary in the committee and to submit a report with recommendations within 15 to 20 days.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Finance Minister urged the NAC staff to end the agitation after holding discussions with the employees. He said that it would be easier for the government to take necessary decision if it studies the reports given by various committees and suggests suitable alternatives.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Secretary Marasini and Tourism Secretary Koirala pointed out the need for strong political leadership for corporate reform. Likewise, they stressed that minor reforms would not help the ailing airline and instead urged for concrete decisions at the political level.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-05', 'modified' => '2021-09-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13659', 'image' => '20210905033908_20210709080354_20180727021334_2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-05 15:38:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13913', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Revenue Collection of Biratnagar Customs Exceeds Target', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 5: The revenue collection of Biratnagar customs office has started to grow after India lifted ban on import of palm oil. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 5: The revenue collection of Biratnagar customs office has started to grow after India lifted ban on import of palm oil. Earlier, the revenue collection was less than the target.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the first month of the Fiscal Year 2078/89, the customs office collected Rs 3.349 billion against its target of Rs 2.891 billion, which is 115.82 percent more than the target. Earlier, customs office had not been able to meet the target of revenue collection due to restrictions on palm oil and also due to the impact of coronavirus.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chief Customs Officer Shiva Prasad Bhandari said despite the improvement in revenue collection last year, the target was not met.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Soybean oil worth Rs 2.83 billion and palm oil worth Rs 821.6 million were exported in August, said customs officer Amit Tiwari. According to him, 4.3 million liters of palm oil worth Rs 821.6 million was exported in August. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India had banned the import of palm oil from Nepal on April 12, 2008. After about 14 months, India opened the import of palm oil on July 3, 2020. The export of palm oil from Biratnagar customs began with the start of the new fiscal 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 customs office, 41,357 tonnes of palm oil worth Rs 4.50 billion was exported to India from Biratnagar in the fiscal year 2075/76. The demand for refined soybean oil had increased after the ban on palm oil, which also boosted the revenue. In August, 13,075,111 kg of refined soybean oil worth Rs 2.83 billion was exported 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"">The customs office imported 4.3 million liters of unrefined palm oil worth Rs 801.09 million last month. Similarly, 17.14 million liters of soybean oil worth Rs 2.74 billion has been imported.</span></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 export of soybean oil is increasing, according to the customs office. In the fiscal year 2075/76, 9,993 tonnes of soybean oil worth Rs 1.65 billion was exported from Biratnagar. In the Fiscal Year 2076/77, altogether 31,423 tons of soybean oil worth Rs 4.26 billion was exported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the last Fiscal Year 2077/78, a total of 90,310 tons of soybean oil worth Rs. 15.67 billion was exported. Nepal's industrialists are exporting sunflower, soybean and palm oil at zero percent customs duty under the SAFTA agreement. Indian customs levies a 5 percent GST on all three types of oil.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-05', 'modified' => '2021-09-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13658', 'image' => '20210905032652_20210702051202_20191103092810_20190807121918_Clipboard01 (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-05 15:23:16', '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' => '13927', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Four Hydropower Projects Halt Production ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 8: Four hydroelectricity projects operating in Myagdi, Mustang and Parbat districts have halted power production after a transmission tower recently collapsed.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 8: Four hydroelectricity projects operating in Myagdi, Mustang and Parbat districts have halted power production after a transmission tower recently collapsed. The transmission tower at Chuwa of Kushma Municipality-8, Parbat district has fallen down, leading to a disruption in supply of 70.6 megawatts of electricity from two power plants in Myagdi and one each in Parbat and Mustang districts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Number 4 tower of the 132 KV transmission line connecting the powerhouse of the Modikhola-1 Hydroelectricity Project with Modi sub-station had collapsed due to the flood and landslide that occurred last Friday (September 3). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Upendra Gautam, managing director of United Modi, the promoter of the 10-megawatt-capacity Modi-1 Hydroelectricity Project, said the rest of the hydropower projects connected to the national transmission grid via the Modi sub-station have been affected due to this. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Soil and debris have been reportedly deposited in the 500 metres long canal of Modi-1 project. Its dam has also been damaged due to the flooding. </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"">Along with Modi-1, the 42-megawatt capacity Mistrikhola hydroelectricity project at Narchyang, Annapurna rural municipality-4 and the five-megawatt capacity Ghalemdikhola project in Myagdi district as well as the 13.6-megawatt capacity Thapakhola Hydropower Project at Tukuche in Mustang have stopped production. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Representative of Mistrikhola Hydroelectricity Project, Chudamani Niraula said the four hydropower projects were incurring losses of millions of rupees due to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)'s delay in construction of a diversion tower and repairing the collapsed transmission tower. Mountain Energy Nepal is the promoter of the Mistrikhola project. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-08', 'modified' => '2021-09-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13672', 'image' => '20210908103508_20150823012330_ep1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-08 10:34:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13925', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '160 Climbers get Permits to Climb Mt Manaslu ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 8: Mountaineers have shown enthusiasm to climb Mount Manaslu during the upcoming autumn season. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 8: Mountaineers have shown enthusiasm to climb Mount Manaslu during the upcoming autumn season. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the Department of Tourism has granted permission to 160 climbers of 16 expedition teams to climb the 8,163-metre high Mt Manaslu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the department informed that one group has taken permission to climb Mt Kanchanjangha as of September 6. </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"">Mt Kanchanjangha is 8,586 meters tall and the third highest mountain in the world. The department has collected royalty of Rs 3.146 million from the expedition team.</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"">Autumn is considered the best season for climbing mountains. A remarkable number of domestic and foreign mountaineers used to climb mountains in this season before the onset of Covid-19. Domestic and foreign climbers have acquired permission to climb mountains in this season despite the risk of COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A significant number of tourists including some distinguished foreign guests had climbed the mountains during the COVID-19 pandemic last year too, according to the Department. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-08', 'modified' => '2021-09-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13671', 'image' => '20210908100147_mount-manaslu.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-08 10:00:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13926', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Initial Agreement to Purchase Fertilizers from India on G2G Model', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 8: The Government of Nepal has reached an understanding with the Government of India to procure chemical fertilizers through the G2G process.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 8: The Government of Nepal has reached an understanding with the Government of India to procure chemical fertilizers through the G2G process. A team comprising the representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has returned from New Delhi following a preliminary agreement in this regard with India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At a secretary-level meeting between the two countries in Delhi, India agreed to sell fertilizers to Nepal through the G2G process for the next five years. Agriculture Secretary of Nepal, Dr Krishna Prasad Acharya, said that the Indian government has approved Nepal's proposal to purchase chemical fertilizer from India. According to him, the two countries have agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding in October.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">After the signing of the MoU, India will initially sell 150,000 metric tons of chemical fertilizer to Nepal. He informed New Business Age that an agreement has been reached to increase the amount by 10 percent every year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Last year, the government began discussions on long-term fertilizer management after farmers faced an acute shortage of fertilizer due to the dilly-dallying of two contractors, Shailung Enterprises and Honiko Multiple. The process, which the government started with the Indian government in August last year, is finally nearing completion almost after a year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">While the representatives are signing the MoU with India in October, there still an acute shortage of urea for top dressing of paddy during the current plantation season. It is estimated that more than 115,000 metric tons of urea is required for the current paddy and wheat plantation season. However, the government has only 7,000 metric tons of urea in stock at present. Besides urea, 3,800 metric tons of DAP and 3200 metric tons of potassium are in stock at the present.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Farmers in most of the districts are facing shortage of fertilizers. According to the ministry, 14 contracts signed earlier by the Agriculture Inputs Company Limited and Salt Trading Corproation for the purchase of fertilziers have been canceled. Thus, the fertilizers could not be imported on time.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-08', 'modified' => '2021-09-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13670', 'image' => '20210908101407_Flag-Pins-India-Nepal_600x600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-08 10:13:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13924', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Snubs Calls for Setting up Separate Industrial Zone in Bara-Parsa', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: The establishment of new industries in the Bara and Parsa corridor has now become challenging.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 7: The establishment of new industries in the Bara and Parsa corridor has now become challenging. The area is ideal for setting up industries from the point of view of geographical location and physical infrastructure. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">However, the operation of industries is becoming difficult as the price of land in the corridor has skyrocketed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Industrialists say that it would be commercially risky to set up an industry on the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor due to the high price of land.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> According to the entrepreneurs, the price of land, which was available for Rs 400,000 to 500,000 per kattha (3645 sq.ft) a decade ago, has now reached Rs 2.5 billion to Rs 3 billion per Dhur (182.25 sq.ft).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">A recent study report released by the Nepal Rastra Bank also mentions that it is challenging to set up new industries in the area due to the exorbitant price of land.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">It is estimated that there are more than 1,000 large and small scale industries in the Bara Parsa corridor, which is considered to be the only potential industrial corridor in Province 2.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Due to its location in the center of the country, easy access to the main ports and Indian seaports, this corridor has great potential for industrial development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Hari Prasad Gautam, coordinator of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, insists that there should be another industrial zone in Bara-Parsa. “There is a need for another industrial zone in Bara and Parsa. At least 2,000 bigahs of land should be set aside for the industries,” Gautam told New Business Age.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Industries have been operating on both sides of a 26-kilometer stretch of Tribhuvan Highway connecting Birgunj with the East-West Highway. Recently, the conflict between the industries of corridor and public has been increasing. President of the association Subodh Kumar Gupta considers this as another challenge for the industry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The private sector has demanded a new industrial zone in Bara-Parsa, which is connected to the Indian border. Coordinator Gautam complained that they had demanded land for the new industrial area but the federal and provincial governments turned a deaf ear to their demand.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> “We have drawn the attention of the province and federal governments. We were expecting the government to announce some plans in this regard in the budget for the current fiscal year. However, the government did not listen to the private sector,” said Gautam. The government had announced plans to build a new industrial zone in all the provinces five years ago.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Although the government has pledged to build a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Simara, Bara, the progress is not satisfactory. An industrial zone has been proposed in the Sagarnath forest area of Sarlahi for Province 2. However, even this plan has not been able to move forward. The Gajendra Narayan Singh Industrial Area of Saptari, which was built earlier, has not been able to attract industrialists.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Entrepreneurs claim that investors will not be attracted in other areas except Bara and Parsa. Entrepreneurs have suggested setting up an industrial zone in Bara-Parsa as it is easy to set up industries as well as to transport and export raw materials and finished goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the industrialists, the Bara Parsa area is suitable for industry as the dry port is connected to the Indian Railways, and seaports.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13669', 'image' => '20210907050603_20201112065516_1605136001.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 17:05:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13923', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Investment Board to Release 5-Year Strategic Plan ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: The Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) has announced to release its five-year strategic plan for 2078 BS to 2082 BS along with its business plan. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 7: The Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) has announced to release its five-year strategic plan for 2078 BS to 2082 BS along with its business plan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the IBN is marking its 10th anniversary on September 8 with the slogan of '10 Years of Investment Board: Partnership for Economic Prosperity'. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is scheduled to release the strategic plan and Nepal Investment Guide, 2021, informed Assistant Spokesperson of IBN Ramesh Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The then Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai had established the IBN with an aim to bring in foreign investment and facilitate the process of investment in mega projects. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13668', 'image' => '20210907044854_20201112122602_1605135944.Clipboard07.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 16:47:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13922', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Railway Company Dismisses Daily Wage Workers ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: The Nepal Railway Company Limited (NRCL) has expelled its daily wage workers appointed by the NRCL's erstwhile leadership. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 7: The Nepal Railway Company Limited (NRCL) has expelled its daily wage workers appointed by the NRCL's erstwhile leadership. The workers have been asked not to record their attendances at their own will, according to a statement issued by NRCL managing director Niranjan Kumar Jha. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The persons who are told to be appointed at the office as daily wagers have been recording their attendances. Wages are not payable on the basis of attendances recorded at one's own will with the office not deploying anyone for work, reads the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It would take some time to operate the Jayanagar-Kurtha railway due to legal and technical reasons, the company added. --RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13667', 'image' => '20210907122916_20200825030614_1598305318.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 12:28:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13921', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bagmati Province has Immense Potential in Tourism, Agriculture and Energy: NRB Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: Bagmati Province has huge business potential in energy, tourism and agriculture, according to a study conducted by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 7: Bagmati Province has huge business potential in energy, tourism and agriculture, according to a study conducted by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). The study has pointed out that agriculture, tourism and energy have comparatively more potential due to the geographical diversity within 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"">The NRB had conducted the study based on the data of the first six months of the last fiscal year. The study report, which was recently made public, reveals that there is comparatively more potential for agriculture, tourism and energy in Bagmati 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"">Among the districts under this province, Dhading, Kavrepalalchowk and Nuwakot are in the Himalayan region, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur are within the valley and Makwanpur and Chitwan districts are in the inner Terai belt. Thus, there is immense potential due to the geographical diversity within 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"">Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr Prakash Kumar Shrestha said that there is more potential for agriculture, tourism and energy in Bagmati Province. "Of course, there are potentials in other sectors, but the agriculture, tourism and energy sectors are more viable from commercial point of view," he said, adding, “We have come to this conclusion after conducting a field visit itself.”</span></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 report states that Bagmati Province has a suitable geographical location and availability of water resources for hydropower generation. There is a high potential for hydropower, especially in Dolakha, Sindhupalchok and some other districts.</span></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 Dhading, Bhaktapur, Kavre and Nuwakot can be developed as vegetable pocket areas. In addition to the federal capital, Banepa, Dhulikhel, Narayanghat and Hetauda are the most populated cities in the province. The study also states that there is a high potential for the market of processed food, vegetables, fruits, fish, meat and other commodities in these areas.</span></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 study shows that the agriculture sector can be commercialized if the youths returning from foreign employment could be attracted to the agriculture. The report also states that high value agricultural products can be exported through international flights.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the same way, there is high potential for tourism as well in this province. The report mentions s that there is more potential for the development of tourism as there are tourist areas including Kathmandu Valley, Sauraha of Chitwan, Syafrubesi and Helambu within 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"">The report has pointed out to the need for increasing investment in tourism infrastructure for promoting tourism in this 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"">There is religious, cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity in this province. Seven different tourist sites within 7 km of Kathmandu Valley are listed in the World Heritage List. Therefore, according to the study, there is a high potential for internal and external tourism 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"">There is also a high potential for employment opportunities and demographic benefits in Bagmati Province. According to the Economic Census 2075, thirty percent of industrial establishments are located in Bagmati Province. In addition, 20.9 percent of the population lives in this 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"">Similarly, Bagmati Province has high potential in infrastructure development. Major cities including the federal capital Kathmandu are in this state. The study report states that such cities have high commercial potential of modern infrastructures such as rail, mono rail, tram, trolley and cable car. There is also potential for food and milk processing industries. The NRB has stated that there is such a possibility as the process of urbanization is taking place at a fast pace in this state and the capital of the country is also located in this 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"">There is also a possibility of expanding industry and trade by attracting domestic and foreign investment in Bagmati Province. The province has natural resources including mountains, hills, forests, rivers, mines and minerals. Also, it is in the forefront in basic services including internet, transportation and education. The province accounts for 69 percent of the total deposits in the banking sector and 55 percent of the total loans. In such a case, the study suggests industry and trade can be expanded by bringing in domestic and foreign investment.</span></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 also a possibility of speeding up the development work in Bagmati Province by mobilizing maximum revenue. Due to urbanization, population density, industry, trade, business, transportation and communication, etc., the revenue base within this state is wide. NRB has stated that the development work can be expedited by mobilizing maximum revenue.</span></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 are challenges of equal scale in Bagmati Province. In particular, there is a challenge to promote commercial agricultural production by conserving the eroded agricultural land due to increasing urbanization. The study has also revealed that there are challenges in management of environmental pollution, traffic management and systematic urbanization alongside development.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It is said that it would be a challenge to speed up the infrastructure development and maintain the quality of the existing infrastructures. The study has shown that there is a challenge to develop the tourism sector by proper protection and promotion of geographical and religious heritage, biodiversity etc. It will also be a challenge to commercialize agriculture by attracting people going for foreign employment and those migrating to urban areas. In addition, the NRB says that it will be a challenge to encourage collective commercial farming to make the use of barren agricultural land.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13666', 'image' => '20210907122159_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 12:20:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13920', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sumargi Group Preparing to Operate 5 big Hotels with Investment of Rs 7 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: Sumargi Group of Industries (Muktishree Pvt Ltd) is about to enter the hospitality business with aggressive investment.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 7: Sumargi Group of Industries (Muktishree Pvt Ltd) is about to enter the hospitality business with aggressive investment. The company is planning to operate five big hotels in different parts of the country including the Kathmandu Valley, with an investment of around Rs 7 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"">Taking the Covid-19 pandemic as an investment opportunity, the group is set to make the staggering investment in the hospitality sector all at a time. According to Sumargi Group, an apartment hotel is being constructed in Sundhara, Kathmandu. The company informed that the construction work of the apartment hotel in Sundhara has witnessed more than 80 percent physical progress.</span></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 company is preparing to operate a boutique hotel in Kathmandu. The construction of the boutique hotel will be started soon after determining the location. Likewise, the group has started operation of a hotel in Tumlingtar of Sakhuwasabha targeting domestic tourists while the company is preparing to start operation of resorts in Banepa and Dhulikhel of the Kavrepalanchok district.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sumargi Group informed that the resort will be brought into operation in the area soon after finalizing the location. Meanwhile, the company is preparing to operate a boutique hotel in Sarangkot of Pokhara.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Arun Raj Sumargi, Director of Sumargi Group of Industries, informed that the company is making investment in the hospitality sector with the help of foreign investment, profit made by the company in various sectors, and loans taken from various banks and 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"">According to him, the company's objective is to promote the hospitality sector of Nepal and increase employment opportunities.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Preparations are in full swing for the operation of the hotels targeting both internal and foreign tourists. The company will operate hotels of deluxe and boutique categories.</span></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 pandemic, many people are forced to stay indoors. That is why we have decided to invest in the hospitality sector,” 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"">Sumargi Group is preparing to complete the construction work of the hotels by the time the pandemic subsides. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sumargi said that even though the idea of investing in the hospitality sector is already there, there have been various obstacles in the way of bringing in foreign investment.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13665', 'image' => '20210907113036_Hotel.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 11:29:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13919', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Vegetable Prices Jump up to 174 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: The price of green vegetables has gone up by 174 percent in a week.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 7: The price of green vegetables has gone up by 174 percent in a week. It has been reported that the prices have gone up after the vegetables were destroyed by the continuous rainfall since a few days ago.</span></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 prices of green vegetables including lady’s finger, bottle gourd, green beans, local cauliflower, luffa gourd, sponge gourd, brinjal and bitter gourd have gone up.</span></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 daily price list of the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the price of luffa gourd, which was Rs 20 per kg a week ago, has risen by 174 percent to Rs 55 per kg by Saturday. The price of bitter gourd, which was Rs 25 per kg earlier, has now increased by 123 percent to Rs 55 per kg. The price of lady’s finger has increased by 120 percent from Rs 30 per kg to Rs 66 per kg.</span></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 price of clarified butter has also increased by 110 percent from Rs 55 per kg to Rs 115 per kg. The price of long eggplant has gone up by 100 percent from Rs 25 to Rs 50 per kg.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Gita Prasad Acharya, president of the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Entrepreneurs Committee, said that the price of vegetables have skyrocketed after the vegetables planted by the farmers were damaged due to continuous rainfall. </span></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 informed that the traders have increased the import of vegetables from India after the locally-produced vegetables started rotting and the prices started rising. According to him, as the flow of vegetables from India has already started and the pricees will gradually go down again.</span></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 Kalimati vegetable market used to receive 800 to 900 tons of vegetables daily. But the arrival of vegetables had dropped to 300 tons a day after the vegetables started rotting in the fields due to the continuous rainfall. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Low quantity vegetables were imported on August 28, 29 and 30. The daily vegetable arrival report of the committee has shown that 500, 300 and 400 tons of vegetables entered Kalimati on those days respectively. Although the import of vegetables has returned to its previous level since then, the prices of vegetables have not dropped yet.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/20200806125217_1595453904.Clipboard03%281%29.jpg" style="height:450px; width:800px" /></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13664', 'image' => '20210907112000_20201201041204_20200925113442_1600988958.Clipboard06.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 11:18:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13918', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Integrate Employment and Skill Training Programmes', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 6: The government is preparing to conduct employment and skill-based training in an integrated manner in order to avoid duplication.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 6: The government is preparing to conduct employment and skill-based training in an integrated manner in order to avoid duplication.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In a discussion held at the Ministry of Finance on Sunday, high-ranking officials of the concerned ministries and agencies, including the National Planning Commission, concluded that the training programmes should be conducted in an integrated way through a one-door system. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has instructed the officials of the concerned agencies to do their homework accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">After the discussion, the finance minister directed concerned bodies to make policy-level preparations so that the duplicate training programmes would be conducted in an integrated manner.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“The concerned stakeholders carry out the same programme every year and there is no effectiveness in the work in this way,” he said, “We should end the problem of giving the same training to the same person every year but the person does not become self-employed.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">He was of the view that all the trainings related to the labor sector should be conducted through the Ministry of Labor and all kinds of training related to the development sector should be conducted through the Ministry of Education. Minister Sharma added that integrated curriculum should be implemented across the country while conducting trainings and there should be arrangements of providing certificates of integrated structure to all after the completion of the training. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to him, by doing so, the training certificates received in urban areas and rural areas will get equal recognition.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-06', 'modified' => '2021-09-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13663', 'image' => '20210906012649_20210716022924_1626392414.Clipboard14.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-06 13:26:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13917', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NMA forms Bagmati Province Committee', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 6: The Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) has distributed certificates to the newly formed working committee of Bagmati Province chapter of NMA.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 6: The Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) has distributed certificates to the newly formed working committee of Bagmati Province chapter of NMA.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The NMA formed a state branch coordination committee on September 5 amid a program organized at the meeting hall of the NMA Secretariat in Kathmandu. NMA officials welcomed the office bearers and members of the newly-formed committee.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Bagmati Province Committee was formed under the chairmanship of Dal Bahadur Gurung. Gurung has been active in the field of tourism for the last two decades.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Milan Kumar Tamab is the vice-chairman of the Bagmati Province Committee, Fudoma Sherpa is the secretary, and Thakur Dharel is the treasurer. Similarly, Dawa Sibgi Helmo, Amar Gurung, Suppa Tamang, Kuldash Tamang, Sunita Gahatraj, Lopsang Sherpa, Dhruv Shrestha, Akash Gurung, Kami Sherpa, Urja Tamang, and Gyan Bahadur Tamang are members of the committee.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Chairman of the association Santvir Lama presented certificates to the office bearers and members of the provincial committee. Likewise, General Secretary of the Association Kul Bahadur Gurung, Secretary and Coordinator of the State Branch Coordination Committee Tikaram Gurung, Central Members Wabco Sherpa, Tul Singh Gurung, Sanjiv Gurung, Sibgi Lama, and others welcomed the office bearers and members of the new working committee. The association’s Chairman Lama administered the oath of office and secrecy to the office bearers and members of the committee.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-06', 'modified' => '2021-09-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13662', 'image' => '20210906122338_IMG_8048.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-09-06 12:22:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13916', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Project Begins Commercial Production ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 6: The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project (UTHP) has finally begun commercial production almost a decade after the construction of the project started. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 6: The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project (UTHP) has finally begun commercial production almost a decade after the construction of the project started. The project with capacity of 456MW began generating electricity in full swing from Sunday (September 5), according to the state-owned national news agency RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In course of construction, the project faced numerous obstacles such as natural disaster, border blockade, catastrophic earthquake of 2015 and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, RSS reported. The mega project of electricity with sole domestic investment has successfully started commercial production, RSS quoted Chief Executive Officer of UTHP, Bigyan Prasad Shretha as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The beginning of the commercial production was observed with peace prayers as per the Buddhist tradition in Bigu Rural Municipality-1 of Dolakha district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the project was inaugurated on July 5, production in full capacity started only from September 5. The electricity generated from the project has been linked to the newly constructed 220/132 KV substation in Khimti and is connected to a 220 double-circuit transmission line. The substation is again linked to 400 KV substation located at Dhalkebar. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The foundation stone of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project was laid by then Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal on September 3, 2011. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The initial investment of the project was Rs 35.29 billion which has now reached to Rs 52 billion due to various reasons such as change in the design, hike in payment to the consultants for extended term of construction, inflation among others. After adding interest to the investment cost, the total investment of the project has climbed to Rs 84 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has 41 percent share in the project. The cost of producing per unit power is Rs 3.50 in an average. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-06', 'modified' => '2021-09-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13661', 'image' => '20210906105313_20201206012152_1607211371.Clipboard13.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-06 10:52:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13915', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ADB to Study Melamchi Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 6: A team of experts from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is coming to study the Melamchi Water Supply Project that has been damaged by the recent floods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 6: A team of experts from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is coming to study the Melamchi Water Supply Project that has been damaged by the recent floods. It has been learnt that the team will study the geology of the upper part of the project.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The team will study Thegrini in Bhremathang and the current situation of Melamchi, which has been badly affected by flood and landslide during this monsoon. The Ministry of Water Supply and Irrigation had requested the ADB to conduct a study stating that the area was at risk. According to the Ministry of Water Supply and Irrigation, ADB has already sent a letter approving the Terms of Reference (TOR). Spokesperson at the Ministry Ramesh Neupane said the that the ADB team is preparing to visit the site. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"A team of experts will arrive within a week to study the Melamchi Water Supply Project," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Currently, organizations including ICIMOD are studying the geological condition of Bhremathang independently. However, the Ministry of Water Supply and Irrigation has requested the ADB for a detailed study. ADB is also the development partner of the Melamchi Water Supply Project.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Avalanches have been accumulating in the areas above Melamchi for years. This has posed a risk to the Melamchi project. The floods on the Melamchi River have damaged the headworks, two temporary tunnels, and a motorable bridge. The Water Supply Project has submitted an action plan to the Ministry at a cost of Rs 2.5 billion to resume supply of drinking water to Kathmandu temporarily.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Melamchi River has been flooded time and again since July 20. The floodwaters are coming from the upper part of the river. That is gradually damaging the site of the Melamchi Water Supply Project. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Spokesperson of the Melamchi Water Supply Development Board Rajendra Prasad Pant said that it was not certain when the project would be completed as the floods have damaged the headworks and caused more damage than estimated.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The board has proposed deploying the Nepalese Army in the rehabilitation of the Melamchi Water Supply Project. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"It's not just the army that does all the work, we have prepared a blueprint for work division," he said. Accordingly, a rehabilitation plan has been prepared.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Many structures are buried. The board plans to hand over the reconstruction of the structure to SinoHydro and the Nepalese Army. Under this rehabilitation work, reconstruction of Ambathan camp, maintenance of main camps at Melamchi Bazaar, and necessary services like drinking water, electricity, and sanitation will be provided in the camps, said Pant.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-06', 'modified' => '2021-09-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13660', 'image' => '20210906103006_20210420041320_20210212111048_20200317114243_Melamchi 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-06 10:29:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13914', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC’s Debt Reaches Rs 50 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 5: The debt of Nepal Airlines Corporation has reached Rs 50 billion. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 5: The debt of Nepal Airlines Corporation has reached Rs 50 billion. According to the corporation, the debt has reached Rs 50 billion and the accumulated loss has reached Rs 11 billion. Stakeholders pointed out that the loss is increasing due to the negligence of the management and political interference.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In a recent discussion with top government officials, including the finance minister, the corporation's managing director, Dim Prasad Poudel, blamed the corporation's frequent losses on political interference and weak legal system. He said that the financial condition of the corporation has not improved due to overstaffing. He informed that the corporation has more than 500 unnecessary employees.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Poudel said that the corporation has an average of 230 employees per aircraft while various airlines around the world have an average of 125 employees per aircraft. He expressed dismay that various committees have studied and submitted reports for the reform of the corporation but the recommendations have not been implemented.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini and Revenue Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar suggested to Finance Minister Janardan Sharma that it would be appropriate to form a high-level committee to study the future course of action of the Nepal Airlines Corporation and the ongoing staff protest and submit suggestions to the government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">They have requested to include representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the NAC as well as independent experts related to the aviation sector under the coordination of the Tourism Secretary in the committee and to submit a report with recommendations within 15 to 20 days.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Finance Minister urged the NAC staff to end the agitation after holding discussions with the employees. He said that it would be easier for the government to take necessary decision if it studies the reports given by various committees and suggests suitable alternatives.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Secretary Marasini and Tourism Secretary Koirala pointed out the need for strong political leadership for corporate reform. Likewise, they stressed that minor reforms would not help the ailing airline and instead urged for concrete decisions at the political level.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-05', 'modified' => '2021-09-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13659', 'image' => '20210905033908_20210709080354_20180727021334_2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-05 15:38:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13913', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Revenue Collection of Biratnagar Customs Exceeds Target', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 5: The revenue collection of Biratnagar customs office has started to grow after India lifted ban on import of palm oil. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 5: The revenue collection of Biratnagar customs office has started to grow after India lifted ban on import of palm oil. Earlier, the revenue collection was less than the target.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the first month of the Fiscal Year 2078/89, the customs office collected Rs 3.349 billion against its target of Rs 2.891 billion, which is 115.82 percent more than the target. Earlier, customs office had not been able to meet the target of revenue collection due to restrictions on palm oil and also due to the impact of coronavirus.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chief Customs Officer Shiva Prasad Bhandari said despite the improvement in revenue collection last year, the target was not met.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Soybean oil worth Rs 2.83 billion and palm oil worth Rs 821.6 million were exported in August, said customs officer Amit Tiwari. According to him, 4.3 million liters of palm oil worth Rs 821.6 million was exported in August. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India had banned the import of palm oil from Nepal on April 12, 2008. After about 14 months, India opened the import of palm oil on July 3, 2020. The export of palm oil from Biratnagar customs began with the start of the new fiscal 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 customs office, 41,357 tonnes of palm oil worth Rs 4.50 billion was exported to India from Biratnagar in the fiscal year 2075/76. The demand for refined soybean oil had increased after the ban on palm oil, which also boosted the revenue. In August, 13,075,111 kg of refined soybean oil worth Rs 2.83 billion was exported 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"">The customs office imported 4.3 million liters of unrefined palm oil worth Rs 801.09 million last month. Similarly, 17.14 million liters of soybean oil worth Rs 2.74 billion has been imported.</span></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 export of soybean oil is increasing, according to the customs office. In the fiscal year 2075/76, 9,993 tonnes of soybean oil worth Rs 1.65 billion was exported from Biratnagar. In the Fiscal Year 2076/77, altogether 31,423 tons of soybean oil worth Rs 4.26 billion was exported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the last Fiscal Year 2077/78, a total of 90,310 tons of soybean oil worth Rs. 15.67 billion was exported. Nepal's industrialists are exporting sunflower, soybean and palm oil at zero percent customs duty under the SAFTA agreement. Indian customs levies a 5 percent GST on all three types of oil.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-05', 'modified' => '2021-09-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13658', 'image' => '20210905032652_20210702051202_20191103092810_20190807121918_Clipboard01 (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-05 15:23:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13927', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Four Hydropower Projects Halt Production ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 8: Four hydroelectricity projects operating in Myagdi, Mustang and Parbat districts have halted power production after a transmission tower recently collapsed.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 8: Four hydroelectricity projects operating in Myagdi, Mustang and Parbat districts have halted power production after a transmission tower recently collapsed. The transmission tower at Chuwa of Kushma Municipality-8, Parbat district has fallen down, leading to a disruption in supply of 70.6 megawatts of electricity from two power plants in Myagdi and one each in Parbat and Mustang districts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Number 4 tower of the 132 KV transmission line connecting the powerhouse of the Modikhola-1 Hydroelectricity Project with Modi sub-station had collapsed due to the flood and landslide that occurred last Friday (September 3). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Upendra Gautam, managing director of United Modi, the promoter of the 10-megawatt-capacity Modi-1 Hydroelectricity Project, said the rest of the hydropower projects connected to the national transmission grid via the Modi sub-station have been affected due to this. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Soil and debris have been reportedly deposited in the 500 metres long canal of Modi-1 project. Its dam has also been damaged due to the flooding. </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"">Along with Modi-1, the 42-megawatt capacity Mistrikhola hydroelectricity project at Narchyang, Annapurna rural municipality-4 and the five-megawatt capacity Ghalemdikhola project in Myagdi district as well as the 13.6-megawatt capacity Thapakhola Hydropower Project at Tukuche in Mustang have stopped production. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Representative of Mistrikhola Hydroelectricity Project, Chudamani Niraula said the four hydropower projects were incurring losses of millions of rupees due to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)'s delay in construction of a diversion tower and repairing the collapsed transmission tower. Mountain Energy Nepal is the promoter of the Mistrikhola project. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-08', 'modified' => '2021-09-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13672', 'image' => '20210908103508_20150823012330_ep1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-08 10:34:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13925', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '160 Climbers get Permits to Climb Mt Manaslu ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 8: Mountaineers have shown enthusiasm to climb Mount Manaslu during the upcoming autumn season. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 8: Mountaineers have shown enthusiasm to climb Mount Manaslu during the upcoming autumn season. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the Department of Tourism has granted permission to 160 climbers of 16 expedition teams to climb the 8,163-metre high Mt Manaslu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the department informed that one group has taken permission to climb Mt Kanchanjangha as of September 6. </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"">Mt Kanchanjangha is 8,586 meters tall and the third highest mountain in the world. The department has collected royalty of Rs 3.146 million from the expedition team.</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"">Autumn is considered the best season for climbing mountains. A remarkable number of domestic and foreign mountaineers used to climb mountains in this season before the onset of Covid-19. Domestic and foreign climbers have acquired permission to climb mountains in this season despite the risk of COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A significant number of tourists including some distinguished foreign guests had climbed the mountains during the COVID-19 pandemic last year too, according to the Department. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-08', 'modified' => '2021-09-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13671', 'image' => '20210908100147_mount-manaslu.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-08 10:00:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13926', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Initial Agreement to Purchase Fertilizers from India on G2G Model', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 8: The Government of Nepal has reached an understanding with the Government of India to procure chemical fertilizers through the G2G process.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 8: The Government of Nepal has reached an understanding with the Government of India to procure chemical fertilizers through the G2G process. A team comprising the representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has returned from New Delhi following a preliminary agreement in this regard with India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At a secretary-level meeting between the two countries in Delhi, India agreed to sell fertilizers to Nepal through the G2G process for the next five years. Agriculture Secretary of Nepal, Dr Krishna Prasad Acharya, said that the Indian government has approved Nepal's proposal to purchase chemical fertilizer from India. According to him, the two countries have agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding in October.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">After the signing of the MoU, India will initially sell 150,000 metric tons of chemical fertilizer to Nepal. He informed New Business Age that an agreement has been reached to increase the amount by 10 percent every year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Last year, the government began discussions on long-term fertilizer management after farmers faced an acute shortage of fertilizer due to the dilly-dallying of two contractors, Shailung Enterprises and Honiko Multiple. The process, which the government started with the Indian government in August last year, is finally nearing completion almost after a year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">While the representatives are signing the MoU with India in October, there still an acute shortage of urea for top dressing of paddy during the current plantation season. It is estimated that more than 115,000 metric tons of urea is required for the current paddy and wheat plantation season. However, the government has only 7,000 metric tons of urea in stock at present. Besides urea, 3,800 metric tons of DAP and 3200 metric tons of potassium are in stock at the present.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Farmers in most of the districts are facing shortage of fertilizers. According to the ministry, 14 contracts signed earlier by the Agriculture Inputs Company Limited and Salt Trading Corproation for the purchase of fertilziers have been canceled. Thus, the fertilizers could not be imported on time.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-08', 'modified' => '2021-09-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13670', 'image' => '20210908101407_Flag-Pins-India-Nepal_600x600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-08 10:13:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13924', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Snubs Calls for Setting up Separate Industrial Zone in Bara-Parsa', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: The establishment of new industries in the Bara and Parsa corridor has now become challenging.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 7: The establishment of new industries in the Bara and Parsa corridor has now become challenging. The area is ideal for setting up industries from the point of view of geographical location and physical infrastructure. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">However, the operation of industries is becoming difficult as the price of land in the corridor has skyrocketed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Industrialists say that it would be commercially risky to set up an industry on the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor due to the high price of land.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> According to the entrepreneurs, the price of land, which was available for Rs 400,000 to 500,000 per kattha (3645 sq.ft) a decade ago, has now reached Rs 2.5 billion to Rs 3 billion per Dhur (182.25 sq.ft).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">A recent study report released by the Nepal Rastra Bank also mentions that it is challenging to set up new industries in the area due to the exorbitant price of land.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">It is estimated that there are more than 1,000 large and small scale industries in the Bara Parsa corridor, which is considered to be the only potential industrial corridor in Province 2.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Due to its location in the center of the country, easy access to the main ports and Indian seaports, this corridor has great potential for industrial development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Hari Prasad Gautam, coordinator of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, insists that there should be another industrial zone in Bara-Parsa. “There is a need for another industrial zone in Bara and Parsa. At least 2,000 bigahs of land should be set aside for the industries,” Gautam told New Business Age.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Industries have been operating on both sides of a 26-kilometer stretch of Tribhuvan Highway connecting Birgunj with the East-West Highway. Recently, the conflict between the industries of corridor and public has been increasing. President of the association Subodh Kumar Gupta considers this as another challenge for the industry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The private sector has demanded a new industrial zone in Bara-Parsa, which is connected to the Indian border. Coordinator Gautam complained that they had demanded land for the new industrial area but the federal and provincial governments turned a deaf ear to their demand.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> “We have drawn the attention of the province and federal governments. We were expecting the government to announce some plans in this regard in the budget for the current fiscal year. However, the government did not listen to the private sector,” said Gautam. The government had announced plans to build a new industrial zone in all the provinces five years ago.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Although the government has pledged to build a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Simara, Bara, the progress is not satisfactory. An industrial zone has been proposed in the Sagarnath forest area of Sarlahi for Province 2. However, even this plan has not been able to move forward. The Gajendra Narayan Singh Industrial Area of Saptari, which was built earlier, has not been able to attract industrialists.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Entrepreneurs claim that investors will not be attracted in other areas except Bara and Parsa. Entrepreneurs have suggested setting up an industrial zone in Bara-Parsa as it is easy to set up industries as well as to transport and export raw materials and finished goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the industrialists, the Bara Parsa area is suitable for industry as the dry port is connected to the Indian Railways, and seaports.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13669', 'image' => '20210907050603_20201112065516_1605136001.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 17:05:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13923', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Investment Board to Release 5-Year Strategic Plan ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: The Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) has announced to release its five-year strategic plan for 2078 BS to 2082 BS along with its business plan. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 7: The Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) has announced to release its five-year strategic plan for 2078 BS to 2082 BS along with its business plan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the IBN is marking its 10th anniversary on September 8 with the slogan of '10 Years of Investment Board: Partnership for Economic Prosperity'. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is scheduled to release the strategic plan and Nepal Investment Guide, 2021, informed Assistant Spokesperson of IBN Ramesh Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The then Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai had established the IBN with an aim to bring in foreign investment and facilitate the process of investment in mega projects. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13668', 'image' => '20210907044854_20201112122602_1605135944.Clipboard07.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 16:47:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13922', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Railway Company Dismisses Daily Wage Workers ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: The Nepal Railway Company Limited (NRCL) has expelled its daily wage workers appointed by the NRCL's erstwhile leadership. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 7: The Nepal Railway Company Limited (NRCL) has expelled its daily wage workers appointed by the NRCL's erstwhile leadership. The workers have been asked not to record their attendances at their own will, according to a statement issued by NRCL managing director Niranjan Kumar Jha. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The persons who are told to be appointed at the office as daily wagers have been recording their attendances. Wages are not payable on the basis of attendances recorded at one's own will with the office not deploying anyone for work, reads the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It would take some time to operate the Jayanagar-Kurtha railway due to legal and technical reasons, the company added. --RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13667', 'image' => '20210907122916_20200825030614_1598305318.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 12:28:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13921', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bagmati Province has Immense Potential in Tourism, Agriculture and Energy: NRB Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: Bagmati Province has huge business potential in energy, tourism and agriculture, according to a study conducted by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 7: Bagmati Province has huge business potential in energy, tourism and agriculture, according to a study conducted by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). The study has pointed out that agriculture, tourism and energy have comparatively more potential due to the geographical diversity within 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"">The NRB had conducted the study based on the data of the first six months of the last fiscal year. The study report, which was recently made public, reveals that there is comparatively more potential for agriculture, tourism and energy in Bagmati 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"">Among the districts under this province, Dhading, Kavrepalalchowk and Nuwakot are in the Himalayan region, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur are within the valley and Makwanpur and Chitwan districts are in the inner Terai belt. Thus, there is immense potential due to the geographical diversity within 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"">Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr Prakash Kumar Shrestha said that there is more potential for agriculture, tourism and energy in Bagmati Province. "Of course, there are potentials in other sectors, but the agriculture, tourism and energy sectors are more viable from commercial point of view," he said, adding, “We have come to this conclusion after conducting a field visit itself.”</span></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 report states that Bagmati Province has a suitable geographical location and availability of water resources for hydropower generation. There is a high potential for hydropower, especially in Dolakha, Sindhupalchok and some other districts.</span></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 Dhading, Bhaktapur, Kavre and Nuwakot can be developed as vegetable pocket areas. In addition to the federal capital, Banepa, Dhulikhel, Narayanghat and Hetauda are the most populated cities in the province. The study also states that there is a high potential for the market of processed food, vegetables, fruits, fish, meat and other commodities in these areas.</span></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 study shows that the agriculture sector can be commercialized if the youths returning from foreign employment could be attracted to the agriculture. The report also states that high value agricultural products can be exported through international flights.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the same way, there is high potential for tourism as well in this province. The report mentions s that there is more potential for the development of tourism as there are tourist areas including Kathmandu Valley, Sauraha of Chitwan, Syafrubesi and Helambu within 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"">The report has pointed out to the need for increasing investment in tourism infrastructure for promoting tourism in this 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"">There is religious, cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity in this province. Seven different tourist sites within 7 km of Kathmandu Valley are listed in the World Heritage List. Therefore, according to the study, there is a high potential for internal and external tourism 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"">There is also a high potential for employment opportunities and demographic benefits in Bagmati Province. According to the Economic Census 2075, thirty percent of industrial establishments are located in Bagmati Province. In addition, 20.9 percent of the population lives in this 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"">Similarly, Bagmati Province has high potential in infrastructure development. Major cities including the federal capital Kathmandu are in this state. The study report states that such cities have high commercial potential of modern infrastructures such as rail, mono rail, tram, trolley and cable car. There is also potential for food and milk processing industries. The NRB has stated that there is such a possibility as the process of urbanization is taking place at a fast pace in this state and the capital of the country is also located in this 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"">There is also a possibility of expanding industry and trade by attracting domestic and foreign investment in Bagmati Province. The province has natural resources including mountains, hills, forests, rivers, mines and minerals. Also, it is in the forefront in basic services including internet, transportation and education. The province accounts for 69 percent of the total deposits in the banking sector and 55 percent of the total loans. In such a case, the study suggests industry and trade can be expanded by bringing in domestic and foreign investment.</span></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 also a possibility of speeding up the development work in Bagmati Province by mobilizing maximum revenue. Due to urbanization, population density, industry, trade, business, transportation and communication, etc., the revenue base within this state is wide. NRB has stated that the development work can be expedited by mobilizing maximum revenue.</span></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 are challenges of equal scale in Bagmati Province. In particular, there is a challenge to promote commercial agricultural production by conserving the eroded agricultural land due to increasing urbanization. The study has also revealed that there are challenges in management of environmental pollution, traffic management and systematic urbanization alongside development.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It is said that it would be a challenge to speed up the infrastructure development and maintain the quality of the existing infrastructures. The study has shown that there is a challenge to develop the tourism sector by proper protection and promotion of geographical and religious heritage, biodiversity etc. It will also be a challenge to commercialize agriculture by attracting people going for foreign employment and those migrating to urban areas. In addition, the NRB says that it will be a challenge to encourage collective commercial farming to make the use of barren agricultural land.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13666', 'image' => '20210907122159_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 12:20:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13920', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sumargi Group Preparing to Operate 5 big Hotels with Investment of Rs 7 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: Sumargi Group of Industries (Muktishree Pvt Ltd) is about to enter the hospitality business with aggressive investment.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 7: Sumargi Group of Industries (Muktishree Pvt Ltd) is about to enter the hospitality business with aggressive investment. The company is planning to operate five big hotels in different parts of the country including the Kathmandu Valley, with an investment of around Rs 7 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"">Taking the Covid-19 pandemic as an investment opportunity, the group is set to make the staggering investment in the hospitality sector all at a time. According to Sumargi Group, an apartment hotel is being constructed in Sundhara, Kathmandu. The company informed that the construction work of the apartment hotel in Sundhara has witnessed more than 80 percent physical progress.</span></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 company is preparing to operate a boutique hotel in Kathmandu. The construction of the boutique hotel will be started soon after determining the location. Likewise, the group has started operation of a hotel in Tumlingtar of Sakhuwasabha targeting domestic tourists while the company is preparing to start operation of resorts in Banepa and Dhulikhel of the Kavrepalanchok district.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sumargi Group informed that the resort will be brought into operation in the area soon after finalizing the location. Meanwhile, the company is preparing to operate a boutique hotel in Sarangkot of Pokhara.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Arun Raj Sumargi, Director of Sumargi Group of Industries, informed that the company is making investment in the hospitality sector with the help of foreign investment, profit made by the company in various sectors, and loans taken from various banks and 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"">According to him, the company's objective is to promote the hospitality sector of Nepal and increase employment opportunities.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Preparations are in full swing for the operation of the hotels targeting both internal and foreign tourists. The company will operate hotels of deluxe and boutique categories.</span></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 pandemic, many people are forced to stay indoors. That is why we have decided to invest in the hospitality sector,” 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"">Sumargi Group is preparing to complete the construction work of the hotels by the time the pandemic subsides. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sumargi said that even though the idea of investing in the hospitality sector is already there, there have been various obstacles in the way of bringing in foreign investment.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13665', 'image' => '20210907113036_Hotel.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 11:29:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13919', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Vegetable Prices Jump up to 174 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: The price of green vegetables has gone up by 174 percent in a week.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 7: The price of green vegetables has gone up by 174 percent in a week. It has been reported that the prices have gone up after the vegetables were destroyed by the continuous rainfall since a few days ago.</span></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 prices of green vegetables including lady’s finger, bottle gourd, green beans, local cauliflower, luffa gourd, sponge gourd, brinjal and bitter gourd have gone up.</span></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 daily price list of the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the price of luffa gourd, which was Rs 20 per kg a week ago, has risen by 174 percent to Rs 55 per kg by Saturday. The price of bitter gourd, which was Rs 25 per kg earlier, has now increased by 123 percent to Rs 55 per kg. The price of lady’s finger has increased by 120 percent from Rs 30 per kg to Rs 66 per kg.</span></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 price of clarified butter has also increased by 110 percent from Rs 55 per kg to Rs 115 per kg. The price of long eggplant has gone up by 100 percent from Rs 25 to Rs 50 per kg.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Gita Prasad Acharya, president of the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Entrepreneurs Committee, said that the price of vegetables have skyrocketed after the vegetables planted by the farmers were damaged due to continuous rainfall. </span></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 informed that the traders have increased the import of vegetables from India after the locally-produced vegetables started rotting and the prices started rising. According to him, as the flow of vegetables from India has already started and the pricees will gradually go down again.</span></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 Kalimati vegetable market used to receive 800 to 900 tons of vegetables daily. But the arrival of vegetables had dropped to 300 tons a day after the vegetables started rotting in the fields due to the continuous rainfall. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Low quantity vegetables were imported on August 28, 29 and 30. The daily vegetable arrival report of the committee has shown that 500, 300 and 400 tons of vegetables entered Kalimati on those days respectively. Although the import of vegetables has returned to its previous level since then, the prices of vegetables have not dropped yet.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/20200806125217_1595453904.Clipboard03%281%29.jpg" style="height:450px; width:800px" /></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13664', 'image' => '20210907112000_20201201041204_20200925113442_1600988958.Clipboard06.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 11:18:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13918', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Integrate Employment and Skill Training Programmes', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 6: The government is preparing to conduct employment and skill-based training in an integrated manner in order to avoid duplication.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 6: The government is preparing to conduct employment and skill-based training in an integrated manner in order to avoid duplication.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In a discussion held at the Ministry of Finance on Sunday, high-ranking officials of the concerned ministries and agencies, including the National Planning Commission, concluded that the training programmes should be conducted in an integrated way through a one-door system. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has instructed the officials of the concerned agencies to do their homework accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">After the discussion, the finance minister directed concerned bodies to make policy-level preparations so that the duplicate training programmes would be conducted in an integrated manner.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“The concerned stakeholders carry out the same programme every year and there is no effectiveness in the work in this way,” he said, “We should end the problem of giving the same training to the same person every year but the person does not become self-employed.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">He was of the view that all the trainings related to the labor sector should be conducted through the Ministry of Labor and all kinds of training related to the development sector should be conducted through the Ministry of Education. Minister Sharma added that integrated curriculum should be implemented across the country while conducting trainings and there should be arrangements of providing certificates of integrated structure to all after the completion of the training. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to him, by doing so, the training certificates received in urban areas and rural areas will get equal recognition.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-06', 'modified' => '2021-09-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13663', 'image' => '20210906012649_20210716022924_1626392414.Clipboard14.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-06 13:26:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13917', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NMA forms Bagmati Province Committee', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 6: The Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) has distributed certificates to the newly formed working committee of Bagmati Province chapter of NMA.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 6: The Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) has distributed certificates to the newly formed working committee of Bagmati Province chapter of NMA.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The NMA formed a state branch coordination committee on September 5 amid a program organized at the meeting hall of the NMA Secretariat in Kathmandu. NMA officials welcomed the office bearers and members of the newly-formed committee.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Bagmati Province Committee was formed under the chairmanship of Dal Bahadur Gurung. Gurung has been active in the field of tourism for the last two decades.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Milan Kumar Tamab is the vice-chairman of the Bagmati Province Committee, Fudoma Sherpa is the secretary, and Thakur Dharel is the treasurer. Similarly, Dawa Sibgi Helmo, Amar Gurung, Suppa Tamang, Kuldash Tamang, Sunita Gahatraj, Lopsang Sherpa, Dhruv Shrestha, Akash Gurung, Kami Sherpa, Urja Tamang, and Gyan Bahadur Tamang are members of the committee.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Chairman of the association Santvir Lama presented certificates to the office bearers and members of the provincial committee. Likewise, General Secretary of the Association Kul Bahadur Gurung, Secretary and Coordinator of the State Branch Coordination Committee Tikaram Gurung, Central Members Wabco Sherpa, Tul Singh Gurung, Sanjiv Gurung, Sibgi Lama, and others welcomed the office bearers and members of the new working committee. The association’s Chairman Lama administered the oath of office and secrecy to the office bearers and members of the committee.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-06', 'modified' => '2021-09-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13662', 'image' => '20210906122338_IMG_8048.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-09-06 12:22:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13916', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Project Begins Commercial Production ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 6: The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project (UTHP) has finally begun commercial production almost a decade after the construction of the project started. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 6: The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project (UTHP) has finally begun commercial production almost a decade after the construction of the project started. The project with capacity of 456MW began generating electricity in full swing from Sunday (September 5), according to the state-owned national news agency RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In course of construction, the project faced numerous obstacles such as natural disaster, border blockade, catastrophic earthquake of 2015 and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, RSS reported. The mega project of electricity with sole domestic investment has successfully started commercial production, RSS quoted Chief Executive Officer of UTHP, Bigyan Prasad Shretha as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The beginning of the commercial production was observed with peace prayers as per the Buddhist tradition in Bigu Rural Municipality-1 of Dolakha district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the project was inaugurated on July 5, production in full capacity started only from September 5. The electricity generated from the project has been linked to the newly constructed 220/132 KV substation in Khimti and is connected to a 220 double-circuit transmission line. The substation is again linked to 400 KV substation located at Dhalkebar. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The foundation stone of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project was laid by then Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal on September 3, 2011. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The initial investment of the project was Rs 35.29 billion which has now reached to Rs 52 billion due to various reasons such as change in the design, hike in payment to the consultants for extended term of construction, inflation among others. After adding interest to the investment cost, the total investment of the project has climbed to Rs 84 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has 41 percent share in the project. The cost of producing per unit power is Rs 3.50 in an average. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-06', 'modified' => '2021-09-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13661', 'image' => '20210906105313_20201206012152_1607211371.Clipboard13.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-06 10:52:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13915', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ADB to Study Melamchi Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 6: A team of experts from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is coming to study the Melamchi Water Supply Project that has been damaged by the recent floods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 6: A team of experts from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is coming to study the Melamchi Water Supply Project that has been damaged by the recent floods. It has been learnt that the team will study the geology of the upper part of the project.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The team will study Thegrini in Bhremathang and the current situation of Melamchi, which has been badly affected by flood and landslide during this monsoon. The Ministry of Water Supply and Irrigation had requested the ADB to conduct a study stating that the area was at risk. According to the Ministry of Water Supply and Irrigation, ADB has already sent a letter approving the Terms of Reference (TOR). Spokesperson at the Ministry Ramesh Neupane said the that the ADB team is preparing to visit the site. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"A team of experts will arrive within a week to study the Melamchi Water Supply Project," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Currently, organizations including ICIMOD are studying the geological condition of Bhremathang independently. However, the Ministry of Water Supply and Irrigation has requested the ADB for a detailed study. ADB is also the development partner of the Melamchi Water Supply Project.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Avalanches have been accumulating in the areas above Melamchi for years. This has posed a risk to the Melamchi project. The floods on the Melamchi River have damaged the headworks, two temporary tunnels, and a motorable bridge. The Water Supply Project has submitted an action plan to the Ministry at a cost of Rs 2.5 billion to resume supply of drinking water to Kathmandu temporarily.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Melamchi River has been flooded time and again since July 20. The floodwaters are coming from the upper part of the river. That is gradually damaging the site of the Melamchi Water Supply Project. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Spokesperson of the Melamchi Water Supply Development Board Rajendra Prasad Pant said that it was not certain when the project would be completed as the floods have damaged the headworks and caused more damage than estimated.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The board has proposed deploying the Nepalese Army in the rehabilitation of the Melamchi Water Supply Project. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"It's not just the army that does all the work, we have prepared a blueprint for work division," he said. Accordingly, a rehabilitation plan has been prepared.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Many structures are buried. The board plans to hand over the reconstruction of the structure to SinoHydro and the Nepalese Army. Under this rehabilitation work, reconstruction of Ambathan camp, maintenance of main camps at Melamchi Bazaar, and necessary services like drinking water, electricity, and sanitation will be provided in the camps, said Pant.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-06', 'modified' => '2021-09-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13660', 'image' => '20210906103006_20210420041320_20210212111048_20200317114243_Melamchi 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-06 10:29:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13914', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC’s Debt Reaches Rs 50 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 5: The debt of Nepal Airlines Corporation has reached Rs 50 billion. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 5: The debt of Nepal Airlines Corporation has reached Rs 50 billion. According to the corporation, the debt has reached Rs 50 billion and the accumulated loss has reached Rs 11 billion. Stakeholders pointed out that the loss is increasing due to the negligence of the management and political interference.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In a recent discussion with top government officials, including the finance minister, the corporation's managing director, Dim Prasad Poudel, blamed the corporation's frequent losses on political interference and weak legal system. He said that the financial condition of the corporation has not improved due to overstaffing. He informed that the corporation has more than 500 unnecessary employees.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Poudel said that the corporation has an average of 230 employees per aircraft while various airlines around the world have an average of 125 employees per aircraft. He expressed dismay that various committees have studied and submitted reports for the reform of the corporation but the recommendations have not been implemented.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini and Revenue Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar suggested to Finance Minister Janardan Sharma that it would be appropriate to form a high-level committee to study the future course of action of the Nepal Airlines Corporation and the ongoing staff protest and submit suggestions to the government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">They have requested to include representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the NAC as well as independent experts related to the aviation sector under the coordination of the Tourism Secretary in the committee and to submit a report with recommendations within 15 to 20 days.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Finance Minister urged the NAC staff to end the agitation after holding discussions with the employees. He said that it would be easier for the government to take necessary decision if it studies the reports given by various committees and suggests suitable alternatives.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Secretary Marasini and Tourism Secretary Koirala pointed out the need for strong political leadership for corporate reform. Likewise, they stressed that minor reforms would not help the ailing airline and instead urged for concrete decisions at the political level.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-05', 'modified' => '2021-09-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13659', 'image' => '20210905033908_20210709080354_20180727021334_2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-05 15:38:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13913', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Revenue Collection of Biratnagar Customs Exceeds Target', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 5: The revenue collection of Biratnagar customs office has started to grow after India lifted ban on import of palm oil. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 5: The revenue collection of Biratnagar customs office has started to grow after India lifted ban on import of palm oil. Earlier, the revenue collection was less than the target.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the first month of the Fiscal Year 2078/89, the customs office collected Rs 3.349 billion against its target of Rs 2.891 billion, which is 115.82 percent more than the target. Earlier, customs office had not been able to meet the target of revenue collection due to restrictions on palm oil and also due to the impact of coronavirus.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chief Customs Officer Shiva Prasad Bhandari said despite the improvement in revenue collection last year, the target was not met.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Soybean oil worth Rs 2.83 billion and palm oil worth Rs 821.6 million were exported in August, said customs officer Amit Tiwari. According to him, 4.3 million liters of palm oil worth Rs 821.6 million was exported in August. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India had banned the import of palm oil from Nepal on April 12, 2008. After about 14 months, India opened the import of palm oil on July 3, 2020. The export of palm oil from Biratnagar customs began with the start of the new fiscal 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 customs office, 41,357 tonnes of palm oil worth Rs 4.50 billion was exported to India from Biratnagar in the fiscal year 2075/76. The demand for refined soybean oil had increased after the ban on palm oil, which also boosted the revenue. In August, 13,075,111 kg of refined soybean oil worth Rs 2.83 billion was exported 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"">The customs office imported 4.3 million liters of unrefined palm oil worth Rs 801.09 million last month. Similarly, 17.14 million liters of soybean oil worth Rs 2.74 billion has been imported.</span></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 export of soybean oil is increasing, according to the customs office. In the fiscal year 2075/76, 9,993 tonnes of soybean oil worth Rs 1.65 billion was exported from Biratnagar. In the Fiscal Year 2076/77, altogether 31,423 tons of soybean oil worth Rs 4.26 billion was exported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the last Fiscal Year 2077/78, a total of 90,310 tons of soybean oil worth Rs. 15.67 billion was exported. Nepal's industrialists are exporting sunflower, soybean and palm oil at zero percent customs duty under the SAFTA agreement. Indian customs levies a 5 percent GST on all three types of oil.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-05', 'modified' => '2021-09-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13658', 'image' => '20210905032652_20210702051202_20191103092810_20190807121918_Clipboard01 (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-05 15:23:16', '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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The transmission tower at Chuwa of Kushma Municipality-8, Parbat district has fallen down, leading to a disruption in supply of 70.6 megawatts of electricity from two power plants in Myagdi and one each in Parbat and Mustang districts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Number 4 tower of the 132 KV transmission line connecting the powerhouse of the Modikhola-1 Hydroelectricity Project with Modi sub-station had collapsed due to the flood and landslide that occurred last Friday (September 3). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Upendra Gautam, managing director of United Modi, the promoter of the 10-megawatt-capacity Modi-1 Hydroelectricity Project, said the rest of the hydropower projects connected to the national transmission grid via the Modi sub-station have been affected due to this. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Soil and debris have been reportedly deposited in the 500 metres long canal of Modi-1 project. Its dam has also been damaged due to the flooding. </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"">Along with Modi-1, the 42-megawatt capacity Mistrikhola hydroelectricity project at Narchyang, Annapurna rural municipality-4 and the five-megawatt capacity Ghalemdikhola project in Myagdi district as well as the 13.6-megawatt capacity Thapakhola Hydropower Project at Tukuche in Mustang have stopped production. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Representative of Mistrikhola Hydroelectricity Project, Chudamani Niraula said the four hydropower projects were incurring losses of millions of rupees due to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)'s delay in construction of a diversion tower and repairing the collapsed transmission tower. Mountain Energy Nepal is the promoter of the Mistrikhola project. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-08', 'modified' => '2021-09-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13672', 'image' => '20210908103508_20150823012330_ep1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-08 10:34:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13925', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '160 Climbers get Permits to Climb Mt Manaslu ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 8: Mountaineers have shown enthusiasm to climb Mount Manaslu during the upcoming autumn season. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 8: Mountaineers have shown enthusiasm to climb Mount Manaslu during the upcoming autumn season. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the Department of Tourism has granted permission to 160 climbers of 16 expedition teams to climb the 8,163-metre high Mt Manaslu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the department informed that one group has taken permission to climb Mt Kanchanjangha as of September 6. </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"">Mt Kanchanjangha is 8,586 meters tall and the third highest mountain in the world. The department has collected royalty of Rs 3.146 million from the expedition team.</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"">Autumn is considered the best season for climbing mountains. A remarkable number of domestic and foreign mountaineers used to climb mountains in this season before the onset of Covid-19. Domestic and foreign climbers have acquired permission to climb mountains in this season despite the risk of COVID-19 pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A significant number of tourists including some distinguished foreign guests had climbed the mountains during the COVID-19 pandemic last year too, according to the Department. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-08', 'modified' => '2021-09-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13671', 'image' => '20210908100147_mount-manaslu.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-08 10:00:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13926', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Initial Agreement to Purchase Fertilizers from India on G2G Model', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 8: The Government of Nepal has reached an understanding with the Government of India to procure chemical fertilizers through the G2G process.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 8: The Government of Nepal has reached an understanding with the Government of India to procure chemical fertilizers through the G2G process. A team comprising the representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has returned from New Delhi following a preliminary agreement in this regard with India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At a secretary-level meeting between the two countries in Delhi, India agreed to sell fertilizers to Nepal through the G2G process for the next five years. Agriculture Secretary of Nepal, Dr Krishna Prasad Acharya, said that the Indian government has approved Nepal's proposal to purchase chemical fertilizer from India. According to him, the two countries have agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding in October.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">After the signing of the MoU, India will initially sell 150,000 metric tons of chemical fertilizer to Nepal. He informed New Business Age that an agreement has been reached to increase the amount by 10 percent every year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Last year, the government began discussions on long-term fertilizer management after farmers faced an acute shortage of fertilizer due to the dilly-dallying of two contractors, Shailung Enterprises and Honiko Multiple. The process, which the government started with the Indian government in August last year, is finally nearing completion almost after a year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">While the representatives are signing the MoU with India in October, there still an acute shortage of urea for top dressing of paddy during the current plantation season. It is estimated that more than 115,000 metric tons of urea is required for the current paddy and wheat plantation season. However, the government has only 7,000 metric tons of urea in stock at present. Besides urea, 3,800 metric tons of DAP and 3200 metric tons of potassium are in stock at the present.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Farmers in most of the districts are facing shortage of fertilizers. According to the ministry, 14 contracts signed earlier by the Agriculture Inputs Company Limited and Salt Trading Corproation for the purchase of fertilziers have been canceled. Thus, the fertilizers could not be imported on time.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-08', 'modified' => '2021-09-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13670', 'image' => '20210908101407_Flag-Pins-India-Nepal_600x600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-08 10:13:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13924', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Snubs Calls for Setting up Separate Industrial Zone in Bara-Parsa', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: The establishment of new industries in the Bara and Parsa corridor has now become challenging.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 7: The establishment of new industries in the Bara and Parsa corridor has now become challenging. The area is ideal for setting up industries from the point of view of geographical location and physical infrastructure. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">However, the operation of industries is becoming difficult as the price of land in the corridor has skyrocketed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Industrialists say that it would be commercially risky to set up an industry on the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor due to the high price of land.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> According to the entrepreneurs, the price of land, which was available for Rs 400,000 to 500,000 per kattha (3645 sq.ft) a decade ago, has now reached Rs 2.5 billion to Rs 3 billion per Dhur (182.25 sq.ft).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">A recent study report released by the Nepal Rastra Bank also mentions that it is challenging to set up new industries in the area due to the exorbitant price of land.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">It is estimated that there are more than 1,000 large and small scale industries in the Bara Parsa corridor, which is considered to be the only potential industrial corridor in Province 2.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Due to its location in the center of the country, easy access to the main ports and Indian seaports, this corridor has great potential for industrial development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Hari Prasad Gautam, coordinator of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, insists that there should be another industrial zone in Bara-Parsa. “There is a need for another industrial zone in Bara and Parsa. At least 2,000 bigahs of land should be set aside for the industries,” Gautam told New Business Age.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Industries have been operating on both sides of a 26-kilometer stretch of Tribhuvan Highway connecting Birgunj with the East-West Highway. Recently, the conflict between the industries of corridor and public has been increasing. President of the association Subodh Kumar Gupta considers this as another challenge for the industry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The private sector has demanded a new industrial zone in Bara-Parsa, which is connected to the Indian border. Coordinator Gautam complained that they had demanded land for the new industrial area but the federal and provincial governments turned a deaf ear to their demand.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> “We have drawn the attention of the province and federal governments. We were expecting the government to announce some plans in this regard in the budget for the current fiscal year. However, the government did not listen to the private sector,” said Gautam. The government had announced plans to build a new industrial zone in all the provinces five years ago.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Although the government has pledged to build a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Simara, Bara, the progress is not satisfactory. An industrial zone has been proposed in the Sagarnath forest area of Sarlahi for Province 2. However, even this plan has not been able to move forward. The Gajendra Narayan Singh Industrial Area of Saptari, which was built earlier, has not been able to attract industrialists.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Entrepreneurs claim that investors will not be attracted in other areas except Bara and Parsa. Entrepreneurs have suggested setting up an industrial zone in Bara-Parsa as it is easy to set up industries as well as to transport and export raw materials and finished goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the industrialists, the Bara Parsa area is suitable for industry as the dry port is connected to the Indian Railways, and seaports.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13669', 'image' => '20210907050603_20201112065516_1605136001.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 17:05:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13923', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Investment Board to Release 5-Year Strategic Plan ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: The Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) has announced to release its five-year strategic plan for 2078 BS to 2082 BS along with its business plan. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 7: The Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) has announced to release its five-year strategic plan for 2078 BS to 2082 BS along with its business plan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the IBN is marking its 10th anniversary on September 8 with the slogan of '10 Years of Investment Board: Partnership for Economic Prosperity'. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is scheduled to release the strategic plan and Nepal Investment Guide, 2021, informed Assistant Spokesperson of IBN Ramesh Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The then Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai had established the IBN with an aim to bring in foreign investment and facilitate the process of investment in mega projects. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13668', 'image' => '20210907044854_20201112122602_1605135944.Clipboard07.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 16:47:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13922', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Railway Company Dismisses Daily Wage Workers ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: The Nepal Railway Company Limited (NRCL) has expelled its daily wage workers appointed by the NRCL's erstwhile leadership. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 7: The Nepal Railway Company Limited (NRCL) has expelled its daily wage workers appointed by the NRCL's erstwhile leadership. The workers have been asked not to record their attendances at their own will, according to a statement issued by NRCL managing director Niranjan Kumar Jha. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The persons who are told to be appointed at the office as daily wagers have been recording their attendances. Wages are not payable on the basis of attendances recorded at one's own will with the office not deploying anyone for work, reads the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It would take some time to operate the Jayanagar-Kurtha railway due to legal and technical reasons, the company added. --RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13667', 'image' => '20210907122916_20200825030614_1598305318.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 12:28:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13921', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bagmati Province has Immense Potential in Tourism, Agriculture and Energy: NRB Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: Bagmati Province has huge business potential in energy, tourism and agriculture, according to a study conducted by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 7: Bagmati Province has huge business potential in energy, tourism and agriculture, according to a study conducted by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). The study has pointed out that agriculture, tourism and energy have comparatively more potential due to the geographical diversity within 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"">The NRB had conducted the study based on the data of the first six months of the last fiscal year. The study report, which was recently made public, reveals that there is comparatively more potential for agriculture, tourism and energy in Bagmati 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"">Among the districts under this province, Dhading, Kavrepalalchowk and Nuwakot are in the Himalayan region, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur are within the valley and Makwanpur and Chitwan districts are in the inner Terai belt. Thus, there is immense potential due to the geographical diversity within 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"">Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr Prakash Kumar Shrestha said that there is more potential for agriculture, tourism and energy in Bagmati Province. "Of course, there are potentials in other sectors, but the agriculture, tourism and energy sectors are more viable from commercial point of view," he said, adding, “We have come to this conclusion after conducting a field visit itself.”</span></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 report states that Bagmati Province has a suitable geographical location and availability of water resources for hydropower generation. There is a high potential for hydropower, especially in Dolakha, Sindhupalchok and some other districts.</span></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 Dhading, Bhaktapur, Kavre and Nuwakot can be developed as vegetable pocket areas. In addition to the federal capital, Banepa, Dhulikhel, Narayanghat and Hetauda are the most populated cities in the province. The study also states that there is a high potential for the market of processed food, vegetables, fruits, fish, meat and other commodities in these areas.</span></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 study shows that the agriculture sector can be commercialized if the youths returning from foreign employment could be attracted to the agriculture. The report also states that high value agricultural products can be exported through international flights.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the same way, there is high potential for tourism as well in this province. The report mentions s that there is more potential for the development of tourism as there are tourist areas including Kathmandu Valley, Sauraha of Chitwan, Syafrubesi and Helambu within 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"">The report has pointed out to the need for increasing investment in tourism infrastructure for promoting tourism in this 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"">There is religious, cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity in this province. Seven different tourist sites within 7 km of Kathmandu Valley are listed in the World Heritage List. Therefore, according to the study, there is a high potential for internal and external tourism 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"">There is also a high potential for employment opportunities and demographic benefits in Bagmati Province. According to the Economic Census 2075, thirty percent of industrial establishments are located in Bagmati Province. In addition, 20.9 percent of the population lives in this 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"">Similarly, Bagmati Province has high potential in infrastructure development. Major cities including the federal capital Kathmandu are in this state. The study report states that such cities have high commercial potential of modern infrastructures such as rail, mono rail, tram, trolley and cable car. There is also potential for food and milk processing industries. The NRB has stated that there is such a possibility as the process of urbanization is taking place at a fast pace in this state and the capital of the country is also located in this 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"">There is also a possibility of expanding industry and trade by attracting domestic and foreign investment in Bagmati Province. The province has natural resources including mountains, hills, forests, rivers, mines and minerals. Also, it is in the forefront in basic services including internet, transportation and education. The province accounts for 69 percent of the total deposits in the banking sector and 55 percent of the total loans. In such a case, the study suggests industry and trade can be expanded by bringing in domestic and foreign investment.</span></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 also a possibility of speeding up the development work in Bagmati Province by mobilizing maximum revenue. Due to urbanization, population density, industry, trade, business, transportation and communication, etc., the revenue base within this state is wide. NRB has stated that the development work can be expedited by mobilizing maximum revenue.</span></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 are challenges of equal scale in Bagmati Province. In particular, there is a challenge to promote commercial agricultural production by conserving the eroded agricultural land due to increasing urbanization. The study has also revealed that there are challenges in management of environmental pollution, traffic management and systematic urbanization alongside development.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It is said that it would be a challenge to speed up the infrastructure development and maintain the quality of the existing infrastructures. The study has shown that there is a challenge to develop the tourism sector by proper protection and promotion of geographical and religious heritage, biodiversity etc. It will also be a challenge to commercialize agriculture by attracting people going for foreign employment and those migrating to urban areas. In addition, the NRB says that it will be a challenge to encourage collective commercial farming to make the use of barren agricultural land.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13666', 'image' => '20210907122159_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 12:20:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13920', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sumargi Group Preparing to Operate 5 big Hotels with Investment of Rs 7 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: Sumargi Group of Industries (Muktishree Pvt Ltd) is about to enter the hospitality business with aggressive investment.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 7: Sumargi Group of Industries (Muktishree Pvt Ltd) is about to enter the hospitality business with aggressive investment. The company is planning to operate five big hotels in different parts of the country including the Kathmandu Valley, with an investment of around Rs 7 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"">Taking the Covid-19 pandemic as an investment opportunity, the group is set to make the staggering investment in the hospitality sector all at a time. According to Sumargi Group, an apartment hotel is being constructed in Sundhara, Kathmandu. The company informed that the construction work of the apartment hotel in Sundhara has witnessed more than 80 percent physical progress.</span></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 company is preparing to operate a boutique hotel in Kathmandu. The construction of the boutique hotel will be started soon after determining the location. Likewise, the group has started operation of a hotel in Tumlingtar of Sakhuwasabha targeting domestic tourists while the company is preparing to start operation of resorts in Banepa and Dhulikhel of the Kavrepalanchok district.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sumargi Group informed that the resort will be brought into operation in the area soon after finalizing the location. Meanwhile, the company is preparing to operate a boutique hotel in Sarangkot of Pokhara.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Arun Raj Sumargi, Director of Sumargi Group of Industries, informed that the company is making investment in the hospitality sector with the help of foreign investment, profit made by the company in various sectors, and loans taken from various banks and 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"">According to him, the company's objective is to promote the hospitality sector of Nepal and increase employment opportunities.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Preparations are in full swing for the operation of the hotels targeting both internal and foreign tourists. The company will operate hotels of deluxe and boutique categories.</span></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 pandemic, many people are forced to stay indoors. That is why we have decided to invest in the hospitality sector,” 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"">Sumargi Group is preparing to complete the construction work of the hotels by the time the pandemic subsides. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sumargi said that even though the idea of investing in the hospitality sector is already there, there have been various obstacles in the way of bringing in foreign investment.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13665', 'image' => '20210907113036_Hotel.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 11:29:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13919', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Vegetable Prices Jump up to 174 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 7: The price of green vegetables has gone up by 174 percent in a week.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 7: The price of green vegetables has gone up by 174 percent in a week. It has been reported that the prices have gone up after the vegetables were destroyed by the continuous rainfall since a few days ago.</span></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 prices of green vegetables including lady’s finger, bottle gourd, green beans, local cauliflower, luffa gourd, sponge gourd, brinjal and bitter gourd have gone up.</span></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 daily price list of the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the price of luffa gourd, which was Rs 20 per kg a week ago, has risen by 174 percent to Rs 55 per kg by Saturday. The price of bitter gourd, which was Rs 25 per kg earlier, has now increased by 123 percent to Rs 55 per kg. The price of lady’s finger has increased by 120 percent from Rs 30 per kg to Rs 66 per kg.</span></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 price of clarified butter has also increased by 110 percent from Rs 55 per kg to Rs 115 per kg. The price of long eggplant has gone up by 100 percent from Rs 25 to Rs 50 per kg.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Gita Prasad Acharya, president of the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Entrepreneurs Committee, said that the price of vegetables have skyrocketed after the vegetables planted by the farmers were damaged due to continuous rainfall. </span></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 informed that the traders have increased the import of vegetables from India after the locally-produced vegetables started rotting and the prices started rising. According to him, as the flow of vegetables from India has already started and the pricees will gradually go down again.</span></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 Kalimati vegetable market used to receive 800 to 900 tons of vegetables daily. But the arrival of vegetables had dropped to 300 tons a day after the vegetables started rotting in the fields due to the continuous rainfall. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Low quantity vegetables were imported on August 28, 29 and 30. The daily vegetable arrival report of the committee has shown that 500, 300 and 400 tons of vegetables entered Kalimati on those days respectively. Although the import of vegetables has returned to its previous level since then, the prices of vegetables have not dropped yet.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/20200806125217_1595453904.Clipboard03%281%29.jpg" style="height:450px; width:800px" /></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-07', 'modified' => '2021-09-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13664', 'image' => '20210907112000_20201201041204_20200925113442_1600988958.Clipboard06.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-07 11:18:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13918', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Integrate Employment and Skill Training Programmes', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 6: The government is preparing to conduct employment and skill-based training in an integrated manner in order to avoid duplication.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 6: The government is preparing to conduct employment and skill-based training in an integrated manner in order to avoid duplication.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In a discussion held at the Ministry of Finance on Sunday, high-ranking officials of the concerned ministries and agencies, including the National Planning Commission, concluded that the training programmes should be conducted in an integrated way through a one-door system. Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has instructed the officials of the concerned agencies to do their homework accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">After the discussion, the finance minister directed concerned bodies to make policy-level preparations so that the duplicate training programmes would be conducted in an integrated manner.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“The concerned stakeholders carry out the same programme every year and there is no effectiveness in the work in this way,” he said, “We should end the problem of giving the same training to the same person every year but the person does not become self-employed.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">He was of the view that all the trainings related to the labor sector should be conducted through the Ministry of Labor and all kinds of training related to the development sector should be conducted through the Ministry of Education. Minister Sharma added that integrated curriculum should be implemented across the country while conducting trainings and there should be arrangements of providing certificates of integrated structure to all after the completion of the training. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to him, by doing so, the training certificates received in urban areas and rural areas will get equal recognition.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-06', 'modified' => '2021-09-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13663', 'image' => '20210906012649_20210716022924_1626392414.Clipboard14.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-06 13:26:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13917', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NMA forms Bagmati Province Committee', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 6: The Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) has distributed certificates to the newly formed working committee of Bagmati Province chapter of NMA.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 6: The Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) has distributed certificates to the newly formed working committee of Bagmati Province chapter of NMA.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The NMA formed a state branch coordination committee on September 5 amid a program organized at the meeting hall of the NMA Secretariat in Kathmandu. NMA officials welcomed the office bearers and members of the newly-formed committee.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Bagmati Province Committee was formed under the chairmanship of Dal Bahadur Gurung. Gurung has been active in the field of tourism for the last two decades.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Milan Kumar Tamab is the vice-chairman of the Bagmati Province Committee, Fudoma Sherpa is the secretary, and Thakur Dharel is the treasurer. Similarly, Dawa Sibgi Helmo, Amar Gurung, Suppa Tamang, Kuldash Tamang, Sunita Gahatraj, Lopsang Sherpa, Dhruv Shrestha, Akash Gurung, Kami Sherpa, Urja Tamang, and Gyan Bahadur Tamang are members of the committee.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Chairman of the association Santvir Lama presented certificates to the office bearers and members of the provincial committee. Likewise, General Secretary of the Association Kul Bahadur Gurung, Secretary and Coordinator of the State Branch Coordination Committee Tikaram Gurung, Central Members Wabco Sherpa, Tul Singh Gurung, Sanjiv Gurung, Sibgi Lama, and others welcomed the office bearers and members of the new working committee. The association’s Chairman Lama administered the oath of office and secrecy to the office bearers and members of the committee.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-06', 'modified' => '2021-09-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13662', 'image' => '20210906122338_IMG_8048.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-09-06 12:22:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13916', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Project Begins Commercial Production ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 6: The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project (UTHP) has finally begun commercial production almost a decade after the construction of the project started. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 6: The Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project (UTHP) has finally begun commercial production almost a decade after the construction of the project started. The project with capacity of 456MW began generating electricity in full swing from Sunday (September 5), according to the state-owned national news agency RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In course of construction, the project faced numerous obstacles such as natural disaster, border blockade, catastrophic earthquake of 2015 and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, RSS reported. The mega project of electricity with sole domestic investment has successfully started commercial production, RSS quoted Chief Executive Officer of UTHP, Bigyan Prasad Shretha as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The beginning of the commercial production was observed with peace prayers as per the Buddhist tradition in Bigu Rural Municipality-1 of Dolakha district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the project was inaugurated on July 5, production in full capacity started only from September 5. The electricity generated from the project has been linked to the newly constructed 220/132 KV substation in Khimti and is connected to a 220 double-circuit transmission line. The substation is again linked to 400 KV substation located at Dhalkebar. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The foundation stone of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project was laid by then Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal on September 3, 2011. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The initial investment of the project was Rs 35.29 billion which has now reached to Rs 52 billion due to various reasons such as change in the design, hike in payment to the consultants for extended term of construction, inflation among others. After adding interest to the investment cost, the total investment of the project has climbed to Rs 84 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has 41 percent share in the project. The cost of producing per unit power is Rs 3.50 in an average. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-06', 'modified' => '2021-09-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13661', 'image' => '20210906105313_20201206012152_1607211371.Clipboard13.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-06 10:52:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13915', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ADB to Study Melamchi Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 6: A team of experts from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is coming to study the Melamchi Water Supply Project that has been damaged by the recent floods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">September 6: A team of experts from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is coming to study the Melamchi Water Supply Project that has been damaged by the recent floods. It has been learnt that the team will study the geology of the upper part of the project.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The team will study Thegrini in Bhremathang and the current situation of Melamchi, which has been badly affected by flood and landslide during this monsoon. The Ministry of Water Supply and Irrigation had requested the ADB to conduct a study stating that the area was at risk. According to the Ministry of Water Supply and Irrigation, ADB has already sent a letter approving the Terms of Reference (TOR). Spokesperson at the Ministry Ramesh Neupane said the that the ADB team is preparing to visit the site. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"A team of experts will arrive within a week to study the Melamchi Water Supply Project," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Currently, organizations including ICIMOD are studying the geological condition of Bhremathang independently. However, the Ministry of Water Supply and Irrigation has requested the ADB for a detailed study. ADB is also the development partner of the Melamchi Water Supply Project.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Avalanches have been accumulating in the areas above Melamchi for years. This has posed a risk to the Melamchi project. The floods on the Melamchi River have damaged the headworks, two temporary tunnels, and a motorable bridge. The Water Supply Project has submitted an action plan to the Ministry at a cost of Rs 2.5 billion to resume supply of drinking water to Kathmandu temporarily.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Melamchi River has been flooded time and again since July 20. The floodwaters are coming from the upper part of the river. That is gradually damaging the site of the Melamchi Water Supply Project. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Spokesperson of the Melamchi Water Supply Development Board Rajendra Prasad Pant said that it was not certain when the project would be completed as the floods have damaged the headworks and caused more damage than estimated.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The board has proposed deploying the Nepalese Army in the rehabilitation of the Melamchi Water Supply Project. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"It's not just the army that does all the work, we have prepared a blueprint for work division," he said. Accordingly, a rehabilitation plan has been prepared.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Many structures are buried. The board plans to hand over the reconstruction of the structure to SinoHydro and the Nepalese Army. Under this rehabilitation work, reconstruction of Ambathan camp, maintenance of main camps at Melamchi Bazaar, and necessary services like drinking water, electricity, and sanitation will be provided in the camps, said Pant.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-06', 'modified' => '2021-09-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13660', 'image' => '20210906103006_20210420041320_20210212111048_20200317114243_Melamchi 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-06 10:29:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13914', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC’s Debt Reaches Rs 50 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 5: The debt of Nepal Airlines Corporation has reached Rs 50 billion. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 5: The debt of Nepal Airlines Corporation has reached Rs 50 billion. According to the corporation, the debt has reached Rs 50 billion and the accumulated loss has reached Rs 11 billion. Stakeholders pointed out that the loss is increasing due to the negligence of the management and political interference.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In a recent discussion with top government officials, including the finance minister, the corporation's managing director, Dim Prasad Poudel, blamed the corporation's frequent losses on political interference and weak legal system. He said that the financial condition of the corporation has not improved due to overstaffing. He informed that the corporation has more than 500 unnecessary employees.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Poudel said that the corporation has an average of 230 employees per aircraft while various airlines around the world have an average of 125 employees per aircraft. He expressed dismay that various committees have studied and submitted reports for the reform of the corporation but the recommendations have not been implemented.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini and Revenue Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar suggested to Finance Minister Janardan Sharma that it would be appropriate to form a high-level committee to study the future course of action of the Nepal Airlines Corporation and the ongoing staff protest and submit suggestions to the government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">They have requested to include representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the NAC as well as independent experts related to the aviation sector under the coordination of the Tourism Secretary in the committee and to submit a report with recommendations within 15 to 20 days.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Finance Minister urged the NAC staff to end the agitation after holding discussions with the employees. He said that it would be easier for the government to take necessary decision if it studies the reports given by various committees and suggests suitable alternatives.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Secretary Marasini and Tourism Secretary Koirala pointed out the need for strong political leadership for corporate reform. Likewise, they stressed that minor reforms would not help the ailing airline and instead urged for concrete decisions at the political level.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-05', 'modified' => '2021-09-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13659', 'image' => '20210905033908_20210709080354_20180727021334_2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-05 15:38:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13913', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Revenue Collection of Biratnagar Customs Exceeds Target', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 5: The revenue collection of Biratnagar customs office has started to grow after India lifted ban on import of palm oil. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 5: The revenue collection of Biratnagar customs office has started to grow after India lifted ban on import of palm oil. Earlier, the revenue collection was less than the target.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the first month of the Fiscal Year 2078/89, the customs office collected Rs 3.349 billion against its target of Rs 2.891 billion, which is 115.82 percent more than the target. Earlier, customs office had not been able to meet the target of revenue collection due to restrictions on palm oil and also due to the impact of coronavirus.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chief Customs Officer Shiva Prasad Bhandari said despite the improvement in revenue collection last year, the target was not met.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Soybean oil worth Rs 2.83 billion and palm oil worth Rs 821.6 million were exported in August, said customs officer Amit Tiwari. According to him, 4.3 million liters of palm oil worth Rs 821.6 million was exported in August. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India had banned the import of palm oil from Nepal on April 12, 2008. After about 14 months, India opened the import of palm oil on July 3, 2020. The export of palm oil from Biratnagar customs began with the start of the new fiscal 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 customs office, 41,357 tonnes of palm oil worth Rs 4.50 billion was exported to India from Biratnagar in the fiscal year 2075/76. The demand for refined soybean oil had increased after the ban on palm oil, which also boosted the revenue. In August, 13,075,111 kg of refined soybean oil worth Rs 2.83 billion was exported 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"">The customs office imported 4.3 million liters of unrefined palm oil worth Rs 801.09 million last month. Similarly, 17.14 million liters of soybean oil worth Rs 2.74 billion has been imported.</span></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 export of soybean oil is increasing, according to the customs office. In the fiscal year 2075/76, 9,993 tonnes of soybean oil worth Rs 1.65 billion was exported from Biratnagar. In the Fiscal Year 2076/77, altogether 31,423 tons of soybean oil worth Rs 4.26 billion was exported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the last Fiscal Year 2077/78, a total of 90,310 tons of soybean oil worth Rs. 15.67 billion was exported. Nepal's industrialists are exporting sunflower, soybean and palm oil at zero percent customs duty under the SAFTA agreement. Indian customs levies a 5 percent GST on all three types of oil.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-09-05', 'modified' => '2021-09-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13658', 'image' => '20210905032652_20210702051202_20191103092810_20190807121918_Clipboard01 (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-09-05 15:23:16', '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
