August 18: The government has prepared the ‘Sixth Customs Reform and Modernization Plan’ and started implementing it.…
August 18: The government has prepared the ‘Sixth Customs Reform and Modernization Plan’ and started implementing it.…
August 18: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has commenced the construction of the Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV transmission line in Western Nepal.…
August 18: A Feasibility Study Committee formed by the Province 1 government has submitted a report to Social Development Minister Usha Kala Rai recommending the provincial government to develop a concept to brand local liquor instead of banning…
August 18: The destruction of roads and bridges due to floods and landslides during this year's monsoon has caused an estimated loss of around Rs 3…
August 17: Although the market is crowded with people after the prohibitory order was lifted in Kathmandu valley, traders say that their business has not been as encouraging as it used to…
August 17: The Ninth Meeting of Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism was held in Kathmandu on Monday (August 16).…
August 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has expressed dissatisfaction over the leakage of information about the monetary policy before it was made…
August 17: The government has adjourned the current session of the parliament from midnight of Monday, August 16, leaving the fate of 15 bills hanging on the balance.…
August 16: The number of star-rated hotels operating in Nepal is not much…
August 16: The Biratnagar Airport Construction Struggle Committee is planning to announce protest programmes arguing that the administration has not carried out the work of land acquisition on…
August 16: The business of automobile sector, which had slowed down following the implementation of prohibitory order, is now returning to normalcy.…
August 16: The Government of Nepal has started homework to evacuate Nepali nationals from war-ravaged Afghanistan following the rapid advance of Taliban to capture the…
August 16: Nepal received Rs 961.05 billion in remittances in the last fiscal year…
August 16: The prices of green vegetables have taken a nosedive by 240 percent.…
August 16: The Finance Committee under the House of Representatives (HoR) has expressed its concerns as the share market regulatory bodies’ officials were found involved in insider trading in the share…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 18: The government has prepared the ‘Sixth Customs Reform and Modernization Plan’ and started implementing it. Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma unveiled the plan amid a programme on August 17.</span></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 plan has set five different targets including trade facilitation, realistic revenue collection, protection and security of the society, automated customs system and organizational development and capacity building.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Under trade facilitation, the country’s overseas trade will be made cost effective. The revenue collection will be increased by amending and enforcing the customs law.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">For the protection and security of the society, measures will be taken to monitor and control means of transportation to prevent illegal trade and movement of harmful goods in the country. Under the automated customs system, all the procedures of customs clearance will be automated by technology. 'Nepal Customs Automation System' has been implemented in 29 customs offices across the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The goal has been set to increase the competitiveness of the customs administration under organizational development and capacity building. The plan aims to increase organizational capacity to implement modern customs standards. The customs reform plan expects to get 15 results under this achievement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">These include trade facilitation, coordinated border management, voluntary compliance, development and expansion of national one-door system, improvement of physical infrastructure, strengthening of managerial capacity, national security, public health, economy, protection of intellectual property, protection of environment and society.</span></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 Sixth Customs Reform Plan expects coordination and communication among stakeholders, risk management, realistic revenue collection, expansion of automated systems, management of foreign trade data, promotion of ethics and good governance, implementation of policies and procedures for social security.</span></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 administration has been implementing a customs reform plan since 2004. Meanwhile, the Revenue Advisory Committee submitted its first annual report to Finance Minister Janarda recently. The committee has also released a book containing various suggestions related to revenue from 2010 to 2021. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Sharma said that the customs reform plan would be effective only when the service seekers benefit from it. He mentioned that the Sixth Reform Plan would play an important role for making the customs administration more transparent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma said that the suggestions given by the Revenue Advisory Committee would serve as an important reference for future policy making. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-18', 'modified' => '2021-08-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13581', 'image' => '20210818024801_20210118020708_1610926784.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-18 14:47:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13835', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Construction of Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV Transmission Line Begins', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 18: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has commenced the construction of the Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV transmission line in Western Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 18: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has commenced the construction of the Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV transmission line in Western Nepal. NEA, on its 36th anniversary on August 17, began the installation of a transmission line tower. The project will install a total of 161 towers along the Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV transmission line.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Krishna Khadka, a project engineer, informed that the foundation stone of the first tower was laid on August 17. The project is expected to be completed within two years. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">After coming into operation, the transmission line is believed to bring relief to the people of Karnali who have been suffering from voltage fluctuation, Khadka said, adding that the contractor has already started the construction work and the project will be completed on time if there are no external obstructions. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The transmission line has been in operation in this region since 2045 BS. However, people in Karnali are excited about its capacity being extended to 132 kV. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the project office, the 51 km transmission line will be of double circuit. The total length of the transmission line is 51.46 km with 26 angle towers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Likewise, the sub-station in Butwal is spread over 3.72 hectares of land. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-18', 'modified' => '2021-08-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13580', 'image' => '20210818121434_20190915092327_20190517010911_aaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-18 12:13:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13834', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Study Committee Recommends Province 1 Government of Branding Local Alcohol', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 18: A Feasibility Study Committee formed by the Province 1 government has submitted a report to Social Development Minister Usha Kala Rai recommending the provincial government to develop a concept to brand local liquor instead of banning them.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 18: A Feasibility Study Committee formed by the Province 1 government has submitted a report to Social Development Minister Usha Kala Rai recommending the provincial government to develop a concept to brand local liquor instead of banning them.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Upon receiving the report on Monday (August 16), Minister Rai said that the ban versus brand concept has been brought as it is possible to earn income by mobilizing the resources in Province 1. Minister Rai said that the concept should be implemented by removing legal hurdles. Accepting the report, she said, "The state government will start planting millet by selecting a place where millet is produced."</span></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 Minister Rai, millet will be planted in the villages by destroying unwanted weeds. Rai said that Nepal's products should be marketed in neighboring countries like India and China. She claimed that the production of domestic liquor in Nepal will be of hundreds of times better quality than that produced in other parts of the world.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She informed that a team of scientists, technicians, industrialists and legal experts will be formed to maintain quality of product. Coordinator of the committee and a member of State Planning Commission Dr Purna Loksom said the ban versus brand is a broad concept. He said that the report was prepared by collecting information from 229 domestic liquor producers and people's representatives in 10 districts.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-18', 'modified' => '2021-08-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13579', 'image' => '20210818120440_Chyang-Traditional-Nepali-Drink.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-18 12:03:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13833', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Roads and Bridges worth Rs 3 Billion Damaged by Floods and Landslides', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 18: The destruction of roads and bridges due to floods and landslides during this year's monsoon has caused an estimated loss of around Rs 3 billion.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 18:<strong><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></strong>The destruction of roads and bridges due to floods and landslides during this year's monsoon has caused an estimated loss of around Rs 3 billion. According to the preliminary data of the Department of Roads, the damage to roads and bridges has been estimated at Rs 2.20 billion and Rs 800 million, respectively.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the period from mid-June to mid-July, various road sections and 26 bridges across the country were partially or completely damaged. Spokesperson of the department, Shiva Prasad Nepal said that roads and bridges were severely damaged due to floods and landslides this year. According to Nepal, the department is working to repair the roads in the places where there urgent need to resume transportation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, he said that it would take time to rebuild the roads and bridges which have received substantial damages. The department has been demanding a separate budget for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads and bridges damaged by the floods and landslides, but no arrangement has been made.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal said that the department has been constructing such damaged structures from the regular budget and the budget coming for periodic maintenance. At present, the department has provided Rs 110 million to various road division offices. The department has informed that this budget has been made available for emergency maintenance. The budget is available to temporarily operate the roads that need to be operated immediately and to build the bridges in the same way.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the department, roads in 169 places across the country have been damaged so far. Of them, nine road sections have been blocked and the number of roads operating one-way is 104. There are 56 roads operating through both lanes. Various road sections in Manang, Sindhupalchowk, Lamjung, Nuwakot and Rasuwa are still blocked.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Manang is the district where most of the roads have been blocked due to floods and landslides. Six places in the district are blocked so far. The floods and landslides have washed away Bailey bridge and road tracks. </span></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 floods and landslides that have damaged road sections of various highways, vehicles are now operating unilaterally in most places. The flood-damaged roads in Palpa, Bajura, Baitadi and other places have been operating unilaterally.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-18', 'modified' => '2021-08-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13578', 'image' => '20210818115206_20200728022209_1595887425.Clipboard11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-18 11:50:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13831', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Market Bustling with People, but Business not Encouraging', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 17: Although the market is crowded with people after the prohibitory order was lifted in Kathmandu valley, traders say that their business has not been as encouraging as it used to be.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 17: Although the market is crowded with people after the prohibitory order was lifted in Kathmandu valley, traders say that their business has not been as encouraging as it used to be.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Though there was no significant decline in trade of food and daily necessities, the business of clothing and fancy shops, electrical goods, handicrafts and other items is still only around 10 percent. Nagendra Shrestha, who has been operating a fancy dress shop in Ason, said that even though the market seems crowded with people, the business is not taking place as expected. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“Even though the market is open, trade has not been promising because of the decline in purchasing power of consumers due to the impact of the pandemic,” he said. Although this is a good time to trade fancy clothes, the impact of the pandemic has disrupted the market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At present, the market for handicraft items is more affected and the consumer is almost zero. The market for handicraft chiefly relied on foreign tourists in the past and the export has been completely disrupted. Gopal Tandukar, a handicraft trader in Basantapur, said that the situation in Nepal has become more critical due to non-arrival of foreign tourists.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the Federation of Handicraft Association of Nepal (FHAN), only about 5 percent of the total trade takes place in Nepal and about 95 percent of the trade depends on exports. As per the federation, around Rs 11 billion to Rs 15 billion handicraft products aree exported and about 1.1 million people are employed in this sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">President of FHAN Surendrabhai Shakya said that it would take another two to three years for the handicraft industry to regain its momentum due to the impact of the pandemic.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, electronic goods dealers have also said that they have not been able to resume business like they used to. According to the Nepal Electronic Trade Association, trade of fans, bulbs, generators, rice cookers, wires and other appliances has declined by about 80 percent at present. According to the traders, the decline in consumers’ income has diverted consumers' attention to the purchase of essential commodities. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-17', 'modified' => '2021-08-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13577', 'image' => '20210817022001_20200720025203_20160802043332_meta.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-17 14:19:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13832', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism Discusses Progress in Bilateral Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 17: The Ninth Meeting of Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism was held in Kathmandu on Monday (August 16). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 17: The Ninth Meeting of Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism was held in Kathmandu on Monday (August 16) under the co-chairmanship of Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal and Ambassador of India to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to a press release issued by the MoFA, the meeting reviewed the progress of the projects being implemented under bilateral economic and development cooperation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting held discussions on the status of implementation of all on-going projects, including terai roads, cross-border railways, Arun-III hydropower project, petroleum products pipelines, Pancheshwar multipurpose project, post-earthquake reconstruction, irrigation, power and transmission lines, construction of Nepal Police Academy, integrated check posts, Ramayana circuit, HICDPs, motorable bridges over Mahakali River, agriculture and cultural heritage, among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> Both Nepal and India underlined the need for the implementation of the bilateral projects and agreed to take necessary measures to timely address problems and obstacles in the course of implementation of the projects. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> The Ministry further shared that the Nepali delegation included officials of the agencies responsible for the implementation of the respective projects while Indian delegation included officials of the Embassy of India, Kathmandu and project implementing agencies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The bilateral mechanism was set up in September 2016 to oversee the implementation of bilateral projects and take necessary steps for their completion in time. Both sides agreed to organize 10th meeting of the mechanism on a mutually convenient date. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-17', 'modified' => '2021-08-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13576', 'image' => '20210817022722_Fl_600x600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-17 14:26:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13830', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Expresses Dissatisfaction over Leakage of Monetary Policy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has expressed dissatisfaction over the leakage of information about the monetary policy before it was made public.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has expressed dissatisfaction over the leakage of information about the monetary policy before it was made public. Minister Sharma said that he has taken the issue seriously and warned not to do such a thing in the coming days.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the annual review of the fiscal year 2020/21 at a meeting of the Ministerial-Level Development Problem Solving Committee on Monday, Minister Sharma said that it was not right to leak information from the table when the ministry or the concerned organization should have empowered the spokesperson and improved the website instead.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Leaking the monetary policy ahead of schedule is like taking out question papers before the exam. It works to demoralize the state. Stop such acts immediately,” said Minister Sharma.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the flow of information is necessary to maintain transparency, he directed to make arrangements to provide information through the spokesperson and the office's website.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the flow of information is necessary to maintain transparency, he directed concerned bodies to make arrangements to provide information through the spokesperson and the office's website.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma added that a policy should be formulated to create an environment to invest the capital earned from foreign employment in the productive sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Regarding the people’s access to banking, Minister Sharma said that it would not be possible only by opening branches in the municipalities. According to him, the government-owned banks need to open branches in every municipality.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr. Viswanath Poudel stressed the need to manage sustainable resources of the economy. According to him, if the hydropower and cement industries are managed it can be a long-term resource for the national economy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Maha Prasad Adhikari, pointed out the need to revise the concessional loan procedures, business loan procedures, and innovation procedures.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini said that the ministry and its subordinate bodies had done a good job amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to him, the authorities should pay special attention to meet the target of revenue collection, turn the loss-making bodies to profit-earning ones and reduce the trade deficit.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-17', 'modified' => '2021-08-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13575', 'image' => '20210817121241_RS-KTM-FinanceMinisterSharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-17 12:11:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13829', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Parliament Session Prorogued, Fate of 15 Bills Uncertain', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 17: The government has adjourned the current session of the parliament from midnight of Monday, August 16, leaving the fate of 15 bills hanging on the balance. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 17: The government has adjourned the current session of the parliament from midnight of Monday, August 16, leaving the fate of 15 bills hanging on the balance. Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota read out a letter from President Bidya Devi Bhandari stating the current session of both the houses of the federal parliament will end effective from August 16. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At present, 15 bills including the budget brought by the previous government are under consideration in the parliament. Three ordinances including the Financial Ordinance, 2078, the National Debt Ordinance 2078 and the Appropriation Ordinance, 2078 have also been presented to the parliament. Failure to pass these ordinances would raise constitutional questions over the budget announced by the previous government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to Speaker Sapkota, various ordinances, reports of parliamentary committees and constitutional commissions were presented in the parliament. The Parliament session had started from July 18 after the Supreme Court reinstated the House of Representatives on July 12. Prime Minister Deuba also took a vote of confidence after the Parliament was restored.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">After the Supreme Court reinstated the Parliament, only ten sessions have been completed since then. Among the ten sessions, Deuba took vote of confidence, and a few bills have only been tabled in the parliament. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">With the sudden end of the parliamentary session, fate of the ordinances related to the Covid-19 crisis management and acid attack remains uncertain. The government was reluctant to move ahead with the bills introduced by the previous government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Finance Minister Janardan Sharma of the Deuba government has already announced in the parliament about bringing a bill to replace the ordinance budget in line with the common minimum programme of the coalition government.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-17', 'modified' => '2021-08-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13574', 'image' => '20210817114823_Nepalese_Constituent_Assembly_Building.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-17 11:47:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13828', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal has Only 142 Star-Rated Hotels ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The number of star-rated hotels operating in Nepal is not much encouraging.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 16: The number of star-rated hotels operating in Nepal is not much encouraging. According to the Department of Tourism (DoT), only 142 star-rated hotels are in operation. </span></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 'Nepal Tourism Statistics 2020' made public by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, there are only 142-star hotels in Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">To get the recognition of a star-level hotel, one has to register the hotel with the department and meet the required criteria. The total number of rooms in these hotels is 8,595, while the number of beds is 13,877. These hotels offer employment to a total of 3,532 people. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, the number of tourist hotels is 1,171. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The total number of hotels including start-rated hotels and other hotels registered with the department is 1,313, with a total of 45,850 beds.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mohan Bahadur GC, director and information officer of the department, said that this number is only of the hotels registered with the department. He said that a large number of hotels have not been registered with the department. Hoteliers can run their hotel even without registering their hotel with the department. Hoteliers can provide hospitality services at the local level by registering a company in the Company Registrar's Office. "You have to register with the department to get the star level recognition," GC 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"">When marketing for international tourists, they take star recognition to show quality service. Foreign tourists also prefer such hotels. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hotels registered with the Company Registrar’s Office and other agencies must register with the department if they need to be recognized as a star hotel. The process is lengthy as aspects such as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) have to be completed before the star sign can be given to the hotels..</span></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 Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), 3,500 hotels are in operation across the country. This statistic is only of HAN members. The number of unregistered and non-registered hotels in the department and HAN is also increasing.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">HAN's senior vice president Binayak Shah said that the number of hotels getting star recognition is low due to technical problems. He said that it would take one year to do the EIA, and there was a delay in getting the recognition due to other financial and managerial aspects. </span></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 department, there are two luxury resorts and 99 ordinary resorts. There is only one deluxe resort. Similarly, the number of heritage boutique hotels is three.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13573', 'image' => '20210816033424_2021031201502.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 15:33:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13827', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Locals Angered by Delay in Compensation for those Displaced by Biratnagar Airport Expansion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The Biratnagar Airport Construction Struggle Committee is planning to announce protest programmes arguing that the administration has not carried out the work of land acquisition on time.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 16: The Biratnagar Airport Construction Struggle Committee is planning to announce protest programmes arguing that the administration has not carried out the work of land acquisition on time. As many as 350 households living near Biratnagar Airport have been affected due to delay in land acquisition process and to provide them compensation. For the expansion of the airport, the acquisition of 1400 plots of land was stopped in April of 2077 BS.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Hoping to receive compensation, they are frustrated as the government does not provide budget and the local administration does not move forward with the acquisition. They are now demanding that their blocked land be vacated. Uddhav Karki, a member of the Airport Victims' Struggle Committee, said that the locals were in trouble as the three-tier government did not allocate compensation for the airport and the local administration did not carry out on-site survey and evaluation. He said that some of them were not allowed to take loan by keeping as collateral in banks while others were not allowed to move elsewhere by selling their land.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"It is not clear how long we will have to wait for the land the land acquisition to complete," he said. "The government should make sure that they pay the compensation within a particular date."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Another member of the struggle committee, Santosh Khadka, said that the biggest problem was in the housing sector when the airport acquired 126 bighas of land. According to him, three of the five plots of land have been acquired. "It is not possible to build a house on two sides. So far, neither the authority nor the local administration has been able to decide what to do with it," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"After blocking the land for more than a year, the authorities and the administration have not shown any interest in completing the field work and assessment," he said. "So now there is no alternative than to struggle. We will resort to protest.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Chief of the Civil Aviation Authority Biranagar Airport Office Utsav Kharel said that the work could not move forward as the government did not release the budget. He informed that the compensation work could not be done as the federal government did not release the budget, but it was decided to allow the locals to use the land as it would be blocked for a long time. Locals are demanding that they should be able to withdraw loan by keeping the documents of the land as collateral.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Biratnagar Airport Victims Struggle Committee had earlier submitted an eight-point demand letter to the then Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Bhanubhakta Dhakal, Chief District Officer, Biratnagar Metropolitan City and the ward office. The committee has put forth the demand saying that compensation to the Internally Displaced People should be given so that they can buy houses in urban areas and well-equipped places just like their place of residence; maximum compensation of Rs 2 million per Dhur and Rs. 4,500 per square foot for house should be given. They have demanded compensation for the entire land and entire house in case of acquiring half land and half house during the airport expansion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">They have also demanded for the waiver of profit tax as well as the depreciation amount for the houses while compensating. It has been demanded that time should be given to complete the construction and pass the house plan.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13572', 'image' => '20210816033310_Biratnagar_Airport-IMG_8842.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 15:31:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13826', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Automobile Sector Returning to Normalcy', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The business of automobile sector, which had slowed down following the implementation of prohibitory order, is now returning to normalcy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">August 16: <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The business of automobile sector, which had slowed down following the implementation of prohibitory order, is now returning to normalcy. The market which had not witnessed any demand even a month after prohibitory orders were relaxed is finally seeing a rise in customer inquiries and bookings, say automobiles distributors. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The auto sector, which was shut down due to the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, has been open since the second week of June. Entrepreneurs had been complaining that even though showrooms were open, people would not come to enquire about the vehicles. According to Kailash Babu Gelal, Managing Director of G Motors, the demand has been increasing a month after the market resumed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">MAW Enterprises, the official distributor of Skoda, delivered 75 new Skoda Kushaq last week. The model which was unveiled in the market three weeks ago has been delivered in accordance to the demands received from Skoda showrooms all over the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Auto dealers say that the sales of entry level vehicles along with high priced SUVs is encouraging. Ramesh Dhanekhu, managing director of MAW Nepal, the official distributor of Jeep for Nepal, said that the number of people coming to inquire about Jeep is increasing. However sales have not increased as expected due to the confusion over prohibitory order.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Mahesh Pal, Managing Director of Nissan's Mega Motors, said the sales of vehicles have increased by 35 percent compared to last year and customers are waiting for the festive offers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Stating that the sales have increased by about 35 percent compared to the previous year, he informed that many are waiting for the offer of the decade. Nissan Magnite stock vehicles have all been sold out so the demand is very good. Since the COVID-19 infections are rising, the number of bookings has increased more than the number of buyers due to the fear of another possible lockdown.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Krishna Prasad Dulal, president of NADA Automobile Association of Nepal, said that the demand for private vehicles has been growing for the last one year. Though the auto sector has been affected during lockdown, the demand is good. "Even during the six-month long shutdown in the last fiscal year, automobile sales were better than the previous year," he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to him, increase in sales of private vehicles such as jeeps, cars, vans, motorcycles and scooters led to a total imports of 474,679 vehicles in the last year which is an increase by 140,000 compared to the previous year.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13571', 'image' => '20210816030830_20160905121337_nada.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 15:07:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13825', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Begins Homework to Bring Back Nepali Workers from Afghanistan', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The Government of Nepal has started homework to evacuate Nepali nationals from war-ravaged Afghanistan following the rapid advance of Taliban to capture the capital.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 16: The Government of Nepal has started homework to evacuate Nepali nationals from war-ravaged Afghanistan following the rapid advance of Taliban to capture the capital. The government has formed a coordination committee to rescue of Nepali citizens currently living in Afghanistan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bharat Raj Paudyal informed that the government has formed a committee under the coordination of Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Harish Chandra Ghimire to rescue the Nepali citizens in trouble in the conflict-hit country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Speaking at meeting of the International Relations Committee under the House of Representatives, he said the newly formed committee includes joint secretaries of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Health, Nepal Police and CCMC as its members.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Secretary Paudyal said that there are about 1,500 Nepalis working in the formal sector in Afghanistan. He added that the government has received reports that Nepali citizens were within Kabul, the Afghan capital. According to him, those Nepali citizens working in the formal sector in Afghanistan are likely to return to Nepal on the initiative of their organization itself.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">He said the government was in touch with the embassy and missions in Afghanistan. Secretary Paudyal said that the ministry would issue information to Nepali citizens living in Afghanistan to get in touch, create an online portal to inform them about their situation from anywhere and operate one or two phones at the Consular Services Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through WhatsApp and Viber.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Taliban have taken control of most of Afghanistan's major cities, including the cacpital. As of Sunday, the Taliban had entered the capital, Kabul, according to the Associated Press (AP).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">They had already captured other major cities. As tensions rise, many countries have stepped up their rescue efforts. While the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, India and other countries are returning their citizens by special planes, Nepal is also under pressure to rescue its citizens.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Sunday, Congress MP Dibya Mani Rajbhandari requested for immediate and effective steps for rescue. He suggested holding talks with the rebel Taliban government to save the lives of Nepali citizens. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"For the safety of the civilians who have reached there, should we hold talks with the Taliban along with the rescue efforts?" said Rajbhandari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> UML MP Bhim Rawal suggested calling on Nepali citizens to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible. “Let's tell Nepali citizens to leave Afghanistan soon. Other countries have already issued such calls,” Rawal said, adding, “Let us take the initiative to rescue them ourselves. Let's not depend on other countries. Let's bring our citizens.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Meanwhile, the International Relations Committee of Lower House has directed the government to immediately rescue Nepali Citizens from Afghanistan. Chairperson of the committee, Pabitra Niraula Kharel instructed the government to send aircraft to bring back its citizens if possible or transfer citizens to other safe countries if immediate rescue is not possible.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Chairperson Kharel said, "It can be done by bringing citizens to Nepal or to other nearby countries like Pakistan. However, we should intensify the work of making Nepalese in Afghanistan safe."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Meanwhile, the government has issued a notice to Nepali citizens living in Afghanistan to get in touch with the government. Online registration has also been opened to collect the details of Nepali citizens trapped there.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13570', 'image' => '20210816025835_lBTmOjxo_400x400.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 14:57:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13824', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal receives Rs 961 Billion in Remittance during Last Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: Nepal received Rs 961.05 billion in remittances in the last fiscal year 2077/78.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 16: Nepal received Rs 961.05 billion in remittances in the last fiscal year 2077/78.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), remittance inflow has increased by 9.8 percent in the last fiscal year. In the previous fiscal year 2076/77, Nepal had received Rs 875.03 billion in remittances. The inflow of remittances had decreased by 0.5 percent in that 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"">However, the inflow of remittances has increased in the last one year. Remittance had declined in the previous fiscal year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. NRB data has shown that remittance increased last year despite the impact of the pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The inflow of remittances had declined in the previous fiscal year due to the impact of coronavirus on Nepal's foreign employment business. Nepali workers lost their jobs due to the lockdown imposed in the employment destination countries to control the coronavirus. At the same time, the demand for new workers had decreased sharply. Therefore, the inflow of remittances had decreased in the previous 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"">However, amid the coronavirus crisis, the growth rate of remittance inflow last year was almost in double digits. Nepal Rastra Bank spokesperson Dev Kumar Dhakal said that the inflow of remittances has increased as the impact of the pandemic has diminished. He also said that this has happened as the money coming through informal channels have also started coming through formal channels.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Lately, employment opportunities in labor destination countries have not shrunk. After the vaccination against corona, employment opportunities have grown,” 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"">Nepalis who have gone for foreign employment also send money through illegal channels. However, due to repeated lockdown and prohibitory orders, illegal transactions could not take place in Nepal. Since then, they have started sending money through formal channels. Experts say that remittance inflows have increased since the beginning of last 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"">Mostly, Nepalis go to Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, South Korea, Bahrain among other countries for employment. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13569', 'image' => '20210816023913_20200922112956_20200422112714_remit.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 14:37:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13823', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Vegetable Prices Fall 240 Percent after Easing of Prohibitory Order', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The prices of green vegetables have taken a nosedive by 240 percent. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 16: The prices of green vegetables have taken a nosedive by as much as 240 percent. According to the daily price list provided by the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Committee, the prices of vegetables including bitter gourd, bottle gourd, pumpkin, cucumber and lady’s finger have dropped sharply in the last one month. The prices have come down due to an increase in import of vegetables in Kalimati after the prohibitory order was eased.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The wholesale price of bitter gourd, which was Rs 85 per kg on July 14, has come down by 240 percent to Rs 25 per kg in a span of a month. The price of beans, which was Rs 115 per kg earlier, has come down by 228 percent to Rs 35 per kg. The price of sponge gourd, which was being sold at Rs 75 per kg, has also declined by about 200 percent and is being sold at Rs 25 per kg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Among the vegetables that have come down in price include yardlong beans, lady’s finger, bottle gourd, sponge gourd, white radish and chayote. During this period, the price of yardlong beans has decreased by about 115 percent from Rs 75 per kg to Rs 35 per kg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, the price of lady’s finger has also declined by about 130 percent from Rs 55 to Rs 24 per kg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to Gita Prasad Acharya, president of the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Entrepreneurs Committee, the import of vegetables in Kalimati has almost doubled since the time of the prohibition. He told New Business Age that prices have fallen due to higher imports and lower consumption. He informed that the consumption of green vegetables has also decreased due to the closure of hotels, restaurants, party palaces and other places.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the committee, the daily arrival of 300 to 400 metric tons of vegetables during the prohibition period has increased to 700 to 800 metric tons at present. The committee said that the import of Indian vegetables has also declined due to the increase in vegetable production in Dhading, Nuwakot, Chitwan, Makwanpur, Kavre and Sindhupalchowk districts. According to the committee, only about 10 percent of the total vegetables entering Kalimati are imported from India.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13568', 'image' => '20210816121021_20191111010938_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 12:09:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13822', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Finance Committee Grills SEBON Officials ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The Finance Committee under the House of Representatives (HoR) has expressed its concerns as the share market regulatory bodies’ officials were found involved in insider trading in the share market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 16: The Finance Committee under the House of Representatives (HoR) has expressed its concerns as the share market regulatory bodies’ officials were found involved in insider trading in the share market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) is the regulatory body of the share market in the country. However, its Chairperson Bhishma Dhungana was reportedly found involved in influencing the share market as his daughter purchased 10,000 units of shares of Sarbottam Cement Company. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Regarding this issue, Finance Ministry had sought clarification from the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) on July 28. The Ministry had asked for the clarification after news reports in different media regarding the involvement of SEBON Chairperson Dhungana and his family members in inside trading with a company to sell in the secondary market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Financial Sector Management and Corporation Coordination Division of the Ministry had asked Dhungana to send his clarification within three days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the same day, the Ministry had also sought similar clarification from Nepal Stock Exchange. As per the established practice, the same family members of the officials of the regulatory bodies are not allowed to purchase the shares. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, in the parliamentary committee meeting on Sunday, the lawmakers opined that there might be some unlawful connection over the issue. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Committee's Chairperson Krishna Prasad Dahal, lawmakers Ram Kumari Jhakri and Pramila Rai said that existing laws do not permit Dhungana family to purchase shares. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, Dhungana responded that he will not respond to any questions related to his name adding that deputy executive director Dr Navraj Adhikari and Muktinath Shrestha will answer the raised concerns. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Responding to the lawmaker’s queries, Shrestha said that media had brought out the issues without proper study and the Committee also asked clarification without serious study. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He further added that they were ready to provide essential documents but the Committee should not ask such clarification only on the basis of media reports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">After the response from Shrestha, lawmakers Jhakri and Rai objected to his performance adding that his response was against the norms as the elected representatives could ask any questions on such public issues. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">After receiving several questions from lawmakers, Dhungana responded that his daughter and daughter in-law are living in the USA for long and their investment was not linked to him. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following the response from Dhungana, the Committee has decided to summon Nepal Stock Exchange Chief Executive Officer Chandra Singh Saud regarding his involvement in the insider trading. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13567', 'image' => '20210816115224_20170519014612_sebon.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 11:51:25', '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
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 18: The government has prepared the ‘Sixth Customs Reform and Modernization Plan’ and started implementing it. Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma unveiled the plan amid a programme on August 17.</span></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 plan has set five different targets including trade facilitation, realistic revenue collection, protection and security of the society, automated customs system and organizational development and capacity building.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Under trade facilitation, the country’s overseas trade will be made cost effective. The revenue collection will be increased by amending and enforcing the customs law.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">For the protection and security of the society, measures will be taken to monitor and control means of transportation to prevent illegal trade and movement of harmful goods in the country. Under the automated customs system, all the procedures of customs clearance will be automated by technology. 'Nepal Customs Automation System' has been implemented in 29 customs offices across the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The goal has been set to increase the competitiveness of the customs administration under organizational development and capacity building. The plan aims to increase organizational capacity to implement modern customs standards. The customs reform plan expects to get 15 results under this achievement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">These include trade facilitation, coordinated border management, voluntary compliance, development and expansion of national one-door system, improvement of physical infrastructure, strengthening of managerial capacity, national security, public health, economy, protection of intellectual property, protection of environment and society.</span></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 Sixth Customs Reform Plan expects coordination and communication among stakeholders, risk management, realistic revenue collection, expansion of automated systems, management of foreign trade data, promotion of ethics and good governance, implementation of policies and procedures for social security.</span></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 administration has been implementing a customs reform plan since 2004. Meanwhile, the Revenue Advisory Committee submitted its first annual report to Finance Minister Janarda recently. The committee has also released a book containing various suggestions related to revenue from 2010 to 2021. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Sharma said that the customs reform plan would be effective only when the service seekers benefit from it. He mentioned that the Sixth Reform Plan would play an important role for making the customs administration more transparent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma said that the suggestions given by the Revenue Advisory Committee would serve as an important reference for future policy making. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-18', 'modified' => '2021-08-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13581', 'image' => '20210818024801_20210118020708_1610926784.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-18 14:47:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13835', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Construction of Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV Transmission Line Begins', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 18: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has commenced the construction of the Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV transmission line in Western Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 18: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has commenced the construction of the Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV transmission line in Western Nepal. NEA, on its 36th anniversary on August 17, began the installation of a transmission line tower. The project will install a total of 161 towers along the Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV transmission line.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Krishna Khadka, a project engineer, informed that the foundation stone of the first tower was laid on August 17. The project is expected to be completed within two years. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">After coming into operation, the transmission line is believed to bring relief to the people of Karnali who have been suffering from voltage fluctuation, Khadka said, adding that the contractor has already started the construction work and the project will be completed on time if there are no external obstructions. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The transmission line has been in operation in this region since 2045 BS. However, people in Karnali are excited about its capacity being extended to 132 kV. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the project office, the 51 km transmission line will be of double circuit. The total length of the transmission line is 51.46 km with 26 angle towers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Likewise, the sub-station in Butwal is spread over 3.72 hectares of land. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-18', 'modified' => '2021-08-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13580', 'image' => '20210818121434_20190915092327_20190517010911_aaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-18 12:13:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13834', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Study Committee Recommends Province 1 Government of Branding Local Alcohol', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 18: A Feasibility Study Committee formed by the Province 1 government has submitted a report to Social Development Minister Usha Kala Rai recommending the provincial government to develop a concept to brand local liquor instead of banning them.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 18: A Feasibility Study Committee formed by the Province 1 government has submitted a report to Social Development Minister Usha Kala Rai recommending the provincial government to develop a concept to brand local liquor instead of banning them.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Upon receiving the report on Monday (August 16), Minister Rai said that the ban versus brand concept has been brought as it is possible to earn income by mobilizing the resources in Province 1. Minister Rai said that the concept should be implemented by removing legal hurdles. Accepting the report, she said, "The state government will start planting millet by selecting a place where millet is produced."</span></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 Minister Rai, millet will be planted in the villages by destroying unwanted weeds. Rai said that Nepal's products should be marketed in neighboring countries like India and China. She claimed that the production of domestic liquor in Nepal will be of hundreds of times better quality than that produced in other parts of the world.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She informed that a team of scientists, technicians, industrialists and legal experts will be formed to maintain quality of product. Coordinator of the committee and a member of State Planning Commission Dr Purna Loksom said the ban versus brand is a broad concept. He said that the report was prepared by collecting information from 229 domestic liquor producers and people's representatives in 10 districts.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-18', 'modified' => '2021-08-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13579', 'image' => '20210818120440_Chyang-Traditional-Nepali-Drink.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-18 12:03:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13833', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Roads and Bridges worth Rs 3 Billion Damaged by Floods and Landslides', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 18: The destruction of roads and bridges due to floods and landslides during this year's monsoon has caused an estimated loss of around Rs 3 billion.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 18:<strong><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></strong>The destruction of roads and bridges due to floods and landslides during this year's monsoon has caused an estimated loss of around Rs 3 billion. According to the preliminary data of the Department of Roads, the damage to roads and bridges has been estimated at Rs 2.20 billion and Rs 800 million, respectively.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the period from mid-June to mid-July, various road sections and 26 bridges across the country were partially or completely damaged. Spokesperson of the department, Shiva Prasad Nepal said that roads and bridges were severely damaged due to floods and landslides this year. According to Nepal, the department is working to repair the roads in the places where there urgent need to resume transportation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, he said that it would take time to rebuild the roads and bridges which have received substantial damages. The department has been demanding a separate budget for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads and bridges damaged by the floods and landslides, but no arrangement has been made.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal said that the department has been constructing such damaged structures from the regular budget and the budget coming for periodic maintenance. At present, the department has provided Rs 110 million to various road division offices. The department has informed that this budget has been made available for emergency maintenance. The budget is available to temporarily operate the roads that need to be operated immediately and to build the bridges in the same way.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the department, roads in 169 places across the country have been damaged so far. Of them, nine road sections have been blocked and the number of roads operating one-way is 104. There are 56 roads operating through both lanes. Various road sections in Manang, Sindhupalchowk, Lamjung, Nuwakot and Rasuwa are still blocked.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Manang is the district where most of the roads have been blocked due to floods and landslides. Six places in the district are blocked so far. The floods and landslides have washed away Bailey bridge and road tracks. </span></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 floods and landslides that have damaged road sections of various highways, vehicles are now operating unilaterally in most places. The flood-damaged roads in Palpa, Bajura, Baitadi and other places have been operating unilaterally.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-18', 'modified' => '2021-08-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13578', 'image' => '20210818115206_20200728022209_1595887425.Clipboard11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-18 11:50:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13831', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Market Bustling with People, but Business not Encouraging', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 17: Although the market is crowded with people after the prohibitory order was lifted in Kathmandu valley, traders say that their business has not been as encouraging as it used to be.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 17: Although the market is crowded with people after the prohibitory order was lifted in Kathmandu valley, traders say that their business has not been as encouraging as it used to be.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Though there was no significant decline in trade of food and daily necessities, the business of clothing and fancy shops, electrical goods, handicrafts and other items is still only around 10 percent. Nagendra Shrestha, who has been operating a fancy dress shop in Ason, said that even though the market seems crowded with people, the business is not taking place as expected. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“Even though the market is open, trade has not been promising because of the decline in purchasing power of consumers due to the impact of the pandemic,” he said. Although this is a good time to trade fancy clothes, the impact of the pandemic has disrupted the market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At present, the market for handicraft items is more affected and the consumer is almost zero. The market for handicraft chiefly relied on foreign tourists in the past and the export has been completely disrupted. Gopal Tandukar, a handicraft trader in Basantapur, said that the situation in Nepal has become more critical due to non-arrival of foreign tourists.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the Federation of Handicraft Association of Nepal (FHAN), only about 5 percent of the total trade takes place in Nepal and about 95 percent of the trade depends on exports. As per the federation, around Rs 11 billion to Rs 15 billion handicraft products aree exported and about 1.1 million people are employed in this sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">President of FHAN Surendrabhai Shakya said that it would take another two to three years for the handicraft industry to regain its momentum due to the impact of the pandemic.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, electronic goods dealers have also said that they have not been able to resume business like they used to. According to the Nepal Electronic Trade Association, trade of fans, bulbs, generators, rice cookers, wires and other appliances has declined by about 80 percent at present. According to the traders, the decline in consumers’ income has diverted consumers' attention to the purchase of essential commodities. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-17', 'modified' => '2021-08-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13577', 'image' => '20210817022001_20200720025203_20160802043332_meta.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-17 14:19:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13832', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism Discusses Progress in Bilateral Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 17: The Ninth Meeting of Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism was held in Kathmandu on Monday (August 16). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 17: The Ninth Meeting of Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism was held in Kathmandu on Monday (August 16) under the co-chairmanship of Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal and Ambassador of India to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to a press release issued by the MoFA, the meeting reviewed the progress of the projects being implemented under bilateral economic and development cooperation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting held discussions on the status of implementation of all on-going projects, including terai roads, cross-border railways, Arun-III hydropower project, petroleum products pipelines, Pancheshwar multipurpose project, post-earthquake reconstruction, irrigation, power and transmission lines, construction of Nepal Police Academy, integrated check posts, Ramayana circuit, HICDPs, motorable bridges over Mahakali River, agriculture and cultural heritage, among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> Both Nepal and India underlined the need for the implementation of the bilateral projects and agreed to take necessary measures to timely address problems and obstacles in the course of implementation of the projects. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> The Ministry further shared that the Nepali delegation included officials of the agencies responsible for the implementation of the respective projects while Indian delegation included officials of the Embassy of India, Kathmandu and project implementing agencies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The bilateral mechanism was set up in September 2016 to oversee the implementation of bilateral projects and take necessary steps for their completion in time. Both sides agreed to organize 10th meeting of the mechanism on a mutually convenient date. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-17', 'modified' => '2021-08-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13576', 'image' => '20210817022722_Fl_600x600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-17 14:26:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13830', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Expresses Dissatisfaction over Leakage of Monetary Policy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has expressed dissatisfaction over the leakage of information about the monetary policy before it was made public.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has expressed dissatisfaction over the leakage of information about the monetary policy before it was made public. Minister Sharma said that he has taken the issue seriously and warned not to do such a thing in the coming days.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the annual review of the fiscal year 2020/21 at a meeting of the Ministerial-Level Development Problem Solving Committee on Monday, Minister Sharma said that it was not right to leak information from the table when the ministry or the concerned organization should have empowered the spokesperson and improved the website instead.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Leaking the monetary policy ahead of schedule is like taking out question papers before the exam. It works to demoralize the state. Stop such acts immediately,” said Minister Sharma.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the flow of information is necessary to maintain transparency, he directed to make arrangements to provide information through the spokesperson and the office's website.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the flow of information is necessary to maintain transparency, he directed concerned bodies to make arrangements to provide information through the spokesperson and the office's website.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma added that a policy should be formulated to create an environment to invest the capital earned from foreign employment in the productive sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Regarding the people’s access to banking, Minister Sharma said that it would not be possible only by opening branches in the municipalities. According to him, the government-owned banks need to open branches in every municipality.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr. Viswanath Poudel stressed the need to manage sustainable resources of the economy. According to him, if the hydropower and cement industries are managed it can be a long-term resource for the national economy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Maha Prasad Adhikari, pointed out the need to revise the concessional loan procedures, business loan procedures, and innovation procedures.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini said that the ministry and its subordinate bodies had done a good job amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to him, the authorities should pay special attention to meet the target of revenue collection, turn the loss-making bodies to profit-earning ones and reduce the trade deficit.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-17', 'modified' => '2021-08-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13575', 'image' => '20210817121241_RS-KTM-FinanceMinisterSharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-17 12:11:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13829', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Parliament Session Prorogued, Fate of 15 Bills Uncertain', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 17: The government has adjourned the current session of the parliament from midnight of Monday, August 16, leaving the fate of 15 bills hanging on the balance. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 17: The government has adjourned the current session of the parliament from midnight of Monday, August 16, leaving the fate of 15 bills hanging on the balance. Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota read out a letter from President Bidya Devi Bhandari stating the current session of both the houses of the federal parliament will end effective from August 16. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At present, 15 bills including the budget brought by the previous government are under consideration in the parliament. Three ordinances including the Financial Ordinance, 2078, the National Debt Ordinance 2078 and the Appropriation Ordinance, 2078 have also been presented to the parliament. Failure to pass these ordinances would raise constitutional questions over the budget announced by the previous government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to Speaker Sapkota, various ordinances, reports of parliamentary committees and constitutional commissions were presented in the parliament. The Parliament session had started from July 18 after the Supreme Court reinstated the House of Representatives on July 12. Prime Minister Deuba also took a vote of confidence after the Parliament was restored.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">After the Supreme Court reinstated the Parliament, only ten sessions have been completed since then. Among the ten sessions, Deuba took vote of confidence, and a few bills have only been tabled in the parliament. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">With the sudden end of the parliamentary session, fate of the ordinances related to the Covid-19 crisis management and acid attack remains uncertain. The government was reluctant to move ahead with the bills introduced by the previous government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Finance Minister Janardan Sharma of the Deuba government has already announced in the parliament about bringing a bill to replace the ordinance budget in line with the common minimum programme of the coalition government.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-17', 'modified' => '2021-08-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13574', 'image' => '20210817114823_Nepalese_Constituent_Assembly_Building.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-17 11:47:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13828', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal has Only 142 Star-Rated Hotels ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The number of star-rated hotels operating in Nepal is not much encouraging.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 16: The number of star-rated hotels operating in Nepal is not much encouraging. According to the Department of Tourism (DoT), only 142 star-rated hotels are in operation. </span></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 'Nepal Tourism Statistics 2020' made public by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, there are only 142-star hotels in Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">To get the recognition of a star-level hotel, one has to register the hotel with the department and meet the required criteria. The total number of rooms in these hotels is 8,595, while the number of beds is 13,877. These hotels offer employment to a total of 3,532 people. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, the number of tourist hotels is 1,171. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The total number of hotels including start-rated hotels and other hotels registered with the department is 1,313, with a total of 45,850 beds.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mohan Bahadur GC, director and information officer of the department, said that this number is only of the hotels registered with the department. He said that a large number of hotels have not been registered with the department. Hoteliers can run their hotel even without registering their hotel with the department. Hoteliers can provide hospitality services at the local level by registering a company in the Company Registrar's Office. "You have to register with the department to get the star level recognition," GC 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"">When marketing for international tourists, they take star recognition to show quality service. Foreign tourists also prefer such hotels. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hotels registered with the Company Registrar’s Office and other agencies must register with the department if they need to be recognized as a star hotel. The process is lengthy as aspects such as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) have to be completed before the star sign can be given to the hotels..</span></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 Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), 3,500 hotels are in operation across the country. This statistic is only of HAN members. The number of unregistered and non-registered hotels in the department and HAN is also increasing.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">HAN's senior vice president Binayak Shah said that the number of hotels getting star recognition is low due to technical problems. He said that it would take one year to do the EIA, and there was a delay in getting the recognition due to other financial and managerial aspects. </span></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 department, there are two luxury resorts and 99 ordinary resorts. There is only one deluxe resort. Similarly, the number of heritage boutique hotels is three.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13573', 'image' => '20210816033424_2021031201502.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 15:33:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13827', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Locals Angered by Delay in Compensation for those Displaced by Biratnagar Airport Expansion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The Biratnagar Airport Construction Struggle Committee is planning to announce protest programmes arguing that the administration has not carried out the work of land acquisition on time.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 16: The Biratnagar Airport Construction Struggle Committee is planning to announce protest programmes arguing that the administration has not carried out the work of land acquisition on time. As many as 350 households living near Biratnagar Airport have been affected due to delay in land acquisition process and to provide them compensation. For the expansion of the airport, the acquisition of 1400 plots of land was stopped in April of 2077 BS.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Hoping to receive compensation, they are frustrated as the government does not provide budget and the local administration does not move forward with the acquisition. They are now demanding that their blocked land be vacated. Uddhav Karki, a member of the Airport Victims' Struggle Committee, said that the locals were in trouble as the three-tier government did not allocate compensation for the airport and the local administration did not carry out on-site survey and evaluation. He said that some of them were not allowed to take loan by keeping as collateral in banks while others were not allowed to move elsewhere by selling their land.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"It is not clear how long we will have to wait for the land the land acquisition to complete," he said. "The government should make sure that they pay the compensation within a particular date."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Another member of the struggle committee, Santosh Khadka, said that the biggest problem was in the housing sector when the airport acquired 126 bighas of land. According to him, three of the five plots of land have been acquired. "It is not possible to build a house on two sides. So far, neither the authority nor the local administration has been able to decide what to do with it," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"After blocking the land for more than a year, the authorities and the administration have not shown any interest in completing the field work and assessment," he said. "So now there is no alternative than to struggle. We will resort to protest.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Chief of the Civil Aviation Authority Biranagar Airport Office Utsav Kharel said that the work could not move forward as the government did not release the budget. He informed that the compensation work could not be done as the federal government did not release the budget, but it was decided to allow the locals to use the land as it would be blocked for a long time. Locals are demanding that they should be able to withdraw loan by keeping the documents of the land as collateral.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Biratnagar Airport Victims Struggle Committee had earlier submitted an eight-point demand letter to the then Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Bhanubhakta Dhakal, Chief District Officer, Biratnagar Metropolitan City and the ward office. The committee has put forth the demand saying that compensation to the Internally Displaced People should be given so that they can buy houses in urban areas and well-equipped places just like their place of residence; maximum compensation of Rs 2 million per Dhur and Rs. 4,500 per square foot for house should be given. They have demanded compensation for the entire land and entire house in case of acquiring half land and half house during the airport expansion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">They have also demanded for the waiver of profit tax as well as the depreciation amount for the houses while compensating. It has been demanded that time should be given to complete the construction and pass the house plan.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13572', 'image' => '20210816033310_Biratnagar_Airport-IMG_8842.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 15:31:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13826', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Automobile Sector Returning to Normalcy', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The business of automobile sector, which had slowed down following the implementation of prohibitory order, is now returning to normalcy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">August 16: <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The business of automobile sector, which had slowed down following the implementation of prohibitory order, is now returning to normalcy. The market which had not witnessed any demand even a month after prohibitory orders were relaxed is finally seeing a rise in customer inquiries and bookings, say automobiles distributors. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The auto sector, which was shut down due to the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, has been open since the second week of June. Entrepreneurs had been complaining that even though showrooms were open, people would not come to enquire about the vehicles. According to Kailash Babu Gelal, Managing Director of G Motors, the demand has been increasing a month after the market resumed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">MAW Enterprises, the official distributor of Skoda, delivered 75 new Skoda Kushaq last week. The model which was unveiled in the market three weeks ago has been delivered in accordance to the demands received from Skoda showrooms all over the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Auto dealers say that the sales of entry level vehicles along with high priced SUVs is encouraging. Ramesh Dhanekhu, managing director of MAW Nepal, the official distributor of Jeep for Nepal, said that the number of people coming to inquire about Jeep is increasing. However sales have not increased as expected due to the confusion over prohibitory order.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Mahesh Pal, Managing Director of Nissan's Mega Motors, said the sales of vehicles have increased by 35 percent compared to last year and customers are waiting for the festive offers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Stating that the sales have increased by about 35 percent compared to the previous year, he informed that many are waiting for the offer of the decade. Nissan Magnite stock vehicles have all been sold out so the demand is very good. Since the COVID-19 infections are rising, the number of bookings has increased more than the number of buyers due to the fear of another possible lockdown.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Krishna Prasad Dulal, president of NADA Automobile Association of Nepal, said that the demand for private vehicles has been growing for the last one year. Though the auto sector has been affected during lockdown, the demand is good. "Even during the six-month long shutdown in the last fiscal year, automobile sales were better than the previous year," he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to him, increase in sales of private vehicles such as jeeps, cars, vans, motorcycles and scooters led to a total imports of 474,679 vehicles in the last year which is an increase by 140,000 compared to the previous year.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13571', 'image' => '20210816030830_20160905121337_nada.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 15:07:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13825', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Begins Homework to Bring Back Nepali Workers from Afghanistan', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The Government of Nepal has started homework to evacuate Nepali nationals from war-ravaged Afghanistan following the rapid advance of Taliban to capture the capital.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 16: The Government of Nepal has started homework to evacuate Nepali nationals from war-ravaged Afghanistan following the rapid advance of Taliban to capture the capital. The government has formed a coordination committee to rescue of Nepali citizens currently living in Afghanistan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bharat Raj Paudyal informed that the government has formed a committee under the coordination of Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Harish Chandra Ghimire to rescue the Nepali citizens in trouble in the conflict-hit country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Speaking at meeting of the International Relations Committee under the House of Representatives, he said the newly formed committee includes joint secretaries of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Health, Nepal Police and CCMC as its members.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Secretary Paudyal said that there are about 1,500 Nepalis working in the formal sector in Afghanistan. He added that the government has received reports that Nepali citizens were within Kabul, the Afghan capital. According to him, those Nepali citizens working in the formal sector in Afghanistan are likely to return to Nepal on the initiative of their organization itself.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">He said the government was in touch with the embassy and missions in Afghanistan. Secretary Paudyal said that the ministry would issue information to Nepali citizens living in Afghanistan to get in touch, create an online portal to inform them about their situation from anywhere and operate one or two phones at the Consular Services Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through WhatsApp and Viber.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Taliban have taken control of most of Afghanistan's major cities, including the cacpital. As of Sunday, the Taliban had entered the capital, Kabul, according to the Associated Press (AP).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">They had already captured other major cities. As tensions rise, many countries have stepped up their rescue efforts. While the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, India and other countries are returning their citizens by special planes, Nepal is also under pressure to rescue its citizens.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Sunday, Congress MP Dibya Mani Rajbhandari requested for immediate and effective steps for rescue. He suggested holding talks with the rebel Taliban government to save the lives of Nepali citizens. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"For the safety of the civilians who have reached there, should we hold talks with the Taliban along with the rescue efforts?" said Rajbhandari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> UML MP Bhim Rawal suggested calling on Nepali citizens to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible. “Let's tell Nepali citizens to leave Afghanistan soon. Other countries have already issued such calls,” Rawal said, adding, “Let us take the initiative to rescue them ourselves. Let's not depend on other countries. Let's bring our citizens.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Meanwhile, the International Relations Committee of Lower House has directed the government to immediately rescue Nepali Citizens from Afghanistan. Chairperson of the committee, Pabitra Niraula Kharel instructed the government to send aircraft to bring back its citizens if possible or transfer citizens to other safe countries if immediate rescue is not possible.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Chairperson Kharel said, "It can be done by bringing citizens to Nepal or to other nearby countries like Pakistan. However, we should intensify the work of making Nepalese in Afghanistan safe."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Meanwhile, the government has issued a notice to Nepali citizens living in Afghanistan to get in touch with the government. Online registration has also been opened to collect the details of Nepali citizens trapped there.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13570', 'image' => '20210816025835_lBTmOjxo_400x400.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 14:57:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13824', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal receives Rs 961 Billion in Remittance during Last Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: Nepal received Rs 961.05 billion in remittances in the last fiscal year 2077/78.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 16: Nepal received Rs 961.05 billion in remittances in the last fiscal year 2077/78.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), remittance inflow has increased by 9.8 percent in the last fiscal year. In the previous fiscal year 2076/77, Nepal had received Rs 875.03 billion in remittances. The inflow of remittances had decreased by 0.5 percent in that 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"">However, the inflow of remittances has increased in the last one year. Remittance had declined in the previous fiscal year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. NRB data has shown that remittance increased last year despite the impact of the pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The inflow of remittances had declined in the previous fiscal year due to the impact of coronavirus on Nepal's foreign employment business. Nepali workers lost their jobs due to the lockdown imposed in the employment destination countries to control the coronavirus. At the same time, the demand for new workers had decreased sharply. Therefore, the inflow of remittances had decreased in the previous 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"">However, amid the coronavirus crisis, the growth rate of remittance inflow last year was almost in double digits. Nepal Rastra Bank spokesperson Dev Kumar Dhakal said that the inflow of remittances has increased as the impact of the pandemic has diminished. He also said that this has happened as the money coming through informal channels have also started coming through formal channels.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Lately, employment opportunities in labor destination countries have not shrunk. After the vaccination against corona, employment opportunities have grown,” 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"">Nepalis who have gone for foreign employment also send money through illegal channels. However, due to repeated lockdown and prohibitory orders, illegal transactions could not take place in Nepal. Since then, they have started sending money through formal channels. Experts say that remittance inflows have increased since the beginning of last 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"">Mostly, Nepalis go to Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, South Korea, Bahrain among other countries for employment. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13569', 'image' => '20210816023913_20200922112956_20200422112714_remit.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 14:37:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13823', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Vegetable Prices Fall 240 Percent after Easing of Prohibitory Order', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The prices of green vegetables have taken a nosedive by 240 percent. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 16: The prices of green vegetables have taken a nosedive by as much as 240 percent. According to the daily price list provided by the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Committee, the prices of vegetables including bitter gourd, bottle gourd, pumpkin, cucumber and lady’s finger have dropped sharply in the last one month. The prices have come down due to an increase in import of vegetables in Kalimati after the prohibitory order was eased.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The wholesale price of bitter gourd, which was Rs 85 per kg on July 14, has come down by 240 percent to Rs 25 per kg in a span of a month. The price of beans, which was Rs 115 per kg earlier, has come down by 228 percent to Rs 35 per kg. The price of sponge gourd, which was being sold at Rs 75 per kg, has also declined by about 200 percent and is being sold at Rs 25 per kg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Among the vegetables that have come down in price include yardlong beans, lady’s finger, bottle gourd, sponge gourd, white radish and chayote. During this period, the price of yardlong beans has decreased by about 115 percent from Rs 75 per kg to Rs 35 per kg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, the price of lady’s finger has also declined by about 130 percent from Rs 55 to Rs 24 per kg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to Gita Prasad Acharya, president of the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Entrepreneurs Committee, the import of vegetables in Kalimati has almost doubled since the time of the prohibition. He told New Business Age that prices have fallen due to higher imports and lower consumption. He informed that the consumption of green vegetables has also decreased due to the closure of hotels, restaurants, party palaces and other places.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the committee, the daily arrival of 300 to 400 metric tons of vegetables during the prohibition period has increased to 700 to 800 metric tons at present. The committee said that the import of Indian vegetables has also declined due to the increase in vegetable production in Dhading, Nuwakot, Chitwan, Makwanpur, Kavre and Sindhupalchowk districts. According to the committee, only about 10 percent of the total vegetables entering Kalimati are imported from India.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13568', 'image' => '20210816121021_20191111010938_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 12:09:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13822', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Finance Committee Grills SEBON Officials ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The Finance Committee under the House of Representatives (HoR) has expressed its concerns as the share market regulatory bodies’ officials were found involved in insider trading in the share market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 16: The Finance Committee under the House of Representatives (HoR) has expressed its concerns as the share market regulatory bodies’ officials were found involved in insider trading in the share market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) is the regulatory body of the share market in the country. However, its Chairperson Bhishma Dhungana was reportedly found involved in influencing the share market as his daughter purchased 10,000 units of shares of Sarbottam Cement Company. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Regarding this issue, Finance Ministry had sought clarification from the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) on July 28. The Ministry had asked for the clarification after news reports in different media regarding the involvement of SEBON Chairperson Dhungana and his family members in inside trading with a company to sell in the secondary market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Financial Sector Management and Corporation Coordination Division of the Ministry had asked Dhungana to send his clarification within three days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the same day, the Ministry had also sought similar clarification from Nepal Stock Exchange. As per the established practice, the same family members of the officials of the regulatory bodies are not allowed to purchase the shares. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, in the parliamentary committee meeting on Sunday, the lawmakers opined that there might be some unlawful connection over the issue. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Committee's Chairperson Krishna Prasad Dahal, lawmakers Ram Kumari Jhakri and Pramila Rai said that existing laws do not permit Dhungana family to purchase shares. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, Dhungana responded that he will not respond to any questions related to his name adding that deputy executive director Dr Navraj Adhikari and Muktinath Shrestha will answer the raised concerns. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Responding to the lawmaker’s queries, Shrestha said that media had brought out the issues without proper study and the Committee also asked clarification without serious study. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He further added that they were ready to provide essential documents but the Committee should not ask such clarification only on the basis of media reports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">After the response from Shrestha, lawmakers Jhakri and Rai objected to his performance adding that his response was against the norms as the elected representatives could ask any questions on such public issues. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">After receiving several questions from lawmakers, Dhungana responded that his daughter and daughter in-law are living in the USA for long and their investment was not linked to him. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following the response from Dhungana, the Committee has decided to summon Nepal Stock Exchange Chief Executive Officer Chandra Singh Saud regarding his involvement in the insider trading. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13567', 'image' => '20210816115224_20170519014612_sebon.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 11:51:25', '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' => '13837', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Sixth Customs Reform and Modernization Plan Targets Trade Facilitation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 18: The government has prepared the ‘Sixth Customs Reform and Modernization Plan’ and started implementing it. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 18: The government has prepared the ‘Sixth Customs Reform and Modernization Plan’ and started implementing it. Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma unveiled the plan amid a programme on August 17.</span></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 plan has set five different targets including trade facilitation, realistic revenue collection, protection and security of the society, automated customs system and organizational development and capacity building.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Under trade facilitation, the country’s overseas trade will be made cost effective. The revenue collection will be increased by amending and enforcing the customs law.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">For the protection and security of the society, measures will be taken to monitor and control means of transportation to prevent illegal trade and movement of harmful goods in the country. Under the automated customs system, all the procedures of customs clearance will be automated by technology. 'Nepal Customs Automation System' has been implemented in 29 customs offices across the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The goal has been set to increase the competitiveness of the customs administration under organizational development and capacity building. The plan aims to increase organizational capacity to implement modern customs standards. The customs reform plan expects to get 15 results under this achievement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">These include trade facilitation, coordinated border management, voluntary compliance, development and expansion of national one-door system, improvement of physical infrastructure, strengthening of managerial capacity, national security, public health, economy, protection of intellectual property, protection of environment and society.</span></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 Sixth Customs Reform Plan expects coordination and communication among stakeholders, risk management, realistic revenue collection, expansion of automated systems, management of foreign trade data, promotion of ethics and good governance, implementation of policies and procedures for social security.</span></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 administration has been implementing a customs reform plan since 2004. Meanwhile, the Revenue Advisory Committee submitted its first annual report to Finance Minister Janarda recently. The committee has also released a book containing various suggestions related to revenue from 2010 to 2021. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Sharma said that the customs reform plan would be effective only when the service seekers benefit from it. He mentioned that the Sixth Reform Plan would play an important role for making the customs administration more transparent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma said that the suggestions given by the Revenue Advisory Committee would serve as an important reference for future policy making. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-18', 'modified' => '2021-08-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13581', 'image' => '20210818024801_20210118020708_1610926784.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-18 14:47:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13835', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Construction of Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV Transmission Line Begins', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 18: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has commenced the construction of the Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV transmission line in Western Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 18: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has commenced the construction of the Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV transmission line in Western Nepal. NEA, on its 36th anniversary on August 17, began the installation of a transmission line tower. The project will install a total of 161 towers along the Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV transmission line.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Krishna Khadka, a project engineer, informed that the foundation stone of the first tower was laid on August 17. The project is expected to be completed within two years. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">After coming into operation, the transmission line is believed to bring relief to the people of Karnali who have been suffering from voltage fluctuation, Khadka said, adding that the contractor has already started the construction work and the project will be completed on time if there are no external obstructions. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The transmission line has been in operation in this region since 2045 BS. However, people in Karnali are excited about its capacity being extended to 132 kV. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the project office, the 51 km transmission line will be of double circuit. The total length of the transmission line is 51.46 km with 26 angle towers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Likewise, the sub-station in Butwal is spread over 3.72 hectares of land. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-18', 'modified' => '2021-08-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13580', 'image' => '20210818121434_20190915092327_20190517010911_aaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-18 12:13:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13834', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Study Committee Recommends Province 1 Government of Branding Local Alcohol', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 18: A Feasibility Study Committee formed by the Province 1 government has submitted a report to Social Development Minister Usha Kala Rai recommending the provincial government to develop a concept to brand local liquor instead of banning them.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 18: A Feasibility Study Committee formed by the Province 1 government has submitted a report to Social Development Minister Usha Kala Rai recommending the provincial government to develop a concept to brand local liquor instead of banning them.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Upon receiving the report on Monday (August 16), Minister Rai said that the ban versus brand concept has been brought as it is possible to earn income by mobilizing the resources in Province 1. Minister Rai said that the concept should be implemented by removing legal hurdles. Accepting the report, she said, "The state government will start planting millet by selecting a place where millet is produced."</span></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 Minister Rai, millet will be planted in the villages by destroying unwanted weeds. Rai said that Nepal's products should be marketed in neighboring countries like India and China. She claimed that the production of domestic liquor in Nepal will be of hundreds of times better quality than that produced in other parts of the world.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She informed that a team of scientists, technicians, industrialists and legal experts will be formed to maintain quality of product. Coordinator of the committee and a member of State Planning Commission Dr Purna Loksom said the ban versus brand is a broad concept. He said that the report was prepared by collecting information from 229 domestic liquor producers and people's representatives in 10 districts.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-18', 'modified' => '2021-08-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13579', 'image' => '20210818120440_Chyang-Traditional-Nepali-Drink.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-18 12:03:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13833', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Roads and Bridges worth Rs 3 Billion Damaged by Floods and Landslides', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 18: The destruction of roads and bridges due to floods and landslides during this year's monsoon has caused an estimated loss of around Rs 3 billion.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 18:<strong><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></strong>The destruction of roads and bridges due to floods and landslides during this year's monsoon has caused an estimated loss of around Rs 3 billion. According to the preliminary data of the Department of Roads, the damage to roads and bridges has been estimated at Rs 2.20 billion and Rs 800 million, respectively.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the period from mid-June to mid-July, various road sections and 26 bridges across the country were partially or completely damaged. Spokesperson of the department, Shiva Prasad Nepal said that roads and bridges were severely damaged due to floods and landslides this year. According to Nepal, the department is working to repair the roads in the places where there urgent need to resume transportation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, he said that it would take time to rebuild the roads and bridges which have received substantial damages. The department has been demanding a separate budget for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads and bridges damaged by the floods and landslides, but no arrangement has been made.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal said that the department has been constructing such damaged structures from the regular budget and the budget coming for periodic maintenance. At present, the department has provided Rs 110 million to various road division offices. The department has informed that this budget has been made available for emergency maintenance. The budget is available to temporarily operate the roads that need to be operated immediately and to build the bridges in the same way.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the department, roads in 169 places across the country have been damaged so far. Of them, nine road sections have been blocked and the number of roads operating one-way is 104. There are 56 roads operating through both lanes. Various road sections in Manang, Sindhupalchowk, Lamjung, Nuwakot and Rasuwa are still blocked.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Manang is the district where most of the roads have been blocked due to floods and landslides. Six places in the district are blocked so far. The floods and landslides have washed away Bailey bridge and road tracks. </span></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 floods and landslides that have damaged road sections of various highways, vehicles are now operating unilaterally in most places. The flood-damaged roads in Palpa, Bajura, Baitadi and other places have been operating unilaterally.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-18', 'modified' => '2021-08-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13578', 'image' => '20210818115206_20200728022209_1595887425.Clipboard11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-18 11:50:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13831', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Market Bustling with People, but Business not Encouraging', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 17: Although the market is crowded with people after the prohibitory order was lifted in Kathmandu valley, traders say that their business has not been as encouraging as it used to be.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 17: Although the market is crowded with people after the prohibitory order was lifted in Kathmandu valley, traders say that their business has not been as encouraging as it used to be.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Though there was no significant decline in trade of food and daily necessities, the business of clothing and fancy shops, electrical goods, handicrafts and other items is still only around 10 percent. Nagendra Shrestha, who has been operating a fancy dress shop in Ason, said that even though the market seems crowded with people, the business is not taking place as expected. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“Even though the market is open, trade has not been promising because of the decline in purchasing power of consumers due to the impact of the pandemic,” he said. Although this is a good time to trade fancy clothes, the impact of the pandemic has disrupted the market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At present, the market for handicraft items is more affected and the consumer is almost zero. The market for handicraft chiefly relied on foreign tourists in the past and the export has been completely disrupted. Gopal Tandukar, a handicraft trader in Basantapur, said that the situation in Nepal has become more critical due to non-arrival of foreign tourists.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the Federation of Handicraft Association of Nepal (FHAN), only about 5 percent of the total trade takes place in Nepal and about 95 percent of the trade depends on exports. As per the federation, around Rs 11 billion to Rs 15 billion handicraft products aree exported and about 1.1 million people are employed in this sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">President of FHAN Surendrabhai Shakya said that it would take another two to three years for the handicraft industry to regain its momentum due to the impact of the pandemic.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, electronic goods dealers have also said that they have not been able to resume business like they used to. According to the Nepal Electronic Trade Association, trade of fans, bulbs, generators, rice cookers, wires and other appliances has declined by about 80 percent at present. According to the traders, the decline in consumers’ income has diverted consumers' attention to the purchase of essential commodities. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-17', 'modified' => '2021-08-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13577', 'image' => '20210817022001_20200720025203_20160802043332_meta.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-17 14:19:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13832', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism Discusses Progress in Bilateral Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 17: The Ninth Meeting of Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism was held in Kathmandu on Monday (August 16). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 17: The Ninth Meeting of Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism was held in Kathmandu on Monday (August 16) under the co-chairmanship of Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal and Ambassador of India to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to a press release issued by the MoFA, the meeting reviewed the progress of the projects being implemented under bilateral economic and development cooperation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting held discussions on the status of implementation of all on-going projects, including terai roads, cross-border railways, Arun-III hydropower project, petroleum products pipelines, Pancheshwar multipurpose project, post-earthquake reconstruction, irrigation, power and transmission lines, construction of Nepal Police Academy, integrated check posts, Ramayana circuit, HICDPs, motorable bridges over Mahakali River, agriculture and cultural heritage, among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> Both Nepal and India underlined the need for the implementation of the bilateral projects and agreed to take necessary measures to timely address problems and obstacles in the course of implementation of the projects. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> The Ministry further shared that the Nepali delegation included officials of the agencies responsible for the implementation of the respective projects while Indian delegation included officials of the Embassy of India, Kathmandu and project implementing agencies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The bilateral mechanism was set up in September 2016 to oversee the implementation of bilateral projects and take necessary steps for their completion in time. Both sides agreed to organize 10th meeting of the mechanism on a mutually convenient date. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-17', 'modified' => '2021-08-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13576', 'image' => '20210817022722_Fl_600x600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-17 14:26:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13830', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Expresses Dissatisfaction over Leakage of Monetary Policy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has expressed dissatisfaction over the leakage of information about the monetary policy before it was made public.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has expressed dissatisfaction over the leakage of information about the monetary policy before it was made public. Minister Sharma said that he has taken the issue seriously and warned not to do such a thing in the coming days.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the annual review of the fiscal year 2020/21 at a meeting of the Ministerial-Level Development Problem Solving Committee on Monday, Minister Sharma said that it was not right to leak information from the table when the ministry or the concerned organization should have empowered the spokesperson and improved the website instead.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Leaking the monetary policy ahead of schedule is like taking out question papers before the exam. It works to demoralize the state. Stop such acts immediately,” said Minister Sharma.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the flow of information is necessary to maintain transparency, he directed to make arrangements to provide information through the spokesperson and the office's website.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the flow of information is necessary to maintain transparency, he directed concerned bodies to make arrangements to provide information through the spokesperson and the office's website.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma added that a policy should be formulated to create an environment to invest the capital earned from foreign employment in the productive sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Regarding the people’s access to banking, Minister Sharma said that it would not be possible only by opening branches in the municipalities. According to him, the government-owned banks need to open branches in every municipality.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr. Viswanath Poudel stressed the need to manage sustainable resources of the economy. According to him, if the hydropower and cement industries are managed it can be a long-term resource for the national economy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Maha Prasad Adhikari, pointed out the need to revise the concessional loan procedures, business loan procedures, and innovation procedures.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini said that the ministry and its subordinate bodies had done a good job amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to him, the authorities should pay special attention to meet the target of revenue collection, turn the loss-making bodies to profit-earning ones and reduce the trade deficit.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-17', 'modified' => '2021-08-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13575', 'image' => '20210817121241_RS-KTM-FinanceMinisterSharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-17 12:11:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13829', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Parliament Session Prorogued, Fate of 15 Bills Uncertain', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 17: The government has adjourned the current session of the parliament from midnight of Monday, August 16, leaving the fate of 15 bills hanging on the balance. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 17: The government has adjourned the current session of the parliament from midnight of Monday, August 16, leaving the fate of 15 bills hanging on the balance. Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota read out a letter from President Bidya Devi Bhandari stating the current session of both the houses of the federal parliament will end effective from August 16. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At present, 15 bills including the budget brought by the previous government are under consideration in the parliament. Three ordinances including the Financial Ordinance, 2078, the National Debt Ordinance 2078 and the Appropriation Ordinance, 2078 have also been presented to the parliament. Failure to pass these ordinances would raise constitutional questions over the budget announced by the previous government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to Speaker Sapkota, various ordinances, reports of parliamentary committees and constitutional commissions were presented in the parliament. The Parliament session had started from July 18 after the Supreme Court reinstated the House of Representatives on July 12. Prime Minister Deuba also took a vote of confidence after the Parliament was restored.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">After the Supreme Court reinstated the Parliament, only ten sessions have been completed since then. Among the ten sessions, Deuba took vote of confidence, and a few bills have only been tabled in the parliament. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">With the sudden end of the parliamentary session, fate of the ordinances related to the Covid-19 crisis management and acid attack remains uncertain. The government was reluctant to move ahead with the bills introduced by the previous government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Finance Minister Janardan Sharma of the Deuba government has already announced in the parliament about bringing a bill to replace the ordinance budget in line with the common minimum programme of the coalition government.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-17', 'modified' => '2021-08-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13574', 'image' => '20210817114823_Nepalese_Constituent_Assembly_Building.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-17 11:47:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13828', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal has Only 142 Star-Rated Hotels ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The number of star-rated hotels operating in Nepal is not much encouraging.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 16: The number of star-rated hotels operating in Nepal is not much encouraging. According to the Department of Tourism (DoT), only 142 star-rated hotels are in operation. </span></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 'Nepal Tourism Statistics 2020' made public by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, there are only 142-star hotels in Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">To get the recognition of a star-level hotel, one has to register the hotel with the department and meet the required criteria. The total number of rooms in these hotels is 8,595, while the number of beds is 13,877. These hotels offer employment to a total of 3,532 people. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, the number of tourist hotels is 1,171. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The total number of hotels including start-rated hotels and other hotels registered with the department is 1,313, with a total of 45,850 beds.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mohan Bahadur GC, director and information officer of the department, said that this number is only of the hotels registered with the department. He said that a large number of hotels have not been registered with the department. Hoteliers can run their hotel even without registering their hotel with the department. Hoteliers can provide hospitality services at the local level by registering a company in the Company Registrar's Office. "You have to register with the department to get the star level recognition," GC 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"">When marketing for international tourists, they take star recognition to show quality service. Foreign tourists also prefer such hotels. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hotels registered with the Company Registrar’s Office and other agencies must register with the department if they need to be recognized as a star hotel. The process is lengthy as aspects such as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) have to be completed before the star sign can be given to the hotels..</span></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 Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), 3,500 hotels are in operation across the country. This statistic is only of HAN members. The number of unregistered and non-registered hotels in the department and HAN is also increasing.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">HAN's senior vice president Binayak Shah said that the number of hotels getting star recognition is low due to technical problems. He said that it would take one year to do the EIA, and there was a delay in getting the recognition due to other financial and managerial aspects. </span></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 department, there are two luxury resorts and 99 ordinary resorts. There is only one deluxe resort. Similarly, the number of heritage boutique hotels is three.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13573', 'image' => '20210816033424_2021031201502.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 15:33:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13827', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Locals Angered by Delay in Compensation for those Displaced by Biratnagar Airport Expansion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The Biratnagar Airport Construction Struggle Committee is planning to announce protest programmes arguing that the administration has not carried out the work of land acquisition on time.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 16: The Biratnagar Airport Construction Struggle Committee is planning to announce protest programmes arguing that the administration has not carried out the work of land acquisition on time. As many as 350 households living near Biratnagar Airport have been affected due to delay in land acquisition process and to provide them compensation. For the expansion of the airport, the acquisition of 1400 plots of land was stopped in April of 2077 BS.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Hoping to receive compensation, they are frustrated as the government does not provide budget and the local administration does not move forward with the acquisition. They are now demanding that their blocked land be vacated. Uddhav Karki, a member of the Airport Victims' Struggle Committee, said that the locals were in trouble as the three-tier government did not allocate compensation for the airport and the local administration did not carry out on-site survey and evaluation. He said that some of them were not allowed to take loan by keeping as collateral in banks while others were not allowed to move elsewhere by selling their land.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"It is not clear how long we will have to wait for the land the land acquisition to complete," he said. "The government should make sure that they pay the compensation within a particular date."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Another member of the struggle committee, Santosh Khadka, said that the biggest problem was in the housing sector when the airport acquired 126 bighas of land. According to him, three of the five plots of land have been acquired. "It is not possible to build a house on two sides. So far, neither the authority nor the local administration has been able to decide what to do with it," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"After blocking the land for more than a year, the authorities and the administration have not shown any interest in completing the field work and assessment," he said. "So now there is no alternative than to struggle. We will resort to protest.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Chief of the Civil Aviation Authority Biranagar Airport Office Utsav Kharel said that the work could not move forward as the government did not release the budget. He informed that the compensation work could not be done as the federal government did not release the budget, but it was decided to allow the locals to use the land as it would be blocked for a long time. Locals are demanding that they should be able to withdraw loan by keeping the documents of the land as collateral.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Biratnagar Airport Victims Struggle Committee had earlier submitted an eight-point demand letter to the then Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Bhanubhakta Dhakal, Chief District Officer, Biratnagar Metropolitan City and the ward office. The committee has put forth the demand saying that compensation to the Internally Displaced People should be given so that they can buy houses in urban areas and well-equipped places just like their place of residence; maximum compensation of Rs 2 million per Dhur and Rs. 4,500 per square foot for house should be given. They have demanded compensation for the entire land and entire house in case of acquiring half land and half house during the airport expansion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">They have also demanded for the waiver of profit tax as well as the depreciation amount for the houses while compensating. It has been demanded that time should be given to complete the construction and pass the house plan.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13572', 'image' => '20210816033310_Biratnagar_Airport-IMG_8842.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 15:31:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13826', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Automobile Sector Returning to Normalcy', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The business of automobile sector, which had slowed down following the implementation of prohibitory order, is now returning to normalcy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">August 16: <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The business of automobile sector, which had slowed down following the implementation of prohibitory order, is now returning to normalcy. The market which had not witnessed any demand even a month after prohibitory orders were relaxed is finally seeing a rise in customer inquiries and bookings, say automobiles distributors. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The auto sector, which was shut down due to the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, has been open since the second week of June. Entrepreneurs had been complaining that even though showrooms were open, people would not come to enquire about the vehicles. According to Kailash Babu Gelal, Managing Director of G Motors, the demand has been increasing a month after the market resumed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">MAW Enterprises, the official distributor of Skoda, delivered 75 new Skoda Kushaq last week. The model which was unveiled in the market three weeks ago has been delivered in accordance to the demands received from Skoda showrooms all over the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Auto dealers say that the sales of entry level vehicles along with high priced SUVs is encouraging. Ramesh Dhanekhu, managing director of MAW Nepal, the official distributor of Jeep for Nepal, said that the number of people coming to inquire about Jeep is increasing. However sales have not increased as expected due to the confusion over prohibitory order.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Mahesh Pal, Managing Director of Nissan's Mega Motors, said the sales of vehicles have increased by 35 percent compared to last year and customers are waiting for the festive offers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Stating that the sales have increased by about 35 percent compared to the previous year, he informed that many are waiting for the offer of the decade. Nissan Magnite stock vehicles have all been sold out so the demand is very good. Since the COVID-19 infections are rising, the number of bookings has increased more than the number of buyers due to the fear of another possible lockdown.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Krishna Prasad Dulal, president of NADA Automobile Association of Nepal, said that the demand for private vehicles has been growing for the last one year. Though the auto sector has been affected during lockdown, the demand is good. "Even during the six-month long shutdown in the last fiscal year, automobile sales were better than the previous year," he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to him, increase in sales of private vehicles such as jeeps, cars, vans, motorcycles and scooters led to a total imports of 474,679 vehicles in the last year which is an increase by 140,000 compared to the previous year.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13571', 'image' => '20210816030830_20160905121337_nada.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 15:07:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13825', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Begins Homework to Bring Back Nepali Workers from Afghanistan', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The Government of Nepal has started homework to evacuate Nepali nationals from war-ravaged Afghanistan following the rapid advance of Taliban to capture the capital.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 16: The Government of Nepal has started homework to evacuate Nepali nationals from war-ravaged Afghanistan following the rapid advance of Taliban to capture the capital. The government has formed a coordination committee to rescue of Nepali citizens currently living in Afghanistan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bharat Raj Paudyal informed that the government has formed a committee under the coordination of Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Harish Chandra Ghimire to rescue the Nepali citizens in trouble in the conflict-hit country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Speaking at meeting of the International Relations Committee under the House of Representatives, he said the newly formed committee includes joint secretaries of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Health, Nepal Police and CCMC as its members.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Secretary Paudyal said that there are about 1,500 Nepalis working in the formal sector in Afghanistan. He added that the government has received reports that Nepali citizens were within Kabul, the Afghan capital. According to him, those Nepali citizens working in the formal sector in Afghanistan are likely to return to Nepal on the initiative of their organization itself.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">He said the government was in touch with the embassy and missions in Afghanistan. Secretary Paudyal said that the ministry would issue information to Nepali citizens living in Afghanistan to get in touch, create an online portal to inform them about their situation from anywhere and operate one or two phones at the Consular Services Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through WhatsApp and Viber.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Taliban have taken control of most of Afghanistan's major cities, including the cacpital. As of Sunday, the Taliban had entered the capital, Kabul, according to the Associated Press (AP).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">They had already captured other major cities. As tensions rise, many countries have stepped up their rescue efforts. While the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, India and other countries are returning their citizens by special planes, Nepal is also under pressure to rescue its citizens.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Sunday, Congress MP Dibya Mani Rajbhandari requested for immediate and effective steps for rescue. He suggested holding talks with the rebel Taliban government to save the lives of Nepali citizens. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"For the safety of the civilians who have reached there, should we hold talks with the Taliban along with the rescue efforts?" said Rajbhandari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> UML MP Bhim Rawal suggested calling on Nepali citizens to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible. “Let's tell Nepali citizens to leave Afghanistan soon. Other countries have already issued such calls,” Rawal said, adding, “Let us take the initiative to rescue them ourselves. Let's not depend on other countries. Let's bring our citizens.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Meanwhile, the International Relations Committee of Lower House has directed the government to immediately rescue Nepali Citizens from Afghanistan. Chairperson of the committee, Pabitra Niraula Kharel instructed the government to send aircraft to bring back its citizens if possible or transfer citizens to other safe countries if immediate rescue is not possible.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Chairperson Kharel said, "It can be done by bringing citizens to Nepal or to other nearby countries like Pakistan. However, we should intensify the work of making Nepalese in Afghanistan safe."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Meanwhile, the government has issued a notice to Nepali citizens living in Afghanistan to get in touch with the government. Online registration has also been opened to collect the details of Nepali citizens trapped there.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13570', 'image' => '20210816025835_lBTmOjxo_400x400.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 14:57:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13824', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal receives Rs 961 Billion in Remittance during Last Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: Nepal received Rs 961.05 billion in remittances in the last fiscal year 2077/78.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 16: Nepal received Rs 961.05 billion in remittances in the last fiscal year 2077/78.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), remittance inflow has increased by 9.8 percent in the last fiscal year. In the previous fiscal year 2076/77, Nepal had received Rs 875.03 billion in remittances. The inflow of remittances had decreased by 0.5 percent in that 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"">However, the inflow of remittances has increased in the last one year. Remittance had declined in the previous fiscal year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. NRB data has shown that remittance increased last year despite the impact of the pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The inflow of remittances had declined in the previous fiscal year due to the impact of coronavirus on Nepal's foreign employment business. Nepali workers lost their jobs due to the lockdown imposed in the employment destination countries to control the coronavirus. At the same time, the demand for new workers had decreased sharply. Therefore, the inflow of remittances had decreased in the previous 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"">However, amid the coronavirus crisis, the growth rate of remittance inflow last year was almost in double digits. Nepal Rastra Bank spokesperson Dev Kumar Dhakal said that the inflow of remittances has increased as the impact of the pandemic has diminished. He also said that this has happened as the money coming through informal channels have also started coming through formal channels.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Lately, employment opportunities in labor destination countries have not shrunk. After the vaccination against corona, employment opportunities have grown,” 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"">Nepalis who have gone for foreign employment also send money through illegal channels. However, due to repeated lockdown and prohibitory orders, illegal transactions could not take place in Nepal. Since then, they have started sending money through formal channels. Experts say that remittance inflows have increased since the beginning of last 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"">Mostly, Nepalis go to Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, South Korea, Bahrain among other countries for employment. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13569', 'image' => '20210816023913_20200922112956_20200422112714_remit.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 14:37:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13823', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Vegetable Prices Fall 240 Percent after Easing of Prohibitory Order', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The prices of green vegetables have taken a nosedive by 240 percent. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 16: The prices of green vegetables have taken a nosedive by as much as 240 percent. According to the daily price list provided by the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Committee, the prices of vegetables including bitter gourd, bottle gourd, pumpkin, cucumber and lady’s finger have dropped sharply in the last one month. The prices have come down due to an increase in import of vegetables in Kalimati after the prohibitory order was eased.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The wholesale price of bitter gourd, which was Rs 85 per kg on July 14, has come down by 240 percent to Rs 25 per kg in a span of a month. The price of beans, which was Rs 115 per kg earlier, has come down by 228 percent to Rs 35 per kg. The price of sponge gourd, which was being sold at Rs 75 per kg, has also declined by about 200 percent and is being sold at Rs 25 per kg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Among the vegetables that have come down in price include yardlong beans, lady’s finger, bottle gourd, sponge gourd, white radish and chayote. During this period, the price of yardlong beans has decreased by about 115 percent from Rs 75 per kg to Rs 35 per kg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, the price of lady’s finger has also declined by about 130 percent from Rs 55 to Rs 24 per kg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to Gita Prasad Acharya, president of the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Entrepreneurs Committee, the import of vegetables in Kalimati has almost doubled since the time of the prohibition. He told New Business Age that prices have fallen due to higher imports and lower consumption. He informed that the consumption of green vegetables has also decreased due to the closure of hotels, restaurants, party palaces and other places.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the committee, the daily arrival of 300 to 400 metric tons of vegetables during the prohibition period has increased to 700 to 800 metric tons at present. The committee said that the import of Indian vegetables has also declined due to the increase in vegetable production in Dhading, Nuwakot, Chitwan, Makwanpur, Kavre and Sindhupalchowk districts. According to the committee, only about 10 percent of the total vegetables entering Kalimati are imported from India.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13568', 'image' => '20210816121021_20191111010938_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 12:09:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13822', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Finance Committee Grills SEBON Officials ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The Finance Committee under the House of Representatives (HoR) has expressed its concerns as the share market regulatory bodies’ officials were found involved in insider trading in the share market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 16: The Finance Committee under the House of Representatives (HoR) has expressed its concerns as the share market regulatory bodies’ officials were found involved in insider trading in the share market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) is the regulatory body of the share market in the country. However, its Chairperson Bhishma Dhungana was reportedly found involved in influencing the share market as his daughter purchased 10,000 units of shares of Sarbottam Cement Company. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Regarding this issue, Finance Ministry had sought clarification from the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) on July 28. The Ministry had asked for the clarification after news reports in different media regarding the involvement of SEBON Chairperson Dhungana and his family members in inside trading with a company to sell in the secondary market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Financial Sector Management and Corporation Coordination Division of the Ministry had asked Dhungana to send his clarification within three days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the same day, the Ministry had also sought similar clarification from Nepal Stock Exchange. As per the established practice, the same family members of the officials of the regulatory bodies are not allowed to purchase the shares. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, in the parliamentary committee meeting on Sunday, the lawmakers opined that there might be some unlawful connection over the issue. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Committee's Chairperson Krishna Prasad Dahal, lawmakers Ram Kumari Jhakri and Pramila Rai said that existing laws do not permit Dhungana family to purchase shares. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, Dhungana responded that he will not respond to any questions related to his name adding that deputy executive director Dr Navraj Adhikari and Muktinath Shrestha will answer the raised concerns. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Responding to the lawmaker’s queries, Shrestha said that media had brought out the issues without proper study and the Committee also asked clarification without serious study. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He further added that they were ready to provide essential documents but the Committee should not ask such clarification only on the basis of media reports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">After the response from Shrestha, lawmakers Jhakri and Rai objected to his performance adding that his response was against the norms as the elected representatives could ask any questions on such public issues. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">After receiving several questions from lawmakers, Dhungana responded that his daughter and daughter in-law are living in the USA for long and their investment was not linked to him. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following the response from Dhungana, the Committee has decided to summon Nepal Stock Exchange Chief Executive Officer Chandra Singh Saud regarding his involvement in the insider trading. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13567', 'image' => '20210816115224_20170519014612_sebon.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 11:51:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 18: The government has prepared the ‘Sixth Customs Reform and Modernization Plan’ and started implementing it. Minister for Finance Janardan Sharma unveiled the plan amid a programme on August 17.</span></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 plan has set five different targets including trade facilitation, realistic revenue collection, protection and security of the society, automated customs system and organizational development and capacity building.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Under trade facilitation, the country’s overseas trade will be made cost effective. The revenue collection will be increased by amending and enforcing the customs law.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">For the protection and security of the society, measures will be taken to monitor and control means of transportation to prevent illegal trade and movement of harmful goods in the country. Under the automated customs system, all the procedures of customs clearance will be automated by technology. 'Nepal Customs Automation System' has been implemented in 29 customs offices across the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The goal has been set to increase the competitiveness of the customs administration under organizational development and capacity building. The plan aims to increase organizational capacity to implement modern customs standards. The customs reform plan expects to get 15 results under this achievement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">These include trade facilitation, coordinated border management, voluntary compliance, development and expansion of national one-door system, improvement of physical infrastructure, strengthening of managerial capacity, national security, public health, economy, protection of intellectual property, protection of environment and society.</span></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 Sixth Customs Reform Plan expects coordination and communication among stakeholders, risk management, realistic revenue collection, expansion of automated systems, management of foreign trade data, promotion of ethics and good governance, implementation of policies and procedures for social security.</span></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 administration has been implementing a customs reform plan since 2004. Meanwhile, the Revenue Advisory Committee submitted its first annual report to Finance Minister Janarda recently. The committee has also released a book containing various suggestions related to revenue from 2010 to 2021. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Sharma said that the customs reform plan would be effective only when the service seekers benefit from it. He mentioned that the Sixth Reform Plan would play an important role for making the customs administration more transparent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma said that the suggestions given by the Revenue Advisory Committee would serve as an important reference for future policy making. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-18', 'modified' => '2021-08-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13581', 'image' => '20210818024801_20210118020708_1610926784.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-18 14:47:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13835', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Construction of Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV Transmission Line Begins', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 18: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has commenced the construction of the Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV transmission line in Western Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 18: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has commenced the construction of the Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV transmission line in Western Nepal. NEA, on its 36th anniversary on August 17, began the installation of a transmission line tower. The project will install a total of 161 towers along the Koholpur-Surkhet 132kV transmission line.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Krishna Khadka, a project engineer, informed that the foundation stone of the first tower was laid on August 17. The project is expected to be completed within two years. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">After coming into operation, the transmission line is believed to bring relief to the people of Karnali who have been suffering from voltage fluctuation, Khadka said, adding that the contractor has already started the construction work and the project will be completed on time if there are no external obstructions. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The transmission line has been in operation in this region since 2045 BS. However, people in Karnali are excited about its capacity being extended to 132 kV. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the project office, the 51 km transmission line will be of double circuit. The total length of the transmission line is 51.46 km with 26 angle towers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Likewise, the sub-station in Butwal is spread over 3.72 hectares of land. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-18', 'modified' => '2021-08-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13580', 'image' => '20210818121434_20190915092327_20190517010911_aaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-18 12:13:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13834', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Study Committee Recommends Province 1 Government of Branding Local Alcohol', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 18: A Feasibility Study Committee formed by the Province 1 government has submitted a report to Social Development Minister Usha Kala Rai recommending the provincial government to develop a concept to brand local liquor instead of banning them.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 18: A Feasibility Study Committee formed by the Province 1 government has submitted a report to Social Development Minister Usha Kala Rai recommending the provincial government to develop a concept to brand local liquor instead of banning them.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Upon receiving the report on Monday (August 16), Minister Rai said that the ban versus brand concept has been brought as it is possible to earn income by mobilizing the resources in Province 1. Minister Rai said that the concept should be implemented by removing legal hurdles. Accepting the report, she said, "The state government will start planting millet by selecting a place where millet is produced."</span></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 Minister Rai, millet will be planted in the villages by destroying unwanted weeds. Rai said that Nepal's products should be marketed in neighboring countries like India and China. She claimed that the production of domestic liquor in Nepal will be of hundreds of times better quality than that produced in other parts of the world.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She informed that a team of scientists, technicians, industrialists and legal experts will be formed to maintain quality of product. Coordinator of the committee and a member of State Planning Commission Dr Purna Loksom said the ban versus brand is a broad concept. He said that the report was prepared by collecting information from 229 domestic liquor producers and people's representatives in 10 districts.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-18', 'modified' => '2021-08-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13579', 'image' => '20210818120440_Chyang-Traditional-Nepali-Drink.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-18 12:03:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13833', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Roads and Bridges worth Rs 3 Billion Damaged by Floods and Landslides', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 18: The destruction of roads and bridges due to floods and landslides during this year's monsoon has caused an estimated loss of around Rs 3 billion.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 18:<strong><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></strong>The destruction of roads and bridges due to floods and landslides during this year's monsoon has caused an estimated loss of around Rs 3 billion. According to the preliminary data of the Department of Roads, the damage to roads and bridges has been estimated at Rs 2.20 billion and Rs 800 million, respectively.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the period from mid-June to mid-July, various road sections and 26 bridges across the country were partially or completely damaged. Spokesperson of the department, Shiva Prasad Nepal said that roads and bridges were severely damaged due to floods and landslides this year. According to Nepal, the department is working to repair the roads in the places where there urgent need to resume transportation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, he said that it would take time to rebuild the roads and bridges which have received substantial damages. The department has been demanding a separate budget for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads and bridges damaged by the floods and landslides, but no arrangement has been made.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal said that the department has been constructing such damaged structures from the regular budget and the budget coming for periodic maintenance. At present, the department has provided Rs 110 million to various road division offices. The department has informed that this budget has been made available for emergency maintenance. The budget is available to temporarily operate the roads that need to be operated immediately and to build the bridges in the same way.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the department, roads in 169 places across the country have been damaged so far. Of them, nine road sections have been blocked and the number of roads operating one-way is 104. There are 56 roads operating through both lanes. Various road sections in Manang, Sindhupalchowk, Lamjung, Nuwakot and Rasuwa are still blocked.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Manang is the district where most of the roads have been blocked due to floods and landslides. Six places in the district are blocked so far. The floods and landslides have washed away Bailey bridge and road tracks. </span></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 floods and landslides that have damaged road sections of various highways, vehicles are now operating unilaterally in most places. The flood-damaged roads in Palpa, Bajura, Baitadi and other places have been operating unilaterally.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-18', 'modified' => '2021-08-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13578', 'image' => '20210818115206_20200728022209_1595887425.Clipboard11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-18 11:50:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13831', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Market Bustling with People, but Business not Encouraging', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 17: Although the market is crowded with people after the prohibitory order was lifted in Kathmandu valley, traders say that their business has not been as encouraging as it used to be.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 17: Although the market is crowded with people after the prohibitory order was lifted in Kathmandu valley, traders say that their business has not been as encouraging as it used to be.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Though there was no significant decline in trade of food and daily necessities, the business of clothing and fancy shops, electrical goods, handicrafts and other items is still only around 10 percent. Nagendra Shrestha, who has been operating a fancy dress shop in Ason, said that even though the market seems crowded with people, the business is not taking place as expected. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“Even though the market is open, trade has not been promising because of the decline in purchasing power of consumers due to the impact of the pandemic,” he said. Although this is a good time to trade fancy clothes, the impact of the pandemic has disrupted the market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At present, the market for handicraft items is more affected and the consumer is almost zero. The market for handicraft chiefly relied on foreign tourists in the past and the export has been completely disrupted. Gopal Tandukar, a handicraft trader in Basantapur, said that the situation in Nepal has become more critical due to non-arrival of foreign tourists.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the Federation of Handicraft Association of Nepal (FHAN), only about 5 percent of the total trade takes place in Nepal and about 95 percent of the trade depends on exports. As per the federation, around Rs 11 billion to Rs 15 billion handicraft products aree exported and about 1.1 million people are employed in this sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">President of FHAN Surendrabhai Shakya said that it would take another two to three years for the handicraft industry to regain its momentum due to the impact of the pandemic.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, electronic goods dealers have also said that they have not been able to resume business like they used to. According to the Nepal Electronic Trade Association, trade of fans, bulbs, generators, rice cookers, wires and other appliances has declined by about 80 percent at present. According to the traders, the decline in consumers’ income has diverted consumers' attention to the purchase of essential commodities. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-17', 'modified' => '2021-08-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13577', 'image' => '20210817022001_20200720025203_20160802043332_meta.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-17 14:19:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13832', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism Discusses Progress in Bilateral Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 17: The Ninth Meeting of Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism was held in Kathmandu on Monday (August 16). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 17: The Ninth Meeting of Nepal-India Oversight Mechanism was held in Kathmandu on Monday (August 16) under the co-chairmanship of Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal and Ambassador of India to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to a press release issued by the MoFA, the meeting reviewed the progress of the projects being implemented under bilateral economic and development cooperation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting held discussions on the status of implementation of all on-going projects, including terai roads, cross-border railways, Arun-III hydropower project, petroleum products pipelines, Pancheshwar multipurpose project, post-earthquake reconstruction, irrigation, power and transmission lines, construction of Nepal Police Academy, integrated check posts, Ramayana circuit, HICDPs, motorable bridges over Mahakali River, agriculture and cultural heritage, among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> Both Nepal and India underlined the need for the implementation of the bilateral projects and agreed to take necessary measures to timely address problems and obstacles in the course of implementation of the projects. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> The Ministry further shared that the Nepali delegation included officials of the agencies responsible for the implementation of the respective projects while Indian delegation included officials of the Embassy of India, Kathmandu and project implementing agencies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The bilateral mechanism was set up in September 2016 to oversee the implementation of bilateral projects and take necessary steps for their completion in time. Both sides agreed to organize 10th meeting of the mechanism on a mutually convenient date. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-17', 'modified' => '2021-08-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13576', 'image' => '20210817022722_Fl_600x600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-17 14:26:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13830', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Expresses Dissatisfaction over Leakage of Monetary Policy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has expressed dissatisfaction over the leakage of information about the monetary policy before it was made public.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 17: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has expressed dissatisfaction over the leakage of information about the monetary policy before it was made public. Minister Sharma said that he has taken the issue seriously and warned not to do such a thing in the coming days.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the annual review of the fiscal year 2020/21 at a meeting of the Ministerial-Level Development Problem Solving Committee on Monday, Minister Sharma said that it was not right to leak information from the table when the ministry or the concerned organization should have empowered the spokesperson and improved the website instead.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Leaking the monetary policy ahead of schedule is like taking out question papers before the exam. It works to demoralize the state. Stop such acts immediately,” said Minister Sharma.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the flow of information is necessary to maintain transparency, he directed to make arrangements to provide information through the spokesperson and the office's website.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that the flow of information is necessary to maintain transparency, he directed concerned bodies to make arrangements to provide information through the spokesperson and the office's website.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Sharma added that a policy should be formulated to create an environment to invest the capital earned from foreign employment in the productive sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Regarding the people’s access to banking, Minister Sharma said that it would not be possible only by opening branches in the municipalities. According to him, the government-owned banks need to open branches in every municipality.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission Dr. Viswanath Poudel stressed the need to manage sustainable resources of the economy. According to him, if the hydropower and cement industries are managed it can be a long-term resource for the national economy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank, Maha Prasad Adhikari, pointed out the need to revise the concessional loan procedures, business loan procedures, and innovation procedures.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini said that the ministry and its subordinate bodies had done a good job amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to him, the authorities should pay special attention to meet the target of revenue collection, turn the loss-making bodies to profit-earning ones and reduce the trade deficit.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-17', 'modified' => '2021-08-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13575', 'image' => '20210817121241_RS-KTM-FinanceMinisterSharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-17 12:11:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13829', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Parliament Session Prorogued, Fate of 15 Bills Uncertain', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 17: The government has adjourned the current session of the parliament from midnight of Monday, August 16, leaving the fate of 15 bills hanging on the balance. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 17: The government has adjourned the current session of the parliament from midnight of Monday, August 16, leaving the fate of 15 bills hanging on the balance. Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota read out a letter from President Bidya Devi Bhandari stating the current session of both the houses of the federal parliament will end effective from August 16. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At present, 15 bills including the budget brought by the previous government are under consideration in the parliament. Three ordinances including the Financial Ordinance, 2078, the National Debt Ordinance 2078 and the Appropriation Ordinance, 2078 have also been presented to the parliament. Failure to pass these ordinances would raise constitutional questions over the budget announced by the previous government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to Speaker Sapkota, various ordinances, reports of parliamentary committees and constitutional commissions were presented in the parliament. The Parliament session had started from July 18 after the Supreme Court reinstated the House of Representatives on July 12. Prime Minister Deuba also took a vote of confidence after the Parliament was restored.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">After the Supreme Court reinstated the Parliament, only ten sessions have been completed since then. Among the ten sessions, Deuba took vote of confidence, and a few bills have only been tabled in the parliament. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">With the sudden end of the parliamentary session, fate of the ordinances related to the Covid-19 crisis management and acid attack remains uncertain. The government was reluctant to move ahead with the bills introduced by the previous government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Finance Minister Janardan Sharma of the Deuba government has already announced in the parliament about bringing a bill to replace the ordinance budget in line with the common minimum programme of the coalition government.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-17', 'modified' => '2021-08-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13574', 'image' => '20210817114823_Nepalese_Constituent_Assembly_Building.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-17 11:47:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13828', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal has Only 142 Star-Rated Hotels ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The number of star-rated hotels operating in Nepal is not much encouraging.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 16: The number of star-rated hotels operating in Nepal is not much encouraging. According to the Department of Tourism (DoT), only 142 star-rated hotels are in operation. </span></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 'Nepal Tourism Statistics 2020' made public by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, there are only 142-star hotels in Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">To get the recognition of a star-level hotel, one has to register the hotel with the department and meet the required criteria. The total number of rooms in these hotels is 8,595, while the number of beds is 13,877. These hotels offer employment to a total of 3,532 people. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, the number of tourist hotels is 1,171. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The total number of hotels including start-rated hotels and other hotels registered with the department is 1,313, with a total of 45,850 beds.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mohan Bahadur GC, director and information officer of the department, said that this number is only of the hotels registered with the department. He said that a large number of hotels have not been registered with the department. Hoteliers can run their hotel even without registering their hotel with the department. Hoteliers can provide hospitality services at the local level by registering a company in the Company Registrar's Office. "You have to register with the department to get the star level recognition," GC 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"">When marketing for international tourists, they take star recognition to show quality service. Foreign tourists also prefer such hotels. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hotels registered with the Company Registrar’s Office and other agencies must register with the department if they need to be recognized as a star hotel. The process is lengthy as aspects such as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) have to be completed before the star sign can be given to the hotels..</span></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 Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), 3,500 hotels are in operation across the country. This statistic is only of HAN members. The number of unregistered and non-registered hotels in the department and HAN is also increasing.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">HAN's senior vice president Binayak Shah said that the number of hotels getting star recognition is low due to technical problems. He said that it would take one year to do the EIA, and there was a delay in getting the recognition due to other financial and managerial aspects. </span></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 department, there are two luxury resorts and 99 ordinary resorts. There is only one deluxe resort. Similarly, the number of heritage boutique hotels is three.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13573', 'image' => '20210816033424_2021031201502.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 15:33:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13827', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Locals Angered by Delay in Compensation for those Displaced by Biratnagar Airport Expansion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The Biratnagar Airport Construction Struggle Committee is planning to announce protest programmes arguing that the administration has not carried out the work of land acquisition on time.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 16: The Biratnagar Airport Construction Struggle Committee is planning to announce protest programmes arguing that the administration has not carried out the work of land acquisition on time. As many as 350 households living near Biratnagar Airport have been affected due to delay in land acquisition process and to provide them compensation. For the expansion of the airport, the acquisition of 1400 plots of land was stopped in April of 2077 BS.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Hoping to receive compensation, they are frustrated as the government does not provide budget and the local administration does not move forward with the acquisition. They are now demanding that their blocked land be vacated. Uddhav Karki, a member of the Airport Victims' Struggle Committee, said that the locals were in trouble as the three-tier government did not allocate compensation for the airport and the local administration did not carry out on-site survey and evaluation. He said that some of them were not allowed to take loan by keeping as collateral in banks while others were not allowed to move elsewhere by selling their land.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"It is not clear how long we will have to wait for the land the land acquisition to complete," he said. "The government should make sure that they pay the compensation within a particular date."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Another member of the struggle committee, Santosh Khadka, said that the biggest problem was in the housing sector when the airport acquired 126 bighas of land. According to him, three of the five plots of land have been acquired. "It is not possible to build a house on two sides. So far, neither the authority nor the local administration has been able to decide what to do with it," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"After blocking the land for more than a year, the authorities and the administration have not shown any interest in completing the field work and assessment," he said. "So now there is no alternative than to struggle. We will resort to protest.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Chief of the Civil Aviation Authority Biranagar Airport Office Utsav Kharel said that the work could not move forward as the government did not release the budget. He informed that the compensation work could not be done as the federal government did not release the budget, but it was decided to allow the locals to use the land as it would be blocked for a long time. Locals are demanding that they should be able to withdraw loan by keeping the documents of the land as collateral.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Biratnagar Airport Victims Struggle Committee had earlier submitted an eight-point demand letter to the then Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister Bhanubhakta Dhakal, Chief District Officer, Biratnagar Metropolitan City and the ward office. The committee has put forth the demand saying that compensation to the Internally Displaced People should be given so that they can buy houses in urban areas and well-equipped places just like their place of residence; maximum compensation of Rs 2 million per Dhur and Rs. 4,500 per square foot for house should be given. They have demanded compensation for the entire land and entire house in case of acquiring half land and half house during the airport expansion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">They have also demanded for the waiver of profit tax as well as the depreciation amount for the houses while compensating. It has been demanded that time should be given to complete the construction and pass the house plan.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13572', 'image' => '20210816033310_Biratnagar_Airport-IMG_8842.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 15:31:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13826', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Automobile Sector Returning to Normalcy', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The business of automobile sector, which had slowed down following the implementation of prohibitory order, is now returning to normalcy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">August 16: <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The business of automobile sector, which had slowed down following the implementation of prohibitory order, is now returning to normalcy. The market which had not witnessed any demand even a month after prohibitory orders were relaxed is finally seeing a rise in customer inquiries and bookings, say automobiles distributors. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The auto sector, which was shut down due to the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, has been open since the second week of June. Entrepreneurs had been complaining that even though showrooms were open, people would not come to enquire about the vehicles. According to Kailash Babu Gelal, Managing Director of G Motors, the demand has been increasing a month after the market resumed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">MAW Enterprises, the official distributor of Skoda, delivered 75 new Skoda Kushaq last week. The model which was unveiled in the market three weeks ago has been delivered in accordance to the demands received from Skoda showrooms all over the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Auto dealers say that the sales of entry level vehicles along with high priced SUVs is encouraging. Ramesh Dhanekhu, managing director of MAW Nepal, the official distributor of Jeep for Nepal, said that the number of people coming to inquire about Jeep is increasing. However sales have not increased as expected due to the confusion over prohibitory order.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Mahesh Pal, Managing Director of Nissan's Mega Motors, said the sales of vehicles have increased by 35 percent compared to last year and customers are waiting for the festive offers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Stating that the sales have increased by about 35 percent compared to the previous year, he informed that many are waiting for the offer of the decade. Nissan Magnite stock vehicles have all been sold out so the demand is very good. Since the COVID-19 infections are rising, the number of bookings has increased more than the number of buyers due to the fear of another possible lockdown.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Krishna Prasad Dulal, president of NADA Automobile Association of Nepal, said that the demand for private vehicles has been growing for the last one year. Though the auto sector has been affected during lockdown, the demand is good. "Even during the six-month long shutdown in the last fiscal year, automobile sales were better than the previous year," he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to him, increase in sales of private vehicles such as jeeps, cars, vans, motorcycles and scooters led to a total imports of 474,679 vehicles in the last year which is an increase by 140,000 compared to the previous year.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13571', 'image' => '20210816030830_20160905121337_nada.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 15:07:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13825', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Begins Homework to Bring Back Nepali Workers from Afghanistan', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The Government of Nepal has started homework to evacuate Nepali nationals from war-ravaged Afghanistan following the rapid advance of Taliban to capture the capital.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 16: The Government of Nepal has started homework to evacuate Nepali nationals from war-ravaged Afghanistan following the rapid advance of Taliban to capture the capital. The government has formed a coordination committee to rescue of Nepali citizens currently living in Afghanistan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bharat Raj Paudyal informed that the government has formed a committee under the coordination of Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Harish Chandra Ghimire to rescue the Nepali citizens in trouble in the conflict-hit country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Speaking at meeting of the International Relations Committee under the House of Representatives, he said the newly formed committee includes joint secretaries of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Health, Nepal Police and CCMC as its members.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Secretary Paudyal said that there are about 1,500 Nepalis working in the formal sector in Afghanistan. He added that the government has received reports that Nepali citizens were within Kabul, the Afghan capital. According to him, those Nepali citizens working in the formal sector in Afghanistan are likely to return to Nepal on the initiative of their organization itself.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">He said the government was in touch with the embassy and missions in Afghanistan. Secretary Paudyal said that the ministry would issue information to Nepali citizens living in Afghanistan to get in touch, create an online portal to inform them about their situation from anywhere and operate one or two phones at the Consular Services Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through WhatsApp and Viber.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Taliban have taken control of most of Afghanistan's major cities, including the cacpital. As of Sunday, the Taliban had entered the capital, Kabul, according to the Associated Press (AP).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">They had already captured other major cities. As tensions rise, many countries have stepped up their rescue efforts. While the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, India and other countries are returning their citizens by special planes, Nepal is also under pressure to rescue its citizens.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">At the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Sunday, Congress MP Dibya Mani Rajbhandari requested for immediate and effective steps for rescue. He suggested holding talks with the rebel Taliban government to save the lives of Nepali citizens. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">"For the safety of the civilians who have reached there, should we hold talks with the Taliban along with the rescue efforts?" said Rajbhandari.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> UML MP Bhim Rawal suggested calling on Nepali citizens to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible. “Let's tell Nepali citizens to leave Afghanistan soon. Other countries have already issued such calls,” Rawal said, adding, “Let us take the initiative to rescue them ourselves. Let's not depend on other countries. Let's bring our citizens.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Meanwhile, the International Relations Committee of Lower House has directed the government to immediately rescue Nepali Citizens from Afghanistan. Chairperson of the committee, Pabitra Niraula Kharel instructed the government to send aircraft to bring back its citizens if possible or transfer citizens to other safe countries if immediate rescue is not possible.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Chairperson Kharel said, "It can be done by bringing citizens to Nepal or to other nearby countries like Pakistan. However, we should intensify the work of making Nepalese in Afghanistan safe."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Meanwhile, the government has issued a notice to Nepali citizens living in Afghanistan to get in touch with the government. Online registration has also been opened to collect the details of Nepali citizens trapped there.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13570', 'image' => '20210816025835_lBTmOjxo_400x400.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 14:57:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13824', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal receives Rs 961 Billion in Remittance during Last Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: Nepal received Rs 961.05 billion in remittances in the last fiscal year 2077/78.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">August 16: Nepal received Rs 961.05 billion in remittances in the last fiscal year 2077/78.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), remittance inflow has increased by 9.8 percent in the last fiscal year. In the previous fiscal year 2076/77, Nepal had received Rs 875.03 billion in remittances. The inflow of remittances had decreased by 0.5 percent in that 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"">However, the inflow of remittances has increased in the last one year. Remittance had declined in the previous fiscal year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. NRB data has shown that remittance increased last year despite the impact of the pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The inflow of remittances had declined in the previous fiscal year due to the impact of coronavirus on Nepal's foreign employment business. Nepali workers lost their jobs due to the lockdown imposed in the employment destination countries to control the coronavirus. At the same time, the demand for new workers had decreased sharply. Therefore, the inflow of remittances had decreased in the previous 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"">However, amid the coronavirus crisis, the growth rate of remittance inflow last year was almost in double digits. Nepal Rastra Bank spokesperson Dev Kumar Dhakal said that the inflow of remittances has increased as the impact of the pandemic has diminished. He also said that this has happened as the money coming through informal channels have also started coming through formal channels.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Lately, employment opportunities in labor destination countries have not shrunk. After the vaccination against corona, employment opportunities have grown,” 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"">Nepalis who have gone for foreign employment also send money through illegal channels. However, due to repeated lockdown and prohibitory orders, illegal transactions could not take place in Nepal. Since then, they have started sending money through formal channels. Experts say that remittance inflows have increased since the beginning of last 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"">Mostly, Nepalis go to Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, South Korea, Bahrain among other countries for employment. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13569', 'image' => '20210816023913_20200922112956_20200422112714_remit.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 14:37:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13823', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Vegetable Prices Fall 240 Percent after Easing of Prohibitory Order', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The prices of green vegetables have taken a nosedive by 240 percent. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">August 16: The prices of green vegetables have taken a nosedive by as much as 240 percent. According to the daily price list provided by the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Committee, the prices of vegetables including bitter gourd, bottle gourd, pumpkin, cucumber and lady’s finger have dropped sharply in the last one month. The prices have come down due to an increase in import of vegetables in Kalimati after the prohibitory order was eased.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The wholesale price of bitter gourd, which was Rs 85 per kg on July 14, has come down by 240 percent to Rs 25 per kg in a span of a month. The price of beans, which was Rs 115 per kg earlier, has come down by 228 percent to Rs 35 per kg. The price of sponge gourd, which was being sold at Rs 75 per kg, has also declined by about 200 percent and is being sold at Rs 25 per kg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Among the vegetables that have come down in price include yardlong beans, lady’s finger, bottle gourd, sponge gourd, white radish and chayote. During this period, the price of yardlong beans has decreased by about 115 percent from Rs 75 per kg to Rs 35 per kg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, the price of lady’s finger has also declined by about 130 percent from Rs 55 to Rs 24 per kg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to Gita Prasad Acharya, president of the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Entrepreneurs Committee, the import of vegetables in Kalimati has almost doubled since the time of the prohibition. He told New Business Age that prices have fallen due to higher imports and lower consumption. He informed that the consumption of green vegetables has also decreased due to the closure of hotels, restaurants, party palaces and other places.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the committee, the daily arrival of 300 to 400 metric tons of vegetables during the prohibition period has increased to 700 to 800 metric tons at present. The committee said that the import of Indian vegetables has also declined due to the increase in vegetable production in Dhading, Nuwakot, Chitwan, Makwanpur, Kavre and Sindhupalchowk districts. According to the committee, only about 10 percent of the total vegetables entering Kalimati are imported from India.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13568', 'image' => '20210816121021_20191111010938_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 12:09:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13822', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Finance Committee Grills SEBON Officials ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 16: The Finance Committee under the House of Representatives (HoR) has expressed its concerns as the share market regulatory bodies’ officials were found involved in insider trading in the share market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 16: The Finance Committee under the House of Representatives (HoR) has expressed its concerns as the share market regulatory bodies’ officials were found involved in insider trading in the share market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) is the regulatory body of the share market in the country. However, its Chairperson Bhishma Dhungana was reportedly found involved in influencing the share market as his daughter purchased 10,000 units of shares of Sarbottam Cement Company. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Regarding this issue, Finance Ministry had sought clarification from the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) on July 28. The Ministry had asked for the clarification after news reports in different media regarding the involvement of SEBON Chairperson Dhungana and his family members in inside trading with a company to sell in the secondary market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Financial Sector Management and Corporation Coordination Division of the Ministry had asked Dhungana to send his clarification within three days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the same day, the Ministry had also sought similar clarification from Nepal Stock Exchange. As per the established practice, the same family members of the officials of the regulatory bodies are not allowed to purchase the shares. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, in the parliamentary committee meeting on Sunday, the lawmakers opined that there might be some unlawful connection over the issue. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Committee's Chairperson Krishna Prasad Dahal, lawmakers Ram Kumari Jhakri and Pramila Rai said that existing laws do not permit Dhungana family to purchase shares. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, Dhungana responded that he will not respond to any questions related to his name adding that deputy executive director Dr Navraj Adhikari and Muktinath Shrestha will answer the raised concerns. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Responding to the lawmaker’s queries, Shrestha said that media had brought out the issues without proper study and the Committee also asked clarification without serious study. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He further added that they were ready to provide essential documents but the Committee should not ask such clarification only on the basis of media reports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">After the response from Shrestha, lawmakers Jhakri and Rai objected to his performance adding that his response was against the norms as the elected representatives could ask any questions on such public issues. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">After receiving several questions from lawmakers, Dhungana responded that his daughter and daughter in-law are living in the USA for long and their investment was not linked to him. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following the response from Dhungana, the Committee has decided to summon Nepal Stock Exchange Chief Executive Officer Chandra Singh Saud regarding his involvement in the insider trading. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-08-16', 'modified' => '2021-08-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13567', 'image' => '20210816115224_20170519014612_sebon.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-08-16 11:51:25', '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
