July 6: The prohibitory order in Kathmandu valley has been extended till July 16 by relaxing the odd-even vehicle…
July 6: The prohibitory order in Kathmandu valley has been extended till July 16 by relaxing the odd-even vehicle…
uly 5: The government has decided to provide up to Rs 500,000 to the families displaced by natural disaster.…
July 5: Coca-Cola has appointed Devyani Rajya Laxmi Rana as the multinational company’s vice president of public affairs, communications and sustainability for India and Southwest Asia.…
uly 4: Only about two-thirds of registered pharmaceutical companies in the country are fully operational at…
July 4: The government has set ambitious targets for the next three years to implement the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact, which is yet to be endorsed by the…
July 4: Experts in the field of tourism have suggested the Nepal Tourism Board to bring a budget in coordination with the federal, state, and local levels to revive the tourism that has been burdened by Covid 19.…
July 4: Nepali industrialists have demanded India to waive anti-dumping duty (ADD) imposed on jute exported from Nepal.…
July 4: Carpets worth around Rs 5 billion have been languishing in different warehouses due to problems in exporting the product.…
July 4: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has so far in the current fiscal year granted permission for the sale of ordinary shares (IPO) of a total of 18 companies.…
Ministry of Finance (MoF) has authorized the Election Commission to spend up to Rs 7.73 billion for midterm polls announced for…
July 2: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has taken action against six commercial banks for violating its policy throughout the fiscal year 2077/78.…
July 2: India has removed restriction on import of palm oil almost a year after imposing a ban.…
July 2: The COVID-19 pandemic has hugely affected the tourism sector in the country. Tourism has been one of the mainstays of the country’s economy.…
July 2: Employees of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) and insurance companies have started a protest programme expressing dissatisfaction over the contribution-based Social Security Fund…
July 2: The much-awaited shipment of fertilizers purchased by the Government of Nepal from Bangladesh has finally arrived in the country.…
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Public transportations has to implement the standard health protocol. The vehicles entering the valley can be allowed with the permission of the local administration.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, all kinds of businesses will be open from Tuesday morning (July 6). Such orders were issued by a joint meeting of the Chief District Officers of the three districts of the Kathmandu Valley (Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur) on Monday (July 5). The meeting has imposed a complete restriction on mass gatherings, conferences, operation of cinema halls, party palaces among others. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, gatherings in open places, weddings in hotels and party palaces, mass gatherings, religious programs except for daily worship, and educational activities in physical presence still restricted</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Local transportations is allowed to operate from 9 am to 11 am and from 4 pm to 7 pm. However, drug and health care stores will be open round the clock. Other shops and businesses can operate till 6 pm.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Businesses are required to follow all the health safety standards. Failure to do so could result in a halt of business operations. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Online delivery of essential items as well as delivery of food and other take-away items from restaurants are allowed till 7 pm in Kaathmandu valley.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Public transport will not be allowed to carry more passengers than the seating capacity. Passengers must wear a mask. If not, entry to the vehicle is prohibited. Drivers and helpers are required to wear visors and gloves. Public vehicles are required to have a sanitizer placed at the door of the vehicle. Vehicles are also required to be disinfected.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, Safa's clean tempo and the blue microbus are asked to have only four passengers in the back seat and one on the driver's side. These public vehicles have to put a plastic barrier in the middle of the vehicle to separate the passengers on both sides. In case of private vehicles, full health standards must be followed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Public and private vehicles entering the valley for urgent work will be allowed to enter with the approval of the concerned district administration office. Vehicles for public and private construction have been asked to operate from 9 pm to 5 am.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">All kinds of pre-scheduled written and practical examinations can be conducted by following the standard health protocols. While conducting the examination, more than 25 people are not allowed to sit for exams in a single hall. The examinations have to be conducted in two shifts. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, seminars, meetings and trainings can have no more than 25 participants.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-06', 'modified' => '2021-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13378', 'image' => '20210706111648_1625544322.lockdown.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-06 10:27:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13631', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Provide Half a Million Rupees in Relief to Victims of Natural Disaster ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'uly 5: The government has decided to provide up to Rs 500,000 to the families displaced by natural disaster. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 5: The government has decided to provide up to Rs 500,000 to the families displaced by natural disaster. According to the government, it has allocated the relief amount for reconstruction and rehabilitation. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government will provide Rs 500,000 per family in the mountainous districts, Rs 400,000 in the hill districts and Rs 300,000 in the terai districts in accordance to the Disaster Affected Private Housing Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Grant Procedure 2077. The amount will be released in installments. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Speaking at a meeting of the National Assembly on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel said that the government has initiated the process of providing an immediate relief of Rs 50,000 per affected family through the District Administration Offices for temporary accommodation. A total of Rs 28.6 million has been allocated for this. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Informing the assembly about the damage caused by the natural disaster in different parts of the country since the beginning of monsoon this year, Poudel said that the government has given necessary instructions for immediate rescue, relief and rehabilitation in coordination with the stakeholders. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> According to him, 572 houses have been completely damaged while 112 houses have been partially damaged since the onset of the rainy season this year. Similarly, floods and landslides have also damaged 36 government buildings and nine schools. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">A total of fifteen motorable bridges have been damaged, that includes seven in Sindhupalchowk district, two in Manang and Chitwan, one each in Tanahun, Morang, Udayapur and Siraha. Five wooden bridges were swept away in Manang. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, a total of 23 suspension bridges have been swept away in different parts of the country including 14 in Sindhupalchowk, seven in Manang. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The access road and bridge leading to the headworks of Melamchi Drinking Water Project have been damaged. Poudel said that the repair work has already started after confirming the damage to the headworks. According to him, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport has already taken initiative to open the blocked road by constructing two bailey bridges in Sindhupalchowk. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Forty-three small and large drinking water projects across the country have been damaged while 25 hydropower projects in different districts including Kaski, Manang and Sindhupalchok have been partially damaged. Minister Poudel said that they are yet to receive the details of total damages so far in all the provinces and districts. He also informed that they have asked the details of the damage from the concerned agencies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the government, reconstruction work has started by providing a grant of Rs 199.7 million at the rate of Rs 50,000 per family in the first installment to 3,949 families affected by last year's monsoon. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-05', 'modified' => '2021-07-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13377', 'image' => '20210705020447_20201220030536_20201015115013_1602717511.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-05 14:04:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13632', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Devyani Rana appointed Coca-Cola’s Vice President ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 5: Coca-Cola has appointed Devyani Rajya Laxmi Rana as the multinational company’s vice president of public affairs, communications and sustainability for India and Southwest Asia. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 5: Coca-Cola has appointed Devyani Rajya Laxmi Rana as the multinational company’s vice president of public affairs, communications and sustainability for India and Southwest Asia. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Rana was earlier working with Caterpillar India where—as Director of Public Affairs for India, Nepal, Bhutan—she was leading Caterpillar and its subsidiaries’ work in government/corporate affairs, public relations and communications, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability for India, Nepal and Bhutan regions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">She is a daughter of Rastriya Prajatantra Party’s leader Pashupati Shumsher Rana and Rani Usha Raje Scindia, who is a daughter of Gwalior’s last maharaja Jivajirao Scindia and Aishwarya Singh.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">She had also worked with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and United Nations (UN) in India, The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Geneva, Switzerland World Economic Forum (WEF).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“I am delighted to welcome Devyani on this exciting charter to deepen Coca-Cola’s engagement in the region as she joins the leadership team to spearhead the practice in the region,” said Sanket Ray, President, India and Southwest Asia, commenting on the appointment. “Rana brings a wealth of experience in advocating for policies, legislation, trade agreements and regulations. Her contributions will augment our belief in our purpose even stronger and serve as an acceleration of the work that was already underway.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Rana, an alumni of London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), London, also holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur in Nepal and a Bachelor of Arts, in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-05', 'modified' => '2021-07-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13376', 'image' => '20210705023038_IMG-20210705-WA0000.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-05 14:20:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13629', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Only Two-thirds Pharmaceutical Companies Fully Operational', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'uly 4: Only about two-thirds of registered pharmaceutical companies in the country are fully operational at present.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 4: Only about two-thirds of registered pharmaceutical companies in the country are fully operational at present. This was revealed in a detailed study report on self-reliant pharmaceuticals and drug manufacturing industries of Nepal released by the Department of Industry on Saturday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the report, there are 103 pharmaceutical companies registered with the Department of Drug Administration as of April 25, 2021, of which only 66 companies are fully operational. The department informed that these companies have received licenses for both production and sales of medicines. Similarly, the report states that 33 companies are in the process of obtaining licenses for production, while other four licensed industries are not operating due to technical reasons.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Out of 66 companies, four (6.06 percent) companies are in Province 1, 14 (21.21 percent) are in Province 2, Bagmati Province has 37 (56.06 percent) companies, Gandaki has 2 (3.03 percent) companies and Lumbini Province has 9 (13.63 percent) companies. The study report shows that there isn’t any pharmaceutical company in the other two provinces.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">All the above-mentioned pharmaceutical companies are private and mostly large (90 percent) with a total capital of more than Rs 250 million. Some medium-sized companies (10 percent) are also planning to increase investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Most of the companies in operation are producing medicines in the form of tablets, capsules, liquid (syrup/suspension), powder (dry syrup), ointment/cream and eye/ear drops.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The yearly production capacity of tablets of 60 out of 66 companies is 2 billion units and the production capacity of capsules is 1.75 billion units. Similarly, the production capacity of liquid medicine of 45 companies is 4.5 billion units. In addition, the ointment production capacity of 40 companies is 150 million units and powder (dry syrup) is 30 million units. Moreover, the production capacity of nose/ear drops of five companies is 3.7 million units. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13374', 'image' => '20210704045857_20200818124630_1597700501.Clipboard10.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 16:58:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13628', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Sets Ambitious Target for MCC Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: The government has set ambitious targets for the next three years to implement the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact, which is yet to be endorsed by the parliament.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 4: The government has set ambitious targets for the next three years to implement the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact, which is yet to be endorsed by the parliament.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The MCC agreement has been mired in controversy since a long time. However, the government has claimed that the work of the project will be expedited in the next three years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The recent expenditure structure prepared by the National Planning Commission, chaired by the Prime Minister, outlines the achievements to be made in the next three years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The targets are operation of Transmission Line Rehabilitation Action Plan, Additional Survey of Transmission Line (30 km), compensation and distribution to 20 percent of the people affected by the project, completion of 10 percent of MCA Nepal Partnership Program, detailed survey and design of projects, construction of 55% of substations, 15 percent of equipment installation, maintenance and operation of 40 km long Dhankhola Lamahi road section, maintenance of 37 km long Lamahi-Shivakhola road section among others.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, 178 out of 189 plots have been acquired for Ratmate Substation and Rs 1.26 billion compensation has been distributed to the affected people. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">It is claimed that preparations are in the final stage and an agreement has been signed with the Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Department of Roads seeking required help. Agreements will be signed between MCA Nepal and the Ministry of Forestry to cut down trees and use of forest land in the next fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, the government claims that three sub-stations, 315 km of transmission lines and about 77 km of national highways will be renovated by the Millennium Challenge Account in the next five years. The cost of this project is estimated to be at Rs 70.50 billion. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepal had signed an agreement with the US-backed MCC in September 2017 to build a project with a grant of around Rs 55 billion. It had been agreed that the United States would provide $ 500 million in grants for two projects to increase electricity consumption and reduce the cost of road transport, and that the Government of Nepal would contribute $ 130 million to these projects.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Although Nepal has expressed its commitment to implement the agreement by completing all the procedures, the project has not moved ahead as agreed. MCA-Nepal has been saying that the project cannot be fully implemented without it being endorsed by the parliament. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13373', 'image' => '20210704043711_1625349562.3.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 16:36:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13626', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Experts Suggest NTB to Introduce the Budget in Coordination with all 3 Tiers of Government', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: Experts in the field of tourism have suggested the Nepal Tourism Board to bring a budget in coordination with the federal, state, and local levels to revive the tourism that has been burdened by Covid 19. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">July 4: Experts in the field of tourism have suggested the Nepal Tourism Board to bring a budget in coordination with the federal, state, and local levels to revive the tourism that has been burdened by Covid 19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Speaking at a recent virtual interaction organized by the Board, the experts suggested formulating a plan for maximum use of limited resources. They stressed that the tourism activities need to be revitalized gradually by ensuring vaccine against COVID-19 and maintaining health protocol. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> Former Tourism Secretary Dipendra Purush Dhakal shared that the federal government should provide a grant to the board to promote tourism amid current crisis. He said that there would be financial problems in the promotion of tourism and the sector would be affected if the government does not bring help in times of trouble.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Dr. Prem Sharma suggested the board to formulate a budget to promote domestic tourism as there is less possibility of international tourists visiting Nepal immediately. Similarly, Dr. Som Prasad Khatiwada, Ram Chandra Sedai, Chetnath Kandel, and Surya Kiran Shrestha said that the board should prepare a recovery and revival plan of at least 2 to 3 years by including the stakeholders’ suggestion and move ahead with the work of tourism promotion accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Similarly, Dr. Alok Rai, Ramesh Upadhyay, Pashupati Neupane, and Gyanendra Ratna Tuladhar stressed on digital marketing while tourism entrepreneurs Vijay Amatya, Vikram Pandey, and Sien Pandey urged the board focus on new tourism products and marketing rather than infrastructure.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">During the interaction, Chandra Prasad Rijal, vice-chairman of the board, said that the board would take forward the work of policy reform by incorporating the suggestions of experts. He said that the board was planning to work transparently in all the states despite the small budget and the suggestions of experts would be helpful in formulating the budget.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Similarly, other members of the board Krishna Shah and Pampha Poudel Dhamala said that the board was coordinating with various agencies for resource management even in difficult circumstances. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13372', 'image' => '20210704105627_20201016032657_1602804123.Clipboard13.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 10:55:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13625', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industrialists urge India to Remove its Anti-Dumping Duty on Jute Produced in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: Nepali industrialists have demanded India to waive anti-dumping duty (ADD) imposed on jute exported from Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 4: Nepali industrialists have demanded India to waive anti-dumping duty (ADD) imposed on jute exported from Nepal. India has not imposed ADD on jute imported from Bangladesh.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepali industrialists have been paying an annual fee of Rs 300 million to the Indian government for anti-dumping. However, Bangladeshi industrialists do not pay a penny. Nepali industry has been exporting ready-made jute worth Rs 7.5 billion to India annually.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepal's industries have been exporting the finished jute products by importing more than 50 percent raw jute from India. Jute produced in Nepal barely occupies 2 percent of the Indian jute market. Nepal produces jute by importing technology, raw materials, and machinery from India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As the jute mills operated in Morang and Sunsari of Nepal are close to the border, factory employees are Indian. Despite the Indian government's policy of mandatory use of jute bags for food packaging, Indian products are not enough and therefore use plastic bags for packing food. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Raj Kumar Golchha, president of the Nepal Jute Industries Association, demanded the removal of the ADD imposed by India on jute produced in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Due to ADD, Nepali products have not been able to compete with Indian products, he shared. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Therefore, he demanded that the government should initiate negotiation with India to remove the five-year ADD provision. There are 30,000 workers in Nepal's jute industry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Government of India has been reviewing the duty every five years. It has been five years since India imposed ADD on Nepali jute products.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Five years ago, the Nepal Jute Industries Association had repeatedly demanded the removal of ADD before the Government of India. At that time, a team of tax experts from the Government of India visited the jute industries in Morang and Sunsari and decided to impose ADD on different products. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Dinesh Bhattarai, said that the ministry would try to solve the issue diplomatically after studying Indian law. He said, "We will study the provisions in the law of India and plan accordingly."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Ramesh Rathi, treasurer of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Province No. 1 and operator of Swastik Jute, said that like Nepal, Bangladesh is also sending jute products to the Indian market. However, unlike Nepal, India has not imposed ADD on Bangladesh’ products. India has decided not to impose ADD on 16 jute industries of Bangladesh.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The products of other jute mills of Bangladesh are also coming to the Indian market under the name of these 16 jute mills. Rathi said that the Indian government is silent on this issue. He said the government of India is losing revenue to 16 jute industries in Bangladesh due to non-imposition of ADD on their products.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Currently, there are 11 jute mills in Nepal, while six of them are currently closed. The remaining five jute industries that are operational are Arihant, Raghupati, Swastik, Baba, and Nepal Jute. Rathi added that if the government of Nepal resolves the ADD problem through talks with the Indian government, the industry affected by the closure due to coronavirus will get relief. Industries will increase their production capacity and that will create more jobs, he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13371', 'image' => '20210704104051_1625349493.Clipboard06.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 10:40:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13624', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Manufacturers Facing Problems in Exporting Carpet', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: Carpets worth around Rs 5 billion have been languishing in different warehouses due to problems in exporting the product. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">July 4: Carpets worth around Rs 5 billion have been languishing in different warehouses due to problems in exporting the product. The country has been facing problems in exporting goods with the onset of the second wave of coronavirus. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Although there has been a rise in demand for carpets, the readymade products are being stockpiled in warehouses.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During the last fiscal year, carpets worth Rs 4 billion could not be exported due to the lockdown imposed by the government to curb the spread of the deadly disease. Carpet manufacturers say that they are facing similar problem this year too. They say that they increased production after receiving orders when the first wave of pandemic started receding. But when it was time to export the product, the second wave hit the country and the government subsequently imposed prohibitory order. Due to this reason, the carpets produced have been stockpiled in warehouses, says Ram Bahadur Gurung, chairman of Nepal Carpet Producers and Exporters Association.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Gurung informed New Business Age that there is still good demand for Nepali carpet in the international market but the problem is exporting them to foreign countries amid the pandemic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He further said that only 30 percent of carpet industries are currently operational due to the difficulty in exporting their products.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Carpets produced in Nepal are exported to more than 50 countries across the world including the USA, China, Germany, the UK, Italy, France, Canada, Belgium and Australia.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">It is estimated that there are around 700 carpet industries in Nepal out of which 150 export carpets to foreign countries. The association informed that the livelihood of more than 350,000 workers are in danger as the existence of the carpet industry itself is in trouble. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13370', 'image' => '20210704103045_20200719042410_Nepali Carpet.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 10:30:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13627', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Share Market Attracting Investors ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has so far in the current fiscal year granted permission for the sale of ordinary shares (IPO) of a total of 18 companies. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">July 4: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has so far in the current fiscal year granted permission for the sale of ordinary shares (IPO) of a total of 18 companies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the Board, Union Life Insurance Company is the latest company that has been allowed to come up with IPO offerings. The company has been permitted to issue 6.45 million units of ordinary shares worth Rs 645 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Based on the permission given by the board till date, a total of Rs 1434 billion ordinary shares are to be issued this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Lately, the size of domestic share market has been expanded. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to SEBON, the number of beneficiary accounts, which was around 1.7 million at the end of last fiscal year has increased by 100 per cent and reached 3.5 million in this fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Similarly, the number of my share accounts, which was around 700,000, increased by over three folds and reached to 2.6 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">SEBON added that 500,000 people used to apply for IPOs in the past and this number has risen to 2.1 million these days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A total of 2.84 million have applied for the IPO issued by Jeevan Bikas Microfinance lately. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, prior to this, 1.84 million had applied for the ordinary shares of Jyoti Life Insurance Company. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13369', 'image' => '20210704110308_20160515043917_sebon.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 11:02:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13623', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Ministry Authorizes Election Commission to Spend Rs 7.73 Billion for Midterm Polls ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' Ministry of Finance (MoF) has authorized the Election Commission to spend up to Rs 7.73 billion for midterm polls announced for November. ', 'content' => '<p>July 3: Ministry of Finance (MoF) has authorized the Election Commission to spend up to Rs 7.73 billion for midterm polls announced for November. <br /> According to a statement issued by the MoF, the authorized fund will be spent for the procurement of materials and equipments required to hold elections of House of Representatives. <br /> The spending authorization from the Finance Ministry comes amid preperation of the constitutional body to conduct mid-term polls in two phases in November as announced by the government. <br /> Earlier on May 22, President Bidya Devi Bhandari had dissolved the House of Representatives and announced midterm polls for November 12 and 19 upon the recommendation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. <br /> However, the move to dissolve the House and hold elections has been challeged in the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Bench at the Supreme Court is expected to deliver its verdict next week. </p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-03', 'modified' => '2021-07-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13368', 'image' => '20210703023134_Finance Ministry.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-03 14:29:43', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13622', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Takes Action against Six Commercial Banks for Policy Violation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has taken action against six commercial banks for violating its policy throughout the fiscal year 2077/78. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 2: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has taken action against six commercial banks for violating its policy throughout the fiscal year 2077/78. The central bank has imposed a fine of Rs 8.78 million on the banks in the current fiscal year. NRB has imposed financial fines on Laxmi Bank, Civil Bank and Standard Chartered Bank while it has issued warnings to Global IME Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank and Prabhu Bank.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The central bank has slapped a fine of Rs 2 million on Laxmi Bank for violating the Anti Money Laundering Act and instructions. Likewise, Civil Bank has been fined Rs 1 million. Banks need to pay fines if they do not report violation of the Anti Money Laundering Act and instruction to the central bank. The minimum penalty for such violation is Rs 1 million.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The central bank has also taken action against the commercial banks that did not meet the specified limit of priority sector credit flow during this period. Standard Chartered Bank has been fined Rs 5.78 million for failing to invest in priority sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Bank Supervision Department of NRB has also warned Standard Chartered Bank not to repeat the mistake. The department has also issued warning to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rastriya Banijya Bank Kiran Kumar Shrestha.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2058 BS, there is a provision to warn or give written warning at the beginning if the regulation of the bank is violated. According to the Bank Supervision Department, the NRB has pointed out the weaknesses observed during the supervision and alerted the concerned banks and the CEO in the first phase.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The department says that in the beginning, they are just warning the banks and seeking clarification and not taking any strict action at the moment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The central bank had imposed fines of Rs. 3.14 million on two commercial banks in the fiscal year 2076/77. Mega Bank had paid a fine of Rs 148,000 for not maintaining the cash reserves ratio. In the same year, Himalayan Bank was also imposed a fine of Rs 3 million for violating the Anti Money Laundering Act. A member and CEO of Nepal Bangladesh Bank were also warned.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The NRB Act also allows the board of directors of the bank to take corrective steps through punishment. NRB has been issuing written warnings to end recurring violations and take corrective steps.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">NRB can also restrict the distribution of dividends to shareholders of commercial banks or financial institutions, and even suspend or revoke their license. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13367', 'image' => '20210702052230_20210308021619_20201228012934_20201106055408_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 17:21:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13621', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Resumes Import of Palm Oil after a Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: India has removed restriction on import of palm oil almost a year after imposing a ban. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 2: India has removed restriction on import of palm oil almost a year after imposing a ban. Nepali entrepreneurs that the latest decision of India opened the door for export of refined palm oil from Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Directorate General of Foreign Trade of India said in a statement on Tuesday that the import of palm oil has been resumed. India has allowed the import till the end of December. The government of India has given permission to Nepal and other countries to export palm oil after the rise in the price of edible oil in India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Even though India has started importing palm oil, it will take at least one month for Nepali entrepreneurs to export the oil to India, opined Suresh Rungta, operator of OBC Food. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“After the suspension of exports to India, industrialists are now focusing on export of soybean oil. It will take one month to process and export crude palm oil,” said entrepreneur Rungta.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepali entrepreneurs process raw palms brought from Indonesia and Malaysia and export them to India. India had imposed a complete ban on imported palm oil on April 12, 2020, saying that it had adversely affected its industries and farmers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Prior to that, the ban imposed on January 7, 2019, was lifted after one month with quantitative restrictions. India has imposed high tariffs on palm oil imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">It charges 30.25 percent on crude palm oil imports and 41.25 percent on refined oil. Nepali industrialists import crude palm oil from third countries by paying 10 percent customs duty.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepali exporters enjoy zero percent customs duty under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) for exporting refined oil to INdia. Due to this provision, industries had exported large quantities of palm oil.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">There are 12 industries exporting edible oil to India in the Bara-Parsa corridor and seven in the Biratnagar area. According to government data, edible oil has been the main contributor to Nepal’s export for the past two fiscal years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13366', 'image' => '20210702051202_20191103092810_20190807121918_Clipboard01.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 17:11:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13620', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 58,000 Foreign Tourists Arrived in Nepal in First 6 Months of Current FY ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: The COVID-19 pandemic has hugely affected the tourism sector in the country. Tourism has been one of the mainstays of the country’s economy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">July 2: The COVID-19 pandemic has hugely affected the tourism sector in the country. Tourism has been one of the mainstays of the country’s economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Due to the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector, a negligible number of foreign tourists have been recorded to have visited Nepal in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2020/21. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a total of 58,058 foreign tourists entered Nepal. Similarly, a total of 1,143 foreign tourists flew into Nepal within June this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Spokesperson of NTB Mani Lamichhane shared that a total of 102 foreign tourists had arrived in Nepal in June last year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During this year’s June, 3,606 foreign tourists stranded in Nepal or those willing to return to their home country were flown out of Nepal amid the prohibitory order imposed by the government in the Kathmandu Valley to contain the second wave of COVID-19, said Lamichhane. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13365', 'image' => '20210702113555_20200930115831_1601420205.89.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 11:35:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13618', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFI Employees Start Protest Against Social Security Fund', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: Employees of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) and insurance companies have started a protest programme expressing dissatisfaction over the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 2: Employees of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) and insurance companies have started a protest programme expressing dissatisfaction over the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Following the directive issued by the government asking all the private sector companies to compulsorily participate in the programme, employees’ associations of banks and financial institutions had been urging the government to make the SSF participation voluntary.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As their suggestions went unheard, the associations have announced to stage protests in three phases. In the first phase of the protest programme, the employees held demonstration with banners. In the second phase they will be working with black armbands and are planning to put down the pen in the third phase of the protest. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Barun Khadka, treasurer of the Financial Employees Union, said employees from 16 banks, micro finance companies, and insurance companies have put up black banners in the central office of SSF along with their demands. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Financial Institute Employees Union of Nepal stated that employees are being forced to participate in SSF without amending the inappropriate provisions of SSF Act, its regulation and work procedures. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13364', 'image' => '20210702111022_20210215042205_20200401094426_1585693701.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 11:09:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13619', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' 45,000 Metric Tonnes of Urea Arrive from Bangladesh ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: The much-awaited shipment of fertilizers purchased by the Government of Nepal from Bangladesh has finally arrived in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">July 2: The much-awaited shipment of fertilizers purchased by the Government of Nepal from Bangladesh has finally arrived in the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">Out of 50,000 metric tons of urea ordered by the government through G2G deal, 45,000 metric tons has reportedly arrived at various border check points of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">According to the state-owned national news agency (RSS), the fertilizer has reached the provincial offices of Agriculture Inputs Company Limited in Birgunj, Biratnagar and Bhairahawa. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:Arial">As per the agreement, the Government of Bangladesh has to provide 50,000 metric tonnes of the fertilizer to Nepal. The remaining 5,000 metric tonnes of the fertilizer will arrive in Nepal within a week, RSS reported citing the manager of the company’s Birgunj-based provincial office, Gorakhnath KC. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The government had placed the order during the plantation season of last year, when the farmers were facing scarcity of fertilizers. However, the delivery of the fertilizer had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other reasons including Bangladesh’s insistence on providing the fertilizer through G2G deal instead of the Nepal’s request to borrow the fertilzier.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial"> Unlike in the past when farmers faced scarcity of fertilizers, KC ensured timely availability of fertilizers during this monsoon when paddy plantation begins in most parts of the country. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13363', 'image' => '20210702112439_20200817122726_1597613093.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 11:23:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13633', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Prohibitory Order in Kathmandu Valley Relaxed', 'sub_title' => 'All Kinds of Vehicles Allowed to Operate', 'summary' => 'July 6: The prohibitory order in Kathmandu valley has been extended till July 16 by relaxing the odd-even vehicle rule.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 6: The prohibitory order in Kathmandu valley has been extended till July 16 by relaxing the odd-even vehicle rule.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Chief District Officer of Kathmandu, Kali Prasad Parajuli, confirmed that the odd-even rule has been dismissed and all kinds of vehicles will be allowed to operate in the valley.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, according to CDO Parajuli, public vehicles won't be allowed to operate more passengers than the seating capacity. Public transportations has to implement the standard health protocol. The vehicles entering the valley can be allowed with the permission of the local administration.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, all kinds of businesses will be open from Tuesday morning (July 6). Such orders were issued by a joint meeting of the Chief District Officers of the three districts of the Kathmandu Valley (Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur) on Monday (July 5). The meeting has imposed a complete restriction on mass gatherings, conferences, operation of cinema halls, party palaces among others. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, gatherings in open places, weddings in hotels and party palaces, mass gatherings, religious programs except for daily worship, and educational activities in physical presence still restricted</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Local transportations is allowed to operate from 9 am to 11 am and from 4 pm to 7 pm. However, drug and health care stores will be open round the clock. Other shops and businesses can operate till 6 pm.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Businesses are required to follow all the health safety standards. Failure to do so could result in a halt of business operations. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Online delivery of essential items as well as delivery of food and other take-away items from restaurants are allowed till 7 pm in Kaathmandu valley.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Public transport will not be allowed to carry more passengers than the seating capacity. Passengers must wear a mask. If not, entry to the vehicle is prohibited. Drivers and helpers are required to wear visors and gloves. Public vehicles are required to have a sanitizer placed at the door of the vehicle. Vehicles are also required to be disinfected.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, Safa's clean tempo and the blue microbus are asked to have only four passengers in the back seat and one on the driver's side. These public vehicles have to put a plastic barrier in the middle of the vehicle to separate the passengers on both sides. In case of private vehicles, full health standards must be followed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Public and private vehicles entering the valley for urgent work will be allowed to enter with the approval of the concerned district administration office. Vehicles for public and private construction have been asked to operate from 9 pm to 5 am.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">All kinds of pre-scheduled written and practical examinations can be conducted by following the standard health protocols. While conducting the examination, more than 25 people are not allowed to sit for exams in a single hall. The examinations have to be conducted in two shifts. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, seminars, meetings and trainings can have no more than 25 participants.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-06', 'modified' => '2021-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13378', 'image' => '20210706111648_1625544322.lockdown.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-06 10:27:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13631', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Provide Half a Million Rupees in Relief to Victims of Natural Disaster ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'uly 5: The government has decided to provide up to Rs 500,000 to the families displaced by natural disaster. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 5: The government has decided to provide up to Rs 500,000 to the families displaced by natural disaster. According to the government, it has allocated the relief amount for reconstruction and rehabilitation. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government will provide Rs 500,000 per family in the mountainous districts, Rs 400,000 in the hill districts and Rs 300,000 in the terai districts in accordance to the Disaster Affected Private Housing Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Grant Procedure 2077. The amount will be released in installments. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Speaking at a meeting of the National Assembly on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel said that the government has initiated the process of providing an immediate relief of Rs 50,000 per affected family through the District Administration Offices for temporary accommodation. A total of Rs 28.6 million has been allocated for this. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Informing the assembly about the damage caused by the natural disaster in different parts of the country since the beginning of monsoon this year, Poudel said that the government has given necessary instructions for immediate rescue, relief and rehabilitation in coordination with the stakeholders. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> According to him, 572 houses have been completely damaged while 112 houses have been partially damaged since the onset of the rainy season this year. Similarly, floods and landslides have also damaged 36 government buildings and nine schools. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">A total of fifteen motorable bridges have been damaged, that includes seven in Sindhupalchowk district, two in Manang and Chitwan, one each in Tanahun, Morang, Udayapur and Siraha. Five wooden bridges were swept away in Manang. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, a total of 23 suspension bridges have been swept away in different parts of the country including 14 in Sindhupalchowk, seven in Manang. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The access road and bridge leading to the headworks of Melamchi Drinking Water Project have been damaged. Poudel said that the repair work has already started after confirming the damage to the headworks. According to him, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport has already taken initiative to open the blocked road by constructing two bailey bridges in Sindhupalchowk. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Forty-three small and large drinking water projects across the country have been damaged while 25 hydropower projects in different districts including Kaski, Manang and Sindhupalchok have been partially damaged. Minister Poudel said that they are yet to receive the details of total damages so far in all the provinces and districts. He also informed that they have asked the details of the damage from the concerned agencies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the government, reconstruction work has started by providing a grant of Rs 199.7 million at the rate of Rs 50,000 per family in the first installment to 3,949 families affected by last year's monsoon. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-05', 'modified' => '2021-07-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13377', 'image' => '20210705020447_20201220030536_20201015115013_1602717511.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-05 14:04:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13632', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Devyani Rana appointed Coca-Cola’s Vice President ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 5: Coca-Cola has appointed Devyani Rajya Laxmi Rana as the multinational company’s vice president of public affairs, communications and sustainability for India and Southwest Asia. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 5: Coca-Cola has appointed Devyani Rajya Laxmi Rana as the multinational company’s vice president of public affairs, communications and sustainability for India and Southwest Asia. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Rana was earlier working with Caterpillar India where—as Director of Public Affairs for India, Nepal, Bhutan—she was leading Caterpillar and its subsidiaries’ work in government/corporate affairs, public relations and communications, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability for India, Nepal and Bhutan regions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">She is a daughter of Rastriya Prajatantra Party’s leader Pashupati Shumsher Rana and Rani Usha Raje Scindia, who is a daughter of Gwalior’s last maharaja Jivajirao Scindia and Aishwarya Singh.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">She had also worked with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and United Nations (UN) in India, The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Geneva, Switzerland World Economic Forum (WEF).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“I am delighted to welcome Devyani on this exciting charter to deepen Coca-Cola’s engagement in the region as she joins the leadership team to spearhead the practice in the region,” said Sanket Ray, President, India and Southwest Asia, commenting on the appointment. “Rana brings a wealth of experience in advocating for policies, legislation, trade agreements and regulations. Her contributions will augment our belief in our purpose even stronger and serve as an acceleration of the work that was already underway.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Rana, an alumni of London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), London, also holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur in Nepal and a Bachelor of Arts, in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-05', 'modified' => '2021-07-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13376', 'image' => '20210705023038_IMG-20210705-WA0000.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-05 14:20:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13629', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Only Two-thirds Pharmaceutical Companies Fully Operational', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'uly 4: Only about two-thirds of registered pharmaceutical companies in the country are fully operational at present.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 4: Only about two-thirds of registered pharmaceutical companies in the country are fully operational at present. This was revealed in a detailed study report on self-reliant pharmaceuticals and drug manufacturing industries of Nepal released by the Department of Industry on Saturday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the report, there are 103 pharmaceutical companies registered with the Department of Drug Administration as of April 25, 2021, of which only 66 companies are fully operational. The department informed that these companies have received licenses for both production and sales of medicines. Similarly, the report states that 33 companies are in the process of obtaining licenses for production, while other four licensed industries are not operating due to technical reasons.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Out of 66 companies, four (6.06 percent) companies are in Province 1, 14 (21.21 percent) are in Province 2, Bagmati Province has 37 (56.06 percent) companies, Gandaki has 2 (3.03 percent) companies and Lumbini Province has 9 (13.63 percent) companies. The study report shows that there isn’t any pharmaceutical company in the other two provinces.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">All the above-mentioned pharmaceutical companies are private and mostly large (90 percent) with a total capital of more than Rs 250 million. Some medium-sized companies (10 percent) are also planning to increase investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Most of the companies in operation are producing medicines in the form of tablets, capsules, liquid (syrup/suspension), powder (dry syrup), ointment/cream and eye/ear drops.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The yearly production capacity of tablets of 60 out of 66 companies is 2 billion units and the production capacity of capsules is 1.75 billion units. Similarly, the production capacity of liquid medicine of 45 companies is 4.5 billion units. In addition, the ointment production capacity of 40 companies is 150 million units and powder (dry syrup) is 30 million units. Moreover, the production capacity of nose/ear drops of five companies is 3.7 million units. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13374', 'image' => '20210704045857_20200818124630_1597700501.Clipboard10.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 16:58:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13628', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Sets Ambitious Target for MCC Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: The government has set ambitious targets for the next three years to implement the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact, which is yet to be endorsed by the parliament.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 4: The government has set ambitious targets for the next three years to implement the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact, which is yet to be endorsed by the parliament.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The MCC agreement has been mired in controversy since a long time. However, the government has claimed that the work of the project will be expedited in the next three years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The recent expenditure structure prepared by the National Planning Commission, chaired by the Prime Minister, outlines the achievements to be made in the next three years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The targets are operation of Transmission Line Rehabilitation Action Plan, Additional Survey of Transmission Line (30 km), compensation and distribution to 20 percent of the people affected by the project, completion of 10 percent of MCA Nepal Partnership Program, detailed survey and design of projects, construction of 55% of substations, 15 percent of equipment installation, maintenance and operation of 40 km long Dhankhola Lamahi road section, maintenance of 37 km long Lamahi-Shivakhola road section among others.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, 178 out of 189 plots have been acquired for Ratmate Substation and Rs 1.26 billion compensation has been distributed to the affected people. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">It is claimed that preparations are in the final stage and an agreement has been signed with the Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Department of Roads seeking required help. Agreements will be signed between MCA Nepal and the Ministry of Forestry to cut down trees and use of forest land in the next fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, the government claims that three sub-stations, 315 km of transmission lines and about 77 km of national highways will be renovated by the Millennium Challenge Account in the next five years. The cost of this project is estimated to be at Rs 70.50 billion. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepal had signed an agreement with the US-backed MCC in September 2017 to build a project with a grant of around Rs 55 billion. It had been agreed that the United States would provide $ 500 million in grants for two projects to increase electricity consumption and reduce the cost of road transport, and that the Government of Nepal would contribute $ 130 million to these projects.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Although Nepal has expressed its commitment to implement the agreement by completing all the procedures, the project has not moved ahead as agreed. MCA-Nepal has been saying that the project cannot be fully implemented without it being endorsed by the parliament. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13373', 'image' => '20210704043711_1625349562.3.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 16:36:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13626', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Experts Suggest NTB to Introduce the Budget in Coordination with all 3 Tiers of Government', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: Experts in the field of tourism have suggested the Nepal Tourism Board to bring a budget in coordination with the federal, state, and local levels to revive the tourism that has been burdened by Covid 19. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">July 4: Experts in the field of tourism have suggested the Nepal Tourism Board to bring a budget in coordination with the federal, state, and local levels to revive the tourism that has been burdened by Covid 19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Speaking at a recent virtual interaction organized by the Board, the experts suggested formulating a plan for maximum use of limited resources. They stressed that the tourism activities need to be revitalized gradually by ensuring vaccine against COVID-19 and maintaining health protocol. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> Former Tourism Secretary Dipendra Purush Dhakal shared that the federal government should provide a grant to the board to promote tourism amid current crisis. He said that there would be financial problems in the promotion of tourism and the sector would be affected if the government does not bring help in times of trouble.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Dr. Prem Sharma suggested the board to formulate a budget to promote domestic tourism as there is less possibility of international tourists visiting Nepal immediately. Similarly, Dr. Som Prasad Khatiwada, Ram Chandra Sedai, Chetnath Kandel, and Surya Kiran Shrestha said that the board should prepare a recovery and revival plan of at least 2 to 3 years by including the stakeholders’ suggestion and move ahead with the work of tourism promotion accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Similarly, Dr. Alok Rai, Ramesh Upadhyay, Pashupati Neupane, and Gyanendra Ratna Tuladhar stressed on digital marketing while tourism entrepreneurs Vijay Amatya, Vikram Pandey, and Sien Pandey urged the board focus on new tourism products and marketing rather than infrastructure.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">During the interaction, Chandra Prasad Rijal, vice-chairman of the board, said that the board would take forward the work of policy reform by incorporating the suggestions of experts. He said that the board was planning to work transparently in all the states despite the small budget and the suggestions of experts would be helpful in formulating the budget.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Similarly, other members of the board Krishna Shah and Pampha Poudel Dhamala said that the board was coordinating with various agencies for resource management even in difficult circumstances. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13372', 'image' => '20210704105627_20201016032657_1602804123.Clipboard13.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 10:55:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13625', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industrialists urge India to Remove its Anti-Dumping Duty on Jute Produced in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: Nepali industrialists have demanded India to waive anti-dumping duty (ADD) imposed on jute exported from Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 4: Nepali industrialists have demanded India to waive anti-dumping duty (ADD) imposed on jute exported from Nepal. India has not imposed ADD on jute imported from Bangladesh.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepali industrialists have been paying an annual fee of Rs 300 million to the Indian government for anti-dumping. However, Bangladeshi industrialists do not pay a penny. Nepali industry has been exporting ready-made jute worth Rs 7.5 billion to India annually.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepal's industries have been exporting the finished jute products by importing more than 50 percent raw jute from India. Jute produced in Nepal barely occupies 2 percent of the Indian jute market. Nepal produces jute by importing technology, raw materials, and machinery from India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As the jute mills operated in Morang and Sunsari of Nepal are close to the border, factory employees are Indian. Despite the Indian government's policy of mandatory use of jute bags for food packaging, Indian products are not enough and therefore use plastic bags for packing food. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Raj Kumar Golchha, president of the Nepal Jute Industries Association, demanded the removal of the ADD imposed by India on jute produced in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Due to ADD, Nepali products have not been able to compete with Indian products, he shared. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Therefore, he demanded that the government should initiate negotiation with India to remove the five-year ADD provision. There are 30,000 workers in Nepal's jute industry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Government of India has been reviewing the duty every five years. It has been five years since India imposed ADD on Nepali jute products.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Five years ago, the Nepal Jute Industries Association had repeatedly demanded the removal of ADD before the Government of India. At that time, a team of tax experts from the Government of India visited the jute industries in Morang and Sunsari and decided to impose ADD on different products. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Dinesh Bhattarai, said that the ministry would try to solve the issue diplomatically after studying Indian law. He said, "We will study the provisions in the law of India and plan accordingly."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Ramesh Rathi, treasurer of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Province No. 1 and operator of Swastik Jute, said that like Nepal, Bangladesh is also sending jute products to the Indian market. However, unlike Nepal, India has not imposed ADD on Bangladesh’ products. India has decided not to impose ADD on 16 jute industries of Bangladesh.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The products of other jute mills of Bangladesh are also coming to the Indian market under the name of these 16 jute mills. Rathi said that the Indian government is silent on this issue. He said the government of India is losing revenue to 16 jute industries in Bangladesh due to non-imposition of ADD on their products.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Currently, there are 11 jute mills in Nepal, while six of them are currently closed. The remaining five jute industries that are operational are Arihant, Raghupati, Swastik, Baba, and Nepal Jute. Rathi added that if the government of Nepal resolves the ADD problem through talks with the Indian government, the industry affected by the closure due to coronavirus will get relief. Industries will increase their production capacity and that will create more jobs, he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13371', 'image' => '20210704104051_1625349493.Clipboard06.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 10:40:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13624', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Manufacturers Facing Problems in Exporting Carpet', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: Carpets worth around Rs 5 billion have been languishing in different warehouses due to problems in exporting the product. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">July 4: Carpets worth around Rs 5 billion have been languishing in different warehouses due to problems in exporting the product. The country has been facing problems in exporting goods with the onset of the second wave of coronavirus. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Although there has been a rise in demand for carpets, the readymade products are being stockpiled in warehouses.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During the last fiscal year, carpets worth Rs 4 billion could not be exported due to the lockdown imposed by the government to curb the spread of the deadly disease. Carpet manufacturers say that they are facing similar problem this year too. They say that they increased production after receiving orders when the first wave of pandemic started receding. But when it was time to export the product, the second wave hit the country and the government subsequently imposed prohibitory order. Due to this reason, the carpets produced have been stockpiled in warehouses, says Ram Bahadur Gurung, chairman of Nepal Carpet Producers and Exporters Association.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Gurung informed New Business Age that there is still good demand for Nepali carpet in the international market but the problem is exporting them to foreign countries amid the pandemic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He further said that only 30 percent of carpet industries are currently operational due to the difficulty in exporting their products.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Carpets produced in Nepal are exported to more than 50 countries across the world including the USA, China, Germany, the UK, Italy, France, Canada, Belgium and Australia.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">It is estimated that there are around 700 carpet industries in Nepal out of which 150 export carpets to foreign countries. The association informed that the livelihood of more than 350,000 workers are in danger as the existence of the carpet industry itself is in trouble. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13370', 'image' => '20210704103045_20200719042410_Nepali Carpet.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 10:30:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13627', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Share Market Attracting Investors ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has so far in the current fiscal year granted permission for the sale of ordinary shares (IPO) of a total of 18 companies. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">July 4: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has so far in the current fiscal year granted permission for the sale of ordinary shares (IPO) of a total of 18 companies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the Board, Union Life Insurance Company is the latest company that has been allowed to come up with IPO offerings. The company has been permitted to issue 6.45 million units of ordinary shares worth Rs 645 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Based on the permission given by the board till date, a total of Rs 1434 billion ordinary shares are to be issued this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Lately, the size of domestic share market has been expanded. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to SEBON, the number of beneficiary accounts, which was around 1.7 million at the end of last fiscal year has increased by 100 per cent and reached 3.5 million in this fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Similarly, the number of my share accounts, which was around 700,000, increased by over three folds and reached to 2.6 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">SEBON added that 500,000 people used to apply for IPOs in the past and this number has risen to 2.1 million these days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A total of 2.84 million have applied for the IPO issued by Jeevan Bikas Microfinance lately. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, prior to this, 1.84 million had applied for the ordinary shares of Jyoti Life Insurance Company. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13369', 'image' => '20210704110308_20160515043917_sebon.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 11:02:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13623', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Ministry Authorizes Election Commission to Spend Rs 7.73 Billion for Midterm Polls ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' Ministry of Finance (MoF) has authorized the Election Commission to spend up to Rs 7.73 billion for midterm polls announced for November. ', 'content' => '<p>July 3: Ministry of Finance (MoF) has authorized the Election Commission to spend up to Rs 7.73 billion for midterm polls announced for November. <br /> According to a statement issued by the MoF, the authorized fund will be spent for the procurement of materials and equipments required to hold elections of House of Representatives. <br /> The spending authorization from the Finance Ministry comes amid preperation of the constitutional body to conduct mid-term polls in two phases in November as announced by the government. <br /> Earlier on May 22, President Bidya Devi Bhandari had dissolved the House of Representatives and announced midterm polls for November 12 and 19 upon the recommendation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. <br /> However, the move to dissolve the House and hold elections has been challeged in the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Bench at the Supreme Court is expected to deliver its verdict next week. </p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-03', 'modified' => '2021-07-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13368', 'image' => '20210703023134_Finance Ministry.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-03 14:29:43', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13622', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Takes Action against Six Commercial Banks for Policy Violation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has taken action against six commercial banks for violating its policy throughout the fiscal year 2077/78. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 2: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has taken action against six commercial banks for violating its policy throughout the fiscal year 2077/78. The central bank has imposed a fine of Rs 8.78 million on the banks in the current fiscal year. NRB has imposed financial fines on Laxmi Bank, Civil Bank and Standard Chartered Bank while it has issued warnings to Global IME Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank and Prabhu Bank.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The central bank has slapped a fine of Rs 2 million on Laxmi Bank for violating the Anti Money Laundering Act and instructions. Likewise, Civil Bank has been fined Rs 1 million. Banks need to pay fines if they do not report violation of the Anti Money Laundering Act and instruction to the central bank. The minimum penalty for such violation is Rs 1 million.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The central bank has also taken action against the commercial banks that did not meet the specified limit of priority sector credit flow during this period. Standard Chartered Bank has been fined Rs 5.78 million for failing to invest in priority sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Bank Supervision Department of NRB has also warned Standard Chartered Bank not to repeat the mistake. The department has also issued warning to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rastriya Banijya Bank Kiran Kumar Shrestha.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2058 BS, there is a provision to warn or give written warning at the beginning if the regulation of the bank is violated. According to the Bank Supervision Department, the NRB has pointed out the weaknesses observed during the supervision and alerted the concerned banks and the CEO in the first phase.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The department says that in the beginning, they are just warning the banks and seeking clarification and not taking any strict action at the moment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The central bank had imposed fines of Rs. 3.14 million on two commercial banks in the fiscal year 2076/77. Mega Bank had paid a fine of Rs 148,000 for not maintaining the cash reserves ratio. In the same year, Himalayan Bank was also imposed a fine of Rs 3 million for violating the Anti Money Laundering Act. A member and CEO of Nepal Bangladesh Bank were also warned.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The NRB Act also allows the board of directors of the bank to take corrective steps through punishment. NRB has been issuing written warnings to end recurring violations and take corrective steps.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">NRB can also restrict the distribution of dividends to shareholders of commercial banks or financial institutions, and even suspend or revoke their license. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13367', 'image' => '20210702052230_20210308021619_20201228012934_20201106055408_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 17:21:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13621', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Resumes Import of Palm Oil after a Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: India has removed restriction on import of palm oil almost a year after imposing a ban. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 2: India has removed restriction on import of palm oil almost a year after imposing a ban. Nepali entrepreneurs that the latest decision of India opened the door for export of refined palm oil from Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Directorate General of Foreign Trade of India said in a statement on Tuesday that the import of palm oil has been resumed. India has allowed the import till the end of December. The government of India has given permission to Nepal and other countries to export palm oil after the rise in the price of edible oil in India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Even though India has started importing palm oil, it will take at least one month for Nepali entrepreneurs to export the oil to India, opined Suresh Rungta, operator of OBC Food. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“After the suspension of exports to India, industrialists are now focusing on export of soybean oil. It will take one month to process and export crude palm oil,” said entrepreneur Rungta.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepali entrepreneurs process raw palms brought from Indonesia and Malaysia and export them to India. India had imposed a complete ban on imported palm oil on April 12, 2020, saying that it had adversely affected its industries and farmers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Prior to that, the ban imposed on January 7, 2019, was lifted after one month with quantitative restrictions. India has imposed high tariffs on palm oil imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">It charges 30.25 percent on crude palm oil imports and 41.25 percent on refined oil. Nepali industrialists import crude palm oil from third countries by paying 10 percent customs duty.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepali exporters enjoy zero percent customs duty under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) for exporting refined oil to INdia. Due to this provision, industries had exported large quantities of palm oil.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">There are 12 industries exporting edible oil to India in the Bara-Parsa corridor and seven in the Biratnagar area. According to government data, edible oil has been the main contributor to Nepal’s export for the past two fiscal years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13366', 'image' => '20210702051202_20191103092810_20190807121918_Clipboard01.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 17:11:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13620', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 58,000 Foreign Tourists Arrived in Nepal in First 6 Months of Current FY ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: The COVID-19 pandemic has hugely affected the tourism sector in the country. Tourism has been one of the mainstays of the country’s economy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">July 2: The COVID-19 pandemic has hugely affected the tourism sector in the country. Tourism has been one of the mainstays of the country’s economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Due to the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector, a negligible number of foreign tourists have been recorded to have visited Nepal in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2020/21. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a total of 58,058 foreign tourists entered Nepal. Similarly, a total of 1,143 foreign tourists flew into Nepal within June this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Spokesperson of NTB Mani Lamichhane shared that a total of 102 foreign tourists had arrived in Nepal in June last year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During this year’s June, 3,606 foreign tourists stranded in Nepal or those willing to return to their home country were flown out of Nepal amid the prohibitory order imposed by the government in the Kathmandu Valley to contain the second wave of COVID-19, said Lamichhane. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13365', 'image' => '20210702113555_20200930115831_1601420205.89.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 11:35:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13618', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFI Employees Start Protest Against Social Security Fund', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: Employees of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) and insurance companies have started a protest programme expressing dissatisfaction over the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 2: Employees of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) and insurance companies have started a protest programme expressing dissatisfaction over the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Following the directive issued by the government asking all the private sector companies to compulsorily participate in the programme, employees’ associations of banks and financial institutions had been urging the government to make the SSF participation voluntary.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As their suggestions went unheard, the associations have announced to stage protests in three phases. In the first phase of the protest programme, the employees held demonstration with banners. In the second phase they will be working with black armbands and are planning to put down the pen in the third phase of the protest. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Barun Khadka, treasurer of the Financial Employees Union, said employees from 16 banks, micro finance companies, and insurance companies have put up black banners in the central office of SSF along with their demands. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Financial Institute Employees Union of Nepal stated that employees are being forced to participate in SSF without amending the inappropriate provisions of SSF Act, its regulation and work procedures. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13364', 'image' => '20210702111022_20210215042205_20200401094426_1585693701.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 11:09:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13619', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' 45,000 Metric Tonnes of Urea Arrive from Bangladesh ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: The much-awaited shipment of fertilizers purchased by the Government of Nepal from Bangladesh has finally arrived in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">July 2: The much-awaited shipment of fertilizers purchased by the Government of Nepal from Bangladesh has finally arrived in the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">Out of 50,000 metric tons of urea ordered by the government through G2G deal, 45,000 metric tons has reportedly arrived at various border check points of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">According to the state-owned national news agency (RSS), the fertilizer has reached the provincial offices of Agriculture Inputs Company Limited in Birgunj, Biratnagar and Bhairahawa. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:Arial">As per the agreement, the Government of Bangladesh has to provide 50,000 metric tonnes of the fertilizer to Nepal. The remaining 5,000 metric tonnes of the fertilizer will arrive in Nepal within a week, RSS reported citing the manager of the company’s Birgunj-based provincial office, Gorakhnath KC. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The government had placed the order during the plantation season of last year, when the farmers were facing scarcity of fertilizers. However, the delivery of the fertilizer had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other reasons including Bangladesh’s insistence on providing the fertilizer through G2G deal instead of the Nepal’s request to borrow the fertilzier.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial"> Unlike in the past when farmers faced scarcity of fertilizers, KC ensured timely availability of fertilizers during this monsoon when paddy plantation begins in most parts of the country. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13363', 'image' => '20210702112439_20200817122726_1597613093.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 11:23:55', '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' => '13633', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Prohibitory Order in Kathmandu Valley Relaxed', 'sub_title' => 'All Kinds of Vehicles Allowed to Operate', 'summary' => 'July 6: The prohibitory order in Kathmandu valley has been extended till July 16 by relaxing the odd-even vehicle rule.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 6: The prohibitory order in Kathmandu valley has been extended till July 16 by relaxing the odd-even vehicle rule.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Chief District Officer of Kathmandu, Kali Prasad Parajuli, confirmed that the odd-even rule has been dismissed and all kinds of vehicles will be allowed to operate in the valley.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, according to CDO Parajuli, public vehicles won't be allowed to operate more passengers than the seating capacity. Public transportations has to implement the standard health protocol. The vehicles entering the valley can be allowed with the permission of the local administration.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, all kinds of businesses will be open from Tuesday morning (July 6). Such orders were issued by a joint meeting of the Chief District Officers of the three districts of the Kathmandu Valley (Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur) on Monday (July 5). The meeting has imposed a complete restriction on mass gatherings, conferences, operation of cinema halls, party palaces among others. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, gatherings in open places, weddings in hotels and party palaces, mass gatherings, religious programs except for daily worship, and educational activities in physical presence still restricted</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Local transportations is allowed to operate from 9 am to 11 am and from 4 pm to 7 pm. However, drug and health care stores will be open round the clock. Other shops and businesses can operate till 6 pm.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Businesses are required to follow all the health safety standards. Failure to do so could result in a halt of business operations. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Online delivery of essential items as well as delivery of food and other take-away items from restaurants are allowed till 7 pm in Kaathmandu valley.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Public transport will not be allowed to carry more passengers than the seating capacity. Passengers must wear a mask. If not, entry to the vehicle is prohibited. Drivers and helpers are required to wear visors and gloves. Public vehicles are required to have a sanitizer placed at the door of the vehicle. Vehicles are also required to be disinfected.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, Safa's clean tempo and the blue microbus are asked to have only four passengers in the back seat and one on the driver's side. These public vehicles have to put a plastic barrier in the middle of the vehicle to separate the passengers on both sides. In case of private vehicles, full health standards must be followed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Public and private vehicles entering the valley for urgent work will be allowed to enter with the approval of the concerned district administration office. Vehicles for public and private construction have been asked to operate from 9 pm to 5 am.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">All kinds of pre-scheduled written and practical examinations can be conducted by following the standard health protocols. While conducting the examination, more than 25 people are not allowed to sit for exams in a single hall. The examinations have to be conducted in two shifts. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, seminars, meetings and trainings can have no more than 25 participants.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-06', 'modified' => '2021-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13378', 'image' => '20210706111648_1625544322.lockdown.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-06 10:27:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13631', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Provide Half a Million Rupees in Relief to Victims of Natural Disaster ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'uly 5: The government has decided to provide up to Rs 500,000 to the families displaced by natural disaster. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 5: The government has decided to provide up to Rs 500,000 to the families displaced by natural disaster. According to the government, it has allocated the relief amount for reconstruction and rehabilitation. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government will provide Rs 500,000 per family in the mountainous districts, Rs 400,000 in the hill districts and Rs 300,000 in the terai districts in accordance to the Disaster Affected Private Housing Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Grant Procedure 2077. The amount will be released in installments. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Speaking at a meeting of the National Assembly on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel said that the government has initiated the process of providing an immediate relief of Rs 50,000 per affected family through the District Administration Offices for temporary accommodation. A total of Rs 28.6 million has been allocated for this. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Informing the assembly about the damage caused by the natural disaster in different parts of the country since the beginning of monsoon this year, Poudel said that the government has given necessary instructions for immediate rescue, relief and rehabilitation in coordination with the stakeholders. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> According to him, 572 houses have been completely damaged while 112 houses have been partially damaged since the onset of the rainy season this year. Similarly, floods and landslides have also damaged 36 government buildings and nine schools. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">A total of fifteen motorable bridges have been damaged, that includes seven in Sindhupalchowk district, two in Manang and Chitwan, one each in Tanahun, Morang, Udayapur and Siraha. Five wooden bridges were swept away in Manang. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, a total of 23 suspension bridges have been swept away in different parts of the country including 14 in Sindhupalchowk, seven in Manang. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The access road and bridge leading to the headworks of Melamchi Drinking Water Project have been damaged. Poudel said that the repair work has already started after confirming the damage to the headworks. According to him, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport has already taken initiative to open the blocked road by constructing two bailey bridges in Sindhupalchowk. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Forty-three small and large drinking water projects across the country have been damaged while 25 hydropower projects in different districts including Kaski, Manang and Sindhupalchok have been partially damaged. Minister Poudel said that they are yet to receive the details of total damages so far in all the provinces and districts. He also informed that they have asked the details of the damage from the concerned agencies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the government, reconstruction work has started by providing a grant of Rs 199.7 million at the rate of Rs 50,000 per family in the first installment to 3,949 families affected by last year's monsoon. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-05', 'modified' => '2021-07-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13377', 'image' => '20210705020447_20201220030536_20201015115013_1602717511.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-05 14:04:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13632', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Devyani Rana appointed Coca-Cola’s Vice President ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 5: Coca-Cola has appointed Devyani Rajya Laxmi Rana as the multinational company’s vice president of public affairs, communications and sustainability for India and Southwest Asia. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 5: Coca-Cola has appointed Devyani Rajya Laxmi Rana as the multinational company’s vice president of public affairs, communications and sustainability for India and Southwest Asia. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Rana was earlier working with Caterpillar India where—as Director of Public Affairs for India, Nepal, Bhutan—she was leading Caterpillar and its subsidiaries’ work in government/corporate affairs, public relations and communications, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability for India, Nepal and Bhutan regions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">She is a daughter of Rastriya Prajatantra Party’s leader Pashupati Shumsher Rana and Rani Usha Raje Scindia, who is a daughter of Gwalior’s last maharaja Jivajirao Scindia and Aishwarya Singh.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">She had also worked with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and United Nations (UN) in India, The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Geneva, Switzerland World Economic Forum (WEF).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“I am delighted to welcome Devyani on this exciting charter to deepen Coca-Cola’s engagement in the region as she joins the leadership team to spearhead the practice in the region,” said Sanket Ray, President, India and Southwest Asia, commenting on the appointment. “Rana brings a wealth of experience in advocating for policies, legislation, trade agreements and regulations. Her contributions will augment our belief in our purpose even stronger and serve as an acceleration of the work that was already underway.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Rana, an alumni of London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), London, also holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur in Nepal and a Bachelor of Arts, in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-05', 'modified' => '2021-07-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13376', 'image' => '20210705023038_IMG-20210705-WA0000.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-05 14:20:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13629', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Only Two-thirds Pharmaceutical Companies Fully Operational', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'uly 4: Only about two-thirds of registered pharmaceutical companies in the country are fully operational at present.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 4: Only about two-thirds of registered pharmaceutical companies in the country are fully operational at present. This was revealed in a detailed study report on self-reliant pharmaceuticals and drug manufacturing industries of Nepal released by the Department of Industry on Saturday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the report, there are 103 pharmaceutical companies registered with the Department of Drug Administration as of April 25, 2021, of which only 66 companies are fully operational. The department informed that these companies have received licenses for both production and sales of medicines. Similarly, the report states that 33 companies are in the process of obtaining licenses for production, while other four licensed industries are not operating due to technical reasons.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Out of 66 companies, four (6.06 percent) companies are in Province 1, 14 (21.21 percent) are in Province 2, Bagmati Province has 37 (56.06 percent) companies, Gandaki has 2 (3.03 percent) companies and Lumbini Province has 9 (13.63 percent) companies. The study report shows that there isn’t any pharmaceutical company in the other two provinces.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">All the above-mentioned pharmaceutical companies are private and mostly large (90 percent) with a total capital of more than Rs 250 million. Some medium-sized companies (10 percent) are also planning to increase investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Most of the companies in operation are producing medicines in the form of tablets, capsules, liquid (syrup/suspension), powder (dry syrup), ointment/cream and eye/ear drops.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The yearly production capacity of tablets of 60 out of 66 companies is 2 billion units and the production capacity of capsules is 1.75 billion units. Similarly, the production capacity of liquid medicine of 45 companies is 4.5 billion units. In addition, the ointment production capacity of 40 companies is 150 million units and powder (dry syrup) is 30 million units. Moreover, the production capacity of nose/ear drops of five companies is 3.7 million units. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13374', 'image' => '20210704045857_20200818124630_1597700501.Clipboard10.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 16:58:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13628', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Sets Ambitious Target for MCC Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: The government has set ambitious targets for the next three years to implement the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact, which is yet to be endorsed by the parliament.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 4: The government has set ambitious targets for the next three years to implement the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact, which is yet to be endorsed by the parliament.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The MCC agreement has been mired in controversy since a long time. However, the government has claimed that the work of the project will be expedited in the next three years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The recent expenditure structure prepared by the National Planning Commission, chaired by the Prime Minister, outlines the achievements to be made in the next three years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The targets are operation of Transmission Line Rehabilitation Action Plan, Additional Survey of Transmission Line (30 km), compensation and distribution to 20 percent of the people affected by the project, completion of 10 percent of MCA Nepal Partnership Program, detailed survey and design of projects, construction of 55% of substations, 15 percent of equipment installation, maintenance and operation of 40 km long Dhankhola Lamahi road section, maintenance of 37 km long Lamahi-Shivakhola road section among others.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, 178 out of 189 plots have been acquired for Ratmate Substation and Rs 1.26 billion compensation has been distributed to the affected people. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">It is claimed that preparations are in the final stage and an agreement has been signed with the Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Department of Roads seeking required help. Agreements will be signed between MCA Nepal and the Ministry of Forestry to cut down trees and use of forest land in the next fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, the government claims that three sub-stations, 315 km of transmission lines and about 77 km of national highways will be renovated by the Millennium Challenge Account in the next five years. The cost of this project is estimated to be at Rs 70.50 billion. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepal had signed an agreement with the US-backed MCC in September 2017 to build a project with a grant of around Rs 55 billion. It had been agreed that the United States would provide $ 500 million in grants for two projects to increase electricity consumption and reduce the cost of road transport, and that the Government of Nepal would contribute $ 130 million to these projects.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Although Nepal has expressed its commitment to implement the agreement by completing all the procedures, the project has not moved ahead as agreed. MCA-Nepal has been saying that the project cannot be fully implemented without it being endorsed by the parliament. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13373', 'image' => '20210704043711_1625349562.3.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 16:36:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13626', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Experts Suggest NTB to Introduce the Budget in Coordination with all 3 Tiers of Government', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: Experts in the field of tourism have suggested the Nepal Tourism Board to bring a budget in coordination with the federal, state, and local levels to revive the tourism that has been burdened by Covid 19. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">July 4: Experts in the field of tourism have suggested the Nepal Tourism Board to bring a budget in coordination with the federal, state, and local levels to revive the tourism that has been burdened by Covid 19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Speaking at a recent virtual interaction organized by the Board, the experts suggested formulating a plan for maximum use of limited resources. They stressed that the tourism activities need to be revitalized gradually by ensuring vaccine against COVID-19 and maintaining health protocol. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> Former Tourism Secretary Dipendra Purush Dhakal shared that the federal government should provide a grant to the board to promote tourism amid current crisis. He said that there would be financial problems in the promotion of tourism and the sector would be affected if the government does not bring help in times of trouble.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Dr. Prem Sharma suggested the board to formulate a budget to promote domestic tourism as there is less possibility of international tourists visiting Nepal immediately. Similarly, Dr. Som Prasad Khatiwada, Ram Chandra Sedai, Chetnath Kandel, and Surya Kiran Shrestha said that the board should prepare a recovery and revival plan of at least 2 to 3 years by including the stakeholders’ suggestion and move ahead with the work of tourism promotion accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Similarly, Dr. Alok Rai, Ramesh Upadhyay, Pashupati Neupane, and Gyanendra Ratna Tuladhar stressed on digital marketing while tourism entrepreneurs Vijay Amatya, Vikram Pandey, and Sien Pandey urged the board focus on new tourism products and marketing rather than infrastructure.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">During the interaction, Chandra Prasad Rijal, vice-chairman of the board, said that the board would take forward the work of policy reform by incorporating the suggestions of experts. He said that the board was planning to work transparently in all the states despite the small budget and the suggestions of experts would be helpful in formulating the budget.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Similarly, other members of the board Krishna Shah and Pampha Poudel Dhamala said that the board was coordinating with various agencies for resource management even in difficult circumstances. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13372', 'image' => '20210704105627_20201016032657_1602804123.Clipboard13.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 10:55:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13625', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industrialists urge India to Remove its Anti-Dumping Duty on Jute Produced in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: Nepali industrialists have demanded India to waive anti-dumping duty (ADD) imposed on jute exported from Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 4: Nepali industrialists have demanded India to waive anti-dumping duty (ADD) imposed on jute exported from Nepal. India has not imposed ADD on jute imported from Bangladesh.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepali industrialists have been paying an annual fee of Rs 300 million to the Indian government for anti-dumping. However, Bangladeshi industrialists do not pay a penny. Nepali industry has been exporting ready-made jute worth Rs 7.5 billion to India annually.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepal's industries have been exporting the finished jute products by importing more than 50 percent raw jute from India. Jute produced in Nepal barely occupies 2 percent of the Indian jute market. Nepal produces jute by importing technology, raw materials, and machinery from India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As the jute mills operated in Morang and Sunsari of Nepal are close to the border, factory employees are Indian. Despite the Indian government's policy of mandatory use of jute bags for food packaging, Indian products are not enough and therefore use plastic bags for packing food. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Raj Kumar Golchha, president of the Nepal Jute Industries Association, demanded the removal of the ADD imposed by India on jute produced in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Due to ADD, Nepali products have not been able to compete with Indian products, he shared. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Therefore, he demanded that the government should initiate negotiation with India to remove the five-year ADD provision. There are 30,000 workers in Nepal's jute industry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Government of India has been reviewing the duty every five years. It has been five years since India imposed ADD on Nepali jute products.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Five years ago, the Nepal Jute Industries Association had repeatedly demanded the removal of ADD before the Government of India. At that time, a team of tax experts from the Government of India visited the jute industries in Morang and Sunsari and decided to impose ADD on different products. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Dinesh Bhattarai, said that the ministry would try to solve the issue diplomatically after studying Indian law. He said, "We will study the provisions in the law of India and plan accordingly."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Ramesh Rathi, treasurer of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Province No. 1 and operator of Swastik Jute, said that like Nepal, Bangladesh is also sending jute products to the Indian market. However, unlike Nepal, India has not imposed ADD on Bangladesh’ products. India has decided not to impose ADD on 16 jute industries of Bangladesh.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The products of other jute mills of Bangladesh are also coming to the Indian market under the name of these 16 jute mills. Rathi said that the Indian government is silent on this issue. He said the government of India is losing revenue to 16 jute industries in Bangladesh due to non-imposition of ADD on their products.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Currently, there are 11 jute mills in Nepal, while six of them are currently closed. The remaining five jute industries that are operational are Arihant, Raghupati, Swastik, Baba, and Nepal Jute. Rathi added that if the government of Nepal resolves the ADD problem through talks with the Indian government, the industry affected by the closure due to coronavirus will get relief. Industries will increase their production capacity and that will create more jobs, he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13371', 'image' => '20210704104051_1625349493.Clipboard06.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 10:40:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13624', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Manufacturers Facing Problems in Exporting Carpet', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: Carpets worth around Rs 5 billion have been languishing in different warehouses due to problems in exporting the product. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">July 4: Carpets worth around Rs 5 billion have been languishing in different warehouses due to problems in exporting the product. The country has been facing problems in exporting goods with the onset of the second wave of coronavirus. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Although there has been a rise in demand for carpets, the readymade products are being stockpiled in warehouses.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During the last fiscal year, carpets worth Rs 4 billion could not be exported due to the lockdown imposed by the government to curb the spread of the deadly disease. Carpet manufacturers say that they are facing similar problem this year too. They say that they increased production after receiving orders when the first wave of pandemic started receding. But when it was time to export the product, the second wave hit the country and the government subsequently imposed prohibitory order. Due to this reason, the carpets produced have been stockpiled in warehouses, says Ram Bahadur Gurung, chairman of Nepal Carpet Producers and Exporters Association.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Gurung informed New Business Age that there is still good demand for Nepali carpet in the international market but the problem is exporting them to foreign countries amid the pandemic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He further said that only 30 percent of carpet industries are currently operational due to the difficulty in exporting their products.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Carpets produced in Nepal are exported to more than 50 countries across the world including the USA, China, Germany, the UK, Italy, France, Canada, Belgium and Australia.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">It is estimated that there are around 700 carpet industries in Nepal out of which 150 export carpets to foreign countries. The association informed that the livelihood of more than 350,000 workers are in danger as the existence of the carpet industry itself is in trouble. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13370', 'image' => '20210704103045_20200719042410_Nepali Carpet.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 10:30:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13627', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Share Market Attracting Investors ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has so far in the current fiscal year granted permission for the sale of ordinary shares (IPO) of a total of 18 companies. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">July 4: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has so far in the current fiscal year granted permission for the sale of ordinary shares (IPO) of a total of 18 companies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the Board, Union Life Insurance Company is the latest company that has been allowed to come up with IPO offerings. The company has been permitted to issue 6.45 million units of ordinary shares worth Rs 645 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Based on the permission given by the board till date, a total of Rs 1434 billion ordinary shares are to be issued this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Lately, the size of domestic share market has been expanded. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to SEBON, the number of beneficiary accounts, which was around 1.7 million at the end of last fiscal year has increased by 100 per cent and reached 3.5 million in this fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Similarly, the number of my share accounts, which was around 700,000, increased by over three folds and reached to 2.6 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">SEBON added that 500,000 people used to apply for IPOs in the past and this number has risen to 2.1 million these days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A total of 2.84 million have applied for the IPO issued by Jeevan Bikas Microfinance lately. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, prior to this, 1.84 million had applied for the ordinary shares of Jyoti Life Insurance Company. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13369', 'image' => '20210704110308_20160515043917_sebon.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 11:02:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13623', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Ministry Authorizes Election Commission to Spend Rs 7.73 Billion for Midterm Polls ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' Ministry of Finance (MoF) has authorized the Election Commission to spend up to Rs 7.73 billion for midterm polls announced for November. ', 'content' => '<p>July 3: Ministry of Finance (MoF) has authorized the Election Commission to spend up to Rs 7.73 billion for midterm polls announced for November. <br /> According to a statement issued by the MoF, the authorized fund will be spent for the procurement of materials and equipments required to hold elections of House of Representatives. <br /> The spending authorization from the Finance Ministry comes amid preperation of the constitutional body to conduct mid-term polls in two phases in November as announced by the government. <br /> Earlier on May 22, President Bidya Devi Bhandari had dissolved the House of Representatives and announced midterm polls for November 12 and 19 upon the recommendation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. <br /> However, the move to dissolve the House and hold elections has been challeged in the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Bench at the Supreme Court is expected to deliver its verdict next week. </p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-03', 'modified' => '2021-07-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13368', 'image' => '20210703023134_Finance Ministry.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-03 14:29:43', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13622', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Takes Action against Six Commercial Banks for Policy Violation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has taken action against six commercial banks for violating its policy throughout the fiscal year 2077/78. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 2: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has taken action against six commercial banks for violating its policy throughout the fiscal year 2077/78. The central bank has imposed a fine of Rs 8.78 million on the banks in the current fiscal year. NRB has imposed financial fines on Laxmi Bank, Civil Bank and Standard Chartered Bank while it has issued warnings to Global IME Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank and Prabhu Bank.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The central bank has slapped a fine of Rs 2 million on Laxmi Bank for violating the Anti Money Laundering Act and instructions. Likewise, Civil Bank has been fined Rs 1 million. Banks need to pay fines if they do not report violation of the Anti Money Laundering Act and instruction to the central bank. The minimum penalty for such violation is Rs 1 million.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The central bank has also taken action against the commercial banks that did not meet the specified limit of priority sector credit flow during this period. Standard Chartered Bank has been fined Rs 5.78 million for failing to invest in priority sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Bank Supervision Department of NRB has also warned Standard Chartered Bank not to repeat the mistake. The department has also issued warning to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rastriya Banijya Bank Kiran Kumar Shrestha.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2058 BS, there is a provision to warn or give written warning at the beginning if the regulation of the bank is violated. According to the Bank Supervision Department, the NRB has pointed out the weaknesses observed during the supervision and alerted the concerned banks and the CEO in the first phase.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The department says that in the beginning, they are just warning the banks and seeking clarification and not taking any strict action at the moment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The central bank had imposed fines of Rs. 3.14 million on two commercial banks in the fiscal year 2076/77. Mega Bank had paid a fine of Rs 148,000 for not maintaining the cash reserves ratio. In the same year, Himalayan Bank was also imposed a fine of Rs 3 million for violating the Anti Money Laundering Act. A member and CEO of Nepal Bangladesh Bank were also warned.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The NRB Act also allows the board of directors of the bank to take corrective steps through punishment. NRB has been issuing written warnings to end recurring violations and take corrective steps.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">NRB can also restrict the distribution of dividends to shareholders of commercial banks or financial institutions, and even suspend or revoke their license. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13367', 'image' => '20210702052230_20210308021619_20201228012934_20201106055408_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 17:21:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13621', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Resumes Import of Palm Oil after a Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: India has removed restriction on import of palm oil almost a year after imposing a ban. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 2: India has removed restriction on import of palm oil almost a year after imposing a ban. Nepali entrepreneurs that the latest decision of India opened the door for export of refined palm oil from Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Directorate General of Foreign Trade of India said in a statement on Tuesday that the import of palm oil has been resumed. India has allowed the import till the end of December. The government of India has given permission to Nepal and other countries to export palm oil after the rise in the price of edible oil in India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Even though India has started importing palm oil, it will take at least one month for Nepali entrepreneurs to export the oil to India, opined Suresh Rungta, operator of OBC Food. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“After the suspension of exports to India, industrialists are now focusing on export of soybean oil. It will take one month to process and export crude palm oil,” said entrepreneur Rungta.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepali entrepreneurs process raw palms brought from Indonesia and Malaysia and export them to India. India had imposed a complete ban on imported palm oil on April 12, 2020, saying that it had adversely affected its industries and farmers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Prior to that, the ban imposed on January 7, 2019, was lifted after one month with quantitative restrictions. India has imposed high tariffs on palm oil imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">It charges 30.25 percent on crude palm oil imports and 41.25 percent on refined oil. Nepali industrialists import crude palm oil from third countries by paying 10 percent customs duty.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepali exporters enjoy zero percent customs duty under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) for exporting refined oil to INdia. Due to this provision, industries had exported large quantities of palm oil.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">There are 12 industries exporting edible oil to India in the Bara-Parsa corridor and seven in the Biratnagar area. According to government data, edible oil has been the main contributor to Nepal’s export for the past two fiscal years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13366', 'image' => '20210702051202_20191103092810_20190807121918_Clipboard01.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 17:11:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13620', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 58,000 Foreign Tourists Arrived in Nepal in First 6 Months of Current FY ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: The COVID-19 pandemic has hugely affected the tourism sector in the country. Tourism has been one of the mainstays of the country’s economy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">July 2: The COVID-19 pandemic has hugely affected the tourism sector in the country. Tourism has been one of the mainstays of the country’s economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Due to the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector, a negligible number of foreign tourists have been recorded to have visited Nepal in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2020/21. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a total of 58,058 foreign tourists entered Nepal. Similarly, a total of 1,143 foreign tourists flew into Nepal within June this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Spokesperson of NTB Mani Lamichhane shared that a total of 102 foreign tourists had arrived in Nepal in June last year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During this year’s June, 3,606 foreign tourists stranded in Nepal or those willing to return to their home country were flown out of Nepal amid the prohibitory order imposed by the government in the Kathmandu Valley to contain the second wave of COVID-19, said Lamichhane. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13365', 'image' => '20210702113555_20200930115831_1601420205.89.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 11:35:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13618', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFI Employees Start Protest Against Social Security Fund', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: Employees of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) and insurance companies have started a protest programme expressing dissatisfaction over the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 2: Employees of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) and insurance companies have started a protest programme expressing dissatisfaction over the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Following the directive issued by the government asking all the private sector companies to compulsorily participate in the programme, employees’ associations of banks and financial institutions had been urging the government to make the SSF participation voluntary.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As their suggestions went unheard, the associations have announced to stage protests in three phases. In the first phase of the protest programme, the employees held demonstration with banners. In the second phase they will be working with black armbands and are planning to put down the pen in the third phase of the protest. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Barun Khadka, treasurer of the Financial Employees Union, said employees from 16 banks, micro finance companies, and insurance companies have put up black banners in the central office of SSF along with their demands. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Financial Institute Employees Union of Nepal stated that employees are being forced to participate in SSF without amending the inappropriate provisions of SSF Act, its regulation and work procedures. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13364', 'image' => '20210702111022_20210215042205_20200401094426_1585693701.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 11:09:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13619', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' 45,000 Metric Tonnes of Urea Arrive from Bangladesh ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: The much-awaited shipment of fertilizers purchased by the Government of Nepal from Bangladesh has finally arrived in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">July 2: The much-awaited shipment of fertilizers purchased by the Government of Nepal from Bangladesh has finally arrived in the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">Out of 50,000 metric tons of urea ordered by the government through G2G deal, 45,000 metric tons has reportedly arrived at various border check points of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">According to the state-owned national news agency (RSS), the fertilizer has reached the provincial offices of Agriculture Inputs Company Limited in Birgunj, Biratnagar and Bhairahawa. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:Arial">As per the agreement, the Government of Bangladesh has to provide 50,000 metric tonnes of the fertilizer to Nepal. The remaining 5,000 metric tonnes of the fertilizer will arrive in Nepal within a week, RSS reported citing the manager of the company’s Birgunj-based provincial office, Gorakhnath KC. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The government had placed the order during the plantation season of last year, when the farmers were facing scarcity of fertilizers. However, the delivery of the fertilizer had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other reasons including Bangladesh’s insistence on providing the fertilizer through G2G deal instead of the Nepal’s request to borrow the fertilzier.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial"> Unlike in the past when farmers faced scarcity of fertilizers, KC ensured timely availability of fertilizers during this monsoon when paddy plantation begins in most parts of the country. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13363', 'image' => '20210702112439_20200817122726_1597613093.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 11:23:55', '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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Public transportations has to implement the standard health protocol. The vehicles entering the valley can be allowed with the permission of the local administration.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, all kinds of businesses will be open from Tuesday morning (July 6). Such orders were issued by a joint meeting of the Chief District Officers of the three districts of the Kathmandu Valley (Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur) on Monday (July 5). The meeting has imposed a complete restriction on mass gatherings, conferences, operation of cinema halls, party palaces among others. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, gatherings in open places, weddings in hotels and party palaces, mass gatherings, religious programs except for daily worship, and educational activities in physical presence still restricted</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Local transportations is allowed to operate from 9 am to 11 am and from 4 pm to 7 pm. However, drug and health care stores will be open round the clock. Other shops and businesses can operate till 6 pm.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Businesses are required to follow all the health safety standards. Failure to do so could result in a halt of business operations. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Online delivery of essential items as well as delivery of food and other take-away items from restaurants are allowed till 7 pm in Kaathmandu valley.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Public transport will not be allowed to carry more passengers than the seating capacity. Passengers must wear a mask. If not, entry to the vehicle is prohibited. Drivers and helpers are required to wear visors and gloves. Public vehicles are required to have a sanitizer placed at the door of the vehicle. Vehicles are also required to be disinfected.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, Safa's clean tempo and the blue microbus are asked to have only four passengers in the back seat and one on the driver's side. These public vehicles have to put a plastic barrier in the middle of the vehicle to separate the passengers on both sides. In case of private vehicles, full health standards must be followed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Public and private vehicles entering the valley for urgent work will be allowed to enter with the approval of the concerned district administration office. Vehicles for public and private construction have been asked to operate from 9 pm to 5 am.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">All kinds of pre-scheduled written and practical examinations can be conducted by following the standard health protocols. While conducting the examination, more than 25 people are not allowed to sit for exams in a single hall. The examinations have to be conducted in two shifts. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, seminars, meetings and trainings can have no more than 25 participants.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-06', 'modified' => '2021-07-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13378', 'image' => '20210706111648_1625544322.lockdown.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-06 10:27:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13631', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Provide Half a Million Rupees in Relief to Victims of Natural Disaster ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'uly 5: The government has decided to provide up to Rs 500,000 to the families displaced by natural disaster. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 5: The government has decided to provide up to Rs 500,000 to the families displaced by natural disaster. According to the government, it has allocated the relief amount for reconstruction and rehabilitation. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government will provide Rs 500,000 per family in the mountainous districts, Rs 400,000 in the hill districts and Rs 300,000 in the terai districts in accordance to the Disaster Affected Private Housing Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Grant Procedure 2077. The amount will be released in installments. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Speaking at a meeting of the National Assembly on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel said that the government has initiated the process of providing an immediate relief of Rs 50,000 per affected family through the District Administration Offices for temporary accommodation. A total of Rs 28.6 million has been allocated for this. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Informing the assembly about the damage caused by the natural disaster in different parts of the country since the beginning of monsoon this year, Poudel said that the government has given necessary instructions for immediate rescue, relief and rehabilitation in coordination with the stakeholders. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> According to him, 572 houses have been completely damaged while 112 houses have been partially damaged since the onset of the rainy season this year. Similarly, floods and landslides have also damaged 36 government buildings and nine schools. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">A total of fifteen motorable bridges have been damaged, that includes seven in Sindhupalchowk district, two in Manang and Chitwan, one each in Tanahun, Morang, Udayapur and Siraha. Five wooden bridges were swept away in Manang. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, a total of 23 suspension bridges have been swept away in different parts of the country including 14 in Sindhupalchowk, seven in Manang. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The access road and bridge leading to the headworks of Melamchi Drinking Water Project have been damaged. Poudel said that the repair work has already started after confirming the damage to the headworks. According to him, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport has already taken initiative to open the blocked road by constructing two bailey bridges in Sindhupalchowk. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Forty-three small and large drinking water projects across the country have been damaged while 25 hydropower projects in different districts including Kaski, Manang and Sindhupalchok have been partially damaged. Minister Poudel said that they are yet to receive the details of total damages so far in all the provinces and districts. He also informed that they have asked the details of the damage from the concerned agencies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the government, reconstruction work has started by providing a grant of Rs 199.7 million at the rate of Rs 50,000 per family in the first installment to 3,949 families affected by last year's monsoon. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-05', 'modified' => '2021-07-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13377', 'image' => '20210705020447_20201220030536_20201015115013_1602717511.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-05 14:04:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13632', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Devyani Rana appointed Coca-Cola’s Vice President ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 5: Coca-Cola has appointed Devyani Rajya Laxmi Rana as the multinational company’s vice president of public affairs, communications and sustainability for India and Southwest Asia. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 5: Coca-Cola has appointed Devyani Rajya Laxmi Rana as the multinational company’s vice president of public affairs, communications and sustainability for India and Southwest Asia. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Rana was earlier working with Caterpillar India where—as Director of Public Affairs for India, Nepal, Bhutan—she was leading Caterpillar and its subsidiaries’ work in government/corporate affairs, public relations and communications, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability for India, Nepal and Bhutan regions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">She is a daughter of Rastriya Prajatantra Party’s leader Pashupati Shumsher Rana and Rani Usha Raje Scindia, who is a daughter of Gwalior’s last maharaja Jivajirao Scindia and Aishwarya Singh.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">She had also worked with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and United Nations (UN) in India, The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Geneva, Switzerland World Economic Forum (WEF).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“I am delighted to welcome Devyani on this exciting charter to deepen Coca-Cola’s engagement in the region as she joins the leadership team to spearhead the practice in the region,” said Sanket Ray, President, India and Southwest Asia, commenting on the appointment. “Rana brings a wealth of experience in advocating for policies, legislation, trade agreements and regulations. Her contributions will augment our belief in our purpose even stronger and serve as an acceleration of the work that was already underway.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Rana, an alumni of London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), London, also holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur in Nepal and a Bachelor of Arts, in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-05', 'modified' => '2021-07-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13376', 'image' => '20210705023038_IMG-20210705-WA0000.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-05 14:20:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13629', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Only Two-thirds Pharmaceutical Companies Fully Operational', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'uly 4: Only about two-thirds of registered pharmaceutical companies in the country are fully operational at present.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 4: Only about two-thirds of registered pharmaceutical companies in the country are fully operational at present. This was revealed in a detailed study report on self-reliant pharmaceuticals and drug manufacturing industries of Nepal released by the Department of Industry on Saturday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the report, there are 103 pharmaceutical companies registered with the Department of Drug Administration as of April 25, 2021, of which only 66 companies are fully operational. The department informed that these companies have received licenses for both production and sales of medicines. Similarly, the report states that 33 companies are in the process of obtaining licenses for production, while other four licensed industries are not operating due to technical reasons.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Out of 66 companies, four (6.06 percent) companies are in Province 1, 14 (21.21 percent) are in Province 2, Bagmati Province has 37 (56.06 percent) companies, Gandaki has 2 (3.03 percent) companies and Lumbini Province has 9 (13.63 percent) companies. The study report shows that there isn’t any pharmaceutical company in the other two provinces.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">All the above-mentioned pharmaceutical companies are private and mostly large (90 percent) with a total capital of more than Rs 250 million. Some medium-sized companies (10 percent) are also planning to increase investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Most of the companies in operation are producing medicines in the form of tablets, capsules, liquid (syrup/suspension), powder (dry syrup), ointment/cream and eye/ear drops.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The yearly production capacity of tablets of 60 out of 66 companies is 2 billion units and the production capacity of capsules is 1.75 billion units. Similarly, the production capacity of liquid medicine of 45 companies is 4.5 billion units. In addition, the ointment production capacity of 40 companies is 150 million units and powder (dry syrup) is 30 million units. Moreover, the production capacity of nose/ear drops of five companies is 3.7 million units. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13374', 'image' => '20210704045857_20200818124630_1597700501.Clipboard10.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 16:58:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13628', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Sets Ambitious Target for MCC Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: The government has set ambitious targets for the next three years to implement the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact, which is yet to be endorsed by the parliament.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 4: The government has set ambitious targets for the next three years to implement the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact, which is yet to be endorsed by the parliament.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The MCC agreement has been mired in controversy since a long time. However, the government has claimed that the work of the project will be expedited in the next three years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The recent expenditure structure prepared by the National Planning Commission, chaired by the Prime Minister, outlines the achievements to be made in the next three years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The targets are operation of Transmission Line Rehabilitation Action Plan, Additional Survey of Transmission Line (30 km), compensation and distribution to 20 percent of the people affected by the project, completion of 10 percent of MCA Nepal Partnership Program, detailed survey and design of projects, construction of 55% of substations, 15 percent of equipment installation, maintenance and operation of 40 km long Dhankhola Lamahi road section, maintenance of 37 km long Lamahi-Shivakhola road section among others.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, 178 out of 189 plots have been acquired for Ratmate Substation and Rs 1.26 billion compensation has been distributed to the affected people. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">It is claimed that preparations are in the final stage and an agreement has been signed with the Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Department of Roads seeking required help. Agreements will be signed between MCA Nepal and the Ministry of Forestry to cut down trees and use of forest land in the next fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, the government claims that three sub-stations, 315 km of transmission lines and about 77 km of national highways will be renovated by the Millennium Challenge Account in the next five years. The cost of this project is estimated to be at Rs 70.50 billion. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepal had signed an agreement with the US-backed MCC in September 2017 to build a project with a grant of around Rs 55 billion. It had been agreed that the United States would provide $ 500 million in grants for two projects to increase electricity consumption and reduce the cost of road transport, and that the Government of Nepal would contribute $ 130 million to these projects.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Although Nepal has expressed its commitment to implement the agreement by completing all the procedures, the project has not moved ahead as agreed. MCA-Nepal has been saying that the project cannot be fully implemented without it being endorsed by the parliament. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13373', 'image' => '20210704043711_1625349562.3.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 16:36:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13626', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Experts Suggest NTB to Introduce the Budget in Coordination with all 3 Tiers of Government', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: Experts in the field of tourism have suggested the Nepal Tourism Board to bring a budget in coordination with the federal, state, and local levels to revive the tourism that has been burdened by Covid 19. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">July 4: Experts in the field of tourism have suggested the Nepal Tourism Board to bring a budget in coordination with the federal, state, and local levels to revive the tourism that has been burdened by Covid 19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Speaking at a recent virtual interaction organized by the Board, the experts suggested formulating a plan for maximum use of limited resources. They stressed that the tourism activities need to be revitalized gradually by ensuring vaccine against COVID-19 and maintaining health protocol. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> Former Tourism Secretary Dipendra Purush Dhakal shared that the federal government should provide a grant to the board to promote tourism amid current crisis. He said that there would be financial problems in the promotion of tourism and the sector would be affected if the government does not bring help in times of trouble.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Dr. Prem Sharma suggested the board to formulate a budget to promote domestic tourism as there is less possibility of international tourists visiting Nepal immediately. Similarly, Dr. Som Prasad Khatiwada, Ram Chandra Sedai, Chetnath Kandel, and Surya Kiran Shrestha said that the board should prepare a recovery and revival plan of at least 2 to 3 years by including the stakeholders’ suggestion and move ahead with the work of tourism promotion accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Similarly, Dr. Alok Rai, Ramesh Upadhyay, Pashupati Neupane, and Gyanendra Ratna Tuladhar stressed on digital marketing while tourism entrepreneurs Vijay Amatya, Vikram Pandey, and Sien Pandey urged the board focus on new tourism products and marketing rather than infrastructure.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">During the interaction, Chandra Prasad Rijal, vice-chairman of the board, said that the board would take forward the work of policy reform by incorporating the suggestions of experts. He said that the board was planning to work transparently in all the states despite the small budget and the suggestions of experts would be helpful in formulating the budget.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Similarly, other members of the board Krishna Shah and Pampha Poudel Dhamala said that the board was coordinating with various agencies for resource management even in difficult circumstances. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13372', 'image' => '20210704105627_20201016032657_1602804123.Clipboard13.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 10:55:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13625', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industrialists urge India to Remove its Anti-Dumping Duty on Jute Produced in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: Nepali industrialists have demanded India to waive anti-dumping duty (ADD) imposed on jute exported from Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 4: Nepali industrialists have demanded India to waive anti-dumping duty (ADD) imposed on jute exported from Nepal. India has not imposed ADD on jute imported from Bangladesh.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepali industrialists have been paying an annual fee of Rs 300 million to the Indian government for anti-dumping. However, Bangladeshi industrialists do not pay a penny. Nepali industry has been exporting ready-made jute worth Rs 7.5 billion to India annually.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepal's industries have been exporting the finished jute products by importing more than 50 percent raw jute from India. Jute produced in Nepal barely occupies 2 percent of the Indian jute market. Nepal produces jute by importing technology, raw materials, and machinery from India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As the jute mills operated in Morang and Sunsari of Nepal are close to the border, factory employees are Indian. Despite the Indian government's policy of mandatory use of jute bags for food packaging, Indian products are not enough and therefore use plastic bags for packing food. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Raj Kumar Golchha, president of the Nepal Jute Industries Association, demanded the removal of the ADD imposed by India on jute produced in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Due to ADD, Nepali products have not been able to compete with Indian products, he shared. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Therefore, he demanded that the government should initiate negotiation with India to remove the five-year ADD provision. There are 30,000 workers in Nepal's jute industry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Government of India has been reviewing the duty every five years. It has been five years since India imposed ADD on Nepali jute products.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Five years ago, the Nepal Jute Industries Association had repeatedly demanded the removal of ADD before the Government of India. At that time, a team of tax experts from the Government of India visited the jute industries in Morang and Sunsari and decided to impose ADD on different products. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Dinesh Bhattarai, said that the ministry would try to solve the issue diplomatically after studying Indian law. He said, "We will study the provisions in the law of India and plan accordingly."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Ramesh Rathi, treasurer of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Province No. 1 and operator of Swastik Jute, said that like Nepal, Bangladesh is also sending jute products to the Indian market. However, unlike Nepal, India has not imposed ADD on Bangladesh’ products. India has decided not to impose ADD on 16 jute industries of Bangladesh.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The products of other jute mills of Bangladesh are also coming to the Indian market under the name of these 16 jute mills. Rathi said that the Indian government is silent on this issue. He said the government of India is losing revenue to 16 jute industries in Bangladesh due to non-imposition of ADD on their products.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Currently, there are 11 jute mills in Nepal, while six of them are currently closed. The remaining five jute industries that are operational are Arihant, Raghupati, Swastik, Baba, and Nepal Jute. Rathi added that if the government of Nepal resolves the ADD problem through talks with the Indian government, the industry affected by the closure due to coronavirus will get relief. Industries will increase their production capacity and that will create more jobs, he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13371', 'image' => '20210704104051_1625349493.Clipboard06.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 10:40:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13624', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Manufacturers Facing Problems in Exporting Carpet', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: Carpets worth around Rs 5 billion have been languishing in different warehouses due to problems in exporting the product. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">July 4: Carpets worth around Rs 5 billion have been languishing in different warehouses due to problems in exporting the product. The country has been facing problems in exporting goods with the onset of the second wave of coronavirus. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Although there has been a rise in demand for carpets, the readymade products are being stockpiled in warehouses.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During the last fiscal year, carpets worth Rs 4 billion could not be exported due to the lockdown imposed by the government to curb the spread of the deadly disease. Carpet manufacturers say that they are facing similar problem this year too. They say that they increased production after receiving orders when the first wave of pandemic started receding. But when it was time to export the product, the second wave hit the country and the government subsequently imposed prohibitory order. Due to this reason, the carpets produced have been stockpiled in warehouses, says Ram Bahadur Gurung, chairman of Nepal Carpet Producers and Exporters Association.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Gurung informed New Business Age that there is still good demand for Nepali carpet in the international market but the problem is exporting them to foreign countries amid the pandemic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He further said that only 30 percent of carpet industries are currently operational due to the difficulty in exporting their products.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Carpets produced in Nepal are exported to more than 50 countries across the world including the USA, China, Germany, the UK, Italy, France, Canada, Belgium and Australia.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">It is estimated that there are around 700 carpet industries in Nepal out of which 150 export carpets to foreign countries. The association informed that the livelihood of more than 350,000 workers are in danger as the existence of the carpet industry itself is in trouble. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13370', 'image' => '20210704103045_20200719042410_Nepali Carpet.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 10:30:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13627', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Share Market Attracting Investors ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 4: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has so far in the current fiscal year granted permission for the sale of ordinary shares (IPO) of a total of 18 companies. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">July 4: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has so far in the current fiscal year granted permission for the sale of ordinary shares (IPO) of a total of 18 companies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the Board, Union Life Insurance Company is the latest company that has been allowed to come up with IPO offerings. The company has been permitted to issue 6.45 million units of ordinary shares worth Rs 645 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Based on the permission given by the board till date, a total of Rs 1434 billion ordinary shares are to be issued this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Lately, the size of domestic share market has been expanded. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to SEBON, the number of beneficiary accounts, which was around 1.7 million at the end of last fiscal year has increased by 100 per cent and reached 3.5 million in this fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Similarly, the number of my share accounts, which was around 700,000, increased by over three folds and reached to 2.6 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">SEBON added that 500,000 people used to apply for IPOs in the past and this number has risen to 2.1 million these days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A total of 2.84 million have applied for the IPO issued by Jeevan Bikas Microfinance lately. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, prior to this, 1.84 million had applied for the ordinary shares of Jyoti Life Insurance Company. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-04', 'modified' => '2021-07-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13369', 'image' => '20210704110308_20160515043917_sebon.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-07-04 11:02:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13623', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Ministry Authorizes Election Commission to Spend Rs 7.73 Billion for Midterm Polls ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' Ministry of Finance (MoF) has authorized the Election Commission to spend up to Rs 7.73 billion for midterm polls announced for November. ', 'content' => '<p>July 3: Ministry of Finance (MoF) has authorized the Election Commission to spend up to Rs 7.73 billion for midterm polls announced for November. <br /> According to a statement issued by the MoF, the authorized fund will be spent for the procurement of materials and equipments required to hold elections of House of Representatives. <br /> The spending authorization from the Finance Ministry comes amid preperation of the constitutional body to conduct mid-term polls in two phases in November as announced by the government. <br /> Earlier on May 22, President Bidya Devi Bhandari had dissolved the House of Representatives and announced midterm polls for November 12 and 19 upon the recommendation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. <br /> However, the move to dissolve the House and hold elections has been challeged in the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Bench at the Supreme Court is expected to deliver its verdict next week. </p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-03', 'modified' => '2021-07-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13368', 'image' => '20210703023134_Finance Ministry.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-03 14:29:43', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13622', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Takes Action against Six Commercial Banks for Policy Violation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has taken action against six commercial banks for violating its policy throughout the fiscal year 2077/78. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 2: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has taken action against six commercial banks for violating its policy throughout the fiscal year 2077/78. The central bank has imposed a fine of Rs 8.78 million on the banks in the current fiscal year. NRB has imposed financial fines on Laxmi Bank, Civil Bank and Standard Chartered Bank while it has issued warnings to Global IME Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank and Prabhu Bank.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The central bank has slapped a fine of Rs 2 million on Laxmi Bank for violating the Anti Money Laundering Act and instructions. Likewise, Civil Bank has been fined Rs 1 million. Banks need to pay fines if they do not report violation of the Anti Money Laundering Act and instruction to the central bank. The minimum penalty for such violation is Rs 1 million.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The central bank has also taken action against the commercial banks that did not meet the specified limit of priority sector credit flow during this period. Standard Chartered Bank has been fined Rs 5.78 million for failing to invest in priority sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Bank Supervision Department of NRB has also warned Standard Chartered Bank not to repeat the mistake. The department has also issued warning to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rastriya Banijya Bank Kiran Kumar Shrestha.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2058 BS, there is a provision to warn or give written warning at the beginning if the regulation of the bank is violated. According to the Bank Supervision Department, the NRB has pointed out the weaknesses observed during the supervision and alerted the concerned banks and the CEO in the first phase.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The department says that in the beginning, they are just warning the banks and seeking clarification and not taking any strict action at the moment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The central bank had imposed fines of Rs. 3.14 million on two commercial banks in the fiscal year 2076/77. Mega Bank had paid a fine of Rs 148,000 for not maintaining the cash reserves ratio. In the same year, Himalayan Bank was also imposed a fine of Rs 3 million for violating the Anti Money Laundering Act. A member and CEO of Nepal Bangladesh Bank were also warned.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The NRB Act also allows the board of directors of the bank to take corrective steps through punishment. NRB has been issuing written warnings to end recurring violations and take corrective steps.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">NRB can also restrict the distribution of dividends to shareholders of commercial banks or financial institutions, and even suspend or revoke their license. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13367', 'image' => '20210702052230_20210308021619_20201228012934_20201106055408_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 17:21:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13621', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Resumes Import of Palm Oil after a Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: India has removed restriction on import of palm oil almost a year after imposing a ban. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 2: India has removed restriction on import of palm oil almost a year after imposing a ban. Nepali entrepreneurs that the latest decision of India opened the door for export of refined palm oil from Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Directorate General of Foreign Trade of India said in a statement on Tuesday that the import of palm oil has been resumed. India has allowed the import till the end of December. The government of India has given permission to Nepal and other countries to export palm oil after the rise in the price of edible oil in India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Even though India has started importing palm oil, it will take at least one month for Nepali entrepreneurs to export the oil to India, opined Suresh Rungta, operator of OBC Food. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“After the suspension of exports to India, industrialists are now focusing on export of soybean oil. It will take one month to process and export crude palm oil,” said entrepreneur Rungta.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepali entrepreneurs process raw palms brought from Indonesia and Malaysia and export them to India. India had imposed a complete ban on imported palm oil on April 12, 2020, saying that it had adversely affected its industries and farmers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Prior to that, the ban imposed on January 7, 2019, was lifted after one month with quantitative restrictions. India has imposed high tariffs on palm oil imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">It charges 30.25 percent on crude palm oil imports and 41.25 percent on refined oil. Nepali industrialists import crude palm oil from third countries by paying 10 percent customs duty.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nepali exporters enjoy zero percent customs duty under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) for exporting refined oil to INdia. Due to this provision, industries had exported large quantities of palm oil.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">There are 12 industries exporting edible oil to India in the Bara-Parsa corridor and seven in the Biratnagar area. According to government data, edible oil has been the main contributor to Nepal’s export for the past two fiscal years.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13366', 'image' => '20210702051202_20191103092810_20190807121918_Clipboard01.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 17:11:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13620', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 58,000 Foreign Tourists Arrived in Nepal in First 6 Months of Current FY ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: The COVID-19 pandemic has hugely affected the tourism sector in the country. Tourism has been one of the mainstays of the country’s economy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">July 2: The COVID-19 pandemic has hugely affected the tourism sector in the country. Tourism has been one of the mainstays of the country’s economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Due to the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector, a negligible number of foreign tourists have been recorded to have visited Nepal in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2020/21. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), a total of 58,058 foreign tourists entered Nepal. Similarly, a total of 1,143 foreign tourists flew into Nepal within June this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Spokesperson of NTB Mani Lamichhane shared that a total of 102 foreign tourists had arrived in Nepal in June last year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During this year’s June, 3,606 foreign tourists stranded in Nepal or those willing to return to their home country were flown out of Nepal amid the prohibitory order imposed by the government in the Kathmandu Valley to contain the second wave of COVID-19, said Lamichhane. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13365', 'image' => '20210702113555_20200930115831_1601420205.89.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 11:35:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13618', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFI Employees Start Protest Against Social Security Fund', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: Employees of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) and insurance companies have started a protest programme expressing dissatisfaction over the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">July 2: Employees of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) and insurance companies have started a protest programme expressing dissatisfaction over the contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Following the directive issued by the government asking all the private sector companies to compulsorily participate in the programme, employees’ associations of banks and financial institutions had been urging the government to make the SSF participation voluntary.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As their suggestions went unheard, the associations have announced to stage protests in three phases. In the first phase of the protest programme, the employees held demonstration with banners. In the second phase they will be working with black armbands and are planning to put down the pen in the third phase of the protest. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Barun Khadka, treasurer of the Financial Employees Union, said employees from 16 banks, micro finance companies, and insurance companies have put up black banners in the central office of SSF along with their demands. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Financial Institute Employees Union of Nepal stated that employees are being forced to participate in SSF without amending the inappropriate provisions of SSF Act, its regulation and work procedures. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13364', 'image' => '20210702111022_20210215042205_20200401094426_1585693701.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 11:09:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13619', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' 45,000 Metric Tonnes of Urea Arrive from Bangladesh ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 2: The much-awaited shipment of fertilizers purchased by the Government of Nepal from Bangladesh has finally arrived in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">July 2: The much-awaited shipment of fertilizers purchased by the Government of Nepal from Bangladesh has finally arrived in the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">Out of 50,000 metric tons of urea ordered by the government through G2G deal, 45,000 metric tons has reportedly arrived at various border check points of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">According to the state-owned national news agency (RSS), the fertilizer has reached the provincial offices of Agriculture Inputs Company Limited in Birgunj, Biratnagar and Bhairahawa. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:Arial">As per the agreement, the Government of Bangladesh has to provide 50,000 metric tonnes of the fertilizer to Nepal. The remaining 5,000 metric tonnes of the fertilizer will arrive in Nepal within a week, RSS reported citing the manager of the company’s Birgunj-based provincial office, Gorakhnath KC. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The government had placed the order during the plantation season of last year, when the farmers were facing scarcity of fertilizers. However, the delivery of the fertilizer had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other reasons including Bangladesh’s insistence on providing the fertilizer through G2G deal instead of the Nepal’s request to borrow the fertilzier.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial"> Unlike in the past when farmers faced scarcity of fertilizers, KC ensured timely availability of fertilizers during this monsoon when paddy plantation begins in most parts of the country. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-07-02', 'modified' => '2021-07-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13363', 'image' => '20210702112439_20200817122726_1597613093.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-07-02 11:23:55', '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
