Though most of the pride projects of Province 1 introduced in the current fiscal year (2020/21) are yet to be implemented, the provincial government has given continuity to them while also announcing some new projects and programmes in the budget for the upcoming fiscal…
Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders.…
Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of…
…
Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund.…
The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still…
With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital…
The Inland Revenue Department has extended the deadline for filing tax details and taxes due to prohibitory orders imposed to curb the spread of…
Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has urged the government not to implement the new minimum salary in the hotel…
The World Bank is providing Nepal $150 million in development policy credit to support the recovery from the…
June 16: Heavy rainfall has been predicted in most parts of the country for three more days, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported citing the Meteorological Forecasting…
June 16: Three persons have lost their lives and 11 others have gone missing in different parts of the country due to flood and landslide following incessant rainfall for the past few days.…
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June 16: The shipping cost of importing goods to Nepal from overseas has increased as the transportation chain has been affected by the coronavirus…
June 15: The country has received Rs 809.89 billion in remittance in the first ten months of fiscal year (FY 2020/21), according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).…
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Due to the Covid-19, the provincial government has prioritized the health sector in its spending plan. While many projects and programmes mentioned in the budget statement of the current fiscal year suffer budget shortage, the provincial government came up with new projects for the upcoming fiscal year. </p> <p>The construction of the Ravi-Ranke Tourist Route from Bhedetar to Miklajung has not started yet. Likewise, the Damak-Chisapani-Ravi Falgunand road, which was also announced in the budget as a pride project, did not see any progress due to the lack of the budget. ‘Baraha Bijaypur Circuit and Shakti Peeth Circuit also face similar fate. </p> <p>Although the budget was allocated for the construction of the Ring rRad connecting the historic palace of Birat King of Jhapa, Itahari, Dharan and Inaruwa of Sunsari and Biratnagar of Morang in the current fiscal year, the provincial government could not even conduct its feasibility study. </p> <p>Targeting the tourist area, the plan to build a road from Udayapur, Khotang, Sankhuwasabha and Solukhumbu to Ranitar-Pancha-Chakhewa-salpadilichung to Sagarmatha and Makalu base camp also remains unimplemented. There has not been much progress in the first phase of road construction connecting base camps of Mount Everest and Makalu. </p> <p>The announcement to start a study for the construction of an international conference center in Itahari and an exhibition venue in Dharan is limited in the budget speech. </p> <p>The government, which has allocated Rs 430 million in the youth and sports sector, has not been able to form even a province-level sports council. <br /> The ‘People’s Medical Education Fund’ to provide easy access to loans without collateral to the students from poor families to study MBBS has also been limited to the announcement.</p> <p>Although the process to promote investment by forming an investment board led by the Chief Minister has started, establishment of a special economic zone (SEZ) in the province has not seen any progress. Although the government allocated the budget to generate 200 MW of electricity from solar energy, no progress has been made towards that end.</p> <p>The announcement of the provincial government to build charging stations at necessary places to encourage the use of electric vehicles has also been limited to the budget only. The announcement for the construction of the People's War Memorial Museum at Belbari in Morang along with the construction of the foundations in the name of the martyrs, missing persons, politicians and people's leaders of the people's revolution has not been implemented. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13299', 'image' => '20210619121628_Province 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 12:11:33', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13552', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Seeks Suggestions for Monetary Policy for Upcoming Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders. I', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders. Issuing a notice on Thursday, NRB said that the suggestions for the monetary policy can be emailed or mailed to the central bank’s address. </p> <p>Like last year, the central bank has started collecting suggestions for the monetary policy that is scheduled to be made public in the first week of Shrawn (third week of July). </p> <p>Prakash Shrestha, an executive director at the NRB, said that all stakeholders including organizations and associations of bank and financial institutions, businesses and other sectors can send their suggestions by Asadh end (mid July). </p> <p>According to NRB’s Executive Director Shrestha, suggestions can be emailed at monetarypolicy@nrb.org.np or mailed at Economic Research Department of the NRB, Baluwatar in Kathmandu. </p> <p>He said that the central bank has already received suggestions from some organizations that they want to be addressed in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year. Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has said that it is preparing its letter including the suggestions to be sent to the central bank for the monetary policy.</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13297', 'image' => '20210618084202_NRB.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 20:39:18', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13551', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Domestic Flights Unlikely to Resume Before Third Week of July', 'sub_title' => ' Govt to allow resumption of international flights to five more countries', 'summary' => 'Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July.', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July. </p> <p>The domestic flight operations have been suspended for more than 45 days. Earlier on April 4, the government suspended the domestic flights as part of containment measures in the wake of rapid spread of coronavirus. </p> <p>According to an official of the ministry who does not want to be named, domestic flights will be resumed only after the third week of July.</p> <p>Although Covid-19 cases are declining in the last few days, there is no possibility of immediate resumption of domestic flights as the government is in a mood to wait and watch the trend of the infections for a few more weeks, according to the official. </p> <p>The Airline Operators Association of Nepal, an umbrella organization of private airlines, had written a letter to Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Umashankar Aragariya on June 8, demanding the immediate resumption of domestic flights. </p> <p>In its statement issued after sending the letter to the minister, the AOAN had said that domestic flights in the neighboring countries and as other parts of the world have not been halted as the air travel can be operated with safety precautions. Citing the decline in the infection cases, the association had urged the government to operate domestic flights as soon as possible.</p> <p>Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, a joint secretary at the ministry, said that the ministry was positive to gradually lift the restriction on domestic flights. "The ministry is preparing to gradually open domestic flights by complying with health standards," he said. He said that the rate of coronavirus infection and the situation in areas like Nepalgunj, Biratnagar, Birgunj, and Bhairahawa, which are considered hubs for opening domestic flights, would also be analyzed and evaluated before making the decision. </p> <p>Meanwhile, the government has indicated that it would take a flexible approach in allowing international flights to and from Nepal. The government, which also suspended international flights from April 8, has already decided to allow flights to and from China, Qatar, and Turkey. </p> <p>Raj Kumar Chettri, Spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), said that they have not received any request for permit for Nepal-China flight so far.</p> <p>The government on Wednesday decided to operate international flights to five more countries. A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC) decided to resume flights to Saudi Arabia, UAE (Dubai), Japan, and Malaysia. The CCMC decided to relax the ban on international flights from those countries which are major destinations for Nepali workers. </p> <p>Chettri said that with the decision to resume flights to more countries, the airlines from the countries concerned will now be invited to apply for scheduled flights. The concerned airlines will only be permitted to operate flights after applying for a flight permit from the CAAN. </p> <p>The meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Committee KP Sharma Oli decided to operate flights from these countries with no more than 2,000 passengers a week.</p> <p>Similarly, the meeting also decided to assist the workers who have gone for foreign employment but cannot stay in the quarantine at the hotel due to various reasons. The meeting decided to bear the cost of 10 days of quarantine for Nepali workers. The government has already introduced a 15-day mandatory hotel quarantine for those arriving in Nepal from abroad. </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13296', 'image' => '20210618035059_Domestic Flights.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 15:46:30', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13550', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kathmandu Metropolitan City Announces 10% House Rent Tax Waiver ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has announced a special tax waiver to COVID-19 affected taxpayers. KMC Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya made this announcement while introducing KMC’s Policies and Programmes for the fiscal year 2021/22 on Thursday.</p> <p>He said that the KMC will provide a waiver on house rental tax for those who submit details of tenants. </p> <p>“Those homeowners who submit the details of tenants and rental agreements in their respective wards will be provided a rental tax waiver of 10 percent or Rs 25,000, whichever is lower,” said Mayor Shakya, unveiling the Policies and Programmes. “The private sector will also be mobilized for this,”</p> <p>Those paying their taxes, service charges or fees to the KMC through banking or electronic channels will also be provided a certain rebate, according to the Policies and Programmes. </p> <p>KMC has announced that it would offer a significant waiver on various taxes and charges for the hotel and tourism industry hit by the pandemic. To make the urban service delivery more effective, it has announced to keep the record of all people living temporarily in KMC. </p> <p>Likewise, KMC will build a state-of-the-art 100-bed special hospital and provide COVID treatment , operate a call center for counseling, psychological counselling, COVID test and ambulance service at free of cost. </p> <p>The mayor also announced free services including isolation services, covid special hospital services and oxygen support.</p> <p>Residents in the metropolitan city will be guaranteed basic health services by upgrading the urban health clinics operating in the ward office and arrange free health check-ups by the expert doctors. </p> <p>Other announcements include a 50 percent subsidy on insurance premiums for KMC residents and grading of hotel, restaurant, food processing sites and online food deliveries. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13295', 'image' => '20210618013424_KMC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 13:27:22', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13549', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Dolma Impact Fund Announces Rs 180 Million Investment in Upaya City Cargo ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund. ', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund. </p> <p>Upaya is an online marketplace for intra-city logistics that connects individuals and businesses with 4-wheeler pickup driver-partners and 2-wheeler rider-partners within Kathmandu Valley, Butwal, Bhairahawa & Pokhara.</p> <p>DIF is the first international private equity fund and impact fund dedicated to Nepal. </p> <p>DIF is making its investment in Upaya City Cargo from its Dolma Impact Fund II. After committing $36.6 million in various projects from its previous Dolma Impact Fund I, it has recently raised nearly $40 million for its second impact fund to make investments in Nepal<br /> . <br /> Dutch lender FMO, CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, Swedfund and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have backed the Dolma Impact Fund II. </p> <p>Issuing a statement, Dolma Impact Fund said that the investment, subject to successful due diligence and final internal approval from the Fund, will help the company to expand its operation in other cities across Nepal with logistics solutions for on-demand delivery of bulk goods as well as e-commerce & agriculture sectors. </p> <p>“Through this investment, Upaya and Dolma aim to create an impactful partnership in the Nepali logistics sector,” the statement added. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13294', 'image' => '20210618120759_Online Cargo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 12:07:00', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13548', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Process to Secure Covid-19 Vaccines Still Ongoing: Govt', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing.', 'content' => '<p>June 18: The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing.</p> <p>Issuing a statement on Thursday, the Ministry of Health and Population also refuted media reports that the government has decided to procure Covid-19 vaccines from China. </p> <p>“The process to secure more vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing,” read the statement. “The media reports on quantity, price, delivery, and other relevant information about the vaccine procurement are, therefore, premature, inaccurate, speculative and misleading,” it added. <img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Health%20Ministry.jpg" style="float:right; height:448px; width:313px" /></p> <p>The statement follows recent media reports claiming that the government has decided to purchase four million doses of Sinopharm vaccines from China without disclosing the price.</p> <p>China has already provided Nepal 1.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines as grant assistance. </p> <p>In its statement, the ministry also said that the government has approached Covid-19 vaccine producing countries to provide, on grant or procurement basis, the vaccine. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13293', 'image' => '20210618111947_Health Ministery_Building.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 11:10:19', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13547', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Bunching Up Capital Expenditure Toward Last Month of Fiscal Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital expenditure.', 'content' => '<p>June 17: With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital expenditure. Like in the previous fiscal years, the capital budget for the current fiscal year is going to be underspent. </p> <p>Though the government had claimed of meeting capital budget spending targets due to various latest measures that it had introduced, a huge portion of the capital budget is going to be unspent in the current fiscal year also. </p> <p>Since the new fiscal year begins from July 16, the government has to spend the current budget in less than a month. <br /> Through the mid term review of the budget, the government had revised its target of capital expenditure to 85.9%. Capital expenditures mostly include the spendings on development projects. <br /> The government is unlikely to meet even its revised target. <br /> However, the government is preparing to spend the huge amount of the allocated budget in the month of Ashad (between mid June and mid July). Bunching up capital spending in the last month of the fiscal year raises concerns of the quality of the development works and other constructions carried out in haste.<br /> Gyanendra Poudel, Spokesperson of the Financial Comptroller General Office, said that a large amount of funds is being released in the last month of the current fiscal year like in the previous years. </p> <p>The then Finance Minister Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada had brought a budget of Rs 1,474.6 billion for the current fiscal year. Through the mid term review report, the government had revised down the budget by Rs 130 billion. <br /> Jagadish Chandra Pokhrel, former Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission , said that the government’s focus on petty politics rather than on delivering services and implementing development projects have led to budget underspending. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13292', 'image' => '20210617045713_Capex.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 16:54:31', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13546', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Inland Revenue Department Extends Tax Filing Deadline Till July 9', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Inland Revenue Department has extended the deadline for filing tax details and taxes due to prohibitory orders imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus.', 'content' => '<p>June 17: The Inland Revenue Department has extended the deadline for filing tax details and taxes due to prohibitory orders imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus. <br /> The decision to extend the tax filing deadline by two months has given protection to businesses from the penalty for delaying filing tax returns.</p> <p>Issuing a notice on Wednesday, the IRD said that it has extended the deadline to file details of value-added tax (VAT) and taxes based on those monthly and bimonthly details of previous two months—Chaitra and Baisakh (mid March to mid April and mid April to mid May)—till July 9.</p> <p>Similarly, income taxpayers who file tax deducted at source (TDS) will now have to file details of the TDS and the taxes based on those details by July 9.<br /> According to the IRD, businesses can now file excise duty for the month of Chaitra (mid March to mid April) and Baisakh (mid April to mid May) by July 9.<br /> Other revenues like health, education and telecommunication tax filing deadline has been extended till July 9.</p> <p>The IRD has extended the deadline for the tax filing in line with the request from the private sector. Though a recent order of the Supreme Court had paved the way for the government to collect taxes even during the lockdown, the IRD decided to extend the deadline for tax filing, citing difficulties for taxpayers due to prohibitory orders in various parts of the country to contain the second wave of coronavirus.</p> <p>The Supreme Court on June 15 vacated its previous order of restricting the government from collecting taxes during the lockdown.<br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13291', 'image' => '20210617041950_IRD.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 16:16:03', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13545', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'HAN Asks Govt Not to Implement New Minimum Wage in Hotel Industry ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has urged the government not to implement the new minimum salary in the hotel industry. ', 'content' => '<p>June 16: Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has urged the government not to implement the new minimum salary in the hotel industry. </p> <p>Meeting the newly appointed Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Bimal Prasad Shrivastav on Wednesday, HAN President Shreejana Rana and First Vice President Binayak Shah said that the hotel industry, which has been battered by the Covid-19, is not in position to implement the new minimum salary as fixed by the government recently.</p> <p>Earlier in May, the government had published the notice of revised minimum monthly salary for workers in Nepal Gazette. The minimum salary was raised to Rs 15,000 per month from Rs 13,450. </p> <p>“At a time when hotels are not able to pay salaries to their employees as per the present scale , the hotel industry is not in the position to implement the new minimum wage. So, this should not be implemented in the hotel industry,” read the statement of the HAN issued after the meeting. </p> <p>According to the statement, the HAN also asked the government to treat the hotel industry as a highly affected sector from the Covid-19 and provide additional support and facilities to attract them toward the Social Security Fund (SSF). </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13290', 'image' => '20210617114257_HAN_logo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 11:38:14', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13544', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank Approves $150 Million Credit for Nepal to Support Pandemic Recovery', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The World Bank is providing Nepal $150 million in development policy credit to support the recovery from the Covid-19. ', 'content' => '<p>June 17: The World Bank is providing Nepal $150 million in development policy credit to support recovery from the Covid-19. </p> <p>Issuing a statement, the World Bank said that its Board of Executive Directors today approved a $150 million development policy credit to support Nepal’s resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, protect the most vulnerable, and support sustainable growth.</p> <p>“Amid the economic and social impacts of the pandemic, our priority is to provide immediate relief to affected populations and support Nepal’s green, resilient, and inclusive recovery,” the statement quoted Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, as saying. </p> <p>The Nepal Programmatic Fiscal Policy for Growth, Recovery and Resilience will help strengthen Nepal’s institutions and regulations, including its tax and customs system, debt management, and public capital spending, according to the statement. It will also support the immediate health response and help modernize social protection programs, build access to capital and digital solutions for the private sector, and lay a regulatory foundation for a green recovery, read the statement. </p> <p>“This development policy credit supports the government of Nepal’s efforts to address the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 and overcome structural constraints to a resilient economic recovery,” stated Kene Ezemenari, Senior Economist and the World Bank’s Task Team Leader for the program. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13289', 'image' => '20210617110503_World Bank.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 10:57:49', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13543', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Heavy Rainfall in Forecast for Three More Days ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 16: Heavy rainfall has been predicted in most parts of the country for three more days, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported citing the Meteorological Forecasting Division.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">June 16: Heavy rainfall has been predicted in most parts of the country for three more days, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported citing the Meteorological Forecasting Division. The division has warned of risk of floods and landslides at some places due to the heavy rainfall. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Meteorologist at the division, Manju Basi, informed that rainfall is taking place throughout the country at present as the monsoon wind is active. There is possibility of occurrence of heavy rainfall in most parts of the country until Saturday due to the influence of this wind. There will be a break in this trend after Saturday, RSS further reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the division, light to moderate rainfall is taking place in most of the places of Gandaki and Lumbini provinces and at a few places in the remaining provinces. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Heavy rainfall is in forecast in Karnali and Bagmati provinces and very heavy rainfall is likely to occur in some places of Lumbini and Gandaki provinces throughout the day as well as tonight (June 16). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The division has warned of the possibility of floods and landslides in these areas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"There are chances of occurrence of heavy rainfall at some areas and heavy rainfall at few places of Karnali, Gandaki, Lumbini and Bagmati provinces. So, there is risk of landslide and mudslide in the hilly region of these provinces. The water level in the rivers and rivulets might rise and the transport services might get affected due to this. Adoption of necessary precaution and alertness is advised," the Division stated in its latest weather bulletin. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As per the division's regular bulletin, this trend of rainfall will continue throughout the country till Friday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As of Wednesday evening, Pokhara has received the highest rainfall in the country within the last 24 hours. It received 110.5 millilitres of rainfall, followed by Bhairahawa with 82.2 millilitres rainfall. Kathmandu received only 12.4 millilitres rainfall in the last 24 hours, according to RSS. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-16', 'modified' => '2021-06-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13288', 'image' => '20210616050724_weather (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-16 17:06:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13542', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three Killed, 11 go Missing in Floods, Landslides Across the Country', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 16: Three persons have lost their lives and 11 others have gone missing in different parts of the country due to flood and landslide following incessant rainfall for the past few days. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">June 16: Three persons have lost their lives and 11 others have gone missing in different parts of the country due to flood and landslide following incessant rainfall for the past few days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the National Emergency Operation Centre of the Home Ministry, seven persons sustained injuries in the disaster. Chief of the Centre Dil Kumar Tamang said that one person died in Bajura, Palpa and Sindhupalchowk districts each while seven went missing in Sindhupalchowk. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Sindhupalchowk district recorded a huge loss of lives and property due to landslide last year too. Tamang said that some people have also gone missing in Salyan, Bajura, Gorkha and Jajarkot districts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Task of collecting other details is underway, according to the Centre. Tamang added that arrangement is being made to rescue those trapped in flood and landslide, to distribute relief materials to victims and to shift them to safer places. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He shared that 26 people have been rescued using Nepal Army’s chopper from Melamchi area this morning (June 16) and a truck of relief materials has been sent to the area from Kathmandu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the Home Ministry, preparation has been made to send relief materials to Manang from helicopter. Five hundred people have been evacuated and moved to safer places in Manang. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">It has been predicted that this rainy season might witness more rainfall than average. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-16', 'modified' => '2021-06-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13287', 'image' => '20210616045324_1623818105.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-16 16:52:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13541', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Seven Provinces Introduce Budget for the Upcoming Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times">June 16: </span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">All the seven provinces have introduced the budget for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2021/22) in line with the constitutional provision. The size of the budget of Bagmati Province is the biggest among all the provinces while Gandaki Province has presented a relatively small-sized budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The budgets introduced by all the seven provinces have prioritized prevention and control of COVID-19 and given continuity to old programmes of infrastructure development. Some states have allocated budgets for health infrastructure by scrapping programmes previously brought by the center to please the lawmakers, while others have continued similar programmes for the upcoming year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Bagmati Province has brought a budget of Rs 57.72 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, which is more than the current fiscal year’s budget by Rs 6 billion. It has scrapped the parliamentary constituency infrastructure development programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Bagmati Province government had been allocating about Rs 2.5 billion for the directly elected state assembly members as well as those elected under the proportional representation quota of each constituency under the heading of the infrastructure development programme. Kailash Prasad Dhungel, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, informed that the government has canceled the infrastructure development programme for the upcoming fiscal year and allocated the budget instead for the health sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">It has allocated Rs 32.46 billion budget for the health sector. The budget has set aside more funds for recurrent expenses than the capital expenditure. Bijay Kumar Yadav, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning of Province 2, has allocated Rs 33.79 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The budget focuses on COVID-19 control and treatment, road construction, irrigation, employment and education. Most of the big old plans have been given continuity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Gandaki Province has reduced the size of the budget compared to last year. The province has brought a budget of Rs 30.03 billion. In the budget presented by Chief Minister Krishna Chandra Pokhrel Nepali, the state government has announced to provide Rs 5,000 as monthly relief to those who have lost their parents to COVID -19. Similarly, families who have lost their members to COVID-19 will be provided a relief package of Rs 50,000 each. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Lumbini Province has introduced a budget of Rs 40.95 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget has provided 33 percent annual tax exemption to public transport entrepreneurs. The budget has also made an arrangement that no penalty will be fined if the tax is paid within three months of the Fiscal Year 2021/22. It has allocated a huge amount of budget in the field of agriculture and health. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Karnali Province government has also introduced a budget emphasizing on the health sector and infrastructure programmes. The budget brought by Gopal Sharma, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, is more focused on improving the lives of the citizens by improving the health sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">It has allocated Rs 535 million for the prevention of COVID-19 pandemic and funds have been allocated to purchase vaccines for every citizen of the province. The budget has provision to provide free education to the children of the martyrs’ family. The government has decided to run a model school in each local unit for the development of the education sector. A budget of Rs 395 million has been allocated for this programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Far Western Province Government has brought a budget of Rs 30.33 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget presented by Prakash Bahadur Shah, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, is less by Rs 3.5 billion than the current budget. It has reduced current expenditure by Rs 4 billion and the capital expenditure has been increased by about Rs 1 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Shah said that the budget has prioritized the improvement and expansion of health services and construction of infrastructure. A budget of Rs 2.48 billion has been allocated for infrastructure development.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Similarly, a budget of Rs 5.12 billion has been allocated for the construction of roads, major infrastructure and mega projects for the upcoming year. The state will provide free medical treatment to the families of the injured and martyrs of the people's movement and armed conflict. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Likewise, a budget of Rs 100 million has been allocated to make the families of conflict victims self-reliant.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">And Rs 960 million has been allocated for the infrastructure development programme. In the Far-western Province, there are 32 state assembly members under a direct poll system. The province government has allocated Rs 30 million to each member of the state assembly. Meanwhile similar kind of programme has already been scrapped by the central government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-16', 'modified' => '2021-06-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13286', 'image' => '20210616024457_20200504033240_1588549898.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-16 14:43:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13540', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Shipping Cost of Nepali Importers up due to Covid-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 16: The shipping cost of importing goods to Nepal from overseas has increased as the transportation chain has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">June 16: The shipping cost of importing goods to Nepal from overseas has increased as the transportation chain has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Shipping companies have increased fares by three to five times due to the shortage of containers in addition to heavy traffic jams at the port. Importer Ashish Lath, who is also the secretary of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that most of the shipping companies have increased the fares sharply depending on the destination of the goods.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He informed that they have to pay USD 3,800 per container to import goods from Chinese port to the dry port of Birgunj. “Before the pandemic, the fare was up to $2,000. Even a month ago, the goods had arrived at $2,900,” he told New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The shipping companies have increased fares following last year's lockdown. However, the train fare from Indian ports to Nepal remains the same.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The train fare from the Indian port to Birgunj is around $1,000 per container. According to the importers, the shipping cost of containers imported from China has increased three times.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Businessman Om Prakash More says that the transportation fare for goods imported from Europe and America is increasing every week.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Importers say that the fare for containers imported from those countries has increased five times now. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Naresh Agrawal, vice-president of the Nepal Freight Forwarders Association, said that the shipping companies are charging congestion fare due to the congestion of containers at the sea port.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to Sushant Chachan, joint secretary of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the shipping companies charge them up to US$ 200 to 300 per container for importing goods from Southeast Asian countries.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Importer Chachan informed that the shipment cost from Myanmar to Birgunj has doubled now. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He says that the fare from South America to Kolkata port has increased to $400 per container. Ashok Kumar Temani, coordinator of Road Transport and Transit Committee of FNCCI Province 2, says that the shipping companies are increasing fares in an arbitrary manner.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Containers are hard to find during the pandemic and lockdown. Some shipping lines have created artificial shortages,” says Temani.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Just a month ago, the Nepali Consulate in Kolkata, India had publicly urged the importers not to do business with the two shipping companies that are harassing the importers. The Consulate had to issue a notice not to transport containers through River Edge Shipping Pvt. Ltd and Regal Container Line.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Consulate said that the contact person of the company had repeatedly demanded additional charges from the importers and increased the fine.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-16', 'modified' => '2021-06-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13285', 'image' => '20210616013701_20200503094122_1588282929.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-16 13:36:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13539', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Remittance Inflow Increases, Current Account Remains at a Deficit of Rs 247 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 15: The country has received Rs 809.89 billion in remittance in the first ten months of fiscal year (FY 2020/21), according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">June 15: The country has received Rs 809.89 billion in remittance in the first ten months of fiscal year (FY 2020/21), according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Releasing the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of the country based on ten month’s data on Monday, the central bank stated that the inflow of remittance increased 19.2 per cent in the review period against a decrease of 6.3 per cent in the same period of the previous year.<br /> According to the NRB, the number of Nepali workers taking approval for foreign employment decreased 60.3 per cent in the review period. It had decreased 2.7 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.<br /> The NRB report stated that the current account remained at a deficit of Rs 247.08 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of Rs 96.18 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. <br /> In the US Dollar terms, the current account registered a deficit of 2.11 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of 855.9 million in the same period of the previous year. <br /> Likewise, the Balance of Payments (BOP) registered a surplus of Rs 7.75 billion in the review period as compared to a surplus of Rs 120.90 billion in the same period of the previous year. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">During the ten months of 2020/21, merchandise exports increased 32.2 percent to Rs108.48 billion compared to an increase of 4.5 percent in the same period of the previous year. Destination-wise, exports to India and other countries increased 35.8 percent and 25.3 percent respectively whereas exports to China decreased 18.4 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Exports of soybean oil, cardamom, jute goods, polyester yarn and threads, woolen carpet, among others, increased whereas exports of palm oil, pulses, zinc sheet, wire, cattle-feed, among others, decreased in the review period.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">During the ten months of 2020/21, merchandise imports increased 22.3 percent to Rs.1254.11 billion against a decrease of 13.0 percent a year ago. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Destination-wise, imports from India, China and other countries increased 29.8 percent, 17.2 percent and 6.2 percent respectively. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Imports of transport equipment and parts, crude soybean oil, MS billet, rice, telecommunication equipment and parts, among others, increased whereas imports of aircraft spareparts, crude palm oil, petroleum products, video television and parts, silver, among others, decreased in the review period.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Total trade deficit increased 21.5 percent to Rs.1145.63 billion during the ten months of 2020/21. Such a deficit had decreased 14.2 percent in the same period of the previous year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The export-import ratio increased to 8.6 percent in the review period from 8.0 percent in the same period of the previous year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The year-on-year consumer price inflation stood at 3.65 percent in the tenth month of 2020/21 compared to 5.83 percent a year ago. Food and beverage inflation stood at 4.72 percent whereas non-food and service inflation stood at 2.81 percent in the review month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The price of ghee and oil; meat and fish; non-alcoholic drinks and tobacco products sub-groups rose 28.20 percent, 17.12 percent, 9.85 percent and 9.84 percent respectively on y-o-y basis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-15', 'modified' => '2021-06-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13284', 'image' => '20210615042156_20210420034241_20201106055408_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-15 16:21:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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Due to the Covid-19, the provincial government has prioritized the health sector in its spending plan. While many projects and programmes mentioned in the budget statement of the current fiscal year suffer budget shortage, the provincial government came up with new projects for the upcoming fiscal year. </p> <p>The construction of the Ravi-Ranke Tourist Route from Bhedetar to Miklajung has not started yet. Likewise, the Damak-Chisapani-Ravi Falgunand road, which was also announced in the budget as a pride project, did not see any progress due to the lack of the budget. ‘Baraha Bijaypur Circuit and Shakti Peeth Circuit also face similar fate. </p> <p>Although the budget was allocated for the construction of the Ring rRad connecting the historic palace of Birat King of Jhapa, Itahari, Dharan and Inaruwa of Sunsari and Biratnagar of Morang in the current fiscal year, the provincial government could not even conduct its feasibility study. </p> <p>Targeting the tourist area, the plan to build a road from Udayapur, Khotang, Sankhuwasabha and Solukhumbu to Ranitar-Pancha-Chakhewa-salpadilichung to Sagarmatha and Makalu base camp also remains unimplemented. There has not been much progress in the first phase of road construction connecting base camps of Mount Everest and Makalu. </p> <p>The announcement to start a study for the construction of an international conference center in Itahari and an exhibition venue in Dharan is limited in the budget speech. </p> <p>The government, which has allocated Rs 430 million in the youth and sports sector, has not been able to form even a province-level sports council. <br /> The ‘People’s Medical Education Fund’ to provide easy access to loans without collateral to the students from poor families to study MBBS has also been limited to the announcement.</p> <p>Although the process to promote investment by forming an investment board led by the Chief Minister has started, establishment of a special economic zone (SEZ) in the province has not seen any progress. Although the government allocated the budget to generate 200 MW of electricity from solar energy, no progress has been made towards that end.</p> <p>The announcement of the provincial government to build charging stations at necessary places to encourage the use of electric vehicles has also been limited to the budget only. The announcement for the construction of the People's War Memorial Museum at Belbari in Morang along with the construction of the foundations in the name of the martyrs, missing persons, politicians and people's leaders of the people's revolution has not been implemented. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13299', 'image' => '20210619121628_Province 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 12:11:33', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13552', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Seeks Suggestions for Monetary Policy for Upcoming Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders. I', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders. Issuing a notice on Thursday, NRB said that the suggestions for the monetary policy can be emailed or mailed to the central bank’s address. </p> <p>Like last year, the central bank has started collecting suggestions for the monetary policy that is scheduled to be made public in the first week of Shrawn (third week of July). </p> <p>Prakash Shrestha, an executive director at the NRB, said that all stakeholders including organizations and associations of bank and financial institutions, businesses and other sectors can send their suggestions by Asadh end (mid July). </p> <p>According to NRB’s Executive Director Shrestha, suggestions can be emailed at monetarypolicy@nrb.org.np or mailed at Economic Research Department of the NRB, Baluwatar in Kathmandu. </p> <p>He said that the central bank has already received suggestions from some organizations that they want to be addressed in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year. Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has said that it is preparing its letter including the suggestions to be sent to the central bank for the monetary policy.</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13297', 'image' => '20210618084202_NRB.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 20:39:18', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13551', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Domestic Flights Unlikely to Resume Before Third Week of July', 'sub_title' => ' Govt to allow resumption of international flights to five more countries', 'summary' => 'Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July.', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July. </p> <p>The domestic flight operations have been suspended for more than 45 days. Earlier on April 4, the government suspended the domestic flights as part of containment measures in the wake of rapid spread of coronavirus. </p> <p>According to an official of the ministry who does not want to be named, domestic flights will be resumed only after the third week of July.</p> <p>Although Covid-19 cases are declining in the last few days, there is no possibility of immediate resumption of domestic flights as the government is in a mood to wait and watch the trend of the infections for a few more weeks, according to the official. </p> <p>The Airline Operators Association of Nepal, an umbrella organization of private airlines, had written a letter to Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Umashankar Aragariya on June 8, demanding the immediate resumption of domestic flights. </p> <p>In its statement issued after sending the letter to the minister, the AOAN had said that domestic flights in the neighboring countries and as other parts of the world have not been halted as the air travel can be operated with safety precautions. Citing the decline in the infection cases, the association had urged the government to operate domestic flights as soon as possible.</p> <p>Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, a joint secretary at the ministry, said that the ministry was positive to gradually lift the restriction on domestic flights. "The ministry is preparing to gradually open domestic flights by complying with health standards," he said. He said that the rate of coronavirus infection and the situation in areas like Nepalgunj, Biratnagar, Birgunj, and Bhairahawa, which are considered hubs for opening domestic flights, would also be analyzed and evaluated before making the decision. </p> <p>Meanwhile, the government has indicated that it would take a flexible approach in allowing international flights to and from Nepal. The government, which also suspended international flights from April 8, has already decided to allow flights to and from China, Qatar, and Turkey. </p> <p>Raj Kumar Chettri, Spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), said that they have not received any request for permit for Nepal-China flight so far.</p> <p>The government on Wednesday decided to operate international flights to five more countries. A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC) decided to resume flights to Saudi Arabia, UAE (Dubai), Japan, and Malaysia. The CCMC decided to relax the ban on international flights from those countries which are major destinations for Nepali workers. </p> <p>Chettri said that with the decision to resume flights to more countries, the airlines from the countries concerned will now be invited to apply for scheduled flights. The concerned airlines will only be permitted to operate flights after applying for a flight permit from the CAAN. </p> <p>The meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Committee KP Sharma Oli decided to operate flights from these countries with no more than 2,000 passengers a week.</p> <p>Similarly, the meeting also decided to assist the workers who have gone for foreign employment but cannot stay in the quarantine at the hotel due to various reasons. The meeting decided to bear the cost of 10 days of quarantine for Nepali workers. The government has already introduced a 15-day mandatory hotel quarantine for those arriving in Nepal from abroad. </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13296', 'image' => '20210618035059_Domestic Flights.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 15:46:30', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13550', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kathmandu Metropolitan City Announces 10% House Rent Tax Waiver ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has announced a special tax waiver to COVID-19 affected taxpayers. KMC Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya made this announcement while introducing KMC’s Policies and Programmes for the fiscal year 2021/22 on Thursday.</p> <p>He said that the KMC will provide a waiver on house rental tax for those who submit details of tenants. </p> <p>“Those homeowners who submit the details of tenants and rental agreements in their respective wards will be provided a rental tax waiver of 10 percent or Rs 25,000, whichever is lower,” said Mayor Shakya, unveiling the Policies and Programmes. “The private sector will also be mobilized for this,”</p> <p>Those paying their taxes, service charges or fees to the KMC through banking or electronic channels will also be provided a certain rebate, according to the Policies and Programmes. </p> <p>KMC has announced that it would offer a significant waiver on various taxes and charges for the hotel and tourism industry hit by the pandemic. To make the urban service delivery more effective, it has announced to keep the record of all people living temporarily in KMC. </p> <p>Likewise, KMC will build a state-of-the-art 100-bed special hospital and provide COVID treatment , operate a call center for counseling, psychological counselling, COVID test and ambulance service at free of cost. </p> <p>The mayor also announced free services including isolation services, covid special hospital services and oxygen support.</p> <p>Residents in the metropolitan city will be guaranteed basic health services by upgrading the urban health clinics operating in the ward office and arrange free health check-ups by the expert doctors. </p> <p>Other announcements include a 50 percent subsidy on insurance premiums for KMC residents and grading of hotel, restaurant, food processing sites and online food deliveries. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13295', 'image' => '20210618013424_KMC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 13:27:22', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13549', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Dolma Impact Fund Announces Rs 180 Million Investment in Upaya City Cargo ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund. ', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund. </p> <p>Upaya is an online marketplace for intra-city logistics that connects individuals and businesses with 4-wheeler pickup driver-partners and 2-wheeler rider-partners within Kathmandu Valley, Butwal, Bhairahawa & Pokhara.</p> <p>DIF is the first international private equity fund and impact fund dedicated to Nepal. </p> <p>DIF is making its investment in Upaya City Cargo from its Dolma Impact Fund II. After committing $36.6 million in various projects from its previous Dolma Impact Fund I, it has recently raised nearly $40 million for its second impact fund to make investments in Nepal<br /> . <br /> Dutch lender FMO, CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, Swedfund and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have backed the Dolma Impact Fund II. </p> <p>Issuing a statement, Dolma Impact Fund said that the investment, subject to successful due diligence and final internal approval from the Fund, will help the company to expand its operation in other cities across Nepal with logistics solutions for on-demand delivery of bulk goods as well as e-commerce & agriculture sectors. </p> <p>“Through this investment, Upaya and Dolma aim to create an impactful partnership in the Nepali logistics sector,” the statement added. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13294', 'image' => '20210618120759_Online Cargo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 12:07:00', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13548', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Process to Secure Covid-19 Vaccines Still Ongoing: Govt', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing.', 'content' => '<p>June 18: The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing.</p> <p>Issuing a statement on Thursday, the Ministry of Health and Population also refuted media reports that the government has decided to procure Covid-19 vaccines from China. </p> <p>“The process to secure more vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing,” read the statement. “The media reports on quantity, price, delivery, and other relevant information about the vaccine procurement are, therefore, premature, inaccurate, speculative and misleading,” it added. <img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Health%20Ministry.jpg" style="float:right; height:448px; width:313px" /></p> <p>The statement follows recent media reports claiming that the government has decided to purchase four million doses of Sinopharm vaccines from China without disclosing the price.</p> <p>China has already provided Nepal 1.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines as grant assistance. </p> <p>In its statement, the ministry also said that the government has approached Covid-19 vaccine producing countries to provide, on grant or procurement basis, the vaccine. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13293', 'image' => '20210618111947_Health Ministery_Building.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 11:10:19', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13547', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Bunching Up Capital Expenditure Toward Last Month of Fiscal Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital expenditure.', 'content' => '<p>June 17: With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital expenditure. Like in the previous fiscal years, the capital budget for the current fiscal year is going to be underspent. </p> <p>Though the government had claimed of meeting capital budget spending targets due to various latest measures that it had introduced, a huge portion of the capital budget is going to be unspent in the current fiscal year also. </p> <p>Since the new fiscal year begins from July 16, the government has to spend the current budget in less than a month. <br /> Through the mid term review of the budget, the government had revised its target of capital expenditure to 85.9%. Capital expenditures mostly include the spendings on development projects. <br /> The government is unlikely to meet even its revised target. <br /> However, the government is preparing to spend the huge amount of the allocated budget in the month of Ashad (between mid June and mid July). Bunching up capital spending in the last month of the fiscal year raises concerns of the quality of the development works and other constructions carried out in haste.<br /> Gyanendra Poudel, Spokesperson of the Financial Comptroller General Office, said that a large amount of funds is being released in the last month of the current fiscal year like in the previous years. </p> <p>The then Finance Minister Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada had brought a budget of Rs 1,474.6 billion for the current fiscal year. Through the mid term review report, the government had revised down the budget by Rs 130 billion. <br /> Jagadish Chandra Pokhrel, former Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission , said that the government’s focus on petty politics rather than on delivering services and implementing development projects have led to budget underspending. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13292', 'image' => '20210617045713_Capex.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 16:54:31', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13546', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Inland Revenue Department Extends Tax Filing Deadline Till July 9', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Inland Revenue Department has extended the deadline for filing tax details and taxes due to prohibitory orders imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus.', 'content' => '<p>June 17: The Inland Revenue Department has extended the deadline for filing tax details and taxes due to prohibitory orders imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus. <br /> The decision to extend the tax filing deadline by two months has given protection to businesses from the penalty for delaying filing tax returns.</p> <p>Issuing a notice on Wednesday, the IRD said that it has extended the deadline to file details of value-added tax (VAT) and taxes based on those monthly and bimonthly details of previous two months—Chaitra and Baisakh (mid March to mid April and mid April to mid May)—till July 9.</p> <p>Similarly, income taxpayers who file tax deducted at source (TDS) will now have to file details of the TDS and the taxes based on those details by July 9.<br /> According to the IRD, businesses can now file excise duty for the month of Chaitra (mid March to mid April) and Baisakh (mid April to mid May) by July 9.<br /> Other revenues like health, education and telecommunication tax filing deadline has been extended till July 9.</p> <p>The IRD has extended the deadline for the tax filing in line with the request from the private sector. Though a recent order of the Supreme Court had paved the way for the government to collect taxes even during the lockdown, the IRD decided to extend the deadline for tax filing, citing difficulties for taxpayers due to prohibitory orders in various parts of the country to contain the second wave of coronavirus.</p> <p>The Supreme Court on June 15 vacated its previous order of restricting the government from collecting taxes during the lockdown.<br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13291', 'image' => '20210617041950_IRD.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 16:16:03', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13545', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'HAN Asks Govt Not to Implement New Minimum Wage in Hotel Industry ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has urged the government not to implement the new minimum salary in the hotel industry. ', 'content' => '<p>June 16: Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has urged the government not to implement the new minimum salary in the hotel industry. </p> <p>Meeting the newly appointed Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Bimal Prasad Shrivastav on Wednesday, HAN President Shreejana Rana and First Vice President Binayak Shah said that the hotel industry, which has been battered by the Covid-19, is not in position to implement the new minimum salary as fixed by the government recently.</p> <p>Earlier in May, the government had published the notice of revised minimum monthly salary for workers in Nepal Gazette. The minimum salary was raised to Rs 15,000 per month from Rs 13,450. </p> <p>“At a time when hotels are not able to pay salaries to their employees as per the present scale , the hotel industry is not in the position to implement the new minimum wage. So, this should not be implemented in the hotel industry,” read the statement of the HAN issued after the meeting. </p> <p>According to the statement, the HAN also asked the government to treat the hotel industry as a highly affected sector from the Covid-19 and provide additional support and facilities to attract them toward the Social Security Fund (SSF). </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13290', 'image' => '20210617114257_HAN_logo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 11:38:14', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13544', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank Approves $150 Million Credit for Nepal to Support Pandemic Recovery', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The World Bank is providing Nepal $150 million in development policy credit to support the recovery from the Covid-19. ', 'content' => '<p>June 17: The World Bank is providing Nepal $150 million in development policy credit to support recovery from the Covid-19. </p> <p>Issuing a statement, the World Bank said that its Board of Executive Directors today approved a $150 million development policy credit to support Nepal’s resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, protect the most vulnerable, and support sustainable growth.</p> <p>“Amid the economic and social impacts of the pandemic, our priority is to provide immediate relief to affected populations and support Nepal’s green, resilient, and inclusive recovery,” the statement quoted Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, as saying. </p> <p>The Nepal Programmatic Fiscal Policy for Growth, Recovery and Resilience will help strengthen Nepal’s institutions and regulations, including its tax and customs system, debt management, and public capital spending, according to the statement. It will also support the immediate health response and help modernize social protection programs, build access to capital and digital solutions for the private sector, and lay a regulatory foundation for a green recovery, read the statement. </p> <p>“This development policy credit supports the government of Nepal’s efforts to address the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 and overcome structural constraints to a resilient economic recovery,” stated Kene Ezemenari, Senior Economist and the World Bank’s Task Team Leader for the program. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13289', 'image' => '20210617110503_World Bank.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 10:57:49', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13543', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Heavy Rainfall in Forecast for Three More Days ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 16: Heavy rainfall has been predicted in most parts of the country for three more days, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported citing the Meteorological Forecasting Division.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">June 16: Heavy rainfall has been predicted in most parts of the country for three more days, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported citing the Meteorological Forecasting Division. The division has warned of risk of floods and landslides at some places due to the heavy rainfall. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Meteorologist at the division, Manju Basi, informed that rainfall is taking place throughout the country at present as the monsoon wind is active. There is possibility of occurrence of heavy rainfall in most parts of the country until Saturday due to the influence of this wind. There will be a break in this trend after Saturday, RSS further reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the division, light to moderate rainfall is taking place in most of the places of Gandaki and Lumbini provinces and at a few places in the remaining provinces. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Heavy rainfall is in forecast in Karnali and Bagmati provinces and very heavy rainfall is likely to occur in some places of Lumbini and Gandaki provinces throughout the day as well as tonight (June 16). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The division has warned of the possibility of floods and landslides in these areas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"There are chances of occurrence of heavy rainfall at some areas and heavy rainfall at few places of Karnali, Gandaki, Lumbini and Bagmati provinces. So, there is risk of landslide and mudslide in the hilly region of these provinces. The water level in the rivers and rivulets might rise and the transport services might get affected due to this. Adoption of necessary precaution and alertness is advised," the Division stated in its latest weather bulletin. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As per the division's regular bulletin, this trend of rainfall will continue throughout the country till Friday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As of Wednesday evening, Pokhara has received the highest rainfall in the country within the last 24 hours. It received 110.5 millilitres of rainfall, followed by Bhairahawa with 82.2 millilitres rainfall. Kathmandu received only 12.4 millilitres rainfall in the last 24 hours, according to RSS. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-16', 'modified' => '2021-06-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13288', 'image' => '20210616050724_weather (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-16 17:06:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13542', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three Killed, 11 go Missing in Floods, Landslides Across the Country', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 16: Three persons have lost their lives and 11 others have gone missing in different parts of the country due to flood and landslide following incessant rainfall for the past few days. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">June 16: Three persons have lost their lives and 11 others have gone missing in different parts of the country due to flood and landslide following incessant rainfall for the past few days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the National Emergency Operation Centre of the Home Ministry, seven persons sustained injuries in the disaster. Chief of the Centre Dil Kumar Tamang said that one person died in Bajura, Palpa and Sindhupalchowk districts each while seven went missing in Sindhupalchowk. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Sindhupalchowk district recorded a huge loss of lives and property due to landslide last year too. Tamang said that some people have also gone missing in Salyan, Bajura, Gorkha and Jajarkot districts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Task of collecting other details is underway, according to the Centre. Tamang added that arrangement is being made to rescue those trapped in flood and landslide, to distribute relief materials to victims and to shift them to safer places. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He shared that 26 people have been rescued using Nepal Army’s chopper from Melamchi area this morning (June 16) and a truck of relief materials has been sent to the area from Kathmandu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the Home Ministry, preparation has been made to send relief materials to Manang from helicopter. Five hundred people have been evacuated and moved to safer places in Manang. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">It has been predicted that this rainy season might witness more rainfall than average. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-16', 'modified' => '2021-06-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13287', 'image' => '20210616045324_1623818105.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-16 16:52:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13541', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Seven Provinces Introduce Budget for the Upcoming Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times">June 16: </span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">All the seven provinces have introduced the budget for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2021/22) in line with the constitutional provision. The size of the budget of Bagmati Province is the biggest among all the provinces while Gandaki Province has presented a relatively small-sized budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The budgets introduced by all the seven provinces have prioritized prevention and control of COVID-19 and given continuity to old programmes of infrastructure development. Some states have allocated budgets for health infrastructure by scrapping programmes previously brought by the center to please the lawmakers, while others have continued similar programmes for the upcoming year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Bagmati Province has brought a budget of Rs 57.72 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, which is more than the current fiscal year’s budget by Rs 6 billion. It has scrapped the parliamentary constituency infrastructure development programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Bagmati Province government had been allocating about Rs 2.5 billion for the directly elected state assembly members as well as those elected under the proportional representation quota of each constituency under the heading of the infrastructure development programme. Kailash Prasad Dhungel, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, informed that the government has canceled the infrastructure development programme for the upcoming fiscal year and allocated the budget instead for the health sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">It has allocated Rs 32.46 billion budget for the health sector. The budget has set aside more funds for recurrent expenses than the capital expenditure. Bijay Kumar Yadav, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning of Province 2, has allocated Rs 33.79 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The budget focuses on COVID-19 control and treatment, road construction, irrigation, employment and education. Most of the big old plans have been given continuity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Gandaki Province has reduced the size of the budget compared to last year. The province has brought a budget of Rs 30.03 billion. In the budget presented by Chief Minister Krishna Chandra Pokhrel Nepali, the state government has announced to provide Rs 5,000 as monthly relief to those who have lost their parents to COVID -19. Similarly, families who have lost their members to COVID-19 will be provided a relief package of Rs 50,000 each. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Lumbini Province has introduced a budget of Rs 40.95 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget has provided 33 percent annual tax exemption to public transport entrepreneurs. The budget has also made an arrangement that no penalty will be fined if the tax is paid within three months of the Fiscal Year 2021/22. It has allocated a huge amount of budget in the field of agriculture and health. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Karnali Province government has also introduced a budget emphasizing on the health sector and infrastructure programmes. The budget brought by Gopal Sharma, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, is more focused on improving the lives of the citizens by improving the health sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">It has allocated Rs 535 million for the prevention of COVID-19 pandemic and funds have been allocated to purchase vaccines for every citizen of the province. The budget has provision to provide free education to the children of the martyrs’ family. The government has decided to run a model school in each local unit for the development of the education sector. A budget of Rs 395 million has been allocated for this programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Far Western Province Government has brought a budget of Rs 30.33 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget presented by Prakash Bahadur Shah, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, is less by Rs 3.5 billion than the current budget. It has reduced current expenditure by Rs 4 billion and the capital expenditure has been increased by about Rs 1 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Shah said that the budget has prioritized the improvement and expansion of health services and construction of infrastructure. A budget of Rs 2.48 billion has been allocated for infrastructure development.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Similarly, a budget of Rs 5.12 billion has been allocated for the construction of roads, major infrastructure and mega projects for the upcoming year. The state will provide free medical treatment to the families of the injured and martyrs of the people's movement and armed conflict. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Likewise, a budget of Rs 100 million has been allocated to make the families of conflict victims self-reliant.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">And Rs 960 million has been allocated for the infrastructure development programme. In the Far-western Province, there are 32 state assembly members under a direct poll system. The province government has allocated Rs 30 million to each member of the state assembly. Meanwhile similar kind of programme has already been scrapped by the central government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-16', 'modified' => '2021-06-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13286', 'image' => '20210616024457_20200504033240_1588549898.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-16 14:43:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13540', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Shipping Cost of Nepali Importers up due to Covid-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 16: The shipping cost of importing goods to Nepal from overseas has increased as the transportation chain has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">June 16: The shipping cost of importing goods to Nepal from overseas has increased as the transportation chain has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Shipping companies have increased fares by three to five times due to the shortage of containers in addition to heavy traffic jams at the port. Importer Ashish Lath, who is also the secretary of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that most of the shipping companies have increased the fares sharply depending on the destination of the goods.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He informed that they have to pay USD 3,800 per container to import goods from Chinese port to the dry port of Birgunj. “Before the pandemic, the fare was up to $2,000. Even a month ago, the goods had arrived at $2,900,” he told New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The shipping companies have increased fares following last year's lockdown. However, the train fare from Indian ports to Nepal remains the same.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The train fare from the Indian port to Birgunj is around $1,000 per container. According to the importers, the shipping cost of containers imported from China has increased three times.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Businessman Om Prakash More says that the transportation fare for goods imported from Europe and America is increasing every week.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Importers say that the fare for containers imported from those countries has increased five times now. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Naresh Agrawal, vice-president of the Nepal Freight Forwarders Association, said that the shipping companies are charging congestion fare due to the congestion of containers at the sea port.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to Sushant Chachan, joint secretary of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the shipping companies charge them up to US$ 200 to 300 per container for importing goods from Southeast Asian countries.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Importer Chachan informed that the shipment cost from Myanmar to Birgunj has doubled now. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He says that the fare from South America to Kolkata port has increased to $400 per container. Ashok Kumar Temani, coordinator of Road Transport and Transit Committee of FNCCI Province 2, says that the shipping companies are increasing fares in an arbitrary manner.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Containers are hard to find during the pandemic and lockdown. Some shipping lines have created artificial shortages,” says Temani.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Just a month ago, the Nepali Consulate in Kolkata, India had publicly urged the importers not to do business with the two shipping companies that are harassing the importers. The Consulate had to issue a notice not to transport containers through River Edge Shipping Pvt. Ltd and Regal Container Line.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Consulate said that the contact person of the company had repeatedly demanded additional charges from the importers and increased the fine.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-16', 'modified' => '2021-06-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13285', 'image' => '20210616013701_20200503094122_1588282929.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-16 13:36:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13539', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Remittance Inflow Increases, Current Account Remains at a Deficit of Rs 247 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 15: The country has received Rs 809.89 billion in remittance in the first ten months of fiscal year (FY 2020/21), according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">June 15: The country has received Rs 809.89 billion in remittance in the first ten months of fiscal year (FY 2020/21), according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Releasing the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of the country based on ten month’s data on Monday, the central bank stated that the inflow of remittance increased 19.2 per cent in the review period against a decrease of 6.3 per cent in the same period of the previous year.<br /> According to the NRB, the number of Nepali workers taking approval for foreign employment decreased 60.3 per cent in the review period. It had decreased 2.7 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.<br /> The NRB report stated that the current account remained at a deficit of Rs 247.08 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of Rs 96.18 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. <br /> In the US Dollar terms, the current account registered a deficit of 2.11 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of 855.9 million in the same period of the previous year. <br /> Likewise, the Balance of Payments (BOP) registered a surplus of Rs 7.75 billion in the review period as compared to a surplus of Rs 120.90 billion in the same period of the previous year. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">During the ten months of 2020/21, merchandise exports increased 32.2 percent to Rs108.48 billion compared to an increase of 4.5 percent in the same period of the previous year. Destination-wise, exports to India and other countries increased 35.8 percent and 25.3 percent respectively whereas exports to China decreased 18.4 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Exports of soybean oil, cardamom, jute goods, polyester yarn and threads, woolen carpet, among others, increased whereas exports of palm oil, pulses, zinc sheet, wire, cattle-feed, among others, decreased in the review period.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">During the ten months of 2020/21, merchandise imports increased 22.3 percent to Rs.1254.11 billion against a decrease of 13.0 percent a year ago. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Destination-wise, imports from India, China and other countries increased 29.8 percent, 17.2 percent and 6.2 percent respectively. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Imports of transport equipment and parts, crude soybean oil, MS billet, rice, telecommunication equipment and parts, among others, increased whereas imports of aircraft spareparts, crude palm oil, petroleum products, video television and parts, silver, among others, decreased in the review period.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Total trade deficit increased 21.5 percent to Rs.1145.63 billion during the ten months of 2020/21. Such a deficit had decreased 14.2 percent in the same period of the previous year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The export-import ratio increased to 8.6 percent in the review period from 8.0 percent in the same period of the previous year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The year-on-year consumer price inflation stood at 3.65 percent in the tenth month of 2020/21 compared to 5.83 percent a year ago. Food and beverage inflation stood at 4.72 percent whereas non-food and service inflation stood at 2.81 percent in the review month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The price of ghee and oil; meat and fish; non-alcoholic drinks and tobacco products sub-groups rose 28.20 percent, 17.12 percent, 9.85 percent and 9.84 percent respectively on y-o-y basis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-15', 'modified' => '2021-06-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13284', 'image' => '20210615042156_20210420034241_20201106055408_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-15 16:21:02', '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' => '13554', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'After Failing to Implement in Current FY, Province 1 Gives Continuity to Projects in New Budget', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Though most of the pride projects of Province 1 introduced in the current fiscal year (2020/21) are yet to be implemented, the provincial government has given continuity to them while also announcing some new projects and programmes in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p>June 19: Though most of the pride projects of Province 1 introduced in the current fiscal year (2020/21) are yet to be implemented, the provincial government has given continuity to them while also announcing some new projects and programmes in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.</p> <p>Some of the projects that the provincial government fail to start their implementation include national pride projects. </p> <p>Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning of Province 1, Tanka Angbuhang, introduced the budget of Rs 32.46 billion for the coming fiscal year, down from Rs. 40.89 billion allocated for the current fiscal year. </p> <p>The budget for the upcoming fiscal year that was unveiled on Tuesday is under discussion in the provincial assembly. </p> <p>Economic Affairs and Planning Minister Angubhang plans to tap fiscal transfers from the federal government as the main source of income to finance his budget. Due to the Covid-19, the provincial government has prioritized the health sector in its spending plan. While many projects and programmes mentioned in the budget statement of the current fiscal year suffer budget shortage, the provincial government came up with new projects for the upcoming fiscal year. </p> <p>The construction of the Ravi-Ranke Tourist Route from Bhedetar to Miklajung has not started yet. Likewise, the Damak-Chisapani-Ravi Falgunand road, which was also announced in the budget as a pride project, did not see any progress due to the lack of the budget. ‘Baraha Bijaypur Circuit and Shakti Peeth Circuit also face similar fate. </p> <p>Although the budget was allocated for the construction of the Ring rRad connecting the historic palace of Birat King of Jhapa, Itahari, Dharan and Inaruwa of Sunsari and Biratnagar of Morang in the current fiscal year, the provincial government could not even conduct its feasibility study. </p> <p>Targeting the tourist area, the plan to build a road from Udayapur, Khotang, Sankhuwasabha and Solukhumbu to Ranitar-Pancha-Chakhewa-salpadilichung to Sagarmatha and Makalu base camp also remains unimplemented. There has not been much progress in the first phase of road construction connecting base camps of Mount Everest and Makalu. </p> <p>The announcement to start a study for the construction of an international conference center in Itahari and an exhibition venue in Dharan is limited in the budget speech. </p> <p>The government, which has allocated Rs 430 million in the youth and sports sector, has not been able to form even a province-level sports council. <br /> The ‘People’s Medical Education Fund’ to provide easy access to loans without collateral to the students from poor families to study MBBS has also been limited to the announcement.</p> <p>Although the process to promote investment by forming an investment board led by the Chief Minister has started, establishment of a special economic zone (SEZ) in the province has not seen any progress. Although the government allocated the budget to generate 200 MW of electricity from solar energy, no progress has been made towards that end.</p> <p>The announcement of the provincial government to build charging stations at necessary places to encourage the use of electric vehicles has also been limited to the budget only. The announcement for the construction of the People's War Memorial Museum at Belbari in Morang along with the construction of the foundations in the name of the martyrs, missing persons, politicians and people's leaders of the people's revolution has not been implemented. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13299', 'image' => '20210619121628_Province 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 12:11:33', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13552', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Seeks Suggestions for Monetary Policy for Upcoming Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders. I', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders. Issuing a notice on Thursday, NRB said that the suggestions for the monetary policy can be emailed or mailed to the central bank’s address. </p> <p>Like last year, the central bank has started collecting suggestions for the monetary policy that is scheduled to be made public in the first week of Shrawn (third week of July). </p> <p>Prakash Shrestha, an executive director at the NRB, said that all stakeholders including organizations and associations of bank and financial institutions, businesses and other sectors can send their suggestions by Asadh end (mid July). </p> <p>According to NRB’s Executive Director Shrestha, suggestions can be emailed at monetarypolicy@nrb.org.np or mailed at Economic Research Department of the NRB, Baluwatar in Kathmandu. </p> <p>He said that the central bank has already received suggestions from some organizations that they want to be addressed in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year. Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has said that it is preparing its letter including the suggestions to be sent to the central bank for the monetary policy.</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13297', 'image' => '20210618084202_NRB.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 20:39:18', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13551', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Domestic Flights Unlikely to Resume Before Third Week of July', 'sub_title' => ' Govt to allow resumption of international flights to five more countries', 'summary' => 'Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July.', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July. </p> <p>The domestic flight operations have been suspended for more than 45 days. Earlier on April 4, the government suspended the domestic flights as part of containment measures in the wake of rapid spread of coronavirus. </p> <p>According to an official of the ministry who does not want to be named, domestic flights will be resumed only after the third week of July.</p> <p>Although Covid-19 cases are declining in the last few days, there is no possibility of immediate resumption of domestic flights as the government is in a mood to wait and watch the trend of the infections for a few more weeks, according to the official. </p> <p>The Airline Operators Association of Nepal, an umbrella organization of private airlines, had written a letter to Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Umashankar Aragariya on June 8, demanding the immediate resumption of domestic flights. </p> <p>In its statement issued after sending the letter to the minister, the AOAN had said that domestic flights in the neighboring countries and as other parts of the world have not been halted as the air travel can be operated with safety precautions. Citing the decline in the infection cases, the association had urged the government to operate domestic flights as soon as possible.</p> <p>Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, a joint secretary at the ministry, said that the ministry was positive to gradually lift the restriction on domestic flights. "The ministry is preparing to gradually open domestic flights by complying with health standards," he said. He said that the rate of coronavirus infection and the situation in areas like Nepalgunj, Biratnagar, Birgunj, and Bhairahawa, which are considered hubs for opening domestic flights, would also be analyzed and evaluated before making the decision. </p> <p>Meanwhile, the government has indicated that it would take a flexible approach in allowing international flights to and from Nepal. The government, which also suspended international flights from April 8, has already decided to allow flights to and from China, Qatar, and Turkey. </p> <p>Raj Kumar Chettri, Spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), said that they have not received any request for permit for Nepal-China flight so far.</p> <p>The government on Wednesday decided to operate international flights to five more countries. A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC) decided to resume flights to Saudi Arabia, UAE (Dubai), Japan, and Malaysia. The CCMC decided to relax the ban on international flights from those countries which are major destinations for Nepali workers. </p> <p>Chettri said that with the decision to resume flights to more countries, the airlines from the countries concerned will now be invited to apply for scheduled flights. The concerned airlines will only be permitted to operate flights after applying for a flight permit from the CAAN. </p> <p>The meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Committee KP Sharma Oli decided to operate flights from these countries with no more than 2,000 passengers a week.</p> <p>Similarly, the meeting also decided to assist the workers who have gone for foreign employment but cannot stay in the quarantine at the hotel due to various reasons. The meeting decided to bear the cost of 10 days of quarantine for Nepali workers. The government has already introduced a 15-day mandatory hotel quarantine for those arriving in Nepal from abroad. </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13296', 'image' => '20210618035059_Domestic Flights.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 15:46:30', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13550', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kathmandu Metropolitan City Announces 10% House Rent Tax Waiver ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has announced a special tax waiver to COVID-19 affected taxpayers. KMC Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya made this announcement while introducing KMC’s Policies and Programmes for the fiscal year 2021/22 on Thursday.</p> <p>He said that the KMC will provide a waiver on house rental tax for those who submit details of tenants. </p> <p>“Those homeowners who submit the details of tenants and rental agreements in their respective wards will be provided a rental tax waiver of 10 percent or Rs 25,000, whichever is lower,” said Mayor Shakya, unveiling the Policies and Programmes. “The private sector will also be mobilized for this,”</p> <p>Those paying their taxes, service charges or fees to the KMC through banking or electronic channels will also be provided a certain rebate, according to the Policies and Programmes. </p> <p>KMC has announced that it would offer a significant waiver on various taxes and charges for the hotel and tourism industry hit by the pandemic. To make the urban service delivery more effective, it has announced to keep the record of all people living temporarily in KMC. </p> <p>Likewise, KMC will build a state-of-the-art 100-bed special hospital and provide COVID treatment , operate a call center for counseling, psychological counselling, COVID test and ambulance service at free of cost. </p> <p>The mayor also announced free services including isolation services, covid special hospital services and oxygen support.</p> <p>Residents in the metropolitan city will be guaranteed basic health services by upgrading the urban health clinics operating in the ward office and arrange free health check-ups by the expert doctors. </p> <p>Other announcements include a 50 percent subsidy on insurance premiums for KMC residents and grading of hotel, restaurant, food processing sites and online food deliveries. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13295', 'image' => '20210618013424_KMC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 13:27:22', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13549', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Dolma Impact Fund Announces Rs 180 Million Investment in Upaya City Cargo ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund. ', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund. </p> <p>Upaya is an online marketplace for intra-city logistics that connects individuals and businesses with 4-wheeler pickup driver-partners and 2-wheeler rider-partners within Kathmandu Valley, Butwal, Bhairahawa & Pokhara.</p> <p>DIF is the first international private equity fund and impact fund dedicated to Nepal. </p> <p>DIF is making its investment in Upaya City Cargo from its Dolma Impact Fund II. After committing $36.6 million in various projects from its previous Dolma Impact Fund I, it has recently raised nearly $40 million for its second impact fund to make investments in Nepal<br /> . <br /> Dutch lender FMO, CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, Swedfund and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have backed the Dolma Impact Fund II. </p> <p>Issuing a statement, Dolma Impact Fund said that the investment, subject to successful due diligence and final internal approval from the Fund, will help the company to expand its operation in other cities across Nepal with logistics solutions for on-demand delivery of bulk goods as well as e-commerce & agriculture sectors. </p> <p>“Through this investment, Upaya and Dolma aim to create an impactful partnership in the Nepali logistics sector,” the statement added. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13294', 'image' => '20210618120759_Online Cargo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 12:07:00', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13548', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Process to Secure Covid-19 Vaccines Still Ongoing: Govt', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing.', 'content' => '<p>June 18: The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing.</p> <p>Issuing a statement on Thursday, the Ministry of Health and Population also refuted media reports that the government has decided to procure Covid-19 vaccines from China. </p> <p>“The process to secure more vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing,” read the statement. “The media reports on quantity, price, delivery, and other relevant information about the vaccine procurement are, therefore, premature, inaccurate, speculative and misleading,” it added. <img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Health%20Ministry.jpg" style="float:right; height:448px; width:313px" /></p> <p>The statement follows recent media reports claiming that the government has decided to purchase four million doses of Sinopharm vaccines from China without disclosing the price.</p> <p>China has already provided Nepal 1.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines as grant assistance. </p> <p>In its statement, the ministry also said that the government has approached Covid-19 vaccine producing countries to provide, on grant or procurement basis, the vaccine. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13293', 'image' => '20210618111947_Health Ministery_Building.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 11:10:19', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13547', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Bunching Up Capital Expenditure Toward Last Month of Fiscal Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital expenditure.', 'content' => '<p>June 17: With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital expenditure. Like in the previous fiscal years, the capital budget for the current fiscal year is going to be underspent. </p> <p>Though the government had claimed of meeting capital budget spending targets due to various latest measures that it had introduced, a huge portion of the capital budget is going to be unspent in the current fiscal year also. </p> <p>Since the new fiscal year begins from July 16, the government has to spend the current budget in less than a month. <br /> Through the mid term review of the budget, the government had revised its target of capital expenditure to 85.9%. Capital expenditures mostly include the spendings on development projects. <br /> The government is unlikely to meet even its revised target. <br /> However, the government is preparing to spend the huge amount of the allocated budget in the month of Ashad (between mid June and mid July). Bunching up capital spending in the last month of the fiscal year raises concerns of the quality of the development works and other constructions carried out in haste.<br /> Gyanendra Poudel, Spokesperson of the Financial Comptroller General Office, said that a large amount of funds is being released in the last month of the current fiscal year like in the previous years. </p> <p>The then Finance Minister Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada had brought a budget of Rs 1,474.6 billion for the current fiscal year. Through the mid term review report, the government had revised down the budget by Rs 130 billion. <br /> Jagadish Chandra Pokhrel, former Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission , said that the government’s focus on petty politics rather than on delivering services and implementing development projects have led to budget underspending. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13292', 'image' => '20210617045713_Capex.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 16:54:31', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13546', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Inland Revenue Department Extends Tax Filing Deadline Till July 9', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Inland Revenue Department has extended the deadline for filing tax details and taxes due to prohibitory orders imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus.', 'content' => '<p>June 17: The Inland Revenue Department has extended the deadline for filing tax details and taxes due to prohibitory orders imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus. <br /> The decision to extend the tax filing deadline by two months has given protection to businesses from the penalty for delaying filing tax returns.</p> <p>Issuing a notice on Wednesday, the IRD said that it has extended the deadline to file details of value-added tax (VAT) and taxes based on those monthly and bimonthly details of previous two months—Chaitra and Baisakh (mid March to mid April and mid April to mid May)—till July 9.</p> <p>Similarly, income taxpayers who file tax deducted at source (TDS) will now have to file details of the TDS and the taxes based on those details by July 9.<br /> According to the IRD, businesses can now file excise duty for the month of Chaitra (mid March to mid April) and Baisakh (mid April to mid May) by July 9.<br /> Other revenues like health, education and telecommunication tax filing deadline has been extended till July 9.</p> <p>The IRD has extended the deadline for the tax filing in line with the request from the private sector. Though a recent order of the Supreme Court had paved the way for the government to collect taxes even during the lockdown, the IRD decided to extend the deadline for tax filing, citing difficulties for taxpayers due to prohibitory orders in various parts of the country to contain the second wave of coronavirus.</p> <p>The Supreme Court on June 15 vacated its previous order of restricting the government from collecting taxes during the lockdown.<br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13291', 'image' => '20210617041950_IRD.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 16:16:03', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13545', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'HAN Asks Govt Not to Implement New Minimum Wage in Hotel Industry ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has urged the government not to implement the new minimum salary in the hotel industry. ', 'content' => '<p>June 16: Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has urged the government not to implement the new minimum salary in the hotel industry. </p> <p>Meeting the newly appointed Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Bimal Prasad Shrivastav on Wednesday, HAN President Shreejana Rana and First Vice President Binayak Shah said that the hotel industry, which has been battered by the Covid-19, is not in position to implement the new minimum salary as fixed by the government recently.</p> <p>Earlier in May, the government had published the notice of revised minimum monthly salary for workers in Nepal Gazette. The minimum salary was raised to Rs 15,000 per month from Rs 13,450. </p> <p>“At a time when hotels are not able to pay salaries to their employees as per the present scale , the hotel industry is not in the position to implement the new minimum wage. So, this should not be implemented in the hotel industry,” read the statement of the HAN issued after the meeting. </p> <p>According to the statement, the HAN also asked the government to treat the hotel industry as a highly affected sector from the Covid-19 and provide additional support and facilities to attract them toward the Social Security Fund (SSF). </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13290', 'image' => '20210617114257_HAN_logo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 11:38:14', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13544', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank Approves $150 Million Credit for Nepal to Support Pandemic Recovery', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The World Bank is providing Nepal $150 million in development policy credit to support the recovery from the Covid-19. ', 'content' => '<p>June 17: The World Bank is providing Nepal $150 million in development policy credit to support recovery from the Covid-19. </p> <p>Issuing a statement, the World Bank said that its Board of Executive Directors today approved a $150 million development policy credit to support Nepal’s resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, protect the most vulnerable, and support sustainable growth.</p> <p>“Amid the economic and social impacts of the pandemic, our priority is to provide immediate relief to affected populations and support Nepal’s green, resilient, and inclusive recovery,” the statement quoted Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, as saying. </p> <p>The Nepal Programmatic Fiscal Policy for Growth, Recovery and Resilience will help strengthen Nepal’s institutions and regulations, including its tax and customs system, debt management, and public capital spending, according to the statement. It will also support the immediate health response and help modernize social protection programs, build access to capital and digital solutions for the private sector, and lay a regulatory foundation for a green recovery, read the statement. </p> <p>“This development policy credit supports the government of Nepal’s efforts to address the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 and overcome structural constraints to a resilient economic recovery,” stated Kene Ezemenari, Senior Economist and the World Bank’s Task Team Leader for the program. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13289', 'image' => '20210617110503_World Bank.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 10:57:49', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13543', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Heavy Rainfall in Forecast for Three More Days ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 16: Heavy rainfall has been predicted in most parts of the country for three more days, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported citing the Meteorological Forecasting Division.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">June 16: Heavy rainfall has been predicted in most parts of the country for three more days, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported citing the Meteorological Forecasting Division. The division has warned of risk of floods and landslides at some places due to the heavy rainfall. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Meteorologist at the division, Manju Basi, informed that rainfall is taking place throughout the country at present as the monsoon wind is active. There is possibility of occurrence of heavy rainfall in most parts of the country until Saturday due to the influence of this wind. There will be a break in this trend after Saturday, RSS further reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the division, light to moderate rainfall is taking place in most of the places of Gandaki and Lumbini provinces and at a few places in the remaining provinces. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Heavy rainfall is in forecast in Karnali and Bagmati provinces and very heavy rainfall is likely to occur in some places of Lumbini and Gandaki provinces throughout the day as well as tonight (June 16). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The division has warned of the possibility of floods and landslides in these areas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"There are chances of occurrence of heavy rainfall at some areas and heavy rainfall at few places of Karnali, Gandaki, Lumbini and Bagmati provinces. So, there is risk of landslide and mudslide in the hilly region of these provinces. The water level in the rivers and rivulets might rise and the transport services might get affected due to this. Adoption of necessary precaution and alertness is advised," the Division stated in its latest weather bulletin. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As per the division's regular bulletin, this trend of rainfall will continue throughout the country till Friday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As of Wednesday evening, Pokhara has received the highest rainfall in the country within the last 24 hours. It received 110.5 millilitres of rainfall, followed by Bhairahawa with 82.2 millilitres rainfall. Kathmandu received only 12.4 millilitres rainfall in the last 24 hours, according to RSS. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-16', 'modified' => '2021-06-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13288', 'image' => '20210616050724_weather (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-16 17:06:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13542', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three Killed, 11 go Missing in Floods, Landslides Across the Country', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 16: Three persons have lost their lives and 11 others have gone missing in different parts of the country due to flood and landslide following incessant rainfall for the past few days. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">June 16: Three persons have lost their lives and 11 others have gone missing in different parts of the country due to flood and landslide following incessant rainfall for the past few days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the National Emergency Operation Centre of the Home Ministry, seven persons sustained injuries in the disaster. Chief of the Centre Dil Kumar Tamang said that one person died in Bajura, Palpa and Sindhupalchowk districts each while seven went missing in Sindhupalchowk. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Sindhupalchowk district recorded a huge loss of lives and property due to landslide last year too. Tamang said that some people have also gone missing in Salyan, Bajura, Gorkha and Jajarkot districts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Task of collecting other details is underway, according to the Centre. Tamang added that arrangement is being made to rescue those trapped in flood and landslide, to distribute relief materials to victims and to shift them to safer places. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He shared that 26 people have been rescued using Nepal Army’s chopper from Melamchi area this morning (June 16) and a truck of relief materials has been sent to the area from Kathmandu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the Home Ministry, preparation has been made to send relief materials to Manang from helicopter. Five hundred people have been evacuated and moved to safer places in Manang. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">It has been predicted that this rainy season might witness more rainfall than average. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-16', 'modified' => '2021-06-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13287', 'image' => '20210616045324_1623818105.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-16 16:52:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13541', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Seven Provinces Introduce Budget for the Upcoming Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times">June 16: </span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">All the seven provinces have introduced the budget for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2021/22) in line with the constitutional provision. The size of the budget of Bagmati Province is the biggest among all the provinces while Gandaki Province has presented a relatively small-sized budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The budgets introduced by all the seven provinces have prioritized prevention and control of COVID-19 and given continuity to old programmes of infrastructure development. Some states have allocated budgets for health infrastructure by scrapping programmes previously brought by the center to please the lawmakers, while others have continued similar programmes for the upcoming year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Bagmati Province has brought a budget of Rs 57.72 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, which is more than the current fiscal year’s budget by Rs 6 billion. It has scrapped the parliamentary constituency infrastructure development programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Bagmati Province government had been allocating about Rs 2.5 billion for the directly elected state assembly members as well as those elected under the proportional representation quota of each constituency under the heading of the infrastructure development programme. Kailash Prasad Dhungel, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, informed that the government has canceled the infrastructure development programme for the upcoming fiscal year and allocated the budget instead for the health sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">It has allocated Rs 32.46 billion budget for the health sector. The budget has set aside more funds for recurrent expenses than the capital expenditure. Bijay Kumar Yadav, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning of Province 2, has allocated Rs 33.79 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The budget focuses on COVID-19 control and treatment, road construction, irrigation, employment and education. Most of the big old plans have been given continuity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Gandaki Province has reduced the size of the budget compared to last year. The province has brought a budget of Rs 30.03 billion. In the budget presented by Chief Minister Krishna Chandra Pokhrel Nepali, the state government has announced to provide Rs 5,000 as monthly relief to those who have lost their parents to COVID -19. Similarly, families who have lost their members to COVID-19 will be provided a relief package of Rs 50,000 each. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Lumbini Province has introduced a budget of Rs 40.95 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget has provided 33 percent annual tax exemption to public transport entrepreneurs. The budget has also made an arrangement that no penalty will be fined if the tax is paid within three months of the Fiscal Year 2021/22. It has allocated a huge amount of budget in the field of agriculture and health. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Karnali Province government has also introduced a budget emphasizing on the health sector and infrastructure programmes. The budget brought by Gopal Sharma, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, is more focused on improving the lives of the citizens by improving the health sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">It has allocated Rs 535 million for the prevention of COVID-19 pandemic and funds have been allocated to purchase vaccines for every citizen of the province. The budget has provision to provide free education to the children of the martyrs’ family. The government has decided to run a model school in each local unit for the development of the education sector. A budget of Rs 395 million has been allocated for this programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Far Western Province Government has brought a budget of Rs 30.33 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget presented by Prakash Bahadur Shah, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, is less by Rs 3.5 billion than the current budget. It has reduced current expenditure by Rs 4 billion and the capital expenditure has been increased by about Rs 1 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Shah said that the budget has prioritized the improvement and expansion of health services and construction of infrastructure. A budget of Rs 2.48 billion has been allocated for infrastructure development.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Similarly, a budget of Rs 5.12 billion has been allocated for the construction of roads, major infrastructure and mega projects for the upcoming year. The state will provide free medical treatment to the families of the injured and martyrs of the people's movement and armed conflict. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Likewise, a budget of Rs 100 million has been allocated to make the families of conflict victims self-reliant.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">And Rs 960 million has been allocated for the infrastructure development programme. In the Far-western Province, there are 32 state assembly members under a direct poll system. The province government has allocated Rs 30 million to each member of the state assembly. Meanwhile similar kind of programme has already been scrapped by the central government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-16', 'modified' => '2021-06-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13286', 'image' => '20210616024457_20200504033240_1588549898.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-16 14:43:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13540', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Shipping Cost of Nepali Importers up due to Covid-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 16: The shipping cost of importing goods to Nepal from overseas has increased as the transportation chain has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">June 16: The shipping cost of importing goods to Nepal from overseas has increased as the transportation chain has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Shipping companies have increased fares by three to five times due to the shortage of containers in addition to heavy traffic jams at the port. Importer Ashish Lath, who is also the secretary of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that most of the shipping companies have increased the fares sharply depending on the destination of the goods.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He informed that they have to pay USD 3,800 per container to import goods from Chinese port to the dry port of Birgunj. “Before the pandemic, the fare was up to $2,000. Even a month ago, the goods had arrived at $2,900,” he told New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The shipping companies have increased fares following last year's lockdown. However, the train fare from Indian ports to Nepal remains the same.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The train fare from the Indian port to Birgunj is around $1,000 per container. According to the importers, the shipping cost of containers imported from China has increased three times.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Businessman Om Prakash More says that the transportation fare for goods imported from Europe and America is increasing every week.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Importers say that the fare for containers imported from those countries has increased five times now. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Naresh Agrawal, vice-president of the Nepal Freight Forwarders Association, said that the shipping companies are charging congestion fare due to the congestion of containers at the sea port.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to Sushant Chachan, joint secretary of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the shipping companies charge them up to US$ 200 to 300 per container for importing goods from Southeast Asian countries.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Importer Chachan informed that the shipment cost from Myanmar to Birgunj has doubled now. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He says that the fare from South America to Kolkata port has increased to $400 per container. Ashok Kumar Temani, coordinator of Road Transport and Transit Committee of FNCCI Province 2, says that the shipping companies are increasing fares in an arbitrary manner.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Containers are hard to find during the pandemic and lockdown. Some shipping lines have created artificial shortages,” says Temani.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Just a month ago, the Nepali Consulate in Kolkata, India had publicly urged the importers not to do business with the two shipping companies that are harassing the importers. The Consulate had to issue a notice not to transport containers through River Edge Shipping Pvt. Ltd and Regal Container Line.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Consulate said that the contact person of the company had repeatedly demanded additional charges from the importers and increased the fine.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-16', 'modified' => '2021-06-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13285', 'image' => '20210616013701_20200503094122_1588282929.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-16 13:36:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13539', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Remittance Inflow Increases, Current Account Remains at a Deficit of Rs 247 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 15: The country has received Rs 809.89 billion in remittance in the first ten months of fiscal year (FY 2020/21), according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">June 15: The country has received Rs 809.89 billion in remittance in the first ten months of fiscal year (FY 2020/21), according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Releasing the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of the country based on ten month’s data on Monday, the central bank stated that the inflow of remittance increased 19.2 per cent in the review period against a decrease of 6.3 per cent in the same period of the previous year.<br /> According to the NRB, the number of Nepali workers taking approval for foreign employment decreased 60.3 per cent in the review period. It had decreased 2.7 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.<br /> The NRB report stated that the current account remained at a deficit of Rs 247.08 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of Rs 96.18 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. <br /> In the US Dollar terms, the current account registered a deficit of 2.11 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of 855.9 million in the same period of the previous year. <br /> Likewise, the Balance of Payments (BOP) registered a surplus of Rs 7.75 billion in the review period as compared to a surplus of Rs 120.90 billion in the same period of the previous year. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">During the ten months of 2020/21, merchandise exports increased 32.2 percent to Rs108.48 billion compared to an increase of 4.5 percent in the same period of the previous year. Destination-wise, exports to India and other countries increased 35.8 percent and 25.3 percent respectively whereas exports to China decreased 18.4 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Exports of soybean oil, cardamom, jute goods, polyester yarn and threads, woolen carpet, among others, increased whereas exports of palm oil, pulses, zinc sheet, wire, cattle-feed, among others, decreased in the review period.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">During the ten months of 2020/21, merchandise imports increased 22.3 percent to Rs.1254.11 billion against a decrease of 13.0 percent a year ago. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Destination-wise, imports from India, China and other countries increased 29.8 percent, 17.2 percent and 6.2 percent respectively. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Imports of transport equipment and parts, crude soybean oil, MS billet, rice, telecommunication equipment and parts, among others, increased whereas imports of aircraft spareparts, crude palm oil, petroleum products, video television and parts, silver, among others, decreased in the review period.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Total trade deficit increased 21.5 percent to Rs.1145.63 billion during the ten months of 2020/21. Such a deficit had decreased 14.2 percent in the same period of the previous year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The export-import ratio increased to 8.6 percent in the review period from 8.0 percent in the same period of the previous year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The year-on-year consumer price inflation stood at 3.65 percent in the tenth month of 2020/21 compared to 5.83 percent a year ago. Food and beverage inflation stood at 4.72 percent whereas non-food and service inflation stood at 2.81 percent in the review month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The price of ghee and oil; meat and fish; non-alcoholic drinks and tobacco products sub-groups rose 28.20 percent, 17.12 percent, 9.85 percent and 9.84 percent respectively on y-o-y basis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-15', 'modified' => '2021-06-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13284', 'image' => '20210615042156_20210420034241_20201106055408_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-15 16:21:02', '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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Due to the Covid-19, the provincial government has prioritized the health sector in its spending plan. While many projects and programmes mentioned in the budget statement of the current fiscal year suffer budget shortage, the provincial government came up with new projects for the upcoming fiscal year. </p> <p>The construction of the Ravi-Ranke Tourist Route from Bhedetar to Miklajung has not started yet. Likewise, the Damak-Chisapani-Ravi Falgunand road, which was also announced in the budget as a pride project, did not see any progress due to the lack of the budget. ‘Baraha Bijaypur Circuit and Shakti Peeth Circuit also face similar fate. </p> <p>Although the budget was allocated for the construction of the Ring rRad connecting the historic palace of Birat King of Jhapa, Itahari, Dharan and Inaruwa of Sunsari and Biratnagar of Morang in the current fiscal year, the provincial government could not even conduct its feasibility study. </p> <p>Targeting the tourist area, the plan to build a road from Udayapur, Khotang, Sankhuwasabha and Solukhumbu to Ranitar-Pancha-Chakhewa-salpadilichung to Sagarmatha and Makalu base camp also remains unimplemented. There has not been much progress in the first phase of road construction connecting base camps of Mount Everest and Makalu. </p> <p>The announcement to start a study for the construction of an international conference center in Itahari and an exhibition venue in Dharan is limited in the budget speech. </p> <p>The government, which has allocated Rs 430 million in the youth and sports sector, has not been able to form even a province-level sports council. <br /> The ‘People’s Medical Education Fund’ to provide easy access to loans without collateral to the students from poor families to study MBBS has also been limited to the announcement.</p> <p>Although the process to promote investment by forming an investment board led by the Chief Minister has started, establishment of a special economic zone (SEZ) in the province has not seen any progress. Although the government allocated the budget to generate 200 MW of electricity from solar energy, no progress has been made towards that end.</p> <p>The announcement of the provincial government to build charging stations at necessary places to encourage the use of electric vehicles has also been limited to the budget only. The announcement for the construction of the People's War Memorial Museum at Belbari in Morang along with the construction of the foundations in the name of the martyrs, missing persons, politicians and people's leaders of the people's revolution has not been implemented. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13299', 'image' => '20210619121628_Province 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 12:11:33', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13552', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Seeks Suggestions for Monetary Policy for Upcoming Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders. I', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders. Issuing a notice on Thursday, NRB said that the suggestions for the monetary policy can be emailed or mailed to the central bank’s address. </p> <p>Like last year, the central bank has started collecting suggestions for the monetary policy that is scheduled to be made public in the first week of Shrawn (third week of July). </p> <p>Prakash Shrestha, an executive director at the NRB, said that all stakeholders including organizations and associations of bank and financial institutions, businesses and other sectors can send their suggestions by Asadh end (mid July). </p> <p>According to NRB’s Executive Director Shrestha, suggestions can be emailed at monetarypolicy@nrb.org.np or mailed at Economic Research Department of the NRB, Baluwatar in Kathmandu. </p> <p>He said that the central bank has already received suggestions from some organizations that they want to be addressed in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year. Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has said that it is preparing its letter including the suggestions to be sent to the central bank for the monetary policy.</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13297', 'image' => '20210618084202_NRB.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 20:39:18', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13551', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Domestic Flights Unlikely to Resume Before Third Week of July', 'sub_title' => ' Govt to allow resumption of international flights to five more countries', 'summary' => 'Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July.', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July. </p> <p>The domestic flight operations have been suspended for more than 45 days. Earlier on April 4, the government suspended the domestic flights as part of containment measures in the wake of rapid spread of coronavirus. </p> <p>According to an official of the ministry who does not want to be named, domestic flights will be resumed only after the third week of July.</p> <p>Although Covid-19 cases are declining in the last few days, there is no possibility of immediate resumption of domestic flights as the government is in a mood to wait and watch the trend of the infections for a few more weeks, according to the official. </p> <p>The Airline Operators Association of Nepal, an umbrella organization of private airlines, had written a letter to Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Umashankar Aragariya on June 8, demanding the immediate resumption of domestic flights. </p> <p>In its statement issued after sending the letter to the minister, the AOAN had said that domestic flights in the neighboring countries and as other parts of the world have not been halted as the air travel can be operated with safety precautions. Citing the decline in the infection cases, the association had urged the government to operate domestic flights as soon as possible.</p> <p>Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, a joint secretary at the ministry, said that the ministry was positive to gradually lift the restriction on domestic flights. "The ministry is preparing to gradually open domestic flights by complying with health standards," he said. He said that the rate of coronavirus infection and the situation in areas like Nepalgunj, Biratnagar, Birgunj, and Bhairahawa, which are considered hubs for opening domestic flights, would also be analyzed and evaluated before making the decision. </p> <p>Meanwhile, the government has indicated that it would take a flexible approach in allowing international flights to and from Nepal. The government, which also suspended international flights from April 8, has already decided to allow flights to and from China, Qatar, and Turkey. </p> <p>Raj Kumar Chettri, Spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), said that they have not received any request for permit for Nepal-China flight so far.</p> <p>The government on Wednesday decided to operate international flights to five more countries. A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC) decided to resume flights to Saudi Arabia, UAE (Dubai), Japan, and Malaysia. The CCMC decided to relax the ban on international flights from those countries which are major destinations for Nepali workers. </p> <p>Chettri said that with the decision to resume flights to more countries, the airlines from the countries concerned will now be invited to apply for scheduled flights. The concerned airlines will only be permitted to operate flights after applying for a flight permit from the CAAN. </p> <p>The meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Committee KP Sharma Oli decided to operate flights from these countries with no more than 2,000 passengers a week.</p> <p>Similarly, the meeting also decided to assist the workers who have gone for foreign employment but cannot stay in the quarantine at the hotel due to various reasons. The meeting decided to bear the cost of 10 days of quarantine for Nepali workers. The government has already introduced a 15-day mandatory hotel quarantine for those arriving in Nepal from abroad. </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13296', 'image' => '20210618035059_Domestic Flights.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 15:46:30', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13550', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kathmandu Metropolitan City Announces 10% House Rent Tax Waiver ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has announced a special tax waiver to COVID-19 affected taxpayers. KMC Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya made this announcement while introducing KMC’s Policies and Programmes for the fiscal year 2021/22 on Thursday.</p> <p>He said that the KMC will provide a waiver on house rental tax for those who submit details of tenants. </p> <p>“Those homeowners who submit the details of tenants and rental agreements in their respective wards will be provided a rental tax waiver of 10 percent or Rs 25,000, whichever is lower,” said Mayor Shakya, unveiling the Policies and Programmes. “The private sector will also be mobilized for this,”</p> <p>Those paying their taxes, service charges or fees to the KMC through banking or electronic channels will also be provided a certain rebate, according to the Policies and Programmes. </p> <p>KMC has announced that it would offer a significant waiver on various taxes and charges for the hotel and tourism industry hit by the pandemic. To make the urban service delivery more effective, it has announced to keep the record of all people living temporarily in KMC. </p> <p>Likewise, KMC will build a state-of-the-art 100-bed special hospital and provide COVID treatment , operate a call center for counseling, psychological counselling, COVID test and ambulance service at free of cost. </p> <p>The mayor also announced free services including isolation services, covid special hospital services and oxygen support.</p> <p>Residents in the metropolitan city will be guaranteed basic health services by upgrading the urban health clinics operating in the ward office and arrange free health check-ups by the expert doctors. </p> <p>Other announcements include a 50 percent subsidy on insurance premiums for KMC residents and grading of hotel, restaurant, food processing sites and online food deliveries. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13295', 'image' => '20210618013424_KMC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 13:27:22', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13549', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Dolma Impact Fund Announces Rs 180 Million Investment in Upaya City Cargo ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund. ', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund. </p> <p>Upaya is an online marketplace for intra-city logistics that connects individuals and businesses with 4-wheeler pickup driver-partners and 2-wheeler rider-partners within Kathmandu Valley, Butwal, Bhairahawa & Pokhara.</p> <p>DIF is the first international private equity fund and impact fund dedicated to Nepal. </p> <p>DIF is making its investment in Upaya City Cargo from its Dolma Impact Fund II. After committing $36.6 million in various projects from its previous Dolma Impact Fund I, it has recently raised nearly $40 million for its second impact fund to make investments in Nepal<br /> . <br /> Dutch lender FMO, CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, Swedfund and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have backed the Dolma Impact Fund II. </p> <p>Issuing a statement, Dolma Impact Fund said that the investment, subject to successful due diligence and final internal approval from the Fund, will help the company to expand its operation in other cities across Nepal with logistics solutions for on-demand delivery of bulk goods as well as e-commerce & agriculture sectors. </p> <p>“Through this investment, Upaya and Dolma aim to create an impactful partnership in the Nepali logistics sector,” the statement added. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13294', 'image' => '20210618120759_Online Cargo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 12:07:00', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13548', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Process to Secure Covid-19 Vaccines Still Ongoing: Govt', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing.', 'content' => '<p>June 18: The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing.</p> <p>Issuing a statement on Thursday, the Ministry of Health and Population also refuted media reports that the government has decided to procure Covid-19 vaccines from China. </p> <p>“The process to secure more vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing,” read the statement. “The media reports on quantity, price, delivery, and other relevant information about the vaccine procurement are, therefore, premature, inaccurate, speculative and misleading,” it added. <img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Health%20Ministry.jpg" style="float:right; height:448px; width:313px" /></p> <p>The statement follows recent media reports claiming that the government has decided to purchase four million doses of Sinopharm vaccines from China without disclosing the price.</p> <p>China has already provided Nepal 1.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines as grant assistance. </p> <p>In its statement, the ministry also said that the government has approached Covid-19 vaccine producing countries to provide, on grant or procurement basis, the vaccine. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13293', 'image' => '20210618111947_Health Ministery_Building.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 11:10:19', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13547', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Bunching Up Capital Expenditure Toward Last Month of Fiscal Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital expenditure.', 'content' => '<p>June 17: With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital expenditure. Like in the previous fiscal years, the capital budget for the current fiscal year is going to be underspent. </p> <p>Though the government had claimed of meeting capital budget spending targets due to various latest measures that it had introduced, a huge portion of the capital budget is going to be unspent in the current fiscal year also. </p> <p>Since the new fiscal year begins from July 16, the government has to spend the current budget in less than a month. <br /> Through the mid term review of the budget, the government had revised its target of capital expenditure to 85.9%. Capital expenditures mostly include the spendings on development projects. <br /> The government is unlikely to meet even its revised target. <br /> However, the government is preparing to spend the huge amount of the allocated budget in the month of Ashad (between mid June and mid July). Bunching up capital spending in the last month of the fiscal year raises concerns of the quality of the development works and other constructions carried out in haste.<br /> Gyanendra Poudel, Spokesperson of the Financial Comptroller General Office, said that a large amount of funds is being released in the last month of the current fiscal year like in the previous years. </p> <p>The then Finance Minister Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada had brought a budget of Rs 1,474.6 billion for the current fiscal year. Through the mid term review report, the government had revised down the budget by Rs 130 billion. <br /> Jagadish Chandra Pokhrel, former Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission , said that the government’s focus on petty politics rather than on delivering services and implementing development projects have led to budget underspending. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13292', 'image' => '20210617045713_Capex.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 16:54:31', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13546', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Inland Revenue Department Extends Tax Filing Deadline Till July 9', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Inland Revenue Department has extended the deadline for filing tax details and taxes due to prohibitory orders imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus.', 'content' => '<p>June 17: The Inland Revenue Department has extended the deadline for filing tax details and taxes due to prohibitory orders imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus. <br /> The decision to extend the tax filing deadline by two months has given protection to businesses from the penalty for delaying filing tax returns.</p> <p>Issuing a notice on Wednesday, the IRD said that it has extended the deadline to file details of value-added tax (VAT) and taxes based on those monthly and bimonthly details of previous two months—Chaitra and Baisakh (mid March to mid April and mid April to mid May)—till July 9.</p> <p>Similarly, income taxpayers who file tax deducted at source (TDS) will now have to file details of the TDS and the taxes based on those details by July 9.<br /> According to the IRD, businesses can now file excise duty for the month of Chaitra (mid March to mid April) and Baisakh (mid April to mid May) by July 9.<br /> Other revenues like health, education and telecommunication tax filing deadline has been extended till July 9.</p> <p>The IRD has extended the deadline for the tax filing in line with the request from the private sector. Though a recent order of the Supreme Court had paved the way for the government to collect taxes even during the lockdown, the IRD decided to extend the deadline for tax filing, citing difficulties for taxpayers due to prohibitory orders in various parts of the country to contain the second wave of coronavirus.</p> <p>The Supreme Court on June 15 vacated its previous order of restricting the government from collecting taxes during the lockdown.<br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13291', 'image' => '20210617041950_IRD.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 16:16:03', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13545', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'HAN Asks Govt Not to Implement New Minimum Wage in Hotel Industry ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has urged the government not to implement the new minimum salary in the hotel industry. ', 'content' => '<p>June 16: Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has urged the government not to implement the new minimum salary in the hotel industry. </p> <p>Meeting the newly appointed Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Bimal Prasad Shrivastav on Wednesday, HAN President Shreejana Rana and First Vice President Binayak Shah said that the hotel industry, which has been battered by the Covid-19, is not in position to implement the new minimum salary as fixed by the government recently.</p> <p>Earlier in May, the government had published the notice of revised minimum monthly salary for workers in Nepal Gazette. The minimum salary was raised to Rs 15,000 per month from Rs 13,450. </p> <p>“At a time when hotels are not able to pay salaries to their employees as per the present scale , the hotel industry is not in the position to implement the new minimum wage. So, this should not be implemented in the hotel industry,” read the statement of the HAN issued after the meeting. </p> <p>According to the statement, the HAN also asked the government to treat the hotel industry as a highly affected sector from the Covid-19 and provide additional support and facilities to attract them toward the Social Security Fund (SSF). </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13290', 'image' => '20210617114257_HAN_logo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 11:38:14', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13544', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank Approves $150 Million Credit for Nepal to Support Pandemic Recovery', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The World Bank is providing Nepal $150 million in development policy credit to support the recovery from the Covid-19. ', 'content' => '<p>June 17: The World Bank is providing Nepal $150 million in development policy credit to support recovery from the Covid-19. </p> <p>Issuing a statement, the World Bank said that its Board of Executive Directors today approved a $150 million development policy credit to support Nepal’s resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, protect the most vulnerable, and support sustainable growth.</p> <p>“Amid the economic and social impacts of the pandemic, our priority is to provide immediate relief to affected populations and support Nepal’s green, resilient, and inclusive recovery,” the statement quoted Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, as saying. </p> <p>The Nepal Programmatic Fiscal Policy for Growth, Recovery and Resilience will help strengthen Nepal’s institutions and regulations, including its tax and customs system, debt management, and public capital spending, according to the statement. It will also support the immediate health response and help modernize social protection programs, build access to capital and digital solutions for the private sector, and lay a regulatory foundation for a green recovery, read the statement. </p> <p>“This development policy credit supports the government of Nepal’s efforts to address the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 and overcome structural constraints to a resilient economic recovery,” stated Kene Ezemenari, Senior Economist and the World Bank’s Task Team Leader for the program. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13289', 'image' => '20210617110503_World Bank.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 10:57:49', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13543', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Heavy Rainfall in Forecast for Three More Days ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 16: Heavy rainfall has been predicted in most parts of the country for three more days, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported citing the Meteorological Forecasting Division.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">June 16: Heavy rainfall has been predicted in most parts of the country for three more days, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported citing the Meteorological Forecasting Division. The division has warned of risk of floods and landslides at some places due to the heavy rainfall. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Meteorologist at the division, Manju Basi, informed that rainfall is taking place throughout the country at present as the monsoon wind is active. There is possibility of occurrence of heavy rainfall in most parts of the country until Saturday due to the influence of this wind. There will be a break in this trend after Saturday, RSS further reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the division, light to moderate rainfall is taking place in most of the places of Gandaki and Lumbini provinces and at a few places in the remaining provinces. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Heavy rainfall is in forecast in Karnali and Bagmati provinces and very heavy rainfall is likely to occur in some places of Lumbini and Gandaki provinces throughout the day as well as tonight (June 16). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The division has warned of the possibility of floods and landslides in these areas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"There are chances of occurrence of heavy rainfall at some areas and heavy rainfall at few places of Karnali, Gandaki, Lumbini and Bagmati provinces. So, there is risk of landslide and mudslide in the hilly region of these provinces. The water level in the rivers and rivulets might rise and the transport services might get affected due to this. Adoption of necessary precaution and alertness is advised," the Division stated in its latest weather bulletin. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As per the division's regular bulletin, this trend of rainfall will continue throughout the country till Friday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As of Wednesday evening, Pokhara has received the highest rainfall in the country within the last 24 hours. It received 110.5 millilitres of rainfall, followed by Bhairahawa with 82.2 millilitres rainfall. Kathmandu received only 12.4 millilitres rainfall in the last 24 hours, according to RSS. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-16', 'modified' => '2021-06-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13288', 'image' => '20210616050724_weather (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-16 17:06:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13542', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three Killed, 11 go Missing in Floods, Landslides Across the Country', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 16: Three persons have lost their lives and 11 others have gone missing in different parts of the country due to flood and landslide following incessant rainfall for the past few days. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">June 16: Three persons have lost their lives and 11 others have gone missing in different parts of the country due to flood and landslide following incessant rainfall for the past few days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the National Emergency Operation Centre of the Home Ministry, seven persons sustained injuries in the disaster. Chief of the Centre Dil Kumar Tamang said that one person died in Bajura, Palpa and Sindhupalchowk districts each while seven went missing in Sindhupalchowk. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Sindhupalchowk district recorded a huge loss of lives and property due to landslide last year too. Tamang said that some people have also gone missing in Salyan, Bajura, Gorkha and Jajarkot districts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Task of collecting other details is underway, according to the Centre. Tamang added that arrangement is being made to rescue those trapped in flood and landslide, to distribute relief materials to victims and to shift them to safer places. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He shared that 26 people have been rescued using Nepal Army’s chopper from Melamchi area this morning (June 16) and a truck of relief materials has been sent to the area from Kathmandu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the Home Ministry, preparation has been made to send relief materials to Manang from helicopter. Five hundred people have been evacuated and moved to safer places in Manang. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">It has been predicted that this rainy season might witness more rainfall than average. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-16', 'modified' => '2021-06-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13287', 'image' => '20210616045324_1623818105.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-16 16:52:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13541', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Seven Provinces Introduce Budget for the Upcoming Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times">June 16: </span></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">All the seven provinces have introduced the budget for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2021/22) in line with the constitutional provision. The size of the budget of Bagmati Province is the biggest among all the provinces while Gandaki Province has presented a relatively small-sized budget.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The budgets introduced by all the seven provinces have prioritized prevention and control of COVID-19 and given continuity to old programmes of infrastructure development. Some states have allocated budgets for health infrastructure by scrapping programmes previously brought by the center to please the lawmakers, while others have continued similar programmes for the upcoming year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Bagmati Province has brought a budget of Rs 57.72 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, which is more than the current fiscal year’s budget by Rs 6 billion. It has scrapped the parliamentary constituency infrastructure development programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Bagmati Province government had been allocating about Rs 2.5 billion for the directly elected state assembly members as well as those elected under the proportional representation quota of each constituency under the heading of the infrastructure development programme. Kailash Prasad Dhungel, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, informed that the government has canceled the infrastructure development programme for the upcoming fiscal year and allocated the budget instead for the health sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">It has allocated Rs 32.46 billion budget for the health sector. The budget has set aside more funds for recurrent expenses than the capital expenditure. Bijay Kumar Yadav, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning of Province 2, has allocated Rs 33.79 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The budget focuses on COVID-19 control and treatment, road construction, irrigation, employment and education. Most of the big old plans have been given continuity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Gandaki Province has reduced the size of the budget compared to last year. The province has brought a budget of Rs 30.03 billion. In the budget presented by Chief Minister Krishna Chandra Pokhrel Nepali, the state government has announced to provide Rs 5,000 as monthly relief to those who have lost their parents to COVID -19. Similarly, families who have lost their members to COVID-19 will be provided a relief package of Rs 50,000 each. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Lumbini Province has introduced a budget of Rs 40.95 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget has provided 33 percent annual tax exemption to public transport entrepreneurs. The budget has also made an arrangement that no penalty will be fined if the tax is paid within three months of the Fiscal Year 2021/22. It has allocated a huge amount of budget in the field of agriculture and health. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Karnali Province government has also introduced a budget emphasizing on the health sector and infrastructure programmes. The budget brought by Gopal Sharma, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, is more focused on improving the lives of the citizens by improving the health sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">It has allocated Rs 535 million for the prevention of COVID-19 pandemic and funds have been allocated to purchase vaccines for every citizen of the province. The budget has provision to provide free education to the children of the martyrs’ family. The government has decided to run a model school in each local unit for the development of the education sector. A budget of Rs 395 million has been allocated for this programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Far Western Province Government has brought a budget of Rs 30.33 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. The budget presented by Prakash Bahadur Shah, Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning, is less by Rs 3.5 billion than the current budget. It has reduced current expenditure by Rs 4 billion and the capital expenditure has been increased by about Rs 1 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Shah said that the budget has prioritized the improvement and expansion of health services and construction of infrastructure. A budget of Rs 2.48 billion has been allocated for infrastructure development.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Similarly, a budget of Rs 5.12 billion has been allocated for the construction of roads, major infrastructure and mega projects for the upcoming year. The state will provide free medical treatment to the families of the injured and martyrs of the people's movement and armed conflict. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Likewise, a budget of Rs 100 million has been allocated to make the families of conflict victims self-reliant.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">And Rs 960 million has been allocated for the infrastructure development programme. In the Far-western Province, there are 32 state assembly members under a direct poll system. The province government has allocated Rs 30 million to each member of the state assembly. Meanwhile similar kind of programme has already been scrapped by the central government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-16', 'modified' => '2021-06-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13286', 'image' => '20210616024457_20200504033240_1588549898.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-16 14:43:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13540', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Shipping Cost of Nepali Importers up due to Covid-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 16: The shipping cost of importing goods to Nepal from overseas has increased as the transportation chain has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">June 16: The shipping cost of importing goods to Nepal from overseas has increased as the transportation chain has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Shipping companies have increased fares by three to five times due to the shortage of containers in addition to heavy traffic jams at the port. Importer Ashish Lath, who is also the secretary of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that most of the shipping companies have increased the fares sharply depending on the destination of the goods.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He informed that they have to pay USD 3,800 per container to import goods from Chinese port to the dry port of Birgunj. “Before the pandemic, the fare was up to $2,000. Even a month ago, the goods had arrived at $2,900,” he told New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The shipping companies have increased fares following last year's lockdown. However, the train fare from Indian ports to Nepal remains the same.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The train fare from the Indian port to Birgunj is around $1,000 per container. According to the importers, the shipping cost of containers imported from China has increased three times.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Businessman Om Prakash More says that the transportation fare for goods imported from Europe and America is increasing every week.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Importers say that the fare for containers imported from those countries has increased five times now. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Naresh Agrawal, vice-president of the Nepal Freight Forwarders Association, said that the shipping companies are charging congestion fare due to the congestion of containers at the sea port.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to Sushant Chachan, joint secretary of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the shipping companies charge them up to US$ 200 to 300 per container for importing goods from Southeast Asian countries.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Importer Chachan informed that the shipment cost from Myanmar to Birgunj has doubled now. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He says that the fare from South America to Kolkata port has increased to $400 per container. Ashok Kumar Temani, coordinator of Road Transport and Transit Committee of FNCCI Province 2, says that the shipping companies are increasing fares in an arbitrary manner.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Containers are hard to find during the pandemic and lockdown. Some shipping lines have created artificial shortages,” says Temani.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Just a month ago, the Nepali Consulate in Kolkata, India had publicly urged the importers not to do business with the two shipping companies that are harassing the importers. The Consulate had to issue a notice not to transport containers through River Edge Shipping Pvt. Ltd and Regal Container Line.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Consulate said that the contact person of the company had repeatedly demanded additional charges from the importers and increased the fine.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-16', 'modified' => '2021-06-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13285', 'image' => '20210616013701_20200503094122_1588282929.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-16 13:36:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13539', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Remittance Inflow Increases, Current Account Remains at a Deficit of Rs 247 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 15: The country has received Rs 809.89 billion in remittance in the first ten months of fiscal year (FY 2020/21), according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">June 15: The country has received Rs 809.89 billion in remittance in the first ten months of fiscal year (FY 2020/21), according to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Releasing the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of the country based on ten month’s data on Monday, the central bank stated that the inflow of remittance increased 19.2 per cent in the review period against a decrease of 6.3 per cent in the same period of the previous year.<br /> According to the NRB, the number of Nepali workers taking approval for foreign employment decreased 60.3 per cent in the review period. It had decreased 2.7 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.<br /> The NRB report stated that the current account remained at a deficit of Rs 247.08 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of Rs 96.18 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. <br /> In the US Dollar terms, the current account registered a deficit of 2.11 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of 855.9 million in the same period of the previous year. <br /> Likewise, the Balance of Payments (BOP) registered a surplus of Rs 7.75 billion in the review period as compared to a surplus of Rs 120.90 billion in the same period of the previous year. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">During the ten months of 2020/21, merchandise exports increased 32.2 percent to Rs108.48 billion compared to an increase of 4.5 percent in the same period of the previous year. Destination-wise, exports to India and other countries increased 35.8 percent and 25.3 percent respectively whereas exports to China decreased 18.4 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Exports of soybean oil, cardamom, jute goods, polyester yarn and threads, woolen carpet, among others, increased whereas exports of palm oil, pulses, zinc sheet, wire, cattle-feed, among others, decreased in the review period.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">During the ten months of 2020/21, merchandise imports increased 22.3 percent to Rs.1254.11 billion against a decrease of 13.0 percent a year ago. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Destination-wise, imports from India, China and other countries increased 29.8 percent, 17.2 percent and 6.2 percent respectively. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Imports of transport equipment and parts, crude soybean oil, MS billet, rice, telecommunication equipment and parts, among others, increased whereas imports of aircraft spareparts, crude palm oil, petroleum products, video television and parts, silver, among others, decreased in the review period.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Total trade deficit increased 21.5 percent to Rs.1145.63 billion during the ten months of 2020/21. Such a deficit had decreased 14.2 percent in the same period of the previous year. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The export-import ratio increased to 8.6 percent in the review period from 8.0 percent in the same period of the previous year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The year-on-year consumer price inflation stood at 3.65 percent in the tenth month of 2020/21 compared to 5.83 percent a year ago. Food and beverage inflation stood at 4.72 percent whereas non-food and service inflation stood at 2.81 percent in the review month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The price of ghee and oil; meat and fish; non-alcoholic drinks and tobacco products sub-groups rose 28.20 percent, 17.12 percent, 9.85 percent and 9.84 percent respectively on y-o-y basis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-15', 'modified' => '2021-06-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13284', 'image' => '20210615042156_20210420034241_20201106055408_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-15 16:21:02', '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
