May 17: The Ministry of Finance has allocated Rs 4.31 billion to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.…
May 17: The Ministry of Finance has allocated Rs 4.31 billion to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.…
May 16: Amidst coronavirus pandemic, there has been a rise in prices of all sorts of food…
May 16: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided not to slap any penalty to the promoters of old hydropower projects with capacity of less than 10 MW for reduced electricity…
May 16: Birgunj Customs Office has failed to meet the revenue collection target in the month of Baisakh (mid-April to mid-May) due to the impact of COVID-19 on foreign trade.…
May 16: The Nepalese Army (NA) has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) for tunnel construction of two packages of Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track.…
May 16: The China-aided 18,000 empty oxygen cylinders have arrived at Tatopani checkpoint in Sindhupalchowk district on Sunday, May 16.…
Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)—the national flag carrier—is bringing oxygen cylinders from Beijing, the capital of China, and Muscat, the capital of Oman. …
Social Security Fund (SSF) is providing treatment cost for Covid-19 to its…
Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel has said that the government is preparing to introduce a budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2021/22 that focuses on combating the…
Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to implement its previous decision on recovering outstanding dues from industries for using electricity from dedicated feeders and trunkline…
Nepal Bankers' Association (NBA) has said that commercial banks will now provide only five services to their…
After three days of losing vote of cofidence in the House of Representatives, CPN (UML) Chairman KP Sharma Oli has been appointed as the Prime Minister of the country…
May 13: Amnesty International has drawn the attention of governments across South Asia to immediately address healthcare shortages and urgently strengthen their healthcare systems to respond to the rapid surge of COVID-19 cases in the…
May 13: Nepal Investment Bank Limited (NIBL) and Himalayan Bank Limited (HBL) have announced their…
May 13: The government is preparing to fully implement a one-door system to promote transparency and automation of foreign trade.…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 17: The Ministry of Finance has allocated Rs 4.31 billion to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the ministry, the fund will be utilized to improve the heath care system of the hospitals across the country. The fund will also be used to purchase medicines and medical supplies, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday (May 16). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the ministry has allocated over Rs 2.95 billion for 26 central hospitals and nine provincial hospitals for managing oxygen plants, ventilators among other necessary medical supplies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Similarly, Rs 1.36 billion will be provided to 25 hospitals to establish High Dependency Unit (HDU). </span></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/My%20Effect%284%29.jpg" style="height:241px; width:800px" /></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-17', 'modified' => '2021-05-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13148', 'image' => '20210517105547_20191107095500_aaaadfg.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-17 10:55:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13401', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Food Prices Rise during Pandemic', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: Amidst coronavirus pandemic, there has been a rise in prices of all sorts of food products.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">May 16: Amidst coronavirus pandemic, there has been a rise in prices of all sorts of food products. Taking advantage of the prolonged restrictions and political instability, industrialists, businessmen and middlemen have increased the prices of food items like rice, oil, sugar, lentil, eggs, legumes etc arbitrarily.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Consumers are facing financial crisis due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, many businessmen have been continuously increasing the prices of daily essentials under various pretexts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">According to the information provided by the Retail Trade Association, the price of lentils, which was Rs 110 per kg before the prohibitory orders were imposed, has now reached Rs 122 per kg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The price of black lentil has increased by Rs 10 per kg from Rs 165 to Rs 175. The price of gram which was Rs 110 per kg has gone up by Rs 25 to Rs 135 per kg. Similarly, according to the association, the price of each brand of rice has increased by Rs 50 to Rs 100 per sack. Although there is no specific reason for the increase in prices of these food items at this time, some traders and middlemen may have increased the price on the pretext of political instability and restriction, says Pavitramaan Bajracharya, the outgoing president of the association. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">According to him, black market has flourished in food trade. “Neither the government nor the regulatory body has a say in the matter,” he told New Business Age. He also said that the problem of wholesalers not paying the right price to the retailers have also surfaced.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">On Saturday, he got a bill of only Rs 77 for the sugar he bought from a wholesaler at Rs 89 per kg. “I have received a bill of Rs 12 less than the purchased price. At present, the retail price of sugar in the market is Rs 90 per kg. How can I sell that sugar in such a situation?” he complained.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Prakash Poudel, the director general of the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection, said that a joint team comprising of officials from the Department and the Inland Revenue Department should be formed to resolve the problems of retailers not getting the right bill.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">He said that the local bodies and District Administration Offices should play a role to prevent unnecessary price hike in their areas as the Department alone cannot check irregularities everywhere. He said that the Department has been monitoring the situation by forming two teams everyday between 7 am to 9 am. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Not only have the prices of lentils, legumes and rice been increased, businessmen have also increased the prices of egg and edible oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Chicken eggs, which were being sold at Rs 350 per crate before the restriction, are now being sold at Rs 400. It is said that the price has gone up as the consumption of eggs has increased in the market. Similarly, the price of edible oil has gone up unnaturally in the last one and a half years. The price of soybean oil, which was Rs 145 per liter earlier, has now increased by Rs 120 per liter to Rs 265 per liter. The price of sunflower oil has also increased by Rs 100 to Rs 400 per liter. According to the Nepal Rice, Oil and Pulses Industry Association, the price of oil, rice and pulses has also gone up in Nepal after the prices of raw materials including mustard, paddy and soybean skyrocketed in the international market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">At present, the main reason for the rise in food prices is the rise in prices in the international market, said Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of the Association. He said there was no intention to encourage black marketing or hurt consumers during the pandemic.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13147', 'image' => '20210516030639_20201210010458_1607557332.Clipboard07.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 15:05:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13402', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA not to Slap Penalty on Hydropower Projects for Reduced Electricity Output', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided not to slap any penalty to the promoters of old hydropower projects with capacity of less than 10 MW for reduced electricity production.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">May 16: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided not to slap any penalty to the promoters of old hydropower projects with capacity of less than 10 MW for reduced electricity production. The NEA took such decision after various rounds of discussions with the Electricity Regulatory Commission.<br /> Promoters hydropower projects with capacity of less than 10 MW that came into operation before March 22 will not be penalized if the reduction in flow of water results in production of less electricity than the prescribed amount. Rameshwar Poudel, an ex-officio member of the NEA Board of Directors, said that the decision was taken in line with a directive issued by the commission.<br /> The Electricity Regulatory Commission had instructed NEA to make such arrangement around two months ago. NEA had been urging the commission to reconsider the decision, saying such an arrangement would affect its financial system and other aspects. However, after discussions at various stages, NEA has decided to provide such facility to the specified projects as per the decision and instructions of the commission.<br /> "We had requested the commission to reconsider the directive as it would affect the financial condition of the authority," Poudel said, adding, “The decision, which is beneficial for both the promoters and the NEA was taken after discussions with the commission at various stages.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Similarly, the commission has decided not to impose any penalty if NEA fails to construct transmission line on time due to special circumstances.<br /> According to Poudel, the commission has clarified that no fine has to be paid if the transmission line cannot be built due to special circumstances. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">As per the directive of the commission, NEA has made an arrangement that no penalty will be levied if the power generation of the projects is less than the commitment made only if it is due to hydrology. If the power generation is less than the prescribed amount due to other reasons, a penalty of 10 percent will have to be paid for insufficient electricity production.<br /> Earlier, the projects had to pay the prescribed amount of penalty to the power buyer (Nepal Electricity Authority) even if the power generation was reduced due to hydrology. But, now they won't have to pay such a penalty.<br /> Even when the power generation was low due to natural calamities, the projects had to pay the penalty. The promoters have been urging the commission to come up with the necessary policy in this regard. Regarding such concerns, the commission had decided not to penalize old projects.<br /> From now on, the concerned projects will have to submit the details of their production capacity on a weekly basis to NEA. In addition, details of how much electricity is generated every month will have to be submitted to NEA.<br /> Although NEA has signed power purchase agreement (PPA) with NEA the promoter companies according to the full capacity of the projects, power generation is not always optimal due to hydrology.<br /> Earlier, the minimum commitment was to generate 60 percent electricity in winter and 90 percent in the rainy season. However, such a limit has now been removed. Provision has been made for the project to generate electricity as estimated and if it is not produced, the penalty will be levied accordingly. In addition, as per the decision of the commission, if the projects generate more electricity than expected, they will receive an additional amount from NEA.<br /> Earlier, if excess electricity was generated than previously committed, the project would not get anything more that mentioned in the agreement. But now they will get the additional amount from NEA at the rate of 50 percent of the surplus electricity. This provision will not be applicable in case is electricity is generated more than the capacity mentioned in the PPA. In order to implement these provisions, the previous PPA between the projects and the NEA need to be amended.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13146', 'image' => '20210516034621_1620516710.Clipboard13.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 15:44:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13400', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Birgunj Customs Fails to Meet Revenue Collection Target as Prohibitory Orders Hit Foreign Trade ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: Birgunj Customs Office has failed to meet the revenue collection target in the month of Baisakh (mid-April to mid-May) due to the impact of COVID-19 on foreign trade. ', 'content' => '<p><em>Birgunj border entry point in this file photo.</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">May 16: Birgunj Customs Office has failed to meet the revenue collection target in the month of Baisakh (mid-April to mid-May) due to the impact of COVID-19 on foreign trade. The largest customs point of the country has fallen short of revenue collection target by 14 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The revenue target for the review month was Rs 19.44 billion, but the Birgunj Customs Office was able to collect only Rs 16.84 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">Birgunj Customs Office has said that the prohibitory orders imposed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the country’s foreign trade. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">"In the month of Baisakh (mid April to mid May), import of petroleum products, new vehicles and other luxury items declined. The impact is directly reflected in the revenue," said Harihar Poudel, chief of Birgunj Customs Office. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The local administration had imposed prohibitory order in Birgunj from April 29 as part of measures to contain the outbreak of the second wave of coronavirus. Vehicles have remained off the road due to the ban. Though the government has said that there will not be any restriction on imports, it's not the case at the customs point. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Customs Office said that the import of petroleum products has declined due to the restrictions on public transportation. Likewise, new vehicles have also not received clearance from the customs office. “As the import of these two major items has declined, the revenue collection has also gone down," said Poudel.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">Similarly, imports of raw materials, construction materials and equipment have also fallen. Since many development projects have been stalled, the import of construction materials has also dwindled. However, food items, medicines, raw materials and other essential items are being imported without any obstructions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">Although the ban did not have much effect on imports and exports in the first few days, the foreign trade started to decline after other districts enforced prohibitory orders. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The prohibitory order is in the third week in Kathmandu Valley along with other cities which are considered to be the major hubs for production, manufacturing and supplies. With the extension of prohibitory order, its impact is being directly felt in the supply chain. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13145', 'image' => '20210516024759_20210118020708_1610926784.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 14:45:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13399', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' MoUs Signed for Construction of Tunnels under Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: The Nepalese Army (NA) has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) for tunnel construction of two packages of Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 16: The Nepalese Army (NA) has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) for tunnel construction of two packages of Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the NA signed contracts with China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited for package 1 and Poly Chyangda Engineering Company Limited for package 2 of the tunnel. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">NA spokesperson Brigadier General Santosh Ballav Poudel shared that the first package is worth Rs 21 billion 610 million while the budget of the second package is Rs 28 billion 530 million. There will be one tunnel in the first package and two short tunnels in the second package, RSS further reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The MoU to this effect was signed by project chief of the Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track and Brigadier General Bikas Pokahrel on behalf of the project and Executive Director Xu Yan for package 1 and Project Manager Xhu Taniagyu Barbara for package 2. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Spokesperson Poudel said the MoUs were signed in line with the Public Procurement Act 2063 and Regulation 2064 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As per the MoU, the contractor was provided six months for design and three years for the construction. Out of the 11 clusters developed by the NA to complete the project within the stipulated time, MoUs have been signed to construct nine clusters, RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">However, the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives (HOR) had directed to scrap the project noting that the contract was against the preamble of Public Procurement Act. Following the committee’s directive, the NA had requested through the line ministry to reconsider its decision claiming that all works were being undertaken in a transparent manner. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">So far, the overall progress is reported to be 11.11 percent and the NA has set a target to reach 16.21 percent by the end of current fiscal year. The 72.5-km expressway with four lanes has the breadth of 25-meter in mountainous area and 27-meter in Terai area. The national pride project will also have a total 87 bridges. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13144', 'image' => '20210516122418_20170616052456_fast track nov 21.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 12:23:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13398', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' 18,000 Oxygen Cylinders Arrive at Tatopani Checkpoint ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: The China-aided 18,000 empty oxygen cylinders have arrived at Tatopani checkpoint in Sindhupalchowk district on Sunday, May 16. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 16: The China-aided 18,000 empty oxygen cylinders have arrived at Tatopani checkpoint in Sindhupalchowk district on Sunday, May 16. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to Ganesh Pandey, press coordinator to Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinator of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre Ishwor Pokharel, those cylinders will be brought in Kathmandu once the Chinese government hands them over to Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As Nepal has been under the grip of second wave of Covid-19, there has been high demand for oxygen cylinders to treat the infected people. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Earlier, 400 oxygen cylinders were flown to Nepal from China. Preparations are afoot to bring 1,600 remaining cylinders, out of 20,000, provided by China in grant assistance, informed Pandey. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Nepal Airlines Corporation’s wide-body aircraft, which had flown to China on Saturday, is bringing home 550 oxygen cylinders from China today itself. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13143', 'image' => '20210516121523_20210429095930_Medical-Oxygen-Gas-Cylinders-Market.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 12:14:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13397', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Nepal Airlines bringing oxygen cylinders from China, Oman', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)—the national flag carrier—is bringing oxygen cylinders from Beijing, the capital of China, and Muscat, the capital of Oman. ', 'content' => '<p>May 15: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)—the national flag carrier—is bringing oxygen cylinders from Beijing, the capital of China, and Muscat, the capital of Oman. <br /> The NAC A-330 wide body left for Muscat this morning to pick up 600 oxygen gas cylinders to be received from Oman in assistance. The Non Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) and the Nepali Embassy in Oman had facilitated the assistance. The NAC aircraft will be returning from Muscat this evening. <br /> Similarly, the NAC wide body is scheduled to leave for Beijing at 11:00 pm today to bring medical assistance which also includes oxygen cylinders provided by the Government of China. Besides, preparation is on to bring eight oxygen concentrators from China. The government plans to send the NAC wide body to China on May 15, 16 and 17 to bring 550 oxygen cylinders per each flight amidst the raging Covid-19 crisis. <br /> -<strong><em>-RSS </em></strong><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-15', 'modified' => '2021-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13142', 'image' => '20210515051633_NAC Widebody.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-15 17:15:04', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => true, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13396', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Social Security Fund providing Covid-19 treatment cost to its contributors ', 'sub_title' => ' SSF bearing up to Rs 80,000 out of total treatment expenses of Rs 100,000 ', 'summary' => 'Social Security Fund (SSF) is providing treatment cost for Covid-19 to its contributors.', 'content' => '<p>May 15: Social Security Fund (SSF) is providing treatment cost for Covid-19 to its contributors. According to the SSF, it will bear treatment cost to its contributors if they are infected with coronavirus. </p> <p>Kapilmani Gyawali, Executive Director of the SSF, said that the Fund will provide treatment cost to its contributors for Covid-19 under its medical treatment, health and maternity protection scheme. However, the limit for the compensation will be Rs 80,000 out of total treatment cost of Rs 100,000, according to SSF’s executive director Gyawali. He said that the contributor should bear 20 percent of the total treatment expenses.</p> <p>"With the onset of the second wave of the pandemic, some contributors who were infected with coronavirus have already started claiming the compensation. We will gradually settle the claims", said Gyawali. </p> <p>Though the facility of direct discount of 80 percent of the total treatment cost up to the limit of Rs 100,000 is yet to be implemented, contributors should come to SSF to claim the compensation, according to Gyawali. He also said that the SSF is preparing to implement the facility of direct discount from the hospital from mid July. It has already signed agreement with 105 hospitals to provide such facility for the SSF contributors. </p> <p>The SSF has not halted the settlement of claims even during the pandemic, he said. According to the SSF, it has provided Rs 32 million in compensation to 1,567 contributors for 2,524 claims under its medical treatment, health and maternity protection scheme. </p> <p>Meanwhile, there has not been any decline in the number of employers and contributors signing up for the SSF even during Covid-19. According to the SSF’s data, 13,845 employers have registered with the SSF as of Wednesday to list a total of 202,353 employees in the Fund.</p> <p>The contributory-based SSF was launched in November 2018 to bring private and non-governmental sector workers under the social security net. Under the SSF scheme which has been made compulsory for private sector, 31 percent of a listed contributor’s basic salary—11 percent of employees’s salary along with 20 percent contribution from the employer—is deposited in the SSF every month. Such contributors are entitled to get benefits from medical treatment, health protection and maternity plan, accidents and disability plan, dependent family plan and old-age security plan of the SSF. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-15', 'modified' => '2021-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13141', 'image' => '20210515024244_Social Security Fund.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-15 14:40:08', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13395', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Budget will focus on combating Covid-19, says Finance Minister Paudel ', 'sub_title' => 'Finance Minister Paudel approves Rs 58.32 million to three hospitals for the installment of oxygen plant and pipeline as the first decision after reappointment to the post ', 'summary' => 'Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel has said that the government is preparing to introduce a budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2021/22 that focuses on combating the Covid-19. ', 'content' => '<p>May 15: Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel has said that the government is preparing to introduce a budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2021/22 that focuses on combating the Covid-19. </p> <p>Assuming the office on Friday after getting reappointed as Finance Minister, he said that the government would mobilize all available resources to address the crisis caused by the pandemic. <br /> He said that the preparation of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year has reached the final stage. </p> <p>The budget would address the current health crisis as well as revive the economy hit by the pandemic, Finance Minister Paudel said. He also expressed his commitment to ensure resources to ramp up Covid-19 tests and provide treatment to all patients. </p> <p>Finance Minister Paudel will table the budget in the federal parliament on May 29 as per a provision in the constitution. </p> <p>Meanwhile, Finance Minister Paudel approved a decision to release Rs 58.32 million to Dadeldhura Hospital, Patan Academy of Health Sciences and Bheri Hospital for the installment of oxygen plant and pipeline, according to a statement issued by the MoF. </p> <p>Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, after getting reappointed on Thursday as the leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives, had expanded his cabinet on Friday after taking oath of office from President Bidya Devi Bhandari. He had reappointed 22 ministers and three state ministers including Paudel and assigned them the same portfolio that they had held in the previous cabinet. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-15', 'modified' => '2021-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13140', 'image' => '20210515114522_Bishnu Paudel.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-15 11:40:06', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13393', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA to follow its previous decision to collect dues of dedicated feeder, trunk line from industries', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to implement its previous decision on recovering outstanding dues from industries for using electricity from dedicated feeders and trunkline lines,', 'content' => '<p>May 14: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to implement its previous decision on recovering outstanding dues from industries for using electricity through dedicated feeders and trunk lines, ignoring an instruction issued by the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC). <br /> A meeting of NEA's board of directors held recently decided to collect the outstanding dues as per its earlier decision.</p> <p>In the month of February, NEA had decided to collect electricity dues from the industrialists by mid-July. It had warned industrialists of slapping a penalty if they fail to settle it by mid July.</p> <p>However, on April 4, PAC directed the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) through the Ministry of Energy to collect the outstanding electricity dues from the industrialists within a month.</p> <p>Ignoring the PAC directive, NEA now wants to collect the tariffs as per its earlier decision, citing the impact of pandemic on businesses and industries. NEA has also sent a letter to the PAC seeking another favorable instruction from the parliamentary committee considering the adverse impacts of current pandemic and subsequent prohibitory orders imposed by local administrations. </p> <p>Rameshwor Poudel, an ex-officio member in the NEA board, said that the board meeting decided to implement its previous decision related to the settlement of outstanding dues from industrialists for using electricity from trunkline and dedicated feeders due to the pandemic. </p> <p>"The PAC had asked to collect the dues within a month. We had to comply with the parliamentary committee’s instruction. But, recent prohibitory orders imposed to control the second wave of coronavirus have hit industries,” said Poudel. “In such a case, the implementation of the PAC directive was going to become difficult. So, we were compelled to act according to the previous decision made by the board," he said. </p> <p>Poudel said NEA will act in a way that will not further affect the industries which have already been hit hard by the pandemic. “But, if the PAC again issues us a directive to collect the dues within a month (mid June), we will act accordingly,” he added. </p> <p><br /> There is a long dispute between industrialists and the NEA over the settlement of dues for using electricity from dedicated feeders and trunk lines. </p> <p>Earlier on July 21, the PAC had formed a sub-committee led by lawmaker Minendra Rijal to look into the issue of dedicated electricity tariff. Based on the report, the PAC, on April 4, instructed the government to collect all dues within a month. There was a total of Rs 10.14 billion outstanding dues that industrialists owe to the NEA. <br /> NEA had supplied electricity to industries through dedicated feeder and trunk lines by charging a premium of 65 percent in the electricity tariffs. The NEA, which did not have authority to fix tariff, had got approval of its tariff rates from the then Electricity Tariff Fixation Commission in February 2016. <br /> Industrialists are at odds with the NEA over the tariffs that NEA has fixed prior to the approval from the Commission. </p> <p>Some industrialists even claim that the NEA has billed them for the electricity that their industries did not use during the load shedding.<br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-14', 'modified' => '2021-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13138', 'image' => '20210514031053_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-14 15:08:27', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13392', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banks limit their operation to five essential services during prohibitory period ', 'sub_title' => ' Urging people to use digital banking, banks limit their services to cash withdrawal, deposit of cash, fund transfer (cheque/ IPS/ RTGS), remittance payment and international trade ', 'summary' => 'Nepal Bankers' Association (NBA) has said that commercial banks will now provide only five services to their clients. ', 'content' => '<p>May 14: Nepal Bankers' Association (NBA) has said that commercial banks will now provide only five services to their clients. </p> <p>Issuing a statement on Thursday, NBA—the umbrella organization of commercial banks—said that its members will offer only five essential banking services to the public during the prohibitory period. </p> <p>The decision to limit services to the public through their offices or branches is aimed at avoiding crowd in banks and curbing risks of coronavirus infection, according to the statement. </p> <p>Bank services will now be limited to cash withdrawal, deposit of cash, fund transfer (cheque/ IPS/ RTGS), remittance payment and international trade. Banks have also set a minimum limit for the cash deposit. Only cash above Rs 50,000 will be deposited in bank branches, according to the NBA.</p> <p>However, the NBA also said that clients can make phone call to their respective branch if they urgently need any other services. </p> <p>Urging people to embrace digital banking services in line with the government’s request to stay at home during the prohibitory period, NBA also said that they can make phone call or email to their respective banks if they face any problem or require any assistance for online or mobile banking transactions. </p> <p>All ATMs and call centers will remain open as usual, according to the NBA. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-14', 'modified' => '2021-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13137', 'image' => '20210514124201_NBA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-14 12:37:52', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13389', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'KP Sharma Oli reappointed as Nepal’s PM after three days of losing vote of confidence in parliament ', 'sub_title' => ' President Bhandari scheduled to administer oath of office to PM Oli on Friday ', 'summary' => 'After three days of losing vote of cofidence in the House of Representatives, CPN (UML) Chairman KP Sharma Oli has been appointed as the Prime Minister of the country again. ', 'content' => '<p>May 13: After three days of losing vote of confidence in the House of Representatives, CPN (UML) Chairman KP Sharma Oli has been appointed as the Prime Minister of the country again. <br /> President Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed Oli as the Prime Minister as per the Article 76 (3) of the constitution after nobody laid a claim to the post to form the majority government, according to a notice issued by the Office of the President. </p> <p>Though the President Bhandari had given political parties until Thursday (9 PM) to form the majority government as per the the Article 76 (2) of the constitution, there was no claim for the post of Prime Minister. </p> <p>Oli became the new Prime Minister based on the Article 76 (3) which allows the President the authority to appoint the leader of the party with the highest number of members in the House of Representatives as the Prime Minister if the majority government could not be formed. </p> <p>This is Oli’s third stint as the Prime Minister. President Bhandari is scheduled to administer oath of office to Prime Minister Oli tommorrow, according to a source at the Office of President. The Prime Minister will now have to receive the vote of confidence of the House of Representatives within 30 days.</p> <p>Earlier on Monday, President Bhandari had called any member of the House to claim majority in the parliament with the support of two or more than two parties by Thursday to get appointed as the new Prime Minister of the country. </p> <p>Though the Nepali Congress, the main opposition party, initially showed its interest to form the majority government, it abandoned the plan on Thursday after concluding that it would fail to garner enough votes from other political parties. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-13', 'modified' => '2021-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13134', 'image' => '20210513114158_20200307030714_Clipboard04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-13 23:39:11', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13388', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'AI Calls for Urgent Action in South Asia to Combat Deadly COVID-19 Surge ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 13: Amnesty International has drawn the attention of governments across South Asia to immediately address healthcare shortages and urgently strengthen their healthcare systems to respond to the rapid surge of COVID-19 cases in the region.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">May 13: Amnesty International has drawn the attention of governments across South Asia to immediately address healthcare shortages and urgently strengthen their healthcare systems to respond to the rapid surge of COVID-19 cases in the region.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">With India and Nepal’s healthcare systems reaching breaking point, the human rights organization expressed its concern over the lack of preparedness of other countries in the region for the virus’s latest and most deadly wave. Extremely low vaccination rates across South Asia have also left the region highly vulnerable, with pressing action needed at the global level to ensure more equitable access to vaccines, AI said in a statement on Thursday (May 13).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">“The human catastrophe that is unfolding in India and Nepal should be a warning to other countries in the region to invest heavily in surge capacity for an emergency response. The virus is spreading and transcending borders at a frightening speed and will continue to hit the region’s most marginalized populations hardest of all,” said Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s Asia- Pacific Director.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">“We are at a critical point. Fewer than one in ten of the region’s population has been vaccinated. The decisions taken by governments in South Asia and across the world in the coming days and weeks will be crucial in mitigating the human cost of this latest surge.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">South Asia, home to a quarter of the world’s population, is fast becoming the new global epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, AI further said. On May 6, India reported more than 400,000 new cases in one day, taking its total tally of confirmed cases to 21.5 million, though this is likely to be a significant underestimate. As the disease ravages India, several south Asian nations are also facing a resurgence of cases.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Nepal, which shares a porous border with India, has already started to experience a massive spike in infections. According to WHO figures, daily cases increased 30-fold from 303 to 9,317, or an increase of 2,975 percent, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">between April 12 and May 12</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">. On Tuesday, Nepal recorded another 9,317 cases, bringing its total to 413,111, the statement added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">With India stopping exports of oxygen, Nepal is struggling to find alternative supplies. To make matters worse, Nepal is also in the midst of political upheaval, with its Prime Minister having lost a vote of confidence and parties failing to form a government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">“We have seen how shortages of oxygen, hospital beds, human resources and essential medicines pushed the already under-resourced healthcare response of India over the edge. Now a similar worrying trend is emerging in Nepal,” said Yamini Mishra.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">“This is not the time for Nepal’s politicians to indulge in political wrangling and infighting. What the country needs right now is unity and leadership to address the growing crisis.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Amnesty International also called on the international community to show solidarity and fulfil its human rights obligations to provide cooperation and assistance, by providing lifesaving medical tools and removing legal uncertainties and barriers that may impede the production and supply of vaccines as the disease continues to ravage the region.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-13', 'modified' => '2021-05-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13133', 'image' => '20210513054416_q6EertLN_400x400 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-13 17:43:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13387', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NIBL, Himalayan Bank Announce Merger with a Prospect of Forming the Biggest Commercial Bank ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 13: Nepal Investment Bank Limited (NIBL) and Himalayan Bank Limited (HBL) have announced their merger.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">May 13: Nepal Investment Bank Limited (NIBL) and Himalayan Bank Limited (HBL) have announced their merger with the “intention” of strengthening the banking sector of Nepal in line with Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Merger and Acquisition Policy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Issuing a joint statement on Thursday, the two commercial banks said they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the merger. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the statement, Chairman of Nepal Investment Bank Prithvi Bahadur Pandé and the Chairman of Himalayan Bank Tulsi Prasad Gautam signed the MoU on Thursday, May 13. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">This development has officially paved the way to complete formalities before the process of the start of joint operations between the two commercial banks, added the statement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After the merger, the banks will be known with the name “Himalayan and Nepal Investment Bank Ltd”. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Prithvi Bahadur Pandé will retain the post of the bank’s chairman while Ashoke SJB Rana will be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Similarly, after the merger, the board members will be comprised of three members each from both the banks and also an independent member for a total of seven board members.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In the joint statement, the two banks claimed that the new entity after merger will be the biggest commercial bank in the history of the Nepalese banking industry. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">At present, the paid-up capital of Nepal Investment Bank stands at Rs 16.26 billion whereas Himalayan Bank’s paid-up capital amounts to Rs 10.68 billion. After the merger the combined paid-up capital of the banks will reach a staggering Rs 26.14 billion making it the bank with the highest paid-up capital in the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Similarly, combining the assets, loans and deposits of both banks will elevate the bank into unparalleled heights, added the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The joint statement further said that the bank will hope to retain the confidence of its stakeholders and shareholders through this major development and also continue to provide exemplary services to its clients post–merger.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-13', 'modified' => '2021-05-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13132', 'image' => '20210513053131_1620903534.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-13 17:30:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13386', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Prepares for Full Implementation of One-Door System in Foreign Trade', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 13: The government is preparing to fully implement a one-door system to promote transparency and automation of foreign trade. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">May 13: The government is preparing to fully implement a one-door system to promote transparency and automation of foreign trade. The Department of Customs has connected all the concerned bodies to Nepal National One-Door System to make import-export paperless.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Surya Sedhai, director of the One-Door System Project Implementation Unit, said that the government will facilitate foreign trade by linking 40 bodies and concerned parties with each other.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The system was inaugurated on January 25 on the occasion of the International Customs Day. Sedhai informed that they have intensified the work of linking all the concerned bodies in this system.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Initially, the Food and Quality Control Department, Department of Livestock Services, Plant Quarantine and Pesticide Management Center were included in the system. Lately, a memorandum of understanding has been signed with Nepal Rastra Bank and private sector organizations to bring them under a one-door system.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The government has also reached an agreement with the </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries, Nepal Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Nepal Handicrafts to integrate them into the system. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">“These organizations issue certificates of origin in the export process. It has been agreed to provide such certificate through online medium,” Sedhai informed New Business Age.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">A one-door system has been introduced to connect all service providers and service seekers related to import and export through online medium. The process of developing infrastructure work was started from 2019. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The full implementation of this system was scheduled for 2021/22 but it has been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.</span></span> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The trial of this system was scheduled for last November which had to be put off due to the pandemic. The full implementation of the system has now been slated for upcoming November.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">According to the department, import and export permits, banking process, revenue payment, customs clearance among others will be completed via online platform in this system. Since all the required processes will be done online by importers as well as the government and private bodies, it is expected to foster transparency, says Shyam Prasad Bhandari, coordinator of the project implementation unit.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The department says it is focused on trade facilitation, increasing efficiency in revenue collection and making social security effective through the one-door system. The one-door customs clearance is an electronic platform designed to facilitate all stakeholders. This allows all parties involved in international trade and transit to submit documents and information from a single entry point.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Customs officials claim that there will be no direct contact between the service provider and the service seekers once the system becomes fully operational. This will save time and cost of trade. Likewise, the hassle of going to various agencies to get documents for import and export will also come to an end.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-13', 'modified' => '2021-05-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13131', 'image' => '20210513050933_20200421011816_1587419377.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-13 17:08:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13403', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Ministry Allocates Rs 4.31 Billion to Contain Covid-19 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 17: The Ministry of Finance has allocated Rs 4.31 billion to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 17: The Ministry of Finance has allocated Rs 4.31 billion to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the ministry, the fund will be utilized to improve the heath care system of the hospitals across the country. The fund will also be used to purchase medicines and medical supplies, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday (May 16). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the ministry has allocated over Rs 2.95 billion for 26 central hospitals and nine provincial hospitals for managing oxygen plants, ventilators among other necessary medical supplies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Similarly, Rs 1.36 billion will be provided to 25 hospitals to establish High Dependency Unit (HDU). </span></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/My%20Effect%284%29.jpg" style="height:241px; width:800px" /></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-17', 'modified' => '2021-05-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13148', 'image' => '20210517105547_20191107095500_aaaadfg.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-17 10:55:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13401', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Food Prices Rise during Pandemic', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: Amidst coronavirus pandemic, there has been a rise in prices of all sorts of food products.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">May 16: Amidst coronavirus pandemic, there has been a rise in prices of all sorts of food products. Taking advantage of the prolonged restrictions and political instability, industrialists, businessmen and middlemen have increased the prices of food items like rice, oil, sugar, lentil, eggs, legumes etc arbitrarily.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Consumers are facing financial crisis due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, many businessmen have been continuously increasing the prices of daily essentials under various pretexts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">According to the information provided by the Retail Trade Association, the price of lentils, which was Rs 110 per kg before the prohibitory orders were imposed, has now reached Rs 122 per kg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The price of black lentil has increased by Rs 10 per kg from Rs 165 to Rs 175. The price of gram which was Rs 110 per kg has gone up by Rs 25 to Rs 135 per kg. Similarly, according to the association, the price of each brand of rice has increased by Rs 50 to Rs 100 per sack. Although there is no specific reason for the increase in prices of these food items at this time, some traders and middlemen may have increased the price on the pretext of political instability and restriction, says Pavitramaan Bajracharya, the outgoing president of the association. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">According to him, black market has flourished in food trade. “Neither the government nor the regulatory body has a say in the matter,” he told New Business Age. He also said that the problem of wholesalers not paying the right price to the retailers have also surfaced.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">On Saturday, he got a bill of only Rs 77 for the sugar he bought from a wholesaler at Rs 89 per kg. “I have received a bill of Rs 12 less than the purchased price. At present, the retail price of sugar in the market is Rs 90 per kg. How can I sell that sugar in such a situation?” he complained.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Prakash Poudel, the director general of the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection, said that a joint team comprising of officials from the Department and the Inland Revenue Department should be formed to resolve the problems of retailers not getting the right bill.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">He said that the local bodies and District Administration Offices should play a role to prevent unnecessary price hike in their areas as the Department alone cannot check irregularities everywhere. He said that the Department has been monitoring the situation by forming two teams everyday between 7 am to 9 am. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Not only have the prices of lentils, legumes and rice been increased, businessmen have also increased the prices of egg and edible oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Chicken eggs, which were being sold at Rs 350 per crate before the restriction, are now being sold at Rs 400. It is said that the price has gone up as the consumption of eggs has increased in the market. Similarly, the price of edible oil has gone up unnaturally in the last one and a half years. The price of soybean oil, which was Rs 145 per liter earlier, has now increased by Rs 120 per liter to Rs 265 per liter. The price of sunflower oil has also increased by Rs 100 to Rs 400 per liter. According to the Nepal Rice, Oil and Pulses Industry Association, the price of oil, rice and pulses has also gone up in Nepal after the prices of raw materials including mustard, paddy and soybean skyrocketed in the international market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">At present, the main reason for the rise in food prices is the rise in prices in the international market, said Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of the Association. He said there was no intention to encourage black marketing or hurt consumers during the pandemic.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13147', 'image' => '20210516030639_20201210010458_1607557332.Clipboard07.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 15:05:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13402', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA not to Slap Penalty on Hydropower Projects for Reduced Electricity Output', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided not to slap any penalty to the promoters of old hydropower projects with capacity of less than 10 MW for reduced electricity production.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">May 16: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided not to slap any penalty to the promoters of old hydropower projects with capacity of less than 10 MW for reduced electricity production. The NEA took such decision after various rounds of discussions with the Electricity Regulatory Commission.<br /> Promoters hydropower projects with capacity of less than 10 MW that came into operation before March 22 will not be penalized if the reduction in flow of water results in production of less electricity than the prescribed amount. Rameshwar Poudel, an ex-officio member of the NEA Board of Directors, said that the decision was taken in line with a directive issued by the commission.<br /> The Electricity Regulatory Commission had instructed NEA to make such arrangement around two months ago. NEA had been urging the commission to reconsider the decision, saying such an arrangement would affect its financial system and other aspects. However, after discussions at various stages, NEA has decided to provide such facility to the specified projects as per the decision and instructions of the commission.<br /> "We had requested the commission to reconsider the directive as it would affect the financial condition of the authority," Poudel said, adding, “The decision, which is beneficial for both the promoters and the NEA was taken after discussions with the commission at various stages.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Similarly, the commission has decided not to impose any penalty if NEA fails to construct transmission line on time due to special circumstances.<br /> According to Poudel, the commission has clarified that no fine has to be paid if the transmission line cannot be built due to special circumstances. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">As per the directive of the commission, NEA has made an arrangement that no penalty will be levied if the power generation of the projects is less than the commitment made only if it is due to hydrology. If the power generation is less than the prescribed amount due to other reasons, a penalty of 10 percent will have to be paid for insufficient electricity production.<br /> Earlier, the projects had to pay the prescribed amount of penalty to the power buyer (Nepal Electricity Authority) even if the power generation was reduced due to hydrology. But, now they won't have to pay such a penalty.<br /> Even when the power generation was low due to natural calamities, the projects had to pay the penalty. The promoters have been urging the commission to come up with the necessary policy in this regard. Regarding such concerns, the commission had decided not to penalize old projects.<br /> From now on, the concerned projects will have to submit the details of their production capacity on a weekly basis to NEA. In addition, details of how much electricity is generated every month will have to be submitted to NEA.<br /> Although NEA has signed power purchase agreement (PPA) with NEA the promoter companies according to the full capacity of the projects, power generation is not always optimal due to hydrology.<br /> Earlier, the minimum commitment was to generate 60 percent electricity in winter and 90 percent in the rainy season. However, such a limit has now been removed. Provision has been made for the project to generate electricity as estimated and if it is not produced, the penalty will be levied accordingly. In addition, as per the decision of the commission, if the projects generate more electricity than expected, they will receive an additional amount from NEA.<br /> Earlier, if excess electricity was generated than previously committed, the project would not get anything more that mentioned in the agreement. But now they will get the additional amount from NEA at the rate of 50 percent of the surplus electricity. This provision will not be applicable in case is electricity is generated more than the capacity mentioned in the PPA. In order to implement these provisions, the previous PPA between the projects and the NEA need to be amended.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13146', 'image' => '20210516034621_1620516710.Clipboard13.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 15:44:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13400', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Birgunj Customs Fails to Meet Revenue Collection Target as Prohibitory Orders Hit Foreign Trade ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: Birgunj Customs Office has failed to meet the revenue collection target in the month of Baisakh (mid-April to mid-May) due to the impact of COVID-19 on foreign trade. ', 'content' => '<p><em>Birgunj border entry point in this file photo.</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">May 16: Birgunj Customs Office has failed to meet the revenue collection target in the month of Baisakh (mid-April to mid-May) due to the impact of COVID-19 on foreign trade. The largest customs point of the country has fallen short of revenue collection target by 14 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The revenue target for the review month was Rs 19.44 billion, but the Birgunj Customs Office was able to collect only Rs 16.84 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">Birgunj Customs Office has said that the prohibitory orders imposed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the country’s foreign trade. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">"In the month of Baisakh (mid April to mid May), import of petroleum products, new vehicles and other luxury items declined. The impact is directly reflected in the revenue," said Harihar Poudel, chief of Birgunj Customs Office. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The local administration had imposed prohibitory order in Birgunj from April 29 as part of measures to contain the outbreak of the second wave of coronavirus. Vehicles have remained off the road due to the ban. Though the government has said that there will not be any restriction on imports, it's not the case at the customs point. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Customs Office said that the import of petroleum products has declined due to the restrictions on public transportation. Likewise, new vehicles have also not received clearance from the customs office. “As the import of these two major items has declined, the revenue collection has also gone down," said Poudel.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">Similarly, imports of raw materials, construction materials and equipment have also fallen. Since many development projects have been stalled, the import of construction materials has also dwindled. However, food items, medicines, raw materials and other essential items are being imported without any obstructions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">Although the ban did not have much effect on imports and exports in the first few days, the foreign trade started to decline after other districts enforced prohibitory orders. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The prohibitory order is in the third week in Kathmandu Valley along with other cities which are considered to be the major hubs for production, manufacturing and supplies. With the extension of prohibitory order, its impact is being directly felt in the supply chain. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13145', 'image' => '20210516024759_20210118020708_1610926784.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 14:45:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13399', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' MoUs Signed for Construction of Tunnels under Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: The Nepalese Army (NA) has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) for tunnel construction of two packages of Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 16: The Nepalese Army (NA) has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) for tunnel construction of two packages of Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the NA signed contracts with China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited for package 1 and Poly Chyangda Engineering Company Limited for package 2 of the tunnel. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">NA spokesperson Brigadier General Santosh Ballav Poudel shared that the first package is worth Rs 21 billion 610 million while the budget of the second package is Rs 28 billion 530 million. There will be one tunnel in the first package and two short tunnels in the second package, RSS further reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The MoU to this effect was signed by project chief of the Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track and Brigadier General Bikas Pokahrel on behalf of the project and Executive Director Xu Yan for package 1 and Project Manager Xhu Taniagyu Barbara for package 2. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Spokesperson Poudel said the MoUs were signed in line with the Public Procurement Act 2063 and Regulation 2064 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As per the MoU, the contractor was provided six months for design and three years for the construction. Out of the 11 clusters developed by the NA to complete the project within the stipulated time, MoUs have been signed to construct nine clusters, RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">However, the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives (HOR) had directed to scrap the project noting that the contract was against the preamble of Public Procurement Act. Following the committee’s directive, the NA had requested through the line ministry to reconsider its decision claiming that all works were being undertaken in a transparent manner. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">So far, the overall progress is reported to be 11.11 percent and the NA has set a target to reach 16.21 percent by the end of current fiscal year. The 72.5-km expressway with four lanes has the breadth of 25-meter in mountainous area and 27-meter in Terai area. The national pride project will also have a total 87 bridges. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13144', 'image' => '20210516122418_20170616052456_fast track nov 21.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 12:23:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13398', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' 18,000 Oxygen Cylinders Arrive at Tatopani Checkpoint ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: The China-aided 18,000 empty oxygen cylinders have arrived at Tatopani checkpoint in Sindhupalchowk district on Sunday, May 16. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 16: The China-aided 18,000 empty oxygen cylinders have arrived at Tatopani checkpoint in Sindhupalchowk district on Sunday, May 16. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to Ganesh Pandey, press coordinator to Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinator of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre Ishwor Pokharel, those cylinders will be brought in Kathmandu once the Chinese government hands them over to Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As Nepal has been under the grip of second wave of Covid-19, there has been high demand for oxygen cylinders to treat the infected people. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Earlier, 400 oxygen cylinders were flown to Nepal from China. Preparations are afoot to bring 1,600 remaining cylinders, out of 20,000, provided by China in grant assistance, informed Pandey. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Nepal Airlines Corporation’s wide-body aircraft, which had flown to China on Saturday, is bringing home 550 oxygen cylinders from China today itself. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13143', 'image' => '20210516121523_20210429095930_Medical-Oxygen-Gas-Cylinders-Market.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 12:14:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13397', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Nepal Airlines bringing oxygen cylinders from China, Oman', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)—the national flag carrier—is bringing oxygen cylinders from Beijing, the capital of China, and Muscat, the capital of Oman. ', 'content' => '<p>May 15: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)—the national flag carrier—is bringing oxygen cylinders from Beijing, the capital of China, and Muscat, the capital of Oman. <br /> The NAC A-330 wide body left for Muscat this morning to pick up 600 oxygen gas cylinders to be received from Oman in assistance. The Non Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) and the Nepali Embassy in Oman had facilitated the assistance. The NAC aircraft will be returning from Muscat this evening. <br /> Similarly, the NAC wide body is scheduled to leave for Beijing at 11:00 pm today to bring medical assistance which also includes oxygen cylinders provided by the Government of China. Besides, preparation is on to bring eight oxygen concentrators from China. The government plans to send the NAC wide body to China on May 15, 16 and 17 to bring 550 oxygen cylinders per each flight amidst the raging Covid-19 crisis. <br /> -<strong><em>-RSS </em></strong><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-15', 'modified' => '2021-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13142', 'image' => '20210515051633_NAC Widebody.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-15 17:15:04', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => true, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13396', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Social Security Fund providing Covid-19 treatment cost to its contributors ', 'sub_title' => ' SSF bearing up to Rs 80,000 out of total treatment expenses of Rs 100,000 ', 'summary' => 'Social Security Fund (SSF) is providing treatment cost for Covid-19 to its contributors.', 'content' => '<p>May 15: Social Security Fund (SSF) is providing treatment cost for Covid-19 to its contributors. According to the SSF, it will bear treatment cost to its contributors if they are infected with coronavirus. </p> <p>Kapilmani Gyawali, Executive Director of the SSF, said that the Fund will provide treatment cost to its contributors for Covid-19 under its medical treatment, health and maternity protection scheme. However, the limit for the compensation will be Rs 80,000 out of total treatment cost of Rs 100,000, according to SSF’s executive director Gyawali. He said that the contributor should bear 20 percent of the total treatment expenses.</p> <p>"With the onset of the second wave of the pandemic, some contributors who were infected with coronavirus have already started claiming the compensation. We will gradually settle the claims", said Gyawali. </p> <p>Though the facility of direct discount of 80 percent of the total treatment cost up to the limit of Rs 100,000 is yet to be implemented, contributors should come to SSF to claim the compensation, according to Gyawali. He also said that the SSF is preparing to implement the facility of direct discount from the hospital from mid July. It has already signed agreement with 105 hospitals to provide such facility for the SSF contributors. </p> <p>The SSF has not halted the settlement of claims even during the pandemic, he said. According to the SSF, it has provided Rs 32 million in compensation to 1,567 contributors for 2,524 claims under its medical treatment, health and maternity protection scheme. </p> <p>Meanwhile, there has not been any decline in the number of employers and contributors signing up for the SSF even during Covid-19. According to the SSF’s data, 13,845 employers have registered with the SSF as of Wednesday to list a total of 202,353 employees in the Fund.</p> <p>The contributory-based SSF was launched in November 2018 to bring private and non-governmental sector workers under the social security net. Under the SSF scheme which has been made compulsory for private sector, 31 percent of a listed contributor’s basic salary—11 percent of employees’s salary along with 20 percent contribution from the employer—is deposited in the SSF every month. Such contributors are entitled to get benefits from medical treatment, health protection and maternity plan, accidents and disability plan, dependent family plan and old-age security plan of the SSF. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-15', 'modified' => '2021-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13141', 'image' => '20210515024244_Social Security Fund.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-15 14:40:08', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13395', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Budget will focus on combating Covid-19, says Finance Minister Paudel ', 'sub_title' => 'Finance Minister Paudel approves Rs 58.32 million to three hospitals for the installment of oxygen plant and pipeline as the first decision after reappointment to the post ', 'summary' => 'Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel has said that the government is preparing to introduce a budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2021/22 that focuses on combating the Covid-19. ', 'content' => '<p>May 15: Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel has said that the government is preparing to introduce a budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2021/22 that focuses on combating the Covid-19. </p> <p>Assuming the office on Friday after getting reappointed as Finance Minister, he said that the government would mobilize all available resources to address the crisis caused by the pandemic. <br /> He said that the preparation of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year has reached the final stage. </p> <p>The budget would address the current health crisis as well as revive the economy hit by the pandemic, Finance Minister Paudel said. He also expressed his commitment to ensure resources to ramp up Covid-19 tests and provide treatment to all patients. </p> <p>Finance Minister Paudel will table the budget in the federal parliament on May 29 as per a provision in the constitution. </p> <p>Meanwhile, Finance Minister Paudel approved a decision to release Rs 58.32 million to Dadeldhura Hospital, Patan Academy of Health Sciences and Bheri Hospital for the installment of oxygen plant and pipeline, according to a statement issued by the MoF. </p> <p>Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, after getting reappointed on Thursday as the leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives, had expanded his cabinet on Friday after taking oath of office from President Bidya Devi Bhandari. He had reappointed 22 ministers and three state ministers including Paudel and assigned them the same portfolio that they had held in the previous cabinet. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-15', 'modified' => '2021-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13140', 'image' => '20210515114522_Bishnu Paudel.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-15 11:40:06', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13393', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA to follow its previous decision to collect dues of dedicated feeder, trunk line from industries', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to implement its previous decision on recovering outstanding dues from industries for using electricity from dedicated feeders and trunkline lines,', 'content' => '<p>May 14: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to implement its previous decision on recovering outstanding dues from industries for using electricity through dedicated feeders and trunk lines, ignoring an instruction issued by the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC). <br /> A meeting of NEA's board of directors held recently decided to collect the outstanding dues as per its earlier decision.</p> <p>In the month of February, NEA had decided to collect electricity dues from the industrialists by mid-July. It had warned industrialists of slapping a penalty if they fail to settle it by mid July.</p> <p>However, on April 4, PAC directed the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) through the Ministry of Energy to collect the outstanding electricity dues from the industrialists within a month.</p> <p>Ignoring the PAC directive, NEA now wants to collect the tariffs as per its earlier decision, citing the impact of pandemic on businesses and industries. NEA has also sent a letter to the PAC seeking another favorable instruction from the parliamentary committee considering the adverse impacts of current pandemic and subsequent prohibitory orders imposed by local administrations. </p> <p>Rameshwor Poudel, an ex-officio member in the NEA board, said that the board meeting decided to implement its previous decision related to the settlement of outstanding dues from industrialists for using electricity from trunkline and dedicated feeders due to the pandemic. </p> <p>"The PAC had asked to collect the dues within a month. We had to comply with the parliamentary committee’s instruction. But, recent prohibitory orders imposed to control the second wave of coronavirus have hit industries,” said Poudel. “In such a case, the implementation of the PAC directive was going to become difficult. So, we were compelled to act according to the previous decision made by the board," he said. </p> <p>Poudel said NEA will act in a way that will not further affect the industries which have already been hit hard by the pandemic. “But, if the PAC again issues us a directive to collect the dues within a month (mid June), we will act accordingly,” he added. </p> <p><br /> There is a long dispute between industrialists and the NEA over the settlement of dues for using electricity from dedicated feeders and trunk lines. </p> <p>Earlier on July 21, the PAC had formed a sub-committee led by lawmaker Minendra Rijal to look into the issue of dedicated electricity tariff. Based on the report, the PAC, on April 4, instructed the government to collect all dues within a month. There was a total of Rs 10.14 billion outstanding dues that industrialists owe to the NEA. <br /> NEA had supplied electricity to industries through dedicated feeder and trunk lines by charging a premium of 65 percent in the electricity tariffs. The NEA, which did not have authority to fix tariff, had got approval of its tariff rates from the then Electricity Tariff Fixation Commission in February 2016. <br /> Industrialists are at odds with the NEA over the tariffs that NEA has fixed prior to the approval from the Commission. </p> <p>Some industrialists even claim that the NEA has billed them for the electricity that their industries did not use during the load shedding.<br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-14', 'modified' => '2021-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13138', 'image' => '20210514031053_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-14 15:08:27', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13392', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banks limit their operation to five essential services during prohibitory period ', 'sub_title' => ' Urging people to use digital banking, banks limit their services to cash withdrawal, deposit of cash, fund transfer (cheque/ IPS/ RTGS), remittance payment and international trade ', 'summary' => 'Nepal Bankers' Association (NBA) has said that commercial banks will now provide only five services to their clients. ', 'content' => '<p>May 14: Nepal Bankers' Association (NBA) has said that commercial banks will now provide only five services to their clients. </p> <p>Issuing a statement on Thursday, NBA—the umbrella organization of commercial banks—said that its members will offer only five essential banking services to the public during the prohibitory period. </p> <p>The decision to limit services to the public through their offices or branches is aimed at avoiding crowd in banks and curbing risks of coronavirus infection, according to the statement. </p> <p>Bank services will now be limited to cash withdrawal, deposit of cash, fund transfer (cheque/ IPS/ RTGS), remittance payment and international trade. Banks have also set a minimum limit for the cash deposit. Only cash above Rs 50,000 will be deposited in bank branches, according to the NBA.</p> <p>However, the NBA also said that clients can make phone call to their respective branch if they urgently need any other services. </p> <p>Urging people to embrace digital banking services in line with the government’s request to stay at home during the prohibitory period, NBA also said that they can make phone call or email to their respective banks if they face any problem or require any assistance for online or mobile banking transactions. </p> <p>All ATMs and call centers will remain open as usual, according to the NBA. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-14', 'modified' => '2021-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13137', 'image' => '20210514124201_NBA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-14 12:37:52', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13389', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'KP Sharma Oli reappointed as Nepal’s PM after three days of losing vote of confidence in parliament ', 'sub_title' => ' President Bhandari scheduled to administer oath of office to PM Oli on Friday ', 'summary' => 'After three days of losing vote of cofidence in the House of Representatives, CPN (UML) Chairman KP Sharma Oli has been appointed as the Prime Minister of the country again. ', 'content' => '<p>May 13: After three days of losing vote of confidence in the House of Representatives, CPN (UML) Chairman KP Sharma Oli has been appointed as the Prime Minister of the country again. <br /> President Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed Oli as the Prime Minister as per the Article 76 (3) of the constitution after nobody laid a claim to the post to form the majority government, according to a notice issued by the Office of the President. </p> <p>Though the President Bhandari had given political parties until Thursday (9 PM) to form the majority government as per the the Article 76 (2) of the constitution, there was no claim for the post of Prime Minister. </p> <p>Oli became the new Prime Minister based on the Article 76 (3) which allows the President the authority to appoint the leader of the party with the highest number of members in the House of Representatives as the Prime Minister if the majority government could not be formed. </p> <p>This is Oli’s third stint as the Prime Minister. President Bhandari is scheduled to administer oath of office to Prime Minister Oli tommorrow, according to a source at the Office of President. The Prime Minister will now have to receive the vote of confidence of the House of Representatives within 30 days.</p> <p>Earlier on Monday, President Bhandari had called any member of the House to claim majority in the parliament with the support of two or more than two parties by Thursday to get appointed as the new Prime Minister of the country. </p> <p>Though the Nepali Congress, the main opposition party, initially showed its interest to form the majority government, it abandoned the plan on Thursday after concluding that it would fail to garner enough votes from other political parties. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-13', 'modified' => '2021-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13134', 'image' => '20210513114158_20200307030714_Clipboard04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-13 23:39:11', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13388', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'AI Calls for Urgent Action in South Asia to Combat Deadly COVID-19 Surge ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 13: Amnesty International has drawn the attention of governments across South Asia to immediately address healthcare shortages and urgently strengthen their healthcare systems to respond to the rapid surge of COVID-19 cases in the region.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">May 13: Amnesty International has drawn the attention of governments across South Asia to immediately address healthcare shortages and urgently strengthen their healthcare systems to respond to the rapid surge of COVID-19 cases in the region.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">With India and Nepal’s healthcare systems reaching breaking point, the human rights organization expressed its concern over the lack of preparedness of other countries in the region for the virus’s latest and most deadly wave. Extremely low vaccination rates across South Asia have also left the region highly vulnerable, with pressing action needed at the global level to ensure more equitable access to vaccines, AI said in a statement on Thursday (May 13).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">“The human catastrophe that is unfolding in India and Nepal should be a warning to other countries in the region to invest heavily in surge capacity for an emergency response. The virus is spreading and transcending borders at a frightening speed and will continue to hit the region’s most marginalized populations hardest of all,” said Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s Asia- Pacific Director.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">“We are at a critical point. Fewer than one in ten of the region’s population has been vaccinated. The decisions taken by governments in South Asia and across the world in the coming days and weeks will be crucial in mitigating the human cost of this latest surge.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">South Asia, home to a quarter of the world’s population, is fast becoming the new global epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, AI further said. On May 6, India reported more than 400,000 new cases in one day, taking its total tally of confirmed cases to 21.5 million, though this is likely to be a significant underestimate. As the disease ravages India, several south Asian nations are also facing a resurgence of cases.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Nepal, which shares a porous border with India, has already started to experience a massive spike in infections. According to WHO figures, daily cases increased 30-fold from 303 to 9,317, or an increase of 2,975 percent, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">between April 12 and May 12</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">. On Tuesday, Nepal recorded another 9,317 cases, bringing its total to 413,111, the statement added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">With India stopping exports of oxygen, Nepal is struggling to find alternative supplies. To make matters worse, Nepal is also in the midst of political upheaval, with its Prime Minister having lost a vote of confidence and parties failing to form a government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">“We have seen how shortages of oxygen, hospital beds, human resources and essential medicines pushed the already under-resourced healthcare response of India over the edge. Now a similar worrying trend is emerging in Nepal,” said Yamini Mishra.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">“This is not the time for Nepal’s politicians to indulge in political wrangling and infighting. What the country needs right now is unity and leadership to address the growing crisis.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Amnesty International also called on the international community to show solidarity and fulfil its human rights obligations to provide cooperation and assistance, by providing lifesaving medical tools and removing legal uncertainties and barriers that may impede the production and supply of vaccines as the disease continues to ravage the region.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-13', 'modified' => '2021-05-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13133', 'image' => '20210513054416_q6EertLN_400x400 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-13 17:43:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13387', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NIBL, Himalayan Bank Announce Merger with a Prospect of Forming the Biggest Commercial Bank ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 13: Nepal Investment Bank Limited (NIBL) and Himalayan Bank Limited (HBL) have announced their merger.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">May 13: Nepal Investment Bank Limited (NIBL) and Himalayan Bank Limited (HBL) have announced their merger with the “intention” of strengthening the banking sector of Nepal in line with Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Merger and Acquisition Policy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Issuing a joint statement on Thursday, the two commercial banks said they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the merger. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the statement, Chairman of Nepal Investment Bank Prithvi Bahadur Pandé and the Chairman of Himalayan Bank Tulsi Prasad Gautam signed the MoU on Thursday, May 13. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">This development has officially paved the way to complete formalities before the process of the start of joint operations between the two commercial banks, added the statement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After the merger, the banks will be known with the name “Himalayan and Nepal Investment Bank Ltd”. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Prithvi Bahadur Pandé will retain the post of the bank’s chairman while Ashoke SJB Rana will be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Similarly, after the merger, the board members will be comprised of three members each from both the banks and also an independent member for a total of seven board members.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In the joint statement, the two banks claimed that the new entity after merger will be the biggest commercial bank in the history of the Nepalese banking industry. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">At present, the paid-up capital of Nepal Investment Bank stands at Rs 16.26 billion whereas Himalayan Bank’s paid-up capital amounts to Rs 10.68 billion. After the merger the combined paid-up capital of the banks will reach a staggering Rs 26.14 billion making it the bank with the highest paid-up capital in the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Similarly, combining the assets, loans and deposits of both banks will elevate the bank into unparalleled heights, added the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The joint statement further said that the bank will hope to retain the confidence of its stakeholders and shareholders through this major development and also continue to provide exemplary services to its clients post–merger.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-13', 'modified' => '2021-05-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13132', 'image' => '20210513053131_1620903534.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-13 17:30:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13386', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Prepares for Full Implementation of One-Door System in Foreign Trade', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 13: The government is preparing to fully implement a one-door system to promote transparency and automation of foreign trade. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">May 13: The government is preparing to fully implement a one-door system to promote transparency and automation of foreign trade. The Department of Customs has connected all the concerned bodies to Nepal National One-Door System to make import-export paperless.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Surya Sedhai, director of the One-Door System Project Implementation Unit, said that the government will facilitate foreign trade by linking 40 bodies and concerned parties with each other.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The system was inaugurated on January 25 on the occasion of the International Customs Day. Sedhai informed that they have intensified the work of linking all the concerned bodies in this system.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Initially, the Food and Quality Control Department, Department of Livestock Services, Plant Quarantine and Pesticide Management Center were included in the system. Lately, a memorandum of understanding has been signed with Nepal Rastra Bank and private sector organizations to bring them under a one-door system.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The government has also reached an agreement with the </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries, Nepal Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Nepal Handicrafts to integrate them into the system. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">“These organizations issue certificates of origin in the export process. It has been agreed to provide such certificate through online medium,” Sedhai informed New Business Age.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">A one-door system has been introduced to connect all service providers and service seekers related to import and export through online medium. The process of developing infrastructure work was started from 2019. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The full implementation of this system was scheduled for 2021/22 but it has been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.</span></span> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The trial of this system was scheduled for last November which had to be put off due to the pandemic. The full implementation of the system has now been slated for upcoming November.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">According to the department, import and export permits, banking process, revenue payment, customs clearance among others will be completed via online platform in this system. Since all the required processes will be done online by importers as well as the government and private bodies, it is expected to foster transparency, says Shyam Prasad Bhandari, coordinator of the project implementation unit.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The department says it is focused on trade facilitation, increasing efficiency in revenue collection and making social security effective through the one-door system. The one-door customs clearance is an electronic platform designed to facilitate all stakeholders. This allows all parties involved in international trade and transit to submit documents and information from a single entry point.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Customs officials claim that there will be no direct contact between the service provider and the service seekers once the system becomes fully operational. This will save time and cost of trade. Likewise, the hassle of going to various agencies to get documents for import and export will also come to an end.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-13', 'modified' => '2021-05-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13131', 'image' => '20210513050933_20200421011816_1587419377.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-13 17:08:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 17: The Ministry of Finance has allocated Rs 4.31 billion to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the ministry, the fund will be utilized to improve the heath care system of the hospitals across the country. The fund will also be used to purchase medicines and medical supplies, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday (May 16). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the ministry has allocated over Rs 2.95 billion for 26 central hospitals and nine provincial hospitals for managing oxygen plants, ventilators among other necessary medical supplies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Similarly, Rs 1.36 billion will be provided to 25 hospitals to establish High Dependency Unit (HDU). </span></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/My%20Effect%284%29.jpg" style="height:241px; width:800px" /></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-17', 'modified' => '2021-05-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13148', 'image' => '20210517105547_20191107095500_aaaadfg.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-17 10:55:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13401', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Food Prices Rise during Pandemic', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: Amidst coronavirus pandemic, there has been a rise in prices of all sorts of food products.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">May 16: Amidst coronavirus pandemic, there has been a rise in prices of all sorts of food products. Taking advantage of the prolonged restrictions and political instability, industrialists, businessmen and middlemen have increased the prices of food items like rice, oil, sugar, lentil, eggs, legumes etc arbitrarily.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Consumers are facing financial crisis due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, many businessmen have been continuously increasing the prices of daily essentials under various pretexts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">According to the information provided by the Retail Trade Association, the price of lentils, which was Rs 110 per kg before the prohibitory orders were imposed, has now reached Rs 122 per kg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The price of black lentil has increased by Rs 10 per kg from Rs 165 to Rs 175. The price of gram which was Rs 110 per kg has gone up by Rs 25 to Rs 135 per kg. Similarly, according to the association, the price of each brand of rice has increased by Rs 50 to Rs 100 per sack. Although there is no specific reason for the increase in prices of these food items at this time, some traders and middlemen may have increased the price on the pretext of political instability and restriction, says Pavitramaan Bajracharya, the outgoing president of the association. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">According to him, black market has flourished in food trade. “Neither the government nor the regulatory body has a say in the matter,” he told New Business Age. He also said that the problem of wholesalers not paying the right price to the retailers have also surfaced.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">On Saturday, he got a bill of only Rs 77 for the sugar he bought from a wholesaler at Rs 89 per kg. “I have received a bill of Rs 12 less than the purchased price. At present, the retail price of sugar in the market is Rs 90 per kg. How can I sell that sugar in such a situation?” he complained.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Prakash Poudel, the director general of the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection, said that a joint team comprising of officials from the Department and the Inland Revenue Department should be formed to resolve the problems of retailers not getting the right bill.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">He said that the local bodies and District Administration Offices should play a role to prevent unnecessary price hike in their areas as the Department alone cannot check irregularities everywhere. He said that the Department has been monitoring the situation by forming two teams everyday between 7 am to 9 am. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Not only have the prices of lentils, legumes and rice been increased, businessmen have also increased the prices of egg and edible oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Chicken eggs, which were being sold at Rs 350 per crate before the restriction, are now being sold at Rs 400. It is said that the price has gone up as the consumption of eggs has increased in the market. Similarly, the price of edible oil has gone up unnaturally in the last one and a half years. The price of soybean oil, which was Rs 145 per liter earlier, has now increased by Rs 120 per liter to Rs 265 per liter. The price of sunflower oil has also increased by Rs 100 to Rs 400 per liter. According to the Nepal Rice, Oil and Pulses Industry Association, the price of oil, rice and pulses has also gone up in Nepal after the prices of raw materials including mustard, paddy and soybean skyrocketed in the international market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">At present, the main reason for the rise in food prices is the rise in prices in the international market, said Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of the Association. He said there was no intention to encourage black marketing or hurt consumers during the pandemic.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13147', 'image' => '20210516030639_20201210010458_1607557332.Clipboard07.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 15:05:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13402', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA not to Slap Penalty on Hydropower Projects for Reduced Electricity Output', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided not to slap any penalty to the promoters of old hydropower projects with capacity of less than 10 MW for reduced electricity production.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">May 16: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided not to slap any penalty to the promoters of old hydropower projects with capacity of less than 10 MW for reduced electricity production. The NEA took such decision after various rounds of discussions with the Electricity Regulatory Commission.<br /> Promoters hydropower projects with capacity of less than 10 MW that came into operation before March 22 will not be penalized if the reduction in flow of water results in production of less electricity than the prescribed amount. Rameshwar Poudel, an ex-officio member of the NEA Board of Directors, said that the decision was taken in line with a directive issued by the commission.<br /> The Electricity Regulatory Commission had instructed NEA to make such arrangement around two months ago. NEA had been urging the commission to reconsider the decision, saying such an arrangement would affect its financial system and other aspects. However, after discussions at various stages, NEA has decided to provide such facility to the specified projects as per the decision and instructions of the commission.<br /> "We had requested the commission to reconsider the directive as it would affect the financial condition of the authority," Poudel said, adding, “The decision, which is beneficial for both the promoters and the NEA was taken after discussions with the commission at various stages.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Similarly, the commission has decided not to impose any penalty if NEA fails to construct transmission line on time due to special circumstances.<br /> According to Poudel, the commission has clarified that no fine has to be paid if the transmission line cannot be built due to special circumstances. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">As per the directive of the commission, NEA has made an arrangement that no penalty will be levied if the power generation of the projects is less than the commitment made only if it is due to hydrology. If the power generation is less than the prescribed amount due to other reasons, a penalty of 10 percent will have to be paid for insufficient electricity production.<br /> Earlier, the projects had to pay the prescribed amount of penalty to the power buyer (Nepal Electricity Authority) even if the power generation was reduced due to hydrology. But, now they won't have to pay such a penalty.<br /> Even when the power generation was low due to natural calamities, the projects had to pay the penalty. The promoters have been urging the commission to come up with the necessary policy in this regard. Regarding such concerns, the commission had decided not to penalize old projects.<br /> From now on, the concerned projects will have to submit the details of their production capacity on a weekly basis to NEA. In addition, details of how much electricity is generated every month will have to be submitted to NEA.<br /> Although NEA has signed power purchase agreement (PPA) with NEA the promoter companies according to the full capacity of the projects, power generation is not always optimal due to hydrology.<br /> Earlier, the minimum commitment was to generate 60 percent electricity in winter and 90 percent in the rainy season. However, such a limit has now been removed. Provision has been made for the project to generate electricity as estimated and if it is not produced, the penalty will be levied accordingly. In addition, as per the decision of the commission, if the projects generate more electricity than expected, they will receive an additional amount from NEA.<br /> Earlier, if excess electricity was generated than previously committed, the project would not get anything more that mentioned in the agreement. But now they will get the additional amount from NEA at the rate of 50 percent of the surplus electricity. This provision will not be applicable in case is electricity is generated more than the capacity mentioned in the PPA. In order to implement these provisions, the previous PPA between the projects and the NEA need to be amended.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13146', 'image' => '20210516034621_1620516710.Clipboard13.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 15:44:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13400', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Birgunj Customs Fails to Meet Revenue Collection Target as Prohibitory Orders Hit Foreign Trade ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: Birgunj Customs Office has failed to meet the revenue collection target in the month of Baisakh (mid-April to mid-May) due to the impact of COVID-19 on foreign trade. ', 'content' => '<p><em>Birgunj border entry point in this file photo.</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">May 16: Birgunj Customs Office has failed to meet the revenue collection target in the month of Baisakh (mid-April to mid-May) due to the impact of COVID-19 on foreign trade. The largest customs point of the country has fallen short of revenue collection target by 14 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The revenue target for the review month was Rs 19.44 billion, but the Birgunj Customs Office was able to collect only Rs 16.84 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">Birgunj Customs Office has said that the prohibitory orders imposed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the country’s foreign trade. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">"In the month of Baisakh (mid April to mid May), import of petroleum products, new vehicles and other luxury items declined. The impact is directly reflected in the revenue," said Harihar Poudel, chief of Birgunj Customs Office. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The local administration had imposed prohibitory order in Birgunj from April 29 as part of measures to contain the outbreak of the second wave of coronavirus. Vehicles have remained off the road due to the ban. Though the government has said that there will not be any restriction on imports, it's not the case at the customs point. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Customs Office said that the import of petroleum products has declined due to the restrictions on public transportation. Likewise, new vehicles have also not received clearance from the customs office. “As the import of these two major items has declined, the revenue collection has also gone down," said Poudel.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">Similarly, imports of raw materials, construction materials and equipment have also fallen. Since many development projects have been stalled, the import of construction materials has also dwindled. However, food items, medicines, raw materials and other essential items are being imported without any obstructions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">Although the ban did not have much effect on imports and exports in the first few days, the foreign trade started to decline after other districts enforced prohibitory orders. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The prohibitory order is in the third week in Kathmandu Valley along with other cities which are considered to be the major hubs for production, manufacturing and supplies. With the extension of prohibitory order, its impact is being directly felt in the supply chain. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13145', 'image' => '20210516024759_20210118020708_1610926784.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 14:45:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13399', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' MoUs Signed for Construction of Tunnels under Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: The Nepalese Army (NA) has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) for tunnel construction of two packages of Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 16: The Nepalese Army (NA) has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) for tunnel construction of two packages of Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the NA signed contracts with China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited for package 1 and Poly Chyangda Engineering Company Limited for package 2 of the tunnel. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">NA spokesperson Brigadier General Santosh Ballav Poudel shared that the first package is worth Rs 21 billion 610 million while the budget of the second package is Rs 28 billion 530 million. There will be one tunnel in the first package and two short tunnels in the second package, RSS further reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The MoU to this effect was signed by project chief of the Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track and Brigadier General Bikas Pokahrel on behalf of the project and Executive Director Xu Yan for package 1 and Project Manager Xhu Taniagyu Barbara for package 2. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Spokesperson Poudel said the MoUs were signed in line with the Public Procurement Act 2063 and Regulation 2064 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As per the MoU, the contractor was provided six months for design and three years for the construction. Out of the 11 clusters developed by the NA to complete the project within the stipulated time, MoUs have been signed to construct nine clusters, RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">However, the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives (HOR) had directed to scrap the project noting that the contract was against the preamble of Public Procurement Act. Following the committee’s directive, the NA had requested through the line ministry to reconsider its decision claiming that all works were being undertaken in a transparent manner. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">So far, the overall progress is reported to be 11.11 percent and the NA has set a target to reach 16.21 percent by the end of current fiscal year. The 72.5-km expressway with four lanes has the breadth of 25-meter in mountainous area and 27-meter in Terai area. The national pride project will also have a total 87 bridges. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13144', 'image' => '20210516122418_20170616052456_fast track nov 21.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 12:23:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13398', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' 18,000 Oxygen Cylinders Arrive at Tatopani Checkpoint ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: The China-aided 18,000 empty oxygen cylinders have arrived at Tatopani checkpoint in Sindhupalchowk district on Sunday, May 16. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 16: The China-aided 18,000 empty oxygen cylinders have arrived at Tatopani checkpoint in Sindhupalchowk district on Sunday, May 16. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to Ganesh Pandey, press coordinator to Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinator of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre Ishwor Pokharel, those cylinders will be brought in Kathmandu once the Chinese government hands them over to Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As Nepal has been under the grip of second wave of Covid-19, there has been high demand for oxygen cylinders to treat the infected people. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Earlier, 400 oxygen cylinders were flown to Nepal from China. Preparations are afoot to bring 1,600 remaining cylinders, out of 20,000, provided by China in grant assistance, informed Pandey. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Nepal Airlines Corporation’s wide-body aircraft, which had flown to China on Saturday, is bringing home 550 oxygen cylinders from China today itself. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13143', 'image' => '20210516121523_20210429095930_Medical-Oxygen-Gas-Cylinders-Market.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 12:14:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13397', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Nepal Airlines bringing oxygen cylinders from China, Oman', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)—the national flag carrier—is bringing oxygen cylinders from Beijing, the capital of China, and Muscat, the capital of Oman. ', 'content' => '<p>May 15: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)—the national flag carrier—is bringing oxygen cylinders from Beijing, the capital of China, and Muscat, the capital of Oman. <br /> The NAC A-330 wide body left for Muscat this morning to pick up 600 oxygen gas cylinders to be received from Oman in assistance. The Non Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) and the Nepali Embassy in Oman had facilitated the assistance. The NAC aircraft will be returning from Muscat this evening. <br /> Similarly, the NAC wide body is scheduled to leave for Beijing at 11:00 pm today to bring medical assistance which also includes oxygen cylinders provided by the Government of China. Besides, preparation is on to bring eight oxygen concentrators from China. The government plans to send the NAC wide body to China on May 15, 16 and 17 to bring 550 oxygen cylinders per each flight amidst the raging Covid-19 crisis. <br /> -<strong><em>-RSS </em></strong><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-15', 'modified' => '2021-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13142', 'image' => '20210515051633_NAC Widebody.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-15 17:15:04', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => true, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13396', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Social Security Fund providing Covid-19 treatment cost to its contributors ', 'sub_title' => ' SSF bearing up to Rs 80,000 out of total treatment expenses of Rs 100,000 ', 'summary' => 'Social Security Fund (SSF) is providing treatment cost for Covid-19 to its contributors.', 'content' => '<p>May 15: Social Security Fund (SSF) is providing treatment cost for Covid-19 to its contributors. According to the SSF, it will bear treatment cost to its contributors if they are infected with coronavirus. </p> <p>Kapilmani Gyawali, Executive Director of the SSF, said that the Fund will provide treatment cost to its contributors for Covid-19 under its medical treatment, health and maternity protection scheme. However, the limit for the compensation will be Rs 80,000 out of total treatment cost of Rs 100,000, according to SSF’s executive director Gyawali. He said that the contributor should bear 20 percent of the total treatment expenses.</p> <p>"With the onset of the second wave of the pandemic, some contributors who were infected with coronavirus have already started claiming the compensation. We will gradually settle the claims", said Gyawali. </p> <p>Though the facility of direct discount of 80 percent of the total treatment cost up to the limit of Rs 100,000 is yet to be implemented, contributors should come to SSF to claim the compensation, according to Gyawali. He also said that the SSF is preparing to implement the facility of direct discount from the hospital from mid July. It has already signed agreement with 105 hospitals to provide such facility for the SSF contributors. </p> <p>The SSF has not halted the settlement of claims even during the pandemic, he said. According to the SSF, it has provided Rs 32 million in compensation to 1,567 contributors for 2,524 claims under its medical treatment, health and maternity protection scheme. </p> <p>Meanwhile, there has not been any decline in the number of employers and contributors signing up for the SSF even during Covid-19. According to the SSF’s data, 13,845 employers have registered with the SSF as of Wednesday to list a total of 202,353 employees in the Fund.</p> <p>The contributory-based SSF was launched in November 2018 to bring private and non-governmental sector workers under the social security net. Under the SSF scheme which has been made compulsory for private sector, 31 percent of a listed contributor’s basic salary—11 percent of employees’s salary along with 20 percent contribution from the employer—is deposited in the SSF every month. Such contributors are entitled to get benefits from medical treatment, health protection and maternity plan, accidents and disability plan, dependent family plan and old-age security plan of the SSF. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-15', 'modified' => '2021-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13141', 'image' => '20210515024244_Social Security Fund.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-15 14:40:08', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13395', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Budget will focus on combating Covid-19, says Finance Minister Paudel ', 'sub_title' => 'Finance Minister Paudel approves Rs 58.32 million to three hospitals for the installment of oxygen plant and pipeline as the first decision after reappointment to the post ', 'summary' => 'Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel has said that the government is preparing to introduce a budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2021/22 that focuses on combating the Covid-19. ', 'content' => '<p>May 15: Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel has said that the government is preparing to introduce a budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2021/22 that focuses on combating the Covid-19. </p> <p>Assuming the office on Friday after getting reappointed as Finance Minister, he said that the government would mobilize all available resources to address the crisis caused by the pandemic. <br /> He said that the preparation of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year has reached the final stage. </p> <p>The budget would address the current health crisis as well as revive the economy hit by the pandemic, Finance Minister Paudel said. He also expressed his commitment to ensure resources to ramp up Covid-19 tests and provide treatment to all patients. </p> <p>Finance Minister Paudel will table the budget in the federal parliament on May 29 as per a provision in the constitution. </p> <p>Meanwhile, Finance Minister Paudel approved a decision to release Rs 58.32 million to Dadeldhura Hospital, Patan Academy of Health Sciences and Bheri Hospital for the installment of oxygen plant and pipeline, according to a statement issued by the MoF. </p> <p>Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, after getting reappointed on Thursday as the leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives, had expanded his cabinet on Friday after taking oath of office from President Bidya Devi Bhandari. He had reappointed 22 ministers and three state ministers including Paudel and assigned them the same portfolio that they had held in the previous cabinet. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-15', 'modified' => '2021-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13140', 'image' => '20210515114522_Bishnu Paudel.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-15 11:40:06', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13393', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA to follow its previous decision to collect dues of dedicated feeder, trunk line from industries', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to implement its previous decision on recovering outstanding dues from industries for using electricity from dedicated feeders and trunkline lines,', 'content' => '<p>May 14: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to implement its previous decision on recovering outstanding dues from industries for using electricity through dedicated feeders and trunk lines, ignoring an instruction issued by the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC). <br /> A meeting of NEA's board of directors held recently decided to collect the outstanding dues as per its earlier decision.</p> <p>In the month of February, NEA had decided to collect electricity dues from the industrialists by mid-July. It had warned industrialists of slapping a penalty if they fail to settle it by mid July.</p> <p>However, on April 4, PAC directed the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) through the Ministry of Energy to collect the outstanding electricity dues from the industrialists within a month.</p> <p>Ignoring the PAC directive, NEA now wants to collect the tariffs as per its earlier decision, citing the impact of pandemic on businesses and industries. NEA has also sent a letter to the PAC seeking another favorable instruction from the parliamentary committee considering the adverse impacts of current pandemic and subsequent prohibitory orders imposed by local administrations. </p> <p>Rameshwor Poudel, an ex-officio member in the NEA board, said that the board meeting decided to implement its previous decision related to the settlement of outstanding dues from industrialists for using electricity from trunkline and dedicated feeders due to the pandemic. </p> <p>"The PAC had asked to collect the dues within a month. We had to comply with the parliamentary committee’s instruction. But, recent prohibitory orders imposed to control the second wave of coronavirus have hit industries,” said Poudel. “In such a case, the implementation of the PAC directive was going to become difficult. So, we were compelled to act according to the previous decision made by the board," he said. </p> <p>Poudel said NEA will act in a way that will not further affect the industries which have already been hit hard by the pandemic. “But, if the PAC again issues us a directive to collect the dues within a month (mid June), we will act accordingly,” he added. </p> <p><br /> There is a long dispute between industrialists and the NEA over the settlement of dues for using electricity from dedicated feeders and trunk lines. </p> <p>Earlier on July 21, the PAC had formed a sub-committee led by lawmaker Minendra Rijal to look into the issue of dedicated electricity tariff. Based on the report, the PAC, on April 4, instructed the government to collect all dues within a month. There was a total of Rs 10.14 billion outstanding dues that industrialists owe to the NEA. <br /> NEA had supplied electricity to industries through dedicated feeder and trunk lines by charging a premium of 65 percent in the electricity tariffs. The NEA, which did not have authority to fix tariff, had got approval of its tariff rates from the then Electricity Tariff Fixation Commission in February 2016. <br /> Industrialists are at odds with the NEA over the tariffs that NEA has fixed prior to the approval from the Commission. </p> <p>Some industrialists even claim that the NEA has billed them for the electricity that their industries did not use during the load shedding.<br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-14', 'modified' => '2021-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13138', 'image' => '20210514031053_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-14 15:08:27', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13392', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banks limit their operation to five essential services during prohibitory period ', 'sub_title' => ' Urging people to use digital banking, banks limit their services to cash withdrawal, deposit of cash, fund transfer (cheque/ IPS/ RTGS), remittance payment and international trade ', 'summary' => 'Nepal Bankers' Association (NBA) has said that commercial banks will now provide only five services to their clients. ', 'content' => '<p>May 14: Nepal Bankers' Association (NBA) has said that commercial banks will now provide only five services to their clients. </p> <p>Issuing a statement on Thursday, NBA—the umbrella organization of commercial banks—said that its members will offer only five essential banking services to the public during the prohibitory period. </p> <p>The decision to limit services to the public through their offices or branches is aimed at avoiding crowd in banks and curbing risks of coronavirus infection, according to the statement. </p> <p>Bank services will now be limited to cash withdrawal, deposit of cash, fund transfer (cheque/ IPS/ RTGS), remittance payment and international trade. Banks have also set a minimum limit for the cash deposit. Only cash above Rs 50,000 will be deposited in bank branches, according to the NBA.</p> <p>However, the NBA also said that clients can make phone call to their respective branch if they urgently need any other services. </p> <p>Urging people to embrace digital banking services in line with the government’s request to stay at home during the prohibitory period, NBA also said that they can make phone call or email to their respective banks if they face any problem or require any assistance for online or mobile banking transactions. </p> <p>All ATMs and call centers will remain open as usual, according to the NBA. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-14', 'modified' => '2021-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13137', 'image' => '20210514124201_NBA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-14 12:37:52', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13389', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'KP Sharma Oli reappointed as Nepal’s PM after three days of losing vote of confidence in parliament ', 'sub_title' => ' President Bhandari scheduled to administer oath of office to PM Oli on Friday ', 'summary' => 'After three days of losing vote of cofidence in the House of Representatives, CPN (UML) Chairman KP Sharma Oli has been appointed as the Prime Minister of the country again. ', 'content' => '<p>May 13: After three days of losing vote of confidence in the House of Representatives, CPN (UML) Chairman KP Sharma Oli has been appointed as the Prime Minister of the country again. <br /> President Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed Oli as the Prime Minister as per the Article 76 (3) of the constitution after nobody laid a claim to the post to form the majority government, according to a notice issued by the Office of the President. </p> <p>Though the President Bhandari had given political parties until Thursday (9 PM) to form the majority government as per the the Article 76 (2) of the constitution, there was no claim for the post of Prime Minister. </p> <p>Oli became the new Prime Minister based on the Article 76 (3) which allows the President the authority to appoint the leader of the party with the highest number of members in the House of Representatives as the Prime Minister if the majority government could not be formed. </p> <p>This is Oli’s third stint as the Prime Minister. President Bhandari is scheduled to administer oath of office to Prime Minister Oli tommorrow, according to a source at the Office of President. The Prime Minister will now have to receive the vote of confidence of the House of Representatives within 30 days.</p> <p>Earlier on Monday, President Bhandari had called any member of the House to claim majority in the parliament with the support of two or more than two parties by Thursday to get appointed as the new Prime Minister of the country. </p> <p>Though the Nepali Congress, the main opposition party, initially showed its interest to form the majority government, it abandoned the plan on Thursday after concluding that it would fail to garner enough votes from other political parties. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-13', 'modified' => '2021-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13134', 'image' => '20210513114158_20200307030714_Clipboard04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-13 23:39:11', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13388', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'AI Calls for Urgent Action in South Asia to Combat Deadly COVID-19 Surge ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 13: Amnesty International has drawn the attention of governments across South Asia to immediately address healthcare shortages and urgently strengthen their healthcare systems to respond to the rapid surge of COVID-19 cases in the region.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">May 13: Amnesty International has drawn the attention of governments across South Asia to immediately address healthcare shortages and urgently strengthen their healthcare systems to respond to the rapid surge of COVID-19 cases in the region.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">With India and Nepal’s healthcare systems reaching breaking point, the human rights organization expressed its concern over the lack of preparedness of other countries in the region for the virus’s latest and most deadly wave. Extremely low vaccination rates across South Asia have also left the region highly vulnerable, with pressing action needed at the global level to ensure more equitable access to vaccines, AI said in a statement on Thursday (May 13).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">“The human catastrophe that is unfolding in India and Nepal should be a warning to other countries in the region to invest heavily in surge capacity for an emergency response. The virus is spreading and transcending borders at a frightening speed and will continue to hit the region’s most marginalized populations hardest of all,” said Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s Asia- Pacific Director.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">“We are at a critical point. Fewer than one in ten of the region’s population has been vaccinated. The decisions taken by governments in South Asia and across the world in the coming days and weeks will be crucial in mitigating the human cost of this latest surge.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">South Asia, home to a quarter of the world’s population, is fast becoming the new global epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, AI further said. On May 6, India reported more than 400,000 new cases in one day, taking its total tally of confirmed cases to 21.5 million, though this is likely to be a significant underestimate. As the disease ravages India, several south Asian nations are also facing a resurgence of cases.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Nepal, which shares a porous border with India, has already started to experience a massive spike in infections. According to WHO figures, daily cases increased 30-fold from 303 to 9,317, or an increase of 2,975 percent, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">between April 12 and May 12</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">. On Tuesday, Nepal recorded another 9,317 cases, bringing its total to 413,111, the statement added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">With India stopping exports of oxygen, Nepal is struggling to find alternative supplies. To make matters worse, Nepal is also in the midst of political upheaval, with its Prime Minister having lost a vote of confidence and parties failing to form a government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">“We have seen how shortages of oxygen, hospital beds, human resources and essential medicines pushed the already under-resourced healthcare response of India over the edge. Now a similar worrying trend is emerging in Nepal,” said Yamini Mishra.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">“This is not the time for Nepal’s politicians to indulge in political wrangling and infighting. What the country needs right now is unity and leadership to address the growing crisis.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Amnesty International also called on the international community to show solidarity and fulfil its human rights obligations to provide cooperation and assistance, by providing lifesaving medical tools and removing legal uncertainties and barriers that may impede the production and supply of vaccines as the disease continues to ravage the region.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-13', 'modified' => '2021-05-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13133', 'image' => '20210513054416_q6EertLN_400x400 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-13 17:43:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13387', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NIBL, Himalayan Bank Announce Merger with a Prospect of Forming the Biggest Commercial Bank ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 13: Nepal Investment Bank Limited (NIBL) and Himalayan Bank Limited (HBL) have announced their merger.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">May 13: Nepal Investment Bank Limited (NIBL) and Himalayan Bank Limited (HBL) have announced their merger with the “intention” of strengthening the banking sector of Nepal in line with Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Merger and Acquisition Policy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Issuing a joint statement on Thursday, the two commercial banks said they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the merger. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the statement, Chairman of Nepal Investment Bank Prithvi Bahadur Pandé and the Chairman of Himalayan Bank Tulsi Prasad Gautam signed the MoU on Thursday, May 13. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">This development has officially paved the way to complete formalities before the process of the start of joint operations between the two commercial banks, added the statement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After the merger, the banks will be known with the name “Himalayan and Nepal Investment Bank Ltd”. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Prithvi Bahadur Pandé will retain the post of the bank’s chairman while Ashoke SJB Rana will be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Similarly, after the merger, the board members will be comprised of three members each from both the banks and also an independent member for a total of seven board members.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In the joint statement, the two banks claimed that the new entity after merger will be the biggest commercial bank in the history of the Nepalese banking industry. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">At present, the paid-up capital of Nepal Investment Bank stands at Rs 16.26 billion whereas Himalayan Bank’s paid-up capital amounts to Rs 10.68 billion. After the merger the combined paid-up capital of the banks will reach a staggering Rs 26.14 billion making it the bank with the highest paid-up capital in the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Similarly, combining the assets, loans and deposits of both banks will elevate the bank into unparalleled heights, added the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The joint statement further said that the bank will hope to retain the confidence of its stakeholders and shareholders through this major development and also continue to provide exemplary services to its clients post–merger.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-13', 'modified' => '2021-05-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13132', 'image' => '20210513053131_1620903534.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-13 17:30:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13386', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Prepares for Full Implementation of One-Door System in Foreign Trade', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 13: The government is preparing to fully implement a one-door system to promote transparency and automation of foreign trade. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">May 13: The government is preparing to fully implement a one-door system to promote transparency and automation of foreign trade. The Department of Customs has connected all the concerned bodies to Nepal National One-Door System to make import-export paperless.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Surya Sedhai, director of the One-Door System Project Implementation Unit, said that the government will facilitate foreign trade by linking 40 bodies and concerned parties with each other.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The system was inaugurated on January 25 on the occasion of the International Customs Day. Sedhai informed that they have intensified the work of linking all the concerned bodies in this system.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Initially, the Food and Quality Control Department, Department of Livestock Services, Plant Quarantine and Pesticide Management Center were included in the system. Lately, a memorandum of understanding has been signed with Nepal Rastra Bank and private sector organizations to bring them under a one-door system.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The government has also reached an agreement with the </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries, Nepal Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Nepal Handicrafts to integrate them into the system. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">“These organizations issue certificates of origin in the export process. It has been agreed to provide such certificate through online medium,” Sedhai informed New Business Age.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">A one-door system has been introduced to connect all service providers and service seekers related to import and export through online medium. The process of developing infrastructure work was started from 2019. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The full implementation of this system was scheduled for 2021/22 but it has been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.</span></span> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The trial of this system was scheduled for last November which had to be put off due to the pandemic. The full implementation of the system has now been slated for upcoming November.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">According to the department, import and export permits, banking process, revenue payment, customs clearance among others will be completed via online platform in this system. Since all the required processes will be done online by importers as well as the government and private bodies, it is expected to foster transparency, says Shyam Prasad Bhandari, coordinator of the project implementation unit.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The department says it is focused on trade facilitation, increasing efficiency in revenue collection and making social security effective through the one-door system. The one-door customs clearance is an electronic platform designed to facilitate all stakeholders. This allows all parties involved in international trade and transit to submit documents and information from a single entry point.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Customs officials claim that there will be no direct contact between the service provider and the service seekers once the system becomes fully operational. This will save time and cost of trade. Likewise, the hassle of going to various agencies to get documents for import and export will also come to an end.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-13', 'modified' => '2021-05-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13131', 'image' => '20210513050933_20200421011816_1587419377.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-13 17:08:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, '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
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!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' => '13403', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Ministry Allocates Rs 4.31 Billion to Contain Covid-19 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 17: The Ministry of Finance has allocated Rs 4.31 billion to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 17: The Ministry of Finance has allocated Rs 4.31 billion to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the ministry, the fund will be utilized to improve the heath care system of the hospitals across the country. The fund will also be used to purchase medicines and medical supplies, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday (May 16). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the ministry has allocated over Rs 2.95 billion for 26 central hospitals and nine provincial hospitals for managing oxygen plants, ventilators among other necessary medical supplies. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Similarly, Rs 1.36 billion will be provided to 25 hospitals to establish High Dependency Unit (HDU). </span></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/My%20Effect%284%29.jpg" style="height:241px; width:800px" /></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-17', 'modified' => '2021-05-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13148', 'image' => '20210517105547_20191107095500_aaaadfg.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-17 10:55:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13401', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Food Prices Rise during Pandemic', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: Amidst coronavirus pandemic, there has been a rise in prices of all sorts of food products.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">May 16: Amidst coronavirus pandemic, there has been a rise in prices of all sorts of food products. Taking advantage of the prolonged restrictions and political instability, industrialists, businessmen and middlemen have increased the prices of food items like rice, oil, sugar, lentil, eggs, legumes etc arbitrarily.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Consumers are facing financial crisis due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, many businessmen have been continuously increasing the prices of daily essentials under various pretexts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">According to the information provided by the Retail Trade Association, the price of lentils, which was Rs 110 per kg before the prohibitory orders were imposed, has now reached Rs 122 per kg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The price of black lentil has increased by Rs 10 per kg from Rs 165 to Rs 175. The price of gram which was Rs 110 per kg has gone up by Rs 25 to Rs 135 per kg. Similarly, according to the association, the price of each brand of rice has increased by Rs 50 to Rs 100 per sack. Although there is no specific reason for the increase in prices of these food items at this time, some traders and middlemen may have increased the price on the pretext of political instability and restriction, says Pavitramaan Bajracharya, the outgoing president of the association. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">According to him, black market has flourished in food trade. “Neither the government nor the regulatory body has a say in the matter,” he told New Business Age. He also said that the problem of wholesalers not paying the right price to the retailers have also surfaced.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">On Saturday, he got a bill of only Rs 77 for the sugar he bought from a wholesaler at Rs 89 per kg. “I have received a bill of Rs 12 less than the purchased price. At present, the retail price of sugar in the market is Rs 90 per kg. How can I sell that sugar in such a situation?” he complained.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Prakash Poudel, the director general of the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection, said that a joint team comprising of officials from the Department and the Inland Revenue Department should be formed to resolve the problems of retailers not getting the right bill.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">He said that the local bodies and District Administration Offices should play a role to prevent unnecessary price hike in their areas as the Department alone cannot check irregularities everywhere. He said that the Department has been monitoring the situation by forming two teams everyday between 7 am to 9 am. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Not only have the prices of lentils, legumes and rice been increased, businessmen have also increased the prices of egg and edible oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Chicken eggs, which were being sold at Rs 350 per crate before the restriction, are now being sold at Rs 400. It is said that the price has gone up as the consumption of eggs has increased in the market. Similarly, the price of edible oil has gone up unnaturally in the last one and a half years. The price of soybean oil, which was Rs 145 per liter earlier, has now increased by Rs 120 per liter to Rs 265 per liter. The price of sunflower oil has also increased by Rs 100 to Rs 400 per liter. According to the Nepal Rice, Oil and Pulses Industry Association, the price of oil, rice and pulses has also gone up in Nepal after the prices of raw materials including mustard, paddy and soybean skyrocketed in the international market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">At present, the main reason for the rise in food prices is the rise in prices in the international market, said Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of the Association. He said there was no intention to encourage black marketing or hurt consumers during the pandemic.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13147', 'image' => '20210516030639_20201210010458_1607557332.Clipboard07.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 15:05:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13402', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA not to Slap Penalty on Hydropower Projects for Reduced Electricity Output', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided not to slap any penalty to the promoters of old hydropower projects with capacity of less than 10 MW for reduced electricity production.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">May 16: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided not to slap any penalty to the promoters of old hydropower projects with capacity of less than 10 MW for reduced electricity production. The NEA took such decision after various rounds of discussions with the Electricity Regulatory Commission.<br /> Promoters hydropower projects with capacity of less than 10 MW that came into operation before March 22 will not be penalized if the reduction in flow of water results in production of less electricity than the prescribed amount. Rameshwar Poudel, an ex-officio member of the NEA Board of Directors, said that the decision was taken in line with a directive issued by the commission.<br /> The Electricity Regulatory Commission had instructed NEA to make such arrangement around two months ago. NEA had been urging the commission to reconsider the decision, saying such an arrangement would affect its financial system and other aspects. However, after discussions at various stages, NEA has decided to provide such facility to the specified projects as per the decision and instructions of the commission.<br /> "We had requested the commission to reconsider the directive as it would affect the financial condition of the authority," Poudel said, adding, “The decision, which is beneficial for both the promoters and the NEA was taken after discussions with the commission at various stages.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Similarly, the commission has decided not to impose any penalty if NEA fails to construct transmission line on time due to special circumstances.<br /> According to Poudel, the commission has clarified that no fine has to be paid if the transmission line cannot be built due to special circumstances. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">As per the directive of the commission, NEA has made an arrangement that no penalty will be levied if the power generation of the projects is less than the commitment made only if it is due to hydrology. If the power generation is less than the prescribed amount due to other reasons, a penalty of 10 percent will have to be paid for insufficient electricity production.<br /> Earlier, the projects had to pay the prescribed amount of penalty to the power buyer (Nepal Electricity Authority) even if the power generation was reduced due to hydrology. But, now they won't have to pay such a penalty.<br /> Even when the power generation was low due to natural calamities, the projects had to pay the penalty. The promoters have been urging the commission to come up with the necessary policy in this regard. Regarding such concerns, the commission had decided not to penalize old projects.<br /> From now on, the concerned projects will have to submit the details of their production capacity on a weekly basis to NEA. In addition, details of how much electricity is generated every month will have to be submitted to NEA.<br /> Although NEA has signed power purchase agreement (PPA) with NEA the promoter companies according to the full capacity of the projects, power generation is not always optimal due to hydrology.<br /> Earlier, the minimum commitment was to generate 60 percent electricity in winter and 90 percent in the rainy season. However, such a limit has now been removed. Provision has been made for the project to generate electricity as estimated and if it is not produced, the penalty will be levied accordingly. In addition, as per the decision of the commission, if the projects generate more electricity than expected, they will receive an additional amount from NEA.<br /> Earlier, if excess electricity was generated than previously committed, the project would not get anything more that mentioned in the agreement. But now they will get the additional amount from NEA at the rate of 50 percent of the surplus electricity. This provision will not be applicable in case is electricity is generated more than the capacity mentioned in the PPA. In order to implement these provisions, the previous PPA between the projects and the NEA need to be amended.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13146', 'image' => '20210516034621_1620516710.Clipboard13.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 15:44:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13400', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Birgunj Customs Fails to Meet Revenue Collection Target as Prohibitory Orders Hit Foreign Trade ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: Birgunj Customs Office has failed to meet the revenue collection target in the month of Baisakh (mid-April to mid-May) due to the impact of COVID-19 on foreign trade. ', 'content' => '<p><em>Birgunj border entry point in this file photo.</em></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">May 16: Birgunj Customs Office has failed to meet the revenue collection target in the month of Baisakh (mid-April to mid-May) due to the impact of COVID-19 on foreign trade. The largest customs point of the country has fallen short of revenue collection target by 14 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The revenue target for the review month was Rs 19.44 billion, but the Birgunj Customs Office was able to collect only Rs 16.84 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">Birgunj Customs Office has said that the prohibitory orders imposed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the country’s foreign trade. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">"In the month of Baisakh (mid April to mid May), import of petroleum products, new vehicles and other luxury items declined. The impact is directly reflected in the revenue," said Harihar Poudel, chief of Birgunj Customs Office. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The local administration had imposed prohibitory order in Birgunj from April 29 as part of measures to contain the outbreak of the second wave of coronavirus. Vehicles have remained off the road due to the ban. Though the government has said that there will not be any restriction on imports, it's not the case at the customs point. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The Customs Office said that the import of petroleum products has declined due to the restrictions on public transportation. Likewise, new vehicles have also not received clearance from the customs office. “As the import of these two major items has declined, the revenue collection has also gone down," said Poudel.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">Similarly, imports of raw materials, construction materials and equipment have also fallen. Since many development projects have been stalled, the import of construction materials has also dwindled. However, food items, medicines, raw materials and other essential items are being imported without any obstructions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">Although the ban did not have much effect on imports and exports in the first few days, the foreign trade started to decline after other districts enforced prohibitory orders. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The prohibitory order is in the third week in Kathmandu Valley along with other cities which are considered to be the major hubs for production, manufacturing and supplies. With the extension of prohibitory order, its impact is being directly felt in the supply chain. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13145', 'image' => '20210516024759_20210118020708_1610926784.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 14:45:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13399', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' MoUs Signed for Construction of Tunnels under Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: The Nepalese Army (NA) has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) for tunnel construction of two packages of Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 16: The Nepalese Army (NA) has signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) for tunnel construction of two packages of Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the NA signed contracts with China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited for package 1 and Poly Chyangda Engineering Company Limited for package 2 of the tunnel. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">NA spokesperson Brigadier General Santosh Ballav Poudel shared that the first package is worth Rs 21 billion 610 million while the budget of the second package is Rs 28 billion 530 million. There will be one tunnel in the first package and two short tunnels in the second package, RSS further reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The MoU to this effect was signed by project chief of the Kathmandu-Terai Fast Track and Brigadier General Bikas Pokahrel on behalf of the project and Executive Director Xu Yan for package 1 and Project Manager Xhu Taniagyu Barbara for package 2. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Spokesperson Poudel said the MoUs were signed in line with the Public Procurement Act 2063 and Regulation 2064 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As per the MoU, the contractor was provided six months for design and three years for the construction. Out of the 11 clusters developed by the NA to complete the project within the stipulated time, MoUs have been signed to construct nine clusters, RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">However, the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives (HOR) had directed to scrap the project noting that the contract was against the preamble of Public Procurement Act. Following the committee’s directive, the NA had requested through the line ministry to reconsider its decision claiming that all works were being undertaken in a transparent manner. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">So far, the overall progress is reported to be 11.11 percent and the NA has set a target to reach 16.21 percent by the end of current fiscal year. The 72.5-km expressway with four lanes has the breadth of 25-meter in mountainous area and 27-meter in Terai area. The national pride project will also have a total 87 bridges. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13144', 'image' => '20210516122418_20170616052456_fast track nov 21.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 12:23:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13398', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' 18,000 Oxygen Cylinders Arrive at Tatopani Checkpoint ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 16: The China-aided 18,000 empty oxygen cylinders have arrived at Tatopani checkpoint in Sindhupalchowk district on Sunday, May 16. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 16: The China-aided 18,000 empty oxygen cylinders have arrived at Tatopani checkpoint in Sindhupalchowk district on Sunday, May 16. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to Ganesh Pandey, press coordinator to Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinator of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre Ishwor Pokharel, those cylinders will be brought in Kathmandu once the Chinese government hands them over to Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As Nepal has been under the grip of second wave of Covid-19, there has been high demand for oxygen cylinders to treat the infected people. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Earlier, 400 oxygen cylinders were flown to Nepal from China. Preparations are afoot to bring 1,600 remaining cylinders, out of 20,000, provided by China in grant assistance, informed Pandey. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Nepal Airlines Corporation’s wide-body aircraft, which had flown to China on Saturday, is bringing home 550 oxygen cylinders from China today itself. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-16', 'modified' => '2021-05-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13143', 'image' => '20210516121523_20210429095930_Medical-Oxygen-Gas-Cylinders-Market.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-16 12:14:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13397', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Nepal Airlines bringing oxygen cylinders from China, Oman', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)—the national flag carrier—is bringing oxygen cylinders from Beijing, the capital of China, and Muscat, the capital of Oman. ', 'content' => '<p>May 15: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)—the national flag carrier—is bringing oxygen cylinders from Beijing, the capital of China, and Muscat, the capital of Oman. <br /> The NAC A-330 wide body left for Muscat this morning to pick up 600 oxygen gas cylinders to be received from Oman in assistance. The Non Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) and the Nepali Embassy in Oman had facilitated the assistance. The NAC aircraft will be returning from Muscat this evening. <br /> Similarly, the NAC wide body is scheduled to leave for Beijing at 11:00 pm today to bring medical assistance which also includes oxygen cylinders provided by the Government of China. Besides, preparation is on to bring eight oxygen concentrators from China. The government plans to send the NAC wide body to China on May 15, 16 and 17 to bring 550 oxygen cylinders per each flight amidst the raging Covid-19 crisis. <br /> -<strong><em>-RSS </em></strong><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-15', 'modified' => '2021-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13142', 'image' => '20210515051633_NAC Widebody.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-15 17:15:04', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => true, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13396', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Social Security Fund providing Covid-19 treatment cost to its contributors ', 'sub_title' => ' SSF bearing up to Rs 80,000 out of total treatment expenses of Rs 100,000 ', 'summary' => 'Social Security Fund (SSF) is providing treatment cost for Covid-19 to its contributors.', 'content' => '<p>May 15: Social Security Fund (SSF) is providing treatment cost for Covid-19 to its contributors. According to the SSF, it will bear treatment cost to its contributors if they are infected with coronavirus. </p> <p>Kapilmani Gyawali, Executive Director of the SSF, said that the Fund will provide treatment cost to its contributors for Covid-19 under its medical treatment, health and maternity protection scheme. However, the limit for the compensation will be Rs 80,000 out of total treatment cost of Rs 100,000, according to SSF’s executive director Gyawali. He said that the contributor should bear 20 percent of the total treatment expenses.</p> <p>"With the onset of the second wave of the pandemic, some contributors who were infected with coronavirus have already started claiming the compensation. We will gradually settle the claims", said Gyawali. </p> <p>Though the facility of direct discount of 80 percent of the total treatment cost up to the limit of Rs 100,000 is yet to be implemented, contributors should come to SSF to claim the compensation, according to Gyawali. He also said that the SSF is preparing to implement the facility of direct discount from the hospital from mid July. It has already signed agreement with 105 hospitals to provide such facility for the SSF contributors. </p> <p>The SSF has not halted the settlement of claims even during the pandemic, he said. According to the SSF, it has provided Rs 32 million in compensation to 1,567 contributors for 2,524 claims under its medical treatment, health and maternity protection scheme. </p> <p>Meanwhile, there has not been any decline in the number of employers and contributors signing up for the SSF even during Covid-19. According to the SSF’s data, 13,845 employers have registered with the SSF as of Wednesday to list a total of 202,353 employees in the Fund.</p> <p>The contributory-based SSF was launched in November 2018 to bring private and non-governmental sector workers under the social security net. Under the SSF scheme which has been made compulsory for private sector, 31 percent of a listed contributor’s basic salary—11 percent of employees’s salary along with 20 percent contribution from the employer—is deposited in the SSF every month. Such contributors are entitled to get benefits from medical treatment, health protection and maternity plan, accidents and disability plan, dependent family plan and old-age security plan of the SSF. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-15', 'modified' => '2021-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13141', 'image' => '20210515024244_Social Security Fund.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-15 14:40:08', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13395', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Budget will focus on combating Covid-19, says Finance Minister Paudel ', 'sub_title' => 'Finance Minister Paudel approves Rs 58.32 million to three hospitals for the installment of oxygen plant and pipeline as the first decision after reappointment to the post ', 'summary' => 'Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel has said that the government is preparing to introduce a budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2021/22 that focuses on combating the Covid-19. ', 'content' => '<p>May 15: Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Paudel has said that the government is preparing to introduce a budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2021/22 that focuses on combating the Covid-19. </p> <p>Assuming the office on Friday after getting reappointed as Finance Minister, he said that the government would mobilize all available resources to address the crisis caused by the pandemic. <br /> He said that the preparation of the budget for the upcoming fiscal year has reached the final stage. </p> <p>The budget would address the current health crisis as well as revive the economy hit by the pandemic, Finance Minister Paudel said. He also expressed his commitment to ensure resources to ramp up Covid-19 tests and provide treatment to all patients. </p> <p>Finance Minister Paudel will table the budget in the federal parliament on May 29 as per a provision in the constitution. </p> <p>Meanwhile, Finance Minister Paudel approved a decision to release Rs 58.32 million to Dadeldhura Hospital, Patan Academy of Health Sciences and Bheri Hospital for the installment of oxygen plant and pipeline, according to a statement issued by the MoF. </p> <p>Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, after getting reappointed on Thursday as the leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives, had expanded his cabinet on Friday after taking oath of office from President Bidya Devi Bhandari. He had reappointed 22 ministers and three state ministers including Paudel and assigned them the same portfolio that they had held in the previous cabinet. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-15', 'modified' => '2021-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13140', 'image' => '20210515114522_Bishnu Paudel.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-15 11:40:06', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13393', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA to follow its previous decision to collect dues of dedicated feeder, trunk line from industries', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to implement its previous decision on recovering outstanding dues from industries for using electricity from dedicated feeders and trunkline lines,', 'content' => '<p>May 14: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to implement its previous decision on recovering outstanding dues from industries for using electricity through dedicated feeders and trunk lines, ignoring an instruction issued by the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC). <br /> A meeting of NEA's board of directors held recently decided to collect the outstanding dues as per its earlier decision.</p> <p>In the month of February, NEA had decided to collect electricity dues from the industrialists by mid-July. It had warned industrialists of slapping a penalty if they fail to settle it by mid July.</p> <p>However, on April 4, PAC directed the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) through the Ministry of Energy to collect the outstanding electricity dues from the industrialists within a month.</p> <p>Ignoring the PAC directive, NEA now wants to collect the tariffs as per its earlier decision, citing the impact of pandemic on businesses and industries. NEA has also sent a letter to the PAC seeking another favorable instruction from the parliamentary committee considering the adverse impacts of current pandemic and subsequent prohibitory orders imposed by local administrations. </p> <p>Rameshwor Poudel, an ex-officio member in the NEA board, said that the board meeting decided to implement its previous decision related to the settlement of outstanding dues from industrialists for using electricity from trunkline and dedicated feeders due to the pandemic. </p> <p>"The PAC had asked to collect the dues within a month. We had to comply with the parliamentary committee’s instruction. But, recent prohibitory orders imposed to control the second wave of coronavirus have hit industries,” said Poudel. “In such a case, the implementation of the PAC directive was going to become difficult. So, we were compelled to act according to the previous decision made by the board," he said. </p> <p>Poudel said NEA will act in a way that will not further affect the industries which have already been hit hard by the pandemic. “But, if the PAC again issues us a directive to collect the dues within a month (mid June), we will act accordingly,” he added. </p> <p><br /> There is a long dispute between industrialists and the NEA over the settlement of dues for using electricity from dedicated feeders and trunk lines. </p> <p>Earlier on July 21, the PAC had formed a sub-committee led by lawmaker Minendra Rijal to look into the issue of dedicated electricity tariff. Based on the report, the PAC, on April 4, instructed the government to collect all dues within a month. There was a total of Rs 10.14 billion outstanding dues that industrialists owe to the NEA. <br /> NEA had supplied electricity to industries through dedicated feeder and trunk lines by charging a premium of 65 percent in the electricity tariffs. The NEA, which did not have authority to fix tariff, had got approval of its tariff rates from the then Electricity Tariff Fixation Commission in February 2016. <br /> Industrialists are at odds with the NEA over the tariffs that NEA has fixed prior to the approval from the Commission. </p> <p>Some industrialists even claim that the NEA has billed them for the electricity that their industries did not use during the load shedding.<br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-14', 'modified' => '2021-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13138', 'image' => '20210514031053_NEA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-14 15:08:27', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13392', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banks limit their operation to five essential services during prohibitory period ', 'sub_title' => ' Urging people to use digital banking, banks limit their services to cash withdrawal, deposit of cash, fund transfer (cheque/ IPS/ RTGS), remittance payment and international trade ', 'summary' => 'Nepal Bankers' Association (NBA) has said that commercial banks will now provide only five services to their clients. ', 'content' => '<p>May 14: Nepal Bankers' Association (NBA) has said that commercial banks will now provide only five services to their clients. </p> <p>Issuing a statement on Thursday, NBA—the umbrella organization of commercial banks—said that its members will offer only five essential banking services to the public during the prohibitory period. </p> <p>The decision to limit services to the public through their offices or branches is aimed at avoiding crowd in banks and curbing risks of coronavirus infection, according to the statement. </p> <p>Bank services will now be limited to cash withdrawal, deposit of cash, fund transfer (cheque/ IPS/ RTGS), remittance payment and international trade. Banks have also set a minimum limit for the cash deposit. Only cash above Rs 50,000 will be deposited in bank branches, according to the NBA.</p> <p>However, the NBA also said that clients can make phone call to their respective branch if they urgently need any other services. </p> <p>Urging people to embrace digital banking services in line with the government’s request to stay at home during the prohibitory period, NBA also said that they can make phone call or email to their respective banks if they face any problem or require any assistance for online or mobile banking transactions. </p> <p>All ATMs and call centers will remain open as usual, according to the NBA. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-14', 'modified' => '2021-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13137', 'image' => '20210514124201_NBA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-14 12:37:52', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13389', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'KP Sharma Oli reappointed as Nepal’s PM after three days of losing vote of confidence in parliament ', 'sub_title' => ' President Bhandari scheduled to administer oath of office to PM Oli on Friday ', 'summary' => 'After three days of losing vote of cofidence in the House of Representatives, CPN (UML) Chairman KP Sharma Oli has been appointed as the Prime Minister of the country again. ', 'content' => '<p>May 13: After three days of losing vote of confidence in the House of Representatives, CPN (UML) Chairman KP Sharma Oli has been appointed as the Prime Minister of the country again. <br /> President Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed Oli as the Prime Minister as per the Article 76 (3) of the constitution after nobody laid a claim to the post to form the majority government, according to a notice issued by the Office of the President. </p> <p>Though the President Bhandari had given political parties until Thursday (9 PM) to form the majority government as per the the Article 76 (2) of the constitution, there was no claim for the post of Prime Minister. </p> <p>Oli became the new Prime Minister based on the Article 76 (3) which allows the President the authority to appoint the leader of the party with the highest number of members in the House of Representatives as the Prime Minister if the majority government could not be formed. </p> <p>This is Oli’s third stint as the Prime Minister. President Bhandari is scheduled to administer oath of office to Prime Minister Oli tommorrow, according to a source at the Office of President. The Prime Minister will now have to receive the vote of confidence of the House of Representatives within 30 days.</p> <p>Earlier on Monday, President Bhandari had called any member of the House to claim majority in the parliament with the support of two or more than two parties by Thursday to get appointed as the new Prime Minister of the country. </p> <p>Though the Nepali Congress, the main opposition party, initially showed its interest to form the majority government, it abandoned the plan on Thursday after concluding that it would fail to garner enough votes from other political parties. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-13', 'modified' => '2021-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13134', 'image' => '20210513114158_20200307030714_Clipboard04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-13 23:39:11', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13388', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'AI Calls for Urgent Action in South Asia to Combat Deadly COVID-19 Surge ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 13: Amnesty International has drawn the attention of governments across South Asia to immediately address healthcare shortages and urgently strengthen their healthcare systems to respond to the rapid surge of COVID-19 cases in the region.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">May 13: Amnesty International has drawn the attention of governments across South Asia to immediately address healthcare shortages and urgently strengthen their healthcare systems to respond to the rapid surge of COVID-19 cases in the region.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">With India and Nepal’s healthcare systems reaching breaking point, the human rights organization expressed its concern over the lack of preparedness of other countries in the region for the virus’s latest and most deadly wave. Extremely low vaccination rates across South Asia have also left the region highly vulnerable, with pressing action needed at the global level to ensure more equitable access to vaccines, AI said in a statement on Thursday (May 13).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">“The human catastrophe that is unfolding in India and Nepal should be a warning to other countries in the region to invest heavily in surge capacity for an emergency response. The virus is spreading and transcending borders at a frightening speed and will continue to hit the region’s most marginalized populations hardest of all,” said Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s Asia- Pacific Director.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">“We are at a critical point. Fewer than one in ten of the region’s population has been vaccinated. The decisions taken by governments in South Asia and across the world in the coming days and weeks will be crucial in mitigating the human cost of this latest surge.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">South Asia, home to a quarter of the world’s population, is fast becoming the new global epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, AI further said. On May 6, India reported more than 400,000 new cases in one day, taking its total tally of confirmed cases to 21.5 million, though this is likely to be a significant underestimate. As the disease ravages India, several south Asian nations are also facing a resurgence of cases.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Nepal, which shares a porous border with India, has already started to experience a massive spike in infections. According to WHO figures, daily cases increased 30-fold from 303 to 9,317, or an increase of 2,975 percent, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">between April 12 and May 12</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">. On Tuesday, Nepal recorded another 9,317 cases, bringing its total to 413,111, the statement added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">With India stopping exports of oxygen, Nepal is struggling to find alternative supplies. To make matters worse, Nepal is also in the midst of political upheaval, with its Prime Minister having lost a vote of confidence and parties failing to form a government.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">“We have seen how shortages of oxygen, hospital beds, human resources and essential medicines pushed the already under-resourced healthcare response of India over the edge. Now a similar worrying trend is emerging in Nepal,” said Yamini Mishra.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">“This is not the time for Nepal’s politicians to indulge in political wrangling and infighting. What the country needs right now is unity and leadership to address the growing crisis.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Amnesty International also called on the international community to show solidarity and fulfil its human rights obligations to provide cooperation and assistance, by providing lifesaving medical tools and removing legal uncertainties and barriers that may impede the production and supply of vaccines as the disease continues to ravage the region.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-13', 'modified' => '2021-05-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13133', 'image' => '20210513054416_q6EertLN_400x400 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-13 17:43:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13387', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NIBL, Himalayan Bank Announce Merger with a Prospect of Forming the Biggest Commercial Bank ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 13: Nepal Investment Bank Limited (NIBL) and Himalayan Bank Limited (HBL) have announced their merger.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">May 13: Nepal Investment Bank Limited (NIBL) and Himalayan Bank Limited (HBL) have announced their merger with the “intention” of strengthening the banking sector of Nepal in line with Nepal Rastra Bank’s (NRB) Merger and Acquisition Policy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Issuing a joint statement on Thursday, the two commercial banks said they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the merger. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the statement, Chairman of Nepal Investment Bank Prithvi Bahadur Pandé and the Chairman of Himalayan Bank Tulsi Prasad Gautam signed the MoU on Thursday, May 13. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">This development has officially paved the way to complete formalities before the process of the start of joint operations between the two commercial banks, added the statement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After the merger, the banks will be known with the name “Himalayan and Nepal Investment Bank Ltd”. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Prithvi Bahadur Pandé will retain the post of the bank’s chairman while Ashoke SJB Rana will be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Similarly, after the merger, the board members will be comprised of three members each from both the banks and also an independent member for a total of seven board members.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In the joint statement, the two banks claimed that the new entity after merger will be the biggest commercial bank in the history of the Nepalese banking industry. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">At present, the paid-up capital of Nepal Investment Bank stands at Rs 16.26 billion whereas Himalayan Bank’s paid-up capital amounts to Rs 10.68 billion. After the merger the combined paid-up capital of the banks will reach a staggering Rs 26.14 billion making it the bank with the highest paid-up capital in the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Similarly, combining the assets, loans and deposits of both banks will elevate the bank into unparalleled heights, added the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The joint statement further said that the bank will hope to retain the confidence of its stakeholders and shareholders through this major development and also continue to provide exemplary services to its clients post–merger.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-13', 'modified' => '2021-05-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13132', 'image' => '20210513053131_1620903534.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-13 17:30:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13386', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Prepares for Full Implementation of One-Door System in Foreign Trade', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 13: The government is preparing to fully implement a one-door system to promote transparency and automation of foreign trade. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">May 13: The government is preparing to fully implement a one-door system to promote transparency and automation of foreign trade. The Department of Customs has connected all the concerned bodies to Nepal National One-Door System to make import-export paperless.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Surya Sedhai, director of the One-Door System Project Implementation Unit, said that the government will facilitate foreign trade by linking 40 bodies and concerned parties with each other.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The system was inaugurated on January 25 on the occasion of the International Customs Day. Sedhai informed that they have intensified the work of linking all the concerned bodies in this system.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Initially, the Food and Quality Control Department, Department of Livestock Services, Plant Quarantine and Pesticide Management Center were included in the system. Lately, a memorandum of understanding has been signed with Nepal Rastra Bank and private sector organizations to bring them under a one-door system.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The government has also reached an agreement with the </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries, Nepal Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Nepal Handicrafts to integrate them into the system. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">“These organizations issue certificates of origin in the export process. It has been agreed to provide such certificate through online medium,” Sedhai informed New Business Age.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">A one-door system has been introduced to connect all service providers and service seekers related to import and export through online medium. The process of developing infrastructure work was started from 2019. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The full implementation of this system was scheduled for 2021/22 but it has been affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.</span></span> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The trial of this system was scheduled for last November which had to be put off due to the pandemic. The full implementation of the system has now been slated for upcoming November.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">According to the department, import and export permits, banking process, revenue payment, customs clearance among others will be completed via online platform in this system. Since all the required processes will be done online by importers as well as the government and private bodies, it is expected to foster transparency, says Shyam Prasad Bhandari, coordinator of the project implementation unit.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">The department says it is focused on trade facilitation, increasing efficiency in revenue collection and making social security effective through the one-door system. The one-door customs clearance is an electronic platform designed to facilitate all stakeholders. This allows all parties involved in international trade and transit to submit documents and information from a single entry point.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Customs officials claim that there will be no direct contact between the service provider and the service seekers once the system becomes fully operational. This will save time and cost of trade. Likewise, the hassle of going to various agencies to get documents for import and export will also come to an end.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-13', 'modified' => '2021-05-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13131', 'image' => '20210513050933_20200421011816_1587419377.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-13 17:08:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, '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
