April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest.…
April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest.…
April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential…
April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final…
April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process.…
In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity.…
April 21: Bank (NRB) has issued a public notice stating the transaction of the fourth edition of Riyal, the currency of Qatar, will not be allowed after May 10.…
April 20: The Melamachi Water Supply Project (MWSP) has finally started distributing water at full capacity of 170 million liters per day in the Kathmandu Valley from…
April 20: The Department of Electricity Development (DOED) has so far issued permits for the development of 17 solar plants.…
April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to provide uninterrupted service by adopting safety measures against the second wave of Covid-19…
April 20: The Airline Operators' Association of Nepal (AAON) has increased the airfare of all domestic flights following the rise in price of aviation fuel.…
April 20: The government has issued new directives to contain Covid-19 pandemic following a surge in the rate of infection across the country.…
April 19: As the second wave of the coronavirus is spreading across the globe, industries that produce sacks in Nepal have been facing shortage of raw…
April 19: Due to recent surge in COVID-19 cases in India and its impact on import business, the automobile business in Nepal has come to a “complete halt” this year.…
April 19: Buddha Air, a leading private airlines company in Nepal, has decided to operate inter-province flights from its base in…
April 19: Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector has been contributing Rs 77.16 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Parliamentarians attending a meeting of the Finance Committee under the House of Representatives on Wednesday asked the government to pay attention to the quality of NT service and its expansion to rural areas lacking its services. On the occasion, the parliamentarians held discussions with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on the budget implementation situation for the current fiscal year, 2020/21 and preparations for budget for the next FY, 2021/22. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Lawmaker Shyam Kumar Shrestha stressed the need for the expansion of 4G services to the reach of all people and the transformation of postal service into courier service. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Committee Chair Krishna Prasad Dahal suggested the government to introduce next policies and programmes that should provide job opportunities to information technology engineers at home, thus stopping brain drain. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Secretary at the ministry Hari Prasad Basyal said that the ministry was at work to complete a framework for making Nepal digital and it has been prioritised in budget for the next FY. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13052', 'image' => '20210422124335_20200326081545_NTC-launches-4G-in-Rara-Lake.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:43:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Traffic Police Creating Obstruction in Transportation of Daily Essentials ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential goods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential goods. This has affected the supply of essential goods since a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the lockdown period, vehicles carrying daily essential goods like lentils, rice, vegetables, milk, fish, and meat were allowed to run smoothly from six in the morning to eight in the evening.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> “But the traffic police have allowed such vehicles to operate from 11am in the morning to 4pm in the day since the last one month,” says Durga Raj Shrestha, president of Nepal Distributors Association. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“It is not appropriate to obstruct vehicles of daily consumer goods. This is an injustice to the consumers,” he adds.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Citing that the heavy vehicles have added traffic problems on the roads, Traffic Police have not allowed to run heavy vehicles. This has compelled traders to transport goods on small vehicles. Small vehicles can contain less volume of goods and require additional workers. This in turn has led to an increase in the cost from 5 percent to 10 percent. According to the traders, the increase in cost is adjusted by increasing the price of goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The Department of Commerce and Supply Management, which should have been involved in facilitating the supply system, is unaware about this obstruction. The Department is trying to avoid this issue saying it is the responsibility of the Department of Transport Management and Traffic Police.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Gogan Bahadur Hamal, Director General of DoTM, said the transporters should also support in traffic management and reducing overcrowding during COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Traffic Police however, are not ready to agree with the transporters. Shyam Adhikari, SP of Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, says vehicles carrying essential items like milk, medicine are allowed in the morning as well and vehicles carrying lentils, rice, noodles, biscuit are prohibited in the morning time and allowed in the day. He said that such provisions have been introduced to cope with the increasing traffic problems. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13051', 'image' => '20210422122414_20190410102147_ICP-Birgunj-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:23:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13305', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Railway in Final Stage of Preparations for Operation its Trains', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final stage.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria">April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final stage. The train engines purchase by the company is in parking lot since the last seven months. Guru Bhattarai, general manager of the company, informed that the company is preparing to bring the trains into operation within April.<br /> General Manager Bhattarai said that 100 employees and technicians are getting training to operate the trains. According to him, officials of the Konkan Railway Corporation of India have already arrived in Janakpur for the training.<br /> The company is managing the staff and technicians after the recruitment process of the Public Service Commission was canceled. The company had earlier announced vacancy for 129 employees on a contract basis on September 20.<br /> According to General Manager Bhattarai, the training will last for two weeks. However, the date for operating the trains has been repeatedly pushed back.<br /> Bhattarai said that the company is preparing to operate the train within April. However, there is still confusion as coronavirus infection is on the rise again. "There may be delays due to coronavirus, but preparations for the operation of the trains have reached the final stage," he said.<br /> Nepal had purchased two trains with five coaches from the Indian Konkan Railway Corporation Company for Rs 856.5 million exclusives of the customs duties.<br /> The Jayanagar-Janakpur-Bardiwas railway line under construction with the assistance of the Government of India is 69 kilometers long. In the first phase, the train will run along the 34 km section of Jayanagar-Janakpur route.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13050', 'image' => '20210421044248_20190325112130_Clipboard43-5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 16:41:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Committee Concerned Over Low Capital Spending of Infrastructure Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In order to find permanent solution to the weak budget implementation, waning capital spending and sluggish infrastructure development works, the Finance Committee this time has demanded updates from the leadership of all ministries on the status and challenges of budget implementation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Committee Chairperson Krishna Prasad Dahal shared that the committee held pre-budget discussion with the leadership of ministries related to development to address weak status of budget implementation despite directives from the parliamentary committees and the government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The ministries concerned had voiced their complaints before the committee that the challenges surfaced in the budget implementation due to deficit in coordination among the organizational structures of the three tiers of government, shortfall of human resource, hassles in public procurement work procedure and a long process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As informed it was disappointing that no ministry has so far exceeded 30 percent in its capital spending in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">On the occasion, Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MOFAGA) Ek Narayan Aryal shared that the ministry has witnessed an overall spending progress of 17.5 percent towards recurrent and 22.6 percent towards capital spending as of mid-April, 2021. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chair Dahal said, "Trends prevailed in the areas of capital spending and infrastructure development three years ago is still the same. There are some problems in public procurement act which has complicated our development process. As the work procedure has to be framed within mid-September for programme implementation, there are several instances when many have not yet placed it." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In a bid to improve weaknesses through annual policy and programme and budget, the parliament and parliamentary committee have been holding pre-budget discussions. The finance committee last year held pre-budget consultations with stakeholders, including local citizens, private sector and officials of province and local governments, in 11 different parts of the country beyond Kathmandu Valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The pre-budget discussion for the fiscal year 2021/22 budget was put off due to outbreak of coronavirus. This year the finance committee invited the leadership of ministries directly connected to the development and infrastructure at its meeting for pre-budget discussion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Informing about the status of budget implementation and transfer as of mid-April, Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yadav Koirala shared the ministry has made a physical progress of 60 percent and financial progress of 40 percent towards capital spending and 50 percent towards recurrent spending. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Finance Committee secretary Surendra Aryal said, "Just blaming coroanvirus and untimely budget was one thing but there was no visible reform. Based on the analysis of fiscal anarchy and pile up of arrears, the share of 10 ministries is around 90 percent. These ministries have also occupied a big chunk of capital spending." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The committee has so far received updates from leadership of the Ministries related to Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Urban, Energy, Hydropower and Irrigation, Drinking Water, Federal Affairs and General Administration, Finance, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Agriculture and Livestock on the issues and challenges of budget implementation, physical infrastructure development and status of capital spending. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The committee is making preparation to issue necessary directives to the ministries for policy, legal and structural reforms and management of human resource as well as to make them accountable following the completion of consultations. --RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13049', 'image' => '20210421015306_20200415120726_1586905834.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 13:52:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Popular Cars in Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><em>Rebati Adhikari</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. However, due to their limited routes, public transport is not properly managed yet. Easy accessibility and safety are still the major problems of public transport. Inefficient public transportation has led to high number of people opting for personal vehicles. Social distancing rules introduced after the emergence of coronavirus has further made the public feel private vehicles to be a necessity. Despite the higher rate of tax on private vehicles – 80 percent customs duty, the purchase of private cars has not declined. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In this context, New Business Age has enlisted some of the highest selling car brands and their models in the country. According to Automobiles Association of Nepal, Maruti Suzuki, Tata, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Ford are some of the popular car brands in the country. Highest selling models of these brands are given below:</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Maruti Suzuki</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/marutisuzuki-vitara-brezza-right-front-three-quarter3.jpeg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Maruti Suzuki is one of the highest selling car brands in the country. Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza leads the SUV segment sales, while Celerio is popular in hatchback segment and Eco van is third on the list of highest selling cars. According to Anup Kumar Baral, managing director at Narayani Auto Business Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer of Maruti Suzuki cars in the country, Vitara Brezza is a trouble-free SUV car. Due to the higher resale value and easy availability of spare parts with maximum service station, Maruti SUV leads the sales. According to him, Vitara Breza is also one of the highest selling SUVs from the brand. Vitara Brezza comes in a price range starting from Rs 4.4 million, while Celerio has a starting price range from Rs 2.5 million and Eco van is priced at Rs 1.3 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Tata</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/tata.jpg" style="height:442px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Tata is another popular car brand in the country with Nexon registering highest sales. “The foremost thing that puts Nexon on the lead is the safety it offers,” says Shawant Jung Sijapati, deputy general manager at Sipradi Trading Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer for Tata motors in the country. Nexon is India's first car to get five star rating in Global NCAP crash test by having seat belt reminder for passenger and driver in all variants of the brand. Its style is other quality that attracts drivers towards it. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It provides ground clearance of 209 mm and offer multi drive mode –city, eco and sports modes. Mileage and power vary according to driving modes. Eco mode offers more mileage, sport mode offers more power while city mode offers both mileage and power. Other major specifications of Nexon include 7" Harman Infotainment System, projector headlamp, dual airbags. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Launched in 2018 in Nepal, more than 2000 units have already been sold. It comes in prices ranging from Rs 4.35 million to Rs 5.25 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Hyundai</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Hyundai.jpeg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Hyundai Creta has recorded highest sale in individual SUV segment while Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS leads sale in Grand hatchback segment. Grand i10 NIOS is the improvised version of Grand i10. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“It is the premium car in the entry-level offered in hatchback segment,” says Sandeep Sharma, marketing head at Laxmi Intercontinental Pvt Ltd. Sharma also says that contemporary designs of the car, service network, high resale value are some of the major reasons for being top selling car in the country. Projector headlamps and fog lamps, body coloured bumpers, chrome door handles, blacked out B-pillar and window line give it the best contemporary look. It also comes with passenger and driver dual airbags, front seat belt pretensioner, rear parking sensors providing additional protection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Other features that come with Grand i10 NIOS are its 20.25 cm touchscreen Infotainment system, 13.46 cm digital speedometer, driver rear view monitor, automatic temperature control, bench folding rear seat. It is available in three variants - Magna, Magna AMT, Sportz. Magna is priced at Rs 3.15 million and Magna AMT and Sports are priced at Rs 3.45 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Volkswagen </em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/polo.jpg" style="height:530px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It has been ten years since Volkswagen Polo has been launched and more than 5,000 units have been sold since then. Polo 1.0 TSI is the latest model in the Polo segment. Bishal Ghimire, business head at Pooja International Nepal Private Limited, the authorized dealer of Volkswagen in the country said, the there has been no ups and down in performance of the vehicle since the launch. It provides consistency in terms of performance. Customers who have understood about the value for the money, stability of the vehicle go for Volkswagen Polo, says Ghimire. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Resale value, four-stars safety rating, design, highway stability put VW Polo in the highest selling car list. It price ranges from Rs 3.09 million to Rs 4.75 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Ford</strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/ford_ecos.jpg" style="height:533px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Launched in 2013, Ford EcoSport gives the best value for money starting from the price Rs 3.69 million to Rs 5.09 million. The built-in quality, rider handling, highway stability, driving dynamics of Ford EcoSport has succeeded in retaining the customers, says Binay Shrestha, showroom manager of Ford Thapathali. According to Shrestha, it is a trendsetter in sub-compact SUV segment. Capacity sensors, sunroof, six airbags are introduced for the first time in this segment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It provides 200 mm of ground clearance and 1500 cc engine generating power of 122ps. Petrol engine EcoSport is available in five variants. Of them, Trend M/T and Titanium M/T variants are more popular in the market. Features may vary depending on the variants. Titanium offers Hill-launch Assist, electronic stability control, electronic brake assist, sunglass holder, smart electric sunroof while Trend has rear wiper, defogger, automatic AC, reverse parking area.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13048', 'image' => '20210421014512_20160905121337_nada.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 13:44:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13302', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Urges Concerned Parties to Exchange Qatar’s Currency before May 10 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: Bank (NRB) has issued a public notice stating the transaction of the fourth edition of Riyal, the currency of Qatar, will not be allowed after May 10. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Times">April 21: Bank (NRB) has issued a public notice stating the transaction of the fourth edition of Riyal, the currency of Qatar, will not be allowed after May 10. The central bank has also urged the concerned parties and individuals to convert Riyal from the Banking Department of NRB before May 10. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:Times">The NRB made such appeal following a decision by the central bank of Qatar to demonetize its old currency notes effective from July 1. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Times">The banknotes can also be exchanged from licensed banks and financial institutions as well as licensed money changers dealing in convertible foreign currency, added the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Times">A large number of Nepali migrant workers are employed in Qatar and therefore the central bank has issued the notice for the convenience of the workers.</span></span></span><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13047', 'image' => '20210421122523_Buy-Qatari-Riyal-Online.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 12:23:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13301', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Melamchi Project Starts Distributing Water at Full Capacity', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The Melamachi Water Supply Project (MWSP) has finally started distributing water at full capacity of 170 million liters per day in the Kathmandu Valley from Monday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 20: The Melamachi Water Supply Project (MWSP) has finally started distributing water at full capacity of 170 million liters per day in the Kathmandu Valley from Monday. This is the first time in three weeks since the distribution of water from Melamchi that the project has started distributing at full capacity. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Issuing a press release, Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee (MDWDC) informed that water from Sundarijal has come to Kathmandu at full capacity. Although the distribution of water begun from March 28, the distribution of water started at full capacity only from April 19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From now on, 250 million liters of water will be distributed daily in the Kathmandu Valley. Apart from 170 million liters of water from Melamchi, the project has been producing 80 million liters of water internally through deep tube well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the testing phase, the project had distributed 80 million liters of water which was gradually increased by operating both of the water processing centers in Sundarijal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Melamchi water had arrived in Sundarijal on February 22 during the test phase. The water was processed in Sundarijal and was available for distribution partially. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The MWSP expects to end the acute water shortage problem of the valley. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13046', 'image' => '20210420041320_20210212111048_20200317114243_Melamchi 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 16:12:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13300', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '17 Solar Plants Receive Permits for Generating Energy in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The Department of Electricity Development (DOED) has so far issued permits for the development of 17 solar plants. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 20: The Department of Electricity Development (DOED) has so far issued permits for the development of 17 solar plants. It has given permission to construct 17 solar plants with the capacity to produce 110.47 MW of energy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The department had given approval for the construction of Butwal Solar Plant in 2019. Rihi Hydropower Company was the first to receive the permission from the department to set up Butwal Solar Plant in the country. Since then, other 16 solar plants have received permits for the construction.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Among the recipients of the permits, majority of the companies are privately owned. Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had got the permit to build three solar plants with a capacity to produce 14.77 MW of energy each. Besides the NEA, all others are private companies. NEA is building 25 MW of solar plant in Nuwakot. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Though 17 solar projects have got a green signal to start the construction from the department, only three solar plants have come into operation so far. The 10MW Mithila Solar Plant, 8.5 MW Butwal Solar Plant and 11 MW Solar Plant of NEA are currently in operation. Meanwhile, a 0.68 MW plant of Kathmandu Valley Drinking Water Limited and 1MW plant of Surya Power Company in Nawalparasi are also already in operation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Chandranighapur Surya Project with the capacity of 4MW built by API Power Company will come online within this month. Electricity generated from this project will be connected to NEA’s 33KV transmission line.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Nabin Raj Singh, Director General of DOED, said the solar plant license is valid for 25 years. After that, the plant’s ownership is shifted to the government. He said lately, energy entrepreneurs are attracted to solar energy. It is cheaper to construct solar plant than hydropower plants while the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) rate is also high.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">However the challenge in the construction of solar plants. They can’t be built anywhere and the land rent is quite high. On top of that, access to transmission line is not available everywhere. Yet, attraction towards solar plants is encouraging. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13045', 'image' => '20210420035841_solar-syst.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 15:57:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13299', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Directs Banks to Stay Highly Alert Against Covid-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to provide uninterrupted service by adopting safety measures against the second wave of Covid-19 infection.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to provide uninterrupted service by adopting safety measures against the second wave of Covid-19 infection. The central bank issued a notice on Monday, April 19, instructing banks to be cautious about the spreading of infection.<br /> <br /> NRB has directed the banks to follow the health safety protocols of issued by the Government of Nepal and the World Health Organization to reduce the risk of virus transmission among bank employees and customers. The central bank has asked the BFIs to provide service to the customers by being cautious and maintaining physical distance. The central bank has suggested BFIs to provide electronic service as much as possible.<br /> <br /> Banks also have been requested to provide sanitizers and tissue paper at ATMs and maintain proper ventilation to reduce the risk of infection from their ATM booths. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Likewise, NRB has directed the banks to ensure physical distance and conduct programs such as meetings, seminars, and training virtually. NRB also suggests taking measures such as remote access, work from home, working in shifts as per the need.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">NRB has also directed banks to update their contingency plan with a detailed action plan. The central bank has urged BFIs to follow the previous instructions on health protocol.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13044', 'image' => '20210420034241_20201106055408_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 15:42:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13298', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Airline Operators Hike Domestic Airfare', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The Airline Operators' Association of Nepal (AAON) has increased the airfare of all domestic flights following the rise in price of aviation fuel. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 20: The Airline Operators' Association of Nepal (AAON) has increased the airfare of all domestic flights following the rise in price of aviation fuel. The new airfare has come into effect from April 20.<br /> Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) had raised the price of aviation fuel by Rs 2. Earlier, the price of aviation was Rs 74 per liter. It has now been fixed at Rs 76 per liter.<br /> The AAON has fixed the new price by adjusting the fuel surcharge for flights in various sectors across the country.<br /> According to a press release issued by the association on April 19, the airfare of Kathmandu-Dhangadhi flight has grown by Rs 85 per ticket. Likewise, airfare of Doti-Sanfebgar has been raised by Rs 10 ticket.<br /> The fare of the Kathmandu-Bhairahawa route has been raised by Rs 45, and the Kathmandu-Nepalgunj route by Rs 65. Likewise, the airfare of Kathmandu-Biratnagar flights has been increased by Rs 50 per ticket and Kathmandu-Simara flights by Rs 15.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Likewise, airline companies have also increased the airfare of mountain flights. Airfare of mountain flights from Kathmandu and Pokhara has grown by Rs. 65 per ticket each.<br /> Earlier, the association had fixed the new fare on March 20. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13043', 'image' => '20210420015427_20201108022005_Reviving Nepali Aviation Sector Amid Pandemic_2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 13:53:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13297', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Issues Fresh Directives to Contain COVID-19 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The government has issued new directives to contain Covid-19 pandemic following a surge in the rate of infection across the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 20: The government has issued new directives to contain Covid-19 pandemic following a surge in the rate of infection across the country. The government adopted new measures after more than 1000 cases of daily infection were reported in recent days.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday (April 19) issued such directive in accordance to Clause (2) of the Infectious Disease Control Act, 1964. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As per the decision, the government has ordered people not to gather in large number and has also instructed the concerned authorities to strictly monitor cross-border movement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, the government has imposed a ban on cinema halls, party palaces, dance clubs and bars, health clubs, gyms, swimming pools, futsal, stadium and all types of public gatherings. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Unveiling the decisions taken by the cabinet, Government Spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Parbat Gurung said that schools, training centres and academic institutions have been instructed to run their classes virtually until mid-May in major cities. However, the government has given green signal to continue the prescheduled examinations of schools and colleges and all the practical examinations by adopting health safety measures. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Public vehicles have been ordered not to carry passengers more than their capacity. Only a limited number of passengers are allowed to travel on public vehicles on the basis of the vehicles' seating capacity. It is also mandatory to use of face mask and hand sanitizer for passengers, drivers and helpers of the vehicles. As per the cabinet decision, the public vehicles should be disinfected every day. Any passenger found not wearing masks will be fined Rs 10 for the violation. <br /> Likewise, the hotels and restaurants will be allowed to operate only from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm by applying health precautions and should provide home delivery service beyond the time fixed by the government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government has also restricted the gathering of more than 25 people in temples, mosques, monastery and churches, and other religious functions. Furthermore, prior approval from the local administration is expected for conducting social and religious functions at party palaces. </span></span></span><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13042', 'image' => '20210420111424_20210416115657_1618526412.12.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 11:13:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13296', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Sack Industry Declines due to Lack of Raw Materials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: As the second wave of the coronavirus is spreading across the globe, industries that produce sacks in Nepal have been facing shortage of raw materials.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">April 19: As the second wave of the coronavirus is spreading across the globe, industries that produce sacks in Nepal have been facing shortage of raw materials. Due to the lack of raw materials, the production capacity of these industries has been declining.<br /> There are around two dozen industries that produce sacks made of plastic, jute, and clothes in Nepal. The industries provide these bags to various factories such as the ones that produce grains and cement among others. At present, all these industries are facing shortage of raw materials. This has reduced the production capacity of all the industries by almost 50 percent.<br /> Sudip Jaiswal, proprietor of Pashupati Seal Pack Industry in Biratnagar, said that his industry has been facing problems in production of bags for the past two months due to lack of polypropylene. Nepal imports such raw materials from countries like Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and India.<br /> He said that there is a problem in importing raw materials due to the increasing rate of coronavirus infection in those countries in recent days. "First of all, even if there is no problem in getting the raw materials, it takes months to reach Nepal due to the delay in shipment," he said.<br /> Due to the shortage of raw material and lengthy import process, the price of sacks has gone up in the country. According to industrialists, the production cost has risen by 25 percent this year compared to last year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The price of sacks used for packing cement has gone up to Rs 19 from Rs 13. About 30 percent of the workers in such industries have lost their jobs due to the decline in production capacity.<br /> According to Nikhil Todi, proprietor of Shivam Plastic Industries, Nepali sack industries produce 5,000 metric tonnes of sacks per month. Of them, 40 percent of the bags are consumed in Nepal's domestic market, and the remaining 60 percent are exported to other countries, including India.<br /> Due to the decline in production capacity, the export market of these industries has also become uncertain. Likewise, due to the fall in production of sacks, industries that produce rice, pulses, flour, and cement have been facing shortage of bags, according to the industrialists.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-19', 'modified' => '2021-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13041', 'image' => '20210419044539_white-rice-sack-bag-isolated-260nw-709147009.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-19 16:44:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13295', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Automobile Business Comes to a ‘Grinding Halt’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Due to recent surge in COVID-19 cases in India and its impact on import business, the automobile business in Nepal has come to a “complete halt” this year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">April 19: Due to recent surge in COVID-19 cases in India and its impact on import business, the automobile business in Nepal has come to a “complete halt” this year. Entrepreneurs had expected that the auto business would gain momentum after the lockdown and restrictions were lifted but the sale has not been much encouraging. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The biggest auto sales take place in the country during the Nada Auto Show, which is held just before the Dashain festival. After that, New Year also contributes to major auto sales. Until two years ago, new models of vehicles used to be introduced in the country by mid-February. In the last two years, no such enthusiasm has been witnessed in the automobile industry. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Sunil Rijal, General Secretary of Nepal Automobiles Dealers Association (NADA), said sales of auto have not been encouraging due to lack of enough supply to meet the increasing demand. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nevertheless, auto sales affected since last year due to the outbreak of COVID-19 is picking up. Similarly, banks’ higher capacity of lending has also led to a higher demand for automobiles. “However, the volume of sales has not increased due to the obstruction in supply chain. There is high demand for vehicles because of less volume of import,” Rijal said, adding that the demand for vehicles has not gone up despite revival of economic activities.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Traders say that customers are more attracted towards private vehicles in the wake of Covid-19. There has not been any demand for public buses since the outbreak. Car brands like Suzuki, Tata, Mahindra, Hyundai among others have high demand but traders haven’t been able to import these brands on time. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Owner of Naryani Automobiles and Secretary of NADA Anup Kumar Baral said the delivery of old bookings for vehicles have gradually started. “If the automobile industry in India remains unaffected due to this new wave of coronavirus, we are hopeful that sales will pick up pace from this year,” he added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal’s automobile sector is dependent on Indian market. Most of the vehicle parts manufactured in India are imported from China. According to Indian media, rising conflict between India and China has led to shortage of vehicles parts in India. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-19', 'modified' => '2021-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13040', 'image' => '20210419042043_20150914010543_travel-map.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-19 16:20:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13294', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Buddha Air to Operate Inter-Province Flights from Pokhara', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Buddha Air, a leading private airlines company in Nepal, has decided to operate inter-province flights from its base in Pokhara.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">April 19: Buddha Air, a leading private airlines company in Nepal, has decided to operate inter-province flights from its base in Pokhara. The company will conduct test flights to four destinations from Gandaki, Lumbini and Bagmati provinces from Pokhara.<br /> Buddha Air will fly from Pokhara to Simara, Biratnagar, Nepalgunj, and from Bharatpur in Bagmati Province to Bhairahawa from Saturday, May 1. The company has been operating regular flights to these destinations from Kathmandu.<br /> The company has also fixed the airfare for the inter-province flights. The airfare for Pokhara-Biratnagar has been fixed between Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,800.<br /> Similarly, the Pokhara-Nepalgunj flight will cost a minimum of Rs 4,500 to a maximum of Rs 7,200. The airfare of the Pokhara-Simara flight will cost between Rs 4,300 to Rs 6,700, and the Pokhara-Bhairahawa flight will cost a minimum of Rs 3,100 to a maximum of Rs 3,900.<br /> Likewise, airfare for Tumlingtar-Biratganagar will vary from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,200 and Rs 2,500 to Rs 4,000 for the Bhairahawa-Bharatpur flight.<br /> The fare is based on the operating cost of ATR-72, said Birendra Bahadur Basnet, managing director of the company.<br /> However, the company informed that the flight to these destinations will start from May 1 by operating Beachcraft. The company has demanded that the provincial government and the federal government provide special facilities for inter-province flights.<br /> Basnet informed that the airline company is planning to buy an additional aircraft by May 15. Pokhara is the second-largest city after Kathmandu, and Buddha Air has adopted a strategy to make it a base for domestic flights.<br /> Basnet informed that the company has been following 'Safety Guidelines against Covid-19' since the outbreak of the pandemic. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-19', 'modified' => '2021-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13039', 'image' => '20210419032057_20210122113025_20200323123412_aaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-19 15:20:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13293', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ICT Sector Contributes 77.16 Million to Nepal's GDP', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector has been contributing Rs 77.16 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">April 19: Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector has been contributing Rs 77.16 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In an interaction held on Saturday by the Society of Economic Journalists of Nepal (SEJON) on the ‘Role of telecom sector in GDP’, Ishwori Bhandari, Director of CBS, said the contribution of ICT to GDP stands at Rs 77.16 billion. This accounts for 2.22 percent of the total GDP of the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to CBS, in the fiscal year 2019/20, broadcasting sector contributed 0.48 percent, telecommunication sector contributed 1.47 percent and ICT contributed to 2.22 percent to the GDP. In the program, Prof. Dr. Pushparaj Kandel, Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission said the contribution of this sector to the GDP is something to be proud of so ICT sector should also be developed as an industry. He said that ICT has been referred to as the driving force of economy in the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> Minister for Finance Bishnu Poudel said more improvements are necessary in the ICT sector to develop the country digitally and it will be prioritized in next year’s budget. The telecom sector of the country earns Rs 100 billion annually and provides employment to around 60,000 people. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-19', 'modified' => '2021-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13038', 'image' => '20210419022050_ict.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-19 14:19:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Parliamentary Committee Directs Govt to Resolve NTC Network Problems ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Parliamentarians attending a meeting of the Finance Committee under the House of Representatives on Wednesday asked the government to pay attention to the quality of NT service and its expansion to rural areas lacking its services. On the occasion, the parliamentarians held discussions with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on the budget implementation situation for the current fiscal year, 2020/21 and preparations for budget for the next FY, 2021/22. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Lawmaker Shyam Kumar Shrestha stressed the need for the expansion of 4G services to the reach of all people and the transformation of postal service into courier service. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Committee Chair Krishna Prasad Dahal suggested the government to introduce next policies and programmes that should provide job opportunities to information technology engineers at home, thus stopping brain drain. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Secretary at the ministry Hari Prasad Basyal said that the ministry was at work to complete a framework for making Nepal digital and it has been prioritised in budget for the next FY. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13052', 'image' => '20210422124335_20200326081545_NTC-launches-4G-in-Rara-Lake.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:43:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Traffic Police Creating Obstruction in Transportation of Daily Essentials ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential goods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential goods. This has affected the supply of essential goods since a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the lockdown period, vehicles carrying daily essential goods like lentils, rice, vegetables, milk, fish, and meat were allowed to run smoothly from six in the morning to eight in the evening.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> “But the traffic police have allowed such vehicles to operate from 11am in the morning to 4pm in the day since the last one month,” says Durga Raj Shrestha, president of Nepal Distributors Association. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“It is not appropriate to obstruct vehicles of daily consumer goods. This is an injustice to the consumers,” he adds.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Citing that the heavy vehicles have added traffic problems on the roads, Traffic Police have not allowed to run heavy vehicles. This has compelled traders to transport goods on small vehicles. Small vehicles can contain less volume of goods and require additional workers. This in turn has led to an increase in the cost from 5 percent to 10 percent. According to the traders, the increase in cost is adjusted by increasing the price of goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The Department of Commerce and Supply Management, which should have been involved in facilitating the supply system, is unaware about this obstruction. The Department is trying to avoid this issue saying it is the responsibility of the Department of Transport Management and Traffic Police.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Gogan Bahadur Hamal, Director General of DoTM, said the transporters should also support in traffic management and reducing overcrowding during COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Traffic Police however, are not ready to agree with the transporters. Shyam Adhikari, SP of Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, says vehicles carrying essential items like milk, medicine are allowed in the morning as well and vehicles carrying lentils, rice, noodles, biscuit are prohibited in the morning time and allowed in the day. He said that such provisions have been introduced to cope with the increasing traffic problems. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13051', 'image' => '20210422122414_20190410102147_ICP-Birgunj-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:23:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13305', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Railway in Final Stage of Preparations for Operation its Trains', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final stage.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria">April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final stage. The train engines purchase by the company is in parking lot since the last seven months. Guru Bhattarai, general manager of the company, informed that the company is preparing to bring the trains into operation within April.<br /> General Manager Bhattarai said that 100 employees and technicians are getting training to operate the trains. According to him, officials of the Konkan Railway Corporation of India have already arrived in Janakpur for the training.<br /> The company is managing the staff and technicians after the recruitment process of the Public Service Commission was canceled. The company had earlier announced vacancy for 129 employees on a contract basis on September 20.<br /> According to General Manager Bhattarai, the training will last for two weeks. However, the date for operating the trains has been repeatedly pushed back.<br /> Bhattarai said that the company is preparing to operate the train within April. However, there is still confusion as coronavirus infection is on the rise again. "There may be delays due to coronavirus, but preparations for the operation of the trains have reached the final stage," he said.<br /> Nepal had purchased two trains with five coaches from the Indian Konkan Railway Corporation Company for Rs 856.5 million exclusives of the customs duties.<br /> The Jayanagar-Janakpur-Bardiwas railway line under construction with the assistance of the Government of India is 69 kilometers long. In the first phase, the train will run along the 34 km section of Jayanagar-Janakpur route.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13050', 'image' => '20210421044248_20190325112130_Clipboard43-5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 16:41:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Committee Concerned Over Low Capital Spending of Infrastructure Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In order to find permanent solution to the weak budget implementation, waning capital spending and sluggish infrastructure development works, the Finance Committee this time has demanded updates from the leadership of all ministries on the status and challenges of budget implementation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Committee Chairperson Krishna Prasad Dahal shared that the committee held pre-budget discussion with the leadership of ministries related to development to address weak status of budget implementation despite directives from the parliamentary committees and the government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The ministries concerned had voiced their complaints before the committee that the challenges surfaced in the budget implementation due to deficit in coordination among the organizational structures of the three tiers of government, shortfall of human resource, hassles in public procurement work procedure and a long process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As informed it was disappointing that no ministry has so far exceeded 30 percent in its capital spending in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">On the occasion, Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MOFAGA) Ek Narayan Aryal shared that the ministry has witnessed an overall spending progress of 17.5 percent towards recurrent and 22.6 percent towards capital spending as of mid-April, 2021. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chair Dahal said, "Trends prevailed in the areas of capital spending and infrastructure development three years ago is still the same. There are some problems in public procurement act which has complicated our development process. As the work procedure has to be framed within mid-September for programme implementation, there are several instances when many have not yet placed it." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In a bid to improve weaknesses through annual policy and programme and budget, the parliament and parliamentary committee have been holding pre-budget discussions. The finance committee last year held pre-budget consultations with stakeholders, including local citizens, private sector and officials of province and local governments, in 11 different parts of the country beyond Kathmandu Valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The pre-budget discussion for the fiscal year 2021/22 budget was put off due to outbreak of coronavirus. This year the finance committee invited the leadership of ministries directly connected to the development and infrastructure at its meeting for pre-budget discussion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Informing about the status of budget implementation and transfer as of mid-April, Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yadav Koirala shared the ministry has made a physical progress of 60 percent and financial progress of 40 percent towards capital spending and 50 percent towards recurrent spending. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Finance Committee secretary Surendra Aryal said, "Just blaming coroanvirus and untimely budget was one thing but there was no visible reform. Based on the analysis of fiscal anarchy and pile up of arrears, the share of 10 ministries is around 90 percent. These ministries have also occupied a big chunk of capital spending." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The committee has so far received updates from leadership of the Ministries related to Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Urban, Energy, Hydropower and Irrigation, Drinking Water, Federal Affairs and General Administration, Finance, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Agriculture and Livestock on the issues and challenges of budget implementation, physical infrastructure development and status of capital spending. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The committee is making preparation to issue necessary directives to the ministries for policy, legal and structural reforms and management of human resource as well as to make them accountable following the completion of consultations. --RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13049', 'image' => '20210421015306_20200415120726_1586905834.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 13:52:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Popular Cars in Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><em>Rebati Adhikari</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. However, due to their limited routes, public transport is not properly managed yet. Easy accessibility and safety are still the major problems of public transport. Inefficient public transportation has led to high number of people opting for personal vehicles. Social distancing rules introduced after the emergence of coronavirus has further made the public feel private vehicles to be a necessity. Despite the higher rate of tax on private vehicles – 80 percent customs duty, the purchase of private cars has not declined. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In this context, New Business Age has enlisted some of the highest selling car brands and their models in the country. According to Automobiles Association of Nepal, Maruti Suzuki, Tata, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Ford are some of the popular car brands in the country. Highest selling models of these brands are given below:</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Maruti Suzuki</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/marutisuzuki-vitara-brezza-right-front-three-quarter3.jpeg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Maruti Suzuki is one of the highest selling car brands in the country. Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza leads the SUV segment sales, while Celerio is popular in hatchback segment and Eco van is third on the list of highest selling cars. According to Anup Kumar Baral, managing director at Narayani Auto Business Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer of Maruti Suzuki cars in the country, Vitara Brezza is a trouble-free SUV car. Due to the higher resale value and easy availability of spare parts with maximum service station, Maruti SUV leads the sales. According to him, Vitara Breza is also one of the highest selling SUVs from the brand. Vitara Brezza comes in a price range starting from Rs 4.4 million, while Celerio has a starting price range from Rs 2.5 million and Eco van is priced at Rs 1.3 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Tata</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/tata.jpg" style="height:442px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Tata is another popular car brand in the country with Nexon registering highest sales. “The foremost thing that puts Nexon on the lead is the safety it offers,” says Shawant Jung Sijapati, deputy general manager at Sipradi Trading Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer for Tata motors in the country. Nexon is India's first car to get five star rating in Global NCAP crash test by having seat belt reminder for passenger and driver in all variants of the brand. Its style is other quality that attracts drivers towards it. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It provides ground clearance of 209 mm and offer multi drive mode –city, eco and sports modes. Mileage and power vary according to driving modes. Eco mode offers more mileage, sport mode offers more power while city mode offers both mileage and power. Other major specifications of Nexon include 7" Harman Infotainment System, projector headlamp, dual airbags. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Launched in 2018 in Nepal, more than 2000 units have already been sold. It comes in prices ranging from Rs 4.35 million to Rs 5.25 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Hyundai</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Hyundai.jpeg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Hyundai Creta has recorded highest sale in individual SUV segment while Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS leads sale in Grand hatchback segment. Grand i10 NIOS is the improvised version of Grand i10. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“It is the premium car in the entry-level offered in hatchback segment,” says Sandeep Sharma, marketing head at Laxmi Intercontinental Pvt Ltd. Sharma also says that contemporary designs of the car, service network, high resale value are some of the major reasons for being top selling car in the country. Projector headlamps and fog lamps, body coloured bumpers, chrome door handles, blacked out B-pillar and window line give it the best contemporary look. It also comes with passenger and driver dual airbags, front seat belt pretensioner, rear parking sensors providing additional protection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Other features that come with Grand i10 NIOS are its 20.25 cm touchscreen Infotainment system, 13.46 cm digital speedometer, driver rear view monitor, automatic temperature control, bench folding rear seat. It is available in three variants - Magna, Magna AMT, Sportz. Magna is priced at Rs 3.15 million and Magna AMT and Sports are priced at Rs 3.45 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Volkswagen </em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/polo.jpg" style="height:530px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It has been ten years since Volkswagen Polo has been launched and more than 5,000 units have been sold since then. Polo 1.0 TSI is the latest model in the Polo segment. Bishal Ghimire, business head at Pooja International Nepal Private Limited, the authorized dealer of Volkswagen in the country said, the there has been no ups and down in performance of the vehicle since the launch. It provides consistency in terms of performance. Customers who have understood about the value for the money, stability of the vehicle go for Volkswagen Polo, says Ghimire. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Resale value, four-stars safety rating, design, highway stability put VW Polo in the highest selling car list. It price ranges from Rs 3.09 million to Rs 4.75 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Ford</strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/ford_ecos.jpg" style="height:533px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Launched in 2013, Ford EcoSport gives the best value for money starting from the price Rs 3.69 million to Rs 5.09 million. The built-in quality, rider handling, highway stability, driving dynamics of Ford EcoSport has succeeded in retaining the customers, says Binay Shrestha, showroom manager of Ford Thapathali. According to Shrestha, it is a trendsetter in sub-compact SUV segment. Capacity sensors, sunroof, six airbags are introduced for the first time in this segment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It provides 200 mm of ground clearance and 1500 cc engine generating power of 122ps. Petrol engine EcoSport is available in five variants. Of them, Trend M/T and Titanium M/T variants are more popular in the market. Features may vary depending on the variants. Titanium offers Hill-launch Assist, electronic stability control, electronic brake assist, sunglass holder, smart electric sunroof while Trend has rear wiper, defogger, automatic AC, reverse parking area.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13048', 'image' => '20210421014512_20160905121337_nada.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 13:44:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13302', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Urges Concerned Parties to Exchange Qatar’s Currency before May 10 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: Bank (NRB) has issued a public notice stating the transaction of the fourth edition of Riyal, the currency of Qatar, will not be allowed after May 10. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Times">April 21: Bank (NRB) has issued a public notice stating the transaction of the fourth edition of Riyal, the currency of Qatar, will not be allowed after May 10. The central bank has also urged the concerned parties and individuals to convert Riyal from the Banking Department of NRB before May 10. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:Times">The NRB made such appeal following a decision by the central bank of Qatar to demonetize its old currency notes effective from July 1. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Times">The banknotes can also be exchanged from licensed banks and financial institutions as well as licensed money changers dealing in convertible foreign currency, added the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Times">A large number of Nepali migrant workers are employed in Qatar and therefore the central bank has issued the notice for the convenience of the workers.</span></span></span><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13047', 'image' => '20210421122523_Buy-Qatari-Riyal-Online.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 12:23:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13301', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Melamchi Project Starts Distributing Water at Full Capacity', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The Melamachi Water Supply Project (MWSP) has finally started distributing water at full capacity of 170 million liters per day in the Kathmandu Valley from Monday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 20: The Melamachi Water Supply Project (MWSP) has finally started distributing water at full capacity of 170 million liters per day in the Kathmandu Valley from Monday. This is the first time in three weeks since the distribution of water from Melamchi that the project has started distributing at full capacity. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Issuing a press release, Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee (MDWDC) informed that water from Sundarijal has come to Kathmandu at full capacity. Although the distribution of water begun from March 28, the distribution of water started at full capacity only from April 19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From now on, 250 million liters of water will be distributed daily in the Kathmandu Valley. Apart from 170 million liters of water from Melamchi, the project has been producing 80 million liters of water internally through deep tube well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the testing phase, the project had distributed 80 million liters of water which was gradually increased by operating both of the water processing centers in Sundarijal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Melamchi water had arrived in Sundarijal on February 22 during the test phase. The water was processed in Sundarijal and was available for distribution partially. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The MWSP expects to end the acute water shortage problem of the valley. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13046', 'image' => '20210420041320_20210212111048_20200317114243_Melamchi 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 16:12:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13300', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '17 Solar Plants Receive Permits for Generating Energy in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The Department of Electricity Development (DOED) has so far issued permits for the development of 17 solar plants. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 20: The Department of Electricity Development (DOED) has so far issued permits for the development of 17 solar plants. It has given permission to construct 17 solar plants with the capacity to produce 110.47 MW of energy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The department had given approval for the construction of Butwal Solar Plant in 2019. Rihi Hydropower Company was the first to receive the permission from the department to set up Butwal Solar Plant in the country. Since then, other 16 solar plants have received permits for the construction.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Among the recipients of the permits, majority of the companies are privately owned. Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had got the permit to build three solar plants with a capacity to produce 14.77 MW of energy each. Besides the NEA, all others are private companies. NEA is building 25 MW of solar plant in Nuwakot. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Though 17 solar projects have got a green signal to start the construction from the department, only three solar plants have come into operation so far. The 10MW Mithila Solar Plant, 8.5 MW Butwal Solar Plant and 11 MW Solar Plant of NEA are currently in operation. Meanwhile, a 0.68 MW plant of Kathmandu Valley Drinking Water Limited and 1MW plant of Surya Power Company in Nawalparasi are also already in operation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Chandranighapur Surya Project with the capacity of 4MW built by API Power Company will come online within this month. Electricity generated from this project will be connected to NEA’s 33KV transmission line.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Nabin Raj Singh, Director General of DOED, said the solar plant license is valid for 25 years. After that, the plant’s ownership is shifted to the government. He said lately, energy entrepreneurs are attracted to solar energy. It is cheaper to construct solar plant than hydropower plants while the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) rate is also high.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">However the challenge in the construction of solar plants. They can’t be built anywhere and the land rent is quite high. On top of that, access to transmission line is not available everywhere. Yet, attraction towards solar plants is encouraging. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13045', 'image' => '20210420035841_solar-syst.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 15:57:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13299', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Directs Banks to Stay Highly Alert Against Covid-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to provide uninterrupted service by adopting safety measures against the second wave of Covid-19 infection.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to provide uninterrupted service by adopting safety measures against the second wave of Covid-19 infection. The central bank issued a notice on Monday, April 19, instructing banks to be cautious about the spreading of infection.<br /> <br /> NRB has directed the banks to follow the health safety protocols of issued by the Government of Nepal and the World Health Organization to reduce the risk of virus transmission among bank employees and customers. The central bank has asked the BFIs to provide service to the customers by being cautious and maintaining physical distance. The central bank has suggested BFIs to provide electronic service as much as possible.<br /> <br /> Banks also have been requested to provide sanitizers and tissue paper at ATMs and maintain proper ventilation to reduce the risk of infection from their ATM booths. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Likewise, NRB has directed the banks to ensure physical distance and conduct programs such as meetings, seminars, and training virtually. NRB also suggests taking measures such as remote access, work from home, working in shifts as per the need.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">NRB has also directed banks to update their contingency plan with a detailed action plan. The central bank has urged BFIs to follow the previous instructions on health protocol.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13044', 'image' => '20210420034241_20201106055408_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 15:42:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13298', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Airline Operators Hike Domestic Airfare', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The Airline Operators' Association of Nepal (AAON) has increased the airfare of all domestic flights following the rise in price of aviation fuel. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 20: The Airline Operators' Association of Nepal (AAON) has increased the airfare of all domestic flights following the rise in price of aviation fuel. The new airfare has come into effect from April 20.<br /> Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) had raised the price of aviation fuel by Rs 2. Earlier, the price of aviation was Rs 74 per liter. It has now been fixed at Rs 76 per liter.<br /> The AAON has fixed the new price by adjusting the fuel surcharge for flights in various sectors across the country.<br /> According to a press release issued by the association on April 19, the airfare of Kathmandu-Dhangadhi flight has grown by Rs 85 per ticket. Likewise, airfare of Doti-Sanfebgar has been raised by Rs 10 ticket.<br /> The fare of the Kathmandu-Bhairahawa route has been raised by Rs 45, and the Kathmandu-Nepalgunj route by Rs 65. Likewise, the airfare of Kathmandu-Biratnagar flights has been increased by Rs 50 per ticket and Kathmandu-Simara flights by Rs 15.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Likewise, airline companies have also increased the airfare of mountain flights. Airfare of mountain flights from Kathmandu and Pokhara has grown by Rs. 65 per ticket each.<br /> Earlier, the association had fixed the new fare on March 20. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13043', 'image' => '20210420015427_20201108022005_Reviving Nepali Aviation Sector Amid Pandemic_2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 13:53:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13297', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Issues Fresh Directives to Contain COVID-19 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The government has issued new directives to contain Covid-19 pandemic following a surge in the rate of infection across the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 20: The government has issued new directives to contain Covid-19 pandemic following a surge in the rate of infection across the country. The government adopted new measures after more than 1000 cases of daily infection were reported in recent days.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday (April 19) issued such directive in accordance to Clause (2) of the Infectious Disease Control Act, 1964. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As per the decision, the government has ordered people not to gather in large number and has also instructed the concerned authorities to strictly monitor cross-border movement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, the government has imposed a ban on cinema halls, party palaces, dance clubs and bars, health clubs, gyms, swimming pools, futsal, stadium and all types of public gatherings. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Unveiling the decisions taken by the cabinet, Government Spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Parbat Gurung said that schools, training centres and academic institutions have been instructed to run their classes virtually until mid-May in major cities. However, the government has given green signal to continue the prescheduled examinations of schools and colleges and all the practical examinations by adopting health safety measures. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Public vehicles have been ordered not to carry passengers more than their capacity. Only a limited number of passengers are allowed to travel on public vehicles on the basis of the vehicles' seating capacity. It is also mandatory to use of face mask and hand sanitizer for passengers, drivers and helpers of the vehicles. As per the cabinet decision, the public vehicles should be disinfected every day. Any passenger found not wearing masks will be fined Rs 10 for the violation. <br /> Likewise, the hotels and restaurants will be allowed to operate only from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm by applying health precautions and should provide home delivery service beyond the time fixed by the government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government has also restricted the gathering of more than 25 people in temples, mosques, monastery and churches, and other religious functions. Furthermore, prior approval from the local administration is expected for conducting social and religious functions at party palaces. </span></span></span><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13042', 'image' => '20210420111424_20210416115657_1618526412.12.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 11:13:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13296', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Sack Industry Declines due to Lack of Raw Materials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: As the second wave of the coronavirus is spreading across the globe, industries that produce sacks in Nepal have been facing shortage of raw materials.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">April 19: As the second wave of the coronavirus is spreading across the globe, industries that produce sacks in Nepal have been facing shortage of raw materials. Due to the lack of raw materials, the production capacity of these industries has been declining.<br /> There are around two dozen industries that produce sacks made of plastic, jute, and clothes in Nepal. The industries provide these bags to various factories such as the ones that produce grains and cement among others. At present, all these industries are facing shortage of raw materials. This has reduced the production capacity of all the industries by almost 50 percent.<br /> Sudip Jaiswal, proprietor of Pashupati Seal Pack Industry in Biratnagar, said that his industry has been facing problems in production of bags for the past two months due to lack of polypropylene. Nepal imports such raw materials from countries like Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and India.<br /> He said that there is a problem in importing raw materials due to the increasing rate of coronavirus infection in those countries in recent days. "First of all, even if there is no problem in getting the raw materials, it takes months to reach Nepal due to the delay in shipment," he said.<br /> Due to the shortage of raw material and lengthy import process, the price of sacks has gone up in the country. According to industrialists, the production cost has risen by 25 percent this year compared to last year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The price of sacks used for packing cement has gone up to Rs 19 from Rs 13. About 30 percent of the workers in such industries have lost their jobs due to the decline in production capacity.<br /> According to Nikhil Todi, proprietor of Shivam Plastic Industries, Nepali sack industries produce 5,000 metric tonnes of sacks per month. Of them, 40 percent of the bags are consumed in Nepal's domestic market, and the remaining 60 percent are exported to other countries, including India.<br /> Due to the decline in production capacity, the export market of these industries has also become uncertain. Likewise, due to the fall in production of sacks, industries that produce rice, pulses, flour, and cement have been facing shortage of bags, according to the industrialists.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-19', 'modified' => '2021-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13041', 'image' => '20210419044539_white-rice-sack-bag-isolated-260nw-709147009.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-19 16:44:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13295', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Automobile Business Comes to a ‘Grinding Halt’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Due to recent surge in COVID-19 cases in India and its impact on import business, the automobile business in Nepal has come to a “complete halt” this year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">April 19: Due to recent surge in COVID-19 cases in India and its impact on import business, the automobile business in Nepal has come to a “complete halt” this year. Entrepreneurs had expected that the auto business would gain momentum after the lockdown and restrictions were lifted but the sale has not been much encouraging. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The biggest auto sales take place in the country during the Nada Auto Show, which is held just before the Dashain festival. After that, New Year also contributes to major auto sales. Until two years ago, new models of vehicles used to be introduced in the country by mid-February. In the last two years, no such enthusiasm has been witnessed in the automobile industry. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Sunil Rijal, General Secretary of Nepal Automobiles Dealers Association (NADA), said sales of auto have not been encouraging due to lack of enough supply to meet the increasing demand. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nevertheless, auto sales affected since last year due to the outbreak of COVID-19 is picking up. Similarly, banks’ higher capacity of lending has also led to a higher demand for automobiles. “However, the volume of sales has not increased due to the obstruction in supply chain. There is high demand for vehicles because of less volume of import,” Rijal said, adding that the demand for vehicles has not gone up despite revival of economic activities.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Traders say that customers are more attracted towards private vehicles in the wake of Covid-19. There has not been any demand for public buses since the outbreak. Car brands like Suzuki, Tata, Mahindra, Hyundai among others have high demand but traders haven’t been able to import these brands on time. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Owner of Naryani Automobiles and Secretary of NADA Anup Kumar Baral said the delivery of old bookings for vehicles have gradually started. “If the automobile industry in India remains unaffected due to this new wave of coronavirus, we are hopeful that sales will pick up pace from this year,” he added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal’s automobile sector is dependent on Indian market. Most of the vehicle parts manufactured in India are imported from China. According to Indian media, rising conflict between India and China has led to shortage of vehicles parts in India. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-19', 'modified' => '2021-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13040', 'image' => '20210419042043_20150914010543_travel-map.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-19 16:20:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13294', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Buddha Air to Operate Inter-Province Flights from Pokhara', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Buddha Air, a leading private airlines company in Nepal, has decided to operate inter-province flights from its base in Pokhara.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">April 19: Buddha Air, a leading private airlines company in Nepal, has decided to operate inter-province flights from its base in Pokhara. The company will conduct test flights to four destinations from Gandaki, Lumbini and Bagmati provinces from Pokhara.<br /> Buddha Air will fly from Pokhara to Simara, Biratnagar, Nepalgunj, and from Bharatpur in Bagmati Province to Bhairahawa from Saturday, May 1. The company has been operating regular flights to these destinations from Kathmandu.<br /> The company has also fixed the airfare for the inter-province flights. The airfare for Pokhara-Biratnagar has been fixed between Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,800.<br /> Similarly, the Pokhara-Nepalgunj flight will cost a minimum of Rs 4,500 to a maximum of Rs 7,200. The airfare of the Pokhara-Simara flight will cost between Rs 4,300 to Rs 6,700, and the Pokhara-Bhairahawa flight will cost a minimum of Rs 3,100 to a maximum of Rs 3,900.<br /> Likewise, airfare for Tumlingtar-Biratganagar will vary from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,200 and Rs 2,500 to Rs 4,000 for the Bhairahawa-Bharatpur flight.<br /> The fare is based on the operating cost of ATR-72, said Birendra Bahadur Basnet, managing director of the company.<br /> However, the company informed that the flight to these destinations will start from May 1 by operating Beachcraft. The company has demanded that the provincial government and the federal government provide special facilities for inter-province flights.<br /> Basnet informed that the airline company is planning to buy an additional aircraft by May 15. Pokhara is the second-largest city after Kathmandu, and Buddha Air has adopted a strategy to make it a base for domestic flights.<br /> Basnet informed that the company has been following 'Safety Guidelines against Covid-19' since the outbreak of the pandemic. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-19', 'modified' => '2021-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13039', 'image' => '20210419032057_20210122113025_20200323123412_aaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-19 15:20:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13293', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ICT Sector Contributes 77.16 Million to Nepal's GDP', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector has been contributing Rs 77.16 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">April 19: Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector has been contributing Rs 77.16 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In an interaction held on Saturday by the Society of Economic Journalists of Nepal (SEJON) on the ‘Role of telecom sector in GDP’, Ishwori Bhandari, Director of CBS, said the contribution of ICT to GDP stands at Rs 77.16 billion. This accounts for 2.22 percent of the total GDP of the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to CBS, in the fiscal year 2019/20, broadcasting sector contributed 0.48 percent, telecommunication sector contributed 1.47 percent and ICT contributed to 2.22 percent to the GDP. In the program, Prof. Dr. Pushparaj Kandel, Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission said the contribution of this sector to the GDP is something to be proud of so ICT sector should also be developed as an industry. He said that ICT has been referred to as the driving force of economy in the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> Minister for Finance Bishnu Poudel said more improvements are necessary in the ICT sector to develop the country digitally and it will be prioritized in next year’s budget. The telecom sector of the country earns Rs 100 billion annually and provides employment to around 60,000 people. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-19', 'modified' => '2021-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13038', 'image' => '20210419022050_ict.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-19 14:19:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Parliamentary Committee Directs Govt to Resolve NTC Network Problems ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Parliamentarians attending a meeting of the Finance Committee under the House of Representatives on Wednesday asked the government to pay attention to the quality of NT service and its expansion to rural areas lacking its services. On the occasion, the parliamentarians held discussions with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on the budget implementation situation for the current fiscal year, 2020/21 and preparations for budget for the next FY, 2021/22. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Lawmaker Shyam Kumar Shrestha stressed the need for the expansion of 4G services to the reach of all people and the transformation of postal service into courier service. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Committee Chair Krishna Prasad Dahal suggested the government to introduce next policies and programmes that should provide job opportunities to information technology engineers at home, thus stopping brain drain. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Secretary at the ministry Hari Prasad Basyal said that the ministry was at work to complete a framework for making Nepal digital and it has been prioritised in budget for the next FY. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13052', 'image' => '20210422124335_20200326081545_NTC-launches-4G-in-Rara-Lake.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:43:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Traffic Police Creating Obstruction in Transportation of Daily Essentials ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential goods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential goods. This has affected the supply of essential goods since a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the lockdown period, vehicles carrying daily essential goods like lentils, rice, vegetables, milk, fish, and meat were allowed to run smoothly from six in the morning to eight in the evening.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> “But the traffic police have allowed such vehicles to operate from 11am in the morning to 4pm in the day since the last one month,” says Durga Raj Shrestha, president of Nepal Distributors Association. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“It is not appropriate to obstruct vehicles of daily consumer goods. This is an injustice to the consumers,” he adds.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Citing that the heavy vehicles have added traffic problems on the roads, Traffic Police have not allowed to run heavy vehicles. This has compelled traders to transport goods on small vehicles. Small vehicles can contain less volume of goods and require additional workers. This in turn has led to an increase in the cost from 5 percent to 10 percent. According to the traders, the increase in cost is adjusted by increasing the price of goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The Department of Commerce and Supply Management, which should have been involved in facilitating the supply system, is unaware about this obstruction. The Department is trying to avoid this issue saying it is the responsibility of the Department of Transport Management and Traffic Police.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Gogan Bahadur Hamal, Director General of DoTM, said the transporters should also support in traffic management and reducing overcrowding during COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Traffic Police however, are not ready to agree with the transporters. Shyam Adhikari, SP of Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, says vehicles carrying essential items like milk, medicine are allowed in the morning as well and vehicles carrying lentils, rice, noodles, biscuit are prohibited in the morning time and allowed in the day. He said that such provisions have been introduced to cope with the increasing traffic problems. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13051', 'image' => '20210422122414_20190410102147_ICP-Birgunj-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:23:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13305', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Railway in Final Stage of Preparations for Operation its Trains', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final stage.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria">April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final stage. The train engines purchase by the company is in parking lot since the last seven months. Guru Bhattarai, general manager of the company, informed that the company is preparing to bring the trains into operation within April.<br /> General Manager Bhattarai said that 100 employees and technicians are getting training to operate the trains. According to him, officials of the Konkan Railway Corporation of India have already arrived in Janakpur for the training.<br /> The company is managing the staff and technicians after the recruitment process of the Public Service Commission was canceled. The company had earlier announced vacancy for 129 employees on a contract basis on September 20.<br /> According to General Manager Bhattarai, the training will last for two weeks. However, the date for operating the trains has been repeatedly pushed back.<br /> Bhattarai said that the company is preparing to operate the train within April. However, there is still confusion as coronavirus infection is on the rise again. "There may be delays due to coronavirus, but preparations for the operation of the trains have reached the final stage," he said.<br /> Nepal had purchased two trains with five coaches from the Indian Konkan Railway Corporation Company for Rs 856.5 million exclusives of the customs duties.<br /> The Jayanagar-Janakpur-Bardiwas railway line under construction with the assistance of the Government of India is 69 kilometers long. In the first phase, the train will run along the 34 km section of Jayanagar-Janakpur route.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13050', 'image' => '20210421044248_20190325112130_Clipboard43-5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 16:41:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Committee Concerned Over Low Capital Spending of Infrastructure Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In order to find permanent solution to the weak budget implementation, waning capital spending and sluggish infrastructure development works, the Finance Committee this time has demanded updates from the leadership of all ministries on the status and challenges of budget implementation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Committee Chairperson Krishna Prasad Dahal shared that the committee held pre-budget discussion with the leadership of ministries related to development to address weak status of budget implementation despite directives from the parliamentary committees and the government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The ministries concerned had voiced their complaints before the committee that the challenges surfaced in the budget implementation due to deficit in coordination among the organizational structures of the three tiers of government, shortfall of human resource, hassles in public procurement work procedure and a long process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As informed it was disappointing that no ministry has so far exceeded 30 percent in its capital spending in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">On the occasion, Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MOFAGA) Ek Narayan Aryal shared that the ministry has witnessed an overall spending progress of 17.5 percent towards recurrent and 22.6 percent towards capital spending as of mid-April, 2021. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chair Dahal said, "Trends prevailed in the areas of capital spending and infrastructure development three years ago is still the same. There are some problems in public procurement act which has complicated our development process. As the work procedure has to be framed within mid-September for programme implementation, there are several instances when many have not yet placed it." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In a bid to improve weaknesses through annual policy and programme and budget, the parliament and parliamentary committee have been holding pre-budget discussions. The finance committee last year held pre-budget consultations with stakeholders, including local citizens, private sector and officials of province and local governments, in 11 different parts of the country beyond Kathmandu Valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The pre-budget discussion for the fiscal year 2021/22 budget was put off due to outbreak of coronavirus. This year the finance committee invited the leadership of ministries directly connected to the development and infrastructure at its meeting for pre-budget discussion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Informing about the status of budget implementation and transfer as of mid-April, Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yadav Koirala shared the ministry has made a physical progress of 60 percent and financial progress of 40 percent towards capital spending and 50 percent towards recurrent spending. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Finance Committee secretary Surendra Aryal said, "Just blaming coroanvirus and untimely budget was one thing but there was no visible reform. Based on the analysis of fiscal anarchy and pile up of arrears, the share of 10 ministries is around 90 percent. These ministries have also occupied a big chunk of capital spending." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The committee has so far received updates from leadership of the Ministries related to Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Urban, Energy, Hydropower and Irrigation, Drinking Water, Federal Affairs and General Administration, Finance, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Agriculture and Livestock on the issues and challenges of budget implementation, physical infrastructure development and status of capital spending. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The committee is making preparation to issue necessary directives to the ministries for policy, legal and structural reforms and management of human resource as well as to make them accountable following the completion of consultations. --RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13049', 'image' => '20210421015306_20200415120726_1586905834.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 13:52:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Popular Cars in Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><em>Rebati Adhikari</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. However, due to their limited routes, public transport is not properly managed yet. Easy accessibility and safety are still the major problems of public transport. Inefficient public transportation has led to high number of people opting for personal vehicles. Social distancing rules introduced after the emergence of coronavirus has further made the public feel private vehicles to be a necessity. Despite the higher rate of tax on private vehicles – 80 percent customs duty, the purchase of private cars has not declined. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In this context, New Business Age has enlisted some of the highest selling car brands and their models in the country. According to Automobiles Association of Nepal, Maruti Suzuki, Tata, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Ford are some of the popular car brands in the country. Highest selling models of these brands are given below:</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Maruti Suzuki</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/marutisuzuki-vitara-brezza-right-front-three-quarter3.jpeg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Maruti Suzuki is one of the highest selling car brands in the country. Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza leads the SUV segment sales, while Celerio is popular in hatchback segment and Eco van is third on the list of highest selling cars. According to Anup Kumar Baral, managing director at Narayani Auto Business Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer of Maruti Suzuki cars in the country, Vitara Brezza is a trouble-free SUV car. Due to the higher resale value and easy availability of spare parts with maximum service station, Maruti SUV leads the sales. According to him, Vitara Breza is also one of the highest selling SUVs from the brand. Vitara Brezza comes in a price range starting from Rs 4.4 million, while Celerio has a starting price range from Rs 2.5 million and Eco van is priced at Rs 1.3 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Tata</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/tata.jpg" style="height:442px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Tata is another popular car brand in the country with Nexon registering highest sales. “The foremost thing that puts Nexon on the lead is the safety it offers,” says Shawant Jung Sijapati, deputy general manager at Sipradi Trading Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer for Tata motors in the country. Nexon is India's first car to get five star rating in Global NCAP crash test by having seat belt reminder for passenger and driver in all variants of the brand. Its style is other quality that attracts drivers towards it. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It provides ground clearance of 209 mm and offer multi drive mode –city, eco and sports modes. Mileage and power vary according to driving modes. Eco mode offers more mileage, sport mode offers more power while city mode offers both mileage and power. Other major specifications of Nexon include 7" Harman Infotainment System, projector headlamp, dual airbags. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Launched in 2018 in Nepal, more than 2000 units have already been sold. It comes in prices ranging from Rs 4.35 million to Rs 5.25 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Hyundai</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Hyundai.jpeg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Hyundai Creta has recorded highest sale in individual SUV segment while Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS leads sale in Grand hatchback segment. Grand i10 NIOS is the improvised version of Grand i10. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“It is the premium car in the entry-level offered in hatchback segment,” says Sandeep Sharma, marketing head at Laxmi Intercontinental Pvt Ltd. Sharma also says that contemporary designs of the car, service network, high resale value are some of the major reasons for being top selling car in the country. Projector headlamps and fog lamps, body coloured bumpers, chrome door handles, blacked out B-pillar and window line give it the best contemporary look. It also comes with passenger and driver dual airbags, front seat belt pretensioner, rear parking sensors providing additional protection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Other features that come with Grand i10 NIOS are its 20.25 cm touchscreen Infotainment system, 13.46 cm digital speedometer, driver rear view monitor, automatic temperature control, bench folding rear seat. It is available in three variants - Magna, Magna AMT, Sportz. Magna is priced at Rs 3.15 million and Magna AMT and Sports are priced at Rs 3.45 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Volkswagen </em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/polo.jpg" style="height:530px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It has been ten years since Volkswagen Polo has been launched and more than 5,000 units have been sold since then. Polo 1.0 TSI is the latest model in the Polo segment. Bishal Ghimire, business head at Pooja International Nepal Private Limited, the authorized dealer of Volkswagen in the country said, the there has been no ups and down in performance of the vehicle since the launch. It provides consistency in terms of performance. Customers who have understood about the value for the money, stability of the vehicle go for Volkswagen Polo, says Ghimire. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Resale value, four-stars safety rating, design, highway stability put VW Polo in the highest selling car list. It price ranges from Rs 3.09 million to Rs 4.75 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Ford</strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/ford_ecos.jpg" style="height:533px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Launched in 2013, Ford EcoSport gives the best value for money starting from the price Rs 3.69 million to Rs 5.09 million. The built-in quality, rider handling, highway stability, driving dynamics of Ford EcoSport has succeeded in retaining the customers, says Binay Shrestha, showroom manager of Ford Thapathali. According to Shrestha, it is a trendsetter in sub-compact SUV segment. Capacity sensors, sunroof, six airbags are introduced for the first time in this segment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It provides 200 mm of ground clearance and 1500 cc engine generating power of 122ps. Petrol engine EcoSport is available in five variants. Of them, Trend M/T and Titanium M/T variants are more popular in the market. Features may vary depending on the variants. Titanium offers Hill-launch Assist, electronic stability control, electronic brake assist, sunglass holder, smart electric sunroof while Trend has rear wiper, defogger, automatic AC, reverse parking area.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13048', 'image' => '20210421014512_20160905121337_nada.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 13:44:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13302', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Urges Concerned Parties to Exchange Qatar’s Currency before May 10 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: Bank (NRB) has issued a public notice stating the transaction of the fourth edition of Riyal, the currency of Qatar, will not be allowed after May 10. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Times">April 21: Bank (NRB) has issued a public notice stating the transaction of the fourth edition of Riyal, the currency of Qatar, will not be allowed after May 10. The central bank has also urged the concerned parties and individuals to convert Riyal from the Banking Department of NRB before May 10. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:Times">The NRB made such appeal following a decision by the central bank of Qatar to demonetize its old currency notes effective from July 1. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Times">The banknotes can also be exchanged from licensed banks and financial institutions as well as licensed money changers dealing in convertible foreign currency, added the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Times">A large number of Nepali migrant workers are employed in Qatar and therefore the central bank has issued the notice for the convenience of the workers.</span></span></span><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13047', 'image' => '20210421122523_Buy-Qatari-Riyal-Online.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 12:23:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13301', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Melamchi Project Starts Distributing Water at Full Capacity', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The Melamachi Water Supply Project (MWSP) has finally started distributing water at full capacity of 170 million liters per day in the Kathmandu Valley from Monday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 20: The Melamachi Water Supply Project (MWSP) has finally started distributing water at full capacity of 170 million liters per day in the Kathmandu Valley from Monday. This is the first time in three weeks since the distribution of water from Melamchi that the project has started distributing at full capacity. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Issuing a press release, Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee (MDWDC) informed that water from Sundarijal has come to Kathmandu at full capacity. Although the distribution of water begun from March 28, the distribution of water started at full capacity only from April 19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From now on, 250 million liters of water will be distributed daily in the Kathmandu Valley. Apart from 170 million liters of water from Melamchi, the project has been producing 80 million liters of water internally through deep tube well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the testing phase, the project had distributed 80 million liters of water which was gradually increased by operating both of the water processing centers in Sundarijal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Melamchi water had arrived in Sundarijal on February 22 during the test phase. The water was processed in Sundarijal and was available for distribution partially. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The MWSP expects to end the acute water shortage problem of the valley. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13046', 'image' => '20210420041320_20210212111048_20200317114243_Melamchi 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 16:12:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13300', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '17 Solar Plants Receive Permits for Generating Energy in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The Department of Electricity Development (DOED) has so far issued permits for the development of 17 solar plants. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 20: The Department of Electricity Development (DOED) has so far issued permits for the development of 17 solar plants. It has given permission to construct 17 solar plants with the capacity to produce 110.47 MW of energy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The department had given approval for the construction of Butwal Solar Plant in 2019. Rihi Hydropower Company was the first to receive the permission from the department to set up Butwal Solar Plant in the country. Since then, other 16 solar plants have received permits for the construction.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Among the recipients of the permits, majority of the companies are privately owned. Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had got the permit to build three solar plants with a capacity to produce 14.77 MW of energy each. Besides the NEA, all others are private companies. NEA is building 25 MW of solar plant in Nuwakot. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Though 17 solar projects have got a green signal to start the construction from the department, only three solar plants have come into operation so far. The 10MW Mithila Solar Plant, 8.5 MW Butwal Solar Plant and 11 MW Solar Plant of NEA are currently in operation. Meanwhile, a 0.68 MW plant of Kathmandu Valley Drinking Water Limited and 1MW plant of Surya Power Company in Nawalparasi are also already in operation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Chandranighapur Surya Project with the capacity of 4MW built by API Power Company will come online within this month. Electricity generated from this project will be connected to NEA’s 33KV transmission line.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Nabin Raj Singh, Director General of DOED, said the solar plant license is valid for 25 years. After that, the plant’s ownership is shifted to the government. He said lately, energy entrepreneurs are attracted to solar energy. It is cheaper to construct solar plant than hydropower plants while the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) rate is also high.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">However the challenge in the construction of solar plants. They can’t be built anywhere and the land rent is quite high. On top of that, access to transmission line is not available everywhere. Yet, attraction towards solar plants is encouraging. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13045', 'image' => '20210420035841_solar-syst.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 15:57:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13299', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Directs Banks to Stay Highly Alert Against Covid-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to provide uninterrupted service by adopting safety measures against the second wave of Covid-19 infection.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to provide uninterrupted service by adopting safety measures against the second wave of Covid-19 infection. The central bank issued a notice on Monday, April 19, instructing banks to be cautious about the spreading of infection.<br /> <br /> NRB has directed the banks to follow the health safety protocols of issued by the Government of Nepal and the World Health Organization to reduce the risk of virus transmission among bank employees and customers. The central bank has asked the BFIs to provide service to the customers by being cautious and maintaining physical distance. The central bank has suggested BFIs to provide electronic service as much as possible.<br /> <br /> Banks also have been requested to provide sanitizers and tissue paper at ATMs and maintain proper ventilation to reduce the risk of infection from their ATM booths. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Likewise, NRB has directed the banks to ensure physical distance and conduct programs such as meetings, seminars, and training virtually. NRB also suggests taking measures such as remote access, work from home, working in shifts as per the need.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">NRB has also directed banks to update their contingency plan with a detailed action plan. The central bank has urged BFIs to follow the previous instructions on health protocol.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13044', 'image' => '20210420034241_20201106055408_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 15:42:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13298', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Airline Operators Hike Domestic Airfare', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The Airline Operators' Association of Nepal (AAON) has increased the airfare of all domestic flights following the rise in price of aviation fuel. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 20: The Airline Operators' Association of Nepal (AAON) has increased the airfare of all domestic flights following the rise in price of aviation fuel. The new airfare has come into effect from April 20.<br /> Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) had raised the price of aviation fuel by Rs 2. Earlier, the price of aviation was Rs 74 per liter. It has now been fixed at Rs 76 per liter.<br /> The AAON has fixed the new price by adjusting the fuel surcharge for flights in various sectors across the country.<br /> According to a press release issued by the association on April 19, the airfare of Kathmandu-Dhangadhi flight has grown by Rs 85 per ticket. Likewise, airfare of Doti-Sanfebgar has been raised by Rs 10 ticket.<br /> The fare of the Kathmandu-Bhairahawa route has been raised by Rs 45, and the Kathmandu-Nepalgunj route by Rs 65. Likewise, the airfare of Kathmandu-Biratnagar flights has been increased by Rs 50 per ticket and Kathmandu-Simara flights by Rs 15.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Likewise, airline companies have also increased the airfare of mountain flights. Airfare of mountain flights from Kathmandu and Pokhara has grown by Rs. 65 per ticket each.<br /> Earlier, the association had fixed the new fare on March 20. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13043', 'image' => '20210420015427_20201108022005_Reviving Nepali Aviation Sector Amid Pandemic_2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 13:53:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13297', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Issues Fresh Directives to Contain COVID-19 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The government has issued new directives to contain Covid-19 pandemic following a surge in the rate of infection across the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 20: The government has issued new directives to contain Covid-19 pandemic following a surge in the rate of infection across the country. The government adopted new measures after more than 1000 cases of daily infection were reported in recent days.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday (April 19) issued such directive in accordance to Clause (2) of the Infectious Disease Control Act, 1964. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As per the decision, the government has ordered people not to gather in large number and has also instructed the concerned authorities to strictly monitor cross-border movement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, the government has imposed a ban on cinema halls, party palaces, dance clubs and bars, health clubs, gyms, swimming pools, futsal, stadium and all types of public gatherings. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Unveiling the decisions taken by the cabinet, Government Spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Parbat Gurung said that schools, training centres and academic institutions have been instructed to run their classes virtually until mid-May in major cities. However, the government has given green signal to continue the prescheduled examinations of schools and colleges and all the practical examinations by adopting health safety measures. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Public vehicles have been ordered not to carry passengers more than their capacity. Only a limited number of passengers are allowed to travel on public vehicles on the basis of the vehicles' seating capacity. It is also mandatory to use of face mask and hand sanitizer for passengers, drivers and helpers of the vehicles. As per the cabinet decision, the public vehicles should be disinfected every day. Any passenger found not wearing masks will be fined Rs 10 for the violation. <br /> Likewise, the hotels and restaurants will be allowed to operate only from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm by applying health precautions and should provide home delivery service beyond the time fixed by the government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government has also restricted the gathering of more than 25 people in temples, mosques, monastery and churches, and other religious functions. Furthermore, prior approval from the local administration is expected for conducting social and religious functions at party palaces. </span></span></span><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13042', 'image' => '20210420111424_20210416115657_1618526412.12.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 11:13:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13296', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Sack Industry Declines due to Lack of Raw Materials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: As the second wave of the coronavirus is spreading across the globe, industries that produce sacks in Nepal have been facing shortage of raw materials.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">April 19: As the second wave of the coronavirus is spreading across the globe, industries that produce sacks in Nepal have been facing shortage of raw materials. Due to the lack of raw materials, the production capacity of these industries has been declining.<br /> There are around two dozen industries that produce sacks made of plastic, jute, and clothes in Nepal. The industries provide these bags to various factories such as the ones that produce grains and cement among others. At present, all these industries are facing shortage of raw materials. This has reduced the production capacity of all the industries by almost 50 percent.<br /> Sudip Jaiswal, proprietor of Pashupati Seal Pack Industry in Biratnagar, said that his industry has been facing problems in production of bags for the past two months due to lack of polypropylene. Nepal imports such raw materials from countries like Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and India.<br /> He said that there is a problem in importing raw materials due to the increasing rate of coronavirus infection in those countries in recent days. "First of all, even if there is no problem in getting the raw materials, it takes months to reach Nepal due to the delay in shipment," he said.<br /> Due to the shortage of raw material and lengthy import process, the price of sacks has gone up in the country. According to industrialists, the production cost has risen by 25 percent this year compared to last year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The price of sacks used for packing cement has gone up to Rs 19 from Rs 13. About 30 percent of the workers in such industries have lost their jobs due to the decline in production capacity.<br /> According to Nikhil Todi, proprietor of Shivam Plastic Industries, Nepali sack industries produce 5,000 metric tonnes of sacks per month. Of them, 40 percent of the bags are consumed in Nepal's domestic market, and the remaining 60 percent are exported to other countries, including India.<br /> Due to the decline in production capacity, the export market of these industries has also become uncertain. Likewise, due to the fall in production of sacks, industries that produce rice, pulses, flour, and cement have been facing shortage of bags, according to the industrialists.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-19', 'modified' => '2021-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13041', 'image' => '20210419044539_white-rice-sack-bag-isolated-260nw-709147009.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-19 16:44:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13295', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Automobile Business Comes to a ‘Grinding Halt’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Due to recent surge in COVID-19 cases in India and its impact on import business, the automobile business in Nepal has come to a “complete halt” this year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">April 19: Due to recent surge in COVID-19 cases in India and its impact on import business, the automobile business in Nepal has come to a “complete halt” this year. Entrepreneurs had expected that the auto business would gain momentum after the lockdown and restrictions were lifted but the sale has not been much encouraging. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The biggest auto sales take place in the country during the Nada Auto Show, which is held just before the Dashain festival. After that, New Year also contributes to major auto sales. Until two years ago, new models of vehicles used to be introduced in the country by mid-February. In the last two years, no such enthusiasm has been witnessed in the automobile industry. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Sunil Rijal, General Secretary of Nepal Automobiles Dealers Association (NADA), said sales of auto have not been encouraging due to lack of enough supply to meet the increasing demand. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nevertheless, auto sales affected since last year due to the outbreak of COVID-19 is picking up. Similarly, banks’ higher capacity of lending has also led to a higher demand for automobiles. “However, the volume of sales has not increased due to the obstruction in supply chain. There is high demand for vehicles because of less volume of import,” Rijal said, adding that the demand for vehicles has not gone up despite revival of economic activities.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Traders say that customers are more attracted towards private vehicles in the wake of Covid-19. There has not been any demand for public buses since the outbreak. Car brands like Suzuki, Tata, Mahindra, Hyundai among others have high demand but traders haven’t been able to import these brands on time. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Owner of Naryani Automobiles and Secretary of NADA Anup Kumar Baral said the delivery of old bookings for vehicles have gradually started. “If the automobile industry in India remains unaffected due to this new wave of coronavirus, we are hopeful that sales will pick up pace from this year,” he added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal’s automobile sector is dependent on Indian market. Most of the vehicle parts manufactured in India are imported from China. According to Indian media, rising conflict between India and China has led to shortage of vehicles parts in India. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-19', 'modified' => '2021-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13040', 'image' => '20210419042043_20150914010543_travel-map.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-19 16:20:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13294', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Buddha Air to Operate Inter-Province Flights from Pokhara', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Buddha Air, a leading private airlines company in Nepal, has decided to operate inter-province flights from its base in Pokhara.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">April 19: Buddha Air, a leading private airlines company in Nepal, has decided to operate inter-province flights from its base in Pokhara. The company will conduct test flights to four destinations from Gandaki, Lumbini and Bagmati provinces from Pokhara.<br /> Buddha Air will fly from Pokhara to Simara, Biratnagar, Nepalgunj, and from Bharatpur in Bagmati Province to Bhairahawa from Saturday, May 1. The company has been operating regular flights to these destinations from Kathmandu.<br /> The company has also fixed the airfare for the inter-province flights. The airfare for Pokhara-Biratnagar has been fixed between Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,800.<br /> Similarly, the Pokhara-Nepalgunj flight will cost a minimum of Rs 4,500 to a maximum of Rs 7,200. The airfare of the Pokhara-Simara flight will cost between Rs 4,300 to Rs 6,700, and the Pokhara-Bhairahawa flight will cost a minimum of Rs 3,100 to a maximum of Rs 3,900.<br /> Likewise, airfare for Tumlingtar-Biratganagar will vary from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,200 and Rs 2,500 to Rs 4,000 for the Bhairahawa-Bharatpur flight.<br /> The fare is based on the operating cost of ATR-72, said Birendra Bahadur Basnet, managing director of the company.<br /> However, the company informed that the flight to these destinations will start from May 1 by operating Beachcraft. The company has demanded that the provincial government and the federal government provide special facilities for inter-province flights.<br /> Basnet informed that the airline company is planning to buy an additional aircraft by May 15. Pokhara is the second-largest city after Kathmandu, and Buddha Air has adopted a strategy to make it a base for domestic flights.<br /> Basnet informed that the company has been following 'Safety Guidelines against Covid-19' since the outbreak of the pandemic. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-19', 'modified' => '2021-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13039', 'image' => '20210419032057_20210122113025_20200323123412_aaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-19 15:20:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13293', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ICT Sector Contributes 77.16 Million to Nepal's GDP', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector has been contributing Rs 77.16 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">April 19: Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector has been contributing Rs 77.16 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In an interaction held on Saturday by the Society of Economic Journalists of Nepal (SEJON) on the ‘Role of telecom sector in GDP’, Ishwori Bhandari, Director of CBS, said the contribution of ICT to GDP stands at Rs 77.16 billion. This accounts for 2.22 percent of the total GDP of the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to CBS, in the fiscal year 2019/20, broadcasting sector contributed 0.48 percent, telecommunication sector contributed 1.47 percent and ICT contributed to 2.22 percent to the GDP. In the program, Prof. Dr. Pushparaj Kandel, Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission said the contribution of this sector to the GDP is something to be proud of so ICT sector should also be developed as an industry. He said that ICT has been referred to as the driving force of economy in the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> Minister for Finance Bishnu Poudel said more improvements are necessary in the ICT sector to develop the country digitally and it will be prioritized in next year’s budget. The telecom sector of the country earns Rs 100 billion annually and provides employment to around 60,000 people. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-19', 'modified' => '2021-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13038', 'image' => '20210419022050_ict.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-19 14:19:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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' => '13307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Parliamentary Committee Directs Govt to Resolve NTC Network Problems ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Parliamentarians attending a meeting of the Finance Committee under the House of Representatives on Wednesday asked the government to pay attention to the quality of NT service and its expansion to rural areas lacking its services. On the occasion, the parliamentarians held discussions with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on the budget implementation situation for the current fiscal year, 2020/21 and preparations for budget for the next FY, 2021/22. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Lawmaker Shyam Kumar Shrestha stressed the need for the expansion of 4G services to the reach of all people and the transformation of postal service into courier service. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Committee Chair Krishna Prasad Dahal suggested the government to introduce next policies and programmes that should provide job opportunities to information technology engineers at home, thus stopping brain drain. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Secretary at the ministry Hari Prasad Basyal said that the ministry was at work to complete a framework for making Nepal digital and it has been prioritised in budget for the next FY. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13052', 'image' => '20210422124335_20200326081545_NTC-launches-4G-in-Rara-Lake.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:43:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Traffic Police Creating Obstruction in Transportation of Daily Essentials ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential goods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential goods. This has affected the supply of essential goods since a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the lockdown period, vehicles carrying daily essential goods like lentils, rice, vegetables, milk, fish, and meat were allowed to run smoothly from six in the morning to eight in the evening.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> “But the traffic police have allowed such vehicles to operate from 11am in the morning to 4pm in the day since the last one month,” says Durga Raj Shrestha, president of Nepal Distributors Association. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“It is not appropriate to obstruct vehicles of daily consumer goods. This is an injustice to the consumers,” he adds.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Citing that the heavy vehicles have added traffic problems on the roads, Traffic Police have not allowed to run heavy vehicles. This has compelled traders to transport goods on small vehicles. Small vehicles can contain less volume of goods and require additional workers. This in turn has led to an increase in the cost from 5 percent to 10 percent. According to the traders, the increase in cost is adjusted by increasing the price of goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The Department of Commerce and Supply Management, which should have been involved in facilitating the supply system, is unaware about this obstruction. The Department is trying to avoid this issue saying it is the responsibility of the Department of Transport Management and Traffic Police.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Gogan Bahadur Hamal, Director General of DoTM, said the transporters should also support in traffic management and reducing overcrowding during COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Traffic Police however, are not ready to agree with the transporters. Shyam Adhikari, SP of Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, says vehicles carrying essential items like milk, medicine are allowed in the morning as well and vehicles carrying lentils, rice, noodles, biscuit are prohibited in the morning time and allowed in the day. He said that such provisions have been introduced to cope with the increasing traffic problems. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13051', 'image' => '20210422122414_20190410102147_ICP-Birgunj-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:23:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13305', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Railway in Final Stage of Preparations for Operation its Trains', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final stage.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria">April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final stage. The train engines purchase by the company is in parking lot since the last seven months. Guru Bhattarai, general manager of the company, informed that the company is preparing to bring the trains into operation within April.<br /> General Manager Bhattarai said that 100 employees and technicians are getting training to operate the trains. According to him, officials of the Konkan Railway Corporation of India have already arrived in Janakpur for the training.<br /> The company is managing the staff and technicians after the recruitment process of the Public Service Commission was canceled. The company had earlier announced vacancy for 129 employees on a contract basis on September 20.<br /> According to General Manager Bhattarai, the training will last for two weeks. However, the date for operating the trains has been repeatedly pushed back.<br /> Bhattarai said that the company is preparing to operate the train within April. However, there is still confusion as coronavirus infection is on the rise again. "There may be delays due to coronavirus, but preparations for the operation of the trains have reached the final stage," he said.<br /> Nepal had purchased two trains with five coaches from the Indian Konkan Railway Corporation Company for Rs 856.5 million exclusives of the customs duties.<br /> The Jayanagar-Janakpur-Bardiwas railway line under construction with the assistance of the Government of India is 69 kilometers long. In the first phase, the train will run along the 34 km section of Jayanagar-Janakpur route.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13050', 'image' => '20210421044248_20190325112130_Clipboard43-5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 16:41:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Committee Concerned Over Low Capital Spending of Infrastructure Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In order to find permanent solution to the weak budget implementation, waning capital spending and sluggish infrastructure development works, the Finance Committee this time has demanded updates from the leadership of all ministries on the status and challenges of budget implementation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Committee Chairperson Krishna Prasad Dahal shared that the committee held pre-budget discussion with the leadership of ministries related to development to address weak status of budget implementation despite directives from the parliamentary committees and the government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The ministries concerned had voiced their complaints before the committee that the challenges surfaced in the budget implementation due to deficit in coordination among the organizational structures of the three tiers of government, shortfall of human resource, hassles in public procurement work procedure and a long process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As informed it was disappointing that no ministry has so far exceeded 30 percent in its capital spending in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">On the occasion, Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MOFAGA) Ek Narayan Aryal shared that the ministry has witnessed an overall spending progress of 17.5 percent towards recurrent and 22.6 percent towards capital spending as of mid-April, 2021. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chair Dahal said, "Trends prevailed in the areas of capital spending and infrastructure development three years ago is still the same. There are some problems in public procurement act which has complicated our development process. As the work procedure has to be framed within mid-September for programme implementation, there are several instances when many have not yet placed it." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In a bid to improve weaknesses through annual policy and programme and budget, the parliament and parliamentary committee have been holding pre-budget discussions. The finance committee last year held pre-budget consultations with stakeholders, including local citizens, private sector and officials of province and local governments, in 11 different parts of the country beyond Kathmandu Valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The pre-budget discussion for the fiscal year 2021/22 budget was put off due to outbreak of coronavirus. This year the finance committee invited the leadership of ministries directly connected to the development and infrastructure at its meeting for pre-budget discussion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Informing about the status of budget implementation and transfer as of mid-April, Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yadav Koirala shared the ministry has made a physical progress of 60 percent and financial progress of 40 percent towards capital spending and 50 percent towards recurrent spending. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Finance Committee secretary Surendra Aryal said, "Just blaming coroanvirus and untimely budget was one thing but there was no visible reform. Based on the analysis of fiscal anarchy and pile up of arrears, the share of 10 ministries is around 90 percent. These ministries have also occupied a big chunk of capital spending." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The committee has so far received updates from leadership of the Ministries related to Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Urban, Energy, Hydropower and Irrigation, Drinking Water, Federal Affairs and General Administration, Finance, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Agriculture and Livestock on the issues and challenges of budget implementation, physical infrastructure development and status of capital spending. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The committee is making preparation to issue necessary directives to the ministries for policy, legal and structural reforms and management of human resource as well as to make them accountable following the completion of consultations. --RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13049', 'image' => '20210421015306_20200415120726_1586905834.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 13:52:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Popular Cars in Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><em>Rebati Adhikari</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. However, due to their limited routes, public transport is not properly managed yet. Easy accessibility and safety are still the major problems of public transport. Inefficient public transportation has led to high number of people opting for personal vehicles. Social distancing rules introduced after the emergence of coronavirus has further made the public feel private vehicles to be a necessity. Despite the higher rate of tax on private vehicles – 80 percent customs duty, the purchase of private cars has not declined. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In this context, New Business Age has enlisted some of the highest selling car brands and their models in the country. According to Automobiles Association of Nepal, Maruti Suzuki, Tata, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Ford are some of the popular car brands in the country. Highest selling models of these brands are given below:</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Maruti Suzuki</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/marutisuzuki-vitara-brezza-right-front-three-quarter3.jpeg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Maruti Suzuki is one of the highest selling car brands in the country. Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza leads the SUV segment sales, while Celerio is popular in hatchback segment and Eco van is third on the list of highest selling cars. According to Anup Kumar Baral, managing director at Narayani Auto Business Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer of Maruti Suzuki cars in the country, Vitara Brezza is a trouble-free SUV car. Due to the higher resale value and easy availability of spare parts with maximum service station, Maruti SUV leads the sales. According to him, Vitara Breza is also one of the highest selling SUVs from the brand. Vitara Brezza comes in a price range starting from Rs 4.4 million, while Celerio has a starting price range from Rs 2.5 million and Eco van is priced at Rs 1.3 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Tata</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/tata.jpg" style="height:442px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Tata is another popular car brand in the country with Nexon registering highest sales. “The foremost thing that puts Nexon on the lead is the safety it offers,” says Shawant Jung Sijapati, deputy general manager at Sipradi Trading Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer for Tata motors in the country. Nexon is India's first car to get five star rating in Global NCAP crash test by having seat belt reminder for passenger and driver in all variants of the brand. Its style is other quality that attracts drivers towards it. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It provides ground clearance of 209 mm and offer multi drive mode –city, eco and sports modes. Mileage and power vary according to driving modes. Eco mode offers more mileage, sport mode offers more power while city mode offers both mileage and power. Other major specifications of Nexon include 7" Harman Infotainment System, projector headlamp, dual airbags. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Launched in 2018 in Nepal, more than 2000 units have already been sold. It comes in prices ranging from Rs 4.35 million to Rs 5.25 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Hyundai</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Hyundai.jpeg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Hyundai Creta has recorded highest sale in individual SUV segment while Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS leads sale in Grand hatchback segment. Grand i10 NIOS is the improvised version of Grand i10. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“It is the premium car in the entry-level offered in hatchback segment,” says Sandeep Sharma, marketing head at Laxmi Intercontinental Pvt Ltd. Sharma also says that contemporary designs of the car, service network, high resale value are some of the major reasons for being top selling car in the country. Projector headlamps and fog lamps, body coloured bumpers, chrome door handles, blacked out B-pillar and window line give it the best contemporary look. It also comes with passenger and driver dual airbags, front seat belt pretensioner, rear parking sensors providing additional protection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Other features that come with Grand i10 NIOS are its 20.25 cm touchscreen Infotainment system, 13.46 cm digital speedometer, driver rear view monitor, automatic temperature control, bench folding rear seat. It is available in three variants - Magna, Magna AMT, Sportz. Magna is priced at Rs 3.15 million and Magna AMT and Sports are priced at Rs 3.45 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Volkswagen </em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/polo.jpg" style="height:530px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It has been ten years since Volkswagen Polo has been launched and more than 5,000 units have been sold since then. Polo 1.0 TSI is the latest model in the Polo segment. Bishal Ghimire, business head at Pooja International Nepal Private Limited, the authorized dealer of Volkswagen in the country said, the there has been no ups and down in performance of the vehicle since the launch. It provides consistency in terms of performance. Customers who have understood about the value for the money, stability of the vehicle go for Volkswagen Polo, says Ghimire. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Resale value, four-stars safety rating, design, highway stability put VW Polo in the highest selling car list. It price ranges from Rs 3.09 million to Rs 4.75 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Ford</strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/ford_ecos.jpg" style="height:533px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Launched in 2013, Ford EcoSport gives the best value for money starting from the price Rs 3.69 million to Rs 5.09 million. The built-in quality, rider handling, highway stability, driving dynamics of Ford EcoSport has succeeded in retaining the customers, says Binay Shrestha, showroom manager of Ford Thapathali. According to Shrestha, it is a trendsetter in sub-compact SUV segment. Capacity sensors, sunroof, six airbags are introduced for the first time in this segment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It provides 200 mm of ground clearance and 1500 cc engine generating power of 122ps. Petrol engine EcoSport is available in five variants. Of them, Trend M/T and Titanium M/T variants are more popular in the market. Features may vary depending on the variants. Titanium offers Hill-launch Assist, electronic stability control, electronic brake assist, sunglass holder, smart electric sunroof while Trend has rear wiper, defogger, automatic AC, reverse parking area.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13048', 'image' => '20210421014512_20160905121337_nada.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 13:44:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13302', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Urges Concerned Parties to Exchange Qatar’s Currency before May 10 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: Bank (NRB) has issued a public notice stating the transaction of the fourth edition of Riyal, the currency of Qatar, will not be allowed after May 10. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Times">April 21: Bank (NRB) has issued a public notice stating the transaction of the fourth edition of Riyal, the currency of Qatar, will not be allowed after May 10. The central bank has also urged the concerned parties and individuals to convert Riyal from the Banking Department of NRB before May 10. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:Times">The NRB made such appeal following a decision by the central bank of Qatar to demonetize its old currency notes effective from July 1. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Times">The banknotes can also be exchanged from licensed banks and financial institutions as well as licensed money changers dealing in convertible foreign currency, added the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Times">A large number of Nepali migrant workers are employed in Qatar and therefore the central bank has issued the notice for the convenience of the workers.</span></span></span><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13047', 'image' => '20210421122523_Buy-Qatari-Riyal-Online.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 12:23:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13301', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Melamchi Project Starts Distributing Water at Full Capacity', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The Melamachi Water Supply Project (MWSP) has finally started distributing water at full capacity of 170 million liters per day in the Kathmandu Valley from Monday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 20: The Melamachi Water Supply Project (MWSP) has finally started distributing water at full capacity of 170 million liters per day in the Kathmandu Valley from Monday. This is the first time in three weeks since the distribution of water from Melamchi that the project has started distributing at full capacity. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Issuing a press release, Melamchi Drinking Water Development Committee (MDWDC) informed that water from Sundarijal has come to Kathmandu at full capacity. Although the distribution of water begun from March 28, the distribution of water started at full capacity only from April 19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From now on, 250 million liters of water will be distributed daily in the Kathmandu Valley. Apart from 170 million liters of water from Melamchi, the project has been producing 80 million liters of water internally through deep tube well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the testing phase, the project had distributed 80 million liters of water which was gradually increased by operating both of the water processing centers in Sundarijal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Melamchi water had arrived in Sundarijal on February 22 during the test phase. The water was processed in Sundarijal and was available for distribution partially. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The MWSP expects to end the acute water shortage problem of the valley. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13046', 'image' => '20210420041320_20210212111048_20200317114243_Melamchi 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 16:12:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13300', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '17 Solar Plants Receive Permits for Generating Energy in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The Department of Electricity Development (DOED) has so far issued permits for the development of 17 solar plants. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 20: The Department of Electricity Development (DOED) has so far issued permits for the development of 17 solar plants. It has given permission to construct 17 solar plants with the capacity to produce 110.47 MW of energy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The department had given approval for the construction of Butwal Solar Plant in 2019. Rihi Hydropower Company was the first to receive the permission from the department to set up Butwal Solar Plant in the country. Since then, other 16 solar plants have received permits for the construction.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Among the recipients of the permits, majority of the companies are privately owned. Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had got the permit to build three solar plants with a capacity to produce 14.77 MW of energy each. Besides the NEA, all others are private companies. NEA is building 25 MW of solar plant in Nuwakot. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Though 17 solar projects have got a green signal to start the construction from the department, only three solar plants have come into operation so far. The 10MW Mithila Solar Plant, 8.5 MW Butwal Solar Plant and 11 MW Solar Plant of NEA are currently in operation. Meanwhile, a 0.68 MW plant of Kathmandu Valley Drinking Water Limited and 1MW plant of Surya Power Company in Nawalparasi are also already in operation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Chandranighapur Surya Project with the capacity of 4MW built by API Power Company will come online within this month. Electricity generated from this project will be connected to NEA’s 33KV transmission line.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Nabin Raj Singh, Director General of DOED, said the solar plant license is valid for 25 years. After that, the plant’s ownership is shifted to the government. He said lately, energy entrepreneurs are attracted to solar energy. It is cheaper to construct solar plant than hydropower plants while the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) rate is also high.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">However the challenge in the construction of solar plants. They can’t be built anywhere and the land rent is quite high. On top of that, access to transmission line is not available everywhere. Yet, attraction towards solar plants is encouraging. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13045', 'image' => '20210420035841_solar-syst.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 15:57:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13299', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Directs Banks to Stay Highly Alert Against Covid-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to provide uninterrupted service by adopting safety measures against the second wave of Covid-19 infection.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has directed banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to provide uninterrupted service by adopting safety measures against the second wave of Covid-19 infection. The central bank issued a notice on Monday, April 19, instructing banks to be cautious about the spreading of infection.<br /> <br /> NRB has directed the banks to follow the health safety protocols of issued by the Government of Nepal and the World Health Organization to reduce the risk of virus transmission among bank employees and customers. The central bank has asked the BFIs to provide service to the customers by being cautious and maintaining physical distance. The central bank has suggested BFIs to provide electronic service as much as possible.<br /> <br /> Banks also have been requested to provide sanitizers and tissue paper at ATMs and maintain proper ventilation to reduce the risk of infection from their ATM booths. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">Likewise, NRB has directed the banks to ensure physical distance and conduct programs such as meetings, seminars, and training virtually. NRB also suggests taking measures such as remote access, work from home, working in shifts as per the need.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial">NRB has also directed banks to update their contingency plan with a detailed action plan. The central bank has urged BFIs to follow the previous instructions on health protocol.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13044', 'image' => '20210420034241_20201106055408_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 15:42:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13298', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Airline Operators Hike Domestic Airfare', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The Airline Operators' Association of Nepal (AAON) has increased the airfare of all domestic flights following the rise in price of aviation fuel. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 20: The Airline Operators' Association of Nepal (AAON) has increased the airfare of all domestic flights following the rise in price of aviation fuel. The new airfare has come into effect from April 20.<br /> Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) had raised the price of aviation fuel by Rs 2. Earlier, the price of aviation was Rs 74 per liter. It has now been fixed at Rs 76 per liter.<br /> The AAON has fixed the new price by adjusting the fuel surcharge for flights in various sectors across the country.<br /> According to a press release issued by the association on April 19, the airfare of Kathmandu-Dhangadhi flight has grown by Rs 85 per ticket. Likewise, airfare of Doti-Sanfebgar has been raised by Rs 10 ticket.<br /> The fare of the Kathmandu-Bhairahawa route has been raised by Rs 45, and the Kathmandu-Nepalgunj route by Rs 65. Likewise, the airfare of Kathmandu-Biratnagar flights has been increased by Rs 50 per ticket and Kathmandu-Simara flights by Rs 15.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Likewise, airline companies have also increased the airfare of mountain flights. Airfare of mountain flights from Kathmandu and Pokhara has grown by Rs. 65 per ticket each.<br /> Earlier, the association had fixed the new fare on March 20. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13043', 'image' => '20210420015427_20201108022005_Reviving Nepali Aviation Sector Amid Pandemic_2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 13:53:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13297', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Issues Fresh Directives to Contain COVID-19 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The government has issued new directives to contain Covid-19 pandemic following a surge in the rate of infection across the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 20: The government has issued new directives to contain Covid-19 pandemic following a surge in the rate of infection across the country. The government adopted new measures after more than 1000 cases of daily infection were reported in recent days.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday (April 19) issued such directive in accordance to Clause (2) of the Infectious Disease Control Act, 1964. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As per the decision, the government has ordered people not to gather in large number and has also instructed the concerned authorities to strictly monitor cross-border movement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, the government has imposed a ban on cinema halls, party palaces, dance clubs and bars, health clubs, gyms, swimming pools, futsal, stadium and all types of public gatherings. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Unveiling the decisions taken by the cabinet, Government Spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Parbat Gurung said that schools, training centres and academic institutions have been instructed to run their classes virtually until mid-May in major cities. However, the government has given green signal to continue the prescheduled examinations of schools and colleges and all the practical examinations by adopting health safety measures. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Public vehicles have been ordered not to carry passengers more than their capacity. Only a limited number of passengers are allowed to travel on public vehicles on the basis of the vehicles' seating capacity. It is also mandatory to use of face mask and hand sanitizer for passengers, drivers and helpers of the vehicles. As per the cabinet decision, the public vehicles should be disinfected every day. Any passenger found not wearing masks will be fined Rs 10 for the violation. <br /> Likewise, the hotels and restaurants will be allowed to operate only from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm by applying health precautions and should provide home delivery service beyond the time fixed by the government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government has also restricted the gathering of more than 25 people in temples, mosques, monastery and churches, and other religious functions. Furthermore, prior approval from the local administration is expected for conducting social and religious functions at party palaces. </span></span></span><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-20', 'modified' => '2021-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13042', 'image' => '20210420111424_20210416115657_1618526412.12.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-20 11:13:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13296', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Sack Industry Declines due to Lack of Raw Materials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: As the second wave of the coronavirus is spreading across the globe, industries that produce sacks in Nepal have been facing shortage of raw materials.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">April 19: As the second wave of the coronavirus is spreading across the globe, industries that produce sacks in Nepal have been facing shortage of raw materials. Due to the lack of raw materials, the production capacity of these industries has been declining.<br /> There are around two dozen industries that produce sacks made of plastic, jute, and clothes in Nepal. The industries provide these bags to various factories such as the ones that produce grains and cement among others. At present, all these industries are facing shortage of raw materials. This has reduced the production capacity of all the industries by almost 50 percent.<br /> Sudip Jaiswal, proprietor of Pashupati Seal Pack Industry in Biratnagar, said that his industry has been facing problems in production of bags for the past two months due to lack of polypropylene. Nepal imports such raw materials from countries like Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and India.<br /> He said that there is a problem in importing raw materials due to the increasing rate of coronavirus infection in those countries in recent days. "First of all, even if there is no problem in getting the raw materials, it takes months to reach Nepal due to the delay in shipment," he said.<br /> Due to the shortage of raw material and lengthy import process, the price of sacks has gone up in the country. According to industrialists, the production cost has risen by 25 percent this year compared to last year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The price of sacks used for packing cement has gone up to Rs 19 from Rs 13. About 30 percent of the workers in such industries have lost their jobs due to the decline in production capacity.<br /> According to Nikhil Todi, proprietor of Shivam Plastic Industries, Nepali sack industries produce 5,000 metric tonnes of sacks per month. Of them, 40 percent of the bags are consumed in Nepal's domestic market, and the remaining 60 percent are exported to other countries, including India.<br /> Due to the decline in production capacity, the export market of these industries has also become uncertain. Likewise, due to the fall in production of sacks, industries that produce rice, pulses, flour, and cement have been facing shortage of bags, according to the industrialists.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-19', 'modified' => '2021-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13041', 'image' => '20210419044539_white-rice-sack-bag-isolated-260nw-709147009.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-19 16:44:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13295', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Automobile Business Comes to a ‘Grinding Halt’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Due to recent surge in COVID-19 cases in India and its impact on import business, the automobile business in Nepal has come to a “complete halt” this year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">April 19: Due to recent surge in COVID-19 cases in India and its impact on import business, the automobile business in Nepal has come to a “complete halt” this year. Entrepreneurs had expected that the auto business would gain momentum after the lockdown and restrictions were lifted but the sale has not been much encouraging. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The biggest auto sales take place in the country during the Nada Auto Show, which is held just before the Dashain festival. After that, New Year also contributes to major auto sales. Until two years ago, new models of vehicles used to be introduced in the country by mid-February. In the last two years, no such enthusiasm has been witnessed in the automobile industry. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Sunil Rijal, General Secretary of Nepal Automobiles Dealers Association (NADA), said sales of auto have not been encouraging due to lack of enough supply to meet the increasing demand. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nevertheless, auto sales affected since last year due to the outbreak of COVID-19 is picking up. Similarly, banks’ higher capacity of lending has also led to a higher demand for automobiles. “However, the volume of sales has not increased due to the obstruction in supply chain. There is high demand for vehicles because of less volume of import,” Rijal said, adding that the demand for vehicles has not gone up despite revival of economic activities.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Traders say that customers are more attracted towards private vehicles in the wake of Covid-19. There has not been any demand for public buses since the outbreak. Car brands like Suzuki, Tata, Mahindra, Hyundai among others have high demand but traders haven’t been able to import these brands on time. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Owner of Naryani Automobiles and Secretary of NADA Anup Kumar Baral said the delivery of old bookings for vehicles have gradually started. “If the automobile industry in India remains unaffected due to this new wave of coronavirus, we are hopeful that sales will pick up pace from this year,” he added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal’s automobile sector is dependent on Indian market. Most of the vehicle parts manufactured in India are imported from China. According to Indian media, rising conflict between India and China has led to shortage of vehicles parts in India. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-19', 'modified' => '2021-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13040', 'image' => '20210419042043_20150914010543_travel-map.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-19 16:20:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13294', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Buddha Air to Operate Inter-Province Flights from Pokhara', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Buddha Air, a leading private airlines company in Nepal, has decided to operate inter-province flights from its base in Pokhara.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">April 19: Buddha Air, a leading private airlines company in Nepal, has decided to operate inter-province flights from its base in Pokhara. The company will conduct test flights to four destinations from Gandaki, Lumbini and Bagmati provinces from Pokhara.<br /> Buddha Air will fly from Pokhara to Simara, Biratnagar, Nepalgunj, and from Bharatpur in Bagmati Province to Bhairahawa from Saturday, May 1. The company has been operating regular flights to these destinations from Kathmandu.<br /> The company has also fixed the airfare for the inter-province flights. The airfare for Pokhara-Biratnagar has been fixed between Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,800.<br /> Similarly, the Pokhara-Nepalgunj flight will cost a minimum of Rs 4,500 to a maximum of Rs 7,200. The airfare of the Pokhara-Simara flight will cost between Rs 4,300 to Rs 6,700, and the Pokhara-Bhairahawa flight will cost a minimum of Rs 3,100 to a maximum of Rs 3,900.<br /> Likewise, airfare for Tumlingtar-Biratganagar will vary from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,200 and Rs 2,500 to Rs 4,000 for the Bhairahawa-Bharatpur flight.<br /> The fare is based on the operating cost of ATR-72, said Birendra Bahadur Basnet, managing director of the company.<br /> However, the company informed that the flight to these destinations will start from May 1 by operating Beachcraft. The company has demanded that the provincial government and the federal government provide special facilities for inter-province flights.<br /> Basnet informed that the airline company is planning to buy an additional aircraft by May 15. Pokhara is the second-largest city after Kathmandu, and Buddha Air has adopted a strategy to make it a base for domestic flights.<br /> Basnet informed that the company has been following 'Safety Guidelines against Covid-19' since the outbreak of the pandemic. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-19', 'modified' => '2021-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13039', 'image' => '20210419032057_20210122113025_20200323123412_aaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-19 15:20:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13293', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ICT Sector Contributes 77.16 Million to Nepal's GDP', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector has been contributing Rs 77.16 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">April 19: Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector has been contributing Rs 77.16 billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In an interaction held on Saturday by the Society of Economic Journalists of Nepal (SEJON) on the ‘Role of telecom sector in GDP’, Ishwori Bhandari, Director of CBS, said the contribution of ICT to GDP stands at Rs 77.16 billion. This accounts for 2.22 percent of the total GDP of the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to CBS, in the fiscal year 2019/20, broadcasting sector contributed 0.48 percent, telecommunication sector contributed 1.47 percent and ICT contributed to 2.22 percent to the GDP. In the program, Prof. Dr. Pushparaj Kandel, Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission said the contribution of this sector to the GDP is something to be proud of so ICT sector should also be developed as an industry. He said that ICT has been referred to as the driving force of economy in the 15<sup>th</sup> Plan. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> Minister for Finance Bishnu Poudel said more improvements are necessary in the ICT sector to develop the country digitally and it will be prioritized in next year’s budget. The telecom sector of the country earns Rs 100 billion annually and provides employment to around 60,000 people. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-19', 'modified' => '2021-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13038', 'image' => '20210419022050_ict.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-19 14:19:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
