June 20: Farmers have been forced to sell paddy to traders at half the support price set by the government as the state-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited (FMTC) did not buy paddy this…
June 20: Farmers have been forced to sell paddy to traders at half the support price set by the government as the state-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited (FMTC) did not buy paddy this…
June 20: Hydropower projects promoted by the private sector have incurred an estimated loss of Rs 10 billion due to the floods and landslides that occurred in various districts last…
June 20: Meteorologists have warned that the monsoon that has become active since the last few days will not be weakening immediately.…
June 20: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for Foreign Affairs Raghubir Mahaseth has said that Nepal’s graduation from the LDC category would be an important milestone in the country’s development trajectory.…
Funds deposited by Nepali individuals and firms in Swiss banks more than doubled to 360.82 million Swiss Francs in…
Nepal received 982 units of 10-liter oxygen concentrators, financed by the World Bank…
Federation of Computer Association of Nepal, Center for Cyber Security Research and Innovation and Information Security Response Team Nepal have jointly urged the government to prepare legal and regulatory framework for secure cyberspace within a year and build organizational structure and infrastructure required for it within six…
Though most of the pride projects of Province 1 introduced in the current fiscal year (2020/21) are yet to be implemented, the provincial government has given continuity to them while also announcing some new projects and programmes in the budget for the upcoming fiscal…
Bank of Kathmandu Ltd and Ingwa Hydropower Limited have signed a loan agreement for the Upper Ingwa Hydropower Project.…
Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders.…
Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of…
…
Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund.…
The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still…
With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital…
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The government had fixed the price of medium paddy at Rs 2,885 per quintal and coarse paddy at Rs 2,735 per quintal for the fiscal year 2077/78. However, as the company has not shown any interest in purchasing paddy, the farmers say that they have to sell paddy at Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,500 per quintal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Bhubaneswar Yadav, a Sunsari-based farmer, expressed his dissatisfaction as he had to sell his paddy at Rs 1,500 per quintal. He says that the government has fooled them in the name of support price. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“We had harvested paddy in such a large quantity with the hope that we will get a reasonable price as the government had fixed the minimum support price. But after selling the paddy in such a throw-away price, our hard work has gone in vain,” he told New Business Age.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similar is the situation of other farmers like Yadav. Agni Aryal, coordinator of Rajaur Paddy Superzone, said that although the production of paddy has been good in Bardiya this year, the farmers have not been able to get a fair price. According to him, the farmers of Bardiya are selling paddy at Rs 1,400 per quintal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development informed that out of the total cultivable land of 1.35 million hectares, paddy has been cultivated in more than 100,000 hectares of land in Sunsari, Morang, Jhapa, Bara, Parsa, Sarlahi, Chitwan, Dang, Banke, Bardiya and Kailali districts this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the ministry, the state-owned company has not been able to buy paddy from the farmers as the procurement target of the government is already met. Information officer of FMTC Sharmila Neupane Subedi also said that they cannot buy paddy as the target has already been met.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The company had initially set a target of purchasing 60,000 metric tons of paddy for the fiscal year 2077/78. However, as the quantity could not be procured, the target was revised to 34,700 metric tons. The target has been reduced as the minimum support price set by the government is higher than the market price and the company has to bear loss when they have to sell paddy at the subsidized price.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-20', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13306', 'image' => '20210620015152_20210603031456_20210512035550_20181125011444_pady-1024x682.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-20 13:51:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13561', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Hydropower Projects Incur Loss of Rs 10 Billion due to Floods: IPPAN', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 20: Hydropower projects promoted by the private sector have incurred an estimated loss of Rs 10 billion due to the floods and landslides that occurred in various districts last week.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">June 20: Hydropower projects promoted by the private sector have incurred an estimated loss of Rs 10 billion due to the floods and landslides that occurred in various districts last week. A preliminary study conducted by the Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal (IPPAN) has estimated the loss at around Rs 10 billion. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Krishna Prasad Acharya, chairman of IPPAN, claimed that the floods have caused a loss of Rs 10 billion to hydropower projects operated by the private sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">"Our preliminary study has pointed to the damage of this scale,” he told New Business Age, adding, "We have demanded the government to form a high-level mechanism to study the losses caused by the floods." </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Hydropower projects have been badly affected by last week's floods and landslides. Particularly, the under-construction projects have been more affected. Projects have suffered damages like sweeping away of construction materials, inundation of power house and destruction of dam. Similarly, transmission line towers have collapsed and roads connecting to the project area have been destroyed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to IPPAN , 42 MW Supermardi Hydropower Project being constructed in Kaski has incurred significant damage. Acharya said that most of the construction materials have been washed away by the floods. Along with the formation of high-level mechanism to study into the details of loss incurred, IPPAN has also sought for appropriate relief packages to the affected projects. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Issuing a press statement on Friday, June 18, IPPAN has urged the government to set up a high-level mechanism. IPPAN has demanded to form the committee representing the ministries of finance, energy and home affairs. Acharya said that the committee should also have representation from private energy producers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He said that appropriate relief should be distributed after studying the extent of the damage incurred. "This time, the damage incurred is not minimal. If the loss amounted to two to four million rupees, we could have handled it. But the loss amounts to billions. So the government needs to bring necessary relief package for the affected projects."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to IPPAN, the under-construction projects might be delayed by at least one year due to the loss incurred. The relief packages should also address this issue. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">IPPAN has also demanded immediate reconstruction of the destroyed roads leading to the project site and repair of transmission lines damaged by the floods.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-20', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13305', 'image' => '20210620053704_20150823012330_ep1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-20 17:36:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13559', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Monsoon Unlikely to Weaken Soon: Meteorologist', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 20: Meteorologists have warned that the monsoon that has become active since the last few days will not be weakening immediately. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">June 20: Meteorologists have warned that the monsoon that has become active since the last few days will not be weakening immediately. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to meteorologist at the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Shanti Kandel, the monsoon is not likely to weaken anytime soon since it has become active from the very beginning this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"The influence of monsoon will remain for still some more days. Therefore, the trend of rainfall will continue for few more days," the state owned national news agency RSS quoted Kandel as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to RSS, meteorologist Kandel said that the impact of the monsoon wind will however weaken after some days. It has been raining continuously due to the monsoon that has become active three days before the usual date this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Department of Meteorology said the weather will remain partly to generally cloudy throughout the country with light rainfall and possibility of thunder on Sunday (today) and Monday (June 21).</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-20', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13304', 'image' => '20210620115244_20200511091310_Storm.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-20 11:51:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13558', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Urges Development Partners to Help Address Investment Gaps ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 20: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for Foreign Affairs Raghubir Mahaseth has said that Nepal’s graduation from the LDC category would be an important milestone in the country’s development trajectory. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">June 20: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for Foreign Affairs Raghubir Mahaseth has said that Nepal’s graduation from the LDC category would be an important milestone in the country’s development trajectory. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Addressing the ‘Joint Thematic Event of the UN General Assembly and Economic and Social Council on Least Developed Countries’ through a pre-recorded video on Saturday (June 19), DPM Mahaseth expressed Nepal’s commitment to make the graduation process smooth and sustainable by mobilizing finance from public as well as private sectors, and internal as well as external sources. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">DPM Mahaseth stressed that the development partners need to live up to their financing commitments to help address the investment gaps in the LDCs. He also called for international community’s support in line with the LDCs’ development needs, including in the areas of productive capacity, infrastructure, energy, and connectivity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Referring to the unrealized target of the Istanbul Programme of Action to enable graduation of half of the LDCs, he underlined the need to scale up collective action to match the collective ambition. The foreign minister further stressed that the United Nations Fifth Conference on the LDCs to be held in Doha in January 2022 must be a conference of hope offering adequate financing and means of implementation to ensure that the LDCs will not be left behind. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The thematic event was jointly organized under the theme of ‘Diversifying the Financing Toolbox to Enhance Investment in Least Developed Countries’ by the President of General Assembly and the President of ECOSOC at UN Headquarters, New York. A number of Ministers and high-level participants attended the event, according to the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-20', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13303', 'image' => '20210620113812_181M770x478.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-20 11:37:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13557', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s deposits in Swiss banks fourth largest among South Asian nations', 'sub_title' => 'As Nepal has banned transfer of money abroad, the money held by Swiss banks could have been transferred ‘illegally’', 'summary' => 'Funds deposited by Nepali individuals and firms in Swiss banks more than doubled to 360.82 million Swiss Francs in 2020.', 'content' => '<p><strong>Sagar Ghimire</strong></p> <p>Kathmandu, June 19: Funds deposited by Nepali individuals and firms in Swiss banks more than doubled to 360.82 million Swiss Francs (over Rs 46.18 billion in today’s exchange rate) in 2020, making Nepal the fourth largest depositor of cash in Switzerland among South Asian countries.</p> <p>Nepalis have never parked such a huge amount of money in Swiss banks in the last 25 years, shows the 2020 report of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), the Swiss central bank. Deposits of Nepalis in Swiss banks stood at 175.9 million Swiss Francs (CHF) (nearly Rs 22.51 billion) in 2019. That amount jumped 105.2 percent in 2020 to reach CHF 360.8 million. The amount parked by Nepalis is fourth largest among South Asian countries, after India (CHF 2.6 billion), Pakistan (CHF 642.3 million) and Bangladesh (CHF 562.9 million).<img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Nepali%20Deposits%20in%20Swiss%20Banks.JPG" style="float:right; height:275px; width:450px" /></p> <p>Since Nepal’s laws and regulations bar the citizens and companies from transferring funds abroad without the central bank’s approval, officials believe that the deposits in Swiss banks—referred by the Swiss central bank as ‘liabilities of its banks’ to Nepali clients—could have been transferred illegally. </p> <p>The data of the Swiss central bank shows that Nepalis’ deposits had fallen 29 percent in 2019 from CHF 248.79 million (Rs 32.85 billion) in 2018.</p> <p>As Swiss banks maintain highest degree of secrecy of their clients, it is not clear who these Nepali individuals or firms are and how they managed to park their funds in Switzerland.</p> <p>Switzerland has long been perceived as one of the most preferred safe havens for many individuals and firms from across the world to stash their funds.</p> <p>Such secrecy could also make it vulnerable to abuse of the banking system to park ill-gotten money by launderers or criminals, according to experts. </p> <p>Switzerland has ranked third in Financial Secrecy Index of 133 jurisdictions in 2020 by The Tax Justice Network.</p> <p>Switzerland, however, has been dismissing such concerns, claiming that it is always committed to the integrity of the global financial system and to abiding by international transparency standards.</p> <p>Officials at the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)—the central regulatory bank of Nepal—say that they are unaware about the SNB’s recently released data.</p> <p>“I cannot comment on the case that you are referring to. However, what I can say is that Nepali citizens and firms are not allowed to send money abroad except in certain conditions like to import goods through the use of letters of credit or to repatriate dividend provided by businesses operated by foreign investors in Nepal,” said Neelam Dhungana Timsina, a deputy governor at the NRB. “We do not have capital account convertibility. So, we do not allow overseas fund transfers easily,” added NRB Deputy Governor Timsina who oversees Foreign Exchange Management Department at the central bank.</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13302', 'image' => '20210619052441_South Asian Countries Deposits in Swiss Banks.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 17:11:15', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => true, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13556', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Receives 982 Oxygen Concentrators Financed by World Bank ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal received 982 units of 10-liter oxygen concentrators, financed by the World Bank today.', 'content' => '<p>June 19: Nepal received 982 units of 10-liter oxygen concentrators, financed by the World Bank today.</p> <p>Issuing a statement on Saturday, the World Bank said that the concentrators are part of a long-term solution for augmenting Nepal’s capacities to supply therapeutic oxygen to public health facilities towards a stronger response to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p> <p>“I am very pleased that we have been able to quickly bring in the oxygen concentrators, which will be dispatched to health facilities of greatest need across all seven provinces of the country,” the statement quoted Sher Bahadur Tamang, Minister of Health and Population, as saying. “The government is working hard to strengthen availability of medical oxygen in all the public health facilities of Nepal, such that every Nepali citizen requiring oxygen is able to access it.”</p> <p>According to the statement, the oxygen concentrators were procured through United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) under the World Bank-financed COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project, which has also financed seven oxygen generation plants, one for each province in Nepal. </p> <p>These plants will be brought in, installed and operationalized by UNOPS in a phased manner in seven provincial hospitals, in the next 6-15 weeks, said the statement.</p> <p> “The World Bank has made available $104 million to support Nepal’s immediate health response to the pandemic, including the procurement of life-saving COVID-19 vaccines, and strengthening the country’s health systems and preparedness,” the statement quoted Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, as saying. “We are committed to support Nepal and Nepalis during this crisis, and by joining forces with the government and development partners, we have been able to have more impact.”</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13301', 'image' => '20210619030418_World Bank Oxygen Concentrators -19June2021.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 15:00:51', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13555', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Urged to Create Legal Framework Within One Year to Secure Cyberspace ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Federation of Computer Association of Nepal, Center for Cyber Security Research and Innovation and Information Security Response Team Nepal have jointly urged the government to prepare legal and regulatory framework for secure cyberspace within a year and build organizational structure and infrastructure required for it within six months', 'content' => '<p>June 19: Federation of Computer Association of Nepal, Center for Cyber Security Research and Innovation and Information Security Response Team Nepal have jointly urged the government to prepare legal and regulatory framework for secure cyberspace within a year and build organizational structure and infrastructure required for it within six months.</p> <p>While submitting the suggestions over draft of National Cyber Security Policy 2021, they have asked the government to maintain the legal and organizational requirements for sensitive issues like cybersecurity at the earliest. </p> <p>The draft has set a target of having a regulatory and legal framework for reliable, secure and resilient cyberspace in three years setting up organizational structures and infrastructures in five years.<br /> A delegation team of representatives from these three organizations met Hari Prasad Basyal, Secretary of Ministry for Communication and Information Technology, and suggested formulating laws to control the cyber crime, strengthen cyber security in provincial and central level.</p> <p>They have also suggested making use of free and accessible digital signatures mandatory for government, non-government and private organizations. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13300', 'image' => '20210619021251_Suggestion on Cyber Policy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 14:08:07', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13554', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'After Failing to Implement in Current FY, Province 1 Gives Continuity to Projects in New Budget', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Though most of the pride projects of Province 1 introduced in the current fiscal year (2020/21) are yet to be implemented, the provincial government has given continuity to them while also announcing some new projects and programmes in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p>June 19: Though most of the pride projects of Province 1 introduced in the current fiscal year (2020/21) are yet to be implemented, the provincial government has given continuity to them while also announcing some new projects and programmes in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.</p> <p>Some of the projects that the provincial government fail to start their implementation include national pride projects. </p> <p>Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning of Province 1, Tanka Angbuhang, introduced the budget of Rs 32.46 billion for the coming fiscal year, down from Rs. 40.89 billion allocated for the current fiscal year. </p> <p>The budget for the upcoming fiscal year that was unveiled on Tuesday is under discussion in the provincial assembly. </p> <p>Economic Affairs and Planning Minister Angubhang plans to tap fiscal transfers from the federal government as the main source of income to finance his budget. Due to the Covid-19, the provincial government has prioritized the health sector in its spending plan. While many projects and programmes mentioned in the budget statement of the current fiscal year suffer budget shortage, the provincial government came up with new projects for the upcoming fiscal year. </p> <p>The construction of the Ravi-Ranke Tourist Route from Bhedetar to Miklajung has not started yet. Likewise, the Damak-Chisapani-Ravi Falgunand road, which was also announced in the budget as a pride project, did not see any progress due to the lack of the budget. ‘Baraha Bijaypur Circuit and Shakti Peeth Circuit also face similar fate. </p> <p>Although the budget was allocated for the construction of the Ring rRad connecting the historic palace of Birat King of Jhapa, Itahari, Dharan and Inaruwa of Sunsari and Biratnagar of Morang in the current fiscal year, the provincial government could not even conduct its feasibility study. </p> <p>Targeting the tourist area, the plan to build a road from Udayapur, Khotang, Sankhuwasabha and Solukhumbu to Ranitar-Pancha-Chakhewa-salpadilichung to Sagarmatha and Makalu base camp also remains unimplemented. There has not been much progress in the first phase of road construction connecting base camps of Mount Everest and Makalu. </p> <p>The announcement to start a study for the construction of an international conference center in Itahari and an exhibition venue in Dharan is limited in the budget speech. </p> <p>The government, which has allocated Rs 430 million in the youth and sports sector, has not been able to form even a province-level sports council. <br /> The ‘People’s Medical Education Fund’ to provide easy access to loans without collateral to the students from poor families to study MBBS has also been limited to the announcement.</p> <p>Although the process to promote investment by forming an investment board led by the Chief Minister has started, establishment of a special economic zone (SEZ) in the province has not seen any progress. Although the government allocated the budget to generate 200 MW of electricity from solar energy, no progress has been made towards that end.</p> <p>The announcement of the provincial government to build charging stations at necessary places to encourage the use of electric vehicles has also been limited to the budget only. The announcement for the construction of the People's War Memorial Museum at Belbari in Morang along with the construction of the foundations in the name of the martyrs, missing persons, politicians and people's leaders of the people's revolution has not been implemented. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13299', 'image' => '20210619121628_Province 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 12:11:33', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13553', 'article_category_id' => '218', 'title' => 'Bank of Kathmandu to Finance Upper Ingwa Hydropower Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Bank of Kathmandu Ltd and Ingwa Hydropower Limited have signed a loan agreement for the Upper Ingwa Hydropower Project. ', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Bank of Kathmandu Ltd and Ingwa Hydropower Limited have signed a loan agreement for the Upper Ingwa Hydropower Project.</p> <p>Issuing a statement, the commercial bank said that it was providing 75 percent in loans to develop the 9.7 MW hydropower project with an estimated cost of Rs 1.95 billion.</p> <p>BoK is the sole lender of the project, according to the statement. The remaining 25 percent will be the equity investment of the hydropower company. The hydropower project is being constructed at Yangwarak Rural Municipality in Panchthar and Sidhingba Rural Municipality in Taplejung. “The bank believes that its financing will help in completing the hydropower project in time,” read the statement.</p> <p>According to the statement, the bank has financed 37 energy projects in Nepal including solar and hydropower projects. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13298', 'image' => '20210618090338_Hydropower.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 21:00:16', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => true, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13552', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Seeks Suggestions for Monetary Policy for Upcoming Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders. I', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders. Issuing a notice on Thursday, NRB said that the suggestions for the monetary policy can be emailed or mailed to the central bank’s address. </p> <p>Like last year, the central bank has started collecting suggestions for the monetary policy that is scheduled to be made public in the first week of Shrawn (third week of July). </p> <p>Prakash Shrestha, an executive director at the NRB, said that all stakeholders including organizations and associations of bank and financial institutions, businesses and other sectors can send their suggestions by Asadh end (mid July). </p> <p>According to NRB’s Executive Director Shrestha, suggestions can be emailed at monetarypolicy@nrb.org.np or mailed at Economic Research Department of the NRB, Baluwatar in Kathmandu. </p> <p>He said that the central bank has already received suggestions from some organizations that they want to be addressed in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year. Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has said that it is preparing its letter including the suggestions to be sent to the central bank for the monetary policy.</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13297', 'image' => '20210618084202_NRB.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 20:39:18', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13551', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Domestic Flights Unlikely to Resume Before Third Week of July', 'sub_title' => ' Govt to allow resumption of international flights to five more countries', 'summary' => 'Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July.', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July. </p> <p>The domestic flight operations have been suspended for more than 45 days. Earlier on April 4, the government suspended the domestic flights as part of containment measures in the wake of rapid spread of coronavirus. </p> <p>According to an official of the ministry who does not want to be named, domestic flights will be resumed only after the third week of July.</p> <p>Although Covid-19 cases are declining in the last few days, there is no possibility of immediate resumption of domestic flights as the government is in a mood to wait and watch the trend of the infections for a few more weeks, according to the official. </p> <p>The Airline Operators Association of Nepal, an umbrella organization of private airlines, had written a letter to Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Umashankar Aragariya on June 8, demanding the immediate resumption of domestic flights. </p> <p>In its statement issued after sending the letter to the minister, the AOAN had said that domestic flights in the neighboring countries and as other parts of the world have not been halted as the air travel can be operated with safety precautions. Citing the decline in the infection cases, the association had urged the government to operate domestic flights as soon as possible.</p> <p>Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, a joint secretary at the ministry, said that the ministry was positive to gradually lift the restriction on domestic flights. "The ministry is preparing to gradually open domestic flights by complying with health standards," he said. He said that the rate of coronavirus infection and the situation in areas like Nepalgunj, Biratnagar, Birgunj, and Bhairahawa, which are considered hubs for opening domestic flights, would also be analyzed and evaluated before making the decision. </p> <p>Meanwhile, the government has indicated that it would take a flexible approach in allowing international flights to and from Nepal. The government, which also suspended international flights from April 8, has already decided to allow flights to and from China, Qatar, and Turkey. </p> <p>Raj Kumar Chettri, Spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), said that they have not received any request for permit for Nepal-China flight so far.</p> <p>The government on Wednesday decided to operate international flights to five more countries. A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC) decided to resume flights to Saudi Arabia, UAE (Dubai), Japan, and Malaysia. The CCMC decided to relax the ban on international flights from those countries which are major destinations for Nepali workers. </p> <p>Chettri said that with the decision to resume flights to more countries, the airlines from the countries concerned will now be invited to apply for scheduled flights. The concerned airlines will only be permitted to operate flights after applying for a flight permit from the CAAN. </p> <p>The meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Committee KP Sharma Oli decided to operate flights from these countries with no more than 2,000 passengers a week.</p> <p>Similarly, the meeting also decided to assist the workers who have gone for foreign employment but cannot stay in the quarantine at the hotel due to various reasons. The meeting decided to bear the cost of 10 days of quarantine for Nepali workers. The government has already introduced a 15-day mandatory hotel quarantine for those arriving in Nepal from abroad. </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13296', 'image' => '20210618035059_Domestic Flights.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 15:46:30', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13550', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kathmandu Metropolitan City Announces 10% House Rent Tax Waiver ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has announced a special tax waiver to COVID-19 affected taxpayers. KMC Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya made this announcement while introducing KMC’s Policies and Programmes for the fiscal year 2021/22 on Thursday.</p> <p>He said that the KMC will provide a waiver on house rental tax for those who submit details of tenants. </p> <p>“Those homeowners who submit the details of tenants and rental agreements in their respective wards will be provided a rental tax waiver of 10 percent or Rs 25,000, whichever is lower,” said Mayor Shakya, unveiling the Policies and Programmes. “The private sector will also be mobilized for this,”</p> <p>Those paying their taxes, service charges or fees to the KMC through banking or electronic channels will also be provided a certain rebate, according to the Policies and Programmes. </p> <p>KMC has announced that it would offer a significant waiver on various taxes and charges for the hotel and tourism industry hit by the pandemic. To make the urban service delivery more effective, it has announced to keep the record of all people living temporarily in KMC. </p> <p>Likewise, KMC will build a state-of-the-art 100-bed special hospital and provide COVID treatment , operate a call center for counseling, psychological counselling, COVID test and ambulance service at free of cost. </p> <p>The mayor also announced free services including isolation services, covid special hospital services and oxygen support.</p> <p>Residents in the metropolitan city will be guaranteed basic health services by upgrading the urban health clinics operating in the ward office and arrange free health check-ups by the expert doctors. </p> <p>Other announcements include a 50 percent subsidy on insurance premiums for KMC residents and grading of hotel, restaurant, food processing sites and online food deliveries. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13295', 'image' => '20210618013424_KMC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 13:27:22', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13549', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Dolma Impact Fund Announces Rs 180 Million Investment in Upaya City Cargo ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund. ', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund. </p> <p>Upaya is an online marketplace for intra-city logistics that connects individuals and businesses with 4-wheeler pickup driver-partners and 2-wheeler rider-partners within Kathmandu Valley, Butwal, Bhairahawa & Pokhara.</p> <p>DIF is the first international private equity fund and impact fund dedicated to Nepal. </p> <p>DIF is making its investment in Upaya City Cargo from its Dolma Impact Fund II. After committing $36.6 million in various projects from its previous Dolma Impact Fund I, it has recently raised nearly $40 million for its second impact fund to make investments in Nepal<br /> . <br /> Dutch lender FMO, CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, Swedfund and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have backed the Dolma Impact Fund II. </p> <p>Issuing a statement, Dolma Impact Fund said that the investment, subject to successful due diligence and final internal approval from the Fund, will help the company to expand its operation in other cities across Nepal with logistics solutions for on-demand delivery of bulk goods as well as e-commerce & agriculture sectors. </p> <p>“Through this investment, Upaya and Dolma aim to create an impactful partnership in the Nepali logistics sector,” the statement added. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13294', 'image' => '20210618120759_Online Cargo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 12:07:00', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13548', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Process to Secure Covid-19 Vaccines Still Ongoing: Govt', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing.', 'content' => '<p>June 18: The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing.</p> <p>Issuing a statement on Thursday, the Ministry of Health and Population also refuted media reports that the government has decided to procure Covid-19 vaccines from China. </p> <p>“The process to secure more vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing,” read the statement. “The media reports on quantity, price, delivery, and other relevant information about the vaccine procurement are, therefore, premature, inaccurate, speculative and misleading,” it added. <img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Health%20Ministry.jpg" style="float:right; height:448px; width:313px" /></p> <p>The statement follows recent media reports claiming that the government has decided to purchase four million doses of Sinopharm vaccines from China without disclosing the price.</p> <p>China has already provided Nepal 1.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines as grant assistance. </p> <p>In its statement, the ministry also said that the government has approached Covid-19 vaccine producing countries to provide, on grant or procurement basis, the vaccine. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13293', 'image' => '20210618111947_Health Ministery_Building.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 11:10:19', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13547', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Bunching Up Capital Expenditure Toward Last Month of Fiscal Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital expenditure.', 'content' => '<p>June 17: With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital expenditure. Like in the previous fiscal years, the capital budget for the current fiscal year is going to be underspent. </p> <p>Though the government had claimed of meeting capital budget spending targets due to various latest measures that it had introduced, a huge portion of the capital budget is going to be unspent in the current fiscal year also. </p> <p>Since the new fiscal year begins from July 16, the government has to spend the current budget in less than a month. <br /> Through the mid term review of the budget, the government had revised its target of capital expenditure to 85.9%. Capital expenditures mostly include the spendings on development projects. <br /> The government is unlikely to meet even its revised target. <br /> However, the government is preparing to spend the huge amount of the allocated budget in the month of Ashad (between mid June and mid July). Bunching up capital spending in the last month of the fiscal year raises concerns of the quality of the development works and other constructions carried out in haste.<br /> Gyanendra Poudel, Spokesperson of the Financial Comptroller General Office, said that a large amount of funds is being released in the last month of the current fiscal year like in the previous years. </p> <p>The then Finance Minister Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada had brought a budget of Rs 1,474.6 billion for the current fiscal year. Through the mid term review report, the government had revised down the budget by Rs 130 billion. <br /> Jagadish Chandra Pokhrel, former Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission , said that the government’s focus on petty politics rather than on delivering services and implementing development projects have led to budget underspending. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13292', 'image' => '20210617045713_Capex.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 16:54:31', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ) ) $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' => '13560', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Farmers Selling Paddy at Half the Support Price', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 20: Farmers have been forced to sell paddy to traders at half the support price set by the government as the state-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited (FMTC) did not buy paddy this year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">June 20: Farmers have been forced to sell paddy to traders at half the support price set by the government as the state-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited (FMTC) did not buy paddy this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government had set the minimum support prices with the aim to support the farmers. The government had fixed the price of medium paddy at Rs 2,885 per quintal and coarse paddy at Rs 2,735 per quintal for the fiscal year 2077/78. However, as the company has not shown any interest in purchasing paddy, the farmers say that they have to sell paddy at Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,500 per quintal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Bhubaneswar Yadav, a Sunsari-based farmer, expressed his dissatisfaction as he had to sell his paddy at Rs 1,500 per quintal. He says that the government has fooled them in the name of support price. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“We had harvested paddy in such a large quantity with the hope that we will get a reasonable price as the government had fixed the minimum support price. But after selling the paddy in such a throw-away price, our hard work has gone in vain,” he told New Business Age.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similar is the situation of other farmers like Yadav. Agni Aryal, coordinator of Rajaur Paddy Superzone, said that although the production of paddy has been good in Bardiya this year, the farmers have not been able to get a fair price. According to him, the farmers of Bardiya are selling paddy at Rs 1,400 per quintal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development informed that out of the total cultivable land of 1.35 million hectares, paddy has been cultivated in more than 100,000 hectares of land in Sunsari, Morang, Jhapa, Bara, Parsa, Sarlahi, Chitwan, Dang, Banke, Bardiya and Kailali districts this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the ministry, the state-owned company has not been able to buy paddy from the farmers as the procurement target of the government is already met. Information officer of FMTC Sharmila Neupane Subedi also said that they cannot buy paddy as the target has already been met.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The company had initially set a target of purchasing 60,000 metric tons of paddy for the fiscal year 2077/78. However, as the quantity could not be procured, the target was revised to 34,700 metric tons. The target has been reduced as the minimum support price set by the government is higher than the market price and the company has to bear loss when they have to sell paddy at the subsidized price.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-20', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13306', 'image' => '20210620015152_20210603031456_20210512035550_20181125011444_pady-1024x682.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-20 13:51:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13561', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Hydropower Projects Incur Loss of Rs 10 Billion due to Floods: IPPAN', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 20: Hydropower projects promoted by the private sector have incurred an estimated loss of Rs 10 billion due to the floods and landslides that occurred in various districts last week.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">June 20: Hydropower projects promoted by the private sector have incurred an estimated loss of Rs 10 billion due to the floods and landslides that occurred in various districts last week. A preliminary study conducted by the Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal (IPPAN) has estimated the loss at around Rs 10 billion. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Krishna Prasad Acharya, chairman of IPPAN, claimed that the floods have caused a loss of Rs 10 billion to hydropower projects operated by the private sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">"Our preliminary study has pointed to the damage of this scale,” he told New Business Age, adding, "We have demanded the government to form a high-level mechanism to study the losses caused by the floods." </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Hydropower projects have been badly affected by last week's floods and landslides. Particularly, the under-construction projects have been more affected. Projects have suffered damages like sweeping away of construction materials, inundation of power house and destruction of dam. Similarly, transmission line towers have collapsed and roads connecting to the project area have been destroyed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to IPPAN , 42 MW Supermardi Hydropower Project being constructed in Kaski has incurred significant damage. Acharya said that most of the construction materials have been washed away by the floods. Along with the formation of high-level mechanism to study into the details of loss incurred, IPPAN has also sought for appropriate relief packages to the affected projects. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Issuing a press statement on Friday, June 18, IPPAN has urged the government to set up a high-level mechanism. IPPAN has demanded to form the committee representing the ministries of finance, energy and home affairs. Acharya said that the committee should also have representation from private energy producers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He said that appropriate relief should be distributed after studying the extent of the damage incurred. "This time, the damage incurred is not minimal. If the loss amounted to two to four million rupees, we could have handled it. But the loss amounts to billions. So the government needs to bring necessary relief package for the affected projects."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to IPPAN, the under-construction projects might be delayed by at least one year due to the loss incurred. The relief packages should also address this issue. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">IPPAN has also demanded immediate reconstruction of the destroyed roads leading to the project site and repair of transmission lines damaged by the floods.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-20', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13305', 'image' => '20210620053704_20150823012330_ep1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-20 17:36:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13559', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Monsoon Unlikely to Weaken Soon: Meteorologist', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 20: Meteorologists have warned that the monsoon that has become active since the last few days will not be weakening immediately. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">June 20: Meteorologists have warned that the monsoon that has become active since the last few days will not be weakening immediately. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to meteorologist at the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Shanti Kandel, the monsoon is not likely to weaken anytime soon since it has become active from the very beginning this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"The influence of monsoon will remain for still some more days. Therefore, the trend of rainfall will continue for few more days," the state owned national news agency RSS quoted Kandel as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to RSS, meteorologist Kandel said that the impact of the monsoon wind will however weaken after some days. It has been raining continuously due to the monsoon that has become active three days before the usual date this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Department of Meteorology said the weather will remain partly to generally cloudy throughout the country with light rainfall and possibility of thunder on Sunday (today) and Monday (June 21).</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-20', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13304', 'image' => '20210620115244_20200511091310_Storm.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-20 11:51:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13558', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Urges Development Partners to Help Address Investment Gaps ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 20: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for Foreign Affairs Raghubir Mahaseth has said that Nepal’s graduation from the LDC category would be an important milestone in the country’s development trajectory. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">June 20: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for Foreign Affairs Raghubir Mahaseth has said that Nepal’s graduation from the LDC category would be an important milestone in the country’s development trajectory. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Addressing the ‘Joint Thematic Event of the UN General Assembly and Economic and Social Council on Least Developed Countries’ through a pre-recorded video on Saturday (June 19), DPM Mahaseth expressed Nepal’s commitment to make the graduation process smooth and sustainable by mobilizing finance from public as well as private sectors, and internal as well as external sources. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">DPM Mahaseth stressed that the development partners need to live up to their financing commitments to help address the investment gaps in the LDCs. He also called for international community’s support in line with the LDCs’ development needs, including in the areas of productive capacity, infrastructure, energy, and connectivity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Referring to the unrealized target of the Istanbul Programme of Action to enable graduation of half of the LDCs, he underlined the need to scale up collective action to match the collective ambition. The foreign minister further stressed that the United Nations Fifth Conference on the LDCs to be held in Doha in January 2022 must be a conference of hope offering adequate financing and means of implementation to ensure that the LDCs will not be left behind. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The thematic event was jointly organized under the theme of ‘Diversifying the Financing Toolbox to Enhance Investment in Least Developed Countries’ by the President of General Assembly and the President of ECOSOC at UN Headquarters, New York. A number of Ministers and high-level participants attended the event, according to the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-20', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13303', 'image' => '20210620113812_181M770x478.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-20 11:37:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13557', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s deposits in Swiss banks fourth largest among South Asian nations', 'sub_title' => 'As Nepal has banned transfer of money abroad, the money held by Swiss banks could have been transferred ‘illegally’', 'summary' => 'Funds deposited by Nepali individuals and firms in Swiss banks more than doubled to 360.82 million Swiss Francs in 2020.', 'content' => '<p><strong>Sagar Ghimire</strong></p> <p>Kathmandu, June 19: Funds deposited by Nepali individuals and firms in Swiss banks more than doubled to 360.82 million Swiss Francs (over Rs 46.18 billion in today’s exchange rate) in 2020, making Nepal the fourth largest depositor of cash in Switzerland among South Asian countries.</p> <p>Nepalis have never parked such a huge amount of money in Swiss banks in the last 25 years, shows the 2020 report of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), the Swiss central bank. Deposits of Nepalis in Swiss banks stood at 175.9 million Swiss Francs (CHF) (nearly Rs 22.51 billion) in 2019. That amount jumped 105.2 percent in 2020 to reach CHF 360.8 million. The amount parked by Nepalis is fourth largest among South Asian countries, after India (CHF 2.6 billion), Pakistan (CHF 642.3 million) and Bangladesh (CHF 562.9 million).<img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Nepali%20Deposits%20in%20Swiss%20Banks.JPG" style="float:right; height:275px; width:450px" /></p> <p>Since Nepal’s laws and regulations bar the citizens and companies from transferring funds abroad without the central bank’s approval, officials believe that the deposits in Swiss banks—referred by the Swiss central bank as ‘liabilities of its banks’ to Nepali clients—could have been transferred illegally. </p> <p>The data of the Swiss central bank shows that Nepalis’ deposits had fallen 29 percent in 2019 from CHF 248.79 million (Rs 32.85 billion) in 2018.</p> <p>As Swiss banks maintain highest degree of secrecy of their clients, it is not clear who these Nepali individuals or firms are and how they managed to park their funds in Switzerland.</p> <p>Switzerland has long been perceived as one of the most preferred safe havens for many individuals and firms from across the world to stash their funds.</p> <p>Such secrecy could also make it vulnerable to abuse of the banking system to park ill-gotten money by launderers or criminals, according to experts. </p> <p>Switzerland has ranked third in Financial Secrecy Index of 133 jurisdictions in 2020 by The Tax Justice Network.</p> <p>Switzerland, however, has been dismissing such concerns, claiming that it is always committed to the integrity of the global financial system and to abiding by international transparency standards.</p> <p>Officials at the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)—the central regulatory bank of Nepal—say that they are unaware about the SNB’s recently released data.</p> <p>“I cannot comment on the case that you are referring to. However, what I can say is that Nepali citizens and firms are not allowed to send money abroad except in certain conditions like to import goods through the use of letters of credit or to repatriate dividend provided by businesses operated by foreign investors in Nepal,” said Neelam Dhungana Timsina, a deputy governor at the NRB. “We do not have capital account convertibility. So, we do not allow overseas fund transfers easily,” added NRB Deputy Governor Timsina who oversees Foreign Exchange Management Department at the central bank.</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13302', 'image' => '20210619052441_South Asian Countries Deposits in Swiss Banks.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 17:11:15', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => true, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13556', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Receives 982 Oxygen Concentrators Financed by World Bank ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal received 982 units of 10-liter oxygen concentrators, financed by the World Bank today.', 'content' => '<p>June 19: Nepal received 982 units of 10-liter oxygen concentrators, financed by the World Bank today.</p> <p>Issuing a statement on Saturday, the World Bank said that the concentrators are part of a long-term solution for augmenting Nepal’s capacities to supply therapeutic oxygen to public health facilities towards a stronger response to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p> <p>“I am very pleased that we have been able to quickly bring in the oxygen concentrators, which will be dispatched to health facilities of greatest need across all seven provinces of the country,” the statement quoted Sher Bahadur Tamang, Minister of Health and Population, as saying. “The government is working hard to strengthen availability of medical oxygen in all the public health facilities of Nepal, such that every Nepali citizen requiring oxygen is able to access it.”</p> <p>According to the statement, the oxygen concentrators were procured through United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) under the World Bank-financed COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project, which has also financed seven oxygen generation plants, one for each province in Nepal. </p> <p>These plants will be brought in, installed and operationalized by UNOPS in a phased manner in seven provincial hospitals, in the next 6-15 weeks, said the statement.</p> <p> “The World Bank has made available $104 million to support Nepal’s immediate health response to the pandemic, including the procurement of life-saving COVID-19 vaccines, and strengthening the country’s health systems and preparedness,” the statement quoted Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, as saying. “We are committed to support Nepal and Nepalis during this crisis, and by joining forces with the government and development partners, we have been able to have more impact.”</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13301', 'image' => '20210619030418_World Bank Oxygen Concentrators -19June2021.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 15:00:51', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13555', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Urged to Create Legal Framework Within One Year to Secure Cyberspace ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Federation of Computer Association of Nepal, Center for Cyber Security Research and Innovation and Information Security Response Team Nepal have jointly urged the government to prepare legal and regulatory framework for secure cyberspace within a year and build organizational structure and infrastructure required for it within six months', 'content' => '<p>June 19: Federation of Computer Association of Nepal, Center for Cyber Security Research and Innovation and Information Security Response Team Nepal have jointly urged the government to prepare legal and regulatory framework for secure cyberspace within a year and build organizational structure and infrastructure required for it within six months.</p> <p>While submitting the suggestions over draft of National Cyber Security Policy 2021, they have asked the government to maintain the legal and organizational requirements for sensitive issues like cybersecurity at the earliest. </p> <p>The draft has set a target of having a regulatory and legal framework for reliable, secure and resilient cyberspace in three years setting up organizational structures and infrastructures in five years.<br /> A delegation team of representatives from these three organizations met Hari Prasad Basyal, Secretary of Ministry for Communication and Information Technology, and suggested formulating laws to control the cyber crime, strengthen cyber security in provincial and central level.</p> <p>They have also suggested making use of free and accessible digital signatures mandatory for government, non-government and private organizations. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13300', 'image' => '20210619021251_Suggestion on Cyber Policy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 14:08:07', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13554', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'After Failing to Implement in Current FY, Province 1 Gives Continuity to Projects in New Budget', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Though most of the pride projects of Province 1 introduced in the current fiscal year (2020/21) are yet to be implemented, the provincial government has given continuity to them while also announcing some new projects and programmes in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p>June 19: Though most of the pride projects of Province 1 introduced in the current fiscal year (2020/21) are yet to be implemented, the provincial government has given continuity to them while also announcing some new projects and programmes in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.</p> <p>Some of the projects that the provincial government fail to start their implementation include national pride projects. </p> <p>Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning of Province 1, Tanka Angbuhang, introduced the budget of Rs 32.46 billion for the coming fiscal year, down from Rs. 40.89 billion allocated for the current fiscal year. </p> <p>The budget for the upcoming fiscal year that was unveiled on Tuesday is under discussion in the provincial assembly. </p> <p>Economic Affairs and Planning Minister Angubhang plans to tap fiscal transfers from the federal government as the main source of income to finance his budget. Due to the Covid-19, the provincial government has prioritized the health sector in its spending plan. While many projects and programmes mentioned in the budget statement of the current fiscal year suffer budget shortage, the provincial government came up with new projects for the upcoming fiscal year. </p> <p>The construction of the Ravi-Ranke Tourist Route from Bhedetar to Miklajung has not started yet. Likewise, the Damak-Chisapani-Ravi Falgunand road, which was also announced in the budget as a pride project, did not see any progress due to the lack of the budget. ‘Baraha Bijaypur Circuit and Shakti Peeth Circuit also face similar fate. </p> <p>Although the budget was allocated for the construction of the Ring rRad connecting the historic palace of Birat King of Jhapa, Itahari, Dharan and Inaruwa of Sunsari and Biratnagar of Morang in the current fiscal year, the provincial government could not even conduct its feasibility study. </p> <p>Targeting the tourist area, the plan to build a road from Udayapur, Khotang, Sankhuwasabha and Solukhumbu to Ranitar-Pancha-Chakhewa-salpadilichung to Sagarmatha and Makalu base camp also remains unimplemented. There has not been much progress in the first phase of road construction connecting base camps of Mount Everest and Makalu. </p> <p>The announcement to start a study for the construction of an international conference center in Itahari and an exhibition venue in Dharan is limited in the budget speech. </p> <p>The government, which has allocated Rs 430 million in the youth and sports sector, has not been able to form even a province-level sports council. <br /> The ‘People’s Medical Education Fund’ to provide easy access to loans without collateral to the students from poor families to study MBBS has also been limited to the announcement.</p> <p>Although the process to promote investment by forming an investment board led by the Chief Minister has started, establishment of a special economic zone (SEZ) in the province has not seen any progress. Although the government allocated the budget to generate 200 MW of electricity from solar energy, no progress has been made towards that end.</p> <p>The announcement of the provincial government to build charging stations at necessary places to encourage the use of electric vehicles has also been limited to the budget only. The announcement for the construction of the People's War Memorial Museum at Belbari in Morang along with the construction of the foundations in the name of the martyrs, missing persons, politicians and people's leaders of the people's revolution has not been implemented. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13299', 'image' => '20210619121628_Province 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 12:11:33', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13553', 'article_category_id' => '218', 'title' => 'Bank of Kathmandu to Finance Upper Ingwa Hydropower Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Bank of Kathmandu Ltd and Ingwa Hydropower Limited have signed a loan agreement for the Upper Ingwa Hydropower Project. ', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Bank of Kathmandu Ltd and Ingwa Hydropower Limited have signed a loan agreement for the Upper Ingwa Hydropower Project.</p> <p>Issuing a statement, the commercial bank said that it was providing 75 percent in loans to develop the 9.7 MW hydropower project with an estimated cost of Rs 1.95 billion.</p> <p>BoK is the sole lender of the project, according to the statement. The remaining 25 percent will be the equity investment of the hydropower company. The hydropower project is being constructed at Yangwarak Rural Municipality in Panchthar and Sidhingba Rural Municipality in Taplejung. “The bank believes that its financing will help in completing the hydropower project in time,” read the statement.</p> <p>According to the statement, the bank has financed 37 energy projects in Nepal including solar and hydropower projects. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13298', 'image' => '20210618090338_Hydropower.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 21:00:16', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => true, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13552', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Seeks Suggestions for Monetary Policy for Upcoming Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders. I', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders. Issuing a notice on Thursday, NRB said that the suggestions for the monetary policy can be emailed or mailed to the central bank’s address. </p> <p>Like last year, the central bank has started collecting suggestions for the monetary policy that is scheduled to be made public in the first week of Shrawn (third week of July). </p> <p>Prakash Shrestha, an executive director at the NRB, said that all stakeholders including organizations and associations of bank and financial institutions, businesses and other sectors can send their suggestions by Asadh end (mid July). </p> <p>According to NRB’s Executive Director Shrestha, suggestions can be emailed at monetarypolicy@nrb.org.np or mailed at Economic Research Department of the NRB, Baluwatar in Kathmandu. </p> <p>He said that the central bank has already received suggestions from some organizations that they want to be addressed in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year. Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has said that it is preparing its letter including the suggestions to be sent to the central bank for the monetary policy.</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13297', 'image' => '20210618084202_NRB.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 20:39:18', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13551', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Domestic Flights Unlikely to Resume Before Third Week of July', 'sub_title' => ' Govt to allow resumption of international flights to five more countries', 'summary' => 'Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July.', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July. </p> <p>The domestic flight operations have been suspended for more than 45 days. Earlier on April 4, the government suspended the domestic flights as part of containment measures in the wake of rapid spread of coronavirus. </p> <p>According to an official of the ministry who does not want to be named, domestic flights will be resumed only after the third week of July.</p> <p>Although Covid-19 cases are declining in the last few days, there is no possibility of immediate resumption of domestic flights as the government is in a mood to wait and watch the trend of the infections for a few more weeks, according to the official. </p> <p>The Airline Operators Association of Nepal, an umbrella organization of private airlines, had written a letter to Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Umashankar Aragariya on June 8, demanding the immediate resumption of domestic flights. </p> <p>In its statement issued after sending the letter to the minister, the AOAN had said that domestic flights in the neighboring countries and as other parts of the world have not been halted as the air travel can be operated with safety precautions. Citing the decline in the infection cases, the association had urged the government to operate domestic flights as soon as possible.</p> <p>Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, a joint secretary at the ministry, said that the ministry was positive to gradually lift the restriction on domestic flights. "The ministry is preparing to gradually open domestic flights by complying with health standards," he said. He said that the rate of coronavirus infection and the situation in areas like Nepalgunj, Biratnagar, Birgunj, and Bhairahawa, which are considered hubs for opening domestic flights, would also be analyzed and evaluated before making the decision. </p> <p>Meanwhile, the government has indicated that it would take a flexible approach in allowing international flights to and from Nepal. The government, which also suspended international flights from April 8, has already decided to allow flights to and from China, Qatar, and Turkey. </p> <p>Raj Kumar Chettri, Spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), said that they have not received any request for permit for Nepal-China flight so far.</p> <p>The government on Wednesday decided to operate international flights to five more countries. A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC) decided to resume flights to Saudi Arabia, UAE (Dubai), Japan, and Malaysia. The CCMC decided to relax the ban on international flights from those countries which are major destinations for Nepali workers. </p> <p>Chettri said that with the decision to resume flights to more countries, the airlines from the countries concerned will now be invited to apply for scheduled flights. The concerned airlines will only be permitted to operate flights after applying for a flight permit from the CAAN. </p> <p>The meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Committee KP Sharma Oli decided to operate flights from these countries with no more than 2,000 passengers a week.</p> <p>Similarly, the meeting also decided to assist the workers who have gone for foreign employment but cannot stay in the quarantine at the hotel due to various reasons. The meeting decided to bear the cost of 10 days of quarantine for Nepali workers. The government has already introduced a 15-day mandatory hotel quarantine for those arriving in Nepal from abroad. </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13296', 'image' => '20210618035059_Domestic Flights.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 15:46:30', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13550', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kathmandu Metropolitan City Announces 10% House Rent Tax Waiver ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has announced a special tax waiver to COVID-19 affected taxpayers. KMC Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya made this announcement while introducing KMC’s Policies and Programmes for the fiscal year 2021/22 on Thursday.</p> <p>He said that the KMC will provide a waiver on house rental tax for those who submit details of tenants. </p> <p>“Those homeowners who submit the details of tenants and rental agreements in their respective wards will be provided a rental tax waiver of 10 percent or Rs 25,000, whichever is lower,” said Mayor Shakya, unveiling the Policies and Programmes. “The private sector will also be mobilized for this,”</p> <p>Those paying their taxes, service charges or fees to the KMC through banking or electronic channels will also be provided a certain rebate, according to the Policies and Programmes. </p> <p>KMC has announced that it would offer a significant waiver on various taxes and charges for the hotel and tourism industry hit by the pandemic. To make the urban service delivery more effective, it has announced to keep the record of all people living temporarily in KMC. </p> <p>Likewise, KMC will build a state-of-the-art 100-bed special hospital and provide COVID treatment , operate a call center for counseling, psychological counselling, COVID test and ambulance service at free of cost. </p> <p>The mayor also announced free services including isolation services, covid special hospital services and oxygen support.</p> <p>Residents in the metropolitan city will be guaranteed basic health services by upgrading the urban health clinics operating in the ward office and arrange free health check-ups by the expert doctors. </p> <p>Other announcements include a 50 percent subsidy on insurance premiums for KMC residents and grading of hotel, restaurant, food processing sites and online food deliveries. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13295', 'image' => '20210618013424_KMC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 13:27:22', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13549', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Dolma Impact Fund Announces Rs 180 Million Investment in Upaya City Cargo ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund. ', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund. </p> <p>Upaya is an online marketplace for intra-city logistics that connects individuals and businesses with 4-wheeler pickup driver-partners and 2-wheeler rider-partners within Kathmandu Valley, Butwal, Bhairahawa & Pokhara.</p> <p>DIF is the first international private equity fund and impact fund dedicated to Nepal. </p> <p>DIF is making its investment in Upaya City Cargo from its Dolma Impact Fund II. After committing $36.6 million in various projects from its previous Dolma Impact Fund I, it has recently raised nearly $40 million for its second impact fund to make investments in Nepal<br /> . <br /> Dutch lender FMO, CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, Swedfund and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have backed the Dolma Impact Fund II. </p> <p>Issuing a statement, Dolma Impact Fund said that the investment, subject to successful due diligence and final internal approval from the Fund, will help the company to expand its operation in other cities across Nepal with logistics solutions for on-demand delivery of bulk goods as well as e-commerce & agriculture sectors. </p> <p>“Through this investment, Upaya and Dolma aim to create an impactful partnership in the Nepali logistics sector,” the statement added. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13294', 'image' => '20210618120759_Online Cargo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 12:07:00', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13548', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Process to Secure Covid-19 Vaccines Still Ongoing: Govt', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing.', 'content' => '<p>June 18: The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing.</p> <p>Issuing a statement on Thursday, the Ministry of Health and Population also refuted media reports that the government has decided to procure Covid-19 vaccines from China. </p> <p>“The process to secure more vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing,” read the statement. “The media reports on quantity, price, delivery, and other relevant information about the vaccine procurement are, therefore, premature, inaccurate, speculative and misleading,” it added. <img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Health%20Ministry.jpg" style="float:right; height:448px; width:313px" /></p> <p>The statement follows recent media reports claiming that the government has decided to purchase four million doses of Sinopharm vaccines from China without disclosing the price.</p> <p>China has already provided Nepal 1.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines as grant assistance. </p> <p>In its statement, the ministry also said that the government has approached Covid-19 vaccine producing countries to provide, on grant or procurement basis, the vaccine. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13293', 'image' => '20210618111947_Health Ministery_Building.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 11:10:19', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13547', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Bunching Up Capital Expenditure Toward Last Month of Fiscal Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital expenditure.', 'content' => '<p>June 17: With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital expenditure. Like in the previous fiscal years, the capital budget for the current fiscal year is going to be underspent. </p> <p>Though the government had claimed of meeting capital budget spending targets due to various latest measures that it had introduced, a huge portion of the capital budget is going to be unspent in the current fiscal year also. </p> <p>Since the new fiscal year begins from July 16, the government has to spend the current budget in less than a month. <br /> Through the mid term review of the budget, the government had revised its target of capital expenditure to 85.9%. Capital expenditures mostly include the spendings on development projects. <br /> The government is unlikely to meet even its revised target. <br /> However, the government is preparing to spend the huge amount of the allocated budget in the month of Ashad (between mid June and mid July). Bunching up capital spending in the last month of the fiscal year raises concerns of the quality of the development works and other constructions carried out in haste.<br /> Gyanendra Poudel, Spokesperson of the Financial Comptroller General Office, said that a large amount of funds is being released in the last month of the current fiscal year like in the previous years. </p> <p>The then Finance Minister Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada had brought a budget of Rs 1,474.6 billion for the current fiscal year. Through the mid term review report, the government had revised down the budget by Rs 130 billion. <br /> Jagadish Chandra Pokhrel, former Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission , said that the government’s focus on petty politics rather than on delivering services and implementing development projects have led to budget underspending. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13292', 'image' => '20210617045713_Capex.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 16:54:31', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ) ) $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' => '13560', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Farmers Selling Paddy at Half the Support Price', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 20: Farmers have been forced to sell paddy to traders at half the support price set by the government as the state-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited (FMTC) did not buy paddy this year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">June 20: Farmers have been forced to sell paddy to traders at half the support price set by the government as the state-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited (FMTC) did not buy paddy this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government had set the minimum support prices with the aim to support the farmers. The government had fixed the price of medium paddy at Rs 2,885 per quintal and coarse paddy at Rs 2,735 per quintal for the fiscal year 2077/78. However, as the company has not shown any interest in purchasing paddy, the farmers say that they have to sell paddy at Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,500 per quintal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Bhubaneswar Yadav, a Sunsari-based farmer, expressed his dissatisfaction as he had to sell his paddy at Rs 1,500 per quintal. He says that the government has fooled them in the name of support price. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“We had harvested paddy in such a large quantity with the hope that we will get a reasonable price as the government had fixed the minimum support price. But after selling the paddy in such a throw-away price, our hard work has gone in vain,” he told New Business Age.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similar is the situation of other farmers like Yadav. Agni Aryal, coordinator of Rajaur Paddy Superzone, said that although the production of paddy has been good in Bardiya this year, the farmers have not been able to get a fair price. According to him, the farmers of Bardiya are selling paddy at Rs 1,400 per quintal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development informed that out of the total cultivable land of 1.35 million hectares, paddy has been cultivated in more than 100,000 hectares of land in Sunsari, Morang, Jhapa, Bara, Parsa, Sarlahi, Chitwan, Dang, Banke, Bardiya and Kailali districts this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the ministry, the state-owned company has not been able to buy paddy from the farmers as the procurement target of the government is already met. Information officer of FMTC Sharmila Neupane Subedi also said that they cannot buy paddy as the target has already been met.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The company had initially set a target of purchasing 60,000 metric tons of paddy for the fiscal year 2077/78. However, as the quantity could not be procured, the target was revised to 34,700 metric tons. The target has been reduced as the minimum support price set by the government is higher than the market price and the company has to bear loss when they have to sell paddy at the subsidized price.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-20', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13306', 'image' => '20210620015152_20210603031456_20210512035550_20181125011444_pady-1024x682.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-20 13:51:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13561', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Hydropower Projects Incur Loss of Rs 10 Billion due to Floods: IPPAN', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 20: Hydropower projects promoted by the private sector have incurred an estimated loss of Rs 10 billion due to the floods and landslides that occurred in various districts last week.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">June 20: Hydropower projects promoted by the private sector have incurred an estimated loss of Rs 10 billion due to the floods and landslides that occurred in various districts last week. A preliminary study conducted by the Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal (IPPAN) has estimated the loss at around Rs 10 billion. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Krishna Prasad Acharya, chairman of IPPAN, claimed that the floods have caused a loss of Rs 10 billion to hydropower projects operated by the private sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">"Our preliminary study has pointed to the damage of this scale,” he told New Business Age, adding, "We have demanded the government to form a high-level mechanism to study the losses caused by the floods." </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Hydropower projects have been badly affected by last week's floods and landslides. Particularly, the under-construction projects have been more affected. Projects have suffered damages like sweeping away of construction materials, inundation of power house and destruction of dam. Similarly, transmission line towers have collapsed and roads connecting to the project area have been destroyed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to IPPAN , 42 MW Supermardi Hydropower Project being constructed in Kaski has incurred significant damage. Acharya said that most of the construction materials have been washed away by the floods. Along with the formation of high-level mechanism to study into the details of loss incurred, IPPAN has also sought for appropriate relief packages to the affected projects. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Issuing a press statement on Friday, June 18, IPPAN has urged the government to set up a high-level mechanism. IPPAN has demanded to form the committee representing the ministries of finance, energy and home affairs. Acharya said that the committee should also have representation from private energy producers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He said that appropriate relief should be distributed after studying the extent of the damage incurred. "This time, the damage incurred is not minimal. If the loss amounted to two to four million rupees, we could have handled it. But the loss amounts to billions. So the government needs to bring necessary relief package for the affected projects."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to IPPAN, the under-construction projects might be delayed by at least one year due to the loss incurred. The relief packages should also address this issue. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">IPPAN has also demanded immediate reconstruction of the destroyed roads leading to the project site and repair of transmission lines damaged by the floods.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-20', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13305', 'image' => '20210620053704_20150823012330_ep1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-20 17:36:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13559', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Monsoon Unlikely to Weaken Soon: Meteorologist', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 20: Meteorologists have warned that the monsoon that has become active since the last few days will not be weakening immediately. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">June 20: Meteorologists have warned that the monsoon that has become active since the last few days will not be weakening immediately. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to meteorologist at the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Shanti Kandel, the monsoon is not likely to weaken anytime soon since it has become active from the very beginning this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"The influence of monsoon will remain for still some more days. Therefore, the trend of rainfall will continue for few more days," the state owned national news agency RSS quoted Kandel as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to RSS, meteorologist Kandel said that the impact of the monsoon wind will however weaken after some days. It has been raining continuously due to the monsoon that has become active three days before the usual date this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Department of Meteorology said the weather will remain partly to generally cloudy throughout the country with light rainfall and possibility of thunder on Sunday (today) and Monday (June 21).</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-20', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13304', 'image' => '20210620115244_20200511091310_Storm.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-20 11:51:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13558', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Urges Development Partners to Help Address Investment Gaps ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 20: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for Foreign Affairs Raghubir Mahaseth has said that Nepal’s graduation from the LDC category would be an important milestone in the country’s development trajectory. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">June 20: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for Foreign Affairs Raghubir Mahaseth has said that Nepal’s graduation from the LDC category would be an important milestone in the country’s development trajectory. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Addressing the ‘Joint Thematic Event of the UN General Assembly and Economic and Social Council on Least Developed Countries’ through a pre-recorded video on Saturday (June 19), DPM Mahaseth expressed Nepal’s commitment to make the graduation process smooth and sustainable by mobilizing finance from public as well as private sectors, and internal as well as external sources. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">DPM Mahaseth stressed that the development partners need to live up to their financing commitments to help address the investment gaps in the LDCs. He also called for international community’s support in line with the LDCs’ development needs, including in the areas of productive capacity, infrastructure, energy, and connectivity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Referring to the unrealized target of the Istanbul Programme of Action to enable graduation of half of the LDCs, he underlined the need to scale up collective action to match the collective ambition. The foreign minister further stressed that the United Nations Fifth Conference on the LDCs to be held in Doha in January 2022 must be a conference of hope offering adequate financing and means of implementation to ensure that the LDCs will not be left behind. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The thematic event was jointly organized under the theme of ‘Diversifying the Financing Toolbox to Enhance Investment in Least Developed Countries’ by the President of General Assembly and the President of ECOSOC at UN Headquarters, New York. A number of Ministers and high-level participants attended the event, according to the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-20', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13303', 'image' => '20210620113812_181M770x478.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-20 11:37:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13557', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s deposits in Swiss banks fourth largest among South Asian nations', 'sub_title' => 'As Nepal has banned transfer of money abroad, the money held by Swiss banks could have been transferred ‘illegally’', 'summary' => 'Funds deposited by Nepali individuals and firms in Swiss banks more than doubled to 360.82 million Swiss Francs in 2020.', 'content' => '<p><strong>Sagar Ghimire</strong></p> <p>Kathmandu, June 19: Funds deposited by Nepali individuals and firms in Swiss banks more than doubled to 360.82 million Swiss Francs (over Rs 46.18 billion in today’s exchange rate) in 2020, making Nepal the fourth largest depositor of cash in Switzerland among South Asian countries.</p> <p>Nepalis have never parked such a huge amount of money in Swiss banks in the last 25 years, shows the 2020 report of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), the Swiss central bank. Deposits of Nepalis in Swiss banks stood at 175.9 million Swiss Francs (CHF) (nearly Rs 22.51 billion) in 2019. That amount jumped 105.2 percent in 2020 to reach CHF 360.8 million. The amount parked by Nepalis is fourth largest among South Asian countries, after India (CHF 2.6 billion), Pakistan (CHF 642.3 million) and Bangladesh (CHF 562.9 million).<img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Nepali%20Deposits%20in%20Swiss%20Banks.JPG" style="float:right; height:275px; width:450px" /></p> <p>Since Nepal’s laws and regulations bar the citizens and companies from transferring funds abroad without the central bank’s approval, officials believe that the deposits in Swiss banks—referred by the Swiss central bank as ‘liabilities of its banks’ to Nepali clients—could have been transferred illegally. </p> <p>The data of the Swiss central bank shows that Nepalis’ deposits had fallen 29 percent in 2019 from CHF 248.79 million (Rs 32.85 billion) in 2018.</p> <p>As Swiss banks maintain highest degree of secrecy of their clients, it is not clear who these Nepali individuals or firms are and how they managed to park their funds in Switzerland.</p> <p>Switzerland has long been perceived as one of the most preferred safe havens for many individuals and firms from across the world to stash their funds.</p> <p>Such secrecy could also make it vulnerable to abuse of the banking system to park ill-gotten money by launderers or criminals, according to experts. </p> <p>Switzerland has ranked third in Financial Secrecy Index of 133 jurisdictions in 2020 by The Tax Justice Network.</p> <p>Switzerland, however, has been dismissing such concerns, claiming that it is always committed to the integrity of the global financial system and to abiding by international transparency standards.</p> <p>Officials at the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)—the central regulatory bank of Nepal—say that they are unaware about the SNB’s recently released data.</p> <p>“I cannot comment on the case that you are referring to. However, what I can say is that Nepali citizens and firms are not allowed to send money abroad except in certain conditions like to import goods through the use of letters of credit or to repatriate dividend provided by businesses operated by foreign investors in Nepal,” said Neelam Dhungana Timsina, a deputy governor at the NRB. “We do not have capital account convertibility. So, we do not allow overseas fund transfers easily,” added NRB Deputy Governor Timsina who oversees Foreign Exchange Management Department at the central bank.</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13302', 'image' => '20210619052441_South Asian Countries Deposits in Swiss Banks.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 17:11:15', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => true, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13556', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Receives 982 Oxygen Concentrators Financed by World Bank ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal received 982 units of 10-liter oxygen concentrators, financed by the World Bank today.', 'content' => '<p>June 19: Nepal received 982 units of 10-liter oxygen concentrators, financed by the World Bank today.</p> <p>Issuing a statement on Saturday, the World Bank said that the concentrators are part of a long-term solution for augmenting Nepal’s capacities to supply therapeutic oxygen to public health facilities towards a stronger response to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p> <p>“I am very pleased that we have been able to quickly bring in the oxygen concentrators, which will be dispatched to health facilities of greatest need across all seven provinces of the country,” the statement quoted Sher Bahadur Tamang, Minister of Health and Population, as saying. “The government is working hard to strengthen availability of medical oxygen in all the public health facilities of Nepal, such that every Nepali citizen requiring oxygen is able to access it.”</p> <p>According to the statement, the oxygen concentrators were procured through United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) under the World Bank-financed COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project, which has also financed seven oxygen generation plants, one for each province in Nepal. </p> <p>These plants will be brought in, installed and operationalized by UNOPS in a phased manner in seven provincial hospitals, in the next 6-15 weeks, said the statement.</p> <p> “The World Bank has made available $104 million to support Nepal’s immediate health response to the pandemic, including the procurement of life-saving COVID-19 vaccines, and strengthening the country’s health systems and preparedness,” the statement quoted Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, as saying. “We are committed to support Nepal and Nepalis during this crisis, and by joining forces with the government and development partners, we have been able to have more impact.”</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13301', 'image' => '20210619030418_World Bank Oxygen Concentrators -19June2021.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 15:00:51', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13555', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Urged to Create Legal Framework Within One Year to Secure Cyberspace ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Federation of Computer Association of Nepal, Center for Cyber Security Research and Innovation and Information Security Response Team Nepal have jointly urged the government to prepare legal and regulatory framework for secure cyberspace within a year and build organizational structure and infrastructure required for it within six months', 'content' => '<p>June 19: Federation of Computer Association of Nepal, Center for Cyber Security Research and Innovation and Information Security Response Team Nepal have jointly urged the government to prepare legal and regulatory framework for secure cyberspace within a year and build organizational structure and infrastructure required for it within six months.</p> <p>While submitting the suggestions over draft of National Cyber Security Policy 2021, they have asked the government to maintain the legal and organizational requirements for sensitive issues like cybersecurity at the earliest. </p> <p>The draft has set a target of having a regulatory and legal framework for reliable, secure and resilient cyberspace in three years setting up organizational structures and infrastructures in five years.<br /> A delegation team of representatives from these three organizations met Hari Prasad Basyal, Secretary of Ministry for Communication and Information Technology, and suggested formulating laws to control the cyber crime, strengthen cyber security in provincial and central level.</p> <p>They have also suggested making use of free and accessible digital signatures mandatory for government, non-government and private organizations. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13300', 'image' => '20210619021251_Suggestion on Cyber Policy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 14:08:07', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13554', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'After Failing to Implement in Current FY, Province 1 Gives Continuity to Projects in New Budget', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Though most of the pride projects of Province 1 introduced in the current fiscal year (2020/21) are yet to be implemented, the provincial government has given continuity to them while also announcing some new projects and programmes in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p>June 19: Though most of the pride projects of Province 1 introduced in the current fiscal year (2020/21) are yet to be implemented, the provincial government has given continuity to them while also announcing some new projects and programmes in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.</p> <p>Some of the projects that the provincial government fail to start their implementation include national pride projects. </p> <p>Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning of Province 1, Tanka Angbuhang, introduced the budget of Rs 32.46 billion for the coming fiscal year, down from Rs. 40.89 billion allocated for the current fiscal year. </p> <p>The budget for the upcoming fiscal year that was unveiled on Tuesday is under discussion in the provincial assembly. </p> <p>Economic Affairs and Planning Minister Angubhang plans to tap fiscal transfers from the federal government as the main source of income to finance his budget. Due to the Covid-19, the provincial government has prioritized the health sector in its spending plan. While many projects and programmes mentioned in the budget statement of the current fiscal year suffer budget shortage, the provincial government came up with new projects for the upcoming fiscal year. </p> <p>The construction of the Ravi-Ranke Tourist Route from Bhedetar to Miklajung has not started yet. Likewise, the Damak-Chisapani-Ravi Falgunand road, which was also announced in the budget as a pride project, did not see any progress due to the lack of the budget. ‘Baraha Bijaypur Circuit and Shakti Peeth Circuit also face similar fate. </p> <p>Although the budget was allocated for the construction of the Ring rRad connecting the historic palace of Birat King of Jhapa, Itahari, Dharan and Inaruwa of Sunsari and Biratnagar of Morang in the current fiscal year, the provincial government could not even conduct its feasibility study. </p> <p>Targeting the tourist area, the plan to build a road from Udayapur, Khotang, Sankhuwasabha and Solukhumbu to Ranitar-Pancha-Chakhewa-salpadilichung to Sagarmatha and Makalu base camp also remains unimplemented. There has not been much progress in the first phase of road construction connecting base camps of Mount Everest and Makalu. </p> <p>The announcement to start a study for the construction of an international conference center in Itahari and an exhibition venue in Dharan is limited in the budget speech. </p> <p>The government, which has allocated Rs 430 million in the youth and sports sector, has not been able to form even a province-level sports council. <br /> The ‘People’s Medical Education Fund’ to provide easy access to loans without collateral to the students from poor families to study MBBS has also been limited to the announcement.</p> <p>Although the process to promote investment by forming an investment board led by the Chief Minister has started, establishment of a special economic zone (SEZ) in the province has not seen any progress. Although the government allocated the budget to generate 200 MW of electricity from solar energy, no progress has been made towards that end.</p> <p>The announcement of the provincial government to build charging stations at necessary places to encourage the use of electric vehicles has also been limited to the budget only. The announcement for the construction of the People's War Memorial Museum at Belbari in Morang along with the construction of the foundations in the name of the martyrs, missing persons, politicians and people's leaders of the people's revolution has not been implemented. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13299', 'image' => '20210619121628_Province 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 12:11:33', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13553', 'article_category_id' => '218', 'title' => 'Bank of Kathmandu to Finance Upper Ingwa Hydropower Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Bank of Kathmandu Ltd and Ingwa Hydropower Limited have signed a loan agreement for the Upper Ingwa Hydropower Project. ', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Bank of Kathmandu Ltd and Ingwa Hydropower Limited have signed a loan agreement for the Upper Ingwa Hydropower Project.</p> <p>Issuing a statement, the commercial bank said that it was providing 75 percent in loans to develop the 9.7 MW hydropower project with an estimated cost of Rs 1.95 billion.</p> <p>BoK is the sole lender of the project, according to the statement. The remaining 25 percent will be the equity investment of the hydropower company. The hydropower project is being constructed at Yangwarak Rural Municipality in Panchthar and Sidhingba Rural Municipality in Taplejung. “The bank believes that its financing will help in completing the hydropower project in time,” read the statement.</p> <p>According to the statement, the bank has financed 37 energy projects in Nepal including solar and hydropower projects. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13298', 'image' => '20210618090338_Hydropower.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 21:00:16', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => true, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13552', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Seeks Suggestions for Monetary Policy for Upcoming Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders. I', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders. Issuing a notice on Thursday, NRB said that the suggestions for the monetary policy can be emailed or mailed to the central bank’s address. </p> <p>Like last year, the central bank has started collecting suggestions for the monetary policy that is scheduled to be made public in the first week of Shrawn (third week of July). </p> <p>Prakash Shrestha, an executive director at the NRB, said that all stakeholders including organizations and associations of bank and financial institutions, businesses and other sectors can send their suggestions by Asadh end (mid July). </p> <p>According to NRB’s Executive Director Shrestha, suggestions can be emailed at monetarypolicy@nrb.org.np or mailed at Economic Research Department of the NRB, Baluwatar in Kathmandu. </p> <p>He said that the central bank has already received suggestions from some organizations that they want to be addressed in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year. Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has said that it is preparing its letter including the suggestions to be sent to the central bank for the monetary policy.</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13297', 'image' => '20210618084202_NRB.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 20:39:18', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13551', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Domestic Flights Unlikely to Resume Before Third Week of July', 'sub_title' => ' Govt to allow resumption of international flights to five more countries', 'summary' => 'Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July.', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July. </p> <p>The domestic flight operations have been suspended for more than 45 days. Earlier on April 4, the government suspended the domestic flights as part of containment measures in the wake of rapid spread of coronavirus. </p> <p>According to an official of the ministry who does not want to be named, domestic flights will be resumed only after the third week of July.</p> <p>Although Covid-19 cases are declining in the last few days, there is no possibility of immediate resumption of domestic flights as the government is in a mood to wait and watch the trend of the infections for a few more weeks, according to the official. </p> <p>The Airline Operators Association of Nepal, an umbrella organization of private airlines, had written a letter to Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Umashankar Aragariya on June 8, demanding the immediate resumption of domestic flights. </p> <p>In its statement issued after sending the letter to the minister, the AOAN had said that domestic flights in the neighboring countries and as other parts of the world have not been halted as the air travel can be operated with safety precautions. Citing the decline in the infection cases, the association had urged the government to operate domestic flights as soon as possible.</p> <p>Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, a joint secretary at the ministry, said that the ministry was positive to gradually lift the restriction on domestic flights. "The ministry is preparing to gradually open domestic flights by complying with health standards," he said. He said that the rate of coronavirus infection and the situation in areas like Nepalgunj, Biratnagar, Birgunj, and Bhairahawa, which are considered hubs for opening domestic flights, would also be analyzed and evaluated before making the decision. </p> <p>Meanwhile, the government has indicated that it would take a flexible approach in allowing international flights to and from Nepal. The government, which also suspended international flights from April 8, has already decided to allow flights to and from China, Qatar, and Turkey. </p> <p>Raj Kumar Chettri, Spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), said that they have not received any request for permit for Nepal-China flight so far.</p> <p>The government on Wednesday decided to operate international flights to five more countries. A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC) decided to resume flights to Saudi Arabia, UAE (Dubai), Japan, and Malaysia. The CCMC decided to relax the ban on international flights from those countries which are major destinations for Nepali workers. </p> <p>Chettri said that with the decision to resume flights to more countries, the airlines from the countries concerned will now be invited to apply for scheduled flights. The concerned airlines will only be permitted to operate flights after applying for a flight permit from the CAAN. </p> <p>The meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Committee KP Sharma Oli decided to operate flights from these countries with no more than 2,000 passengers a week.</p> <p>Similarly, the meeting also decided to assist the workers who have gone for foreign employment but cannot stay in the quarantine at the hotel due to various reasons. The meeting decided to bear the cost of 10 days of quarantine for Nepali workers. The government has already introduced a 15-day mandatory hotel quarantine for those arriving in Nepal from abroad. </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13296', 'image' => '20210618035059_Domestic Flights.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 15:46:30', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13550', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kathmandu Metropolitan City Announces 10% House Rent Tax Waiver ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has announced a special tax waiver to COVID-19 affected taxpayers. KMC Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya made this announcement while introducing KMC’s Policies and Programmes for the fiscal year 2021/22 on Thursday.</p> <p>He said that the KMC will provide a waiver on house rental tax for those who submit details of tenants. </p> <p>“Those homeowners who submit the details of tenants and rental agreements in their respective wards will be provided a rental tax waiver of 10 percent or Rs 25,000, whichever is lower,” said Mayor Shakya, unveiling the Policies and Programmes. “The private sector will also be mobilized for this,”</p> <p>Those paying their taxes, service charges or fees to the KMC through banking or electronic channels will also be provided a certain rebate, according to the Policies and Programmes. </p> <p>KMC has announced that it would offer a significant waiver on various taxes and charges for the hotel and tourism industry hit by the pandemic. To make the urban service delivery more effective, it has announced to keep the record of all people living temporarily in KMC. </p> <p>Likewise, KMC will build a state-of-the-art 100-bed special hospital and provide COVID treatment , operate a call center for counseling, psychological counselling, COVID test and ambulance service at free of cost. </p> <p>The mayor also announced free services including isolation services, covid special hospital services and oxygen support.</p> <p>Residents in the metropolitan city will be guaranteed basic health services by upgrading the urban health clinics operating in the ward office and arrange free health check-ups by the expert doctors. </p> <p>Other announcements include a 50 percent subsidy on insurance premiums for KMC residents and grading of hotel, restaurant, food processing sites and online food deliveries. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13295', 'image' => '20210618013424_KMC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 13:27:22', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13549', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Dolma Impact Fund Announces Rs 180 Million Investment in Upaya City Cargo ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund. ', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund. </p> <p>Upaya is an online marketplace for intra-city logistics that connects individuals and businesses with 4-wheeler pickup driver-partners and 2-wheeler rider-partners within Kathmandu Valley, Butwal, Bhairahawa & Pokhara.</p> <p>DIF is the first international private equity fund and impact fund dedicated to Nepal. </p> <p>DIF is making its investment in Upaya City Cargo from its Dolma Impact Fund II. After committing $36.6 million in various projects from its previous Dolma Impact Fund I, it has recently raised nearly $40 million for its second impact fund to make investments in Nepal<br /> . <br /> Dutch lender FMO, CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, Swedfund and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have backed the Dolma Impact Fund II. </p> <p>Issuing a statement, Dolma Impact Fund said that the investment, subject to successful due diligence and final internal approval from the Fund, will help the company to expand its operation in other cities across Nepal with logistics solutions for on-demand delivery of bulk goods as well as e-commerce & agriculture sectors. </p> <p>“Through this investment, Upaya and Dolma aim to create an impactful partnership in the Nepali logistics sector,” the statement added. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13294', 'image' => '20210618120759_Online Cargo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 12:07:00', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13548', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Process to Secure Covid-19 Vaccines Still Ongoing: Govt', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing.', 'content' => '<p>June 18: The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing.</p> <p>Issuing a statement on Thursday, the Ministry of Health and Population also refuted media reports that the government has decided to procure Covid-19 vaccines from China. </p> <p>“The process to secure more vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing,” read the statement. “The media reports on quantity, price, delivery, and other relevant information about the vaccine procurement are, therefore, premature, inaccurate, speculative and misleading,” it added. <img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Health%20Ministry.jpg" style="float:right; height:448px; width:313px" /></p> <p>The statement follows recent media reports claiming that the government has decided to purchase four million doses of Sinopharm vaccines from China without disclosing the price.</p> <p>China has already provided Nepal 1.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines as grant assistance. </p> <p>In its statement, the ministry also said that the government has approached Covid-19 vaccine producing countries to provide, on grant or procurement basis, the vaccine. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13293', 'image' => '20210618111947_Health Ministery_Building.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 11:10:19', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13547', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Bunching Up Capital Expenditure Toward Last Month of Fiscal Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital expenditure.', 'content' => '<p>June 17: With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital expenditure. Like in the previous fiscal years, the capital budget for the current fiscal year is going to be underspent. </p> <p>Though the government had claimed of meeting capital budget spending targets due to various latest measures that it had introduced, a huge portion of the capital budget is going to be unspent in the current fiscal year also. </p> <p>Since the new fiscal year begins from July 16, the government has to spend the current budget in less than a month. <br /> Through the mid term review of the budget, the government had revised its target of capital expenditure to 85.9%. Capital expenditures mostly include the spendings on development projects. <br /> The government is unlikely to meet even its revised target. <br /> However, the government is preparing to spend the huge amount of the allocated budget in the month of Ashad (between mid June and mid July). Bunching up capital spending in the last month of the fiscal year raises concerns of the quality of the development works and other constructions carried out in haste.<br /> Gyanendra Poudel, Spokesperson of the Financial Comptroller General Office, said that a large amount of funds is being released in the last month of the current fiscal year like in the previous years. </p> <p>The then Finance Minister Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada had brought a budget of Rs 1,474.6 billion for the current fiscal year. Through the mid term review report, the government had revised down the budget by Rs 130 billion. <br /> Jagadish Chandra Pokhrel, former Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission , said that the government’s focus on petty politics rather than on delivering services and implementing development projects have led to budget underspending. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13292', 'image' => '20210617045713_Capex.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 16:54:31', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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The government had fixed the price of medium paddy at Rs 2,885 per quintal and coarse paddy at Rs 2,735 per quintal for the fiscal year 2077/78. However, as the company has not shown any interest in purchasing paddy, the farmers say that they have to sell paddy at Rs 1,400 to Rs 1,500 per quintal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Bhubaneswar Yadav, a Sunsari-based farmer, expressed his dissatisfaction as he had to sell his paddy at Rs 1,500 per quintal. He says that the government has fooled them in the name of support price. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“We had harvested paddy in such a large quantity with the hope that we will get a reasonable price as the government had fixed the minimum support price. But after selling the paddy in such a throw-away price, our hard work has gone in vain,” he told New Business Age.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similar is the situation of other farmers like Yadav. Agni Aryal, coordinator of Rajaur Paddy Superzone, said that although the production of paddy has been good in Bardiya this year, the farmers have not been able to get a fair price. According to him, the farmers of Bardiya are selling paddy at Rs 1,400 per quintal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development informed that out of the total cultivable land of 1.35 million hectares, paddy has been cultivated in more than 100,000 hectares of land in Sunsari, Morang, Jhapa, Bara, Parsa, Sarlahi, Chitwan, Dang, Banke, Bardiya and Kailali districts this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the ministry, the state-owned company has not been able to buy paddy from the farmers as the procurement target of the government is already met. Information officer of FMTC Sharmila Neupane Subedi also said that they cannot buy paddy as the target has already been met.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The company had initially set a target of purchasing 60,000 metric tons of paddy for the fiscal year 2077/78. However, as the quantity could not be procured, the target was revised to 34,700 metric tons. The target has been reduced as the minimum support price set by the government is higher than the market price and the company has to bear loss when they have to sell paddy at the subsidized price.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-20', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13306', 'image' => '20210620015152_20210603031456_20210512035550_20181125011444_pady-1024x682.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-20 13:51:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13561', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Hydropower Projects Incur Loss of Rs 10 Billion due to Floods: IPPAN', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 20: Hydropower projects promoted by the private sector have incurred an estimated loss of Rs 10 billion due to the floods and landslides that occurred in various districts last week.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">June 20: Hydropower projects promoted by the private sector have incurred an estimated loss of Rs 10 billion due to the floods and landslides that occurred in various districts last week. A preliminary study conducted by the Independent Power Producers’ Association of Nepal (IPPAN) has estimated the loss at around Rs 10 billion. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Krishna Prasad Acharya, chairman of IPPAN, claimed that the floods have caused a loss of Rs 10 billion to hydropower projects operated by the private sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">"Our preliminary study has pointed to the damage of this scale,” he told New Business Age, adding, "We have demanded the government to form a high-level mechanism to study the losses caused by the floods." </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Hydropower projects have been badly affected by last week's floods and landslides. Particularly, the under-construction projects have been more affected. Projects have suffered damages like sweeping away of construction materials, inundation of power house and destruction of dam. Similarly, transmission line towers have collapsed and roads connecting to the project area have been destroyed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to IPPAN , 42 MW Supermardi Hydropower Project being constructed in Kaski has incurred significant damage. Acharya said that most of the construction materials have been washed away by the floods. Along with the formation of high-level mechanism to study into the details of loss incurred, IPPAN has also sought for appropriate relief packages to the affected projects. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Issuing a press statement on Friday, June 18, IPPAN has urged the government to set up a high-level mechanism. IPPAN has demanded to form the committee representing the ministries of finance, energy and home affairs. Acharya said that the committee should also have representation from private energy producers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He said that appropriate relief should be distributed after studying the extent of the damage incurred. "This time, the damage incurred is not minimal. If the loss amounted to two to four million rupees, we could have handled it. But the loss amounts to billions. So the government needs to bring necessary relief package for the affected projects."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to IPPAN, the under-construction projects might be delayed by at least one year due to the loss incurred. The relief packages should also address this issue. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:10pt"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">IPPAN has also demanded immediate reconstruction of the destroyed roads leading to the project site and repair of transmission lines damaged by the floods.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-20', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13305', 'image' => '20210620053704_20150823012330_ep1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-20 17:36:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13559', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Monsoon Unlikely to Weaken Soon: Meteorologist', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 20: Meteorologists have warned that the monsoon that has become active since the last few days will not be weakening immediately. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">June 20: Meteorologists have warned that the monsoon that has become active since the last few days will not be weakening immediately. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to meteorologist at the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Shanti Kandel, the monsoon is not likely to weaken anytime soon since it has become active from the very beginning this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"The influence of monsoon will remain for still some more days. Therefore, the trend of rainfall will continue for few more days," the state owned national news agency RSS quoted Kandel as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to RSS, meteorologist Kandel said that the impact of the monsoon wind will however weaken after some days. It has been raining continuously due to the monsoon that has become active three days before the usual date this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Department of Meteorology said the weather will remain partly to generally cloudy throughout the country with light rainfall and possibility of thunder on Sunday (today) and Monday (June 21).</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-20', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13304', 'image' => '20210620115244_20200511091310_Storm.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-20 11:51:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13558', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Urges Development Partners to Help Address Investment Gaps ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 20: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for Foreign Affairs Raghubir Mahaseth has said that Nepal’s graduation from the LDC category would be an important milestone in the country’s development trajectory. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">June 20: Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for Foreign Affairs Raghubir Mahaseth has said that Nepal’s graduation from the LDC category would be an important milestone in the country’s development trajectory. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Addressing the ‘Joint Thematic Event of the UN General Assembly and Economic and Social Council on Least Developed Countries’ through a pre-recorded video on Saturday (June 19), DPM Mahaseth expressed Nepal’s commitment to make the graduation process smooth and sustainable by mobilizing finance from public as well as private sectors, and internal as well as external sources. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">DPM Mahaseth stressed that the development partners need to live up to their financing commitments to help address the investment gaps in the LDCs. He also called for international community’s support in line with the LDCs’ development needs, including in the areas of productive capacity, infrastructure, energy, and connectivity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Referring to the unrealized target of the Istanbul Programme of Action to enable graduation of half of the LDCs, he underlined the need to scale up collective action to match the collective ambition. The foreign minister further stressed that the United Nations Fifth Conference on the LDCs to be held in Doha in January 2022 must be a conference of hope offering adequate financing and means of implementation to ensure that the LDCs will not be left behind. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The thematic event was jointly organized under the theme of ‘Diversifying the Financing Toolbox to Enhance Investment in Least Developed Countries’ by the President of General Assembly and the President of ECOSOC at UN Headquarters, New York. A number of Ministers and high-level participants attended the event, according to the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-20', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13303', 'image' => '20210620113812_181M770x478.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-20 11:37:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13557', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s deposits in Swiss banks fourth largest among South Asian nations', 'sub_title' => 'As Nepal has banned transfer of money abroad, the money held by Swiss banks could have been transferred ‘illegally’', 'summary' => 'Funds deposited by Nepali individuals and firms in Swiss banks more than doubled to 360.82 million Swiss Francs in 2020.', 'content' => '<p><strong>Sagar Ghimire</strong></p> <p>Kathmandu, June 19: Funds deposited by Nepali individuals and firms in Swiss banks more than doubled to 360.82 million Swiss Francs (over Rs 46.18 billion in today’s exchange rate) in 2020, making Nepal the fourth largest depositor of cash in Switzerland among South Asian countries.</p> <p>Nepalis have never parked such a huge amount of money in Swiss banks in the last 25 years, shows the 2020 report of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), the Swiss central bank. Deposits of Nepalis in Swiss banks stood at 175.9 million Swiss Francs (CHF) (nearly Rs 22.51 billion) in 2019. That amount jumped 105.2 percent in 2020 to reach CHF 360.8 million. The amount parked by Nepalis is fourth largest among South Asian countries, after India (CHF 2.6 billion), Pakistan (CHF 642.3 million) and Bangladesh (CHF 562.9 million).<img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Nepali%20Deposits%20in%20Swiss%20Banks.JPG" style="float:right; height:275px; width:450px" /></p> <p>Since Nepal’s laws and regulations bar the citizens and companies from transferring funds abroad without the central bank’s approval, officials believe that the deposits in Swiss banks—referred by the Swiss central bank as ‘liabilities of its banks’ to Nepali clients—could have been transferred illegally. </p> <p>The data of the Swiss central bank shows that Nepalis’ deposits had fallen 29 percent in 2019 from CHF 248.79 million (Rs 32.85 billion) in 2018.</p> <p>As Swiss banks maintain highest degree of secrecy of their clients, it is not clear who these Nepali individuals or firms are and how they managed to park their funds in Switzerland.</p> <p>Switzerland has long been perceived as one of the most preferred safe havens for many individuals and firms from across the world to stash their funds.</p> <p>Such secrecy could also make it vulnerable to abuse of the banking system to park ill-gotten money by launderers or criminals, according to experts. </p> <p>Switzerland has ranked third in Financial Secrecy Index of 133 jurisdictions in 2020 by The Tax Justice Network.</p> <p>Switzerland, however, has been dismissing such concerns, claiming that it is always committed to the integrity of the global financial system and to abiding by international transparency standards.</p> <p>Officials at the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)—the central regulatory bank of Nepal—say that they are unaware about the SNB’s recently released data.</p> <p>“I cannot comment on the case that you are referring to. However, what I can say is that Nepali citizens and firms are not allowed to send money abroad except in certain conditions like to import goods through the use of letters of credit or to repatriate dividend provided by businesses operated by foreign investors in Nepal,” said Neelam Dhungana Timsina, a deputy governor at the NRB. “We do not have capital account convertibility. So, we do not allow overseas fund transfers easily,” added NRB Deputy Governor Timsina who oversees Foreign Exchange Management Department at the central bank.</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13302', 'image' => '20210619052441_South Asian Countries Deposits in Swiss Banks.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 17:11:15', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => true, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13556', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Receives 982 Oxygen Concentrators Financed by World Bank ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal received 982 units of 10-liter oxygen concentrators, financed by the World Bank today.', 'content' => '<p>June 19: Nepal received 982 units of 10-liter oxygen concentrators, financed by the World Bank today.</p> <p>Issuing a statement on Saturday, the World Bank said that the concentrators are part of a long-term solution for augmenting Nepal’s capacities to supply therapeutic oxygen to public health facilities towards a stronger response to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p> <p>“I am very pleased that we have been able to quickly bring in the oxygen concentrators, which will be dispatched to health facilities of greatest need across all seven provinces of the country,” the statement quoted Sher Bahadur Tamang, Minister of Health and Population, as saying. “The government is working hard to strengthen availability of medical oxygen in all the public health facilities of Nepal, such that every Nepali citizen requiring oxygen is able to access it.”</p> <p>According to the statement, the oxygen concentrators were procured through United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) under the World Bank-financed COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Project, which has also financed seven oxygen generation plants, one for each province in Nepal. </p> <p>These plants will be brought in, installed and operationalized by UNOPS in a phased manner in seven provincial hospitals, in the next 6-15 weeks, said the statement.</p> <p> “The World Bank has made available $104 million to support Nepal’s immediate health response to the pandemic, including the procurement of life-saving COVID-19 vaccines, and strengthening the country’s health systems and preparedness,” the statement quoted Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, as saying. “We are committed to support Nepal and Nepalis during this crisis, and by joining forces with the government and development partners, we have been able to have more impact.”</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13301', 'image' => '20210619030418_World Bank Oxygen Concentrators -19June2021.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 15:00:51', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13555', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Urged to Create Legal Framework Within One Year to Secure Cyberspace ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Federation of Computer Association of Nepal, Center for Cyber Security Research and Innovation and Information Security Response Team Nepal have jointly urged the government to prepare legal and regulatory framework for secure cyberspace within a year and build organizational structure and infrastructure required for it within six months', 'content' => '<p>June 19: Federation of Computer Association of Nepal, Center for Cyber Security Research and Innovation and Information Security Response Team Nepal have jointly urged the government to prepare legal and regulatory framework for secure cyberspace within a year and build organizational structure and infrastructure required for it within six months.</p> <p>While submitting the suggestions over draft of National Cyber Security Policy 2021, they have asked the government to maintain the legal and organizational requirements for sensitive issues like cybersecurity at the earliest. </p> <p>The draft has set a target of having a regulatory and legal framework for reliable, secure and resilient cyberspace in three years setting up organizational structures and infrastructures in five years.<br /> A delegation team of representatives from these three organizations met Hari Prasad Basyal, Secretary of Ministry for Communication and Information Technology, and suggested formulating laws to control the cyber crime, strengthen cyber security in provincial and central level.</p> <p>They have also suggested making use of free and accessible digital signatures mandatory for government, non-government and private organizations. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13300', 'image' => '20210619021251_Suggestion on Cyber Policy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 14:08:07', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13554', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'After Failing to Implement in Current FY, Province 1 Gives Continuity to Projects in New Budget', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Though most of the pride projects of Province 1 introduced in the current fiscal year (2020/21) are yet to be implemented, the provincial government has given continuity to them while also announcing some new projects and programmes in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p>June 19: Though most of the pride projects of Province 1 introduced in the current fiscal year (2020/21) are yet to be implemented, the provincial government has given continuity to them while also announcing some new projects and programmes in the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.</p> <p>Some of the projects that the provincial government fail to start their implementation include national pride projects. </p> <p>Minister for Economic Affairs and Planning of Province 1, Tanka Angbuhang, introduced the budget of Rs 32.46 billion for the coming fiscal year, down from Rs. 40.89 billion allocated for the current fiscal year. </p> <p>The budget for the upcoming fiscal year that was unveiled on Tuesday is under discussion in the provincial assembly. </p> <p>Economic Affairs and Planning Minister Angubhang plans to tap fiscal transfers from the federal government as the main source of income to finance his budget. Due to the Covid-19, the provincial government has prioritized the health sector in its spending plan. While many projects and programmes mentioned in the budget statement of the current fiscal year suffer budget shortage, the provincial government came up with new projects for the upcoming fiscal year. </p> <p>The construction of the Ravi-Ranke Tourist Route from Bhedetar to Miklajung has not started yet. Likewise, the Damak-Chisapani-Ravi Falgunand road, which was also announced in the budget as a pride project, did not see any progress due to the lack of the budget. ‘Baraha Bijaypur Circuit and Shakti Peeth Circuit also face similar fate. </p> <p>Although the budget was allocated for the construction of the Ring rRad connecting the historic palace of Birat King of Jhapa, Itahari, Dharan and Inaruwa of Sunsari and Biratnagar of Morang in the current fiscal year, the provincial government could not even conduct its feasibility study. </p> <p>Targeting the tourist area, the plan to build a road from Udayapur, Khotang, Sankhuwasabha and Solukhumbu to Ranitar-Pancha-Chakhewa-salpadilichung to Sagarmatha and Makalu base camp also remains unimplemented. There has not been much progress in the first phase of road construction connecting base camps of Mount Everest and Makalu. </p> <p>The announcement to start a study for the construction of an international conference center in Itahari and an exhibition venue in Dharan is limited in the budget speech. </p> <p>The government, which has allocated Rs 430 million in the youth and sports sector, has not been able to form even a province-level sports council. <br /> The ‘People’s Medical Education Fund’ to provide easy access to loans without collateral to the students from poor families to study MBBS has also been limited to the announcement.</p> <p>Although the process to promote investment by forming an investment board led by the Chief Minister has started, establishment of a special economic zone (SEZ) in the province has not seen any progress. Although the government allocated the budget to generate 200 MW of electricity from solar energy, no progress has been made towards that end.</p> <p>The announcement of the provincial government to build charging stations at necessary places to encourage the use of electric vehicles has also been limited to the budget only. The announcement for the construction of the People's War Memorial Museum at Belbari in Morang along with the construction of the foundations in the name of the martyrs, missing persons, politicians and people's leaders of the people's revolution has not been implemented. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-19', 'modified' => '2021-06-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13299', 'image' => '20210619121628_Province 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-19 12:11:33', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13553', 'article_category_id' => '218', 'title' => 'Bank of Kathmandu to Finance Upper Ingwa Hydropower Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Bank of Kathmandu Ltd and Ingwa Hydropower Limited have signed a loan agreement for the Upper Ingwa Hydropower Project. ', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Bank of Kathmandu Ltd and Ingwa Hydropower Limited have signed a loan agreement for the Upper Ingwa Hydropower Project.</p> <p>Issuing a statement, the commercial bank said that it was providing 75 percent in loans to develop the 9.7 MW hydropower project with an estimated cost of Rs 1.95 billion.</p> <p>BoK is the sole lender of the project, according to the statement. The remaining 25 percent will be the equity investment of the hydropower company. The hydropower project is being constructed at Yangwarak Rural Municipality in Panchthar and Sidhingba Rural Municipality in Taplejung. “The bank believes that its financing will help in completing the hydropower project in time,” read the statement.</p> <p>According to the statement, the bank has financed 37 energy projects in Nepal including solar and hydropower projects. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13298', 'image' => '20210618090338_Hydropower.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 21:00:16', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => true, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13552', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Seeks Suggestions for Monetary Policy for Upcoming Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders. I', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Nepal Rastra Bank has asked for suggestions for the monetary policy for upcoming fiscal year (2021/22) from various stakeholders. Issuing a notice on Thursday, NRB said that the suggestions for the monetary policy can be emailed or mailed to the central bank’s address. </p> <p>Like last year, the central bank has started collecting suggestions for the monetary policy that is scheduled to be made public in the first week of Shrawn (third week of July). </p> <p>Prakash Shrestha, an executive director at the NRB, said that all stakeholders including organizations and associations of bank and financial institutions, businesses and other sectors can send their suggestions by Asadh end (mid July). </p> <p>According to NRB’s Executive Director Shrestha, suggestions can be emailed at monetarypolicy@nrb.org.np or mailed at Economic Research Department of the NRB, Baluwatar in Kathmandu. </p> <p>He said that the central bank has already received suggestions from some organizations that they want to be addressed in the monetary policy for the upcoming fiscal year. Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has said that it is preparing its letter including the suggestions to be sent to the central bank for the monetary policy.</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13297', 'image' => '20210618084202_NRB.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 20:39:18', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13551', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Domestic Flights Unlikely to Resume Before Third Week of July', 'sub_title' => ' Govt to allow resumption of international flights to five more countries', 'summary' => 'Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July.', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Despite private airlines’ pressure to reopen domestic flight services immediately, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation is planning to lift its ban only after the third week of July. </p> <p>The domestic flight operations have been suspended for more than 45 days. Earlier on April 4, the government suspended the domestic flights as part of containment measures in the wake of rapid spread of coronavirus. </p> <p>According to an official of the ministry who does not want to be named, domestic flights will be resumed only after the third week of July.</p> <p>Although Covid-19 cases are declining in the last few days, there is no possibility of immediate resumption of domestic flights as the government is in a mood to wait and watch the trend of the infections for a few more weeks, according to the official. </p> <p>The Airline Operators Association of Nepal, an umbrella organization of private airlines, had written a letter to Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Umashankar Aragariya on June 8, demanding the immediate resumption of domestic flights. </p> <p>In its statement issued after sending the letter to the minister, the AOAN had said that domestic flights in the neighboring countries and as other parts of the world have not been halted as the air travel can be operated with safety precautions. Citing the decline in the infection cases, the association had urged the government to operate domestic flights as soon as possible.</p> <p>Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, a joint secretary at the ministry, said that the ministry was positive to gradually lift the restriction on domestic flights. "The ministry is preparing to gradually open domestic flights by complying with health standards," he said. He said that the rate of coronavirus infection and the situation in areas like Nepalgunj, Biratnagar, Birgunj, and Bhairahawa, which are considered hubs for opening domestic flights, would also be analyzed and evaluated before making the decision. </p> <p>Meanwhile, the government has indicated that it would take a flexible approach in allowing international flights to and from Nepal. The government, which also suspended international flights from April 8, has already decided to allow flights to and from China, Qatar, and Turkey. </p> <p>Raj Kumar Chettri, Spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), said that they have not received any request for permit for Nepal-China flight so far.</p> <p>The government on Wednesday decided to operate international flights to five more countries. A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Covid-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC) decided to resume flights to Saudi Arabia, UAE (Dubai), Japan, and Malaysia. The CCMC decided to relax the ban on international flights from those countries which are major destinations for Nepali workers. </p> <p>Chettri said that with the decision to resume flights to more countries, the airlines from the countries concerned will now be invited to apply for scheduled flights. The concerned airlines will only be permitted to operate flights after applying for a flight permit from the CAAN. </p> <p>The meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Committee KP Sharma Oli decided to operate flights from these countries with no more than 2,000 passengers a week.</p> <p>Similarly, the meeting also decided to assist the workers who have gone for foreign employment but cannot stay in the quarantine at the hotel due to various reasons. The meeting decided to bear the cost of 10 days of quarantine for Nepali workers. The government has already introduced a 15-day mandatory hotel quarantine for those arriving in Nepal from abroad. </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13296', 'image' => '20210618035059_Domestic Flights.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 15:46:30', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13550', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kathmandu Metropolitan City Announces 10% House Rent Tax Waiver ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has announced a special tax waiver to COVID-19 affected taxpayers. KMC Mayor Bidya Sundar Shakya made this announcement while introducing KMC’s Policies and Programmes for the fiscal year 2021/22 on Thursday.</p> <p>He said that the KMC will provide a waiver on house rental tax for those who submit details of tenants. </p> <p>“Those homeowners who submit the details of tenants and rental agreements in their respective wards will be provided a rental tax waiver of 10 percent or Rs 25,000, whichever is lower,” said Mayor Shakya, unveiling the Policies and Programmes. “The private sector will also be mobilized for this,”</p> <p>Those paying their taxes, service charges or fees to the KMC through banking or electronic channels will also be provided a certain rebate, according to the Policies and Programmes. </p> <p>KMC has announced that it would offer a significant waiver on various taxes and charges for the hotel and tourism industry hit by the pandemic. To make the urban service delivery more effective, it has announced to keep the record of all people living temporarily in KMC. </p> <p>Likewise, KMC will build a state-of-the-art 100-bed special hospital and provide COVID treatment , operate a call center for counseling, psychological counselling, COVID test and ambulance service at free of cost. </p> <p>The mayor also announced free services including isolation services, covid special hospital services and oxygen support.</p> <p>Residents in the metropolitan city will be guaranteed basic health services by upgrading the urban health clinics operating in the ward office and arrange free health check-ups by the expert doctors. </p> <p>Other announcements include a 50 percent subsidy on insurance premiums for KMC residents and grading of hotel, restaurant, food processing sites and online food deliveries. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13295', 'image' => '20210618013424_KMC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 13:27:22', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13549', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Dolma Impact Fund Announces Rs 180 Million Investment in Upaya City Cargo ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund. ', 'content' => '<p>June 18: Dolma Impact Fund (DIF) has announced that it is investing Rs 180 million in Upaya City Cargo Pvt Ltd from its second impact fund. </p> <p>Upaya is an online marketplace for intra-city logistics that connects individuals and businesses with 4-wheeler pickup driver-partners and 2-wheeler rider-partners within Kathmandu Valley, Butwal, Bhairahawa & Pokhara.</p> <p>DIF is the first international private equity fund and impact fund dedicated to Nepal. </p> <p>DIF is making its investment in Upaya City Cargo from its Dolma Impact Fund II. After committing $36.6 million in various projects from its previous Dolma Impact Fund I, it has recently raised nearly $40 million for its second impact fund to make investments in Nepal<br /> . <br /> Dutch lender FMO, CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, Swedfund and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have backed the Dolma Impact Fund II. </p> <p>Issuing a statement, Dolma Impact Fund said that the investment, subject to successful due diligence and final internal approval from the Fund, will help the company to expand its operation in other cities across Nepal with logistics solutions for on-demand delivery of bulk goods as well as e-commerce & agriculture sectors. </p> <p>“Through this investment, Upaya and Dolma aim to create an impactful partnership in the Nepali logistics sector,” the statement added. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13294', 'image' => '20210618120759_Online Cargo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 12:07:00', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13548', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Process to Secure Covid-19 Vaccines Still Ongoing: Govt', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing.', 'content' => '<p>June 18: The government has said that the process to get vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing.</p> <p>Issuing a statement on Thursday, the Ministry of Health and Population also refuted media reports that the government has decided to procure Covid-19 vaccines from China. </p> <p>“The process to secure more vaccines from different countries including China is still ongoing,” read the statement. “The media reports on quantity, price, delivery, and other relevant information about the vaccine procurement are, therefore, premature, inaccurate, speculative and misleading,” it added. <img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Health%20Ministry.jpg" style="float:right; height:448px; width:313px" /></p> <p>The statement follows recent media reports claiming that the government has decided to purchase four million doses of Sinopharm vaccines from China without disclosing the price.</p> <p>China has already provided Nepal 1.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines as grant assistance. </p> <p>In its statement, the ministry also said that the government has approached Covid-19 vaccine producing countries to provide, on grant or procurement basis, the vaccine. </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-18', 'modified' => '2021-06-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13293', 'image' => '20210618111947_Health Ministery_Building.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-18 11:10:19', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13547', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Bunching Up Capital Expenditure Toward Last Month of Fiscal Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital expenditure.', 'content' => '<p>June 17: With less than a month for the current fiscal year to come to an end, the government has been able to spend only forty percent of the budget allocated for capital expenditure. Like in the previous fiscal years, the capital budget for the current fiscal year is going to be underspent. </p> <p>Though the government had claimed of meeting capital budget spending targets due to various latest measures that it had introduced, a huge portion of the capital budget is going to be unspent in the current fiscal year also. </p> <p>Since the new fiscal year begins from July 16, the government has to spend the current budget in less than a month. <br /> Through the mid term review of the budget, the government had revised its target of capital expenditure to 85.9%. Capital expenditures mostly include the spendings on development projects. <br /> The government is unlikely to meet even its revised target. <br /> However, the government is preparing to spend the huge amount of the allocated budget in the month of Ashad (between mid June and mid July). Bunching up capital spending in the last month of the fiscal year raises concerns of the quality of the development works and other constructions carried out in haste.<br /> Gyanendra Poudel, Spokesperson of the Financial Comptroller General Office, said that a large amount of funds is being released in the last month of the current fiscal year like in the previous years. </p> <p>The then Finance Minister Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada had brought a budget of Rs 1,474.6 billion for the current fiscal year. Through the mid term review report, the government had revised down the budget by Rs 130 billion. <br /> Jagadish Chandra Pokhrel, former Vice-Chairman of the National Planning Commission , said that the government’s focus on petty politics rather than on delivering services and implementing development projects have led to budget underspending. <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-06-17', 'modified' => '2021-06-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13292', 'image' => '20210617045713_Capex.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-06-17 16:54:31', 'homepage' => true, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '35' ) ) ) $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
