May 28: The Ministry of Finance has released additional funds for the establishment of paediatric ICU and to manage ICU ventilators for providing treatment to COVID-19 infected children and other serious patients across the country.…
May 28: The Ministry of Finance has released additional funds for the establishment of paediatric ICU and to manage ICU ventilators for providing treatment to COVID-19 infected children and other serious patients across the country.…
May 28: Nine former vice chairpersons of the National Planning Commission (NPC) say that there is no compulsion at all for the government to bring the budget for coming fiscal year within May…
May 27: Poultry farmers, who have been affected by Newcastle disease among chickens, are now facing additional problem of bird…
May 27: International Finance Corporation (IFC) has decided to invest $10 million in Dolma Impact Fund II (DIF II) to help provide financing to small and medium sized enterprises…
May 27: The second wave of COVID-19 pandemic has rendered 3.65 million people jobless.…
May 27: China has announced to provide 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Nepal.…
May 27: The government had set a target to collect internal loan of Rs 225 billion in the current fiscal year.…
May 26: In Nepal, 87.19 per cent of the population has access to internet, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported.…
May 26: The prices of chemical fertilisers such as urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP) and potassium have increased in the international market due to the effect of coronavirus pandemic.…
May 26: Buddha Air, one of the leading domestic airline companies of Nepal, has added new ATR-72-500 aircraft to its fleet.…
May 26: After concluding that the coronavirus pandemic has not come under control, government authorities on Tuesday extended prohibitory orders in the Kathmandu Valley by one more…
May 25: Bagmati Province is preparing to allocate Rs 1.5 billion for the agricultural sector in the Fiscal Year 2078/79, which is almost 50 percent of the total budget.…
May 25: Nepal’s foreign trade has remained encouraging despite the restrictions to curb coronavirus pandemic.…
May 25: The state-owned Udayapur Cement Industry (UCI) is holding its annual general meeting after a gap of fourteen years on June 13.…
May 25: The government is mulling to introduce the budget for the upcoming fiscal year through ordinance since Prime Minister KP Oli has dissolved the parliament.…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 28: The Ministry of Finance has released additional funds for the establishment of paediatric ICU and to manage ICU ventilators for providing treatment to COVID-19 infected children and other serious patients across the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Ministry on Thursday (May 27) released funds worth Rs1.41 billion to 41 different hospitals of the country. Those receiving the funds are district-based government hospitals in Taplejung, Sankhuwasabha, Terhathum, Bhojpur, Khotang, Solukhumbu, Okhaldhunga, Rangeli, Sunsari, Sarlahi, who received Rs 30 million each. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, district hospitals in Bara, Ramechhap, Dolakha, Bhaktapur, Rasuwa, Parbat, Syangja, Myagdi also received the same amount, along with the hospitals in Palpa, Rolpa and Mugu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the Ministry, the Seti Provincial Hospital received Rs 60 million while Gajendra Narayan Hospital and Tulasipur Hospital received Rs 90 million each and Bhaktapur Hospital will received Rs 120 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">For ICU ventilators, the Dhulikhel Hospital, Pokhare Institute of Health Sciences, the BPKIHS in Dharan and Lumbini Provincial Hospital and Bhim Hospital will received Rs 18 million each. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Furthermore, the Gajendra Narayan Hospital, Bheri Hospital, Dadeldhura Hospital, Narayan Hospital, Koshi Hospital, Rapti Institute of Health Sciences, Karnali Institute of Health Sciences, Janakpur Provincial Hospital and Surkhet Provincial Hospital have been allocated Rs 12 million reach. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In Kathmandu, the Kanti Children's Hospital, Patan Institute of Health Sciences and TU Teaching Hospital received Rs 30 million each. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The funds were provided as per the demand from the Ministry of Health and Population of COVID-19 prevention, control and treatment. --RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-28', 'modified' => '2021-05-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13201', 'image' => '20210528112937_20200327032654_5003_finance-ministy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-28 11:28:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13455', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Former Vice Chairs of NPC Against Full-Fledged Budget ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 28: Nine former vice chairpersons of the National Planning Commission (NPC) say that there is no compulsion at all for the government to bring the budget for coming fiscal year within May 29', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 28: Nine former vice chairpersons of the National Planning Commission (NPC) say that there is no compulsion at all for the government to bring the budget for coming fiscal year within May 29 at a time when the House of Representatives (HoR) is dissolved. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Issuing a press statement on Thursday (May 27), they rejected the idea of full-fledged budget arguing that such budget is likely to influence the upcoming election. They also noted that the government’s move to collect excessive public debt and change of tax rate were serious breach of political moral principal. The former vice chairs warned that the move of the government is likely to push the country’s economy towards instability and therefore urged the government to become serious about this issue.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">They also raised concern regarding the unexpected dissolution of the lower house at a time when it should have held the budget session. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“This has created a constitutional crisis and uncertainty. In such situation, it is certain that the country’s economy will be pushed backward,” reads the statement.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">They further reminded that the case relating to the dissolution of HoR is sub judice at the Supreme Court. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the former vice chairmen of NPC, the unexpected dissolution of HoR is a pre-planned design to rule the country and issue budget through ordinance.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Those issuing the statement include Dr Prithvi Raj Ligal, Dr Jagdish Chandra Pokhrel, Dr Shankar Sharma, Dr Pitambar Sharma, Dr Dinesh Chandra Devkota, Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri, Dr Govinda Raj Pokhrel, Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha and Dr Swarnim Wagle. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-28', 'modified' => '2021-05-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13200', 'image' => '20210528094601_20210501025837_11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-28 09:44:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13454', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bird Flu Hits Poultry Sector Again', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 27: Poultry farmers, who have been affected by Newcastle disease among chickens, are now facing additional problem of bird flu.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 27: Poultry farmers, who have been affected by Newcastle disease among chickens, are now facing additional problem of bird flu. While 20 percent farmers have stopped poultry farming due to the outbreak of Newcastle disease, which has been reported since the last six months, frequent outbreak of bird flu has further troubled the farmers. Bird flu was confirmed in Tarkeshwor Municipality, Nakhu, Jajarkot and Surkhet. Recently, bird flu has been confirmed in turkeys raised by farmers in Kirtipur – 4 and 9, and Chandragiri – 2.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Department of Livestock Services, bird flu was confirmed on Monday while testing samples through real-time PCR method at the Central Veterinary Laboratory, Tripureshwor. Issuing a statement on Wednesday, the department said that the infection has been confirmed in chickens in the areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As soon as the disease was confirmed, domesticated birds and other contagious fowls were destroyed to prevent the spread of the disease from the area.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The spokesperson of the department, Dr Chandra Dhakal, said that they are not sure about financial losses of the farmers. According to Dhakal, the farmers will get 75 percent compensation from the government after the district rate-fixation committee determines the price of the destroyed chickens.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Meanwhile, 535 turkeys, 492 local chickens, 76 quails, 20 ducks, 178 eggs and 900 kg grains have been destroyed in the affected areas. The department also said that the affected areas have been completely disinfected.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">While bird flu has been seen in chickens and turkeys in different parts of the country, the government has not shown much interest to step up the testing. Earlier, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development had informed that there were not enough laboratories for testing when the infection was detected in Tarkeshwor last January.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Spokesperson for the ministry Dr Shree Ram Ghimire said that the inadequacy of the laboratory still persists. According to him, out of the eight laboratories that are operational under the ministry, five laboratories are currently being used by the Ministry of Health for testing coronavirus. Only the remaining three are being used for testing bird flu samples. "It is not enough for us, but we have to give first priority to people," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He pointed out that there could be problems for testing if laboratories are not added as soon as possible. Out of the total eight laboratories under the Ministry of Agriculture, only the Central Veterinary Laboratory at Tripureshwor is recognized by the World Organization for Animal Health. Stakeholders point out that although the disease is tested in other laboratories, they do not meet all criteria. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13199', 'image' => '20210527073417_20210202120856_A3 Poster or Handout_Bird Flu Mar 2020 (upload)-400 2.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 19:33:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13453', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IFC to Help Small Businesses and Support Economic Recovery in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 27: International Finance Corporation (IFC) has decided to invest $10 million in Dolma Impact Fund II (DIF II) to help provide financing to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">May 27: International Finance Corporation (IFC) has decided to invest $10 million in Dolma Impact Fund II (DIF II) to help provide financing to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in health care, renewable energy, technology, and other critical sectors, vital to the recovery of the pandemic-battered economy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">According to IFC Resident Representative in Nepal, Babacar S Faye, private equity funds like Dolma can be an important source of capital and expertise for Nepali firms that have potential to grow, including those struggling to deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">SMEs are a key engine of growth in Nepal, contributing 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and creating over 60 percent of jobs in the country, said IFC in a statement. Even before the pandemic hit, SMEs were already struggling with limited access to finance. At present only 39 percent of Nepal’s SMEs have access to finance, according to IFC. Availability of additional financing for SMEs will be key to any sustainable and inclusive economic recovery in Nepal, the statement added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">“Dolma Fund Management is one of the first private equity fund managers focused on Nepal. It completed the initial $40 million close of Dolma Impact Fund II in May 2021, to invest in companies with strong growth potential, especially small and medium businesses," the statement quoted Tim Gocher, CEO of the Dolma Fund Management, as saying. "This will help scale up their capacity, increase skills and competitiveness, and create sustainable employment in Nepal. The target fund size is $75 million. We are confident that IFC’s participation will further catalyze fund raising and help us reach our target size.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">According to IFC, its equity investment includes $5 million from the International Development Association’s Private Sector Window, created to catalyze private sector investment in low-income countries. The overall investment is part of IFC’s SME Ventures program, which provides risk capital to entrepreneurs and fund managers in low-income countries where such funding is scarce or unavailable. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">“With the rise in COVID-19 cases, Nepal is in a difficult spot, but we believe in the country's potential,” said IFC Resident Representative in Nepal, Babacar S Faye. “By providing capital in emerging markets like Nepal, where it is scarce, private equity funds can help local businesses expand their operations, create more jobs, and provide critical goods and services. We also hope that this will send a strong signal to the market that we are confident in the resilience of Nepal’s entrepreneurs.” </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">With a combined capital of less than $100 million, private equity funds operating in Nepal are smaller than those in other emerging economies and there is significant potential for growth, according to IFC. Furthermore, IFC said its latest investment in DIF II marks its second in private equity in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The statement added that IFC’s current combined committed portfolio in Nepal stands at $550 million.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13198', 'image' => '20210527042743_ifc_lo.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 16:26:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13452', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Second Wave of Pandemic Renders 3.65 Million People Jobless', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 27: The second wave of COVID-19 pandemic has rendered 3.65 million people jobless. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 27: The second wave of COVID-19 pandemic has rendered 3.65 million people jobless. The prohibitory orders imposed in the country to contain coronavirus has made people working in sectors like tourism, transportation, construction, beauty parlor business, retail shops as well as daily-wage earners jobless. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">It's been almost a month since the government imposed restrictions on April 29 for the control and prevention of coronavirus. In this period, the number of unemployed has also been increasing.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">"However, relief packages for the affected people are not available from the federal, provincial, or the local governments," said Binod Shrestha, president of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Trade union had conducted survey in sixty districts. According to the survey, 900,000 people in tourism sector and 1.1 million people in transportation sector have been unemployed. Some vehicles working in health sector and those supplying essential materials are in operation. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, 50 percent of 2.5 million people working in the construction sector have become unemployed. "Despite the prohibitory orders, construction process is ongoing in some of the national pride projects by setting up isolation centers in the construction sites," informed Shrestha.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">GEFONT has stated that 50,000 porters are also unemployed. The beauty parlor business is also completely shut down at this time. The prohibitory order has brought the business of around 300,000 people working in this sector to a standstill.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Another sector which employs a large number of people is the self-employed sector. People earn their living by selling goods on pavements, and also by carrying their goods from one place to another. According to GEFONT, the number of such entrepreneurs is estimated to be around 300,000. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Domestic workers have also been hit hard by the prohibitory orders. Twenty Five percent of people working in the field of handicraft have been rendered jobless.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to Shrestha, many industries are running compared to the previous lockdown. Employees were laid off during the lockdown enforced last year. "We have not received any information of workers being laid off this year. However, workers have not received their salary this time as well," said Shrestha. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">People working in boarding schools, staff nurses, and bank employees have not been paid regularly. Similarly, another major sector affected by the restrictions is transport. Yogendra Nath Karmacharya, president of the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs said that people working in this sector and investors have also been extremely affected.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">"Transport sector is reeling through recession and we don't know if the government exists," said Karmacharya. "We are looking forward to the policies the government will be introducing in the budget programme. If no relief is provided to this sector, we will hand over all the vehicles from all over the country to the government," he added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Federation, the number of public transport stands at 300,000 and the number of freight vehicles is 60,000. He said that 80 percent of the entrepreneurs will be unable to repay the loan. He said that transport entrepreneurs are demanding a full waiver of interest.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13197', 'image' => '20210527020210_20200329020636_1*NkJiwlwHU-rOgHgIlt1mGA.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 14:01:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13451', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'China to Provide 1 Million Doses of Covid-19 Vaccine to Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 27: China has announced to provide 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 27</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">: </span></span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">China has announced to provide 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Nepal. The Chinese government has declared to provide those vaccines free-of-cost to Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">On Wednesday, President Bidya Devi Bhandari held a telephone conversation with her Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping, who pledged to provide 1 million doses of vaccine free-of-cost to Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed that the two presidents held general discussion and exchanged views on the overall relations between Nepal and China, as well as assistance related to COVID-19.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">President Bhandari expressed her gratitude to the Chinese government for helping Nepal fight against Covid-19. China has continuously helped Nepal with life-saving medicines, medical equipment and other health items during this pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">President Bhandari thanked China for providing 800,000 doses of vaccines to Nepal in the past. She praised President Xi's statement that the vaccine against COVID-19 should readily be available all around the world. President Xi also requested Nepal to purchase vaccine against COVID-19 from China.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">President Xi acknowledged the difficult situation Nepal is going through due to the second wave of coronavirus and has assured that China would always be ready to lend a helping hand to Nepal in this fight against Covid-19. In the statement released by the Ministry, President Xi has assured Nepal saying China has placed Nepal in top priority regarding the assistance with vaccination.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Expressing gratitude for the Chinese President's announcement to provide additional vaccines during the current crisis, President Bhandari expressed confidence that Chinese assistance would continue in Nepal’s fight against Covid-19.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13196', 'image' => '20210527014204_thumb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 13:41:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13450', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Central Bank Raising Internal Loans Aggressively', 'sub_title' => 'NRB Falls Short of its Target by 50 Percent with just 2 Months Remaining', 'summary' => 'May 27: The government had set a target to collect internal loan of Rs 225 billion in the current fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria">May 27: The government had set a target to collect internal loan of Rs 225 billion in the current fiscal year. By the end of the second quadrimester of the current fiscal year, the government has been able to raise 50.22 percent of internal loan out of its total target. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria">The state-owned Nepal Rastra Bank has so far raised Rs 113 billion from treasury bills, citizens bonds, foreign employment bonds and development bonds. In the third and final quadrimester, the government is yet to collet half of its target of internal loan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria">The central bank has started raising internal loan for the government aggressively in the third quadrimester. With just two months left in the current fiscal year, the central bank is yet to collect Rs 112 billion of its target. In order to meet its target, NRB has been issuing bonds almost on a daily basis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria">In this context, the central bank has issued foreign employment bond worth Rs 500 million. NRB will float the bonds between May 27 to June 17. The bonds with maturity period of five years will be issued on June 22. The rate of interest of the bond has been fixed at 10 percent and the interest will be paid every six months.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13195', 'image' => '20210527011421_The Nepal Rastra Bank.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 13:13:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13449', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '87.19% Population has Access to Internet in Nepal: NTA', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 26: In Nepal, 87.19 per cent of the population has access to internet, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 26: In Nepal, 87.19 per cent of the population has access to internet, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the data unveiled by Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), over 26.35 million population is connected to internet facility as of mid-May. NTA said it registered over 936,000 new users in the month of Falgun (mid-February to mid-March). It means 87.19 per cent population have access to internet as of Fagun end (March 13). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The report was prepared on the basis of population projection (2011-2030) and it assumes the current population of Nepal to be 29.87 million. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The number of people using the internet through mobile devices is the highest, making up 64.08 per cent of the total number of users. Likewise, 11.56 million population have access to 3G internet and the customers of Nepal Telecom are the largest contributors as their number is 9.94 million followed by 2.47 million of Ncell users. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">This number was 11.35 million in the month of Magh (mid-January to mid-February), which increased by 200,000 in Falgun (mid-February to mid-March). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Similarly, the number of 4G users has reached 7.66 million. Three telecommunications companies have launched the 4G services and the users of Ncell make up the highest portion (4.85 million). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The number of 4G users was 4.32 million in the month of Magh (mid-January to mid-February). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The data shows that the number of state-owned Nepal Telecom service users (4G ) has reached 2.58 million and their number in the month of Falgun (mid-February to mid-March) went up by 44,570 compared to the previous month. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Similarly, the number of 4G service users of Smart Telecom has reached 223,145. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The contribution of fixed broadband is 22.35 per cent (812,000) and FTTH (Fiber to the Home) is over 5,945,000, RSS further reported citing the NTA. </span></span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-26', 'modified' => '2021-05-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13194', 'image' => '20210526081934_20190922030926_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-26 20:18:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13448', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Budget Allocated for Chemical Fertilizers not Enough as Prices Surges in International Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 26: The prices of chemical fertilisers such as urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP) and potassium have increased in the international market due to the effect of coronavirus pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 26: The prices of chemical fertilisers such as urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP) and potassium have increased in the international market due to the effect of coronavirus pandemic. As a result, stakeholders say that the budget allocated by the government for the purchase of those chemical fertilisers will be insufficient.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As the prices of fertiliser have increased in countries including Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, and India from where fertilisers are imported in Nepal, its impact will be seen in Nepal as well. The price of urea, which was $317 per metric ton, has increased to $455 per metric ton. According to the Salt Trading Corporation, the price of DAP has also increased from $420 to $650 per metric ton.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Spokesperson of the corporation, Kumar Rajbhandari, said that the production cost has increased as the price of raw materials used by the fertiliser industries has increased due to the pandemic. Likewise, the lack of manpower has decreased the production of the factories, and lack of manpower of the transportation companies might have resulted towards increased price of fertilisers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The budget allocated by the government for purchasing the fertilisers is insufficient as the prices of the fertilisers have been increasing since the last five months. The government has allocated Rs 11 billion to buy subsidised fertilisers for the current fiscal year. Likewise, the government aims to allocate the budget of equal amount.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“While around 700,000 metric tons of chemical fertiliser is required in the country, only 500,000 metric tons of fertiliser can be bought with the current budget. If the budget is not increased, the current budget will be enough to buy only 275,000 metric tons of fertiliser,” spokesperson of Agriculture Inputs Company Limited Bishnu Pokharel told New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to him, if the government does not increase the budget, the procurement volume will decrease and the farmers will face shortage of fertilisers again. Therefore, he suggested that the budget should be increased. Pokharel said that even though the prices of fertilisers in the international market have increased, it will not affect the farmers they get the fertilizers at subsidized rate.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-26', 'modified' => '2021-05-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13193', 'image' => '20210526042706_20200817122726_1597613093.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-26 16:26:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13447', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ATR Aircraft Dominate Buddha Air's Fleet ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 26: Buddha Air, one of the leading domestic airline companies of Nepal, has added new ATR-72-500 aircraft to its fleet. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 26: Buddha Air, one of the leading domestic airline companies of Nepal, has added new ATR-72-500 aircraft to its fleet. The company added an ATR-72-500 aircraft to its fleet on May 22. With the introduction of the additional aircraft, Buddha now has ten aircraft of ATR-72 series. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Even though the airline commenced its domestic flight operation with a 19-seater Beechcraft 1900D in 1997, today, its fleet is dominated by the ATR series aircraft. By May 2021, the company has 13 ATR and two Beechcraft. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Buddha Air started procuring ATR aircraft in 2008. The company has three ATR-42-300 series aircraft and ten ATR-72 series. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The company aims to expand its flights across the country with its bases in provincial airports. According to an official of Buddha Air, the company added the aircraft under its flight expansion plans, even though the flights currently have been suspended due to a restraining order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Buddha Air had announced a few weeks ago to conduct inter-city flights from provincial airports.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As the destinations are expanding, the airline added the aircraft to support the smooth operation of the scheduled flights, the official said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He said that the newly introduced aircraft will reinforce Buddha's operation during the maintenance of the other airplanes. Buddha has been operating 125 to 130 flights a day and the number is estimated to increase to 135 with the addition of the new aircraft.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Lately, the company has been prioritizing ATR aircraft as operating an airplane with fewer seat capacity has more operational cost. The company said that emphasis has been laid on purchasing and operating ATR aircraft because its fuel consumption and operating costs are lower. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Buddha Air had previously announced plans to operate flights from Pokhara to Bhairahawa and Chitwan, and from Biratnagar to Tumlingtar. The airline plans to operate flights to all the provinces from Pokhara. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-26', 'modified' => '2021-05-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13192', 'image' => '20210526022651_20190131011945_ATR.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-26 14:26:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13446', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Government Authorities Extend Prohibitory Order in Kathmandu Valley for One More Week', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 26: After concluding that the coronavirus pandemic has not come under control, government authorities on Tuesday extended prohibitory orders in the Kathmandu Valley by one more week.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 26: After concluding that the coronavirus pandemic has not come under control, government authorities on Tuesday extended prohibitory orders in the Kathmandu Valley by one more week. With the latest decision, restrictions will remain in force in the valley until June 3.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Authorities have also decided to take strict measures to curb the disease from May 28 onward.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Such decisions were taken by a meeting of the Chief District Officers of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts on Tuesday (May 25), informed Kathmandu’s CDO Kali Prasad Parajuli. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The meeting has decided to effectively implement the ordinance issued by the government to curb coronavirus. In this regard, even grocery shops and departmental stores would also remain closed when the new order comes into effect from Friday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“We have given two days’ time for the public to procure necessary food stuff,” said CDO Parajuli.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Morning and evening walks have also been banned this time around. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During the extended period of prohibitory order, even transportation of essential goods like food as well as construction materials will be banned for a week. Construction of private and public infrastructures will be banned during this period in the valley, informed CDO of Lalitpur Dhundi Prasad Niraula.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The meeting also decided to restrict transportation during the prohibitory period. Even those offices that provide essential services will be allowed to operate vehicles only between 9:30 am to 10:30 am in the morning and 5 to 6 pm in the evening.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Even a limited number of branches of banks will be allowed to operate during this period. Such offices will be allowed to work with limited number of staff deployed on different shifts. A maximum of two vehicle passes will be provided to a bank, informed CDO Parajuli.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The prohibitory order was first imposed on April 29 and has been extended twice as the rate of infection did not receed in the valley.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-26', 'modified' => '2021-05-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13191', 'image' => '20210526120707_20200601121121_lockdown.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-26 12:06:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13445', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bagmati Province to Allocate 50% of Budget for Agriculture Sector', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: Bagmati Province is preparing to allocate Rs 1.5 billion for the agricultural sector in the Fiscal Year 2078/79, which is almost 50 percent of the total budget. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 25: Bagmati Province is preparing to allocate Rs 1.5 billion for the agricultural sector in the Fiscal Year 2078/79, which is almost 50 percent of the total budget. From a total budget of Rs 3.5 billion, the province is preparing to allocate nearly 50 percent of the budget for the agriculture sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In a virtual program organised by the Association of Nepali Agricultural Journalists (ANAJ), economist at the Planning and Monitoring Division of the Ministry of Agriculture Anup Adhikari said that 50 percent of the total budget would be spent on agriculture.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to him, a fund called Concessional Loan for Production and Generating Employment will be set up from the amount allocated for agriculture. From the fund, loans of up to Rs 500,000 will be provided to poor farmers without any collateral and loans of up to Rs 1 million with collateral will be provided at three percent interest rate.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Speaking at the program, Minister for Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives of Bagmati Province, Dawa Dorje Lama, said that the budget was being prepared to make the subsistence agriculture system export oriented and also for the commercialization of agriculture.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He shared his plan to increase agricultural production and move towards self-reliance. Stating that a milk factory and chocolate industry are being set up in the province, he informed that water is being supplied to the hills through lift irrigation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The ministry said that special programmes are being conducted in Bhaktapur, Chitwan, Sindhuli and Kavre focusing on mechanization of vegetable and fruit production. Further, the ministry informed that a powder milk factory will be established in Makwanpur next year which is believed to solve most of the problems faced by dairy farmers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Out of a total of 328,297 hectares of arable land in Bagmati Province, 289,662 hectares of land is cultivated at present. According to government data, the province, which contributes 17 percent to the country’s gross domestic product, produces 1.3 million metric tons of food.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In the current fiscal year, the state is constructing 12 cold stores out of which nine cold stores will be completed within this FY. The ministry said that the remaining three cold stores will be completed next year. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-25', 'modified' => '2021-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13190', 'image' => '20210525041714_20201109032251_Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-25 16:16:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13444', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal's Trade Deficit Rises Despite County Recording All-Time High Exports', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: Nepal’s foreign trade has remained encouraging despite the restrictions to curb coronavirus pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 25: Nepal’s foreign trade has remained encouraging despite the restrictions to curb coronavirus pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Department of Customs, Nepal’s foreign trade in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year was Rs 1362 billion, which is 23 percent up from the trade volume during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The volume of foreign trade in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year is highest ever recorded in the last 10 years.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, exports from Nepal have increased by 32.19 percent in the review period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the data released by the Customs Department, Nepal exported goods worth Rs 108.47 billion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. Nepal’s export in the corresponding period of the previous year was worth Rs 82.64 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In FY 2066/67, the government had set an annual export target of Rs 100 billion. However, it took 11 years to meet the target. Nepal met the export target in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, the country has imported goods worth Rs 1,254.11 in the review period. Imports have increased by 22.34 percent compared to the corresponding period of last year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the data, Nepal’s trade deficit has increased by 21.48 percent this year. The share of import in foreign trade is 92.4 percent, while the export is 7.96 percent. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-25', 'modified' => '2021-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13189', 'image' => '20210525040827_20200421011816_1587419377.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-25 16:07:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13443', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Udaypur Cement Industry holding AGM after fourteen years', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: The state-owned Udayapur Cement Industry (UCI) is holding its annual general meeting after a gap of fourteen years on June 13. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 25: The state-owned Udayapur Cement Industry (UCI) is holding its annual general meeting after a gap of fourteen years on June 13. Despite being one of the top choice brands among the customers, this industry has not been able to take advantage as per the expectation. As a result, it has not been able to hold its AGM since 2006/2007.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">UCI, which has the investment of fourteen government bodies, is preparing to conduct the 33rd AGM this year. It has joint investment from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoIC), Department of Industry, Department of Mines and Geology, Accounts Control Office and then Department of Commerce among others. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In last January, the government had appointed Gopi Krishna Neupane as the general manager of the company. Neupane informed that the date for the AGM has been finalized by the board of directors. Neupane, however, refused to reveal which company holds the highest amount of share of UCI.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The company seems to have compromised in good governance and transparency which is evident from the lack of annual general meeting and audit of the company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">There is a provision for a secretary-level official of the government to be a member of the board of directors of UCI.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The AGM plans to submit proposals to increase the authorized capital of the company and transfer the loan investment of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to ordinary shares. Preparations have also been made to endorse the auditor's report from 2007-2020 in the AGM to be held virtually.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">MoF has loan investment of Rs 3.38 billion in UIC together with initial loan amount and the accrued interest on it. Neupane said the AGM primarily plans to convert this amount into share capital.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Japanese government had provided a loan of Rs 1.72 billion to the government to invest in UCI. Later, it converted the loan into a grant. However, the Ministry of Finance has still kept the amount as a loan. “Converting this loan amount into ordinary shares wouldn't make the company liable to pay the interest accrued on it. This in turn will reduce the production cost by Rs 30 per cement pack,” said Neupane. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to Udaypur Cement Industry, MoF should waive the loan amount or at least convert the amount into share capital. It will help the company sell the cement at a price less than the current price by Rs 30 per pack. If the amount is transferred to share capital, the industry’s capital will increase to Rs 7.38 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The industry plans to increase the authorized capital to Rs 10 billion from Rs 4 billion. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-25', 'modified' => '2021-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13188', 'image' => '20210525030223_20210111014528_1610322726.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-25 15:01:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13442', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Preparations Underway to Introduce Budget Through Ordinance', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: The government is mulling to introduce the budget for the upcoming fiscal year through ordinance since Prime Minister KP Oli has dissolved the parliament. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 25: The government is mulling to introduce the budget for the upcoming fiscal year through ordinance since Prime Minister KP Oli has dissolved the parliament. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">When the parliament is dissolved, there is a practice of issuing ordinance in emergency situation but the Constitution of Nepal is itself unclear about the nature of budget that can be introduced through ordinance. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Article 114 of the constitution has a provision that allows the president to issue ordinance upon the recommendation of the cabinet if there is urgent need when the sessions of both lower and upper houses of parliament are not functioning.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, the constitution has not stated anywhere whether the budget introduced through ordinance will be partial or full. It has not envisaged budget in case when the parliament is dissolved. That's why there is are high chances that the government might arbitrarily bring any kind of programmes in its favour. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Legal expert Bhimarjun Acharya says it is absolutely wrong to bring the budget through ordinance after dissolving the existing parliament. "Ordinance is brought for emergency purposes but lately the government has been arbitrarily issuing ordinance by undermining the Constitution.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government is planning to unveil the budget targeting the upcoming elections. According to experts, announcing election-oriented budget is inappropriate. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Finance Minister should present the annual budget on Jestha 15, which falls on May 29 this year, as per the constitutional provision. Prior to this, the government should present policies and programs, conduct pre-budget sessions but it has not done any of these as mentioned in the constitution. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to former Finance Secretary Rameshwor Khanal, the government should not hurry in announcing the budget on May 29 under these circumstances. Ordinance can be brought only in case of emergency. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government is making necessary preparations to introduce the budget through ordinance for the upcoming fiscal year on May 29. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">On Sunday, PM Oli stated confidently that the budget would not be introduced for cheap popularity. In an interaction with the press, he said that the budget would prioritize development and COVID-19 related programmes. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The mid-term election has been announced for November 12 and 19. Though the PM has claimed it will not bring election-oriented budget, he has been pressurizing Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel and other officials at the Ministry to increase old-age allowance and include the minimum salary of employee in the budget to be implemented from July 16.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">At a time when the economy is being ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing old-age allowance would increase government responsibility. Similarly, industrialists have been stating that it is not reasonable to increase workers' salaries when the industries are reeling under the effects of COVID-19. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Officials say that these two programmes are being introduced targeting the upcoming elections. The budget is also giving continuity to the PM’s employment programme which has been deemed ineffective. At a time when this programme is being questioned by the experts, the government is planning to introduce another programme titled ' PM Herbs and Agricultural Forest Programme'.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to a senior officials at the Finance Ministry, this new programme has come up upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Forest. The top level including the Forest Minister has pressurized to include this programme in the budget, said the senior official requesting anonymity.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-25', 'modified' => '2021-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13187', 'image' => '20210525010230_20200630083550_Clipboard19.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-25 13:01:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13456', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'MoF Releases Rs 1.41 Billion to 41 Hospitals ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 28: The Ministry of Finance has released additional funds for the establishment of paediatric ICU and to manage ICU ventilators for providing treatment to COVID-19 infected children and other serious patients across the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 28: The Ministry of Finance has released additional funds for the establishment of paediatric ICU and to manage ICU ventilators for providing treatment to COVID-19 infected children and other serious patients across the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Ministry on Thursday (May 27) released funds worth Rs1.41 billion to 41 different hospitals of the country. Those receiving the funds are district-based government hospitals in Taplejung, Sankhuwasabha, Terhathum, Bhojpur, Khotang, Solukhumbu, Okhaldhunga, Rangeli, Sunsari, Sarlahi, who received Rs 30 million each. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, district hospitals in Bara, Ramechhap, Dolakha, Bhaktapur, Rasuwa, Parbat, Syangja, Myagdi also received the same amount, along with the hospitals in Palpa, Rolpa and Mugu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the Ministry, the Seti Provincial Hospital received Rs 60 million while Gajendra Narayan Hospital and Tulasipur Hospital received Rs 90 million each and Bhaktapur Hospital will received Rs 120 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">For ICU ventilators, the Dhulikhel Hospital, Pokhare Institute of Health Sciences, the BPKIHS in Dharan and Lumbini Provincial Hospital and Bhim Hospital will received Rs 18 million each. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Furthermore, the Gajendra Narayan Hospital, Bheri Hospital, Dadeldhura Hospital, Narayan Hospital, Koshi Hospital, Rapti Institute of Health Sciences, Karnali Institute of Health Sciences, Janakpur Provincial Hospital and Surkhet Provincial Hospital have been allocated Rs 12 million reach. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In Kathmandu, the Kanti Children's Hospital, Patan Institute of Health Sciences and TU Teaching Hospital received Rs 30 million each. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The funds were provided as per the demand from the Ministry of Health and Population of COVID-19 prevention, control and treatment. --RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-28', 'modified' => '2021-05-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13201', 'image' => '20210528112937_20200327032654_5003_finance-ministy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-28 11:28:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13455', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Former Vice Chairs of NPC Against Full-Fledged Budget ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 28: Nine former vice chairpersons of the National Planning Commission (NPC) say that there is no compulsion at all for the government to bring the budget for coming fiscal year within May 29', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 28: Nine former vice chairpersons of the National Planning Commission (NPC) say that there is no compulsion at all for the government to bring the budget for coming fiscal year within May 29 at a time when the House of Representatives (HoR) is dissolved. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Issuing a press statement on Thursday (May 27), they rejected the idea of full-fledged budget arguing that such budget is likely to influence the upcoming election. They also noted that the government’s move to collect excessive public debt and change of tax rate were serious breach of political moral principal. The former vice chairs warned that the move of the government is likely to push the country’s economy towards instability and therefore urged the government to become serious about this issue.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">They also raised concern regarding the unexpected dissolution of the lower house at a time when it should have held the budget session. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“This has created a constitutional crisis and uncertainty. In such situation, it is certain that the country’s economy will be pushed backward,” reads the statement.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">They further reminded that the case relating to the dissolution of HoR is sub judice at the Supreme Court. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the former vice chairmen of NPC, the unexpected dissolution of HoR is a pre-planned design to rule the country and issue budget through ordinance.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Those issuing the statement include Dr Prithvi Raj Ligal, Dr Jagdish Chandra Pokhrel, Dr Shankar Sharma, Dr Pitambar Sharma, Dr Dinesh Chandra Devkota, Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri, Dr Govinda Raj Pokhrel, Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha and Dr Swarnim Wagle. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-28', 'modified' => '2021-05-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13200', 'image' => '20210528094601_20210501025837_11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-28 09:44:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13454', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bird Flu Hits Poultry Sector Again', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 27: Poultry farmers, who have been affected by Newcastle disease among chickens, are now facing additional problem of bird flu.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 27: Poultry farmers, who have been affected by Newcastle disease among chickens, are now facing additional problem of bird flu. While 20 percent farmers have stopped poultry farming due to the outbreak of Newcastle disease, which has been reported since the last six months, frequent outbreak of bird flu has further troubled the farmers. Bird flu was confirmed in Tarkeshwor Municipality, Nakhu, Jajarkot and Surkhet. Recently, bird flu has been confirmed in turkeys raised by farmers in Kirtipur – 4 and 9, and Chandragiri – 2.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Department of Livestock Services, bird flu was confirmed on Monday while testing samples through real-time PCR method at the Central Veterinary Laboratory, Tripureshwor. Issuing a statement on Wednesday, the department said that the infection has been confirmed in chickens in the areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As soon as the disease was confirmed, domesticated birds and other contagious fowls were destroyed to prevent the spread of the disease from the area.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The spokesperson of the department, Dr Chandra Dhakal, said that they are not sure about financial losses of the farmers. According to Dhakal, the farmers will get 75 percent compensation from the government after the district rate-fixation committee determines the price of the destroyed chickens.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Meanwhile, 535 turkeys, 492 local chickens, 76 quails, 20 ducks, 178 eggs and 900 kg grains have been destroyed in the affected areas. The department also said that the affected areas have been completely disinfected.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">While bird flu has been seen in chickens and turkeys in different parts of the country, the government has not shown much interest to step up the testing. Earlier, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development had informed that there were not enough laboratories for testing when the infection was detected in Tarkeshwor last January.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Spokesperson for the ministry Dr Shree Ram Ghimire said that the inadequacy of the laboratory still persists. According to him, out of the eight laboratories that are operational under the ministry, five laboratories are currently being used by the Ministry of Health for testing coronavirus. Only the remaining three are being used for testing bird flu samples. "It is not enough for us, but we have to give first priority to people," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He pointed out that there could be problems for testing if laboratories are not added as soon as possible. Out of the total eight laboratories under the Ministry of Agriculture, only the Central Veterinary Laboratory at Tripureshwor is recognized by the World Organization for Animal Health. Stakeholders point out that although the disease is tested in other laboratories, they do not meet all criteria. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13199', 'image' => '20210527073417_20210202120856_A3 Poster or Handout_Bird Flu Mar 2020 (upload)-400 2.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 19:33:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13453', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IFC to Help Small Businesses and Support Economic Recovery in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 27: International Finance Corporation (IFC) has decided to invest $10 million in Dolma Impact Fund II (DIF II) to help provide financing to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">May 27: International Finance Corporation (IFC) has decided to invest $10 million in Dolma Impact Fund II (DIF II) to help provide financing to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in health care, renewable energy, technology, and other critical sectors, vital to the recovery of the pandemic-battered economy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">According to IFC Resident Representative in Nepal, Babacar S Faye, private equity funds like Dolma can be an important source of capital and expertise for Nepali firms that have potential to grow, including those struggling to deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">SMEs are a key engine of growth in Nepal, contributing 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and creating over 60 percent of jobs in the country, said IFC in a statement. Even before the pandemic hit, SMEs were already struggling with limited access to finance. At present only 39 percent of Nepal’s SMEs have access to finance, according to IFC. Availability of additional financing for SMEs will be key to any sustainable and inclusive economic recovery in Nepal, the statement added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">“Dolma Fund Management is one of the first private equity fund managers focused on Nepal. It completed the initial $40 million close of Dolma Impact Fund II in May 2021, to invest in companies with strong growth potential, especially small and medium businesses," the statement quoted Tim Gocher, CEO of the Dolma Fund Management, as saying. "This will help scale up their capacity, increase skills and competitiveness, and create sustainable employment in Nepal. The target fund size is $75 million. We are confident that IFC’s participation will further catalyze fund raising and help us reach our target size.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">According to IFC, its equity investment includes $5 million from the International Development Association’s Private Sector Window, created to catalyze private sector investment in low-income countries. The overall investment is part of IFC’s SME Ventures program, which provides risk capital to entrepreneurs and fund managers in low-income countries where such funding is scarce or unavailable. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">“With the rise in COVID-19 cases, Nepal is in a difficult spot, but we believe in the country's potential,” said IFC Resident Representative in Nepal, Babacar S Faye. “By providing capital in emerging markets like Nepal, where it is scarce, private equity funds can help local businesses expand their operations, create more jobs, and provide critical goods and services. We also hope that this will send a strong signal to the market that we are confident in the resilience of Nepal’s entrepreneurs.” </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">With a combined capital of less than $100 million, private equity funds operating in Nepal are smaller than those in other emerging economies and there is significant potential for growth, according to IFC. Furthermore, IFC said its latest investment in DIF II marks its second in private equity in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The statement added that IFC’s current combined committed portfolio in Nepal stands at $550 million.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13198', 'image' => '20210527042743_ifc_lo.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 16:26:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13452', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Second Wave of Pandemic Renders 3.65 Million People Jobless', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 27: The second wave of COVID-19 pandemic has rendered 3.65 million people jobless. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 27: The second wave of COVID-19 pandemic has rendered 3.65 million people jobless. The prohibitory orders imposed in the country to contain coronavirus has made people working in sectors like tourism, transportation, construction, beauty parlor business, retail shops as well as daily-wage earners jobless. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">It's been almost a month since the government imposed restrictions on April 29 for the control and prevention of coronavirus. In this period, the number of unemployed has also been increasing.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">"However, relief packages for the affected people are not available from the federal, provincial, or the local governments," said Binod Shrestha, president of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Trade union had conducted survey in sixty districts. According to the survey, 900,000 people in tourism sector and 1.1 million people in transportation sector have been unemployed. Some vehicles working in health sector and those supplying essential materials are in operation. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, 50 percent of 2.5 million people working in the construction sector have become unemployed. "Despite the prohibitory orders, construction process is ongoing in some of the national pride projects by setting up isolation centers in the construction sites," informed Shrestha.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">GEFONT has stated that 50,000 porters are also unemployed. The beauty parlor business is also completely shut down at this time. The prohibitory order has brought the business of around 300,000 people working in this sector to a standstill.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Another sector which employs a large number of people is the self-employed sector. People earn their living by selling goods on pavements, and also by carrying their goods from one place to another. According to GEFONT, the number of such entrepreneurs is estimated to be around 300,000. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Domestic workers have also been hit hard by the prohibitory orders. Twenty Five percent of people working in the field of handicraft have been rendered jobless.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to Shrestha, many industries are running compared to the previous lockdown. Employees were laid off during the lockdown enforced last year. "We have not received any information of workers being laid off this year. However, workers have not received their salary this time as well," said Shrestha. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">People working in boarding schools, staff nurses, and bank employees have not been paid regularly. Similarly, another major sector affected by the restrictions is transport. Yogendra Nath Karmacharya, president of the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs said that people working in this sector and investors have also been extremely affected.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">"Transport sector is reeling through recession and we don't know if the government exists," said Karmacharya. "We are looking forward to the policies the government will be introducing in the budget programme. If no relief is provided to this sector, we will hand over all the vehicles from all over the country to the government," he added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Federation, the number of public transport stands at 300,000 and the number of freight vehicles is 60,000. He said that 80 percent of the entrepreneurs will be unable to repay the loan. He said that transport entrepreneurs are demanding a full waiver of interest.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13197', 'image' => '20210527020210_20200329020636_1*NkJiwlwHU-rOgHgIlt1mGA.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 14:01:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13451', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'China to Provide 1 Million Doses of Covid-19 Vaccine to Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 27: China has announced to provide 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 27</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">: </span></span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">China has announced to provide 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Nepal. The Chinese government has declared to provide those vaccines free-of-cost to Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">On Wednesday, President Bidya Devi Bhandari held a telephone conversation with her Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping, who pledged to provide 1 million doses of vaccine free-of-cost to Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed that the two presidents held general discussion and exchanged views on the overall relations between Nepal and China, as well as assistance related to COVID-19.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">President Bhandari expressed her gratitude to the Chinese government for helping Nepal fight against Covid-19. China has continuously helped Nepal with life-saving medicines, medical equipment and other health items during this pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">President Bhandari thanked China for providing 800,000 doses of vaccines to Nepal in the past. She praised President Xi's statement that the vaccine against COVID-19 should readily be available all around the world. President Xi also requested Nepal to purchase vaccine against COVID-19 from China.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">President Xi acknowledged the difficult situation Nepal is going through due to the second wave of coronavirus and has assured that China would always be ready to lend a helping hand to Nepal in this fight against Covid-19. In the statement released by the Ministry, President Xi has assured Nepal saying China has placed Nepal in top priority regarding the assistance with vaccination.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Expressing gratitude for the Chinese President's announcement to provide additional vaccines during the current crisis, President Bhandari expressed confidence that Chinese assistance would continue in Nepal’s fight against Covid-19.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13196', 'image' => '20210527014204_thumb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 13:41:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13450', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Central Bank Raising Internal Loans Aggressively', 'sub_title' => 'NRB Falls Short of its Target by 50 Percent with just 2 Months Remaining', 'summary' => 'May 27: The government had set a target to collect internal loan of Rs 225 billion in the current fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria">May 27: The government had set a target to collect internal loan of Rs 225 billion in the current fiscal year. By the end of the second quadrimester of the current fiscal year, the government has been able to raise 50.22 percent of internal loan out of its total target. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria">The state-owned Nepal Rastra Bank has so far raised Rs 113 billion from treasury bills, citizens bonds, foreign employment bonds and development bonds. In the third and final quadrimester, the government is yet to collet half of its target of internal loan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria">The central bank has started raising internal loan for the government aggressively in the third quadrimester. With just two months left in the current fiscal year, the central bank is yet to collect Rs 112 billion of its target. In order to meet its target, NRB has been issuing bonds almost on a daily basis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria">In this context, the central bank has issued foreign employment bond worth Rs 500 million. NRB will float the bonds between May 27 to June 17. The bonds with maturity period of five years will be issued on June 22. The rate of interest of the bond has been fixed at 10 percent and the interest will be paid every six months.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13195', 'image' => '20210527011421_The Nepal Rastra Bank.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 13:13:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13449', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '87.19% Population has Access to Internet in Nepal: NTA', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 26: In Nepal, 87.19 per cent of the population has access to internet, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 26: In Nepal, 87.19 per cent of the population has access to internet, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the data unveiled by Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), over 26.35 million population is connected to internet facility as of mid-May. NTA said it registered over 936,000 new users in the month of Falgun (mid-February to mid-March). It means 87.19 per cent population have access to internet as of Fagun end (March 13). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The report was prepared on the basis of population projection (2011-2030) and it assumes the current population of Nepal to be 29.87 million. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The number of people using the internet through mobile devices is the highest, making up 64.08 per cent of the total number of users. Likewise, 11.56 million population have access to 3G internet and the customers of Nepal Telecom are the largest contributors as their number is 9.94 million followed by 2.47 million of Ncell users. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">This number was 11.35 million in the month of Magh (mid-January to mid-February), which increased by 200,000 in Falgun (mid-February to mid-March). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Similarly, the number of 4G users has reached 7.66 million. Three telecommunications companies have launched the 4G services and the users of Ncell make up the highest portion (4.85 million). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The number of 4G users was 4.32 million in the month of Magh (mid-January to mid-February). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The data shows that the number of state-owned Nepal Telecom service users (4G ) has reached 2.58 million and their number in the month of Falgun (mid-February to mid-March) went up by 44,570 compared to the previous month. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Similarly, the number of 4G service users of Smart Telecom has reached 223,145. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The contribution of fixed broadband is 22.35 per cent (812,000) and FTTH (Fiber to the Home) is over 5,945,000, RSS further reported citing the NTA. </span></span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-26', 'modified' => '2021-05-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13194', 'image' => '20210526081934_20190922030926_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-26 20:18:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13448', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Budget Allocated for Chemical Fertilizers not Enough as Prices Surges in International Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 26: The prices of chemical fertilisers such as urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP) and potassium have increased in the international market due to the effect of coronavirus pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 26: The prices of chemical fertilisers such as urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP) and potassium have increased in the international market due to the effect of coronavirus pandemic. As a result, stakeholders say that the budget allocated by the government for the purchase of those chemical fertilisers will be insufficient.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As the prices of fertiliser have increased in countries including Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, and India from where fertilisers are imported in Nepal, its impact will be seen in Nepal as well. The price of urea, which was $317 per metric ton, has increased to $455 per metric ton. According to the Salt Trading Corporation, the price of DAP has also increased from $420 to $650 per metric ton.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Spokesperson of the corporation, Kumar Rajbhandari, said that the production cost has increased as the price of raw materials used by the fertiliser industries has increased due to the pandemic. Likewise, the lack of manpower has decreased the production of the factories, and lack of manpower of the transportation companies might have resulted towards increased price of fertilisers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The budget allocated by the government for purchasing the fertilisers is insufficient as the prices of the fertilisers have been increasing since the last five months. The government has allocated Rs 11 billion to buy subsidised fertilisers for the current fiscal year. Likewise, the government aims to allocate the budget of equal amount.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“While around 700,000 metric tons of chemical fertiliser is required in the country, only 500,000 metric tons of fertiliser can be bought with the current budget. If the budget is not increased, the current budget will be enough to buy only 275,000 metric tons of fertiliser,” spokesperson of Agriculture Inputs Company Limited Bishnu Pokharel told New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to him, if the government does not increase the budget, the procurement volume will decrease and the farmers will face shortage of fertilisers again. Therefore, he suggested that the budget should be increased. Pokharel said that even though the prices of fertilisers in the international market have increased, it will not affect the farmers they get the fertilizers at subsidized rate.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-26', 'modified' => '2021-05-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13193', 'image' => '20210526042706_20200817122726_1597613093.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-26 16:26:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13447', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ATR Aircraft Dominate Buddha Air's Fleet ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 26: Buddha Air, one of the leading domestic airline companies of Nepal, has added new ATR-72-500 aircraft to its fleet. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 26: Buddha Air, one of the leading domestic airline companies of Nepal, has added new ATR-72-500 aircraft to its fleet. The company added an ATR-72-500 aircraft to its fleet on May 22. With the introduction of the additional aircraft, Buddha now has ten aircraft of ATR-72 series. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Even though the airline commenced its domestic flight operation with a 19-seater Beechcraft 1900D in 1997, today, its fleet is dominated by the ATR series aircraft. By May 2021, the company has 13 ATR and two Beechcraft. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Buddha Air started procuring ATR aircraft in 2008. The company has three ATR-42-300 series aircraft and ten ATR-72 series. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The company aims to expand its flights across the country with its bases in provincial airports. According to an official of Buddha Air, the company added the aircraft under its flight expansion plans, even though the flights currently have been suspended due to a restraining order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Buddha Air had announced a few weeks ago to conduct inter-city flights from provincial airports.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As the destinations are expanding, the airline added the aircraft to support the smooth operation of the scheduled flights, the official said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He said that the newly introduced aircraft will reinforce Buddha's operation during the maintenance of the other airplanes. Buddha has been operating 125 to 130 flights a day and the number is estimated to increase to 135 with the addition of the new aircraft.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Lately, the company has been prioritizing ATR aircraft as operating an airplane with fewer seat capacity has more operational cost. The company said that emphasis has been laid on purchasing and operating ATR aircraft because its fuel consumption and operating costs are lower. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Buddha Air had previously announced plans to operate flights from Pokhara to Bhairahawa and Chitwan, and from Biratnagar to Tumlingtar. The airline plans to operate flights to all the provinces from Pokhara. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-26', 'modified' => '2021-05-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13192', 'image' => '20210526022651_20190131011945_ATR.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-26 14:26:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13446', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Government Authorities Extend Prohibitory Order in Kathmandu Valley for One More Week', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 26: After concluding that the coronavirus pandemic has not come under control, government authorities on Tuesday extended prohibitory orders in the Kathmandu Valley by one more week.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 26: After concluding that the coronavirus pandemic has not come under control, government authorities on Tuesday extended prohibitory orders in the Kathmandu Valley by one more week. With the latest decision, restrictions will remain in force in the valley until June 3.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Authorities have also decided to take strict measures to curb the disease from May 28 onward.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Such decisions were taken by a meeting of the Chief District Officers of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts on Tuesday (May 25), informed Kathmandu’s CDO Kali Prasad Parajuli. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The meeting has decided to effectively implement the ordinance issued by the government to curb coronavirus. In this regard, even grocery shops and departmental stores would also remain closed when the new order comes into effect from Friday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“We have given two days’ time for the public to procure necessary food stuff,” said CDO Parajuli.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Morning and evening walks have also been banned this time around. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During the extended period of prohibitory order, even transportation of essential goods like food as well as construction materials will be banned for a week. Construction of private and public infrastructures will be banned during this period in the valley, informed CDO of Lalitpur Dhundi Prasad Niraula.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The meeting also decided to restrict transportation during the prohibitory period. Even those offices that provide essential services will be allowed to operate vehicles only between 9:30 am to 10:30 am in the morning and 5 to 6 pm in the evening.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Even a limited number of branches of banks will be allowed to operate during this period. Such offices will be allowed to work with limited number of staff deployed on different shifts. A maximum of two vehicle passes will be provided to a bank, informed CDO Parajuli.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The prohibitory order was first imposed on April 29 and has been extended twice as the rate of infection did not receed in the valley.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-26', 'modified' => '2021-05-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13191', 'image' => '20210526120707_20200601121121_lockdown.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-26 12:06:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13445', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bagmati Province to Allocate 50% of Budget for Agriculture Sector', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: Bagmati Province is preparing to allocate Rs 1.5 billion for the agricultural sector in the Fiscal Year 2078/79, which is almost 50 percent of the total budget. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 25: Bagmati Province is preparing to allocate Rs 1.5 billion for the agricultural sector in the Fiscal Year 2078/79, which is almost 50 percent of the total budget. From a total budget of Rs 3.5 billion, the province is preparing to allocate nearly 50 percent of the budget for the agriculture sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In a virtual program organised by the Association of Nepali Agricultural Journalists (ANAJ), economist at the Planning and Monitoring Division of the Ministry of Agriculture Anup Adhikari said that 50 percent of the total budget would be spent on agriculture.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to him, a fund called Concessional Loan for Production and Generating Employment will be set up from the amount allocated for agriculture. From the fund, loans of up to Rs 500,000 will be provided to poor farmers without any collateral and loans of up to Rs 1 million with collateral will be provided at three percent interest rate.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Speaking at the program, Minister for Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives of Bagmati Province, Dawa Dorje Lama, said that the budget was being prepared to make the subsistence agriculture system export oriented and also for the commercialization of agriculture.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He shared his plan to increase agricultural production and move towards self-reliance. Stating that a milk factory and chocolate industry are being set up in the province, he informed that water is being supplied to the hills through lift irrigation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The ministry said that special programmes are being conducted in Bhaktapur, Chitwan, Sindhuli and Kavre focusing on mechanization of vegetable and fruit production. Further, the ministry informed that a powder milk factory will be established in Makwanpur next year which is believed to solve most of the problems faced by dairy farmers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Out of a total of 328,297 hectares of arable land in Bagmati Province, 289,662 hectares of land is cultivated at present. According to government data, the province, which contributes 17 percent to the country’s gross domestic product, produces 1.3 million metric tons of food.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In the current fiscal year, the state is constructing 12 cold stores out of which nine cold stores will be completed within this FY. The ministry said that the remaining three cold stores will be completed next year. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-25', 'modified' => '2021-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13190', 'image' => '20210525041714_20201109032251_Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-25 16:16:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13444', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal's Trade Deficit Rises Despite County Recording All-Time High Exports', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: Nepal’s foreign trade has remained encouraging despite the restrictions to curb coronavirus pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 25: Nepal’s foreign trade has remained encouraging despite the restrictions to curb coronavirus pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Department of Customs, Nepal’s foreign trade in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year was Rs 1362 billion, which is 23 percent up from the trade volume during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The volume of foreign trade in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year is highest ever recorded in the last 10 years.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, exports from Nepal have increased by 32.19 percent in the review period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the data released by the Customs Department, Nepal exported goods worth Rs 108.47 billion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. Nepal’s export in the corresponding period of the previous year was worth Rs 82.64 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In FY 2066/67, the government had set an annual export target of Rs 100 billion. However, it took 11 years to meet the target. Nepal met the export target in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, the country has imported goods worth Rs 1,254.11 in the review period. Imports have increased by 22.34 percent compared to the corresponding period of last year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the data, Nepal’s trade deficit has increased by 21.48 percent this year. The share of import in foreign trade is 92.4 percent, while the export is 7.96 percent. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-25', 'modified' => '2021-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13189', 'image' => '20210525040827_20200421011816_1587419377.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-25 16:07:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13443', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Udaypur Cement Industry holding AGM after fourteen years', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: The state-owned Udayapur Cement Industry (UCI) is holding its annual general meeting after a gap of fourteen years on June 13. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 25: The state-owned Udayapur Cement Industry (UCI) is holding its annual general meeting after a gap of fourteen years on June 13. Despite being one of the top choice brands among the customers, this industry has not been able to take advantage as per the expectation. As a result, it has not been able to hold its AGM since 2006/2007.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">UCI, which has the investment of fourteen government bodies, is preparing to conduct the 33rd AGM this year. It has joint investment from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoIC), Department of Industry, Department of Mines and Geology, Accounts Control Office and then Department of Commerce among others. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In last January, the government had appointed Gopi Krishna Neupane as the general manager of the company. Neupane informed that the date for the AGM has been finalized by the board of directors. Neupane, however, refused to reveal which company holds the highest amount of share of UCI.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The company seems to have compromised in good governance and transparency which is evident from the lack of annual general meeting and audit of the company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">There is a provision for a secretary-level official of the government to be a member of the board of directors of UCI.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The AGM plans to submit proposals to increase the authorized capital of the company and transfer the loan investment of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to ordinary shares. Preparations have also been made to endorse the auditor's report from 2007-2020 in the AGM to be held virtually.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">MoF has loan investment of Rs 3.38 billion in UIC together with initial loan amount and the accrued interest on it. Neupane said the AGM primarily plans to convert this amount into share capital.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Japanese government had provided a loan of Rs 1.72 billion to the government to invest in UCI. Later, it converted the loan into a grant. However, the Ministry of Finance has still kept the amount as a loan. “Converting this loan amount into ordinary shares wouldn't make the company liable to pay the interest accrued on it. This in turn will reduce the production cost by Rs 30 per cement pack,” said Neupane. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to Udaypur Cement Industry, MoF should waive the loan amount or at least convert the amount into share capital. It will help the company sell the cement at a price less than the current price by Rs 30 per pack. If the amount is transferred to share capital, the industry’s capital will increase to Rs 7.38 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The industry plans to increase the authorized capital to Rs 10 billion from Rs 4 billion. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-25', 'modified' => '2021-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13188', 'image' => '20210525030223_20210111014528_1610322726.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-25 15:01:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13442', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Preparations Underway to Introduce Budget Through Ordinance', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: The government is mulling to introduce the budget for the upcoming fiscal year through ordinance since Prime Minister KP Oli has dissolved the parliament. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 25: The government is mulling to introduce the budget for the upcoming fiscal year through ordinance since Prime Minister KP Oli has dissolved the parliament. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">When the parliament is dissolved, there is a practice of issuing ordinance in emergency situation but the Constitution of Nepal is itself unclear about the nature of budget that can be introduced through ordinance. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Article 114 of the constitution has a provision that allows the president to issue ordinance upon the recommendation of the cabinet if there is urgent need when the sessions of both lower and upper houses of parliament are not functioning.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, the constitution has not stated anywhere whether the budget introduced through ordinance will be partial or full. It has not envisaged budget in case when the parliament is dissolved. That's why there is are high chances that the government might arbitrarily bring any kind of programmes in its favour. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Legal expert Bhimarjun Acharya says it is absolutely wrong to bring the budget through ordinance after dissolving the existing parliament. "Ordinance is brought for emergency purposes but lately the government has been arbitrarily issuing ordinance by undermining the Constitution.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government is planning to unveil the budget targeting the upcoming elections. According to experts, announcing election-oriented budget is inappropriate. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Finance Minister should present the annual budget on Jestha 15, which falls on May 29 this year, as per the constitutional provision. Prior to this, the government should present policies and programs, conduct pre-budget sessions but it has not done any of these as mentioned in the constitution. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to former Finance Secretary Rameshwor Khanal, the government should not hurry in announcing the budget on May 29 under these circumstances. Ordinance can be brought only in case of emergency. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government is making necessary preparations to introduce the budget through ordinance for the upcoming fiscal year on May 29. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">On Sunday, PM Oli stated confidently that the budget would not be introduced for cheap popularity. In an interaction with the press, he said that the budget would prioritize development and COVID-19 related programmes. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The mid-term election has been announced for November 12 and 19. Though the PM has claimed it will not bring election-oriented budget, he has been pressurizing Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel and other officials at the Ministry to increase old-age allowance and include the minimum salary of employee in the budget to be implemented from July 16.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">At a time when the economy is being ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing old-age allowance would increase government responsibility. Similarly, industrialists have been stating that it is not reasonable to increase workers' salaries when the industries are reeling under the effects of COVID-19. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Officials say that these two programmes are being introduced targeting the upcoming elections. The budget is also giving continuity to the PM’s employment programme which has been deemed ineffective. At a time when this programme is being questioned by the experts, the government is planning to introduce another programme titled ' PM Herbs and Agricultural Forest Programme'.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to a senior officials at the Finance Ministry, this new programme has come up upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Forest. The top level including the Forest Minister has pressurized to include this programme in the budget, said the senior official requesting anonymity.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-25', 'modified' => '2021-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13187', 'image' => '20210525010230_20200630083550_Clipboard19.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-25 13:01:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13456', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'MoF Releases Rs 1.41 Billion to 41 Hospitals ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 28: The Ministry of Finance has released additional funds for the establishment of paediatric ICU and to manage ICU ventilators for providing treatment to COVID-19 infected children and other serious patients across the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 28: The Ministry of Finance has released additional funds for the establishment of paediatric ICU and to manage ICU ventilators for providing treatment to COVID-19 infected children and other serious patients across the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Ministry on Thursday (May 27) released funds worth Rs1.41 billion to 41 different hospitals of the country. Those receiving the funds are district-based government hospitals in Taplejung, Sankhuwasabha, Terhathum, Bhojpur, Khotang, Solukhumbu, Okhaldhunga, Rangeli, Sunsari, Sarlahi, who received Rs 30 million each. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, district hospitals in Bara, Ramechhap, Dolakha, Bhaktapur, Rasuwa, Parbat, Syangja, Myagdi also received the same amount, along with the hospitals in Palpa, Rolpa and Mugu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the Ministry, the Seti Provincial Hospital received Rs 60 million while Gajendra Narayan Hospital and Tulasipur Hospital received Rs 90 million each and Bhaktapur Hospital will received Rs 120 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">For ICU ventilators, the Dhulikhel Hospital, Pokhare Institute of Health Sciences, the BPKIHS in Dharan and Lumbini Provincial Hospital and Bhim Hospital will received Rs 18 million each. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Furthermore, the Gajendra Narayan Hospital, Bheri Hospital, Dadeldhura Hospital, Narayan Hospital, Koshi Hospital, Rapti Institute of Health Sciences, Karnali Institute of Health Sciences, Janakpur Provincial Hospital and Surkhet Provincial Hospital have been allocated Rs 12 million reach. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In Kathmandu, the Kanti Children's Hospital, Patan Institute of Health Sciences and TU Teaching Hospital received Rs 30 million each. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The funds were provided as per the demand from the Ministry of Health and Population of COVID-19 prevention, control and treatment. --RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-28', 'modified' => '2021-05-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13201', 'image' => '20210528112937_20200327032654_5003_finance-ministy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-28 11:28:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13455', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Former Vice Chairs of NPC Against Full-Fledged Budget ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 28: Nine former vice chairpersons of the National Planning Commission (NPC) say that there is no compulsion at all for the government to bring the budget for coming fiscal year within May 29', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 28: Nine former vice chairpersons of the National Planning Commission (NPC) say that there is no compulsion at all for the government to bring the budget for coming fiscal year within May 29 at a time when the House of Representatives (HoR) is dissolved. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Issuing a press statement on Thursday (May 27), they rejected the idea of full-fledged budget arguing that such budget is likely to influence the upcoming election. They also noted that the government’s move to collect excessive public debt and change of tax rate were serious breach of political moral principal. The former vice chairs warned that the move of the government is likely to push the country’s economy towards instability and therefore urged the government to become serious about this issue.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">They also raised concern regarding the unexpected dissolution of the lower house at a time when it should have held the budget session. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“This has created a constitutional crisis and uncertainty. In such situation, it is certain that the country’s economy will be pushed backward,” reads the statement.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">They further reminded that the case relating to the dissolution of HoR is sub judice at the Supreme Court. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the former vice chairmen of NPC, the unexpected dissolution of HoR is a pre-planned design to rule the country and issue budget through ordinance.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Those issuing the statement include Dr Prithvi Raj Ligal, Dr Jagdish Chandra Pokhrel, Dr Shankar Sharma, Dr Pitambar Sharma, Dr Dinesh Chandra Devkota, Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri, Dr Govinda Raj Pokhrel, Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha and Dr Swarnim Wagle. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-28', 'modified' => '2021-05-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13200', 'image' => '20210528094601_20210501025837_11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-28 09:44:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13454', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bird Flu Hits Poultry Sector Again', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 27: Poultry farmers, who have been affected by Newcastle disease among chickens, are now facing additional problem of bird flu.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 27: Poultry farmers, who have been affected by Newcastle disease among chickens, are now facing additional problem of bird flu. While 20 percent farmers have stopped poultry farming due to the outbreak of Newcastle disease, which has been reported since the last six months, frequent outbreak of bird flu has further troubled the farmers. Bird flu was confirmed in Tarkeshwor Municipality, Nakhu, Jajarkot and Surkhet. Recently, bird flu has been confirmed in turkeys raised by farmers in Kirtipur – 4 and 9, and Chandragiri – 2.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Department of Livestock Services, bird flu was confirmed on Monday while testing samples through real-time PCR method at the Central Veterinary Laboratory, Tripureshwor. Issuing a statement on Wednesday, the department said that the infection has been confirmed in chickens in the areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As soon as the disease was confirmed, domesticated birds and other contagious fowls were destroyed to prevent the spread of the disease from the area.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The spokesperson of the department, Dr Chandra Dhakal, said that they are not sure about financial losses of the farmers. According to Dhakal, the farmers will get 75 percent compensation from the government after the district rate-fixation committee determines the price of the destroyed chickens.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Meanwhile, 535 turkeys, 492 local chickens, 76 quails, 20 ducks, 178 eggs and 900 kg grains have been destroyed in the affected areas. The department also said that the affected areas have been completely disinfected.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">While bird flu has been seen in chickens and turkeys in different parts of the country, the government has not shown much interest to step up the testing. Earlier, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development had informed that there were not enough laboratories for testing when the infection was detected in Tarkeshwor last January.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Spokesperson for the ministry Dr Shree Ram Ghimire said that the inadequacy of the laboratory still persists. According to him, out of the eight laboratories that are operational under the ministry, five laboratories are currently being used by the Ministry of Health for testing coronavirus. Only the remaining three are being used for testing bird flu samples. "It is not enough for us, but we have to give first priority to people," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He pointed out that there could be problems for testing if laboratories are not added as soon as possible. Out of the total eight laboratories under the Ministry of Agriculture, only the Central Veterinary Laboratory at Tripureshwor is recognized by the World Organization for Animal Health. Stakeholders point out that although the disease is tested in other laboratories, they do not meet all criteria. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13199', 'image' => '20210527073417_20210202120856_A3 Poster or Handout_Bird Flu Mar 2020 (upload)-400 2.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 19:33:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13453', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IFC to Help Small Businesses and Support Economic Recovery in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 27: International Finance Corporation (IFC) has decided to invest $10 million in Dolma Impact Fund II (DIF II) to help provide financing to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">May 27: International Finance Corporation (IFC) has decided to invest $10 million in Dolma Impact Fund II (DIF II) to help provide financing to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in health care, renewable energy, technology, and other critical sectors, vital to the recovery of the pandemic-battered economy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">According to IFC Resident Representative in Nepal, Babacar S Faye, private equity funds like Dolma can be an important source of capital and expertise for Nepali firms that have potential to grow, including those struggling to deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">SMEs are a key engine of growth in Nepal, contributing 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and creating over 60 percent of jobs in the country, said IFC in a statement. Even before the pandemic hit, SMEs were already struggling with limited access to finance. At present only 39 percent of Nepal’s SMEs have access to finance, according to IFC. Availability of additional financing for SMEs will be key to any sustainable and inclusive economic recovery in Nepal, the statement added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">“Dolma Fund Management is one of the first private equity fund managers focused on Nepal. It completed the initial $40 million close of Dolma Impact Fund II in May 2021, to invest in companies with strong growth potential, especially small and medium businesses," the statement quoted Tim Gocher, CEO of the Dolma Fund Management, as saying. "This will help scale up their capacity, increase skills and competitiveness, and create sustainable employment in Nepal. The target fund size is $75 million. We are confident that IFC’s participation will further catalyze fund raising and help us reach our target size.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">According to IFC, its equity investment includes $5 million from the International Development Association’s Private Sector Window, created to catalyze private sector investment in low-income countries. The overall investment is part of IFC’s SME Ventures program, which provides risk capital to entrepreneurs and fund managers in low-income countries where such funding is scarce or unavailable. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">“With the rise in COVID-19 cases, Nepal is in a difficult spot, but we believe in the country's potential,” said IFC Resident Representative in Nepal, Babacar S Faye. “By providing capital in emerging markets like Nepal, where it is scarce, private equity funds can help local businesses expand their operations, create more jobs, and provide critical goods and services. We also hope that this will send a strong signal to the market that we are confident in the resilience of Nepal’s entrepreneurs.” </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">With a combined capital of less than $100 million, private equity funds operating in Nepal are smaller than those in other emerging economies and there is significant potential for growth, according to IFC. Furthermore, IFC said its latest investment in DIF II marks its second in private equity in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The statement added that IFC’s current combined committed portfolio in Nepal stands at $550 million.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13198', 'image' => '20210527042743_ifc_lo.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 16:26:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13452', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Second Wave of Pandemic Renders 3.65 Million People Jobless', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 27: The second wave of COVID-19 pandemic has rendered 3.65 million people jobless. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 27: The second wave of COVID-19 pandemic has rendered 3.65 million people jobless. The prohibitory orders imposed in the country to contain coronavirus has made people working in sectors like tourism, transportation, construction, beauty parlor business, retail shops as well as daily-wage earners jobless. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">It's been almost a month since the government imposed restrictions on April 29 for the control and prevention of coronavirus. In this period, the number of unemployed has also been increasing.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">"However, relief packages for the affected people are not available from the federal, provincial, or the local governments," said Binod Shrestha, president of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Trade union had conducted survey in sixty districts. According to the survey, 900,000 people in tourism sector and 1.1 million people in transportation sector have been unemployed. Some vehicles working in health sector and those supplying essential materials are in operation. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, 50 percent of 2.5 million people working in the construction sector have become unemployed. "Despite the prohibitory orders, construction process is ongoing in some of the national pride projects by setting up isolation centers in the construction sites," informed Shrestha.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">GEFONT has stated that 50,000 porters are also unemployed. The beauty parlor business is also completely shut down at this time. The prohibitory order has brought the business of around 300,000 people working in this sector to a standstill.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Another sector which employs a large number of people is the self-employed sector. People earn their living by selling goods on pavements, and also by carrying their goods from one place to another. According to GEFONT, the number of such entrepreneurs is estimated to be around 300,000. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Domestic workers have also been hit hard by the prohibitory orders. Twenty Five percent of people working in the field of handicraft have been rendered jobless.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to Shrestha, many industries are running compared to the previous lockdown. Employees were laid off during the lockdown enforced last year. "We have not received any information of workers being laid off this year. However, workers have not received their salary this time as well," said Shrestha. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">People working in boarding schools, staff nurses, and bank employees have not been paid regularly. Similarly, another major sector affected by the restrictions is transport. Yogendra Nath Karmacharya, president of the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs said that people working in this sector and investors have also been extremely affected.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">"Transport sector is reeling through recession and we don't know if the government exists," said Karmacharya. "We are looking forward to the policies the government will be introducing in the budget programme. If no relief is provided to this sector, we will hand over all the vehicles from all over the country to the government," he added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Federation, the number of public transport stands at 300,000 and the number of freight vehicles is 60,000. He said that 80 percent of the entrepreneurs will be unable to repay the loan. He said that transport entrepreneurs are demanding a full waiver of interest.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13197', 'image' => '20210527020210_20200329020636_1*NkJiwlwHU-rOgHgIlt1mGA.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 14:01:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13451', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'China to Provide 1 Million Doses of Covid-19 Vaccine to Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 27: China has announced to provide 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 27</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">: </span></span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">China has announced to provide 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Nepal. The Chinese government has declared to provide those vaccines free-of-cost to Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">On Wednesday, President Bidya Devi Bhandari held a telephone conversation with her Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping, who pledged to provide 1 million doses of vaccine free-of-cost to Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed that the two presidents held general discussion and exchanged views on the overall relations between Nepal and China, as well as assistance related to COVID-19.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">President Bhandari expressed her gratitude to the Chinese government for helping Nepal fight against Covid-19. China has continuously helped Nepal with life-saving medicines, medical equipment and other health items during this pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">President Bhandari thanked China for providing 800,000 doses of vaccines to Nepal in the past. She praised President Xi's statement that the vaccine against COVID-19 should readily be available all around the world. President Xi also requested Nepal to purchase vaccine against COVID-19 from China.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">President Xi acknowledged the difficult situation Nepal is going through due to the second wave of coronavirus and has assured that China would always be ready to lend a helping hand to Nepal in this fight against Covid-19. In the statement released by the Ministry, President Xi has assured Nepal saying China has placed Nepal in top priority regarding the assistance with vaccination.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Expressing gratitude for the Chinese President's announcement to provide additional vaccines during the current crisis, President Bhandari expressed confidence that Chinese assistance would continue in Nepal’s fight against Covid-19.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13196', 'image' => '20210527014204_thumb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 13:41:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13450', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Central Bank Raising Internal Loans Aggressively', 'sub_title' => 'NRB Falls Short of its Target by 50 Percent with just 2 Months Remaining', 'summary' => 'May 27: The government had set a target to collect internal loan of Rs 225 billion in the current fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria">May 27: The government had set a target to collect internal loan of Rs 225 billion in the current fiscal year. By the end of the second quadrimester of the current fiscal year, the government has been able to raise 50.22 percent of internal loan out of its total target. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria">The state-owned Nepal Rastra Bank has so far raised Rs 113 billion from treasury bills, citizens bonds, foreign employment bonds and development bonds. In the third and final quadrimester, the government is yet to collet half of its target of internal loan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria">The central bank has started raising internal loan for the government aggressively in the third quadrimester. With just two months left in the current fiscal year, the central bank is yet to collect Rs 112 billion of its target. In order to meet its target, NRB has been issuing bonds almost on a daily basis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria">In this context, the central bank has issued foreign employment bond worth Rs 500 million. NRB will float the bonds between May 27 to June 17. The bonds with maturity period of five years will be issued on June 22. The rate of interest of the bond has been fixed at 10 percent and the interest will be paid every six months.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13195', 'image' => '20210527011421_The Nepal Rastra Bank.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 13:13:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13449', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '87.19% Population has Access to Internet in Nepal: NTA', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 26: In Nepal, 87.19 per cent of the population has access to internet, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 26: In Nepal, 87.19 per cent of the population has access to internet, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the data unveiled by Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), over 26.35 million population is connected to internet facility as of mid-May. NTA said it registered over 936,000 new users in the month of Falgun (mid-February to mid-March). It means 87.19 per cent population have access to internet as of Fagun end (March 13). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The report was prepared on the basis of population projection (2011-2030) and it assumes the current population of Nepal to be 29.87 million. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The number of people using the internet through mobile devices is the highest, making up 64.08 per cent of the total number of users. Likewise, 11.56 million population have access to 3G internet and the customers of Nepal Telecom are the largest contributors as their number is 9.94 million followed by 2.47 million of Ncell users. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">This number was 11.35 million in the month of Magh (mid-January to mid-February), which increased by 200,000 in Falgun (mid-February to mid-March). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Similarly, the number of 4G users has reached 7.66 million. Three telecommunications companies have launched the 4G services and the users of Ncell make up the highest portion (4.85 million). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The number of 4G users was 4.32 million in the month of Magh (mid-January to mid-February). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The data shows that the number of state-owned Nepal Telecom service users (4G ) has reached 2.58 million and their number in the month of Falgun (mid-February to mid-March) went up by 44,570 compared to the previous month. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Similarly, the number of 4G service users of Smart Telecom has reached 223,145. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The contribution of fixed broadband is 22.35 per cent (812,000) and FTTH (Fiber to the Home) is over 5,945,000, RSS further reported citing the NTA. </span></span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-26', 'modified' => '2021-05-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13194', 'image' => '20210526081934_20190922030926_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-26 20:18:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13448', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Budget Allocated for Chemical Fertilizers not Enough as Prices Surges in International Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 26: The prices of chemical fertilisers such as urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP) and potassium have increased in the international market due to the effect of coronavirus pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 26: The prices of chemical fertilisers such as urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP) and potassium have increased in the international market due to the effect of coronavirus pandemic. As a result, stakeholders say that the budget allocated by the government for the purchase of those chemical fertilisers will be insufficient.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As the prices of fertiliser have increased in countries including Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, and India from where fertilisers are imported in Nepal, its impact will be seen in Nepal as well. The price of urea, which was $317 per metric ton, has increased to $455 per metric ton. According to the Salt Trading Corporation, the price of DAP has also increased from $420 to $650 per metric ton.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Spokesperson of the corporation, Kumar Rajbhandari, said that the production cost has increased as the price of raw materials used by the fertiliser industries has increased due to the pandemic. Likewise, the lack of manpower has decreased the production of the factories, and lack of manpower of the transportation companies might have resulted towards increased price of fertilisers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The budget allocated by the government for purchasing the fertilisers is insufficient as the prices of the fertilisers have been increasing since the last five months. The government has allocated Rs 11 billion to buy subsidised fertilisers for the current fiscal year. Likewise, the government aims to allocate the budget of equal amount.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“While around 700,000 metric tons of chemical fertiliser is required in the country, only 500,000 metric tons of fertiliser can be bought with the current budget. If the budget is not increased, the current budget will be enough to buy only 275,000 metric tons of fertiliser,” spokesperson of Agriculture Inputs Company Limited Bishnu Pokharel told New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to him, if the government does not increase the budget, the procurement volume will decrease and the farmers will face shortage of fertilisers again. Therefore, he suggested that the budget should be increased. Pokharel said that even though the prices of fertilisers in the international market have increased, it will not affect the farmers they get the fertilizers at subsidized rate.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-26', 'modified' => '2021-05-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13193', 'image' => '20210526042706_20200817122726_1597613093.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-26 16:26:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13447', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ATR Aircraft Dominate Buddha Air's Fleet ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 26: Buddha Air, one of the leading domestic airline companies of Nepal, has added new ATR-72-500 aircraft to its fleet. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 26: Buddha Air, one of the leading domestic airline companies of Nepal, has added new ATR-72-500 aircraft to its fleet. The company added an ATR-72-500 aircraft to its fleet on May 22. With the introduction of the additional aircraft, Buddha now has ten aircraft of ATR-72 series. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Even though the airline commenced its domestic flight operation with a 19-seater Beechcraft 1900D in 1997, today, its fleet is dominated by the ATR series aircraft. By May 2021, the company has 13 ATR and two Beechcraft. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Buddha Air started procuring ATR aircraft in 2008. The company has three ATR-42-300 series aircraft and ten ATR-72 series. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The company aims to expand its flights across the country with its bases in provincial airports. According to an official of Buddha Air, the company added the aircraft under its flight expansion plans, even though the flights currently have been suspended due to a restraining order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Buddha Air had announced a few weeks ago to conduct inter-city flights from provincial airports.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As the destinations are expanding, the airline added the aircraft to support the smooth operation of the scheduled flights, the official said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He said that the newly introduced aircraft will reinforce Buddha's operation during the maintenance of the other airplanes. Buddha has been operating 125 to 130 flights a day and the number is estimated to increase to 135 with the addition of the new aircraft.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Lately, the company has been prioritizing ATR aircraft as operating an airplane with fewer seat capacity has more operational cost. The company said that emphasis has been laid on purchasing and operating ATR aircraft because its fuel consumption and operating costs are lower. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Buddha Air had previously announced plans to operate flights from Pokhara to Bhairahawa and Chitwan, and from Biratnagar to Tumlingtar. The airline plans to operate flights to all the provinces from Pokhara. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-26', 'modified' => '2021-05-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13192', 'image' => '20210526022651_20190131011945_ATR.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-26 14:26:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13446', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Government Authorities Extend Prohibitory Order in Kathmandu Valley for One More Week', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 26: After concluding that the coronavirus pandemic has not come under control, government authorities on Tuesday extended prohibitory orders in the Kathmandu Valley by one more week.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 26: After concluding that the coronavirus pandemic has not come under control, government authorities on Tuesday extended prohibitory orders in the Kathmandu Valley by one more week. With the latest decision, restrictions will remain in force in the valley until June 3.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Authorities have also decided to take strict measures to curb the disease from May 28 onward.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Such decisions were taken by a meeting of the Chief District Officers of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts on Tuesday (May 25), informed Kathmandu’s CDO Kali Prasad Parajuli. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The meeting has decided to effectively implement the ordinance issued by the government to curb coronavirus. In this regard, even grocery shops and departmental stores would also remain closed when the new order comes into effect from Friday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“We have given two days’ time for the public to procure necessary food stuff,” said CDO Parajuli.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Morning and evening walks have also been banned this time around. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During the extended period of prohibitory order, even transportation of essential goods like food as well as construction materials will be banned for a week. Construction of private and public infrastructures will be banned during this period in the valley, informed CDO of Lalitpur Dhundi Prasad Niraula.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The meeting also decided to restrict transportation during the prohibitory period. Even those offices that provide essential services will be allowed to operate vehicles only between 9:30 am to 10:30 am in the morning and 5 to 6 pm in the evening.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Even a limited number of branches of banks will be allowed to operate during this period. Such offices will be allowed to work with limited number of staff deployed on different shifts. A maximum of two vehicle passes will be provided to a bank, informed CDO Parajuli.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The prohibitory order was first imposed on April 29 and has been extended twice as the rate of infection did not receed in the valley.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-26', 'modified' => '2021-05-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13191', 'image' => '20210526120707_20200601121121_lockdown.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-26 12:06:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13445', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bagmati Province to Allocate 50% of Budget for Agriculture Sector', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: Bagmati Province is preparing to allocate Rs 1.5 billion for the agricultural sector in the Fiscal Year 2078/79, which is almost 50 percent of the total budget. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 25: Bagmati Province is preparing to allocate Rs 1.5 billion for the agricultural sector in the Fiscal Year 2078/79, which is almost 50 percent of the total budget. From a total budget of Rs 3.5 billion, the province is preparing to allocate nearly 50 percent of the budget for the agriculture sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In a virtual program organised by the Association of Nepali Agricultural Journalists (ANAJ), economist at the Planning and Monitoring Division of the Ministry of Agriculture Anup Adhikari said that 50 percent of the total budget would be spent on agriculture.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to him, a fund called Concessional Loan for Production and Generating Employment will be set up from the amount allocated for agriculture. From the fund, loans of up to Rs 500,000 will be provided to poor farmers without any collateral and loans of up to Rs 1 million with collateral will be provided at three percent interest rate.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Speaking at the program, Minister for Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives of Bagmati Province, Dawa Dorje Lama, said that the budget was being prepared to make the subsistence agriculture system export oriented and also for the commercialization of agriculture.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He shared his plan to increase agricultural production and move towards self-reliance. Stating that a milk factory and chocolate industry are being set up in the province, he informed that water is being supplied to the hills through lift irrigation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The ministry said that special programmes are being conducted in Bhaktapur, Chitwan, Sindhuli and Kavre focusing on mechanization of vegetable and fruit production. Further, the ministry informed that a powder milk factory will be established in Makwanpur next year which is believed to solve most of the problems faced by dairy farmers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Out of a total of 328,297 hectares of arable land in Bagmati Province, 289,662 hectares of land is cultivated at present. According to government data, the province, which contributes 17 percent to the country’s gross domestic product, produces 1.3 million metric tons of food.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In the current fiscal year, the state is constructing 12 cold stores out of which nine cold stores will be completed within this FY. The ministry said that the remaining three cold stores will be completed next year. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-25', 'modified' => '2021-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13190', 'image' => '20210525041714_20201109032251_Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-25 16:16:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13444', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal's Trade Deficit Rises Despite County Recording All-Time High Exports', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: Nepal’s foreign trade has remained encouraging despite the restrictions to curb coronavirus pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 25: Nepal’s foreign trade has remained encouraging despite the restrictions to curb coronavirus pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Department of Customs, Nepal’s foreign trade in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year was Rs 1362 billion, which is 23 percent up from the trade volume during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The volume of foreign trade in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year is highest ever recorded in the last 10 years.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, exports from Nepal have increased by 32.19 percent in the review period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the data released by the Customs Department, Nepal exported goods worth Rs 108.47 billion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. Nepal’s export in the corresponding period of the previous year was worth Rs 82.64 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In FY 2066/67, the government had set an annual export target of Rs 100 billion. However, it took 11 years to meet the target. Nepal met the export target in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, the country has imported goods worth Rs 1,254.11 in the review period. Imports have increased by 22.34 percent compared to the corresponding period of last year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the data, Nepal’s trade deficit has increased by 21.48 percent this year. The share of import in foreign trade is 92.4 percent, while the export is 7.96 percent. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-25', 'modified' => '2021-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13189', 'image' => '20210525040827_20200421011816_1587419377.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-25 16:07:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13443', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Udaypur Cement Industry holding AGM after fourteen years', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: The state-owned Udayapur Cement Industry (UCI) is holding its annual general meeting after a gap of fourteen years on June 13. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 25: The state-owned Udayapur Cement Industry (UCI) is holding its annual general meeting after a gap of fourteen years on June 13. Despite being one of the top choice brands among the customers, this industry has not been able to take advantage as per the expectation. As a result, it has not been able to hold its AGM since 2006/2007.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">UCI, which has the investment of fourteen government bodies, is preparing to conduct the 33rd AGM this year. It has joint investment from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoIC), Department of Industry, Department of Mines and Geology, Accounts Control Office and then Department of Commerce among others. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In last January, the government had appointed Gopi Krishna Neupane as the general manager of the company. Neupane informed that the date for the AGM has been finalized by the board of directors. Neupane, however, refused to reveal which company holds the highest amount of share of UCI.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The company seems to have compromised in good governance and transparency which is evident from the lack of annual general meeting and audit of the company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">There is a provision for a secretary-level official of the government to be a member of the board of directors of UCI.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The AGM plans to submit proposals to increase the authorized capital of the company and transfer the loan investment of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to ordinary shares. Preparations have also been made to endorse the auditor's report from 2007-2020 in the AGM to be held virtually.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">MoF has loan investment of Rs 3.38 billion in UIC together with initial loan amount and the accrued interest on it. Neupane said the AGM primarily plans to convert this amount into share capital.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Japanese government had provided a loan of Rs 1.72 billion to the government to invest in UCI. Later, it converted the loan into a grant. However, the Ministry of Finance has still kept the amount as a loan. “Converting this loan amount into ordinary shares wouldn't make the company liable to pay the interest accrued on it. This in turn will reduce the production cost by Rs 30 per cement pack,” said Neupane. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to Udaypur Cement Industry, MoF should waive the loan amount or at least convert the amount into share capital. It will help the company sell the cement at a price less than the current price by Rs 30 per pack. If the amount is transferred to share capital, the industry’s capital will increase to Rs 7.38 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The industry plans to increase the authorized capital to Rs 10 billion from Rs 4 billion. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-25', 'modified' => '2021-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13188', 'image' => '20210525030223_20210111014528_1610322726.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-25 15:01:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13442', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Preparations Underway to Introduce Budget Through Ordinance', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: The government is mulling to introduce the budget for the upcoming fiscal year through ordinance since Prime Minister KP Oli has dissolved the parliament. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 25: The government is mulling to introduce the budget for the upcoming fiscal year through ordinance since Prime Minister KP Oli has dissolved the parliament. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">When the parliament is dissolved, there is a practice of issuing ordinance in emergency situation but the Constitution of Nepal is itself unclear about the nature of budget that can be introduced through ordinance. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Article 114 of the constitution has a provision that allows the president to issue ordinance upon the recommendation of the cabinet if there is urgent need when the sessions of both lower and upper houses of parliament are not functioning.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, the constitution has not stated anywhere whether the budget introduced through ordinance will be partial or full. It has not envisaged budget in case when the parliament is dissolved. That's why there is are high chances that the government might arbitrarily bring any kind of programmes in its favour. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Legal expert Bhimarjun Acharya says it is absolutely wrong to bring the budget through ordinance after dissolving the existing parliament. "Ordinance is brought for emergency purposes but lately the government has been arbitrarily issuing ordinance by undermining the Constitution.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government is planning to unveil the budget targeting the upcoming elections. According to experts, announcing election-oriented budget is inappropriate. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Finance Minister should present the annual budget on Jestha 15, which falls on May 29 this year, as per the constitutional provision. Prior to this, the government should present policies and programs, conduct pre-budget sessions but it has not done any of these as mentioned in the constitution. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to former Finance Secretary Rameshwor Khanal, the government should not hurry in announcing the budget on May 29 under these circumstances. Ordinance can be brought only in case of emergency. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government is making necessary preparations to introduce the budget through ordinance for the upcoming fiscal year on May 29. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">On Sunday, PM Oli stated confidently that the budget would not be introduced for cheap popularity. In an interaction with the press, he said that the budget would prioritize development and COVID-19 related programmes. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The mid-term election has been announced for November 12 and 19. Though the PM has claimed it will not bring election-oriented budget, he has been pressurizing Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel and other officials at the Ministry to increase old-age allowance and include the minimum salary of employee in the budget to be implemented from July 16.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">At a time when the economy is being ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing old-age allowance would increase government responsibility. Similarly, industrialists have been stating that it is not reasonable to increase workers' salaries when the industries are reeling under the effects of COVID-19. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Officials say that these two programmes are being introduced targeting the upcoming elections. The budget is also giving continuity to the PM’s employment programme which has been deemed ineffective. At a time when this programme is being questioned by the experts, the government is planning to introduce another programme titled ' PM Herbs and Agricultural Forest Programme'.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to a senior officials at the Finance Ministry, this new programme has come up upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Forest. The top level including the Forest Minister has pressurized to include this programme in the budget, said the senior official requesting anonymity.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-25', 'modified' => '2021-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13187', 'image' => '20210525010230_20200630083550_Clipboard19.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-25 13:01:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 28: The Ministry of Finance has released additional funds for the establishment of paediatric ICU and to manage ICU ventilators for providing treatment to COVID-19 infected children and other serious patients across the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Ministry on Thursday (May 27) released funds worth Rs1.41 billion to 41 different hospitals of the country. Those receiving the funds are district-based government hospitals in Taplejung, Sankhuwasabha, Terhathum, Bhojpur, Khotang, Solukhumbu, Okhaldhunga, Rangeli, Sunsari, Sarlahi, who received Rs 30 million each. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, district hospitals in Bara, Ramechhap, Dolakha, Bhaktapur, Rasuwa, Parbat, Syangja, Myagdi also received the same amount, along with the hospitals in Palpa, Rolpa and Mugu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the Ministry, the Seti Provincial Hospital received Rs 60 million while Gajendra Narayan Hospital and Tulasipur Hospital received Rs 90 million each and Bhaktapur Hospital will received Rs 120 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">For ICU ventilators, the Dhulikhel Hospital, Pokhare Institute of Health Sciences, the BPKIHS in Dharan and Lumbini Provincial Hospital and Bhim Hospital will received Rs 18 million each. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Furthermore, the Gajendra Narayan Hospital, Bheri Hospital, Dadeldhura Hospital, Narayan Hospital, Koshi Hospital, Rapti Institute of Health Sciences, Karnali Institute of Health Sciences, Janakpur Provincial Hospital and Surkhet Provincial Hospital have been allocated Rs 12 million reach. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In Kathmandu, the Kanti Children's Hospital, Patan Institute of Health Sciences and TU Teaching Hospital received Rs 30 million each. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The funds were provided as per the demand from the Ministry of Health and Population of COVID-19 prevention, control and treatment. --RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-28', 'modified' => '2021-05-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13201', 'image' => '20210528112937_20200327032654_5003_finance-ministy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-28 11:28:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13455', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Former Vice Chairs of NPC Against Full-Fledged Budget ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 28: Nine former vice chairpersons of the National Planning Commission (NPC) say that there is no compulsion at all for the government to bring the budget for coming fiscal year within May 29', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 28: Nine former vice chairpersons of the National Planning Commission (NPC) say that there is no compulsion at all for the government to bring the budget for coming fiscal year within May 29 at a time when the House of Representatives (HoR) is dissolved. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Issuing a press statement on Thursday (May 27), they rejected the idea of full-fledged budget arguing that such budget is likely to influence the upcoming election. They also noted that the government’s move to collect excessive public debt and change of tax rate were serious breach of political moral principal. The former vice chairs warned that the move of the government is likely to push the country’s economy towards instability and therefore urged the government to become serious about this issue.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">They also raised concern regarding the unexpected dissolution of the lower house at a time when it should have held the budget session. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“This has created a constitutional crisis and uncertainty. In such situation, it is certain that the country’s economy will be pushed backward,” reads the statement.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">They further reminded that the case relating to the dissolution of HoR is sub judice at the Supreme Court. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the former vice chairmen of NPC, the unexpected dissolution of HoR is a pre-planned design to rule the country and issue budget through ordinance.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Those issuing the statement include Dr Prithvi Raj Ligal, Dr Jagdish Chandra Pokhrel, Dr Shankar Sharma, Dr Pitambar Sharma, Dr Dinesh Chandra Devkota, Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri, Dr Govinda Raj Pokhrel, Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha and Dr Swarnim Wagle. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-28', 'modified' => '2021-05-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13200', 'image' => '20210528094601_20210501025837_11.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-28 09:44:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13454', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bird Flu Hits Poultry Sector Again', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 27: Poultry farmers, who have been affected by Newcastle disease among chickens, are now facing additional problem of bird flu.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 27: Poultry farmers, who have been affected by Newcastle disease among chickens, are now facing additional problem of bird flu. While 20 percent farmers have stopped poultry farming due to the outbreak of Newcastle disease, which has been reported since the last six months, frequent outbreak of bird flu has further troubled the farmers. Bird flu was confirmed in Tarkeshwor Municipality, Nakhu, Jajarkot and Surkhet. Recently, bird flu has been confirmed in turkeys raised by farmers in Kirtipur – 4 and 9, and Chandragiri – 2.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Department of Livestock Services, bird flu was confirmed on Monday while testing samples through real-time PCR method at the Central Veterinary Laboratory, Tripureshwor. Issuing a statement on Wednesday, the department said that the infection has been confirmed in chickens in the areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As soon as the disease was confirmed, domesticated birds and other contagious fowls were destroyed to prevent the spread of the disease from the area.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The spokesperson of the department, Dr Chandra Dhakal, said that they are not sure about financial losses of the farmers. According to Dhakal, the farmers will get 75 percent compensation from the government after the district rate-fixation committee determines the price of the destroyed chickens.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Meanwhile, 535 turkeys, 492 local chickens, 76 quails, 20 ducks, 178 eggs and 900 kg grains have been destroyed in the affected areas. The department also said that the affected areas have been completely disinfected.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">While bird flu has been seen in chickens and turkeys in different parts of the country, the government has not shown much interest to step up the testing. Earlier, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development had informed that there were not enough laboratories for testing when the infection was detected in Tarkeshwor last January.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Spokesperson for the ministry Dr Shree Ram Ghimire said that the inadequacy of the laboratory still persists. According to him, out of the eight laboratories that are operational under the ministry, five laboratories are currently being used by the Ministry of Health for testing coronavirus. Only the remaining three are being used for testing bird flu samples. "It is not enough for us, but we have to give first priority to people," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He pointed out that there could be problems for testing if laboratories are not added as soon as possible. Out of the total eight laboratories under the Ministry of Agriculture, only the Central Veterinary Laboratory at Tripureshwor is recognized by the World Organization for Animal Health. Stakeholders point out that although the disease is tested in other laboratories, they do not meet all criteria. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13199', 'image' => '20210527073417_20210202120856_A3 Poster or Handout_Bird Flu Mar 2020 (upload)-400 2.JPG', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 19:33:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13453', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IFC to Help Small Businesses and Support Economic Recovery in Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 27: International Finance Corporation (IFC) has decided to invest $10 million in Dolma Impact Fund II (DIF II) to help provide financing to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">May 27: International Finance Corporation (IFC) has decided to invest $10 million in Dolma Impact Fund II (DIF II) to help provide financing to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in health care, renewable energy, technology, and other critical sectors, vital to the recovery of the pandemic-battered economy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">According to IFC Resident Representative in Nepal, Babacar S Faye, private equity funds like Dolma can be an important source of capital and expertise for Nepali firms that have potential to grow, including those struggling to deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">SMEs are a key engine of growth in Nepal, contributing 20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and creating over 60 percent of jobs in the country, said IFC in a statement. Even before the pandemic hit, SMEs were already struggling with limited access to finance. At present only 39 percent of Nepal’s SMEs have access to finance, according to IFC. Availability of additional financing for SMEs will be key to any sustainable and inclusive economic recovery in Nepal, the statement added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">“Dolma Fund Management is one of the first private equity fund managers focused on Nepal. It completed the initial $40 million close of Dolma Impact Fund II in May 2021, to invest in companies with strong growth potential, especially small and medium businesses," the statement quoted Tim Gocher, CEO of the Dolma Fund Management, as saying. "This will help scale up their capacity, increase skills and competitiveness, and create sustainable employment in Nepal. The target fund size is $75 million. We are confident that IFC’s participation will further catalyze fund raising and help us reach our target size.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">According to IFC, its equity investment includes $5 million from the International Development Association’s Private Sector Window, created to catalyze private sector investment in low-income countries. The overall investment is part of IFC’s SME Ventures program, which provides risk capital to entrepreneurs and fund managers in low-income countries where such funding is scarce or unavailable. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">“With the rise in COVID-19 cases, Nepal is in a difficult spot, but we believe in the country's potential,” said IFC Resident Representative in Nepal, Babacar S Faye. “By providing capital in emerging markets like Nepal, where it is scarce, private equity funds can help local businesses expand their operations, create more jobs, and provide critical goods and services. We also hope that this will send a strong signal to the market that we are confident in the resilience of Nepal’s entrepreneurs.” </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">With a combined capital of less than $100 million, private equity funds operating in Nepal are smaller than those in other emerging economies and there is significant potential for growth, according to IFC. Furthermore, IFC said its latest investment in DIF II marks its second in private equity in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Arial">The statement added that IFC’s current combined committed portfolio in Nepal stands at $550 million.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13198', 'image' => '20210527042743_ifc_lo.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 16:26:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13452', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Second Wave of Pandemic Renders 3.65 Million People Jobless', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 27: The second wave of COVID-19 pandemic has rendered 3.65 million people jobless. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 27: The second wave of COVID-19 pandemic has rendered 3.65 million people jobless. The prohibitory orders imposed in the country to contain coronavirus has made people working in sectors like tourism, transportation, construction, beauty parlor business, retail shops as well as daily-wage earners jobless. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">It's been almost a month since the government imposed restrictions on April 29 for the control and prevention of coronavirus. In this period, the number of unemployed has also been increasing.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">"However, relief packages for the affected people are not available from the federal, provincial, or the local governments," said Binod Shrestha, president of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (GEFONT). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Trade union had conducted survey in sixty districts. According to the survey, 900,000 people in tourism sector and 1.1 million people in transportation sector have been unemployed. Some vehicles working in health sector and those supplying essential materials are in operation. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, 50 percent of 2.5 million people working in the construction sector have become unemployed. "Despite the prohibitory orders, construction process is ongoing in some of the national pride projects by setting up isolation centers in the construction sites," informed Shrestha.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">GEFONT has stated that 50,000 porters are also unemployed. The beauty parlor business is also completely shut down at this time. The prohibitory order has brought the business of around 300,000 people working in this sector to a standstill.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Another sector which employs a large number of people is the self-employed sector. People earn their living by selling goods on pavements, and also by carrying their goods from one place to another. According to GEFONT, the number of such entrepreneurs is estimated to be around 300,000. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Domestic workers have also been hit hard by the prohibitory orders. Twenty Five percent of people working in the field of handicraft have been rendered jobless.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to Shrestha, many industries are running compared to the previous lockdown. Employees were laid off during the lockdown enforced last year. "We have not received any information of workers being laid off this year. However, workers have not received their salary this time as well," said Shrestha. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">People working in boarding schools, staff nurses, and bank employees have not been paid regularly. Similarly, another major sector affected by the restrictions is transport. Yogendra Nath Karmacharya, president of the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs said that people working in this sector and investors have also been extremely affected.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">"Transport sector is reeling through recession and we don't know if the government exists," said Karmacharya. "We are looking forward to the policies the government will be introducing in the budget programme. If no relief is provided to this sector, we will hand over all the vehicles from all over the country to the government," he added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Federation, the number of public transport stands at 300,000 and the number of freight vehicles is 60,000. He said that 80 percent of the entrepreneurs will be unable to repay the loan. He said that transport entrepreneurs are demanding a full waiver of interest.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13197', 'image' => '20210527020210_20200329020636_1*NkJiwlwHU-rOgHgIlt1mGA.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 14:01:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13451', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'China to Provide 1 Million Doses of Covid-19 Vaccine to Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 27: China has announced to provide 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 27</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">: </span></span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">China has announced to provide 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Nepal. The Chinese government has declared to provide those vaccines free-of-cost to Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">On Wednesday, President Bidya Devi Bhandari held a telephone conversation with her Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping, who pledged to provide 1 million doses of vaccine free-of-cost to Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed that the two presidents held general discussion and exchanged views on the overall relations between Nepal and China, as well as assistance related to COVID-19.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">President Bhandari expressed her gratitude to the Chinese government for helping Nepal fight against Covid-19. China has continuously helped Nepal with life-saving medicines, medical equipment and other health items during this pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">President Bhandari thanked China for providing 800,000 doses of vaccines to Nepal in the past. She praised President Xi's statement that the vaccine against COVID-19 should readily be available all around the world. President Xi also requested Nepal to purchase vaccine against COVID-19 from China.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">President Xi acknowledged the difficult situation Nepal is going through due to the second wave of coronavirus and has assured that China would always be ready to lend a helping hand to Nepal in this fight against Covid-19. In the statement released by the Ministry, President Xi has assured Nepal saying China has placed Nepal in top priority regarding the assistance with vaccination.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Expressing gratitude for the Chinese President's announcement to provide additional vaccines during the current crisis, President Bhandari expressed confidence that Chinese assistance would continue in Nepal’s fight against Covid-19.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13196', 'image' => '20210527014204_thumb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 13:41:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13450', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Central Bank Raising Internal Loans Aggressively', 'sub_title' => 'NRB Falls Short of its Target by 50 Percent with just 2 Months Remaining', 'summary' => 'May 27: The government had set a target to collect internal loan of Rs 225 billion in the current fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria">May 27: The government had set a target to collect internal loan of Rs 225 billion in the current fiscal year. By the end of the second quadrimester of the current fiscal year, the government has been able to raise 50.22 percent of internal loan out of its total target. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria">The state-owned Nepal Rastra Bank has so far raised Rs 113 billion from treasury bills, citizens bonds, foreign employment bonds and development bonds. In the third and final quadrimester, the government is yet to collet half of its target of internal loan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria">The central bank has started raising internal loan for the government aggressively in the third quadrimester. With just two months left in the current fiscal year, the central bank is yet to collect Rs 112 billion of its target. In order to meet its target, NRB has been issuing bonds almost on a daily basis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria">In this context, the central bank has issued foreign employment bond worth Rs 500 million. NRB will float the bonds between May 27 to June 17. The bonds with maturity period of five years will be issued on June 22. The rate of interest of the bond has been fixed at 10 percent and the interest will be paid every six months.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-27', 'modified' => '2021-05-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13195', 'image' => '20210527011421_The Nepal Rastra Bank.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-27 13:13:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13449', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '87.19% Population has Access to Internet in Nepal: NTA', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 26: In Nepal, 87.19 per cent of the population has access to internet, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 26: In Nepal, 87.19 per cent of the population has access to internet, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the data unveiled by Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), over 26.35 million population is connected to internet facility as of mid-May. NTA said it registered over 936,000 new users in the month of Falgun (mid-February to mid-March). It means 87.19 per cent population have access to internet as of Fagun end (March 13). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The report was prepared on the basis of population projection (2011-2030) and it assumes the current population of Nepal to be 29.87 million. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The number of people using the internet through mobile devices is the highest, making up 64.08 per cent of the total number of users. Likewise, 11.56 million population have access to 3G internet and the customers of Nepal Telecom are the largest contributors as their number is 9.94 million followed by 2.47 million of Ncell users. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">This number was 11.35 million in the month of Magh (mid-January to mid-February), which increased by 200,000 in Falgun (mid-February to mid-March). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Similarly, the number of 4G users has reached 7.66 million. Three telecommunications companies have launched the 4G services and the users of Ncell make up the highest portion (4.85 million). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The number of 4G users was 4.32 million in the month of Magh (mid-January to mid-February). </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The data shows that the number of state-owned Nepal Telecom service users (4G ) has reached 2.58 million and their number in the month of Falgun (mid-February to mid-March) went up by 44,570 compared to the previous month. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Similarly, the number of 4G service users of Smart Telecom has reached 223,145. </span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The contribution of fixed broadband is 22.35 per cent (812,000) and FTTH (Fiber to the Home) is over 5,945,000, RSS further reported citing the NTA. </span></span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-26', 'modified' => '2021-05-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13194', 'image' => '20210526081934_20190922030926_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-26 20:18:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13448', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Budget Allocated for Chemical Fertilizers not Enough as Prices Surges in International Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 26: The prices of chemical fertilisers such as urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP) and potassium have increased in the international market due to the effect of coronavirus pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 26: The prices of chemical fertilisers such as urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP) and potassium have increased in the international market due to the effect of coronavirus pandemic. As a result, stakeholders say that the budget allocated by the government for the purchase of those chemical fertilisers will be insufficient.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As the prices of fertiliser have increased in countries including Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, and India from where fertilisers are imported in Nepal, its impact will be seen in Nepal as well. The price of urea, which was $317 per metric ton, has increased to $455 per metric ton. According to the Salt Trading Corporation, the price of DAP has also increased from $420 to $650 per metric ton.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Spokesperson of the corporation, Kumar Rajbhandari, said that the production cost has increased as the price of raw materials used by the fertiliser industries has increased due to the pandemic. Likewise, the lack of manpower has decreased the production of the factories, and lack of manpower of the transportation companies might have resulted towards increased price of fertilisers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The budget allocated by the government for purchasing the fertilisers is insufficient as the prices of the fertilisers have been increasing since the last five months. The government has allocated Rs 11 billion to buy subsidised fertilisers for the current fiscal year. Likewise, the government aims to allocate the budget of equal amount.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“While around 700,000 metric tons of chemical fertiliser is required in the country, only 500,000 metric tons of fertiliser can be bought with the current budget. If the budget is not increased, the current budget will be enough to buy only 275,000 metric tons of fertiliser,” spokesperson of Agriculture Inputs Company Limited Bishnu Pokharel told New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to him, if the government does not increase the budget, the procurement volume will decrease and the farmers will face shortage of fertilisers again. Therefore, he suggested that the budget should be increased. Pokharel said that even though the prices of fertilisers in the international market have increased, it will not affect the farmers they get the fertilizers at subsidized rate.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-26', 'modified' => '2021-05-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13193', 'image' => '20210526042706_20200817122726_1597613093.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-26 16:26:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13447', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ATR Aircraft Dominate Buddha Air's Fleet ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 26: Buddha Air, one of the leading domestic airline companies of Nepal, has added new ATR-72-500 aircraft to its fleet. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 26: Buddha Air, one of the leading domestic airline companies of Nepal, has added new ATR-72-500 aircraft to its fleet. The company added an ATR-72-500 aircraft to its fleet on May 22. With the introduction of the additional aircraft, Buddha now has ten aircraft of ATR-72 series. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Even though the airline commenced its domestic flight operation with a 19-seater Beechcraft 1900D in 1997, today, its fleet is dominated by the ATR series aircraft. By May 2021, the company has 13 ATR and two Beechcraft. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Buddha Air started procuring ATR aircraft in 2008. The company has three ATR-42-300 series aircraft and ten ATR-72 series. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The company aims to expand its flights across the country with its bases in provincial airports. According to an official of Buddha Air, the company added the aircraft under its flight expansion plans, even though the flights currently have been suspended due to a restraining order to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Buddha Air had announced a few weeks ago to conduct inter-city flights from provincial airports.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">As the destinations are expanding, the airline added the aircraft to support the smooth operation of the scheduled flights, the official said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He said that the newly introduced aircraft will reinforce Buddha's operation during the maintenance of the other airplanes. Buddha has been operating 125 to 130 flights a day and the number is estimated to increase to 135 with the addition of the new aircraft.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Lately, the company has been prioritizing ATR aircraft as operating an airplane with fewer seat capacity has more operational cost. The company said that emphasis has been laid on purchasing and operating ATR aircraft because its fuel consumption and operating costs are lower. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Buddha Air had previously announced plans to operate flights from Pokhara to Bhairahawa and Chitwan, and from Biratnagar to Tumlingtar. The airline plans to operate flights to all the provinces from Pokhara. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-26', 'modified' => '2021-05-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13192', 'image' => '20210526022651_20190131011945_ATR.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-26 14:26:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13446', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Government Authorities Extend Prohibitory Order in Kathmandu Valley for One More Week', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 26: After concluding that the coronavirus pandemic has not come under control, government authorities on Tuesday extended prohibitory orders in the Kathmandu Valley by one more week.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">May 26: After concluding that the coronavirus pandemic has not come under control, government authorities on Tuesday extended prohibitory orders in the Kathmandu Valley by one more week. With the latest decision, restrictions will remain in force in the valley until June 3.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Authorities have also decided to take strict measures to curb the disease from May 28 onward.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Such decisions were taken by a meeting of the Chief District Officers of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts on Tuesday (May 25), informed Kathmandu’s CDO Kali Prasad Parajuli. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The meeting has decided to effectively implement the ordinance issued by the government to curb coronavirus. In this regard, even grocery shops and departmental stores would also remain closed when the new order comes into effect from Friday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“We have given two days’ time for the public to procure necessary food stuff,” said CDO Parajuli.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Morning and evening walks have also been banned this time around. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">During the extended period of prohibitory order, even transportation of essential goods like food as well as construction materials will be banned for a week. Construction of private and public infrastructures will be banned during this period in the valley, informed CDO of Lalitpur Dhundi Prasad Niraula.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The meeting also decided to restrict transportation during the prohibitory period. Even those offices that provide essential services will be allowed to operate vehicles only between 9:30 am to 10:30 am in the morning and 5 to 6 pm in the evening.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Even a limited number of branches of banks will be allowed to operate during this period. Such offices will be allowed to work with limited number of staff deployed on different shifts. A maximum of two vehicle passes will be provided to a bank, informed CDO Parajuli.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The prohibitory order was first imposed on April 29 and has been extended twice as the rate of infection did not receed in the valley.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-26', 'modified' => '2021-05-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13191', 'image' => '20210526120707_20200601121121_lockdown.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-26 12:06:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13445', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bagmati Province to Allocate 50% of Budget for Agriculture Sector', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: Bagmati Province is preparing to allocate Rs 1.5 billion for the agricultural sector in the Fiscal Year 2078/79, which is almost 50 percent of the total budget. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 25: Bagmati Province is preparing to allocate Rs 1.5 billion for the agricultural sector in the Fiscal Year 2078/79, which is almost 50 percent of the total budget. From a total budget of Rs 3.5 billion, the province is preparing to allocate nearly 50 percent of the budget for the agriculture sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In a virtual program organised by the Association of Nepali Agricultural Journalists (ANAJ), economist at the Planning and Monitoring Division of the Ministry of Agriculture Anup Adhikari said that 50 percent of the total budget would be spent on agriculture.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to him, a fund called Concessional Loan for Production and Generating Employment will be set up from the amount allocated for agriculture. From the fund, loans of up to Rs 500,000 will be provided to poor farmers without any collateral and loans of up to Rs 1 million with collateral will be provided at three percent interest rate.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Speaking at the program, Minister for Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives of Bagmati Province, Dawa Dorje Lama, said that the budget was being prepared to make the subsistence agriculture system export oriented and also for the commercialization of agriculture.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He shared his plan to increase agricultural production and move towards self-reliance. Stating that a milk factory and chocolate industry are being set up in the province, he informed that water is being supplied to the hills through lift irrigation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The ministry said that special programmes are being conducted in Bhaktapur, Chitwan, Sindhuli and Kavre focusing on mechanization of vegetable and fruit production. Further, the ministry informed that a powder milk factory will be established in Makwanpur next year which is believed to solve most of the problems faced by dairy farmers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Out of a total of 328,297 hectares of arable land in Bagmati Province, 289,662 hectares of land is cultivated at present. According to government data, the province, which contributes 17 percent to the country’s gross domestic product, produces 1.3 million metric tons of food.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In the current fiscal year, the state is constructing 12 cold stores out of which nine cold stores will be completed within this FY. The ministry said that the remaining three cold stores will be completed next year. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-25', 'modified' => '2021-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13190', 'image' => '20210525041714_20201109032251_Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-25 16:16:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13444', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal's Trade Deficit Rises Despite County Recording All-Time High Exports', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: Nepal’s foreign trade has remained encouraging despite the restrictions to curb coronavirus pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 25: Nepal’s foreign trade has remained encouraging despite the restrictions to curb coronavirus pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Department of Customs, Nepal’s foreign trade in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year was Rs 1362 billion, which is 23 percent up from the trade volume during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The volume of foreign trade in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year is highest ever recorded in the last 10 years.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, exports from Nepal have increased by 32.19 percent in the review period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the data released by the Customs Department, Nepal exported goods worth Rs 108.47 billion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. Nepal’s export in the corresponding period of the previous year was worth Rs 82.64 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In FY 2066/67, the government had set an annual export target of Rs 100 billion. However, it took 11 years to meet the target. Nepal met the export target in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, the country has imported goods worth Rs 1,254.11 in the review period. Imports have increased by 22.34 percent compared to the corresponding period of last year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the data, Nepal’s trade deficit has increased by 21.48 percent this year. The share of import in foreign trade is 92.4 percent, while the export is 7.96 percent. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-25', 'modified' => '2021-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13189', 'image' => '20210525040827_20200421011816_1587419377.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-25 16:07:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13443', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Udaypur Cement Industry holding AGM after fourteen years', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: The state-owned Udayapur Cement Industry (UCI) is holding its annual general meeting after a gap of fourteen years on June 13. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 25: The state-owned Udayapur Cement Industry (UCI) is holding its annual general meeting after a gap of fourteen years on June 13. Despite being one of the top choice brands among the customers, this industry has not been able to take advantage as per the expectation. As a result, it has not been able to hold its AGM since 2006/2007.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">UCI, which has the investment of fourteen government bodies, is preparing to conduct the 33rd AGM this year. It has joint investment from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoIC), Department of Industry, Department of Mines and Geology, Accounts Control Office and then Department of Commerce among others. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In last January, the government had appointed Gopi Krishna Neupane as the general manager of the company. Neupane informed that the date for the AGM has been finalized by the board of directors. Neupane, however, refused to reveal which company holds the highest amount of share of UCI.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The company seems to have compromised in good governance and transparency which is evident from the lack of annual general meeting and audit of the company.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">There is a provision for a secretary-level official of the government to be a member of the board of directors of UCI.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The AGM plans to submit proposals to increase the authorized capital of the company and transfer the loan investment of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) to ordinary shares. Preparations have also been made to endorse the auditor's report from 2007-2020 in the AGM to be held virtually.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">MoF has loan investment of Rs 3.38 billion in UIC together with initial loan amount and the accrued interest on it. Neupane said the AGM primarily plans to convert this amount into share capital.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Japanese government had provided a loan of Rs 1.72 billion to the government to invest in UCI. Later, it converted the loan into a grant. However, the Ministry of Finance has still kept the amount as a loan. “Converting this loan amount into ordinary shares wouldn't make the company liable to pay the interest accrued on it. This in turn will reduce the production cost by Rs 30 per cement pack,” said Neupane. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to Udaypur Cement Industry, MoF should waive the loan amount or at least convert the amount into share capital. It will help the company sell the cement at a price less than the current price by Rs 30 per pack. If the amount is transferred to share capital, the industry’s capital will increase to Rs 7.38 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The industry plans to increase the authorized capital to Rs 10 billion from Rs 4 billion. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-25', 'modified' => '2021-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13188', 'image' => '20210525030223_20210111014528_1610322726.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-25 15:01:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13442', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Preparations Underway to Introduce Budget Through Ordinance', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 25: The government is mulling to introduce the budget for the upcoming fiscal year through ordinance since Prime Minister KP Oli has dissolved the parliament. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">May 25: The government is mulling to introduce the budget for the upcoming fiscal year through ordinance since Prime Minister KP Oli has dissolved the parliament. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">When the parliament is dissolved, there is a practice of issuing ordinance in emergency situation but the Constitution of Nepal is itself unclear about the nature of budget that can be introduced through ordinance. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Article 114 of the constitution has a provision that allows the president to issue ordinance upon the recommendation of the cabinet if there is urgent need when the sessions of both lower and upper houses of parliament are not functioning.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, the constitution has not stated anywhere whether the budget introduced through ordinance will be partial or full. It has not envisaged budget in case when the parliament is dissolved. That's why there is are high chances that the government might arbitrarily bring any kind of programmes in its favour. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Legal expert Bhimarjun Acharya says it is absolutely wrong to bring the budget through ordinance after dissolving the existing parliament. "Ordinance is brought for emergency purposes but lately the government has been arbitrarily issuing ordinance by undermining the Constitution.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government is planning to unveil the budget targeting the upcoming elections. According to experts, announcing election-oriented budget is inappropriate. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Finance Minister should present the annual budget on Jestha 15, which falls on May 29 this year, as per the constitutional provision. Prior to this, the government should present policies and programs, conduct pre-budget sessions but it has not done any of these as mentioned in the constitution. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to former Finance Secretary Rameshwor Khanal, the government should not hurry in announcing the budget on May 29 under these circumstances. Ordinance can be brought only in case of emergency. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government is making necessary preparations to introduce the budget through ordinance for the upcoming fiscal year on May 29. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">On Sunday, PM Oli stated confidently that the budget would not be introduced for cheap popularity. In an interaction with the press, he said that the budget would prioritize development and COVID-19 related programmes. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The mid-term election has been announced for November 12 and 19. Though the PM has claimed it will not bring election-oriented budget, he has been pressurizing Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel and other officials at the Ministry to increase old-age allowance and include the minimum salary of employee in the budget to be implemented from July 16.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">At a time when the economy is being ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing old-age allowance would increase government responsibility. Similarly, industrialists have been stating that it is not reasonable to increase workers' salaries when the industries are reeling under the effects of COVID-19. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Officials say that these two programmes are being introduced targeting the upcoming elections. The budget is also giving continuity to the PM’s employment programme which has been deemed ineffective. At a time when this programme is being questioned by the experts, the government is planning to introduce another programme titled ' PM Herbs and Agricultural Forest Programme'.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to a senior officials at the Finance Ministry, this new programme has come up upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Forest. The top level including the Forest Minister has pressurized to include this programme in the budget, said the senior official requesting anonymity.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-05-25', 'modified' => '2021-05-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13187', 'image' => '20210525010230_20200630083550_Clipboard19.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-05-25 13:01:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
