April 27: The government has decided to enforce a week-long prohibitory order in Kathmandu valley effective from Thursday…
April 27: The government has decided to enforce a week-long prohibitory order in Kathmandu valley effective from Thursday…
April 25: Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel has said that maximum efforts would be made to accommodate the genuine concerns and recommendations of the youth entrepreneurs in the upcoming fiscal year's annual budget.…
April 25: Nepal imported more gold in between mid-March and mid-April of the current fiscal year than the average import in other…
April 24: The UN Association of Nepal organized a book launch programme at Hotel Yellow Pagoda, Kathmandu, on April 22.…
April 23: Although Nepal expects to attract a large amount of foreign direct investment (FDI), the actual investment has been marginal.…
April 23: The lending of commercial banks has increased by 25.63 percent in the last eight months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.…
…
April 22: Nepal and Thailand have agreed to cooperate with each other for promoting religious tourism.…
April 22: Shipping companies providing transportation services to Nepali businessmen for overseas trade have hiked their fare…
April 22: Ministries have expressed dissatisfaction over the budget ceiling set by the National Planning Commission (NPC) for the upcoming fiscal year (FY…
April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest.…
April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential…
April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final…
April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process.…
In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity.…
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The meeting also decided to strictly monitor the flow of people into the valley.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">All gatherings including seminars, and conferences have been banned, while entertainment centres, cinema halls, gym, sports clubs, libraries, museums and zoo will also remain closed. <br /> In case of marriages, the authorities have decided to allow a maximum of 15 people attend the function. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">As per the decision, only vehicles carrying essential goods as well as ambulances carrying sick people, and those used by health workers and security persons will be allowed to ply on the streets. Government vehicles will require permits issued by the concerned ministry. <br /> The meeting has decided to allow grocery shops remain open until 10 in the morning and 5 to 7 in the evening. However, they need to follow the prescribed health protocols. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">The prohibitory order will remain in force until May 5. During this period, anyone entering the Kathmandu valley will have to stay in quarantine and home isolation as prescribed by the concerned local level. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-27', 'modified' => '2021-04-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13062', 'image' => '20210427102436_20200903113103_1599056781.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-27 10:22:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13316', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Finance Minister Pledges to Address Genuine Concerns of Entrepreneurs ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 25: Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel has said that maximum efforts would be made to accommodate the genuine concerns and recommendations of the youth entrepreneurs in the upcoming fiscal year's annual budget. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 25: Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel has said that maximum efforts would be made to accommodate the genuine concerns and recommendations of the youth entrepreneurs in the upcoming fiscal year's annual budget. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Receiving feedback from youth entrepreneurs on the new budget on Saturday, the finance minister assured to meet the demands of the entrepreneurs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He, however, said that he cannot make public what are the genuine issues and are possible to be incorporated in the budget since he was in the process of budget making. The minister added that the incumbent government was in favour of the youth entrepreneurs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">On the occasion, Minister Poudel underscored the need to prepare the budget in a new manner based on the lessons learnt from COVID-19 and its impacts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He was of the view that some policy-level reforms were needed for the recovery of the country's economy. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-25', 'modified' => '2021-04-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13061', 'image' => '20210425100924_20210110034934_1610265858.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-25 10:08:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13315', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import of Gold up in the Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 25: Nepal imported more gold in between mid-March and mid-April of the current fiscal year than the average import in other months.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 25: Nepal imported more gold in between mid-March and mid-April of the current fiscal year than the average import in other months. In other months of the current year, gold worth Rs 2.14 billion in average was being bought into the country from abroad. However, in April, gold worth Rs 3.27 billion was imported.<br /> According to the data released by the customs department, 460 kg of gold has entered Nepal in the review month. On an average, 300 kg of gold has been imported each month this year.<br /> <br /> However, according to the customs department, the import of gold has surged between mid-March and mid-April. It is due to the wedding season. In Nepal, the number of weddings is higher in the months of April and May.<br /> Marriages in Nepal are believed to be incomplete without gold. Due to this belief, gold consumption is high in Nepal during the wedding season. Therefore, gold imports have been increasing in April.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">President of the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association Manika Ratna Shakya said that the import of gold has increased due to the wedding season. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">"Gold consumption is higher in April due to the wedding season. Given the same situation, we have increased the import of gold than in the previous month," he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">He said that more than 500 kg of gold has been imported in the first week of April alone. Shakya estimates that the gold business is likely to go up if the surge in coronavirus remains under control.<br /> The import volume of gold has been increased from 10 kg per day to 20 kg compared to last April. <br /> Commercial banks enjoy the right to import gold in Nepal. Banks have been importing gold in collaboration with the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association.<br /> In the current fiscal year, gold worth Rs 19.31 billion has been shipped in, which is 43.46 percent more than the corresponding period of last year.<br /> According to the customs department, gold entrepreneurs have imported 2,760 kg of gold in the current fiscal year.<br /> Gold business in Nepal had come to a standstill during the start of the current fiscal year as the economy was hit by the coronavirus pandemic and the price of gold had also skyrocketed. However, import of gold is on the rise recently due to the open market demand.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-25', 'modified' => '2021-04-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13060', 'image' => '20210425100433_20201203030905_1606953115.Clipboard16.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-25 10:03:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13314', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'UN Association of Nepal Launches Book Consisting Articles of 25 Eminent Personalities', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 24: The UN Association of Nepal organized a book launch programme at Hotel Yellow Pagoda, Kathmandu, on April 22. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 24: The UN Association of Nepal organized a book launch programme at Hotel Yellow Pagoda, Kathmandu, on April 22. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">The book entitled ‘Nepal’s Foreign Policy and United Nations’ consisting of 25 articles by eminent personalities like foreign secretary, former foreign secretaries, former ambassadors, academics and intellectuals was launched by Nepal’s Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">The programme was chaired by Associate Professor Dambar Bir Thapa, president of the association.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">According to a statement issued by the association, its Co-President Radhesh Pant delivered the welcome speech, while Professor Dr Mohan P Lohani, a former ambassador, thanked the contributors for their cooperation in making the publication possible on time. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Dr Nishchal Nath Pandey, director of Center for South Asian Studies, reviewed the book and congratulated the association for bringing out the book to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the UN and the 65th anniversary of Nepal’s UN membership.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal highlighted the salient features of Nepal’s foreign policy and lauded the UN for its role in dealing with issues pertaining to sustainable development, climate change and financing for development, among others. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">According to the association, Chief Guest Foreign Minister Gyawali distributed certificates of appreciation to the contributors.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-24', 'modified' => '2021-04-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13059', 'image' => '20210424075928_les-nacio.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-24 19:58:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13313', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'FDI Lower than Expected', 'sub_title' => 'In two and a half decades, Nepal has only received Rs 110 billion.', 'summary' => 'April 23: Although Nepal expects to attract a large amount of foreign direct investment (FDI), the actual investment has been marginal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 23: Although Nepal expects to attract a large amount of foreign direct investment (FDI), the actual investment has been marginal. However, the country has been holding investment conferences to attract huge FDIs but has only received Rs 110 billion so far, which is 34.1 percent of the total commitment amount. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Although foreign investors have expressed their intention and commitment to bring billions of rupees to Nepal in investment conferences held at different times, it seems that the country has received very little investment. A report on 'Foreign Direct Investment in Nepal' released by Nepal Rastra Bank on April 21 shows that the investment received by Nepal is not in accordance to the investment approved by the foreign investors.<br /> From FY 2052/53 to FY 2076/77, Nepal has approved FDIs of Rs 325.52 billion. However, the actual investment received by the country is much less than the commitment made by the investors. The Department of Industry and the Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) register the projects comprising foreign investment. The amount received by the registered projects is also less. In some years, it has been observed that the outflow of money from the country seems to be more than the</span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> inflow of investment.<br /> The government held an investment summit in March 2017 BS and 2019 to attract foreign investment.<br /> Likewise, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), a private sector organization, held the 'Nepal Infrastructure Conference' in August 2018.<br /> Nepal is eager to attract foreign investment, but there are procedural and policy hurdles. Issues like investment security have discouraged investors to invest. Even if the foreign investment projects are registered and approved, not all investments come in the same year.<br /> For the first time, the government has made a provision to bring 100 percent amount of the approved investment within 1 to 2 years</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">By amending the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer (FITTA) Rules-2077 BS.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Board of Investment Radhesh Pant said that regulation was made as the investors would not invest in the absence of a conducive environment.<br /> According to a survey conducted by the Central Bank in 2060/61, Nepal approved an FDI of Rs 2.76 billion but received zero investment.<br /> "South Asian countries like the Maldives and Bhutan have received more FDI than Nepal," added Panta.<br /> He said that even though the Investment Board was established to attract investment, but nothing has improved. He argues that the tendency of government not to consider the private sector as a partner is less likely to attract investment even by partnering with foreign investors.<br /> How will investors come when there are multiple hurdles, argues Pant. The government needs to facilitate investors' by making the compliance hassle-free from project registration to the field, he questioned.<br /> He suggests that the investment will only increase if the project bank shows that Nepal is safe for investment.<br /> According to the central bank, in some years, investors have taken away around 23 percent of the approved FDI, out of Nepal. In 2058/59, 23.3 percent of the investment approved by Nepal was taken back by foreign investors. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the NRB report, 51.1 percent or half of the amount approved in Nepal in 2076/77 has already come in. This year, Rs. 38.15 billion has been approved, while Nepal has already received Rs. 19.47 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-23', 'modified' => '2021-04-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13058', 'image' => '20210423103303_2-702x336.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-23 10:32:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13312', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Commercial Banks’ Lending Increases by 25%', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 23: The lending of commercial banks has increased by 25.63 percent in the last eight months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 23: The lending of commercial banks has increased by 25.63 percent in the last eight months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. Though the COVID-19 has extremely affected the country’s economy as a whole, the business of banking institutions remains an exception. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In the review period, 27 commercial banks have disbursed additional loans of Rs729 billion. With the increase in the lending, a total of Rs 3,573 billion loans have been disbursed until the month of April by the commercial banks. In the review period of the last fiscal year, banks had given loan of Rs 2,844 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Commercial banks were operating partially for three months since the lockdown was imposed on March 24 last year. Yet, the business of commercial banks has been satisfactory. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Lately, rise of COVID-19 cases and approaching second wave of the virus has presented challenges to the expansion of the business, says Bhuwan Kumar Dahal, president of Nepal Bankers’ Association. He expressed concern that most of the businesses might get affected again. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Mahesh Sharma Dhakal, Deputy CEO of Global IME Bank, said apart from the tourism industry, loans have been disbursed in other sectors and therefore the situation is not so discouraging so far. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Lending of the banking institutions has gradually improved. NIC Asia has the highest total lending among the banks. NIC Asia Bank had announced various schemes from the beginning of the current fiscal year to attract borrowers. The bank has increased loans to the borrowers by 48.48 percent in the current fiscal year. With the increase in lending, the total lending of the bank has reached Rs 259 billion. Until the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, it had extended loan of Rs 175 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Mega Bank is second in the list of banks to have increased the lending in the review period of the current fiscal year. Mega Bank has increased its lending by 69.86 percent in the review period and disbursed credit amount of Rs 138 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Kumari Bank has succeeded to disburse loan of Rs 43.2 billion and its total lending amount has reached to Rs 134 billion. Similarly, Nabil Bank has extended its lending by 27.88 percent and disbursed total loan of Rs 193 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prabhu Bank, Citizens International Bank, Global IME Bank have extended an additional loan of Rs 40.86 billion, Rs 37.93 billion and Rs 34.39 billion respectively. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Global IME Bank has increased its total loan facility by 17.10 percent to Rs 235 billion. During the COVID-19 pandemic it had provided Rs 201 billion loan in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Dhakal, Deputy CEO of the Global IME Bank, said the bank has not been able to increase the loan as expected in one year but it is satisfactory. He said that the bank still has sufficient capital for investment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“If there were enough economic activities, it would require investment in infrastructure and demand for raw materials would increase accordingly. The rise in economic activities would give a boost to lending however, the lending flow is still satisfactory,” Dhakal said. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-23', 'modified' => '2021-04-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13057', 'image' => '20210423101552_20200601032952_bank lending.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-23 10:15:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13311', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PATA Nepal Chapter organizes the fourth PATA Youth Talent Quest ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 23: PATA Nepal Chapter organized the 4th PATA Youth Talent Quest (YTQ 2021) in collaboration with PATA Nepal Student Chapter, and support from various organizations and sponsors. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The PATA Nepal Chapter introduced five key competitions under PATA YTQ 2021that include Public Speaking Competition, Tourism and Hospitality Quiz, PATA Futsal Tournament, Content Writing Competition and YTP Chefs Competition. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The YTQ 2021 kicked off with Public Speaking Competition on 16th April 2021 at GATE College, Mandikhatar. According to PATA Nepal, Samikchha Bhattarai from GATE College was announced the winner of the Public Speaking Competition. Similarly, Sijal Kunwar from NATHM College and Sudha Shakya from GCI were declared as 1st and 2nd runners up respectively.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, the "Tourism and Hospitality Quiz" was held on 17th April 2021 at Mid-Valley Int'l College. Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hospitality (NATHM), Kathmandu Academy of Tourism and Hospitality (KATH), and Mid-Valley International College (MVIC) secured the top three positions in the competition respectively. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, the "Content Writing Competition" held on 18th April 2021 at GCI College, Mid-Baneshwor. Anushka Pradhan from NATHM was delcared the Winner, while Akriti Raut from LACM and Swostika Sapkota from NCTTM finished second and third respectively.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> The Futsal Tournament was also organized under YTQ 2021 on 19th April 2021, wherein Global Academy of Tourism and Hospitality Education (Boys) and Global International College (Girls) became champions defeating LACM and NCTTM respectively in the final. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Owing to the increasing COVID cases and complying with the recent decision by the Government of Nepal, PATA Nepal Chapter said it has decided to postpone the "YTP Chefs Competition" of PATA YTQ2021, which was supposed to be held on April 24th, 2021 under the theme "Exploring Authentic Nepali Cuisine", the A press statement released by PATA read.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times">Youth Talent Quest (YTQ) is <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">an annual event by PATA Nepal Chapter, engaging Young Tourism Professionals (YTPs) that provides a platform among the students from PATA Nepal Chapter member colleges to compete and showcase their multifaceted talents, knowledge, and skills, the organiser said in a statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The annual event aims to uncover talented young tourism professionals and further empower them with the necessary training, involvement, and exposure to PATA Nepal Chapter programs and activities, and engaging them in the best possible way to carve their successful future endeavors, the statement added. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-23', 'modified' => '2021-04-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13056', 'image' => '20210423100044_1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-23 09:59:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13310', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal and Thailand to Promote Religious Tourism', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Nepal and Thailand have agreed to cooperate with each other for promoting religious tourism. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria">April 22: Nepal and Thailand have agreed to cooperate with each other for promoting religious tourism. Nepal Tourism Board’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Dhananjay Regmi and Thailand’s Ambassador to Nepal Vosita Vorasaph during a meeting held on Tuesday, April 20, emphasized that the two countries will work together for the promotion of tourism in each other's countries.<br /> During the meeting, they discussed the increasing number of religious tourists coming to Nepal from Thailand and vice versa.<br /> Likewise, Regmi informed that Nepal is the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, and as Thailand is a Buddhist country, Nepal is a religious tourist destination for the Thai population.<br /> Stating that around 3,000 Thai tourists visit Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, annually, CEO Regmi said that the board is taking initiative to take Thai tourists to other places associated with the Buddha.<br /> "Work is being done to connect Kapilvastu and Ramgram with Lumbini in line with the concept of Buddha Circuit. It will also help tourists to know about Buddha and prolong their stay, according to Regmi. Stating that the government media in Thailand and the government media in Nepal can work together to promote Nepal in Thailand, Regmi said that the two friendly nations will take initiatives to promote religious tourism.<br /> During the meeting, the Thai Ambassador informed that the religious and cultural relations between Nepal and Thailand are good and Lumbini is a major attraction for Thai tourists. He said that the number of Thai tourists could increase after the construction of Gautam Buddha International Airport in Lumbini.<br /> He also said that he was positive to promote Nepal in Thailand.<br /> During the meeting, discussions were held on the continuation of the friendly visit programmes of the diplomats of the two countries and the exchange of good tourism practices.<br /> Given the recent state of Covid-19, the two countries have agreed to emphasize cooperation and promotion. Thailand is one of the top 10 tourist destinations for Nepalis.<br /> Meanwhile, 41,653 Thai tourists visited Nepal in 2019.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13055', 'image' => '20210422053514_IMG_3845(1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 17:34:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13309', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Shipping Companies Hike Fare Arbitrarily', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Shipping companies providing transportation services to Nepali businessmen for overseas trade have hiked their fare arbitrarily.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 22: Shipping companies providing transportation services to Nepali businessmen for overseas trade have hiked their fare arbitrarily.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Nepali importers complain that the shipping companies have raised the fares by almost four folds.<br /> Ganesh Prasad Lath, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Province 2, claimed that the shipping companies have increased the fares up to four times in the last seven months. He said that the transportation cost per container from China and European countries used to be US$ 1,500 before last September, but now it has been increased to US$ 6,000.<br /> Earlier, the shipping companies had been transporting 40-feet long containers to the dry port of Birgunj for US$ 1,500. “Shipping companies have increased container fares to make the best out of the growing production and trade after the lockdown. This has increased the cost of imported goods and also the local products,” said Lath.<br /> Entrepreneurs claim that consumer prices have been affected due to the increase in the transportation cost of imported goods. Prices of food and other daily necessities have skyrocketed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Although production and trade had declined with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, demand has risen as conditions have returned to normalcy.<br /> Trade with third countries has also improved since Nepal lifted the lockdown in last September.<br /> Importer Navneet Agrawal said that the shipping companies raised the fare to gain from the growing demand for transportation with the growth in volume of trade.<br /> “Foreign trade, which came to a halt during the lockdown, naturally increased as it became convenient after lockdown was lifted. On this occasion, the shipping companies increased the fare,” Agrawal informed New Business Age.<br /> This not only increased the price of products but also the cost of domestic production with the growth in the price of imported raw materials.<br /> Importer Om Prakash More shared that the shipping companies have been increasing the fare every week.</span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal’s Consulate in Kolkata is not aware of the increase in container fares. However, Consul General Ishwar Raj Poudel said that the shipping companies have not made any formal/ informal announcement about the change in price.<br /> "Importers have not reported any increase in fares so far. If anyone informs us about such a problem, we are always ready to facilitate them,” said Poudel.<br /> President Lath has urged the government to take initiative to reduce the fare.<br /> "Shipping companies do not heed importer requests. The solution will only come out if the government takes effective initiative. The government could reduce fares by taking a policy of incentives for low-cost shipping companies," he added.<br /> "The trade, which had come to a standstill during the coronavirus pandemic, has grown in recent times. As trade increased, so did the demand for containers. This is an opportunity for shipping companies to make fast money,” said More.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13054', 'image' => '20210422052840_20201015050305_1602718767.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 17:27:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13308', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ministries Dissatisfied Over Budget Ceiling', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Ministries have expressed dissatisfaction over the budget ceiling set by the National Planning Commission (NPC) for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2021/22).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 22: Ministries have expressed dissatisfaction over the budget ceiling set by the National Planning Commission (NPC) for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2021/22).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The ministries are dissatisfied since the NPC has set the ceiling with a slight increase only compared to the last fiscal year, assessing that the government's possible measures to contain the second wave of coronavirus might adversely affect government resources.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Ministries including Agriculture and Livestock Development, Urban Development, Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Federal Affairs and General Administration have demanded to increase the limit saying it is extremely low. However, the NPC has not yet fixed the budget for all ministries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the pre-budget briefing initiated by Parliamentary Finance Committee from this week, ministries have said that they will be unable to bring new programmes under the ceiling set by the NPC. The Finance Committee of parliament had discussed the issue with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD) during the briefing. The ministry has got a budget ceiling of Rs 36.23 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">According to Yogendra Kumar Karki, Secretary of MOALD, this budget will be insufficient even for the ongoing projects. He said that the new projects can’t be introduced within this ceiling and ongoing projects also can’t be covered sufficiently. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Energy Secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire said bigger hydropower projects and transmission line projects including Upper Tamakoshi-5, Jagadulla, Dudhkoshi, Sunkoshi-3, Trishuli-4, Noumure have been proposed for the next fiscal year but the budget would not be sufficient for these projects. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“Projects related to production sector and rural hydropower and transmission projects don’t seem to get the budget,” he said. In such scenario, it is not possible to bring a new programme within the current ceiling.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The Ministry of Physical Planning and Infrastructure is also not satisfied with the budget ceiling. One of the officials informed that the ministry will not propose new projects in the coming fiscal year and has started preparations to complete the ongoing projects. He further added that the Ministry is preparing to propose the budget so that ongoing projects need not deal with resources crunch. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Ministry of Urban Development has also said that the proposed budget is not enough even for ongoing projects. It has proposed a dozen of programmes with the budget estimate of Rs 13.32 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has also asked to increase the budget ceiling. NPC has set a budget ceiling of Rs 46.12 billion for the ministry. Of it, Rs 16.53 billion has been fixed for current expenditure while Rs 29.59 billion has been set for capital expenditure. Secretary Eknarayan Aryal said there are many works that need to be done under this limit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">He said that the programme proposed by the government to connect all local units to district centers alone require a budget of Rs 1.5 billion. He said more funds are required to build local level administrative building. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Grants are provided to rural municipalities, municipalities and sub-metropolitan cities on behalf of the Federal Ministry to build local administrative buildings. The budget ceiling is insufficient as village council needs 60 percent, municipality needs 50 percent, and sub-metropolis needs 40 percent of the grant.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Though the ministries are dissatisfied over the budget ceiling for the upcoming fiscal year, they have been incapable of spending the current budget. The budgets of the ministries have been returned back as they have not been able to spend the budget on the allocated projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13053', 'image' => '20210422125513_1618956635.1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:54:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Parliamentary Committee Directs Govt to Resolve NTC Network Problems ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Parliamentarians attending a meeting of the Finance Committee under the House of Representatives on Wednesday asked the government to pay attention to the quality of NT service and its expansion to rural areas lacking its services. On the occasion, the parliamentarians held discussions with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on the budget implementation situation for the current fiscal year, 2020/21 and preparations for budget for the next FY, 2021/22. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Lawmaker Shyam Kumar Shrestha stressed the need for the expansion of 4G services to the reach of all people and the transformation of postal service into courier service. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Committee Chair Krishna Prasad Dahal suggested the government to introduce next policies and programmes that should provide job opportunities to information technology engineers at home, thus stopping brain drain. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Secretary at the ministry Hari Prasad Basyal said that the ministry was at work to complete a framework for making Nepal digital and it has been prioritised in budget for the next FY. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13052', 'image' => '20210422124335_20200326081545_NTC-launches-4G-in-Rara-Lake.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:43:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Traffic Police Creating Obstruction in Transportation of Daily Essentials ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential goods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential goods. This has affected the supply of essential goods since a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the lockdown period, vehicles carrying daily essential goods like lentils, rice, vegetables, milk, fish, and meat were allowed to run smoothly from six in the morning to eight in the evening.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> “But the traffic police have allowed such vehicles to operate from 11am in the morning to 4pm in the day since the last one month,” says Durga Raj Shrestha, president of Nepal Distributors Association. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“It is not appropriate to obstruct vehicles of daily consumer goods. This is an injustice to the consumers,” he adds.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Citing that the heavy vehicles have added traffic problems on the roads, Traffic Police have not allowed to run heavy vehicles. This has compelled traders to transport goods on small vehicles. Small vehicles can contain less volume of goods and require additional workers. This in turn has led to an increase in the cost from 5 percent to 10 percent. According to the traders, the increase in cost is adjusted by increasing the price of goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The Department of Commerce and Supply Management, which should have been involved in facilitating the supply system, is unaware about this obstruction. The Department is trying to avoid this issue saying it is the responsibility of the Department of Transport Management and Traffic Police.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Gogan Bahadur Hamal, Director General of DoTM, said the transporters should also support in traffic management and reducing overcrowding during COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Traffic Police however, are not ready to agree with the transporters. Shyam Adhikari, SP of Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, says vehicles carrying essential items like milk, medicine are allowed in the morning as well and vehicles carrying lentils, rice, noodles, biscuit are prohibited in the morning time and allowed in the day. He said that such provisions have been introduced to cope with the increasing traffic problems. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13051', 'image' => '20210422122414_20190410102147_ICP-Birgunj-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:23:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13305', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Railway in Final Stage of Preparations for Operation its Trains', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final stage.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria">April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final stage. The train engines purchase by the company is in parking lot since the last seven months. Guru Bhattarai, general manager of the company, informed that the company is preparing to bring the trains into operation within April.<br /> General Manager Bhattarai said that 100 employees and technicians are getting training to operate the trains. According to him, officials of the Konkan Railway Corporation of India have already arrived in Janakpur for the training.<br /> The company is managing the staff and technicians after the recruitment process of the Public Service Commission was canceled. The company had earlier announced vacancy for 129 employees on a contract basis on September 20.<br /> According to General Manager Bhattarai, the training will last for two weeks. However, the date for operating the trains has been repeatedly pushed back.<br /> Bhattarai said that the company is preparing to operate the train within April. However, there is still confusion as coronavirus infection is on the rise again. "There may be delays due to coronavirus, but preparations for the operation of the trains have reached the final stage," he said.<br /> Nepal had purchased two trains with five coaches from the Indian Konkan Railway Corporation Company for Rs 856.5 million exclusives of the customs duties.<br /> The Jayanagar-Janakpur-Bardiwas railway line under construction with the assistance of the Government of India is 69 kilometers long. In the first phase, the train will run along the 34 km section of Jayanagar-Janakpur route.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13050', 'image' => '20210421044248_20190325112130_Clipboard43-5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 16:41:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Committee Concerned Over Low Capital Spending of Infrastructure Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In order to find permanent solution to the weak budget implementation, waning capital spending and sluggish infrastructure development works, the Finance Committee this time has demanded updates from the leadership of all ministries on the status and challenges of budget implementation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Committee Chairperson Krishna Prasad Dahal shared that the committee held pre-budget discussion with the leadership of ministries related to development to address weak status of budget implementation despite directives from the parliamentary committees and the government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The ministries concerned had voiced their complaints before the committee that the challenges surfaced in the budget implementation due to deficit in coordination among the organizational structures of the three tiers of government, shortfall of human resource, hassles in public procurement work procedure and a long process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As informed it was disappointing that no ministry has so far exceeded 30 percent in its capital spending in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">On the occasion, Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MOFAGA) Ek Narayan Aryal shared that the ministry has witnessed an overall spending progress of 17.5 percent towards recurrent and 22.6 percent towards capital spending as of mid-April, 2021. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chair Dahal said, "Trends prevailed in the areas of capital spending and infrastructure development three years ago is still the same. There are some problems in public procurement act which has complicated our development process. As the work procedure has to be framed within mid-September for programme implementation, there are several instances when many have not yet placed it." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In a bid to improve weaknesses through annual policy and programme and budget, the parliament and parliamentary committee have been holding pre-budget discussions. The finance committee last year held pre-budget consultations with stakeholders, including local citizens, private sector and officials of province and local governments, in 11 different parts of the country beyond Kathmandu Valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The pre-budget discussion for the fiscal year 2021/22 budget was put off due to outbreak of coronavirus. This year the finance committee invited the leadership of ministries directly connected to the development and infrastructure at its meeting for pre-budget discussion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Informing about the status of budget implementation and transfer as of mid-April, Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yadav Koirala shared the ministry has made a physical progress of 60 percent and financial progress of 40 percent towards capital spending and 50 percent towards recurrent spending. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Finance Committee secretary Surendra Aryal said, "Just blaming coroanvirus and untimely budget was one thing but there was no visible reform. Based on the analysis of fiscal anarchy and pile up of arrears, the share of 10 ministries is around 90 percent. These ministries have also occupied a big chunk of capital spending." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The committee has so far received updates from leadership of the Ministries related to Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Urban, Energy, Hydropower and Irrigation, Drinking Water, Federal Affairs and General Administration, Finance, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Agriculture and Livestock on the issues and challenges of budget implementation, physical infrastructure development and status of capital spending. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The committee is making preparation to issue necessary directives to the ministries for policy, legal and structural reforms and management of human resource as well as to make them accountable following the completion of consultations. --RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13049', 'image' => '20210421015306_20200415120726_1586905834.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 13:52:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Popular Cars in Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><em>Rebati Adhikari</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. However, due to their limited routes, public transport is not properly managed yet. Easy accessibility and safety are still the major problems of public transport. Inefficient public transportation has led to high number of people opting for personal vehicles. Social distancing rules introduced after the emergence of coronavirus has further made the public feel private vehicles to be a necessity. Despite the higher rate of tax on private vehicles – 80 percent customs duty, the purchase of private cars has not declined. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In this context, New Business Age has enlisted some of the highest selling car brands and their models in the country. According to Automobiles Association of Nepal, Maruti Suzuki, Tata, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Ford are some of the popular car brands in the country. Highest selling models of these brands are given below:</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Maruti Suzuki</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/marutisuzuki-vitara-brezza-right-front-three-quarter3.jpeg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Maruti Suzuki is one of the highest selling car brands in the country. Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza leads the SUV segment sales, while Celerio is popular in hatchback segment and Eco van is third on the list of highest selling cars. According to Anup Kumar Baral, managing director at Narayani Auto Business Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer of Maruti Suzuki cars in the country, Vitara Brezza is a trouble-free SUV car. Due to the higher resale value and easy availability of spare parts with maximum service station, Maruti SUV leads the sales. According to him, Vitara Breza is also one of the highest selling SUVs from the brand. Vitara Brezza comes in a price range starting from Rs 4.4 million, while Celerio has a starting price range from Rs 2.5 million and Eco van is priced at Rs 1.3 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Tata</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/tata.jpg" style="height:442px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Tata is another popular car brand in the country with Nexon registering highest sales. “The foremost thing that puts Nexon on the lead is the safety it offers,” says Shawant Jung Sijapati, deputy general manager at Sipradi Trading Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer for Tata motors in the country. Nexon is India's first car to get five star rating in Global NCAP crash test by having seat belt reminder for passenger and driver in all variants of the brand. Its style is other quality that attracts drivers towards it. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It provides ground clearance of 209 mm and offer multi drive mode –city, eco and sports modes. Mileage and power vary according to driving modes. Eco mode offers more mileage, sport mode offers more power while city mode offers both mileage and power. Other major specifications of Nexon include 7" Harman Infotainment System, projector headlamp, dual airbags. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Launched in 2018 in Nepal, more than 2000 units have already been sold. It comes in prices ranging from Rs 4.35 million to Rs 5.25 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Hyundai</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Hyundai.jpeg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Hyundai Creta has recorded highest sale in individual SUV segment while Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS leads sale in Grand hatchback segment. Grand i10 NIOS is the improvised version of Grand i10. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“It is the premium car in the entry-level offered in hatchback segment,” says Sandeep Sharma, marketing head at Laxmi Intercontinental Pvt Ltd. Sharma also says that contemporary designs of the car, service network, high resale value are some of the major reasons for being top selling car in the country. Projector headlamps and fog lamps, body coloured bumpers, chrome door handles, blacked out B-pillar and window line give it the best contemporary look. It also comes with passenger and driver dual airbags, front seat belt pretensioner, rear parking sensors providing additional protection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Other features that come with Grand i10 NIOS are its 20.25 cm touchscreen Infotainment system, 13.46 cm digital speedometer, driver rear view monitor, automatic temperature control, bench folding rear seat. It is available in three variants - Magna, Magna AMT, Sportz. Magna is priced at Rs 3.15 million and Magna AMT and Sports are priced at Rs 3.45 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Volkswagen </em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/polo.jpg" style="height:530px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It has been ten years since Volkswagen Polo has been launched and more than 5,000 units have been sold since then. Polo 1.0 TSI is the latest model in the Polo segment. Bishal Ghimire, business head at Pooja International Nepal Private Limited, the authorized dealer of Volkswagen in the country said, the there has been no ups and down in performance of the vehicle since the launch. It provides consistency in terms of performance. Customers who have understood about the value for the money, stability of the vehicle go for Volkswagen Polo, says Ghimire. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Resale value, four-stars safety rating, design, highway stability put VW Polo in the highest selling car list. It price ranges from Rs 3.09 million to Rs 4.75 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Ford</strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/ford_ecos.jpg" style="height:533px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Launched in 2013, Ford EcoSport gives the best value for money starting from the price Rs 3.69 million to Rs 5.09 million. The built-in quality, rider handling, highway stability, driving dynamics of Ford EcoSport has succeeded in retaining the customers, says Binay Shrestha, showroom manager of Ford Thapathali. According to Shrestha, it is a trendsetter in sub-compact SUV segment. Capacity sensors, sunroof, six airbags are introduced for the first time in this segment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It provides 200 mm of ground clearance and 1500 cc engine generating power of 122ps. Petrol engine EcoSport is available in five variants. Of them, Trend M/T and Titanium M/T variants are more popular in the market. Features may vary depending on the variants. Titanium offers Hill-launch Assist, electronic stability control, electronic brake assist, sunglass holder, smart electric sunroof while Trend has rear wiper, defogger, automatic AC, reverse parking area.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13048', 'image' => '20210421014512_20160905121337_nada.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 13:44:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $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' => '13317', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Impose Week-long Prohibitory Order in Kathmandu Valley', 'sub_title' => 'All but essential services to be shut until May 5', 'summary' => 'April 27: The government has decided to enforce a week-long prohibitory order in Kathmandu valley effective from Thursday midnight.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><em>An aerial view of the Kathmandu Valley in this file photo.</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">April 27: The government has decided to enforce a week-long prohibitory order in Kathmandu valley effective from Thursday midnight.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Once the prohibitory order comes into effect, all but essential services will come to a halt. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">The move is an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus infection that has spiraled in the past few weeks. <br /> A joint meeting of the Chief District Officers of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur on Monday (April 26) decided to shut down all services except essential ones. The meeting also decided to strictly monitor the flow of people into the valley.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">All gatherings including seminars, and conferences have been banned, while entertainment centres, cinema halls, gym, sports clubs, libraries, museums and zoo will also remain closed. <br /> In case of marriages, the authorities have decided to allow a maximum of 15 people attend the function. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">As per the decision, only vehicles carrying essential goods as well as ambulances carrying sick people, and those used by health workers and security persons will be allowed to ply on the streets. Government vehicles will require permits issued by the concerned ministry. <br /> The meeting has decided to allow grocery shops remain open until 10 in the morning and 5 to 7 in the evening. However, they need to follow the prescribed health protocols. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">The prohibitory order will remain in force until May 5. During this period, anyone entering the Kathmandu valley will have to stay in quarantine and home isolation as prescribed by the concerned local level. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-27', 'modified' => '2021-04-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13062', 'image' => '20210427102436_20200903113103_1599056781.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-27 10:22:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13316', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Finance Minister Pledges to Address Genuine Concerns of Entrepreneurs ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 25: Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel has said that maximum efforts would be made to accommodate the genuine concerns and recommendations of the youth entrepreneurs in the upcoming fiscal year's annual budget. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 25: Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel has said that maximum efforts would be made to accommodate the genuine concerns and recommendations of the youth entrepreneurs in the upcoming fiscal year's annual budget. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Receiving feedback from youth entrepreneurs on the new budget on Saturday, the finance minister assured to meet the demands of the entrepreneurs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He, however, said that he cannot make public what are the genuine issues and are possible to be incorporated in the budget since he was in the process of budget making. The minister added that the incumbent government was in favour of the youth entrepreneurs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">On the occasion, Minister Poudel underscored the need to prepare the budget in a new manner based on the lessons learnt from COVID-19 and its impacts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He was of the view that some policy-level reforms were needed for the recovery of the country's economy. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-25', 'modified' => '2021-04-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13061', 'image' => '20210425100924_20210110034934_1610265858.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-25 10:08:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13315', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import of Gold up in the Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 25: Nepal imported more gold in between mid-March and mid-April of the current fiscal year than the average import in other months.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 25: Nepal imported more gold in between mid-March and mid-April of the current fiscal year than the average import in other months. In other months of the current year, gold worth Rs 2.14 billion in average was being bought into the country from abroad. However, in April, gold worth Rs 3.27 billion was imported.<br /> According to the data released by the customs department, 460 kg of gold has entered Nepal in the review month. On an average, 300 kg of gold has been imported each month this year.<br /> <br /> However, according to the customs department, the import of gold has surged between mid-March and mid-April. It is due to the wedding season. In Nepal, the number of weddings is higher in the months of April and May.<br /> Marriages in Nepal are believed to be incomplete without gold. Due to this belief, gold consumption is high in Nepal during the wedding season. Therefore, gold imports have been increasing in April.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">President of the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association Manika Ratna Shakya said that the import of gold has increased due to the wedding season. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">"Gold consumption is higher in April due to the wedding season. Given the same situation, we have increased the import of gold than in the previous month," he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">He said that more than 500 kg of gold has been imported in the first week of April alone. Shakya estimates that the gold business is likely to go up if the surge in coronavirus remains under control.<br /> The import volume of gold has been increased from 10 kg per day to 20 kg compared to last April. <br /> Commercial banks enjoy the right to import gold in Nepal. Banks have been importing gold in collaboration with the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association.<br /> In the current fiscal year, gold worth Rs 19.31 billion has been shipped in, which is 43.46 percent more than the corresponding period of last year.<br /> According to the customs department, gold entrepreneurs have imported 2,760 kg of gold in the current fiscal year.<br /> Gold business in Nepal had come to a standstill during the start of the current fiscal year as the economy was hit by the coronavirus pandemic and the price of gold had also skyrocketed. However, import of gold is on the rise recently due to the open market demand.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-25', 'modified' => '2021-04-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13060', 'image' => '20210425100433_20201203030905_1606953115.Clipboard16.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-25 10:03:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13314', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'UN Association of Nepal Launches Book Consisting Articles of 25 Eminent Personalities', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 24: The UN Association of Nepal organized a book launch programme at Hotel Yellow Pagoda, Kathmandu, on April 22. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 24: The UN Association of Nepal organized a book launch programme at Hotel Yellow Pagoda, Kathmandu, on April 22. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">The book entitled ‘Nepal’s Foreign Policy and United Nations’ consisting of 25 articles by eminent personalities like foreign secretary, former foreign secretaries, former ambassadors, academics and intellectuals was launched by Nepal’s Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">The programme was chaired by Associate Professor Dambar Bir Thapa, president of the association.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">According to a statement issued by the association, its Co-President Radhesh Pant delivered the welcome speech, while Professor Dr Mohan P Lohani, a former ambassador, thanked the contributors for their cooperation in making the publication possible on time. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Dr Nishchal Nath Pandey, director of Center for South Asian Studies, reviewed the book and congratulated the association for bringing out the book to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the UN and the 65th anniversary of Nepal’s UN membership.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal highlighted the salient features of Nepal’s foreign policy and lauded the UN for its role in dealing with issues pertaining to sustainable development, climate change and financing for development, among others. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">According to the association, Chief Guest Foreign Minister Gyawali distributed certificates of appreciation to the contributors.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-24', 'modified' => '2021-04-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13059', 'image' => '20210424075928_les-nacio.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-24 19:58:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13313', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'FDI Lower than Expected', 'sub_title' => 'In two and a half decades, Nepal has only received Rs 110 billion.', 'summary' => 'April 23: Although Nepal expects to attract a large amount of foreign direct investment (FDI), the actual investment has been marginal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 23: Although Nepal expects to attract a large amount of foreign direct investment (FDI), the actual investment has been marginal. However, the country has been holding investment conferences to attract huge FDIs but has only received Rs 110 billion so far, which is 34.1 percent of the total commitment amount. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Although foreign investors have expressed their intention and commitment to bring billions of rupees to Nepal in investment conferences held at different times, it seems that the country has received very little investment. A report on 'Foreign Direct Investment in Nepal' released by Nepal Rastra Bank on April 21 shows that the investment received by Nepal is not in accordance to the investment approved by the foreign investors.<br /> From FY 2052/53 to FY 2076/77, Nepal has approved FDIs of Rs 325.52 billion. However, the actual investment received by the country is much less than the commitment made by the investors. The Department of Industry and the Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) register the projects comprising foreign investment. The amount received by the registered projects is also less. In some years, it has been observed that the outflow of money from the country seems to be more than the</span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> inflow of investment.<br /> The government held an investment summit in March 2017 BS and 2019 to attract foreign investment.<br /> Likewise, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), a private sector organization, held the 'Nepal Infrastructure Conference' in August 2018.<br /> Nepal is eager to attract foreign investment, but there are procedural and policy hurdles. Issues like investment security have discouraged investors to invest. Even if the foreign investment projects are registered and approved, not all investments come in the same year.<br /> For the first time, the government has made a provision to bring 100 percent amount of the approved investment within 1 to 2 years</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">By amending the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer (FITTA) Rules-2077 BS.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Board of Investment Radhesh Pant said that regulation was made as the investors would not invest in the absence of a conducive environment.<br /> According to a survey conducted by the Central Bank in 2060/61, Nepal approved an FDI of Rs 2.76 billion but received zero investment.<br /> "South Asian countries like the Maldives and Bhutan have received more FDI than Nepal," added Panta.<br /> He said that even though the Investment Board was established to attract investment, but nothing has improved. He argues that the tendency of government not to consider the private sector as a partner is less likely to attract investment even by partnering with foreign investors.<br /> How will investors come when there are multiple hurdles, argues Pant. The government needs to facilitate investors' by making the compliance hassle-free from project registration to the field, he questioned.<br /> He suggests that the investment will only increase if the project bank shows that Nepal is safe for investment.<br /> According to the central bank, in some years, investors have taken away around 23 percent of the approved FDI, out of Nepal. In 2058/59, 23.3 percent of the investment approved by Nepal was taken back by foreign investors. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the NRB report, 51.1 percent or half of the amount approved in Nepal in 2076/77 has already come in. This year, Rs. 38.15 billion has been approved, while Nepal has already received Rs. 19.47 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-23', 'modified' => '2021-04-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13058', 'image' => '20210423103303_2-702x336.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-23 10:32:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13312', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Commercial Banks’ Lending Increases by 25%', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 23: The lending of commercial banks has increased by 25.63 percent in the last eight months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 23: The lending of commercial banks has increased by 25.63 percent in the last eight months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. Though the COVID-19 has extremely affected the country’s economy as a whole, the business of banking institutions remains an exception. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In the review period, 27 commercial banks have disbursed additional loans of Rs729 billion. With the increase in the lending, a total of Rs 3,573 billion loans have been disbursed until the month of April by the commercial banks. In the review period of the last fiscal year, banks had given loan of Rs 2,844 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Commercial banks were operating partially for three months since the lockdown was imposed on March 24 last year. Yet, the business of commercial banks has been satisfactory. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Lately, rise of COVID-19 cases and approaching second wave of the virus has presented challenges to the expansion of the business, says Bhuwan Kumar Dahal, president of Nepal Bankers’ Association. He expressed concern that most of the businesses might get affected again. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Mahesh Sharma Dhakal, Deputy CEO of Global IME Bank, said apart from the tourism industry, loans have been disbursed in other sectors and therefore the situation is not so discouraging so far. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Lending of the banking institutions has gradually improved. NIC Asia has the highest total lending among the banks. NIC Asia Bank had announced various schemes from the beginning of the current fiscal year to attract borrowers. The bank has increased loans to the borrowers by 48.48 percent in the current fiscal year. With the increase in lending, the total lending of the bank has reached Rs 259 billion. Until the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, it had extended loan of Rs 175 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Mega Bank is second in the list of banks to have increased the lending in the review period of the current fiscal year. Mega Bank has increased its lending by 69.86 percent in the review period and disbursed credit amount of Rs 138 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Kumari Bank has succeeded to disburse loan of Rs 43.2 billion and its total lending amount has reached to Rs 134 billion. Similarly, Nabil Bank has extended its lending by 27.88 percent and disbursed total loan of Rs 193 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prabhu Bank, Citizens International Bank, Global IME Bank have extended an additional loan of Rs 40.86 billion, Rs 37.93 billion and Rs 34.39 billion respectively. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Global IME Bank has increased its total loan facility by 17.10 percent to Rs 235 billion. During the COVID-19 pandemic it had provided Rs 201 billion loan in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Dhakal, Deputy CEO of the Global IME Bank, said the bank has not been able to increase the loan as expected in one year but it is satisfactory. He said that the bank still has sufficient capital for investment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“If there were enough economic activities, it would require investment in infrastructure and demand for raw materials would increase accordingly. The rise in economic activities would give a boost to lending however, the lending flow is still satisfactory,” Dhakal said. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-23', 'modified' => '2021-04-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13057', 'image' => '20210423101552_20200601032952_bank lending.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-23 10:15:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13311', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PATA Nepal Chapter organizes the fourth PATA Youth Talent Quest ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 23: PATA Nepal Chapter organized the 4th PATA Youth Talent Quest (YTQ 2021) in collaboration with PATA Nepal Student Chapter, and support from various organizations and sponsors. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The PATA Nepal Chapter introduced five key competitions under PATA YTQ 2021that include Public Speaking Competition, Tourism and Hospitality Quiz, PATA Futsal Tournament, Content Writing Competition and YTP Chefs Competition. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The YTQ 2021 kicked off with Public Speaking Competition on 16th April 2021 at GATE College, Mandikhatar. According to PATA Nepal, Samikchha Bhattarai from GATE College was announced the winner of the Public Speaking Competition. Similarly, Sijal Kunwar from NATHM College and Sudha Shakya from GCI were declared as 1st and 2nd runners up respectively.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, the "Tourism and Hospitality Quiz" was held on 17th April 2021 at Mid-Valley Int'l College. Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hospitality (NATHM), Kathmandu Academy of Tourism and Hospitality (KATH), and Mid-Valley International College (MVIC) secured the top three positions in the competition respectively. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, the "Content Writing Competition" held on 18th April 2021 at GCI College, Mid-Baneshwor. Anushka Pradhan from NATHM was delcared the Winner, while Akriti Raut from LACM and Swostika Sapkota from NCTTM finished second and third respectively.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> The Futsal Tournament was also organized under YTQ 2021 on 19th April 2021, wherein Global Academy of Tourism and Hospitality Education (Boys) and Global International College (Girls) became champions defeating LACM and NCTTM respectively in the final. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Owing to the increasing COVID cases and complying with the recent decision by the Government of Nepal, PATA Nepal Chapter said it has decided to postpone the "YTP Chefs Competition" of PATA YTQ2021, which was supposed to be held on April 24th, 2021 under the theme "Exploring Authentic Nepali Cuisine", the A press statement released by PATA read.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times">Youth Talent Quest (YTQ) is <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">an annual event by PATA Nepal Chapter, engaging Young Tourism Professionals (YTPs) that provides a platform among the students from PATA Nepal Chapter member colleges to compete and showcase their multifaceted talents, knowledge, and skills, the organiser said in a statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The annual event aims to uncover talented young tourism professionals and further empower them with the necessary training, involvement, and exposure to PATA Nepal Chapter programs and activities, and engaging them in the best possible way to carve their successful future endeavors, the statement added. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-23', 'modified' => '2021-04-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13056', 'image' => '20210423100044_1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-23 09:59:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13310', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal and Thailand to Promote Religious Tourism', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Nepal and Thailand have agreed to cooperate with each other for promoting religious tourism. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria">April 22: Nepal and Thailand have agreed to cooperate with each other for promoting religious tourism. Nepal Tourism Board’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Dhananjay Regmi and Thailand’s Ambassador to Nepal Vosita Vorasaph during a meeting held on Tuesday, April 20, emphasized that the two countries will work together for the promotion of tourism in each other's countries.<br /> During the meeting, they discussed the increasing number of religious tourists coming to Nepal from Thailand and vice versa.<br /> Likewise, Regmi informed that Nepal is the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, and as Thailand is a Buddhist country, Nepal is a religious tourist destination for the Thai population.<br /> Stating that around 3,000 Thai tourists visit Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, annually, CEO Regmi said that the board is taking initiative to take Thai tourists to other places associated with the Buddha.<br /> "Work is being done to connect Kapilvastu and Ramgram with Lumbini in line with the concept of Buddha Circuit. It will also help tourists to know about Buddha and prolong their stay, according to Regmi. Stating that the government media in Thailand and the government media in Nepal can work together to promote Nepal in Thailand, Regmi said that the two friendly nations will take initiatives to promote religious tourism.<br /> During the meeting, the Thai Ambassador informed that the religious and cultural relations between Nepal and Thailand are good and Lumbini is a major attraction for Thai tourists. He said that the number of Thai tourists could increase after the construction of Gautam Buddha International Airport in Lumbini.<br /> He also said that he was positive to promote Nepal in Thailand.<br /> During the meeting, discussions were held on the continuation of the friendly visit programmes of the diplomats of the two countries and the exchange of good tourism practices.<br /> Given the recent state of Covid-19, the two countries have agreed to emphasize cooperation and promotion. Thailand is one of the top 10 tourist destinations for Nepalis.<br /> Meanwhile, 41,653 Thai tourists visited Nepal in 2019.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13055', 'image' => '20210422053514_IMG_3845(1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 17:34:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13309', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Shipping Companies Hike Fare Arbitrarily', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Shipping companies providing transportation services to Nepali businessmen for overseas trade have hiked their fare arbitrarily.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 22: Shipping companies providing transportation services to Nepali businessmen for overseas trade have hiked their fare arbitrarily.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Nepali importers complain that the shipping companies have raised the fares by almost four folds.<br /> Ganesh Prasad Lath, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Province 2, claimed that the shipping companies have increased the fares up to four times in the last seven months. He said that the transportation cost per container from China and European countries used to be US$ 1,500 before last September, but now it has been increased to US$ 6,000.<br /> Earlier, the shipping companies had been transporting 40-feet long containers to the dry port of Birgunj for US$ 1,500. “Shipping companies have increased container fares to make the best out of the growing production and trade after the lockdown. This has increased the cost of imported goods and also the local products,” said Lath.<br /> Entrepreneurs claim that consumer prices have been affected due to the increase in the transportation cost of imported goods. Prices of food and other daily necessities have skyrocketed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Although production and trade had declined with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, demand has risen as conditions have returned to normalcy.<br /> Trade with third countries has also improved since Nepal lifted the lockdown in last September.<br /> Importer Navneet Agrawal said that the shipping companies raised the fare to gain from the growing demand for transportation with the growth in volume of trade.<br /> “Foreign trade, which came to a halt during the lockdown, naturally increased as it became convenient after lockdown was lifted. On this occasion, the shipping companies increased the fare,” Agrawal informed New Business Age.<br /> This not only increased the price of products but also the cost of domestic production with the growth in the price of imported raw materials.<br /> Importer Om Prakash More shared that the shipping companies have been increasing the fare every week.</span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal’s Consulate in Kolkata is not aware of the increase in container fares. However, Consul General Ishwar Raj Poudel said that the shipping companies have not made any formal/ informal announcement about the change in price.<br /> "Importers have not reported any increase in fares so far. If anyone informs us about such a problem, we are always ready to facilitate them,” said Poudel.<br /> President Lath has urged the government to take initiative to reduce the fare.<br /> "Shipping companies do not heed importer requests. The solution will only come out if the government takes effective initiative. The government could reduce fares by taking a policy of incentives for low-cost shipping companies," he added.<br /> "The trade, which had come to a standstill during the coronavirus pandemic, has grown in recent times. As trade increased, so did the demand for containers. This is an opportunity for shipping companies to make fast money,” said More.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13054', 'image' => '20210422052840_20201015050305_1602718767.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 17:27:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13308', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ministries Dissatisfied Over Budget Ceiling', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Ministries have expressed dissatisfaction over the budget ceiling set by the National Planning Commission (NPC) for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2021/22).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 22: Ministries have expressed dissatisfaction over the budget ceiling set by the National Planning Commission (NPC) for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2021/22).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The ministries are dissatisfied since the NPC has set the ceiling with a slight increase only compared to the last fiscal year, assessing that the government's possible measures to contain the second wave of coronavirus might adversely affect government resources.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Ministries including Agriculture and Livestock Development, Urban Development, Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Federal Affairs and General Administration have demanded to increase the limit saying it is extremely low. However, the NPC has not yet fixed the budget for all ministries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the pre-budget briefing initiated by Parliamentary Finance Committee from this week, ministries have said that they will be unable to bring new programmes under the ceiling set by the NPC. The Finance Committee of parliament had discussed the issue with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD) during the briefing. The ministry has got a budget ceiling of Rs 36.23 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">According to Yogendra Kumar Karki, Secretary of MOALD, this budget will be insufficient even for the ongoing projects. He said that the new projects can’t be introduced within this ceiling and ongoing projects also can’t be covered sufficiently. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Energy Secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire said bigger hydropower projects and transmission line projects including Upper Tamakoshi-5, Jagadulla, Dudhkoshi, Sunkoshi-3, Trishuli-4, Noumure have been proposed for the next fiscal year but the budget would not be sufficient for these projects. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“Projects related to production sector and rural hydropower and transmission projects don’t seem to get the budget,” he said. In such scenario, it is not possible to bring a new programme within the current ceiling.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The Ministry of Physical Planning and Infrastructure is also not satisfied with the budget ceiling. One of the officials informed that the ministry will not propose new projects in the coming fiscal year and has started preparations to complete the ongoing projects. He further added that the Ministry is preparing to propose the budget so that ongoing projects need not deal with resources crunch. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Ministry of Urban Development has also said that the proposed budget is not enough even for ongoing projects. It has proposed a dozen of programmes with the budget estimate of Rs 13.32 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has also asked to increase the budget ceiling. NPC has set a budget ceiling of Rs 46.12 billion for the ministry. Of it, Rs 16.53 billion has been fixed for current expenditure while Rs 29.59 billion has been set for capital expenditure. Secretary Eknarayan Aryal said there are many works that need to be done under this limit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">He said that the programme proposed by the government to connect all local units to district centers alone require a budget of Rs 1.5 billion. He said more funds are required to build local level administrative building. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Grants are provided to rural municipalities, municipalities and sub-metropolitan cities on behalf of the Federal Ministry to build local administrative buildings. The budget ceiling is insufficient as village council needs 60 percent, municipality needs 50 percent, and sub-metropolis needs 40 percent of the grant.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Though the ministries are dissatisfied over the budget ceiling for the upcoming fiscal year, they have been incapable of spending the current budget. The budgets of the ministries have been returned back as they have not been able to spend the budget on the allocated projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13053', 'image' => '20210422125513_1618956635.1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:54:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Parliamentary Committee Directs Govt to Resolve NTC Network Problems ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Parliamentarians attending a meeting of the Finance Committee under the House of Representatives on Wednesday asked the government to pay attention to the quality of NT service and its expansion to rural areas lacking its services. On the occasion, the parliamentarians held discussions with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on the budget implementation situation for the current fiscal year, 2020/21 and preparations for budget for the next FY, 2021/22. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Lawmaker Shyam Kumar Shrestha stressed the need for the expansion of 4G services to the reach of all people and the transformation of postal service into courier service. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Committee Chair Krishna Prasad Dahal suggested the government to introduce next policies and programmes that should provide job opportunities to information technology engineers at home, thus stopping brain drain. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Secretary at the ministry Hari Prasad Basyal said that the ministry was at work to complete a framework for making Nepal digital and it has been prioritised in budget for the next FY. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13052', 'image' => '20210422124335_20200326081545_NTC-launches-4G-in-Rara-Lake.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:43:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Traffic Police Creating Obstruction in Transportation of Daily Essentials ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential goods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential goods. This has affected the supply of essential goods since a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the lockdown period, vehicles carrying daily essential goods like lentils, rice, vegetables, milk, fish, and meat were allowed to run smoothly from six in the morning to eight in the evening.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> “But the traffic police have allowed such vehicles to operate from 11am in the morning to 4pm in the day since the last one month,” says Durga Raj Shrestha, president of Nepal Distributors Association. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“It is not appropriate to obstruct vehicles of daily consumer goods. This is an injustice to the consumers,” he adds.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Citing that the heavy vehicles have added traffic problems on the roads, Traffic Police have not allowed to run heavy vehicles. This has compelled traders to transport goods on small vehicles. Small vehicles can contain less volume of goods and require additional workers. This in turn has led to an increase in the cost from 5 percent to 10 percent. According to the traders, the increase in cost is adjusted by increasing the price of goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The Department of Commerce and Supply Management, which should have been involved in facilitating the supply system, is unaware about this obstruction. The Department is trying to avoid this issue saying it is the responsibility of the Department of Transport Management and Traffic Police.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Gogan Bahadur Hamal, Director General of DoTM, said the transporters should also support in traffic management and reducing overcrowding during COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Traffic Police however, are not ready to agree with the transporters. Shyam Adhikari, SP of Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, says vehicles carrying essential items like milk, medicine are allowed in the morning as well and vehicles carrying lentils, rice, noodles, biscuit are prohibited in the morning time and allowed in the day. He said that such provisions have been introduced to cope with the increasing traffic problems. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13051', 'image' => '20210422122414_20190410102147_ICP-Birgunj-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:23:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13305', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Railway in Final Stage of Preparations for Operation its Trains', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final stage.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria">April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final stage. The train engines purchase by the company is in parking lot since the last seven months. Guru Bhattarai, general manager of the company, informed that the company is preparing to bring the trains into operation within April.<br /> General Manager Bhattarai said that 100 employees and technicians are getting training to operate the trains. According to him, officials of the Konkan Railway Corporation of India have already arrived in Janakpur for the training.<br /> The company is managing the staff and technicians after the recruitment process of the Public Service Commission was canceled. The company had earlier announced vacancy for 129 employees on a contract basis on September 20.<br /> According to General Manager Bhattarai, the training will last for two weeks. However, the date for operating the trains has been repeatedly pushed back.<br /> Bhattarai said that the company is preparing to operate the train within April. However, there is still confusion as coronavirus infection is on the rise again. "There may be delays due to coronavirus, but preparations for the operation of the trains have reached the final stage," he said.<br /> Nepal had purchased two trains with five coaches from the Indian Konkan Railway Corporation Company for Rs 856.5 million exclusives of the customs duties.<br /> The Jayanagar-Janakpur-Bardiwas railway line under construction with the assistance of the Government of India is 69 kilometers long. In the first phase, the train will run along the 34 km section of Jayanagar-Janakpur route.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13050', 'image' => '20210421044248_20190325112130_Clipboard43-5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 16:41:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Committee Concerned Over Low Capital Spending of Infrastructure Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In order to find permanent solution to the weak budget implementation, waning capital spending and sluggish infrastructure development works, the Finance Committee this time has demanded updates from the leadership of all ministries on the status and challenges of budget implementation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Committee Chairperson Krishna Prasad Dahal shared that the committee held pre-budget discussion with the leadership of ministries related to development to address weak status of budget implementation despite directives from the parliamentary committees and the government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The ministries concerned had voiced their complaints before the committee that the challenges surfaced in the budget implementation due to deficit in coordination among the organizational structures of the three tiers of government, shortfall of human resource, hassles in public procurement work procedure and a long process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As informed it was disappointing that no ministry has so far exceeded 30 percent in its capital spending in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">On the occasion, Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MOFAGA) Ek Narayan Aryal shared that the ministry has witnessed an overall spending progress of 17.5 percent towards recurrent and 22.6 percent towards capital spending as of mid-April, 2021. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chair Dahal said, "Trends prevailed in the areas of capital spending and infrastructure development three years ago is still the same. There are some problems in public procurement act which has complicated our development process. As the work procedure has to be framed within mid-September for programme implementation, there are several instances when many have not yet placed it." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In a bid to improve weaknesses through annual policy and programme and budget, the parliament and parliamentary committee have been holding pre-budget discussions. The finance committee last year held pre-budget consultations with stakeholders, including local citizens, private sector and officials of province and local governments, in 11 different parts of the country beyond Kathmandu Valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The pre-budget discussion for the fiscal year 2021/22 budget was put off due to outbreak of coronavirus. This year the finance committee invited the leadership of ministries directly connected to the development and infrastructure at its meeting for pre-budget discussion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Informing about the status of budget implementation and transfer as of mid-April, Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yadav Koirala shared the ministry has made a physical progress of 60 percent and financial progress of 40 percent towards capital spending and 50 percent towards recurrent spending. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Finance Committee secretary Surendra Aryal said, "Just blaming coroanvirus and untimely budget was one thing but there was no visible reform. Based on the analysis of fiscal anarchy and pile up of arrears, the share of 10 ministries is around 90 percent. These ministries have also occupied a big chunk of capital spending." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The committee has so far received updates from leadership of the Ministries related to Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Urban, Energy, Hydropower and Irrigation, Drinking Water, Federal Affairs and General Administration, Finance, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Agriculture and Livestock on the issues and challenges of budget implementation, physical infrastructure development and status of capital spending. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The committee is making preparation to issue necessary directives to the ministries for policy, legal and structural reforms and management of human resource as well as to make them accountable following the completion of consultations. --RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13049', 'image' => '20210421015306_20200415120726_1586905834.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 13:52:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Popular Cars in Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><em>Rebati Adhikari</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. However, due to their limited routes, public transport is not properly managed yet. Easy accessibility and safety are still the major problems of public transport. Inefficient public transportation has led to high number of people opting for personal vehicles. Social distancing rules introduced after the emergence of coronavirus has further made the public feel private vehicles to be a necessity. Despite the higher rate of tax on private vehicles – 80 percent customs duty, the purchase of private cars has not declined. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In this context, New Business Age has enlisted some of the highest selling car brands and their models in the country. According to Automobiles Association of Nepal, Maruti Suzuki, Tata, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Ford are some of the popular car brands in the country. Highest selling models of these brands are given below:</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Maruti Suzuki</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/marutisuzuki-vitara-brezza-right-front-three-quarter3.jpeg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Maruti Suzuki is one of the highest selling car brands in the country. Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza leads the SUV segment sales, while Celerio is popular in hatchback segment and Eco van is third on the list of highest selling cars. According to Anup Kumar Baral, managing director at Narayani Auto Business Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer of Maruti Suzuki cars in the country, Vitara Brezza is a trouble-free SUV car. Due to the higher resale value and easy availability of spare parts with maximum service station, Maruti SUV leads the sales. According to him, Vitara Breza is also one of the highest selling SUVs from the brand. Vitara Brezza comes in a price range starting from Rs 4.4 million, while Celerio has a starting price range from Rs 2.5 million and Eco van is priced at Rs 1.3 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Tata</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/tata.jpg" style="height:442px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Tata is another popular car brand in the country with Nexon registering highest sales. “The foremost thing that puts Nexon on the lead is the safety it offers,” says Shawant Jung Sijapati, deputy general manager at Sipradi Trading Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer for Tata motors in the country. Nexon is India's first car to get five star rating in Global NCAP crash test by having seat belt reminder for passenger and driver in all variants of the brand. Its style is other quality that attracts drivers towards it. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It provides ground clearance of 209 mm and offer multi drive mode –city, eco and sports modes. Mileage and power vary according to driving modes. Eco mode offers more mileage, sport mode offers more power while city mode offers both mileage and power. Other major specifications of Nexon include 7" Harman Infotainment System, projector headlamp, dual airbags. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Launched in 2018 in Nepal, more than 2000 units have already been sold. It comes in prices ranging from Rs 4.35 million to Rs 5.25 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Hyundai</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Hyundai.jpeg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Hyundai Creta has recorded highest sale in individual SUV segment while Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS leads sale in Grand hatchback segment. Grand i10 NIOS is the improvised version of Grand i10. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“It is the premium car in the entry-level offered in hatchback segment,” says Sandeep Sharma, marketing head at Laxmi Intercontinental Pvt Ltd. Sharma also says that contemporary designs of the car, service network, high resale value are some of the major reasons for being top selling car in the country. Projector headlamps and fog lamps, body coloured bumpers, chrome door handles, blacked out B-pillar and window line give it the best contemporary look. It also comes with passenger and driver dual airbags, front seat belt pretensioner, rear parking sensors providing additional protection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Other features that come with Grand i10 NIOS are its 20.25 cm touchscreen Infotainment system, 13.46 cm digital speedometer, driver rear view monitor, automatic temperature control, bench folding rear seat. It is available in three variants - Magna, Magna AMT, Sportz. Magna is priced at Rs 3.15 million and Magna AMT and Sports are priced at Rs 3.45 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Volkswagen </em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/polo.jpg" style="height:530px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It has been ten years since Volkswagen Polo has been launched and more than 5,000 units have been sold since then. Polo 1.0 TSI is the latest model in the Polo segment. Bishal Ghimire, business head at Pooja International Nepal Private Limited, the authorized dealer of Volkswagen in the country said, the there has been no ups and down in performance of the vehicle since the launch. It provides consistency in terms of performance. Customers who have understood about the value for the money, stability of the vehicle go for Volkswagen Polo, says Ghimire. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Resale value, four-stars safety rating, design, highway stability put VW Polo in the highest selling car list. It price ranges from Rs 3.09 million to Rs 4.75 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Ford</strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/ford_ecos.jpg" style="height:533px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Launched in 2013, Ford EcoSport gives the best value for money starting from the price Rs 3.69 million to Rs 5.09 million. The built-in quality, rider handling, highway stability, driving dynamics of Ford EcoSport has succeeded in retaining the customers, says Binay Shrestha, showroom manager of Ford Thapathali. According to Shrestha, it is a trendsetter in sub-compact SUV segment. Capacity sensors, sunroof, six airbags are introduced for the first time in this segment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It provides 200 mm of ground clearance and 1500 cc engine generating power of 122ps. Petrol engine EcoSport is available in five variants. Of them, Trend M/T and Titanium M/T variants are more popular in the market. Features may vary depending on the variants. Titanium offers Hill-launch Assist, electronic stability control, electronic brake assist, sunglass holder, smart electric sunroof while Trend has rear wiper, defogger, automatic AC, reverse parking area.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13048', 'image' => '20210421014512_20160905121337_nada.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 13:44:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $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' => '13317', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Impose Week-long Prohibitory Order in Kathmandu Valley', 'sub_title' => 'All but essential services to be shut until May 5', 'summary' => 'April 27: The government has decided to enforce a week-long prohibitory order in Kathmandu valley effective from Thursday midnight.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12px"><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><em>An aerial view of the Kathmandu Valley in this file photo.</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">April 27: The government has decided to enforce a week-long prohibitory order in Kathmandu valley effective from Thursday midnight.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">Once the prohibitory order comes into effect, all but essential services will come to a halt. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">The move is an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus infection that has spiraled in the past few weeks. <br /> A joint meeting of the Chief District Officers of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur on Monday (April 26) decided to shut down all services except essential ones. The meeting also decided to strictly monitor the flow of people into the valley.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">All gatherings including seminars, and conferences have been banned, while entertainment centres, cinema halls, gym, sports clubs, libraries, museums and zoo will also remain closed. <br /> In case of marriages, the authorities have decided to allow a maximum of 15 people attend the function. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">As per the decision, only vehicles carrying essential goods as well as ambulances carrying sick people, and those used by health workers and security persons will be allowed to ply on the streets. Government vehicles will require permits issued by the concerned ministry. <br /> The meeting has decided to allow grocery shops remain open until 10 in the morning and 5 to 7 in the evening. However, they need to follow the prescribed health protocols. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">The prohibitory order will remain in force until May 5. During this period, anyone entering the Kathmandu valley will have to stay in quarantine and home isolation as prescribed by the concerned local level. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-27', 'modified' => '2021-04-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13062', 'image' => '20210427102436_20200903113103_1599056781.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-27 10:22:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13316', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Finance Minister Pledges to Address Genuine Concerns of Entrepreneurs ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 25: Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel has said that maximum efforts would be made to accommodate the genuine concerns and recommendations of the youth entrepreneurs in the upcoming fiscal year's annual budget. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 25: Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel has said that maximum efforts would be made to accommodate the genuine concerns and recommendations of the youth entrepreneurs in the upcoming fiscal year's annual budget. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Receiving feedback from youth entrepreneurs on the new budget on Saturday, the finance minister assured to meet the demands of the entrepreneurs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He, however, said that he cannot make public what are the genuine issues and are possible to be incorporated in the budget since he was in the process of budget making. The minister added that the incumbent government was in favour of the youth entrepreneurs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">On the occasion, Minister Poudel underscored the need to prepare the budget in a new manner based on the lessons learnt from COVID-19 and its impacts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He was of the view that some policy-level reforms were needed for the recovery of the country's economy. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-25', 'modified' => '2021-04-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13061', 'image' => '20210425100924_20210110034934_1610265858.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-25 10:08:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13315', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import of Gold up in the Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 25: Nepal imported more gold in between mid-March and mid-April of the current fiscal year than the average import in other months.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 25: Nepal imported more gold in between mid-March and mid-April of the current fiscal year than the average import in other months. In other months of the current year, gold worth Rs 2.14 billion in average was being bought into the country from abroad. However, in April, gold worth Rs 3.27 billion was imported.<br /> According to the data released by the customs department, 460 kg of gold has entered Nepal in the review month. On an average, 300 kg of gold has been imported each month this year.<br /> <br /> However, according to the customs department, the import of gold has surged between mid-March and mid-April. It is due to the wedding season. In Nepal, the number of weddings is higher in the months of April and May.<br /> Marriages in Nepal are believed to be incomplete without gold. Due to this belief, gold consumption is high in Nepal during the wedding season. Therefore, gold imports have been increasing in April.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">President of the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association Manika Ratna Shakya said that the import of gold has increased due to the wedding season. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">"Gold consumption is higher in April due to the wedding season. Given the same situation, we have increased the import of gold than in the previous month," he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">He said that more than 500 kg of gold has been imported in the first week of April alone. Shakya estimates that the gold business is likely to go up if the surge in coronavirus remains under control.<br /> The import volume of gold has been increased from 10 kg per day to 20 kg compared to last April. <br /> Commercial banks enjoy the right to import gold in Nepal. Banks have been importing gold in collaboration with the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association.<br /> In the current fiscal year, gold worth Rs 19.31 billion has been shipped in, which is 43.46 percent more than the corresponding period of last year.<br /> According to the customs department, gold entrepreneurs have imported 2,760 kg of gold in the current fiscal year.<br /> Gold business in Nepal had come to a standstill during the start of the current fiscal year as the economy was hit by the coronavirus pandemic and the price of gold had also skyrocketed. However, import of gold is on the rise recently due to the open market demand.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-25', 'modified' => '2021-04-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13060', 'image' => '20210425100433_20201203030905_1606953115.Clipboard16.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-25 10:03:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13314', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'UN Association of Nepal Launches Book Consisting Articles of 25 Eminent Personalities', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 24: The UN Association of Nepal organized a book launch programme at Hotel Yellow Pagoda, Kathmandu, on April 22. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 24: The UN Association of Nepal organized a book launch programme at Hotel Yellow Pagoda, Kathmandu, on April 22. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">The book entitled ‘Nepal’s Foreign Policy and United Nations’ consisting of 25 articles by eminent personalities like foreign secretary, former foreign secretaries, former ambassadors, academics and intellectuals was launched by Nepal’s Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">The programme was chaired by Associate Professor Dambar Bir Thapa, president of the association.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">According to a statement issued by the association, its Co-President Radhesh Pant delivered the welcome speech, while Professor Dr Mohan P Lohani, a former ambassador, thanked the contributors for their cooperation in making the publication possible on time. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Dr Nishchal Nath Pandey, director of Center for South Asian Studies, reviewed the book and congratulated the association for bringing out the book to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the UN and the 65th anniversary of Nepal’s UN membership.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal highlighted the salient features of Nepal’s foreign policy and lauded the UN for its role in dealing with issues pertaining to sustainable development, climate change and financing for development, among others. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">According to the association, Chief Guest Foreign Minister Gyawali distributed certificates of appreciation to the contributors.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-24', 'modified' => '2021-04-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13059', 'image' => '20210424075928_les-nacio.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-24 19:58:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13313', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'FDI Lower than Expected', 'sub_title' => 'In two and a half decades, Nepal has only received Rs 110 billion.', 'summary' => 'April 23: Although Nepal expects to attract a large amount of foreign direct investment (FDI), the actual investment has been marginal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 23: Although Nepal expects to attract a large amount of foreign direct investment (FDI), the actual investment has been marginal. However, the country has been holding investment conferences to attract huge FDIs but has only received Rs 110 billion so far, which is 34.1 percent of the total commitment amount. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Although foreign investors have expressed their intention and commitment to bring billions of rupees to Nepal in investment conferences held at different times, it seems that the country has received very little investment. A report on 'Foreign Direct Investment in Nepal' released by Nepal Rastra Bank on April 21 shows that the investment received by Nepal is not in accordance to the investment approved by the foreign investors.<br /> From FY 2052/53 to FY 2076/77, Nepal has approved FDIs of Rs 325.52 billion. However, the actual investment received by the country is much less than the commitment made by the investors. The Department of Industry and the Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) register the projects comprising foreign investment. The amount received by the registered projects is also less. In some years, it has been observed that the outflow of money from the country seems to be more than the</span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> inflow of investment.<br /> The government held an investment summit in March 2017 BS and 2019 to attract foreign investment.<br /> Likewise, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), a private sector organization, held the 'Nepal Infrastructure Conference' in August 2018.<br /> Nepal is eager to attract foreign investment, but there are procedural and policy hurdles. Issues like investment security have discouraged investors to invest. Even if the foreign investment projects are registered and approved, not all investments come in the same year.<br /> For the first time, the government has made a provision to bring 100 percent amount of the approved investment within 1 to 2 years</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">By amending the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer (FITTA) Rules-2077 BS.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Board of Investment Radhesh Pant said that regulation was made as the investors would not invest in the absence of a conducive environment.<br /> According to a survey conducted by the Central Bank in 2060/61, Nepal approved an FDI of Rs 2.76 billion but received zero investment.<br /> "South Asian countries like the Maldives and Bhutan have received more FDI than Nepal," added Panta.<br /> He said that even though the Investment Board was established to attract investment, but nothing has improved. He argues that the tendency of government not to consider the private sector as a partner is less likely to attract investment even by partnering with foreign investors.<br /> How will investors come when there are multiple hurdles, argues Pant. The government needs to facilitate investors' by making the compliance hassle-free from project registration to the field, he questioned.<br /> He suggests that the investment will only increase if the project bank shows that Nepal is safe for investment.<br /> According to the central bank, in some years, investors have taken away around 23 percent of the approved FDI, out of Nepal. In 2058/59, 23.3 percent of the investment approved by Nepal was taken back by foreign investors. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the NRB report, 51.1 percent or half of the amount approved in Nepal in 2076/77 has already come in. This year, Rs. 38.15 billion has been approved, while Nepal has already received Rs. 19.47 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-23', 'modified' => '2021-04-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13058', 'image' => '20210423103303_2-702x336.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-23 10:32:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13312', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Commercial Banks’ Lending Increases by 25%', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 23: The lending of commercial banks has increased by 25.63 percent in the last eight months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 23: The lending of commercial banks has increased by 25.63 percent in the last eight months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. Though the COVID-19 has extremely affected the country’s economy as a whole, the business of banking institutions remains an exception. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In the review period, 27 commercial banks have disbursed additional loans of Rs729 billion. With the increase in the lending, a total of Rs 3,573 billion loans have been disbursed until the month of April by the commercial banks. In the review period of the last fiscal year, banks had given loan of Rs 2,844 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Commercial banks were operating partially for three months since the lockdown was imposed on March 24 last year. Yet, the business of commercial banks has been satisfactory. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Lately, rise of COVID-19 cases and approaching second wave of the virus has presented challenges to the expansion of the business, says Bhuwan Kumar Dahal, president of Nepal Bankers’ Association. He expressed concern that most of the businesses might get affected again. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Mahesh Sharma Dhakal, Deputy CEO of Global IME Bank, said apart from the tourism industry, loans have been disbursed in other sectors and therefore the situation is not so discouraging so far. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Lending of the banking institutions has gradually improved. NIC Asia has the highest total lending among the banks. NIC Asia Bank had announced various schemes from the beginning of the current fiscal year to attract borrowers. The bank has increased loans to the borrowers by 48.48 percent in the current fiscal year. With the increase in lending, the total lending of the bank has reached Rs 259 billion. Until the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, it had extended loan of Rs 175 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Mega Bank is second in the list of banks to have increased the lending in the review period of the current fiscal year. Mega Bank has increased its lending by 69.86 percent in the review period and disbursed credit amount of Rs 138 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Kumari Bank has succeeded to disburse loan of Rs 43.2 billion and its total lending amount has reached to Rs 134 billion. Similarly, Nabil Bank has extended its lending by 27.88 percent and disbursed total loan of Rs 193 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prabhu Bank, Citizens International Bank, Global IME Bank have extended an additional loan of Rs 40.86 billion, Rs 37.93 billion and Rs 34.39 billion respectively. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Global IME Bank has increased its total loan facility by 17.10 percent to Rs 235 billion. During the COVID-19 pandemic it had provided Rs 201 billion loan in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Dhakal, Deputy CEO of the Global IME Bank, said the bank has not been able to increase the loan as expected in one year but it is satisfactory. He said that the bank still has sufficient capital for investment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“If there were enough economic activities, it would require investment in infrastructure and demand for raw materials would increase accordingly. The rise in economic activities would give a boost to lending however, the lending flow is still satisfactory,” Dhakal said. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-23', 'modified' => '2021-04-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13057', 'image' => '20210423101552_20200601032952_bank lending.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-23 10:15:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13311', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PATA Nepal Chapter organizes the fourth PATA Youth Talent Quest ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 23: PATA Nepal Chapter organized the 4th PATA Youth Talent Quest (YTQ 2021) in collaboration with PATA Nepal Student Chapter, and support from various organizations and sponsors. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The PATA Nepal Chapter introduced five key competitions under PATA YTQ 2021that include Public Speaking Competition, Tourism and Hospitality Quiz, PATA Futsal Tournament, Content Writing Competition and YTP Chefs Competition. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The YTQ 2021 kicked off with Public Speaking Competition on 16th April 2021 at GATE College, Mandikhatar. According to PATA Nepal, Samikchha Bhattarai from GATE College was announced the winner of the Public Speaking Competition. Similarly, Sijal Kunwar from NATHM College and Sudha Shakya from GCI were declared as 1st and 2nd runners up respectively.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, the "Tourism and Hospitality Quiz" was held on 17th April 2021 at Mid-Valley Int'l College. Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hospitality (NATHM), Kathmandu Academy of Tourism and Hospitality (KATH), and Mid-Valley International College (MVIC) secured the top three positions in the competition respectively. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, the "Content Writing Competition" held on 18th April 2021 at GCI College, Mid-Baneshwor. Anushka Pradhan from NATHM was delcared the Winner, while Akriti Raut from LACM and Swostika Sapkota from NCTTM finished second and third respectively.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> The Futsal Tournament was also organized under YTQ 2021 on 19th April 2021, wherein Global Academy of Tourism and Hospitality Education (Boys) and Global International College (Girls) became champions defeating LACM and NCTTM respectively in the final. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Owing to the increasing COVID cases and complying with the recent decision by the Government of Nepal, PATA Nepal Chapter said it has decided to postpone the "YTP Chefs Competition" of PATA YTQ2021, which was supposed to be held on April 24th, 2021 under the theme "Exploring Authentic Nepali Cuisine", the A press statement released by PATA read.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times">Youth Talent Quest (YTQ) is <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">an annual event by PATA Nepal Chapter, engaging Young Tourism Professionals (YTPs) that provides a platform among the students from PATA Nepal Chapter member colleges to compete and showcase their multifaceted talents, knowledge, and skills, the organiser said in a statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The annual event aims to uncover talented young tourism professionals and further empower them with the necessary training, involvement, and exposure to PATA Nepal Chapter programs and activities, and engaging them in the best possible way to carve their successful future endeavors, the statement added. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-23', 'modified' => '2021-04-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13056', 'image' => '20210423100044_1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-23 09:59:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13310', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal and Thailand to Promote Religious Tourism', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Nepal and Thailand have agreed to cooperate with each other for promoting religious tourism. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria">April 22: Nepal and Thailand have agreed to cooperate with each other for promoting religious tourism. Nepal Tourism Board’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Dhananjay Regmi and Thailand’s Ambassador to Nepal Vosita Vorasaph during a meeting held on Tuesday, April 20, emphasized that the two countries will work together for the promotion of tourism in each other's countries.<br /> During the meeting, they discussed the increasing number of religious tourists coming to Nepal from Thailand and vice versa.<br /> Likewise, Regmi informed that Nepal is the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, and as Thailand is a Buddhist country, Nepal is a religious tourist destination for the Thai population.<br /> Stating that around 3,000 Thai tourists visit Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, annually, CEO Regmi said that the board is taking initiative to take Thai tourists to other places associated with the Buddha.<br /> "Work is being done to connect Kapilvastu and Ramgram with Lumbini in line with the concept of Buddha Circuit. It will also help tourists to know about Buddha and prolong their stay, according to Regmi. Stating that the government media in Thailand and the government media in Nepal can work together to promote Nepal in Thailand, Regmi said that the two friendly nations will take initiatives to promote religious tourism.<br /> During the meeting, the Thai Ambassador informed that the religious and cultural relations between Nepal and Thailand are good and Lumbini is a major attraction for Thai tourists. He said that the number of Thai tourists could increase after the construction of Gautam Buddha International Airport in Lumbini.<br /> He also said that he was positive to promote Nepal in Thailand.<br /> During the meeting, discussions were held on the continuation of the friendly visit programmes of the diplomats of the two countries and the exchange of good tourism practices.<br /> Given the recent state of Covid-19, the two countries have agreed to emphasize cooperation and promotion. Thailand is one of the top 10 tourist destinations for Nepalis.<br /> Meanwhile, 41,653 Thai tourists visited Nepal in 2019.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13055', 'image' => '20210422053514_IMG_3845(1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 17:34:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13309', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Shipping Companies Hike Fare Arbitrarily', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Shipping companies providing transportation services to Nepali businessmen for overseas trade have hiked their fare arbitrarily.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 22: Shipping companies providing transportation services to Nepali businessmen for overseas trade have hiked their fare arbitrarily.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Nepali importers complain that the shipping companies have raised the fares by almost four folds.<br /> Ganesh Prasad Lath, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Province 2, claimed that the shipping companies have increased the fares up to four times in the last seven months. He said that the transportation cost per container from China and European countries used to be US$ 1,500 before last September, but now it has been increased to US$ 6,000.<br /> Earlier, the shipping companies had been transporting 40-feet long containers to the dry port of Birgunj for US$ 1,500. “Shipping companies have increased container fares to make the best out of the growing production and trade after the lockdown. This has increased the cost of imported goods and also the local products,” said Lath.<br /> Entrepreneurs claim that consumer prices have been affected due to the increase in the transportation cost of imported goods. Prices of food and other daily necessities have skyrocketed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Although production and trade had declined with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, demand has risen as conditions have returned to normalcy.<br /> Trade with third countries has also improved since Nepal lifted the lockdown in last September.<br /> Importer Navneet Agrawal said that the shipping companies raised the fare to gain from the growing demand for transportation with the growth in volume of trade.<br /> “Foreign trade, which came to a halt during the lockdown, naturally increased as it became convenient after lockdown was lifted. On this occasion, the shipping companies increased the fare,” Agrawal informed New Business Age.<br /> This not only increased the price of products but also the cost of domestic production with the growth in the price of imported raw materials.<br /> Importer Om Prakash More shared that the shipping companies have been increasing the fare every week.</span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal’s Consulate in Kolkata is not aware of the increase in container fares. However, Consul General Ishwar Raj Poudel said that the shipping companies have not made any formal/ informal announcement about the change in price.<br /> "Importers have not reported any increase in fares so far. If anyone informs us about such a problem, we are always ready to facilitate them,” said Poudel.<br /> President Lath has urged the government to take initiative to reduce the fare.<br /> "Shipping companies do not heed importer requests. The solution will only come out if the government takes effective initiative. The government could reduce fares by taking a policy of incentives for low-cost shipping companies," he added.<br /> "The trade, which had come to a standstill during the coronavirus pandemic, has grown in recent times. As trade increased, so did the demand for containers. This is an opportunity for shipping companies to make fast money,” said More.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13054', 'image' => '20210422052840_20201015050305_1602718767.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 17:27:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13308', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ministries Dissatisfied Over Budget Ceiling', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Ministries have expressed dissatisfaction over the budget ceiling set by the National Planning Commission (NPC) for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2021/22).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 22: Ministries have expressed dissatisfaction over the budget ceiling set by the National Planning Commission (NPC) for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2021/22).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The ministries are dissatisfied since the NPC has set the ceiling with a slight increase only compared to the last fiscal year, assessing that the government's possible measures to contain the second wave of coronavirus might adversely affect government resources.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Ministries including Agriculture and Livestock Development, Urban Development, Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Federal Affairs and General Administration have demanded to increase the limit saying it is extremely low. However, the NPC has not yet fixed the budget for all ministries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the pre-budget briefing initiated by Parliamentary Finance Committee from this week, ministries have said that they will be unable to bring new programmes under the ceiling set by the NPC. The Finance Committee of parliament had discussed the issue with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD) during the briefing. The ministry has got a budget ceiling of Rs 36.23 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">According to Yogendra Kumar Karki, Secretary of MOALD, this budget will be insufficient even for the ongoing projects. He said that the new projects can’t be introduced within this ceiling and ongoing projects also can’t be covered sufficiently. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Energy Secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire said bigger hydropower projects and transmission line projects including Upper Tamakoshi-5, Jagadulla, Dudhkoshi, Sunkoshi-3, Trishuli-4, Noumure have been proposed for the next fiscal year but the budget would not be sufficient for these projects. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“Projects related to production sector and rural hydropower and transmission projects don’t seem to get the budget,” he said. In such scenario, it is not possible to bring a new programme within the current ceiling.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The Ministry of Physical Planning and Infrastructure is also not satisfied with the budget ceiling. One of the officials informed that the ministry will not propose new projects in the coming fiscal year and has started preparations to complete the ongoing projects. He further added that the Ministry is preparing to propose the budget so that ongoing projects need not deal with resources crunch. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Ministry of Urban Development has also said that the proposed budget is not enough even for ongoing projects. It has proposed a dozen of programmes with the budget estimate of Rs 13.32 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has also asked to increase the budget ceiling. NPC has set a budget ceiling of Rs 46.12 billion for the ministry. Of it, Rs 16.53 billion has been fixed for current expenditure while Rs 29.59 billion has been set for capital expenditure. Secretary Eknarayan Aryal said there are many works that need to be done under this limit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">He said that the programme proposed by the government to connect all local units to district centers alone require a budget of Rs 1.5 billion. He said more funds are required to build local level administrative building. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Grants are provided to rural municipalities, municipalities and sub-metropolitan cities on behalf of the Federal Ministry to build local administrative buildings. The budget ceiling is insufficient as village council needs 60 percent, municipality needs 50 percent, and sub-metropolis needs 40 percent of the grant.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Though the ministries are dissatisfied over the budget ceiling for the upcoming fiscal year, they have been incapable of spending the current budget. The budgets of the ministries have been returned back as they have not been able to spend the budget on the allocated projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13053', 'image' => '20210422125513_1618956635.1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:54:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Parliamentary Committee Directs Govt to Resolve NTC Network Problems ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Parliamentarians attending a meeting of the Finance Committee under the House of Representatives on Wednesday asked the government to pay attention to the quality of NT service and its expansion to rural areas lacking its services. On the occasion, the parliamentarians held discussions with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on the budget implementation situation for the current fiscal year, 2020/21 and preparations for budget for the next FY, 2021/22. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Lawmaker Shyam Kumar Shrestha stressed the need for the expansion of 4G services to the reach of all people and the transformation of postal service into courier service. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Committee Chair Krishna Prasad Dahal suggested the government to introduce next policies and programmes that should provide job opportunities to information technology engineers at home, thus stopping brain drain. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Secretary at the ministry Hari Prasad Basyal said that the ministry was at work to complete a framework for making Nepal digital and it has been prioritised in budget for the next FY. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13052', 'image' => '20210422124335_20200326081545_NTC-launches-4G-in-Rara-Lake.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:43:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Traffic Police Creating Obstruction in Transportation of Daily Essentials ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential goods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential goods. This has affected the supply of essential goods since a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the lockdown period, vehicles carrying daily essential goods like lentils, rice, vegetables, milk, fish, and meat were allowed to run smoothly from six in the morning to eight in the evening.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> “But the traffic police have allowed such vehicles to operate from 11am in the morning to 4pm in the day since the last one month,” says Durga Raj Shrestha, president of Nepal Distributors Association. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“It is not appropriate to obstruct vehicles of daily consumer goods. This is an injustice to the consumers,” he adds.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Citing that the heavy vehicles have added traffic problems on the roads, Traffic Police have not allowed to run heavy vehicles. This has compelled traders to transport goods on small vehicles. Small vehicles can contain less volume of goods and require additional workers. This in turn has led to an increase in the cost from 5 percent to 10 percent. According to the traders, the increase in cost is adjusted by increasing the price of goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The Department of Commerce and Supply Management, which should have been involved in facilitating the supply system, is unaware about this obstruction. The Department is trying to avoid this issue saying it is the responsibility of the Department of Transport Management and Traffic Police.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Gogan Bahadur Hamal, Director General of DoTM, said the transporters should also support in traffic management and reducing overcrowding during COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Traffic Police however, are not ready to agree with the transporters. Shyam Adhikari, SP of Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, says vehicles carrying essential items like milk, medicine are allowed in the morning as well and vehicles carrying lentils, rice, noodles, biscuit are prohibited in the morning time and allowed in the day. He said that such provisions have been introduced to cope with the increasing traffic problems. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13051', 'image' => '20210422122414_20190410102147_ICP-Birgunj-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:23:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13305', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Railway in Final Stage of Preparations for Operation its Trains', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final stage.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria">April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final stage. The train engines purchase by the company is in parking lot since the last seven months. Guru Bhattarai, general manager of the company, informed that the company is preparing to bring the trains into operation within April.<br /> General Manager Bhattarai said that 100 employees and technicians are getting training to operate the trains. According to him, officials of the Konkan Railway Corporation of India have already arrived in Janakpur for the training.<br /> The company is managing the staff and technicians after the recruitment process of the Public Service Commission was canceled. The company had earlier announced vacancy for 129 employees on a contract basis on September 20.<br /> According to General Manager Bhattarai, the training will last for two weeks. However, the date for operating the trains has been repeatedly pushed back.<br /> Bhattarai said that the company is preparing to operate the train within April. However, there is still confusion as coronavirus infection is on the rise again. "There may be delays due to coronavirus, but preparations for the operation of the trains have reached the final stage," he said.<br /> Nepal had purchased two trains with five coaches from the Indian Konkan Railway Corporation Company for Rs 856.5 million exclusives of the customs duties.<br /> The Jayanagar-Janakpur-Bardiwas railway line under construction with the assistance of the Government of India is 69 kilometers long. In the first phase, the train will run along the 34 km section of Jayanagar-Janakpur route.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13050', 'image' => '20210421044248_20190325112130_Clipboard43-5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 16:41:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Committee Concerned Over Low Capital Spending of Infrastructure Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In order to find permanent solution to the weak budget implementation, waning capital spending and sluggish infrastructure development works, the Finance Committee this time has demanded updates from the leadership of all ministries on the status and challenges of budget implementation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Committee Chairperson Krishna Prasad Dahal shared that the committee held pre-budget discussion with the leadership of ministries related to development to address weak status of budget implementation despite directives from the parliamentary committees and the government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The ministries concerned had voiced their complaints before the committee that the challenges surfaced in the budget implementation due to deficit in coordination among the organizational structures of the three tiers of government, shortfall of human resource, hassles in public procurement work procedure and a long process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As informed it was disappointing that no ministry has so far exceeded 30 percent in its capital spending in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">On the occasion, Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MOFAGA) Ek Narayan Aryal shared that the ministry has witnessed an overall spending progress of 17.5 percent towards recurrent and 22.6 percent towards capital spending as of mid-April, 2021. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chair Dahal said, "Trends prevailed in the areas of capital spending and infrastructure development three years ago is still the same. There are some problems in public procurement act which has complicated our development process. As the work procedure has to be framed within mid-September for programme implementation, there are several instances when many have not yet placed it." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In a bid to improve weaknesses through annual policy and programme and budget, the parliament and parliamentary committee have been holding pre-budget discussions. The finance committee last year held pre-budget consultations with stakeholders, including local citizens, private sector and officials of province and local governments, in 11 different parts of the country beyond Kathmandu Valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The pre-budget discussion for the fiscal year 2021/22 budget was put off due to outbreak of coronavirus. This year the finance committee invited the leadership of ministries directly connected to the development and infrastructure at its meeting for pre-budget discussion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Informing about the status of budget implementation and transfer as of mid-April, Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yadav Koirala shared the ministry has made a physical progress of 60 percent and financial progress of 40 percent towards capital spending and 50 percent towards recurrent spending. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Finance Committee secretary Surendra Aryal said, "Just blaming coroanvirus and untimely budget was one thing but there was no visible reform. Based on the analysis of fiscal anarchy and pile up of arrears, the share of 10 ministries is around 90 percent. These ministries have also occupied a big chunk of capital spending." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The committee has so far received updates from leadership of the Ministries related to Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Urban, Energy, Hydropower and Irrigation, Drinking Water, Federal Affairs and General Administration, Finance, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Agriculture and Livestock on the issues and challenges of budget implementation, physical infrastructure development and status of capital spending. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The committee is making preparation to issue necessary directives to the ministries for policy, legal and structural reforms and management of human resource as well as to make them accountable following the completion of consultations. --RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13049', 'image' => '20210421015306_20200415120726_1586905834.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 13:52:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Popular Cars in Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><em>Rebati Adhikari</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. However, due to their limited routes, public transport is not properly managed yet. Easy accessibility and safety are still the major problems of public transport. Inefficient public transportation has led to high number of people opting for personal vehicles. Social distancing rules introduced after the emergence of coronavirus has further made the public feel private vehicles to be a necessity. Despite the higher rate of tax on private vehicles – 80 percent customs duty, the purchase of private cars has not declined. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In this context, New Business Age has enlisted some of the highest selling car brands and their models in the country. According to Automobiles Association of Nepal, Maruti Suzuki, Tata, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Ford are some of the popular car brands in the country. Highest selling models of these brands are given below:</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Maruti Suzuki</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/marutisuzuki-vitara-brezza-right-front-three-quarter3.jpeg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Maruti Suzuki is one of the highest selling car brands in the country. Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza leads the SUV segment sales, while Celerio is popular in hatchback segment and Eco van is third on the list of highest selling cars. According to Anup Kumar Baral, managing director at Narayani Auto Business Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer of Maruti Suzuki cars in the country, Vitara Brezza is a trouble-free SUV car. Due to the higher resale value and easy availability of spare parts with maximum service station, Maruti SUV leads the sales. According to him, Vitara Breza is also one of the highest selling SUVs from the brand. Vitara Brezza comes in a price range starting from Rs 4.4 million, while Celerio has a starting price range from Rs 2.5 million and Eco van is priced at Rs 1.3 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Tata</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/tata.jpg" style="height:442px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Tata is another popular car brand in the country with Nexon registering highest sales. “The foremost thing that puts Nexon on the lead is the safety it offers,” says Shawant Jung Sijapati, deputy general manager at Sipradi Trading Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer for Tata motors in the country. Nexon is India's first car to get five star rating in Global NCAP crash test by having seat belt reminder for passenger and driver in all variants of the brand. Its style is other quality that attracts drivers towards it. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It provides ground clearance of 209 mm and offer multi drive mode –city, eco and sports modes. Mileage and power vary according to driving modes. Eco mode offers more mileage, sport mode offers more power while city mode offers both mileage and power. Other major specifications of Nexon include 7" Harman Infotainment System, projector headlamp, dual airbags. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Launched in 2018 in Nepal, more than 2000 units have already been sold. It comes in prices ranging from Rs 4.35 million to Rs 5.25 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Hyundai</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Hyundai.jpeg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Hyundai Creta has recorded highest sale in individual SUV segment while Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS leads sale in Grand hatchback segment. Grand i10 NIOS is the improvised version of Grand i10. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“It is the premium car in the entry-level offered in hatchback segment,” says Sandeep Sharma, marketing head at Laxmi Intercontinental Pvt Ltd. Sharma also says that contemporary designs of the car, service network, high resale value are some of the major reasons for being top selling car in the country. Projector headlamps and fog lamps, body coloured bumpers, chrome door handles, blacked out B-pillar and window line give it the best contemporary look. It also comes with passenger and driver dual airbags, front seat belt pretensioner, rear parking sensors providing additional protection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Other features that come with Grand i10 NIOS are its 20.25 cm touchscreen Infotainment system, 13.46 cm digital speedometer, driver rear view monitor, automatic temperature control, bench folding rear seat. It is available in three variants - Magna, Magna AMT, Sportz. Magna is priced at Rs 3.15 million and Magna AMT and Sports are priced at Rs 3.45 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Volkswagen </em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/polo.jpg" style="height:530px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It has been ten years since Volkswagen Polo has been launched and more than 5,000 units have been sold since then. Polo 1.0 TSI is the latest model in the Polo segment. Bishal Ghimire, business head at Pooja International Nepal Private Limited, the authorized dealer of Volkswagen in the country said, the there has been no ups and down in performance of the vehicle since the launch. It provides consistency in terms of performance. Customers who have understood about the value for the money, stability of the vehicle go for Volkswagen Polo, says Ghimire. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Resale value, four-stars safety rating, design, highway stability put VW Polo in the highest selling car list. It price ranges from Rs 3.09 million to Rs 4.75 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Ford</strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/ford_ecos.jpg" style="height:533px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Launched in 2013, Ford EcoSport gives the best value for money starting from the price Rs 3.69 million to Rs 5.09 million. The built-in quality, rider handling, highway stability, driving dynamics of Ford EcoSport has succeeded in retaining the customers, says Binay Shrestha, showroom manager of Ford Thapathali. According to Shrestha, it is a trendsetter in sub-compact SUV segment. Capacity sensors, sunroof, six airbags are introduced for the first time in this segment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It provides 200 mm of ground clearance and 1500 cc engine generating power of 122ps. Petrol engine EcoSport is available in five variants. Of them, Trend M/T and Titanium M/T variants are more popular in the market. Features may vary depending on the variants. Titanium offers Hill-launch Assist, electronic stability control, electronic brake assist, sunglass holder, smart electric sunroof while Trend has rear wiper, defogger, automatic AC, reverse parking area.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13048', 'image' => '20210421014512_20160905121337_nada.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 13:44:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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The meeting also decided to strictly monitor the flow of people into the valley.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">All gatherings including seminars, and conferences have been banned, while entertainment centres, cinema halls, gym, sports clubs, libraries, museums and zoo will also remain closed. <br /> In case of marriages, the authorities have decided to allow a maximum of 15 people attend the function. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">As per the decision, only vehicles carrying essential goods as well as ambulances carrying sick people, and those used by health workers and security persons will be allowed to ply on the streets. Government vehicles will require permits issued by the concerned ministry. <br /> The meeting has decided to allow grocery shops remain open until 10 in the morning and 5 to 7 in the evening. However, they need to follow the prescribed health protocols. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16px">The prohibitory order will remain in force until May 5. During this period, anyone entering the Kathmandu valley will have to stay in quarantine and home isolation as prescribed by the concerned local level. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-27', 'modified' => '2021-04-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13062', 'image' => '20210427102436_20200903113103_1599056781.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-27 10:22:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13316', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Finance Minister Pledges to Address Genuine Concerns of Entrepreneurs ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 25: Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel has said that maximum efforts would be made to accommodate the genuine concerns and recommendations of the youth entrepreneurs in the upcoming fiscal year's annual budget. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 25: Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel has said that maximum efforts would be made to accommodate the genuine concerns and recommendations of the youth entrepreneurs in the upcoming fiscal year's annual budget. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Receiving feedback from youth entrepreneurs on the new budget on Saturday, the finance minister assured to meet the demands of the entrepreneurs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He, however, said that he cannot make public what are the genuine issues and are possible to be incorporated in the budget since he was in the process of budget making. The minister added that the incumbent government was in favour of the youth entrepreneurs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">On the occasion, Minister Poudel underscored the need to prepare the budget in a new manner based on the lessons learnt from COVID-19 and its impacts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He was of the view that some policy-level reforms were needed for the recovery of the country's economy. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-25', 'modified' => '2021-04-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13061', 'image' => '20210425100924_20210110034934_1610265858.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-25 10:08:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13315', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import of Gold up in the Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 25: Nepal imported more gold in between mid-March and mid-April of the current fiscal year than the average import in other months.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 25: Nepal imported more gold in between mid-March and mid-April of the current fiscal year than the average import in other months. In other months of the current year, gold worth Rs 2.14 billion in average was being bought into the country from abroad. However, in April, gold worth Rs 3.27 billion was imported.<br /> According to the data released by the customs department, 460 kg of gold has entered Nepal in the review month. On an average, 300 kg of gold has been imported each month this year.<br /> <br /> However, according to the customs department, the import of gold has surged between mid-March and mid-April. It is due to the wedding season. In Nepal, the number of weddings is higher in the months of April and May.<br /> Marriages in Nepal are believed to be incomplete without gold. Due to this belief, gold consumption is high in Nepal during the wedding season. Therefore, gold imports have been increasing in April.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">President of the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association Manika Ratna Shakya said that the import of gold has increased due to the wedding season. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">"Gold consumption is higher in April due to the wedding season. Given the same situation, we have increased the import of gold than in the previous month," he said. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">He said that more than 500 kg of gold has been imported in the first week of April alone. Shakya estimates that the gold business is likely to go up if the surge in coronavirus remains under control.<br /> The import volume of gold has been increased from 10 kg per day to 20 kg compared to last April. <br /> Commercial banks enjoy the right to import gold in Nepal. Banks have been importing gold in collaboration with the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association.<br /> In the current fiscal year, gold worth Rs 19.31 billion has been shipped in, which is 43.46 percent more than the corresponding period of last year.<br /> According to the customs department, gold entrepreneurs have imported 2,760 kg of gold in the current fiscal year.<br /> Gold business in Nepal had come to a standstill during the start of the current fiscal year as the economy was hit by the coronavirus pandemic and the price of gold had also skyrocketed. However, import of gold is on the rise recently due to the open market demand.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-25', 'modified' => '2021-04-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13060', 'image' => '20210425100433_20201203030905_1606953115.Clipboard16.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-25 10:03:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13314', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'UN Association of Nepal Launches Book Consisting Articles of 25 Eminent Personalities', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 24: The UN Association of Nepal organized a book launch programme at Hotel Yellow Pagoda, Kathmandu, on April 22. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 24: The UN Association of Nepal organized a book launch programme at Hotel Yellow Pagoda, Kathmandu, on April 22. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">The book entitled ‘Nepal’s Foreign Policy and United Nations’ consisting of 25 articles by eminent personalities like foreign secretary, former foreign secretaries, former ambassadors, academics and intellectuals was launched by Nepal’s Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">The programme was chaired by Associate Professor Dambar Bir Thapa, president of the association.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">According to a statement issued by the association, its Co-President Radhesh Pant delivered the welcome speech, while Professor Dr Mohan P Lohani, a former ambassador, thanked the contributors for their cooperation in making the publication possible on time. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Dr Nishchal Nath Pandey, director of Center for South Asian Studies, reviewed the book and congratulated the association for bringing out the book to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the UN and the 65th anniversary of Nepal’s UN membership.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal highlighted the salient features of Nepal’s foreign policy and lauded the UN for its role in dealing with issues pertaining to sustainable development, climate change and financing for development, among others. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">According to the association, Chief Guest Foreign Minister Gyawali distributed certificates of appreciation to the contributors.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-24', 'modified' => '2021-04-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13059', 'image' => '20210424075928_les-nacio.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-24 19:58:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13313', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'FDI Lower than Expected', 'sub_title' => 'In two and a half decades, Nepal has only received Rs 110 billion.', 'summary' => 'April 23: Although Nepal expects to attract a large amount of foreign direct investment (FDI), the actual investment has been marginal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 23: Although Nepal expects to attract a large amount of foreign direct investment (FDI), the actual investment has been marginal. However, the country has been holding investment conferences to attract huge FDIs but has only received Rs 110 billion so far, which is 34.1 percent of the total commitment amount. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Although foreign investors have expressed their intention and commitment to bring billions of rupees to Nepal in investment conferences held at different times, it seems that the country has received very little investment. A report on 'Foreign Direct Investment in Nepal' released by Nepal Rastra Bank on April 21 shows that the investment received by Nepal is not in accordance to the investment approved by the foreign investors.<br /> From FY 2052/53 to FY 2076/77, Nepal has approved FDIs of Rs 325.52 billion. However, the actual investment received by the country is much less than the commitment made by the investors. The Department of Industry and the Investment Board of Nepal (IBN) register the projects comprising foreign investment. The amount received by the registered projects is also less. In some years, it has been observed that the outflow of money from the country seems to be more than the</span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> inflow of investment.<br /> The government held an investment summit in March 2017 BS and 2019 to attract foreign investment.<br /> Likewise, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), a private sector organization, held the 'Nepal Infrastructure Conference' in August 2018.<br /> Nepal is eager to attract foreign investment, but there are procedural and policy hurdles. Issues like investment security have discouraged investors to invest. Even if the foreign investment projects are registered and approved, not all investments come in the same year.<br /> For the first time, the government has made a provision to bring 100 percent amount of the approved investment within 1 to 2 years</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">By amending the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer (FITTA) Rules-2077 BS.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Board of Investment Radhesh Pant said that regulation was made as the investors would not invest in the absence of a conducive environment.<br /> According to a survey conducted by the Central Bank in 2060/61, Nepal approved an FDI of Rs 2.76 billion but received zero investment.<br /> "South Asian countries like the Maldives and Bhutan have received more FDI than Nepal," added Panta.<br /> He said that even though the Investment Board was established to attract investment, but nothing has improved. He argues that the tendency of government not to consider the private sector as a partner is less likely to attract investment even by partnering with foreign investors.<br /> How will investors come when there are multiple hurdles, argues Pant. The government needs to facilitate investors' by making the compliance hassle-free from project registration to the field, he questioned.<br /> He suggests that the investment will only increase if the project bank shows that Nepal is safe for investment.<br /> According to the central bank, in some years, investors have taken away around 23 percent of the approved FDI, out of Nepal. In 2058/59, 23.3 percent of the investment approved by Nepal was taken back by foreign investors. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the NRB report, 51.1 percent or half of the amount approved in Nepal in 2076/77 has already come in. This year, Rs. 38.15 billion has been approved, while Nepal has already received Rs. 19.47 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-23', 'modified' => '2021-04-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13058', 'image' => '20210423103303_2-702x336.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-23 10:32:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13312', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Commercial Banks’ Lending Increases by 25%', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 23: The lending of commercial banks has increased by 25.63 percent in the last eight months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 23: The lending of commercial banks has increased by 25.63 percent in the last eight months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. Though the COVID-19 has extremely affected the country’s economy as a whole, the business of banking institutions remains an exception. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In the review period, 27 commercial banks have disbursed additional loans of Rs729 billion. With the increase in the lending, a total of Rs 3,573 billion loans have been disbursed until the month of April by the commercial banks. In the review period of the last fiscal year, banks had given loan of Rs 2,844 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Commercial banks were operating partially for three months since the lockdown was imposed on March 24 last year. Yet, the business of commercial banks has been satisfactory. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Lately, rise of COVID-19 cases and approaching second wave of the virus has presented challenges to the expansion of the business, says Bhuwan Kumar Dahal, president of Nepal Bankers’ Association. He expressed concern that most of the businesses might get affected again. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Mahesh Sharma Dhakal, Deputy CEO of Global IME Bank, said apart from the tourism industry, loans have been disbursed in other sectors and therefore the situation is not so discouraging so far. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Lending of the banking institutions has gradually improved. NIC Asia has the highest total lending among the banks. NIC Asia Bank had announced various schemes from the beginning of the current fiscal year to attract borrowers. The bank has increased loans to the borrowers by 48.48 percent in the current fiscal year. With the increase in lending, the total lending of the bank has reached Rs 259 billion. Until the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, it had extended loan of Rs 175 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Mega Bank is second in the list of banks to have increased the lending in the review period of the current fiscal year. Mega Bank has increased its lending by 69.86 percent in the review period and disbursed credit amount of Rs 138 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Kumari Bank has succeeded to disburse loan of Rs 43.2 billion and its total lending amount has reached to Rs 134 billion. Similarly, Nabil Bank has extended its lending by 27.88 percent and disbursed total loan of Rs 193 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prabhu Bank, Citizens International Bank, Global IME Bank have extended an additional loan of Rs 40.86 billion, Rs 37.93 billion and Rs 34.39 billion respectively. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Global IME Bank has increased its total loan facility by 17.10 percent to Rs 235 billion. During the COVID-19 pandemic it had provided Rs 201 billion loan in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Dhakal, Deputy CEO of the Global IME Bank, said the bank has not been able to increase the loan as expected in one year but it is satisfactory. He said that the bank still has sufficient capital for investment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“If there were enough economic activities, it would require investment in infrastructure and demand for raw materials would increase accordingly. The rise in economic activities would give a boost to lending however, the lending flow is still satisfactory,” Dhakal said. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-23', 'modified' => '2021-04-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13057', 'image' => '20210423101552_20200601032952_bank lending.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-23 10:15:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13311', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PATA Nepal Chapter organizes the fourth PATA Youth Talent Quest ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 23: PATA Nepal Chapter organized the 4th PATA Youth Talent Quest (YTQ 2021) in collaboration with PATA Nepal Student Chapter, and support from various organizations and sponsors. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The PATA Nepal Chapter introduced five key competitions under PATA YTQ 2021that include Public Speaking Competition, Tourism and Hospitality Quiz, PATA Futsal Tournament, Content Writing Competition and YTP Chefs Competition. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The YTQ 2021 kicked off with Public Speaking Competition on 16th April 2021 at GATE College, Mandikhatar. According to PATA Nepal, Samikchha Bhattarai from GATE College was announced the winner of the Public Speaking Competition. Similarly, Sijal Kunwar from NATHM College and Sudha Shakya from GCI were declared as 1st and 2nd runners up respectively.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Similarly, the "Tourism and Hospitality Quiz" was held on 17th April 2021 at Mid-Valley Int'l College. Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hospitality (NATHM), Kathmandu Academy of Tourism and Hospitality (KATH), and Mid-Valley International College (MVIC) secured the top three positions in the competition respectively. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"> <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, the "Content Writing Competition" held on 18th April 2021 at GCI College, Mid-Baneshwor. Anushka Pradhan from NATHM was delcared the Winner, while Akriti Raut from LACM and Swostika Sapkota from NCTTM finished second and third respectively.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> The Futsal Tournament was also organized under YTQ 2021 on 19th April 2021, wherein Global Academy of Tourism and Hospitality Education (Boys) and Global International College (Girls) became champions defeating LACM and NCTTM respectively in the final. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Owing to the increasing COVID cases and complying with the recent decision by the Government of Nepal, PATA Nepal Chapter said it has decided to postpone the "YTP Chefs Competition" of PATA YTQ2021, which was supposed to be held on April 24th, 2021 under the theme "Exploring Authentic Nepali Cuisine", the A press statement released by PATA read.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times">Youth Talent Quest (YTQ) is <span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">an annual event by PATA Nepal Chapter, engaging Young Tourism Professionals (YTPs) that provides a platform among the students from PATA Nepal Chapter member colleges to compete and showcase their multifaceted talents, knowledge, and skills, the organiser said in a statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The annual event aims to uncover talented young tourism professionals and further empower them with the necessary training, involvement, and exposure to PATA Nepal Chapter programs and activities, and engaging them in the best possible way to carve their successful future endeavors, the statement added. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-23', 'modified' => '2021-04-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13056', 'image' => '20210423100044_1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-23 09:59:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13310', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal and Thailand to Promote Religious Tourism', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Nepal and Thailand have agreed to cooperate with each other for promoting religious tourism. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria">April 22: Nepal and Thailand have agreed to cooperate with each other for promoting religious tourism. Nepal Tourism Board’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Dhananjay Regmi and Thailand’s Ambassador to Nepal Vosita Vorasaph during a meeting held on Tuesday, April 20, emphasized that the two countries will work together for the promotion of tourism in each other's countries.<br /> During the meeting, they discussed the increasing number of religious tourists coming to Nepal from Thailand and vice versa.<br /> Likewise, Regmi informed that Nepal is the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, and as Thailand is a Buddhist country, Nepal is a religious tourist destination for the Thai population.<br /> Stating that around 3,000 Thai tourists visit Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, annually, CEO Regmi said that the board is taking initiative to take Thai tourists to other places associated with the Buddha.<br /> "Work is being done to connect Kapilvastu and Ramgram with Lumbini in line with the concept of Buddha Circuit. It will also help tourists to know about Buddha and prolong their stay, according to Regmi. Stating that the government media in Thailand and the government media in Nepal can work together to promote Nepal in Thailand, Regmi said that the two friendly nations will take initiatives to promote religious tourism.<br /> During the meeting, the Thai Ambassador informed that the religious and cultural relations between Nepal and Thailand are good and Lumbini is a major attraction for Thai tourists. He said that the number of Thai tourists could increase after the construction of Gautam Buddha International Airport in Lumbini.<br /> He also said that he was positive to promote Nepal in Thailand.<br /> During the meeting, discussions were held on the continuation of the friendly visit programmes of the diplomats of the two countries and the exchange of good tourism practices.<br /> Given the recent state of Covid-19, the two countries have agreed to emphasize cooperation and promotion. Thailand is one of the top 10 tourist destinations for Nepalis.<br /> Meanwhile, 41,653 Thai tourists visited Nepal in 2019.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13055', 'image' => '20210422053514_IMG_3845(1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 17:34:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13309', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Shipping Companies Hike Fare Arbitrarily', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Shipping companies providing transportation services to Nepali businessmen for overseas trade have hiked their fare arbitrarily.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">April 22: Shipping companies providing transportation services to Nepali businessmen for overseas trade have hiked their fare arbitrarily.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Times">Nepali importers complain that the shipping companies have raised the fares by almost four folds.<br /> Ganesh Prasad Lath, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Province 2, claimed that the shipping companies have increased the fares up to four times in the last seven months. He said that the transportation cost per container from China and European countries used to be US$ 1,500 before last September, but now it has been increased to US$ 6,000.<br /> Earlier, the shipping companies had been transporting 40-feet long containers to the dry port of Birgunj for US$ 1,500. “Shipping companies have increased container fares to make the best out of the growing production and trade after the lockdown. This has increased the cost of imported goods and also the local products,” said Lath.<br /> Entrepreneurs claim that consumer prices have been affected due to the increase in the transportation cost of imported goods. Prices of food and other daily necessities have skyrocketed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Although production and trade had declined with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, demand has risen as conditions have returned to normalcy.<br /> Trade with third countries has also improved since Nepal lifted the lockdown in last September.<br /> Importer Navneet Agrawal said that the shipping companies raised the fare to gain from the growing demand for transportation with the growth in volume of trade.<br /> “Foreign trade, which came to a halt during the lockdown, naturally increased as it became convenient after lockdown was lifted. On this occasion, the shipping companies increased the fare,” Agrawal informed New Business Age.<br /> This not only increased the price of products but also the cost of domestic production with the growth in the price of imported raw materials.<br /> Importer Om Prakash More shared that the shipping companies have been increasing the fare every week.</span></span></span><br /> <span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal’s Consulate in Kolkata is not aware of the increase in container fares. However, Consul General Ishwar Raj Poudel said that the shipping companies have not made any formal/ informal announcement about the change in price.<br /> "Importers have not reported any increase in fares so far. If anyone informs us about such a problem, we are always ready to facilitate them,” said Poudel.<br /> President Lath has urged the government to take initiative to reduce the fare.<br /> "Shipping companies do not heed importer requests. The solution will only come out if the government takes effective initiative. The government could reduce fares by taking a policy of incentives for low-cost shipping companies," he added.<br /> "The trade, which had come to a standstill during the coronavirus pandemic, has grown in recent times. As trade increased, so did the demand for containers. This is an opportunity for shipping companies to make fast money,” said More.</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13054', 'image' => '20210422052840_20201015050305_1602718767.Clipboard09.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 17:27:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13308', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ministries Dissatisfied Over Budget Ceiling', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Ministries have expressed dissatisfaction over the budget ceiling set by the National Planning Commission (NPC) for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2021/22).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 22: Ministries have expressed dissatisfaction over the budget ceiling set by the National Planning Commission (NPC) for the upcoming fiscal year (FY 2021/22).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The ministries are dissatisfied since the NPC has set the ceiling with a slight increase only compared to the last fiscal year, assessing that the government's possible measures to contain the second wave of coronavirus might adversely affect government resources.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Ministries including Agriculture and Livestock Development, Urban Development, Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Federal Affairs and General Administration have demanded to increase the limit saying it is extremely low. However, the NPC has not yet fixed the budget for all ministries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the pre-budget briefing initiated by Parliamentary Finance Committee from this week, ministries have said that they will be unable to bring new programmes under the ceiling set by the NPC. The Finance Committee of parliament had discussed the issue with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD) during the briefing. The ministry has got a budget ceiling of Rs 36.23 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">According to Yogendra Kumar Karki, Secretary of MOALD, this budget will be insufficient even for the ongoing projects. He said that the new projects can’t be introduced within this ceiling and ongoing projects also can’t be covered sufficiently. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Energy Secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire said bigger hydropower projects and transmission line projects including Upper Tamakoshi-5, Jagadulla, Dudhkoshi, Sunkoshi-3, Trishuli-4, Noumure have been proposed for the next fiscal year but the budget would not be sufficient for these projects. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“Projects related to production sector and rural hydropower and transmission projects don’t seem to get the budget,” he said. In such scenario, it is not possible to bring a new programme within the current ceiling.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The Ministry of Physical Planning and Infrastructure is also not satisfied with the budget ceiling. One of the officials informed that the ministry will not propose new projects in the coming fiscal year and has started preparations to complete the ongoing projects. He further added that the Ministry is preparing to propose the budget so that ongoing projects need not deal with resources crunch. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Ministry of Urban Development has also said that the proposed budget is not enough even for ongoing projects. It has proposed a dozen of programmes with the budget estimate of Rs 13.32 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration has also asked to increase the budget ceiling. NPC has set a budget ceiling of Rs 46.12 billion for the ministry. Of it, Rs 16.53 billion has been fixed for current expenditure while Rs 29.59 billion has been set for capital expenditure. Secretary Eknarayan Aryal said there are many works that need to be done under this limit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">He said that the programme proposed by the government to connect all local units to district centers alone require a budget of Rs 1.5 billion. He said more funds are required to build local level administrative building. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Grants are provided to rural municipalities, municipalities and sub-metropolitan cities on behalf of the Federal Ministry to build local administrative buildings. The budget ceiling is insufficient as village council needs 60 percent, municipality needs 50 percent, and sub-metropolis needs 40 percent of the grant.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Though the ministries are dissatisfied over the budget ceiling for the upcoming fiscal year, they have been incapable of spending the current budget. The budgets of the ministries have been returned back as they have not been able to spend the budget on the allocated projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13053', 'image' => '20210422125513_1618956635.1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:54:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Parliamentary Committee Directs Govt to Resolve NTC Network Problems ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 21: A parliamentary committee has directed the government to resolve problems surrounding networks of Nepal Telecom in rural areas at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Parliamentarians attending a meeting of the Finance Committee under the House of Representatives on Wednesday asked the government to pay attention to the quality of NT service and its expansion to rural areas lacking its services. On the occasion, the parliamentarians held discussions with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology on the budget implementation situation for the current fiscal year, 2020/21 and preparations for budget for the next FY, 2021/22. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Lawmaker Shyam Kumar Shrestha stressed the need for the expansion of 4G services to the reach of all people and the transformation of postal service into courier service. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Committee Chair Krishna Prasad Dahal suggested the government to introduce next policies and programmes that should provide job opportunities to information technology engineers at home, thus stopping brain drain. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Secretary at the ministry Hari Prasad Basyal said that the ministry was at work to complete a framework for making Nepal digital and it has been prioritised in budget for the next FY. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13052', 'image' => '20210422124335_20200326081545_NTC-launches-4G-in-Rara-Lake.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:43:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Traffic Police Creating Obstruction in Transportation of Daily Essentials ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential goods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 22: Traffic Police have been found creating obstruction in the transportation of the daily essential goods. This has affected the supply of essential goods since a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">During the lockdown period, vehicles carrying daily essential goods like lentils, rice, vegetables, milk, fish, and meat were allowed to run smoothly from six in the morning to eight in the evening.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> “But the traffic police have allowed such vehicles to operate from 11am in the morning to 4pm in the day since the last one month,” says Durga Raj Shrestha, president of Nepal Distributors Association. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“It is not appropriate to obstruct vehicles of daily consumer goods. This is an injustice to the consumers,” he adds.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Citing that the heavy vehicles have added traffic problems on the roads, Traffic Police have not allowed to run heavy vehicles. This has compelled traders to transport goods on small vehicles. Small vehicles can contain less volume of goods and require additional workers. This in turn has led to an increase in the cost from 5 percent to 10 percent. According to the traders, the increase in cost is adjusted by increasing the price of goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The Department of Commerce and Supply Management, which should have been involved in facilitating the supply system, is unaware about this obstruction. The Department is trying to avoid this issue saying it is the responsibility of the Department of Transport Management and Traffic Police.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Gogan Bahadur Hamal, Director General of DoTM, said the transporters should also support in traffic management and reducing overcrowding during COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Traffic Police however, are not ready to agree with the transporters. Shyam Adhikari, SP of Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, says vehicles carrying essential items like milk, medicine are allowed in the morning as well and vehicles carrying lentils, rice, noodles, biscuit are prohibited in the morning time and allowed in the day. He said that such provisions have been introduced to cope with the increasing traffic problems. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-22', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13051', 'image' => '20210422122414_20190410102147_ICP-Birgunj-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-22 12:23:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13305', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Railway in Final Stage of Preparations for Operation its Trains', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final stage.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria">April 21: The Nepal Railway Company has stated that the preparations for operating its trains have reached the final stage. The train engines purchase by the company is in parking lot since the last seven months. Guru Bhattarai, general manager of the company, informed that the company is preparing to bring the trains into operation within April.<br /> General Manager Bhattarai said that 100 employees and technicians are getting training to operate the trains. According to him, officials of the Konkan Railway Corporation of India have already arrived in Janakpur for the training.<br /> The company is managing the staff and technicians after the recruitment process of the Public Service Commission was canceled. The company had earlier announced vacancy for 129 employees on a contract basis on September 20.<br /> According to General Manager Bhattarai, the training will last for two weeks. However, the date for operating the trains has been repeatedly pushed back.<br /> Bhattarai said that the company is preparing to operate the train within April. However, there is still confusion as coronavirus infection is on the rise again. "There may be delays due to coronavirus, but preparations for the operation of the trains have reached the final stage," he said.<br /> Nepal had purchased two trains with five coaches from the Indian Konkan Railway Corporation Company for Rs 856.5 million exclusives of the customs duties.<br /> The Jayanagar-Janakpur-Bardiwas railway line under construction with the assistance of the Government of India is 69 kilometers long. In the first phase, the train will run along the 34 km section of Jayanagar-Janakpur route.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13050', 'image' => '20210421044248_20190325112130_Clipboard43-5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 16:41:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Committee Concerned Over Low Capital Spending of Infrastructure Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 21: The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR) is receiving updates from all ministries and concerned agencies regarding questions that has been raised on the issues of budget implementation, capital spending, development goals, staff management and public procurement process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In order to find permanent solution to the weak budget implementation, waning capital spending and sluggish infrastructure development works, the Finance Committee this time has demanded updates from the leadership of all ministries on the status and challenges of budget implementation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Committee Chairperson Krishna Prasad Dahal shared that the committee held pre-budget discussion with the leadership of ministries related to development to address weak status of budget implementation despite directives from the parliamentary committees and the government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The ministries concerned had voiced their complaints before the committee that the challenges surfaced in the budget implementation due to deficit in coordination among the organizational structures of the three tiers of government, shortfall of human resource, hassles in public procurement work procedure and a long process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As informed it was disappointing that no ministry has so far exceeded 30 percent in its capital spending in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">On the occasion, Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (MOFAGA) Ek Narayan Aryal shared that the ministry has witnessed an overall spending progress of 17.5 percent towards recurrent and 22.6 percent towards capital spending as of mid-April, 2021. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Chair Dahal said, "Trends prevailed in the areas of capital spending and infrastructure development three years ago is still the same. There are some problems in public procurement act which has complicated our development process. As the work procedure has to be framed within mid-September for programme implementation, there are several instances when many have not yet placed it." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">In a bid to improve weaknesses through annual policy and programme and budget, the parliament and parliamentary committee have been holding pre-budget discussions. The finance committee last year held pre-budget consultations with stakeholders, including local citizens, private sector and officials of province and local governments, in 11 different parts of the country beyond Kathmandu Valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The pre-budget discussion for the fiscal year 2021/22 budget was put off due to outbreak of coronavirus. This year the finance committee invited the leadership of ministries directly connected to the development and infrastructure at its meeting for pre-budget discussion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Informing about the status of budget implementation and transfer as of mid-April, Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Yadav Koirala shared the ministry has made a physical progress of 60 percent and financial progress of 40 percent towards capital spending and 50 percent towards recurrent spending. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Finance Committee secretary Surendra Aryal said, "Just blaming coroanvirus and untimely budget was one thing but there was no visible reform. Based on the analysis of fiscal anarchy and pile up of arrears, the share of 10 ministries is around 90 percent. These ministries have also occupied a big chunk of capital spending." </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The committee has so far received updates from leadership of the Ministries related to Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Urban, Energy, Hydropower and Irrigation, Drinking Water, Federal Affairs and General Administration, Finance, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Agriculture and Livestock on the issues and challenges of budget implementation, physical infrastructure development and status of capital spending. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The committee is making preparation to issue necessary directives to the ministries for policy, legal and structural reforms and management of human resource as well as to make them accountable following the completion of consultations. --RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13049', 'image' => '20210421015306_20200415120726_1586905834.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 13:52:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '13303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Popular Cars in Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><em>Rebati Adhikari</em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In recent years, the country’s road has seen mass transit buses with more carrying capacity. However, due to their limited routes, public transport is not properly managed yet. Easy accessibility and safety are still the major problems of public transport. Inefficient public transportation has led to high number of people opting for personal vehicles. Social distancing rules introduced after the emergence of coronavirus has further made the public feel private vehicles to be a necessity. Despite the higher rate of tax on private vehicles – 80 percent customs duty, the purchase of private cars has not declined. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">In this context, New Business Age has enlisted some of the highest selling car brands and their models in the country. According to Automobiles Association of Nepal, Maruti Suzuki, Tata, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Ford are some of the popular car brands in the country. Highest selling models of these brands are given below:</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Maruti Suzuki</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/marutisuzuki-vitara-brezza-right-front-three-quarter3.jpeg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Maruti Suzuki is one of the highest selling car brands in the country. Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza leads the SUV segment sales, while Celerio is popular in hatchback segment and Eco van is third on the list of highest selling cars. According to Anup Kumar Baral, managing director at Narayani Auto Business Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer of Maruti Suzuki cars in the country, Vitara Brezza is a trouble-free SUV car. Due to the higher resale value and easy availability of spare parts with maximum service station, Maruti SUV leads the sales. According to him, Vitara Breza is also one of the highest selling SUVs from the brand. Vitara Brezza comes in a price range starting from Rs 4.4 million, while Celerio has a starting price range from Rs 2.5 million and Eco van is priced at Rs 1.3 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Tata</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/tata.jpg" style="height:442px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Tata is another popular car brand in the country with Nexon registering highest sales. “The foremost thing that puts Nexon on the lead is the safety it offers,” says Shawant Jung Sijapati, deputy general manager at Sipradi Trading Pvt Ltd, the authorized dealer for Tata motors in the country. Nexon is India's first car to get five star rating in Global NCAP crash test by having seat belt reminder for passenger and driver in all variants of the brand. Its style is other quality that attracts drivers towards it. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It provides ground clearance of 209 mm and offer multi drive mode –city, eco and sports modes. Mileage and power vary according to driving modes. Eco mode offers more mileage, sport mode offers more power while city mode offers both mileage and power. Other major specifications of Nexon include 7" Harman Infotainment System, projector headlamp, dual airbags. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Launched in 2018 in Nepal, more than 2000 units have already been sold. It comes in prices ranging from Rs 4.35 million to Rs 5.25 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Hyundai</em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Hyundai.jpeg" style="height:451px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Hyundai Creta has recorded highest sale in individual SUV segment while Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS leads sale in Grand hatchback segment. Grand i10 NIOS is the improvised version of Grand i10. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“It is the premium car in the entry-level offered in hatchback segment,” says Sandeep Sharma, marketing head at Laxmi Intercontinental Pvt Ltd. Sharma also says that contemporary designs of the car, service network, high resale value are some of the major reasons for being top selling car in the country. Projector headlamps and fog lamps, body coloured bumpers, chrome door handles, blacked out B-pillar and window line give it the best contemporary look. It also comes with passenger and driver dual airbags, front seat belt pretensioner, rear parking sensors providing additional protection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Other features that come with Grand i10 NIOS are its 20.25 cm touchscreen Infotainment system, 13.46 cm digital speedometer, driver rear view monitor, automatic temperature control, bench folding rear seat. It is available in three variants - Magna, Magna AMT, Sportz. Magna is priced at Rs 3.15 million and Magna AMT and Sports are priced at Rs 3.45 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong><em>Volkswagen </em></strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/polo.jpg" style="height:530px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It has been ten years since Volkswagen Polo has been launched and more than 5,000 units have been sold since then. Polo 1.0 TSI is the latest model in the Polo segment. Bishal Ghimire, business head at Pooja International Nepal Private Limited, the authorized dealer of Volkswagen in the country said, the there has been no ups and down in performance of the vehicle since the launch. It provides consistency in terms of performance. Customers who have understood about the value for the money, stability of the vehicle go for Volkswagen Polo, says Ghimire. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Resale value, four-stars safety rating, design, highway stability put VW Polo in the highest selling car list. It price ranges from Rs 3.09 million to Rs 4.75 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Ford</strong></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/ford_ecos.jpg" style="height:533px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Launched in 2013, Ford EcoSport gives the best value for money starting from the price Rs 3.69 million to Rs 5.09 million. The built-in quality, rider handling, highway stability, driving dynamics of Ford EcoSport has succeeded in retaining the customers, says Binay Shrestha, showroom manager of Ford Thapathali. According to Shrestha, it is a trendsetter in sub-compact SUV segment. Capacity sensors, sunroof, six airbags are introduced for the first time in this segment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri">It provides 200 mm of ground clearance and 1500 cc engine generating power of 122ps. Petrol engine EcoSport is available in five variants. Of them, Trend M/T and Titanium M/T variants are more popular in the market. Features may vary depending on the variants. Titanium offers Hill-launch Assist, electronic stability control, electronic brake assist, sunglass holder, smart electric sunroof while Trend has rear wiper, defogger, automatic AC, reverse parking area.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-04-21', 'modified' => '2021-04-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13048', 'image' => '20210421014512_20160905121337_nada.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-04-21 13:44:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $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
