April 7: The government has extended the nationwide lockdown for the third…
April 7: The government has extended the nationwide lockdown for the third…
April 7: The Supreme Court has issued an order to the government to distribute relief focusing people eking out a living through labour and those whose earning has been interrupted, by maintaining transparency in relief distribution.…
April 7: Maha Prasad Adhikari has been appointed as the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank…
April 7: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has decided to allow families of students studying abroad to make foreign exchange equivalent to USD 500 without ‘No Objection Certificate’…
April 6: India has restricted the export of medicines and equipment used for the treatment of coronavirus as the country grapples with surging cases of the deadly virus.…
April 6: The Ministry of Health and Population has requested anyone who has come into contact with foreign returnees to stay in quarantine for at least 15…
April 6: Following widespread criticism in procurement of essential supplies and medical kits through a private company, the government has decided to adopt G2G and B2G models to purchase the supplies to fight…
April 6: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the government to ensure health-related rights of every citizen by making arrangements for treatments of patients suffering from all types of serious diseases including coronavirus.…
April 6: Goods produced in Nepal can be exported to India without Certificate of Origin during the lockdown…
April 5: The government has prepared guidelines to allow infrastructure projects and essential food industries to resume their operations.…
April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period.…
April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the…
April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5).…
April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country.…
April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy.…
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A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday decided to extend the lockdown until April 15. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">The lockdown, which was first imposed on March 24 for a week, was expiring on Tuesday midnight. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">The cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli decided to extend the lockdown upon the recommendation of the high-level committee to prevent the spread of Covid-19, informed government spokesperson Yuba Raj Khatiwada.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">The latest decision was taken after new cases of coronavirus were reported in Sudur Paschim Province, including a locally-transmitted case which has worried the health workers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">Experts believe that Nepal is now in the second phase of transmission of the deadly disease, which has infected more than 1.3 million people worldwide and claimed more than 74,000 lives. The virus which is believed to have originated in China’s Wuhan has spread to 209 countries so far.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">All services in Nepal except for essential and emergency ones remain suspended and people have been confined inside their homes due to the extended lockdown, which will enter the third week from Wednesday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia"> Meanwhile, all domestic and international flights remain suspended across the country.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">Nepal has reported a total of nine cases, out of which one person has already been cured while others are receiving treatment in isolation wards. All the cases were imported except one which was transmitted to a local woman of Kanchanpur, who did not have any recent travel history to affected countries, from a relative who returned home from the UAE.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-07', 'modified' => '2020-04-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11639', 'image' => '20200407105705_8424704_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-07 10:56:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11887', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Orders Government to Ensure Nobody Dies of Hunger ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 7: The Supreme Court has issued an order to the government to distribute relief focusing people eking out a living through labour and those whose earning has been interrupted, by maintaining transparency in relief distribution. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 7: The Supreme Court has issued an order to the government to distribute relief focusing people eking out a living through labour and those whose earning has been interrupted, by maintaining transparency in relief distribution. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A joint bench of Justices Hari Krishna Karki and Dr Ananda Mohan Bhattarai, on Monday, gave a ruling to provide relief in a transparent manner without misusing it and focusing on people whose income has been disrupted due to the lockdown. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"Pay attention so that there is no any lapse in correctly identifying the targeted people and families in order to implement, in practice, the policy of 'Nobody Faces and Dies of Hunger in Nepal' announced by the government," the apex court order reads. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The bench ordered for making provisions for protection and relief to the farmers as agricultural work is a continuous business that is never stopped. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Supreme Court bench also called for making arrangements for monitoring whether or not the 27,818 beds managed for quarantine throughout the country meet the WHO standard. It ordered all people who entered Nepal via air route and surface route in quarantine. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Moreover, the apex court has called for expanding the coronavirus testing facilities in other urban centres also outside the Kathmandu Valley and in all districts, as the present number of such facilities is very inadequate. It has also ordered promptly airlifting, by helicopter, any suspected coronavirus cases in the rural outback to the treatment centre at hospital for testing, isolation and treatment, coordinating with the local level and the administration as well. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, the Supreme Court has ordered the government to make arrangements so that emergency health services as well as other necessary health care and treatment to be done immediately in other cases, except coronavirus, are not affected. It also ordered operation of health services by the private hospitals and health facilities. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government has also been ordered to arrange for the supply of test kits, medical equipment and supplies, and personal protection equipment to all the health facilities, including the private ones, across the country. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-07', 'modified' => '2020-04-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11638', 'image' => '20200407102156_1586188475.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-07 10:21:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11886', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Adhikari to Lead NRB Amid Heap of Challenges', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 7: Maha Prasad Adhikari has been appointed as the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 7: Maha Prasad Adhikari has been appointed as the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). A meeting of council of ministers on Monday appointed Adhikari, who was working as CEO of Investment Board Nepal (IBN), to the post. A meeting of recommendation committee on the same day prior to the cabinet meeting, had recommended the names of Adhikari, Deputy NRB Governor Chintamani Shiwakoti and former finance secretary Rajan Khanal for the post.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> With the appointment, Adhikari has returned to NRB after four years. He was deputy governor of the central bank before joining IBN as CEO in June 2016. He actively participated in the financial sector reform measures initiated during the governorship of the current finance minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada. Chartered Accountant Adhikari led some key reform initiatives including supervision of financial sector, strict controlling of troubled banks and financial institutions and separating bankers and businesspersons. Similarly, he also played an active role in formulating and getting parliamentary endorsement of policy arrangements related to anti-money laundering in a bid to avoid blacklisting of Nepal by the Financial Action Task Force. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Adhikari, who joined NRB as deputy director in 1994, is returning to central bank at a time when the country’s economy has been surrounded by several headwinds. He will take over the reins of the country’s monetary authority amid the coronavirus pandemic which has created huge challenges to the Nepali economy and the financial sector. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former NRB governor Deependra Bahadur Kshetry expects that the good level of harmonization between Dr Khatiwada and Adhikari can yield positive results. “There was good level of harmonization between the two from the beginning. There were several problems in the financial sector when Adhikari became deputy governor and he put his efforts in the reform initiatives,” said Kshetry. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Experts say that maintaining financial stability, attaining higher economic growth, taming inflation and managing forex reserve at good level are the major challenges for the newly appointed NRB governor. “The loan repayment has been deferred by a month on the request of industrialists and business persons. The central bank could be pressurized for cancellation of debts if the situation worsens in the coming days. Similarly, inflation can rise if the government increases its spending to become popular and the central bank has to shoulder the responsibility to tame the inflation,” said Khsetry, adding, “The biggest challenge right now is to safeguard the country’s economy from pandemic-induced crisis. The success of the newly appointed governor will depend on the environment he works to avert the looming crisis.” </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kshetry mentioned that the central bank will have to face challenges in implementing monetary policy if the government comes up with an expansionary budget. “Besides, it is also important to preserve the autonomy of the central bank,” he points out.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former banker Analraj Bhattarai says that the governor needs to have multidimensional viewpoint at a time when the slowdown has hit the country’s economy. “There are several challenges in front of the new governor. He has been shouldered with the responsibility of efficient management of the problems,” opined Bhattarai.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhuvan Kumar Dahal, president of Nepal Bankers’ Association sees appointment of an NRB cadre who is well-versed in the overall financial sector as the central bank’s governor as positive. “Managing the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic, he should work on making the payment system fully digitalised,” he commented.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Parshuram Kunwar Chhetri, CEO of Global IME Bank Limited notes that management of economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic is the foremost challenge for Adhikari. “The newly appointed governor should focus his efforts in areas including interest rate stability and liquidity management. As the governor is also the economic advisor to the finance minister, he has an important role to play in the managing the overall economy of the country,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-07', 'modified' => '2020-04-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11637', 'image' => '20200407080848_IMG_4955 - Copy.JPG', 'article_date' => '2020-04-07 08:08:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11889', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Families of Nepali Students Studying Abroad Allowed to Send USD 500 without NOC', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 7: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has decided to allow families of students studying abroad to make foreign exchange equivalent to USD 500 without ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC).', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 7: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has decided to allow families of students studying abroad to make foreign exchange equivalent to USD 500 without ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC).</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government has directed the central bank to provide the exchange facility without NOC to the families of students enrolled in foreign university abroad.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government took such initiative to help the families to support the expenses of their children studying abroad.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Previously, family members and relatives of students enrolled abroad had to submit the NOC mandatorily to the banks for the foreign exchange. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The central bank has directed banks and financial institutions to avail foreign exchange facility to the families in need without any NOC.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">With the new provision, parents can now send the student a maximum of USD 500 or equivalent worth of foreign currency at a time without any hassles.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Currently, students enrolled abroad are facing financial problems due to the lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers took such decision to ease the financial burden of Nepali students studying abroad. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">NRB had earlier made arrangement for the exchange of foreign currency to pay tuition fees and for subsistence in favor of students studying in countries other than India.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, NOC is now not required but the parents will need to submit all the other required documents for making the foreign exchange. </span></span></h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-07', 'modified' => '2020-04-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11636', 'image' => '20200407110724_20160909042218_nrb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-07 11:06:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11884', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Bans Export of Drugs used for Treatment of Coronavirus Patients', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: India has restricted the export of medicines and equipment used for the treatment of coronavirus as the country grapples with surging cases of the deadly virus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">April 6: India has restricted the export of medicines and equipment used for the treatment of coronavirus as the country grapples with surging cases of the deadly virus. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">India’s Directorate of Foreign Trade has banned the export of coronavirus testing kits and Hydroxychloroquine, which is used to treat malaria, effective from Saturday (April 4).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">A notice posted on the website of the directorate states that the decision has been implemented with immediate effect.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">Despite the ban, drug manufactures in Nepal say that the country will not face shortage of the drugs immediately. They claim that the they have purchased enough stock of raw materials to produce the medicine for at least six months.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">Prithvi Raj Rajbhandari, owner of a pharmaceutical company in Nepal, says that most of the factories in Nepal are producing drugs with the stock of raw materials they had purchased before.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">“Drug manufacturers in Nepal had imported raw materials long ago,” said Rajbhandari.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">India started restricting the export of drugs since one month. The directorate has been time and again publishing new list of drugs that are being banned for export due to the domestic requirement. Initially, India banned the export of 26 types of drugs including cetamol. A few days ago, India added masks, sanitizers and other medicines used for the treatment of coronavirus in the list.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">Drug manufacturers in Nepal say they are chiefly dependent on India for raw materials of medicines. According to operator of Asian Pharmaceuticals, Shankar Ghimire, the raw materials that Nepal imports from India actually come from China.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">“Therefore, there is no need to worry if India bans the export of raw materials as we can import them directly from China,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11635', 'image' => '20200406013653_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 13:35:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11885', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'In contact with foreign returnees? Stay in quarantine ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: The Ministry of Health and Population has requested anyone who has come into contact with foreign returnees to stay in quarantine for at least 15 days.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">April 6: The Ministry of Health and Population has requested anyone who has come into contact with foreign returnees to stay in quarantine for at least 15 days.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">The Public Health Emergency Operation Centre under the ministry requested those people to stay in quarantine by issuing a public notice. After confirmation of a locally-transmitted case of coronavirus in Kailali recently, the center has requested one and all to be more alert and adopt adequate safety measures. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">In the notice, Dr Guna Raj Lohani, coordinator of the centre, has requested the ones who are in contact with foreign returnees to stay in home for two weeks and maintain a distance of one meter with others.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">Similarly, the centre has requested to go to health post if they have fever, cough or breathing problem. The ministry has started rapid coronavirus tests in districts including Kailali, Kanchanpur and Baglung from Sunday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">A meeting of the Council of Ministers had decided on rapid tests for coronavirus in these districts after emergence of new cases. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11634', 'image' => '20200406014610_emegency notice_health department.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 13:45:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11882', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Procure Essential Medical Supplies Through G2G model ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: Following widespread criticism in procurement of essential supplies and medical kits through a private company, the government has decided to adopt G2G and B2G models to purchase the supplies to fight coronavirus.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 6:</span><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif""> Following widespread criticism in procurement of essential supplies and medical kits through a private company, the government has decided to adopt G2G and B2G models to purchase the supplies to fight coronavirus.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">The high-level coordination committee for prevention and control of Covid 19 took a decision to this effect on Sunday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">The committee said that the government can choose any of the two methods to buy essential medicines during time of crisis, as per the Public Procurement Act.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif""> “The provision in the act says that government can buy supplies from foreign government. Similarly according to the rules and regulations, the supplies can be bought through competition among the private parties,” said Narayan Prasad Bidari, spokesperson of the high level committee.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">Recently, the Department of Health Services under the Ministry of Health and Population had reached an agreement of Rs 1.24 billion with the Omni Group for the supply of medicines from China. According to the agreement, Omni Group had brought 10 items worth Rs 290 million. However, as after allegations that the materials supplied by the company were of poor quality, the procurement deal was scrapped. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">The company had brought those supplies from Guangzhou in a chartered flight of NAC recently. After cancellation of the agreement with Omni, the government has handed the responsibility of procurement to the Nepalese Army. The decision says that Ministry of Defense will procure the medicines and essential supplies through the Nepalese Army using G2G method. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">A section of society had raised concerns regarding the use of army in supply of the medicines stating that the army does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority and therefore the deal might be subject to corruption.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">However, the Nepalese Army on Sunday organised a press conferencing ensuring that the procurement process will be transparent. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">In the conference, the Army said that separate mechanism has been formed to make the process transparent. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">Similarly, the ones who are staying in 14 days quarantine will be allowed to go home only after their swab tests, said the government. In case of any symptoms, they will be treated in isolation ward. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">Bidari further said that the ones who are kept in quarantine will be strictly monitored, and will be sent home only after they are assured that the suspects are fully cured.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11633', 'image' => '20200406121132_EUOiH2GUYAIKiK5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 12:09:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11883', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NHRC asks Government to Ensure Citizen’s Right to Health ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the government to ensure health-related rights of every citizen by making arrangements for treatments of patients suffering from all types of serious diseases including coronavirus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 6: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the government to ensure health-related rights of every citizen by making arrangements for treatments of patients suffering from all types of serious diseases including coronavirus. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Issuing a press release on Sunday, NHRC Spokesperson Bed Prasad Bhattarai asked the government, health workers and health institutions to guarantee the citizens’ right to get all types of health care services including emergency ones. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The NHRC wants to be assured over the issues including guarantee of health security of all health workers, supply of personal safety measures to ambulance drivers and security personnel and continuity in their services, according to the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, NHRC said its serious attention was drawn towards the news about a woman’s death at Biratnagar-based Neuro Hospital, Birat Nursing Home and Nobel Hospital for lack of treatment and sending the patients by hospitals after closing their OPD services. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As per the complaints received by the NHRC and its monitoring, the NHRC found that patients suffering from kidney related disease, cancer, tuberculosis, AIDS, diabetes, hypertension and mental disease were facing problems in their treatment as well as insufficient amount of medicines. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11632', 'image' => '20200406010720_index.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 13:06:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11881', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal, India Allow Flow of Goods without Certificate of Origin during Lockdown', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: Goods produced in Nepal can be exported to India without Certificate of Origin during the lockdown period.', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 6: Goods produced in Nepal can be exported to India without Certificate of Origin during the lockdown period.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The governments of the two countries have made such arrangement after consulting with each other. The countries have not been able to issue certificate of origin to goods produced within their respective territories due to the lockdown. However, both the countries will have to submit the Certificate of Origin to each other for the goods produced once the lockdown is over.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has confirmed that the Certificate of Origin is not mandatory for import and export of goods from India for the time being. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) has been certifying the goods produced in Nepal before being exported to India. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) have been issuing Certificate of Origin to goods exported to third countries. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nawaraj Dhakal, undersecretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies informed New Business Age that both Nepal and India have made an arrangement for export of goods without Certificate of Origin after analyzing the impact of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“We have not made the certificate mandatory for goods imported from India while Nepali entrepreneurs can also export their goods to India without the certificate,” he informed. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, the entrepreneurs will need submit the Certificate of Origin of their products once the lockdown is over, he added. Dhakal added that the certificate along with other documents are mandatory for goods imported from third countries. </span></span></h1> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11631', 'image' => '20200406113155_1586125463.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 11:30:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11880', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Readies Guidelines for Industries and Infrastructure Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: The government has prepared guidelines to allow infrastructure projects and essential food industries to resume their operations. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 5: The government has prepared guidelines to allow infrastructure projects and essential food industries to resume their operations. The guidelines were formulated jointly by the </span><span style="font-family:Calibri">Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation and Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies</span><span style="font-family:Calibri">. “After the government issues the guidelines, national-level development projects industries producing essential goods including food items and construction materials can resume their operations,” said Narayan Prashad Bidari, member secretary of the committee. A meeting of the High-level Coordination Committee for the Prevention and Control of Covid-19 held on April 2 (Thursday), had decided to allow certain industries and development projects to continue operations. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">As per the guidelines, industries are required to deploy protective measures for the workers, maintain distance among people at the workplaces, use sanitisers and monitor the body temperature of staffs on a regular basis. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">The guidelines have strictly barred movement of workers and staffers to and from the factories and project sites, said Bidari. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">The government has asked the project chiefs to submit it with proposals on how the projects can be continued. Construction of most of the large projects have come to a standstill after the government announced nation-wide lockdown on March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">Shyam Prashad Kharel, chief of Nagdhunga-Naubise tunnel road, first tunnel road of Nepal said that he will ask the engineers and consultants to prepare a proposal regarding the continuity of the construction of the project. According to him, the preparation has been done for smooth supply of construction materials including sand, gravel and cement and protection measures during the work. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">Likewise, Tiresh Prashad Khatri, executive director of Melamchi Drinking Water Supply Project said that they have not been able to work actively after the start of the lockdown. “Around 300 workers were mobilised earlier. But now only 50-60 workers are working,” Khatri informed. “We also can’t bring other workers immediately.” The government’s latest decision has also eased transportation and supply of construction materials. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">Similarly, chief of Pokhara Regional and International Airport Binesh Munankarmi said that 270 Chinese and 100 Nepali workers are currently handling the construction work of the project. However, there are some hindrances due to lack of construction materials. “We are not able to bring construction materials from India and China,” Munankarmi mentioned. “The shipment of cement from India has been stucked and containers with construction materials are stuck at Kerung.” Nevertheless, 56 percent of construction work has already been completed, he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">Though there are 1,100 workers working at the site of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project, many workers are not psychologically prepared to work. “The situation is very critical. So, we have been working to make the environment friendly and protective for the workers. We are preparing to implement health and safety measures at the project site,” informed Bigyan Prasad Shrestha, CEO of Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Limited. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11630', 'image' => '20200405125829_pic(1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 12:57:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11879', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industrialists Demand Easing Import of Raw Materials and Supply of Goods ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period. ', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Although the government has decided to ease production and supply of essential goods during the ongoing lockdown to prevent the spread of corona infection, entrepreneurs suggest that the supply of such commodities has not been as smooth as expected. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Despite the government’s commitment, the entrepreneurs are still facing problems to manage manpower, import raw materials, and to transport the manufactured goods to the market.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of Association of Nepalese Rice, Oil and Pulses, informed that most of the food industries are now dependent on the stocked raw material for production.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Most of the industries are currently using the raw materials for production which they had stocked before,” he informed. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">There has not been any supply of raw materials since the lockdown. Likewise, transportation of goods is also not easily accessible, he added. </span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, Gupta claimed that there would be no shortage of food at least for three months. The stock of raw and the finished products are enough to sustain the supply for at least three months, he added.</span> </span></span></p> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11629', 'image' => '20200405103819_Birgunj-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:37:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11878', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Coming Week more Stressful for Nepal: Experts ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the country.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the country. This means that more challenges are likely for the prevention and control of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, according to experts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">An individual in Dhangadhi of Kailali district tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday—the 12th day of the ongoing nationwide lockdown. On Saturday alone, three new cases of COVID-19, all from Sudur Paschim Province, were confirmed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Of them, two are India returnees while the third one is the family member of an infected youth who had recently returned home from the UAE. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Director of Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital Dr Sagar Rajbhandari said that more challenges are likely with the transfer of COVID-19 from one person to another. Now all foreign returnees and those who came in contact with them should be tested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“Not only the foreign returnees now the community they are living in also should be screened,” Dr Rajbhandari said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He added that we should remain more alert since Nepal’s bordering states of India including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been reporting increasing number of new cases of COVID-19. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Dr Rajbhandari suggested that all people coming home from abroad including India should be kept under quarantines along with proper surveillance. He added that the coming week will show the real picture of COVID-19 infection in Nepal, as sample testing have been initiated in all seven states and new cases have surfaced almost every day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He was of the view that the ongoing lockdown should be extended and all individuals from the infected people’s community should be tested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As the government has suspended all international flights for nearly two weeks now, people have not arrived from foreign countries via air route. The border with neighbouring India too has been sealed temporarily. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11628', 'image' => '20200405102445_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:23:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11877', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rapid Testing in 3 Districts where new cases of Covid-19 Emerged', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5). Among the three new infections reported in Kailali and Kanchanpur districts of Sudur Paschim Province, one case was a local transmission instead of an imported case seen before. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Saturday evening decided to carry out the rapid tests as it reviewed other measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Government spokesperson Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada said that the Council of Ministers also decided to stop the mobility of people from one province to another, from one local level to another and from one district to another in order to check the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected 1.2 million people and killed over 64,000 people as of Sunday morning. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Khatiwada, who is also the minister for finance as well as communication and information technology, further said that the provincial and local governments need to work more effectively to ensure strict implementation of the lockdown. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The cabinet meeting also decided to make arrangement of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the health workers immediately, recognizing their important role in the current situation, said the state-owned news agency RSS (Rastriya Samachar Samiti). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government had earlier announced insurance scheme and other incentives for the health professionals. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"A decision has been taken to mobilize the health workers with complete safety, wipe out any other obstacles to their work and take legal action against anyone involved in endangering the security and well-being of the health workers," RSS quoted Minister Khatiwada as saying. According to him, all levels of government including the local administration need to ensure security to the health workers. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11627', 'image' => '20200405101029_1586016240.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:09:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11876', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three More Test Positive for COVID-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country. All three are from Kanchanpur district of Sudurpaschim Province, according to the state-run national news agency RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Those confirmed to have contracted the virus include a 21-year-old male who recently returned from Mumbai, India; the second is a 41 -year-old male who arrived home recently from Uttarakhand, India, and the third is a 41-year-old woman, RSS reported citing the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division under the Ministry of Health and Population. The woman is the relative of the one who was tested positive earlier in the district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Their swab samples were collected some days ago and the tests were conducted on Friday, said director of the division Dr Basudev Pandey. All three are being treated at the Dhanagadhi-based Sudurpaschim Provincial Hospital. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">This is the first locally transmitted case, RSS said. The first COVID-19 case was detected in a student who arrived from Wuhan of China in January and the patient has been already cured. Other infected are receiving treatment under isolation, the ministry said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the latest update by worldometer, more than 1.1 million people have been infected by coronavirus around the world and the death toll is nearing 60,000.</span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11626', 'image' => '20200404033603_infographic-mers-689.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 15:33:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11875', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Serving Humanity with Free Lunch', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy. Some restaurateurs and hoteliers are providing free meals to the people bearing the brunt of the lockdown.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From serving free lunch to police personnel and doctors to giving out free takeaway meals to stranded tourists, they are providing support to the needy at this time of crisis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Here are some initiatives of a few restaurants and hotels to provide possible relief to people during the time of emergency.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Kathmandu Guest House (KGH)</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From Day 1 of the lockdown, this iconic boutique hotel in Thamel has been distributing food to the needy ones as well as stranded tourists for free. “With the help from Thamel Tourism Board and coordination from police, we have distributed almost 3000 plus packets of packed food,” says Rajan Shakya, CEO of KGH Group of Hotels. Apart from that, it has been giving out ration to Rohingya refugees and has been providing PPEs to hospitals. “Provided that any hospital asks us for PPE, we go and give them,” says Shakya. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Dalle </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Dalle has been serving the police personnel with free lunch every day since the beginning of the lockdown. It has been giving out around 150 lunch boxes every day. “We have stocks of vegetables and other groceries, which will rot if we don’t use. So, on one hand, serving food at this time will give us satisfaction and on the other, help the police force to do its duty properly as they don’t have to worry about going home or spending for lunch,” says Subhash Gauchan, co-founder of Dalle. Gauchan says at this situation there is a need of mutual cooperation so that the ones who are at the forefront against the Covid 19 can do their duty properly without having the need to worry about basic things. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Bajeko Sekuwa</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Bajeko Sekuwa has been serving free lunches from 11 am to 2 pm to the police personnel, doctors and needy people. It has been providing more than 100 plus lunch boxes every day. “As we are in the business of serving, it is our duty to serve not only at good times but also when people need us the most. This is our social responsibility and we couldn’t step back at this time of crisis,” says Sanjeev Kumar Timilsina, operation head of Bajeko Sekuwa. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Moondance Restaurant Pokhara</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Moondance Restaurant and Bar in Pokhara provided free lunch from Day 1 of the lockdown to till the eight day to the stranded tourists. Now, as most of the tourists have returned to Kathmandu or their home country, they have recently stopped the service. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">These are few examples of cooperation from the private sector during times of crisis. There are many players from the private sector who have been actively giving back to the society at the moment. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11625', 'image' => '20200404031010_food distribution by KGH.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 15:08:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ) ) $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' => '11888', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Extends Lockdown until April 15', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 7: The government has extended the nationwide lockdown for the third time.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">April 7: The government has extended the nationwide lockdown for the third time. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday decided to extend the lockdown until April 15. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">The lockdown, which was first imposed on March 24 for a week, was expiring on Tuesday midnight. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">The cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli decided to extend the lockdown upon the recommendation of the high-level committee to prevent the spread of Covid-19, informed government spokesperson Yuba Raj Khatiwada.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">The latest decision was taken after new cases of coronavirus were reported in Sudur Paschim Province, including a locally-transmitted case which has worried the health workers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">Experts believe that Nepal is now in the second phase of transmission of the deadly disease, which has infected more than 1.3 million people worldwide and claimed more than 74,000 lives. The virus which is believed to have originated in China’s Wuhan has spread to 209 countries so far.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">All services in Nepal except for essential and emergency ones remain suspended and people have been confined inside their homes due to the extended lockdown, which will enter the third week from Wednesday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia"> Meanwhile, all domestic and international flights remain suspended across the country.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">Nepal has reported a total of nine cases, out of which one person has already been cured while others are receiving treatment in isolation wards. All the cases were imported except one which was transmitted to a local woman of Kanchanpur, who did not have any recent travel history to affected countries, from a relative who returned home from the UAE.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-07', 'modified' => '2020-04-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11639', 'image' => '20200407105705_8424704_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-07 10:56:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11887', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Orders Government to Ensure Nobody Dies of Hunger ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 7: The Supreme Court has issued an order to the government to distribute relief focusing people eking out a living through labour and those whose earning has been interrupted, by maintaining transparency in relief distribution. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 7: The Supreme Court has issued an order to the government to distribute relief focusing people eking out a living through labour and those whose earning has been interrupted, by maintaining transparency in relief distribution. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A joint bench of Justices Hari Krishna Karki and Dr Ananda Mohan Bhattarai, on Monday, gave a ruling to provide relief in a transparent manner without misusing it and focusing on people whose income has been disrupted due to the lockdown. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"Pay attention so that there is no any lapse in correctly identifying the targeted people and families in order to implement, in practice, the policy of 'Nobody Faces and Dies of Hunger in Nepal' announced by the government," the apex court order reads. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The bench ordered for making provisions for protection and relief to the farmers as agricultural work is a continuous business that is never stopped. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Supreme Court bench also called for making arrangements for monitoring whether or not the 27,818 beds managed for quarantine throughout the country meet the WHO standard. It ordered all people who entered Nepal via air route and surface route in quarantine. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Moreover, the apex court has called for expanding the coronavirus testing facilities in other urban centres also outside the Kathmandu Valley and in all districts, as the present number of such facilities is very inadequate. It has also ordered promptly airlifting, by helicopter, any suspected coronavirus cases in the rural outback to the treatment centre at hospital for testing, isolation and treatment, coordinating with the local level and the administration as well. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, the Supreme Court has ordered the government to make arrangements so that emergency health services as well as other necessary health care and treatment to be done immediately in other cases, except coronavirus, are not affected. It also ordered operation of health services by the private hospitals and health facilities. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government has also been ordered to arrange for the supply of test kits, medical equipment and supplies, and personal protection equipment to all the health facilities, including the private ones, across the country. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-07', 'modified' => '2020-04-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11638', 'image' => '20200407102156_1586188475.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-07 10:21:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11886', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Adhikari to Lead NRB Amid Heap of Challenges', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 7: Maha Prasad Adhikari has been appointed as the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 7: Maha Prasad Adhikari has been appointed as the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). A meeting of council of ministers on Monday appointed Adhikari, who was working as CEO of Investment Board Nepal (IBN), to the post. A meeting of recommendation committee on the same day prior to the cabinet meeting, had recommended the names of Adhikari, Deputy NRB Governor Chintamani Shiwakoti and former finance secretary Rajan Khanal for the post.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> With the appointment, Adhikari has returned to NRB after four years. He was deputy governor of the central bank before joining IBN as CEO in June 2016. He actively participated in the financial sector reform measures initiated during the governorship of the current finance minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada. Chartered Accountant Adhikari led some key reform initiatives including supervision of financial sector, strict controlling of troubled banks and financial institutions and separating bankers and businesspersons. Similarly, he also played an active role in formulating and getting parliamentary endorsement of policy arrangements related to anti-money laundering in a bid to avoid blacklisting of Nepal by the Financial Action Task Force. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Adhikari, who joined NRB as deputy director in 1994, is returning to central bank at a time when the country’s economy has been surrounded by several headwinds. He will take over the reins of the country’s monetary authority amid the coronavirus pandemic which has created huge challenges to the Nepali economy and the financial sector. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former NRB governor Deependra Bahadur Kshetry expects that the good level of harmonization between Dr Khatiwada and Adhikari can yield positive results. “There was good level of harmonization between the two from the beginning. There were several problems in the financial sector when Adhikari became deputy governor and he put his efforts in the reform initiatives,” said Kshetry. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Experts say that maintaining financial stability, attaining higher economic growth, taming inflation and managing forex reserve at good level are the major challenges for the newly appointed NRB governor. “The loan repayment has been deferred by a month on the request of industrialists and business persons. The central bank could be pressurized for cancellation of debts if the situation worsens in the coming days. Similarly, inflation can rise if the government increases its spending to become popular and the central bank has to shoulder the responsibility to tame the inflation,” said Khsetry, adding, “The biggest challenge right now is to safeguard the country’s economy from pandemic-induced crisis. The success of the newly appointed governor will depend on the environment he works to avert the looming crisis.” </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kshetry mentioned that the central bank will have to face challenges in implementing monetary policy if the government comes up with an expansionary budget. “Besides, it is also important to preserve the autonomy of the central bank,” he points out.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former banker Analraj Bhattarai says that the governor needs to have multidimensional viewpoint at a time when the slowdown has hit the country’s economy. “There are several challenges in front of the new governor. He has been shouldered with the responsibility of efficient management of the problems,” opined Bhattarai.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhuvan Kumar Dahal, president of Nepal Bankers’ Association sees appointment of an NRB cadre who is well-versed in the overall financial sector as the central bank’s governor as positive. “Managing the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic, he should work on making the payment system fully digitalised,” he commented.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Parshuram Kunwar Chhetri, CEO of Global IME Bank Limited notes that management of economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic is the foremost challenge for Adhikari. “The newly appointed governor should focus his efforts in areas including interest rate stability and liquidity management. As the governor is also the economic advisor to the finance minister, he has an important role to play in the managing the overall economy of the country,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-07', 'modified' => '2020-04-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11637', 'image' => '20200407080848_IMG_4955 - Copy.JPG', 'article_date' => '2020-04-07 08:08:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11889', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Families of Nepali Students Studying Abroad Allowed to Send USD 500 without NOC', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 7: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has decided to allow families of students studying abroad to make foreign exchange equivalent to USD 500 without ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC).', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 7: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has decided to allow families of students studying abroad to make foreign exchange equivalent to USD 500 without ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC).</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government has directed the central bank to provide the exchange facility without NOC to the families of students enrolled in foreign university abroad.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government took such initiative to help the families to support the expenses of their children studying abroad.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Previously, family members and relatives of students enrolled abroad had to submit the NOC mandatorily to the banks for the foreign exchange. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The central bank has directed banks and financial institutions to avail foreign exchange facility to the families in need without any NOC.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">With the new provision, parents can now send the student a maximum of USD 500 or equivalent worth of foreign currency at a time without any hassles.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Currently, students enrolled abroad are facing financial problems due to the lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers took such decision to ease the financial burden of Nepali students studying abroad. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">NRB had earlier made arrangement for the exchange of foreign currency to pay tuition fees and for subsistence in favor of students studying in countries other than India.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, NOC is now not required but the parents will need to submit all the other required documents for making the foreign exchange. </span></span></h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-07', 'modified' => '2020-04-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11636', 'image' => '20200407110724_20160909042218_nrb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-07 11:06:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11884', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Bans Export of Drugs used for Treatment of Coronavirus Patients', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: India has restricted the export of medicines and equipment used for the treatment of coronavirus as the country grapples with surging cases of the deadly virus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">April 6: India has restricted the export of medicines and equipment used for the treatment of coronavirus as the country grapples with surging cases of the deadly virus. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">India’s Directorate of Foreign Trade has banned the export of coronavirus testing kits and Hydroxychloroquine, which is used to treat malaria, effective from Saturday (April 4).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">A notice posted on the website of the directorate states that the decision has been implemented with immediate effect.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">Despite the ban, drug manufactures in Nepal say that the country will not face shortage of the drugs immediately. They claim that the they have purchased enough stock of raw materials to produce the medicine for at least six months.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">Prithvi Raj Rajbhandari, owner of a pharmaceutical company in Nepal, says that most of the factories in Nepal are producing drugs with the stock of raw materials they had purchased before.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">“Drug manufacturers in Nepal had imported raw materials long ago,” said Rajbhandari.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">India started restricting the export of drugs since one month. The directorate has been time and again publishing new list of drugs that are being banned for export due to the domestic requirement. Initially, India banned the export of 26 types of drugs including cetamol. A few days ago, India added masks, sanitizers and other medicines used for the treatment of coronavirus in the list.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">Drug manufacturers in Nepal say they are chiefly dependent on India for raw materials of medicines. According to operator of Asian Pharmaceuticals, Shankar Ghimire, the raw materials that Nepal imports from India actually come from China.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">“Therefore, there is no need to worry if India bans the export of raw materials as we can import them directly from China,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11635', 'image' => '20200406013653_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 13:35:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11885', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'In contact with foreign returnees? Stay in quarantine ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: The Ministry of Health and Population has requested anyone who has come into contact with foreign returnees to stay in quarantine for at least 15 days.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">April 6: The Ministry of Health and Population has requested anyone who has come into contact with foreign returnees to stay in quarantine for at least 15 days.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">The Public Health Emergency Operation Centre under the ministry requested those people to stay in quarantine by issuing a public notice. After confirmation of a locally-transmitted case of coronavirus in Kailali recently, the center has requested one and all to be more alert and adopt adequate safety measures. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">In the notice, Dr Guna Raj Lohani, coordinator of the centre, has requested the ones who are in contact with foreign returnees to stay in home for two weeks and maintain a distance of one meter with others.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">Similarly, the centre has requested to go to health post if they have fever, cough or breathing problem. The ministry has started rapid coronavirus tests in districts including Kailali, Kanchanpur and Baglung from Sunday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">A meeting of the Council of Ministers had decided on rapid tests for coronavirus in these districts after emergence of new cases. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11634', 'image' => '20200406014610_emegency notice_health department.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 13:45:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11882', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Procure Essential Medical Supplies Through G2G model ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: Following widespread criticism in procurement of essential supplies and medical kits through a private company, the government has decided to adopt G2G and B2G models to purchase the supplies to fight coronavirus.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 6:</span><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif""> Following widespread criticism in procurement of essential supplies and medical kits through a private company, the government has decided to adopt G2G and B2G models to purchase the supplies to fight coronavirus.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">The high-level coordination committee for prevention and control of Covid 19 took a decision to this effect on Sunday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">The committee said that the government can choose any of the two methods to buy essential medicines during time of crisis, as per the Public Procurement Act.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif""> “The provision in the act says that government can buy supplies from foreign government. Similarly according to the rules and regulations, the supplies can be bought through competition among the private parties,” said Narayan Prasad Bidari, spokesperson of the high level committee.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">Recently, the Department of Health Services under the Ministry of Health and Population had reached an agreement of Rs 1.24 billion with the Omni Group for the supply of medicines from China. According to the agreement, Omni Group had brought 10 items worth Rs 290 million. However, as after allegations that the materials supplied by the company were of poor quality, the procurement deal was scrapped. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">The company had brought those supplies from Guangzhou in a chartered flight of NAC recently. After cancellation of the agreement with Omni, the government has handed the responsibility of procurement to the Nepalese Army. The decision says that Ministry of Defense will procure the medicines and essential supplies through the Nepalese Army using G2G method. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">A section of society had raised concerns regarding the use of army in supply of the medicines stating that the army does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority and therefore the deal might be subject to corruption.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">However, the Nepalese Army on Sunday organised a press conferencing ensuring that the procurement process will be transparent. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">In the conference, the Army said that separate mechanism has been formed to make the process transparent. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">Similarly, the ones who are staying in 14 days quarantine will be allowed to go home only after their swab tests, said the government. In case of any symptoms, they will be treated in isolation ward. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">Bidari further said that the ones who are kept in quarantine will be strictly monitored, and will be sent home only after they are assured that the suspects are fully cured.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11633', 'image' => '20200406121132_EUOiH2GUYAIKiK5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 12:09:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11883', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NHRC asks Government to Ensure Citizen’s Right to Health ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the government to ensure health-related rights of every citizen by making arrangements for treatments of patients suffering from all types of serious diseases including coronavirus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 6: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the government to ensure health-related rights of every citizen by making arrangements for treatments of patients suffering from all types of serious diseases including coronavirus. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Issuing a press release on Sunday, NHRC Spokesperson Bed Prasad Bhattarai asked the government, health workers and health institutions to guarantee the citizens’ right to get all types of health care services including emergency ones. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The NHRC wants to be assured over the issues including guarantee of health security of all health workers, supply of personal safety measures to ambulance drivers and security personnel and continuity in their services, according to the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, NHRC said its serious attention was drawn towards the news about a woman’s death at Biratnagar-based Neuro Hospital, Birat Nursing Home and Nobel Hospital for lack of treatment and sending the patients by hospitals after closing their OPD services. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As per the complaints received by the NHRC and its monitoring, the NHRC found that patients suffering from kidney related disease, cancer, tuberculosis, AIDS, diabetes, hypertension and mental disease were facing problems in their treatment as well as insufficient amount of medicines. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11632', 'image' => '20200406010720_index.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 13:06:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11881', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal, India Allow Flow of Goods without Certificate of Origin during Lockdown', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: Goods produced in Nepal can be exported to India without Certificate of Origin during the lockdown period.', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 6: Goods produced in Nepal can be exported to India without Certificate of Origin during the lockdown period.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The governments of the two countries have made such arrangement after consulting with each other. The countries have not been able to issue certificate of origin to goods produced within their respective territories due to the lockdown. However, both the countries will have to submit the Certificate of Origin to each other for the goods produced once the lockdown is over.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has confirmed that the Certificate of Origin is not mandatory for import and export of goods from India for the time being. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) has been certifying the goods produced in Nepal before being exported to India. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) have been issuing Certificate of Origin to goods exported to third countries. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nawaraj Dhakal, undersecretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies informed New Business Age that both Nepal and India have made an arrangement for export of goods without Certificate of Origin after analyzing the impact of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“We have not made the certificate mandatory for goods imported from India while Nepali entrepreneurs can also export their goods to India without the certificate,” he informed. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, the entrepreneurs will need submit the Certificate of Origin of their products once the lockdown is over, he added. Dhakal added that the certificate along with other documents are mandatory for goods imported from third countries. </span></span></h1> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11631', 'image' => '20200406113155_1586125463.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 11:30:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11880', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Readies Guidelines for Industries and Infrastructure Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: The government has prepared guidelines to allow infrastructure projects and essential food industries to resume their operations. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 5: The government has prepared guidelines to allow infrastructure projects and essential food industries to resume their operations. The guidelines were formulated jointly by the </span><span style="font-family:Calibri">Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation and Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies</span><span style="font-family:Calibri">. “After the government issues the guidelines, national-level development projects industries producing essential goods including food items and construction materials can resume their operations,” said Narayan Prashad Bidari, member secretary of the committee. A meeting of the High-level Coordination Committee for the Prevention and Control of Covid-19 held on April 2 (Thursday), had decided to allow certain industries and development projects to continue operations. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">As per the guidelines, industries are required to deploy protective measures for the workers, maintain distance among people at the workplaces, use sanitisers and monitor the body temperature of staffs on a regular basis. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">The guidelines have strictly barred movement of workers and staffers to and from the factories and project sites, said Bidari. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">The government has asked the project chiefs to submit it with proposals on how the projects can be continued. Construction of most of the large projects have come to a standstill after the government announced nation-wide lockdown on March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">Shyam Prashad Kharel, chief of Nagdhunga-Naubise tunnel road, first tunnel road of Nepal said that he will ask the engineers and consultants to prepare a proposal regarding the continuity of the construction of the project. According to him, the preparation has been done for smooth supply of construction materials including sand, gravel and cement and protection measures during the work. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">Likewise, Tiresh Prashad Khatri, executive director of Melamchi Drinking Water Supply Project said that they have not been able to work actively after the start of the lockdown. “Around 300 workers were mobilised earlier. But now only 50-60 workers are working,” Khatri informed. “We also can’t bring other workers immediately.” The government’s latest decision has also eased transportation and supply of construction materials. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">Similarly, chief of Pokhara Regional and International Airport Binesh Munankarmi said that 270 Chinese and 100 Nepali workers are currently handling the construction work of the project. However, there are some hindrances due to lack of construction materials. “We are not able to bring construction materials from India and China,” Munankarmi mentioned. “The shipment of cement from India has been stucked and containers with construction materials are stuck at Kerung.” Nevertheless, 56 percent of construction work has already been completed, he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">Though there are 1,100 workers working at the site of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project, many workers are not psychologically prepared to work. “The situation is very critical. So, we have been working to make the environment friendly and protective for the workers. We are preparing to implement health and safety measures at the project site,” informed Bigyan Prasad Shrestha, CEO of Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Limited. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11630', 'image' => '20200405125829_pic(1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 12:57:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11879', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industrialists Demand Easing Import of Raw Materials and Supply of Goods ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period. ', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Although the government has decided to ease production and supply of essential goods during the ongoing lockdown to prevent the spread of corona infection, entrepreneurs suggest that the supply of such commodities has not been as smooth as expected. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Despite the government’s commitment, the entrepreneurs are still facing problems to manage manpower, import raw materials, and to transport the manufactured goods to the market.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of Association of Nepalese Rice, Oil and Pulses, informed that most of the food industries are now dependent on the stocked raw material for production.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Most of the industries are currently using the raw materials for production which they had stocked before,” he informed. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">There has not been any supply of raw materials since the lockdown. Likewise, transportation of goods is also not easily accessible, he added. </span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, Gupta claimed that there would be no shortage of food at least for three months. The stock of raw and the finished products are enough to sustain the supply for at least three months, he added.</span> </span></span></p> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11629', 'image' => '20200405103819_Birgunj-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:37:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11878', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Coming Week more Stressful for Nepal: Experts ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the country.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the country. This means that more challenges are likely for the prevention and control of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, according to experts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">An individual in Dhangadhi of Kailali district tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday—the 12th day of the ongoing nationwide lockdown. On Saturday alone, three new cases of COVID-19, all from Sudur Paschim Province, were confirmed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Of them, two are India returnees while the third one is the family member of an infected youth who had recently returned home from the UAE. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Director of Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital Dr Sagar Rajbhandari said that more challenges are likely with the transfer of COVID-19 from one person to another. Now all foreign returnees and those who came in contact with them should be tested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“Not only the foreign returnees now the community they are living in also should be screened,” Dr Rajbhandari said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He added that we should remain more alert since Nepal’s bordering states of India including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been reporting increasing number of new cases of COVID-19. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Dr Rajbhandari suggested that all people coming home from abroad including India should be kept under quarantines along with proper surveillance. He added that the coming week will show the real picture of COVID-19 infection in Nepal, as sample testing have been initiated in all seven states and new cases have surfaced almost every day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He was of the view that the ongoing lockdown should be extended and all individuals from the infected people’s community should be tested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As the government has suspended all international flights for nearly two weeks now, people have not arrived from foreign countries via air route. The border with neighbouring India too has been sealed temporarily. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11628', 'image' => '20200405102445_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:23:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11877', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rapid Testing in 3 Districts where new cases of Covid-19 Emerged', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5). Among the three new infections reported in Kailali and Kanchanpur districts of Sudur Paschim Province, one case was a local transmission instead of an imported case seen before. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Saturday evening decided to carry out the rapid tests as it reviewed other measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Government spokesperson Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada said that the Council of Ministers also decided to stop the mobility of people from one province to another, from one local level to another and from one district to another in order to check the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected 1.2 million people and killed over 64,000 people as of Sunday morning. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Khatiwada, who is also the minister for finance as well as communication and information technology, further said that the provincial and local governments need to work more effectively to ensure strict implementation of the lockdown. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The cabinet meeting also decided to make arrangement of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the health workers immediately, recognizing their important role in the current situation, said the state-owned news agency RSS (Rastriya Samachar Samiti). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government had earlier announced insurance scheme and other incentives for the health professionals. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"A decision has been taken to mobilize the health workers with complete safety, wipe out any other obstacles to their work and take legal action against anyone involved in endangering the security and well-being of the health workers," RSS quoted Minister Khatiwada as saying. According to him, all levels of government including the local administration need to ensure security to the health workers. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11627', 'image' => '20200405101029_1586016240.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:09:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11876', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three More Test Positive for COVID-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country. All three are from Kanchanpur district of Sudurpaschim Province, according to the state-run national news agency RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Those confirmed to have contracted the virus include a 21-year-old male who recently returned from Mumbai, India; the second is a 41 -year-old male who arrived home recently from Uttarakhand, India, and the third is a 41-year-old woman, RSS reported citing the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division under the Ministry of Health and Population. The woman is the relative of the one who was tested positive earlier in the district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Their swab samples were collected some days ago and the tests were conducted on Friday, said director of the division Dr Basudev Pandey. All three are being treated at the Dhanagadhi-based Sudurpaschim Provincial Hospital. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">This is the first locally transmitted case, RSS said. The first COVID-19 case was detected in a student who arrived from Wuhan of China in January and the patient has been already cured. Other infected are receiving treatment under isolation, the ministry said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the latest update by worldometer, more than 1.1 million people have been infected by coronavirus around the world and the death toll is nearing 60,000.</span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11626', 'image' => '20200404033603_infographic-mers-689.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 15:33:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11875', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Serving Humanity with Free Lunch', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy. Some restaurateurs and hoteliers are providing free meals to the people bearing the brunt of the lockdown.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From serving free lunch to police personnel and doctors to giving out free takeaway meals to stranded tourists, they are providing support to the needy at this time of crisis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Here are some initiatives of a few restaurants and hotels to provide possible relief to people during the time of emergency.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Kathmandu Guest House (KGH)</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From Day 1 of the lockdown, this iconic boutique hotel in Thamel has been distributing food to the needy ones as well as stranded tourists for free. “With the help from Thamel Tourism Board and coordination from police, we have distributed almost 3000 plus packets of packed food,” says Rajan Shakya, CEO of KGH Group of Hotels. Apart from that, it has been giving out ration to Rohingya refugees and has been providing PPEs to hospitals. “Provided that any hospital asks us for PPE, we go and give them,” says Shakya. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Dalle </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Dalle has been serving the police personnel with free lunch every day since the beginning of the lockdown. It has been giving out around 150 lunch boxes every day. “We have stocks of vegetables and other groceries, which will rot if we don’t use. So, on one hand, serving food at this time will give us satisfaction and on the other, help the police force to do its duty properly as they don’t have to worry about going home or spending for lunch,” says Subhash Gauchan, co-founder of Dalle. Gauchan says at this situation there is a need of mutual cooperation so that the ones who are at the forefront against the Covid 19 can do their duty properly without having the need to worry about basic things. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Bajeko Sekuwa</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Bajeko Sekuwa has been serving free lunches from 11 am to 2 pm to the police personnel, doctors and needy people. It has been providing more than 100 plus lunch boxes every day. “As we are in the business of serving, it is our duty to serve not only at good times but also when people need us the most. This is our social responsibility and we couldn’t step back at this time of crisis,” says Sanjeev Kumar Timilsina, operation head of Bajeko Sekuwa. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Moondance Restaurant Pokhara</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Moondance Restaurant and Bar in Pokhara provided free lunch from Day 1 of the lockdown to till the eight day to the stranded tourists. Now, as most of the tourists have returned to Kathmandu or their home country, they have recently stopped the service. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">These are few examples of cooperation from the private sector during times of crisis. There are many players from the private sector who have been actively giving back to the society at the moment. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11625', 'image' => '20200404031010_food distribution by KGH.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 15:08:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ) ) $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' => '11888', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Extends Lockdown until April 15', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 7: The government has extended the nationwide lockdown for the third time.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">April 7: The government has extended the nationwide lockdown for the third time. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday decided to extend the lockdown until April 15. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">The lockdown, which was first imposed on March 24 for a week, was expiring on Tuesday midnight. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">The cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli decided to extend the lockdown upon the recommendation of the high-level committee to prevent the spread of Covid-19, informed government spokesperson Yuba Raj Khatiwada.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">The latest decision was taken after new cases of coronavirus were reported in Sudur Paschim Province, including a locally-transmitted case which has worried the health workers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">Experts believe that Nepal is now in the second phase of transmission of the deadly disease, which has infected more than 1.3 million people worldwide and claimed more than 74,000 lives. The virus which is believed to have originated in China’s Wuhan has spread to 209 countries so far.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">All services in Nepal except for essential and emergency ones remain suspended and people have been confined inside their homes due to the extended lockdown, which will enter the third week from Wednesday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia"> Meanwhile, all domestic and international flights remain suspended across the country.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">Nepal has reported a total of nine cases, out of which one person has already been cured while others are receiving treatment in isolation wards. All the cases were imported except one which was transmitted to a local woman of Kanchanpur, who did not have any recent travel history to affected countries, from a relative who returned home from the UAE.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-07', 'modified' => '2020-04-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11639', 'image' => '20200407105705_8424704_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-07 10:56:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11887', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Orders Government to Ensure Nobody Dies of Hunger ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 7: The Supreme Court has issued an order to the government to distribute relief focusing people eking out a living through labour and those whose earning has been interrupted, by maintaining transparency in relief distribution. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 7: The Supreme Court has issued an order to the government to distribute relief focusing people eking out a living through labour and those whose earning has been interrupted, by maintaining transparency in relief distribution. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A joint bench of Justices Hari Krishna Karki and Dr Ananda Mohan Bhattarai, on Monday, gave a ruling to provide relief in a transparent manner without misusing it and focusing on people whose income has been disrupted due to the lockdown. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"Pay attention so that there is no any lapse in correctly identifying the targeted people and families in order to implement, in practice, the policy of 'Nobody Faces and Dies of Hunger in Nepal' announced by the government," the apex court order reads. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The bench ordered for making provisions for protection and relief to the farmers as agricultural work is a continuous business that is never stopped. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Supreme Court bench also called for making arrangements for monitoring whether or not the 27,818 beds managed for quarantine throughout the country meet the WHO standard. It ordered all people who entered Nepal via air route and surface route in quarantine. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Moreover, the apex court has called for expanding the coronavirus testing facilities in other urban centres also outside the Kathmandu Valley and in all districts, as the present number of such facilities is very inadequate. It has also ordered promptly airlifting, by helicopter, any suspected coronavirus cases in the rural outback to the treatment centre at hospital for testing, isolation and treatment, coordinating with the local level and the administration as well. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, the Supreme Court has ordered the government to make arrangements so that emergency health services as well as other necessary health care and treatment to be done immediately in other cases, except coronavirus, are not affected. It also ordered operation of health services by the private hospitals and health facilities. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government has also been ordered to arrange for the supply of test kits, medical equipment and supplies, and personal protection equipment to all the health facilities, including the private ones, across the country. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-07', 'modified' => '2020-04-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11638', 'image' => '20200407102156_1586188475.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-07 10:21:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11886', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Adhikari to Lead NRB Amid Heap of Challenges', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 7: Maha Prasad Adhikari has been appointed as the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 7: Maha Prasad Adhikari has been appointed as the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). A meeting of council of ministers on Monday appointed Adhikari, who was working as CEO of Investment Board Nepal (IBN), to the post. A meeting of recommendation committee on the same day prior to the cabinet meeting, had recommended the names of Adhikari, Deputy NRB Governor Chintamani Shiwakoti and former finance secretary Rajan Khanal for the post.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> With the appointment, Adhikari has returned to NRB after four years. He was deputy governor of the central bank before joining IBN as CEO in June 2016. He actively participated in the financial sector reform measures initiated during the governorship of the current finance minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada. Chartered Accountant Adhikari led some key reform initiatives including supervision of financial sector, strict controlling of troubled banks and financial institutions and separating bankers and businesspersons. Similarly, he also played an active role in formulating and getting parliamentary endorsement of policy arrangements related to anti-money laundering in a bid to avoid blacklisting of Nepal by the Financial Action Task Force. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Adhikari, who joined NRB as deputy director in 1994, is returning to central bank at a time when the country’s economy has been surrounded by several headwinds. He will take over the reins of the country’s monetary authority amid the coronavirus pandemic which has created huge challenges to the Nepali economy and the financial sector. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former NRB governor Deependra Bahadur Kshetry expects that the good level of harmonization between Dr Khatiwada and Adhikari can yield positive results. “There was good level of harmonization between the two from the beginning. There were several problems in the financial sector when Adhikari became deputy governor and he put his efforts in the reform initiatives,” said Kshetry. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Experts say that maintaining financial stability, attaining higher economic growth, taming inflation and managing forex reserve at good level are the major challenges for the newly appointed NRB governor. “The loan repayment has been deferred by a month on the request of industrialists and business persons. The central bank could be pressurized for cancellation of debts if the situation worsens in the coming days. Similarly, inflation can rise if the government increases its spending to become popular and the central bank has to shoulder the responsibility to tame the inflation,” said Khsetry, adding, “The biggest challenge right now is to safeguard the country’s economy from pandemic-induced crisis. The success of the newly appointed governor will depend on the environment he works to avert the looming crisis.” </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kshetry mentioned that the central bank will have to face challenges in implementing monetary policy if the government comes up with an expansionary budget. “Besides, it is also important to preserve the autonomy of the central bank,” he points out.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former banker Analraj Bhattarai says that the governor needs to have multidimensional viewpoint at a time when the slowdown has hit the country’s economy. “There are several challenges in front of the new governor. He has been shouldered with the responsibility of efficient management of the problems,” opined Bhattarai.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhuvan Kumar Dahal, president of Nepal Bankers’ Association sees appointment of an NRB cadre who is well-versed in the overall financial sector as the central bank’s governor as positive. “Managing the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic, he should work on making the payment system fully digitalised,” he commented.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Parshuram Kunwar Chhetri, CEO of Global IME Bank Limited notes that management of economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic is the foremost challenge for Adhikari. “The newly appointed governor should focus his efforts in areas including interest rate stability and liquidity management. As the governor is also the economic advisor to the finance minister, he has an important role to play in the managing the overall economy of the country,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-07', 'modified' => '2020-04-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11637', 'image' => '20200407080848_IMG_4955 - Copy.JPG', 'article_date' => '2020-04-07 08:08:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11889', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Families of Nepali Students Studying Abroad Allowed to Send USD 500 without NOC', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 7: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has decided to allow families of students studying abroad to make foreign exchange equivalent to USD 500 without ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC).', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 7: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has decided to allow families of students studying abroad to make foreign exchange equivalent to USD 500 without ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC).</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government has directed the central bank to provide the exchange facility without NOC to the families of students enrolled in foreign university abroad.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government took such initiative to help the families to support the expenses of their children studying abroad.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Previously, family members and relatives of students enrolled abroad had to submit the NOC mandatorily to the banks for the foreign exchange. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The central bank has directed banks and financial institutions to avail foreign exchange facility to the families in need without any NOC.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">With the new provision, parents can now send the student a maximum of USD 500 or equivalent worth of foreign currency at a time without any hassles.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Currently, students enrolled abroad are facing financial problems due to the lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers took such decision to ease the financial burden of Nepali students studying abroad. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">NRB had earlier made arrangement for the exchange of foreign currency to pay tuition fees and for subsistence in favor of students studying in countries other than India.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, NOC is now not required but the parents will need to submit all the other required documents for making the foreign exchange. </span></span></h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-07', 'modified' => '2020-04-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11636', 'image' => '20200407110724_20160909042218_nrb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-07 11:06:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11884', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Bans Export of Drugs used for Treatment of Coronavirus Patients', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: India has restricted the export of medicines and equipment used for the treatment of coronavirus as the country grapples with surging cases of the deadly virus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">April 6: India has restricted the export of medicines and equipment used for the treatment of coronavirus as the country grapples with surging cases of the deadly virus. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">India’s Directorate of Foreign Trade has banned the export of coronavirus testing kits and Hydroxychloroquine, which is used to treat malaria, effective from Saturday (April 4).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">A notice posted on the website of the directorate states that the decision has been implemented with immediate effect.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">Despite the ban, drug manufactures in Nepal say that the country will not face shortage of the drugs immediately. They claim that the they have purchased enough stock of raw materials to produce the medicine for at least six months.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">Prithvi Raj Rajbhandari, owner of a pharmaceutical company in Nepal, says that most of the factories in Nepal are producing drugs with the stock of raw materials they had purchased before.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">“Drug manufacturers in Nepal had imported raw materials long ago,” said Rajbhandari.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">India started restricting the export of drugs since one month. The directorate has been time and again publishing new list of drugs that are being banned for export due to the domestic requirement. Initially, India banned the export of 26 types of drugs including cetamol. A few days ago, India added masks, sanitizers and other medicines used for the treatment of coronavirus in the list.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">Drug manufacturers in Nepal say they are chiefly dependent on India for raw materials of medicines. According to operator of Asian Pharmaceuticals, Shankar Ghimire, the raw materials that Nepal imports from India actually come from China.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">“Therefore, there is no need to worry if India bans the export of raw materials as we can import them directly from China,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11635', 'image' => '20200406013653_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 13:35:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11885', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'In contact with foreign returnees? Stay in quarantine ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: The Ministry of Health and Population has requested anyone who has come into contact with foreign returnees to stay in quarantine for at least 15 days.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">April 6: The Ministry of Health and Population has requested anyone who has come into contact with foreign returnees to stay in quarantine for at least 15 days.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">The Public Health Emergency Operation Centre under the ministry requested those people to stay in quarantine by issuing a public notice. After confirmation of a locally-transmitted case of coronavirus in Kailali recently, the center has requested one and all to be more alert and adopt adequate safety measures. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">In the notice, Dr Guna Raj Lohani, coordinator of the centre, has requested the ones who are in contact with foreign returnees to stay in home for two weeks and maintain a distance of one meter with others.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">Similarly, the centre has requested to go to health post if they have fever, cough or breathing problem. The ministry has started rapid coronavirus tests in districts including Kailali, Kanchanpur and Baglung from Sunday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">A meeting of the Council of Ministers had decided on rapid tests for coronavirus in these districts after emergence of new cases. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11634', 'image' => '20200406014610_emegency notice_health department.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 13:45:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11882', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Procure Essential Medical Supplies Through G2G model ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: Following widespread criticism in procurement of essential supplies and medical kits through a private company, the government has decided to adopt G2G and B2G models to purchase the supplies to fight coronavirus.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 6:</span><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif""> Following widespread criticism in procurement of essential supplies and medical kits through a private company, the government has decided to adopt G2G and B2G models to purchase the supplies to fight coronavirus.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">The high-level coordination committee for prevention and control of Covid 19 took a decision to this effect on Sunday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">The committee said that the government can choose any of the two methods to buy essential medicines during time of crisis, as per the Public Procurement Act.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif""> “The provision in the act says that government can buy supplies from foreign government. Similarly according to the rules and regulations, the supplies can be bought through competition among the private parties,” said Narayan Prasad Bidari, spokesperson of the high level committee.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">Recently, the Department of Health Services under the Ministry of Health and Population had reached an agreement of Rs 1.24 billion with the Omni Group for the supply of medicines from China. According to the agreement, Omni Group had brought 10 items worth Rs 290 million. However, as after allegations that the materials supplied by the company were of poor quality, the procurement deal was scrapped. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">The company had brought those supplies from Guangzhou in a chartered flight of NAC recently. After cancellation of the agreement with Omni, the government has handed the responsibility of procurement to the Nepalese Army. The decision says that Ministry of Defense will procure the medicines and essential supplies through the Nepalese Army using G2G method. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">A section of society had raised concerns regarding the use of army in supply of the medicines stating that the army does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority and therefore the deal might be subject to corruption.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">However, the Nepalese Army on Sunday organised a press conferencing ensuring that the procurement process will be transparent. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">In the conference, the Army said that separate mechanism has been formed to make the process transparent. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">Similarly, the ones who are staying in 14 days quarantine will be allowed to go home only after their swab tests, said the government. In case of any symptoms, they will be treated in isolation ward. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">Bidari further said that the ones who are kept in quarantine will be strictly monitored, and will be sent home only after they are assured that the suspects are fully cured.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11633', 'image' => '20200406121132_EUOiH2GUYAIKiK5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 12:09:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11883', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NHRC asks Government to Ensure Citizen’s Right to Health ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the government to ensure health-related rights of every citizen by making arrangements for treatments of patients suffering from all types of serious diseases including coronavirus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 6: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the government to ensure health-related rights of every citizen by making arrangements for treatments of patients suffering from all types of serious diseases including coronavirus. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Issuing a press release on Sunday, NHRC Spokesperson Bed Prasad Bhattarai asked the government, health workers and health institutions to guarantee the citizens’ right to get all types of health care services including emergency ones. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The NHRC wants to be assured over the issues including guarantee of health security of all health workers, supply of personal safety measures to ambulance drivers and security personnel and continuity in their services, according to the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, NHRC said its serious attention was drawn towards the news about a woman’s death at Biratnagar-based Neuro Hospital, Birat Nursing Home and Nobel Hospital for lack of treatment and sending the patients by hospitals after closing their OPD services. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As per the complaints received by the NHRC and its monitoring, the NHRC found that patients suffering from kidney related disease, cancer, tuberculosis, AIDS, diabetes, hypertension and mental disease were facing problems in their treatment as well as insufficient amount of medicines. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11632', 'image' => '20200406010720_index.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 13:06:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11881', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal, India Allow Flow of Goods without Certificate of Origin during Lockdown', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: Goods produced in Nepal can be exported to India without Certificate of Origin during the lockdown period.', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 6: Goods produced in Nepal can be exported to India without Certificate of Origin during the lockdown period.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The governments of the two countries have made such arrangement after consulting with each other. The countries have not been able to issue certificate of origin to goods produced within their respective territories due to the lockdown. However, both the countries will have to submit the Certificate of Origin to each other for the goods produced once the lockdown is over.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has confirmed that the Certificate of Origin is not mandatory for import and export of goods from India for the time being. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) has been certifying the goods produced in Nepal before being exported to India. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) have been issuing Certificate of Origin to goods exported to third countries. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nawaraj Dhakal, undersecretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies informed New Business Age that both Nepal and India have made an arrangement for export of goods without Certificate of Origin after analyzing the impact of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“We have not made the certificate mandatory for goods imported from India while Nepali entrepreneurs can also export their goods to India without the certificate,” he informed. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, the entrepreneurs will need submit the Certificate of Origin of their products once the lockdown is over, he added. Dhakal added that the certificate along with other documents are mandatory for goods imported from third countries. </span></span></h1> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11631', 'image' => '20200406113155_1586125463.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 11:30:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11880', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Readies Guidelines for Industries and Infrastructure Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: The government has prepared guidelines to allow infrastructure projects and essential food industries to resume their operations. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 5: The government has prepared guidelines to allow infrastructure projects and essential food industries to resume their operations. The guidelines were formulated jointly by the </span><span style="font-family:Calibri">Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation and Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies</span><span style="font-family:Calibri">. “After the government issues the guidelines, national-level development projects industries producing essential goods including food items and construction materials can resume their operations,” said Narayan Prashad Bidari, member secretary of the committee. A meeting of the High-level Coordination Committee for the Prevention and Control of Covid-19 held on April 2 (Thursday), had decided to allow certain industries and development projects to continue operations. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">As per the guidelines, industries are required to deploy protective measures for the workers, maintain distance among people at the workplaces, use sanitisers and monitor the body temperature of staffs on a regular basis. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">The guidelines have strictly barred movement of workers and staffers to and from the factories and project sites, said Bidari. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">The government has asked the project chiefs to submit it with proposals on how the projects can be continued. Construction of most of the large projects have come to a standstill after the government announced nation-wide lockdown on March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">Shyam Prashad Kharel, chief of Nagdhunga-Naubise tunnel road, first tunnel road of Nepal said that he will ask the engineers and consultants to prepare a proposal regarding the continuity of the construction of the project. According to him, the preparation has been done for smooth supply of construction materials including sand, gravel and cement and protection measures during the work. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">Likewise, Tiresh Prashad Khatri, executive director of Melamchi Drinking Water Supply Project said that they have not been able to work actively after the start of the lockdown. “Around 300 workers were mobilised earlier. But now only 50-60 workers are working,” Khatri informed. “We also can’t bring other workers immediately.” The government’s latest decision has also eased transportation and supply of construction materials. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">Similarly, chief of Pokhara Regional and International Airport Binesh Munankarmi said that 270 Chinese and 100 Nepali workers are currently handling the construction work of the project. However, there are some hindrances due to lack of construction materials. “We are not able to bring construction materials from India and China,” Munankarmi mentioned. “The shipment of cement from India has been stucked and containers with construction materials are stuck at Kerung.” Nevertheless, 56 percent of construction work has already been completed, he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">Though there are 1,100 workers working at the site of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project, many workers are not psychologically prepared to work. “The situation is very critical. So, we have been working to make the environment friendly and protective for the workers. We are preparing to implement health and safety measures at the project site,” informed Bigyan Prasad Shrestha, CEO of Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Limited. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11630', 'image' => '20200405125829_pic(1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 12:57:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11879', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industrialists Demand Easing Import of Raw Materials and Supply of Goods ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period. ', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Although the government has decided to ease production and supply of essential goods during the ongoing lockdown to prevent the spread of corona infection, entrepreneurs suggest that the supply of such commodities has not been as smooth as expected. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Despite the government’s commitment, the entrepreneurs are still facing problems to manage manpower, import raw materials, and to transport the manufactured goods to the market.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of Association of Nepalese Rice, Oil and Pulses, informed that most of the food industries are now dependent on the stocked raw material for production.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Most of the industries are currently using the raw materials for production which they had stocked before,” he informed. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">There has not been any supply of raw materials since the lockdown. Likewise, transportation of goods is also not easily accessible, he added. </span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, Gupta claimed that there would be no shortage of food at least for three months. The stock of raw and the finished products are enough to sustain the supply for at least three months, he added.</span> </span></span></p> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11629', 'image' => '20200405103819_Birgunj-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:37:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11878', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Coming Week more Stressful for Nepal: Experts ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the country.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the country. This means that more challenges are likely for the prevention and control of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, according to experts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">An individual in Dhangadhi of Kailali district tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday—the 12th day of the ongoing nationwide lockdown. On Saturday alone, three new cases of COVID-19, all from Sudur Paschim Province, were confirmed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Of them, two are India returnees while the third one is the family member of an infected youth who had recently returned home from the UAE. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Director of Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital Dr Sagar Rajbhandari said that more challenges are likely with the transfer of COVID-19 from one person to another. Now all foreign returnees and those who came in contact with them should be tested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“Not only the foreign returnees now the community they are living in also should be screened,” Dr Rajbhandari said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He added that we should remain more alert since Nepal’s bordering states of India including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been reporting increasing number of new cases of COVID-19. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Dr Rajbhandari suggested that all people coming home from abroad including India should be kept under quarantines along with proper surveillance. He added that the coming week will show the real picture of COVID-19 infection in Nepal, as sample testing have been initiated in all seven states and new cases have surfaced almost every day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He was of the view that the ongoing lockdown should be extended and all individuals from the infected people’s community should be tested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As the government has suspended all international flights for nearly two weeks now, people have not arrived from foreign countries via air route. The border with neighbouring India too has been sealed temporarily. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11628', 'image' => '20200405102445_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:23:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11877', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rapid Testing in 3 Districts where new cases of Covid-19 Emerged', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5). Among the three new infections reported in Kailali and Kanchanpur districts of Sudur Paschim Province, one case was a local transmission instead of an imported case seen before. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Saturday evening decided to carry out the rapid tests as it reviewed other measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Government spokesperson Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada said that the Council of Ministers also decided to stop the mobility of people from one province to another, from one local level to another and from one district to another in order to check the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected 1.2 million people and killed over 64,000 people as of Sunday morning. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Khatiwada, who is also the minister for finance as well as communication and information technology, further said that the provincial and local governments need to work more effectively to ensure strict implementation of the lockdown. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The cabinet meeting also decided to make arrangement of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the health workers immediately, recognizing their important role in the current situation, said the state-owned news agency RSS (Rastriya Samachar Samiti). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government had earlier announced insurance scheme and other incentives for the health professionals. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"A decision has been taken to mobilize the health workers with complete safety, wipe out any other obstacles to their work and take legal action against anyone involved in endangering the security and well-being of the health workers," RSS quoted Minister Khatiwada as saying. According to him, all levels of government including the local administration need to ensure security to the health workers. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11627', 'image' => '20200405101029_1586016240.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:09:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11876', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three More Test Positive for COVID-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country. All three are from Kanchanpur district of Sudurpaschim Province, according to the state-run national news agency RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Those confirmed to have contracted the virus include a 21-year-old male who recently returned from Mumbai, India; the second is a 41 -year-old male who arrived home recently from Uttarakhand, India, and the third is a 41-year-old woman, RSS reported citing the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division under the Ministry of Health and Population. The woman is the relative of the one who was tested positive earlier in the district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Their swab samples were collected some days ago and the tests were conducted on Friday, said director of the division Dr Basudev Pandey. All three are being treated at the Dhanagadhi-based Sudurpaschim Provincial Hospital. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">This is the first locally transmitted case, RSS said. The first COVID-19 case was detected in a student who arrived from Wuhan of China in January and the patient has been already cured. Other infected are receiving treatment under isolation, the ministry said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the latest update by worldometer, more than 1.1 million people have been infected by coronavirus around the world and the death toll is nearing 60,000.</span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11626', 'image' => '20200404033603_infographic-mers-689.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 15:33:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11875', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Serving Humanity with Free Lunch', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy. Some restaurateurs and hoteliers are providing free meals to the people bearing the brunt of the lockdown.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From serving free lunch to police personnel and doctors to giving out free takeaway meals to stranded tourists, they are providing support to the needy at this time of crisis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Here are some initiatives of a few restaurants and hotels to provide possible relief to people during the time of emergency.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Kathmandu Guest House (KGH)</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From Day 1 of the lockdown, this iconic boutique hotel in Thamel has been distributing food to the needy ones as well as stranded tourists for free. “With the help from Thamel Tourism Board and coordination from police, we have distributed almost 3000 plus packets of packed food,” says Rajan Shakya, CEO of KGH Group of Hotels. Apart from that, it has been giving out ration to Rohingya refugees and has been providing PPEs to hospitals. “Provided that any hospital asks us for PPE, we go and give them,” says Shakya. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Dalle </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Dalle has been serving the police personnel with free lunch every day since the beginning of the lockdown. It has been giving out around 150 lunch boxes every day. “We have stocks of vegetables and other groceries, which will rot if we don’t use. So, on one hand, serving food at this time will give us satisfaction and on the other, help the police force to do its duty properly as they don’t have to worry about going home or spending for lunch,” says Subhash Gauchan, co-founder of Dalle. Gauchan says at this situation there is a need of mutual cooperation so that the ones who are at the forefront against the Covid 19 can do their duty properly without having the need to worry about basic things. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Bajeko Sekuwa</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Bajeko Sekuwa has been serving free lunches from 11 am to 2 pm to the police personnel, doctors and needy people. It has been providing more than 100 plus lunch boxes every day. “As we are in the business of serving, it is our duty to serve not only at good times but also when people need us the most. This is our social responsibility and we couldn’t step back at this time of crisis,” says Sanjeev Kumar Timilsina, operation head of Bajeko Sekuwa. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Moondance Restaurant Pokhara</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Moondance Restaurant and Bar in Pokhara provided free lunch from Day 1 of the lockdown to till the eight day to the stranded tourists. Now, as most of the tourists have returned to Kathmandu or their home country, they have recently stopped the service. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">These are few examples of cooperation from the private sector during times of crisis. There are many players from the private sector who have been actively giving back to the society at the moment. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11625', 'image' => '20200404031010_food distribution by KGH.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 15:08:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ) ) $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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A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday decided to extend the lockdown until April 15. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">The lockdown, which was first imposed on March 24 for a week, was expiring on Tuesday midnight. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">The cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli decided to extend the lockdown upon the recommendation of the high-level committee to prevent the spread of Covid-19, informed government spokesperson Yuba Raj Khatiwada.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">The latest decision was taken after new cases of coronavirus were reported in Sudur Paschim Province, including a locally-transmitted case which has worried the health workers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">Experts believe that Nepal is now in the second phase of transmission of the deadly disease, which has infected more than 1.3 million people worldwide and claimed more than 74,000 lives. The virus which is believed to have originated in China’s Wuhan has spread to 209 countries so far.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">All services in Nepal except for essential and emergency ones remain suspended and people have been confined inside their homes due to the extended lockdown, which will enter the third week from Wednesday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia"> Meanwhile, all domestic and international flights remain suspended across the country.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:Georgia">Nepal has reported a total of nine cases, out of which one person has already been cured while others are receiving treatment in isolation wards. All the cases were imported except one which was transmitted to a local woman of Kanchanpur, who did not have any recent travel history to affected countries, from a relative who returned home from the UAE.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-07', 'modified' => '2020-04-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11639', 'image' => '20200407105705_8424704_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-07 10:56:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11887', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Orders Government to Ensure Nobody Dies of Hunger ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 7: The Supreme Court has issued an order to the government to distribute relief focusing people eking out a living through labour and those whose earning has been interrupted, by maintaining transparency in relief distribution. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 7: The Supreme Court has issued an order to the government to distribute relief focusing people eking out a living through labour and those whose earning has been interrupted, by maintaining transparency in relief distribution. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A joint bench of Justices Hari Krishna Karki and Dr Ananda Mohan Bhattarai, on Monday, gave a ruling to provide relief in a transparent manner without misusing it and focusing on people whose income has been disrupted due to the lockdown. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"Pay attention so that there is no any lapse in correctly identifying the targeted people and families in order to implement, in practice, the policy of 'Nobody Faces and Dies of Hunger in Nepal' announced by the government," the apex court order reads. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The bench ordered for making provisions for protection and relief to the farmers as agricultural work is a continuous business that is never stopped. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Supreme Court bench also called for making arrangements for monitoring whether or not the 27,818 beds managed for quarantine throughout the country meet the WHO standard. It ordered all people who entered Nepal via air route and surface route in quarantine. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Moreover, the apex court has called for expanding the coronavirus testing facilities in other urban centres also outside the Kathmandu Valley and in all districts, as the present number of such facilities is very inadequate. It has also ordered promptly airlifting, by helicopter, any suspected coronavirus cases in the rural outback to the treatment centre at hospital for testing, isolation and treatment, coordinating with the local level and the administration as well. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, the Supreme Court has ordered the government to make arrangements so that emergency health services as well as other necessary health care and treatment to be done immediately in other cases, except coronavirus, are not affected. It also ordered operation of health services by the private hospitals and health facilities. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government has also been ordered to arrange for the supply of test kits, medical equipment and supplies, and personal protection equipment to all the health facilities, including the private ones, across the country. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-07', 'modified' => '2020-04-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11638', 'image' => '20200407102156_1586188475.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-07 10:21:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11886', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Adhikari to Lead NRB Amid Heap of Challenges', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 7: Maha Prasad Adhikari has been appointed as the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 7: Maha Prasad Adhikari has been appointed as the Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). A meeting of council of ministers on Monday appointed Adhikari, who was working as CEO of Investment Board Nepal (IBN), to the post. A meeting of recommendation committee on the same day prior to the cabinet meeting, had recommended the names of Adhikari, Deputy NRB Governor Chintamani Shiwakoti and former finance secretary Rajan Khanal for the post.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> With the appointment, Adhikari has returned to NRB after four years. He was deputy governor of the central bank before joining IBN as CEO in June 2016. He actively participated in the financial sector reform measures initiated during the governorship of the current finance minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada. Chartered Accountant Adhikari led some key reform initiatives including supervision of financial sector, strict controlling of troubled banks and financial institutions and separating bankers and businesspersons. Similarly, he also played an active role in formulating and getting parliamentary endorsement of policy arrangements related to anti-money laundering in a bid to avoid blacklisting of Nepal by the Financial Action Task Force. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Adhikari, who joined NRB as deputy director in 1994, is returning to central bank at a time when the country’s economy has been surrounded by several headwinds. He will take over the reins of the country’s monetary authority amid the coronavirus pandemic which has created huge challenges to the Nepali economy and the financial sector. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former NRB governor Deependra Bahadur Kshetry expects that the good level of harmonization between Dr Khatiwada and Adhikari can yield positive results. “There was good level of harmonization between the two from the beginning. There were several problems in the financial sector when Adhikari became deputy governor and he put his efforts in the reform initiatives,” said Kshetry. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Experts say that maintaining financial stability, attaining higher economic growth, taming inflation and managing forex reserve at good level are the major challenges for the newly appointed NRB governor. “The loan repayment has been deferred by a month on the request of industrialists and business persons. The central bank could be pressurized for cancellation of debts if the situation worsens in the coming days. Similarly, inflation can rise if the government increases its spending to become popular and the central bank has to shoulder the responsibility to tame the inflation,” said Khsetry, adding, “The biggest challenge right now is to safeguard the country’s economy from pandemic-induced crisis. The success of the newly appointed governor will depend on the environment he works to avert the looming crisis.” </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kshetry mentioned that the central bank will have to face challenges in implementing monetary policy if the government comes up with an expansionary budget. “Besides, it is also important to preserve the autonomy of the central bank,” he points out.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former banker Analraj Bhattarai says that the governor needs to have multidimensional viewpoint at a time when the slowdown has hit the country’s economy. “There are several challenges in front of the new governor. He has been shouldered with the responsibility of efficient management of the problems,” opined Bhattarai.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhuvan Kumar Dahal, president of Nepal Bankers’ Association sees appointment of an NRB cadre who is well-versed in the overall financial sector as the central bank’s governor as positive. “Managing the challenges created by the coronavirus pandemic, he should work on making the payment system fully digitalised,” he commented.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Parshuram Kunwar Chhetri, CEO of Global IME Bank Limited notes that management of economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic is the foremost challenge for Adhikari. “The newly appointed governor should focus his efforts in areas including interest rate stability and liquidity management. As the governor is also the economic advisor to the finance minister, he has an important role to play in the managing the overall economy of the country,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-07', 'modified' => '2020-04-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11637', 'image' => '20200407080848_IMG_4955 - Copy.JPG', 'article_date' => '2020-04-07 08:08:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11889', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Families of Nepali Students Studying Abroad Allowed to Send USD 500 without NOC', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 7: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has decided to allow families of students studying abroad to make foreign exchange equivalent to USD 500 without ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC).', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 7: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has decided to allow families of students studying abroad to make foreign exchange equivalent to USD 500 without ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC).</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government has directed the central bank to provide the exchange facility without NOC to the families of students enrolled in foreign university abroad.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The government took such initiative to help the families to support the expenses of their children studying abroad.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Previously, family members and relatives of students enrolled abroad had to submit the NOC mandatorily to the banks for the foreign exchange. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The central bank has directed banks and financial institutions to avail foreign exchange facility to the families in need without any NOC.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">With the new provision, parents can now send the student a maximum of USD 500 or equivalent worth of foreign currency at a time without any hassles.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Currently, students enrolled abroad are facing financial problems due to the lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers took such decision to ease the financial burden of Nepali students studying abroad. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">NRB had earlier made arrangement for the exchange of foreign currency to pay tuition fees and for subsistence in favor of students studying in countries other than India.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, NOC is now not required but the parents will need to submit all the other required documents for making the foreign exchange. </span></span></h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-07', 'modified' => '2020-04-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11636', 'image' => '20200407110724_20160909042218_nrb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-07 11:06:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11884', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Bans Export of Drugs used for Treatment of Coronavirus Patients', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: India has restricted the export of medicines and equipment used for the treatment of coronavirus as the country grapples with surging cases of the deadly virus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">April 6: India has restricted the export of medicines and equipment used for the treatment of coronavirus as the country grapples with surging cases of the deadly virus. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">India’s Directorate of Foreign Trade has banned the export of coronavirus testing kits and Hydroxychloroquine, which is used to treat malaria, effective from Saturday (April 4).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">A notice posted on the website of the directorate states that the decision has been implemented with immediate effect.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">Despite the ban, drug manufactures in Nepal say that the country will not face shortage of the drugs immediately. They claim that the they have purchased enough stock of raw materials to produce the medicine for at least six months.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">Prithvi Raj Rajbhandari, owner of a pharmaceutical company in Nepal, says that most of the factories in Nepal are producing drugs with the stock of raw materials they had purchased before.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">“Drug manufacturers in Nepal had imported raw materials long ago,” said Rajbhandari.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">India started restricting the export of drugs since one month. The directorate has been time and again publishing new list of drugs that are being banned for export due to the domestic requirement. Initially, India banned the export of 26 types of drugs including cetamol. A few days ago, India added masks, sanitizers and other medicines used for the treatment of coronavirus in the list.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">Drug manufacturers in Nepal say they are chiefly dependent on India for raw materials of medicines. According to operator of Asian Pharmaceuticals, Shankar Ghimire, the raw materials that Nepal imports from India actually come from China.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times"><span style="font-family:Arial">“Therefore, there is no need to worry if India bans the export of raw materials as we can import them directly from China,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11635', 'image' => '20200406013653_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 13:35:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11885', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'In contact with foreign returnees? Stay in quarantine ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: The Ministry of Health and Population has requested anyone who has come into contact with foreign returnees to stay in quarantine for at least 15 days.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">April 6: The Ministry of Health and Population has requested anyone who has come into contact with foreign returnees to stay in quarantine for at least 15 days.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">The Public Health Emergency Operation Centre under the ministry requested those people to stay in quarantine by issuing a public notice. After confirmation of a locally-transmitted case of coronavirus in Kailali recently, the center has requested one and all to be more alert and adopt adequate safety measures. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">In the notice, Dr Guna Raj Lohani, coordinator of the centre, has requested the ones who are in contact with foreign returnees to stay in home for two weeks and maintain a distance of one meter with others.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">Similarly, the centre has requested to go to health post if they have fever, cough or breathing problem. The ministry has started rapid coronavirus tests in districts including Kailali, Kanchanpur and Baglung from Sunday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">A meeting of the Council of Ministers had decided on rapid tests for coronavirus in these districts after emergence of new cases. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11634', 'image' => '20200406014610_emegency notice_health department.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 13:45:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11882', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Procure Essential Medical Supplies Through G2G model ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: Following widespread criticism in procurement of essential supplies and medical kits through a private company, the government has decided to adopt G2G and B2G models to purchase the supplies to fight coronavirus.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 6:</span><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif""> Following widespread criticism in procurement of essential supplies and medical kits through a private company, the government has decided to adopt G2G and B2G models to purchase the supplies to fight coronavirus.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">The high-level coordination committee for prevention and control of Covid 19 took a decision to this effect on Sunday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">The committee said that the government can choose any of the two methods to buy essential medicines during time of crisis, as per the Public Procurement Act.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif""> “The provision in the act says that government can buy supplies from foreign government. Similarly according to the rules and regulations, the supplies can be bought through competition among the private parties,” said Narayan Prasad Bidari, spokesperson of the high level committee.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">Recently, the Department of Health Services under the Ministry of Health and Population had reached an agreement of Rs 1.24 billion with the Omni Group for the supply of medicines from China. According to the agreement, Omni Group had brought 10 items worth Rs 290 million. However, as after allegations that the materials supplied by the company were of poor quality, the procurement deal was scrapped. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">The company had brought those supplies from Guangzhou in a chartered flight of NAC recently. After cancellation of the agreement with Omni, the government has handed the responsibility of procurement to the Nepalese Army. The decision says that Ministry of Defense will procure the medicines and essential supplies through the Nepalese Army using G2G method. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">A section of society had raised concerns regarding the use of army in supply of the medicines stating that the army does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority and therefore the deal might be subject to corruption.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">However, the Nepalese Army on Sunday organised a press conferencing ensuring that the procurement process will be transparent. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">In the conference, the Army said that separate mechanism has been formed to make the process transparent. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">Similarly, the ones who are staying in 14 days quarantine will be allowed to go home only after their swab tests, said the government. In case of any symptoms, they will be treated in isolation ward. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Mangal","serif"">Bidari further said that the ones who are kept in quarantine will be strictly monitored, and will be sent home only after they are assured that the suspects are fully cured.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11633', 'image' => '20200406121132_EUOiH2GUYAIKiK5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 12:09:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11883', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NHRC asks Government to Ensure Citizen’s Right to Health ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the government to ensure health-related rights of every citizen by making arrangements for treatments of patients suffering from all types of serious diseases including coronavirus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 6: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has urged the government to ensure health-related rights of every citizen by making arrangements for treatments of patients suffering from all types of serious diseases including coronavirus. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Issuing a press release on Sunday, NHRC Spokesperson Bed Prasad Bhattarai asked the government, health workers and health institutions to guarantee the citizens’ right to get all types of health care services including emergency ones. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The NHRC wants to be assured over the issues including guarantee of health security of all health workers, supply of personal safety measures to ambulance drivers and security personnel and continuity in their services, according to the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Likewise, NHRC said its serious attention was drawn towards the news about a woman’s death at Biratnagar-based Neuro Hospital, Birat Nursing Home and Nobel Hospital for lack of treatment and sending the patients by hospitals after closing their OPD services. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As per the complaints received by the NHRC and its monitoring, the NHRC found that patients suffering from kidney related disease, cancer, tuberculosis, AIDS, diabetes, hypertension and mental disease were facing problems in their treatment as well as insufficient amount of medicines. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11632', 'image' => '20200406010720_index.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 13:06:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11881', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal, India Allow Flow of Goods without Certificate of Origin during Lockdown', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 6: Goods produced in Nepal can be exported to India without Certificate of Origin during the lockdown period.', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 6: Goods produced in Nepal can be exported to India without Certificate of Origin during the lockdown period.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The governments of the two countries have made such arrangement after consulting with each other. The countries have not been able to issue certificate of origin to goods produced within their respective territories due to the lockdown. However, both the countries will have to submit the Certificate of Origin to each other for the goods produced once the lockdown is over.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies has confirmed that the Certificate of Origin is not mandatory for import and export of goods from India for the time being. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) has been certifying the goods produced in Nepal before being exported to India. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) have been issuing Certificate of Origin to goods exported to third countries. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Nawaraj Dhakal, undersecretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies informed New Business Age that both Nepal and India have made an arrangement for export of goods without Certificate of Origin after analyzing the impact of lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“We have not made the certificate mandatory for goods imported from India while Nepali entrepreneurs can also export their goods to India without the certificate,” he informed. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, the entrepreneurs will need submit the Certificate of Origin of their products once the lockdown is over, he added. Dhakal added that the certificate along with other documents are mandatory for goods imported from third countries. </span></span></h1> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-06', 'modified' => '2020-04-06', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11631', 'image' => '20200406113155_1586125463.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-06 11:30:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11880', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Readies Guidelines for Industries and Infrastructure Projects', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: The government has prepared guidelines to allow infrastructure projects and essential food industries to resume their operations. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 5: The government has prepared guidelines to allow infrastructure projects and essential food industries to resume their operations. The guidelines were formulated jointly by the </span><span style="font-family:Calibri">Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation and Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies</span><span style="font-family:Calibri">. “After the government issues the guidelines, national-level development projects industries producing essential goods including food items and construction materials can resume their operations,” said Narayan Prashad Bidari, member secretary of the committee. A meeting of the High-level Coordination Committee for the Prevention and Control of Covid-19 held on April 2 (Thursday), had decided to allow certain industries and development projects to continue operations. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">As per the guidelines, industries are required to deploy protective measures for the workers, maintain distance among people at the workplaces, use sanitisers and monitor the body temperature of staffs on a regular basis. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">The guidelines have strictly barred movement of workers and staffers to and from the factories and project sites, said Bidari. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">The government has asked the project chiefs to submit it with proposals on how the projects can be continued. Construction of most of the large projects have come to a standstill after the government announced nation-wide lockdown on March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">Shyam Prashad Kharel, chief of Nagdhunga-Naubise tunnel road, first tunnel road of Nepal said that he will ask the engineers and consultants to prepare a proposal regarding the continuity of the construction of the project. According to him, the preparation has been done for smooth supply of construction materials including sand, gravel and cement and protection measures during the work. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">Likewise, Tiresh Prashad Khatri, executive director of Melamchi Drinking Water Supply Project said that they have not been able to work actively after the start of the lockdown. “Around 300 workers were mobilised earlier. But now only 50-60 workers are working,” Khatri informed. “We also can’t bring other workers immediately.” The government’s latest decision has also eased transportation and supply of construction materials. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">Similarly, chief of Pokhara Regional and International Airport Binesh Munankarmi said that 270 Chinese and 100 Nepali workers are currently handling the construction work of the project. However, there are some hindrances due to lack of construction materials. “We are not able to bring construction materials from India and China,” Munankarmi mentioned. “The shipment of cement from India has been stucked and containers with construction materials are stuck at Kerung.” Nevertheless, 56 percent of construction work has already been completed, he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Calibri">Though there are 1,100 workers working at the site of the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project, many workers are not psychologically prepared to work. “The situation is very critical. So, we have been working to make the environment friendly and protective for the workers. We are preparing to implement health and safety measures at the project site,” informed Bigyan Prasad Shrestha, CEO of Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Limited. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11630', 'image' => '20200405125829_pic(1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 12:57:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11879', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industrialists Demand Easing Import of Raw Materials and Supply of Goods ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period. ', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Although the government has decided to ease production and supply of essential goods during the ongoing lockdown to prevent the spread of corona infection, entrepreneurs suggest that the supply of such commodities has not been as smooth as expected. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Despite the government’s commitment, the entrepreneurs are still facing problems to manage manpower, import raw materials, and to transport the manufactured goods to the market.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of Association of Nepalese Rice, Oil and Pulses, informed that most of the food industries are now dependent on the stocked raw material for production.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Most of the industries are currently using the raw materials for production which they had stocked before,” he informed. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">There has not been any supply of raw materials since the lockdown. Likewise, transportation of goods is also not easily accessible, he added. </span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, Gupta claimed that there would be no shortage of food at least for three months. The stock of raw and the finished products are enough to sustain the supply for at least three months, he added.</span> </span></span></p> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11629', 'image' => '20200405103819_Birgunj-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:37:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11878', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Coming Week more Stressful for Nepal: Experts ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the country.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the country. This means that more challenges are likely for the prevention and control of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, according to experts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">An individual in Dhangadhi of Kailali district tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday—the 12th day of the ongoing nationwide lockdown. On Saturday alone, three new cases of COVID-19, all from Sudur Paschim Province, were confirmed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Of them, two are India returnees while the third one is the family member of an infected youth who had recently returned home from the UAE. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Director of Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital Dr Sagar Rajbhandari said that more challenges are likely with the transfer of COVID-19 from one person to another. Now all foreign returnees and those who came in contact with them should be tested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“Not only the foreign returnees now the community they are living in also should be screened,” Dr Rajbhandari said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He added that we should remain more alert since Nepal’s bordering states of India including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been reporting increasing number of new cases of COVID-19. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Dr Rajbhandari suggested that all people coming home from abroad including India should be kept under quarantines along with proper surveillance. He added that the coming week will show the real picture of COVID-19 infection in Nepal, as sample testing have been initiated in all seven states and new cases have surfaced almost every day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He was of the view that the ongoing lockdown should be extended and all individuals from the infected people’s community should be tested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As the government has suspended all international flights for nearly two weeks now, people have not arrived from foreign countries via air route. The border with neighbouring India too has been sealed temporarily. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11628', 'image' => '20200405102445_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:23:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11877', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rapid Testing in 3 Districts where new cases of Covid-19 Emerged', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5). Among the three new infections reported in Kailali and Kanchanpur districts of Sudur Paschim Province, one case was a local transmission instead of an imported case seen before. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Saturday evening decided to carry out the rapid tests as it reviewed other measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Government spokesperson Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada said that the Council of Ministers also decided to stop the mobility of people from one province to another, from one local level to another and from one district to another in order to check the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected 1.2 million people and killed over 64,000 people as of Sunday morning. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Khatiwada, who is also the minister for finance as well as communication and information technology, further said that the provincial and local governments need to work more effectively to ensure strict implementation of the lockdown. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The cabinet meeting also decided to make arrangement of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the health workers immediately, recognizing their important role in the current situation, said the state-owned news agency RSS (Rastriya Samachar Samiti). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government had earlier announced insurance scheme and other incentives for the health professionals. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"A decision has been taken to mobilize the health workers with complete safety, wipe out any other obstacles to their work and take legal action against anyone involved in endangering the security and well-being of the health workers," RSS quoted Minister Khatiwada as saying. According to him, all levels of government including the local administration need to ensure security to the health workers. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11627', 'image' => '20200405101029_1586016240.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:09:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11876', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three More Test Positive for COVID-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country. All three are from Kanchanpur district of Sudurpaschim Province, according to the state-run national news agency RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Those confirmed to have contracted the virus include a 21-year-old male who recently returned from Mumbai, India; the second is a 41 -year-old male who arrived home recently from Uttarakhand, India, and the third is a 41-year-old woman, RSS reported citing the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division under the Ministry of Health and Population. The woman is the relative of the one who was tested positive earlier in the district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Their swab samples were collected some days ago and the tests were conducted on Friday, said director of the division Dr Basudev Pandey. All three are being treated at the Dhanagadhi-based Sudurpaschim Provincial Hospital. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">This is the first locally transmitted case, RSS said. The first COVID-19 case was detected in a student who arrived from Wuhan of China in January and the patient has been already cured. Other infected are receiving treatment under isolation, the ministry said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the latest update by worldometer, more than 1.1 million people have been infected by coronavirus around the world and the death toll is nearing 60,000.</span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11626', 'image' => '20200404033603_infographic-mers-689.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 15:33:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11875', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Serving Humanity with Free Lunch', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy. Some restaurateurs and hoteliers are providing free meals to the people bearing the brunt of the lockdown.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From serving free lunch to police personnel and doctors to giving out free takeaway meals to stranded tourists, they are providing support to the needy at this time of crisis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Here are some initiatives of a few restaurants and hotels to provide possible relief to people during the time of emergency.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Kathmandu Guest House (KGH)</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From Day 1 of the lockdown, this iconic boutique hotel in Thamel has been distributing food to the needy ones as well as stranded tourists for free. “With the help from Thamel Tourism Board and coordination from police, we have distributed almost 3000 plus packets of packed food,” says Rajan Shakya, CEO of KGH Group of Hotels. Apart from that, it has been giving out ration to Rohingya refugees and has been providing PPEs to hospitals. “Provided that any hospital asks us for PPE, we go and give them,” says Shakya. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Dalle </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Dalle has been serving the police personnel with free lunch every day since the beginning of the lockdown. It has been giving out around 150 lunch boxes every day. “We have stocks of vegetables and other groceries, which will rot if we don’t use. So, on one hand, serving food at this time will give us satisfaction and on the other, help the police force to do its duty properly as they don’t have to worry about going home or spending for lunch,” says Subhash Gauchan, co-founder of Dalle. Gauchan says at this situation there is a need of mutual cooperation so that the ones who are at the forefront against the Covid 19 can do their duty properly without having the need to worry about basic things. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Bajeko Sekuwa</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Bajeko Sekuwa has been serving free lunches from 11 am to 2 pm to the police personnel, doctors and needy people. It has been providing more than 100 plus lunch boxes every day. “As we are in the business of serving, it is our duty to serve not only at good times but also when people need us the most. This is our social responsibility and we couldn’t step back at this time of crisis,” says Sanjeev Kumar Timilsina, operation head of Bajeko Sekuwa. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Moondance Restaurant Pokhara</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Moondance Restaurant and Bar in Pokhara provided free lunch from Day 1 of the lockdown to till the eight day to the stranded tourists. Now, as most of the tourists have returned to Kathmandu or their home country, they have recently stopped the service. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">These are few examples of cooperation from the private sector during times of crisis. There are many players from the private sector who have been actively giving back to the society at the moment. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11625', 'image' => '20200404031010_food distribution by KGH.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 15:08:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ) ) $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 |
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| 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
