Former British army member Krishna Bahadur Rai has funded the construction of a new school building in Pauwadung rural municipality, located in the eastern region of Bhojpur district. The cost of the project amounted to Rs 13.9…
Former British army member Krishna Bahadur Rai has funded the construction of a new school building in Pauwadung rural municipality, located in the eastern region of Bhojpur district. The cost of the project amounted to Rs 13.9…
December 25: The imports of Nepal in the first five months of the current fiscal year has been less than the imports in the corresponding period of last fiscal year when the government had restricted imports of luxurious…
December 25: Nepal Rastra Bank has extended the loan restructuring and rescheduling facility provided as relief to the industrialists affected by the economic…
December 25: The Department of Electricity Development has asked 55 hydropower projects that have not started work after acquiring license to submit progress…
December 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has reached an agreement with Thai Airways to provide ground handling services to Thai aircraft at the Tribhuvan International Airport…
December 25: Christmas is gaining popularity among the urban population of…
December 25: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has directed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to move ahead with the process of purchasing aircraft for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) in a transparent manner, leaving no room for any error and…
December 25: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to two more industries reasoning that they failed to clear the tariff for the dedicated and trunk…
More than 450 farmers in the Ichchhakamana rural municipality are set to collectively earn Rs 100 million this year from the sale of oranges alone in Chitwan, according to the Agriculture Development Section of the rural…
December 24: The price of onion has decreased by 21 percent in one…
December 24: Nepal's shoe industry has been producing shoes at only 40 percent of its capacity, the state-owned RSS…
December 24: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has urged the youth force of the country to get involved in the digital platforms within the country instead of going…
December 24: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has urged bankers to give loans to hard-working people instead of fraudsters.…
December 24: The number of new COVID cases increased by 52 per cent during the past four-odd weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, with over 850 000 new cases reported during this…
December 24: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to some large-scale industries that have failed for a long time to pay their electricity tariff for using dedicated and truck…
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The cost of the project amounted to Rs 13.9 million.', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">December 26: Former British army member Krishna Bahadur Rai has funded the construction of a new school building in Pauwadung rural municipality, located in the eastern region of Bhojpur district. The cost of the project amounted to Rs 13.9 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Shitaladevi Basic School, which previously had outdated infrastructure, received a new 6-room building due to Rai's commitment to improving education for remote villagers. The handover ceremony to the school management team took place on Monday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Krishna Bahadur Rai, aged 70, dedicated his income to this educational initiative, redirecting his initial plan to construct a building for a health post to address the pressing needs of the school. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In addition to the new building, Rai announced his intention to facilitate the development of a playground for the benefit of the schoolchildren.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Reflecting on his decision, Rai stated, "Although my initial plan was for a health post, I redirected my support to the school, considering the health post already had a new building." </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">He expressed confidence that the new infrastructure would contribute significantly to enhancing the quality of education in the region.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Rural municipality chair Kiran Rai acknowledged and praised Krishna Bahadur's philanthropic gesture, describing it as a substantial contribution to the village. "We're indebted to him for this significant development," Kiran Rai remarked.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">School principal Chandra Bogati highlighted the positive impact of the new school building, emphasizing its role in retaining students and ensuring the delivery of quality education. (RSS) </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-26', 'modified' => '2023-12-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19545', 'image' => '20231226090856_collage (10).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-26 09:06:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19817', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Imports in Current FY Lower than Last Year when NRB had Imposed Restrictions', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: The imports of Nepal in the first five months of the current fiscal year has been less than the imports in the corresponding period of last fiscal year when the government had restricted imports of luxurious goods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 25: The imports of Nepal in the first five months of the current fiscal year has been less than the imports in the corresponding period of last fiscal year when the government had restricted imports of luxurious goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">This indicates that there is lack of demand in the market and the government has failed to revitalize the economy despite efforts from the central bank and the federal government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">From mid-July to mid-December last year, Nepal had imported goods worth more than Rs 664 billion which fell to Rs 642 billion in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal’s import expenses fell 3.39 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period of last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has imposed a restrictions on the imports of ten luxury goods from April 26, 2022 to August 31 this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As a result, cars except ambulances, all types of readymade alcohol except industrial raw materials, motorcycles with capacity of more than 150 cc and smartphones worth more than USD 300, foods such as chips, color televisions larger than 32 inches, playing cards, diamonds, cigarettes and tobacco products and all kinds of toys were restru=icted during that period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After August 31, the import ban on food items like chips, color televisions larger than 32 inches, playing cards, diamonds, cigarettes and tobacco products and all types of toys was lifted. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The import ban on the remaining items was still in place until mid-December. Customs data has confirmed that the lifting of the ban on the import of the remaining four items from mid-December has had little effect in easing imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Two years ago, at this time, the policy makers were focused on reducing imports due to the declining foreign exchange reserves. However, businessmen had raised concerns that such a move would curb economic activities and that would lead to the decline in overall economic growth.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although both import and export have increased in the Nepali month of Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December) compared to the previous month, it does not hold much significance because there were long holidays in the month of Kartik (mid-October to mid-November) due to Dashain and Tihar.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Government offices and banks and financial institutions were open only for 16 days in the festive season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the data released by the Department of Customs, Nepal Rs 129.70 billion in the month of Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December), while the export figures stood at Rs 12.64 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the month of Kartik, Nepal imported goods worth Rs 104.74 billion and exported goods equal to Rs 9.79 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The records with the Department of Customs (DoC) show that the country’s trade deficit declined 3.09 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The central bank has already reduced the interest rate while reviewing the monetary policy saying that the situation in the external sector is strong. After that, banks are also emphasizing on providing loans by reducing interest rates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As the foreign exchange reserves eased, the government opened import restrictions and Nepal Rastra Bank also reviewed its policy. According to the report of NRB, the total foreign exchange reserve is enough to cover imports of goods for 13.6 months and goods and services for 11.3 months.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19544', 'image' => '20231225024159_Trade.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 14:41:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19816', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Extends Loan Restructuring and Rescheduling Facility until mid-April', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Nepal Rastra Bank has extended the loan restructuring and rescheduling facility provided as relief to the industrialists affected by the economic recession.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 25: Nepal Rastra Bank has extended the loan restructuring and rescheduling facility provided as relief to the industrialists affected by the economic recession. In order to implement the announcement made in the first quarterly review of the monetary policy, the central bank on Sunday amended the unified directive and extended the facility to restructure and reschedule the loan until mid-April.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the quarterly review of the monetary policy, the central bank has mentioned that the borrowers who are in trouble due to circumstances will be facilitated through means such as loan restructuring and rescheduling while strict action will be taken against those who intentional default payment of loans.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Accordingly, the central bank made arrangements for banks and financial institutions to recover ten percent of the outstanding loans’ interest and reschedule the loan until mid-April based on applications filed by the borrowers who have been in trouble due to recession. Prior to this, the NRB had fixed the deadline for rescheduling of loans until mid-January. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The central bank has made arrangements for restructuring and rescheduling of any loans up to Rs 50 million provided to agriculture and forestry, fisheries, mining, beverage production, non-food production, metal products, machinery and electronic tools, transportation, storage and communication, wholesale and retail, tourism, education, health and construction sectors. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Upon request from the borrower, banks can decide on restructuring the loans after analyzing the cash flow and income of the industry/business.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, one of the preconditions set by the central bank for rescheduling the loans is that the loans should be active loans as of mid-July this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, banks need to set aside 5 percent provisioning fund for rescheduling or restructuring loans.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19543', 'image' => '20231225023957_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 14:39:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19815', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Department of Electricity Development Seeks Progress Report from 55 Hydropower Projects', 'sub_title' => 'Govt Mulls Revoking License of the Work Progress is not Satisfactory', 'summary' => 'December 25: The Department of Electricity Development has asked 55 hydropower projects that have not started work after acquiring license to submit progress report.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 25: The Department of Electricity Development has asked </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">55</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hydropower projects that have not started work after acquiring license to submit progress report.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government plans to cancel the license of projects if their work progress is not satisfactory.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Thursday called Energy Minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet and directed him to initiate the process of canceling the licenses of hydropower companies that have acquired license but have not done anything worthwhile.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The department had earlier issued notices in the name of </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">55</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hydropower companies on December 4 last year and asked them to appear with a written statement on their physical and financial progress after it was found that many companies had had not started work long after acquiring power generation license.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Director General of the department, Chiranjeevi Chataut, said that the department has asked for progress report from the companies that have not been working for a long time after obtaining the license.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Those projects have been contacting the department and submitting their progress report.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“We are also discussing the reasons why the work of the projects is stuck and what kind of assistance can be provided by the department. We are also looking into whether the projects can proceed with the work immediately or not and how to get rid of the problems," he told New Business Age, adding, "If the projects are found to have acquired license but are unlikely to begin work, their license will be revoked immediately.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">There are both small and large scale projects that have not started work due to various reasons after acquiring permits. Those who have not submitted progress report include </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">42</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Upper Modi 'A' Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">42.9</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Ankhukhola Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">285</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Upper Tamor Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">6.5</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Rawakhola Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10.4</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Sabhakhola 'A' Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Upper Magdi Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">4</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Rupsekhola Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">243</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Manang Masryangdi Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">140</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Lower Manang Masryangdi Hydropower Project.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">440 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">MW Tila-</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hydropower Project and the </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">420 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">MW Tila-</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hydropar Project have also not provided progress report, according to the department. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Among the projects that have not submitted their progress report, some have stalled their work after completing </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20/22 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">percent of the work, while some other projects have not even started their work. Chataut informed that some of them have not start work even eight years after obtaining the permit.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19542', 'image' => '20231225013916_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 13:37:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19814', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC Takes Over Ground-handling Work of Thai Airways at TIA', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has reached an agreement with Thai Airways to provide ground handling services to Thai aircraft at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has reached an agreement with Thai Airways to provide ground handling services to Thai aircraft at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Until now, Thai Airways had been doing its own ground handling works at TIA. As per the agreement, Nepal Airlines Corporation will not oversee the ground handling of Thai Airways.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">NAC and Thai Airways signed an agreement to this effect on October </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">29</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">. Since then, NAC has been doing the ground handling works of Thai Airways.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Thai Airways has already handed over </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> ground handling equipment to the NAC. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">NAC informed that the two companies signed ownership transfer agreement December 16 so that the equipment will remain under NAC’s ownership.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Executive Chairman of NAC Yuvraj Adhikari and Narintorn Sukkasiam, head of the Western and Middle East Affairs of Thai Airways signed the agreement to this effect.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The NAC has been providing ground handling services at the TIA until now. This is one of the major sources of income of the debt-ridden NAC. However, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal recently announced that the ground handling service of Tribhuvan International Airport will be provided through competition. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19541', 'image' => '20231225124933_20230627040802_20220428023242_5e.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 12:48:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19813', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Christmas Gaining Popularity among Urban Youth', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Christmas is gaining popularity among the urban population of Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 25: Christmas is gaining popularity among the urban population of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Besides the followers of Christianity, even the young generation of urban youths and well-to-do families have adopted this Western culture despite maintaining their own culture and tradition.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Christmas is being celebrated across the country today with much fanfare by the followers of Christianity as well as other faiths. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Besides making Christmas cakes and decorating Christmas tree as well as exchange of gifts, urban centers are decorated to attract people on this day. People spend this day celebrating and partying till late night in a new trend that has been emerging in Nepal. People wearing the dress of Santa Clause has become a common sight in the city areas of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Ram Chandra Paudel and Vice President Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav have wished for happiness, peace and good health of all Christians on the occasion of the Christmas Day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In a message of greetings today, the president said that this festival would help further strengthen national unity. The president was of the view that mutual goodwill, tolerance and solidary among diverse cultural identities and religious values would help further strengthen our national unity. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the vice president said that the festival of Christmas is a social and cultural celebration like other festivals being observed in Nepal. Vice President Yadav expressed the confidence that this festival would promote the sentiment of unity among diverse communities with diverse cultural backgrounds. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19540', 'image' => '20231225114643_Santa-Clause.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 11:45:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19812', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Dahal Tells Govt Bodies to Maintain Transparency in Aircraft Purchase Deal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has directed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to move ahead with the process of purchasing aircraft for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) in a transparent manner, leaving no room for any error and dispute. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 25: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has directed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to move ahead with the process of purchasing aircraft for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) in a transparent manner, leaving no room for any error and dispute. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He gave this directive in a joint briefing and discussions programme attended by officials of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Water Supply held at the Singha Durbar on Sunday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Questions are always raised in aircraft purchase deals in Nepal. Let there be no such errors this time. The aircraft purchase process should be cent per cent correct, error-free and transparent. There should be no mistakes and questions like in the past in the procurement process this time," he reiterated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The PM also spoke on the need of changing several of our tourism-related policies and regulations as they are not tourist-friendly. "Let us all think about creating a conducive environment for the tourists. Let’s attract tourists by opening up the prohibited areas. Night time services should also be opened in the tourist areas and the government should be flexible in this too," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati said the airports constructed on the basis of 'political pressure' were not operating in an effective way. He stressed on the need for constructing airports only on need-basis in the coming days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He said solution should be sought for the areas prohibited for tourists and suggested making diplomatic initiation for operating the Bhairahawa and Pokhara international airports in their full capacity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">PM Dahal instructed the bodies concerned to immediately resolve the problem of the consumers having to pay water tariff even for taps which are dry. He directed for writing off the water tariff of consumers who are not getting water supply. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also called for further expediting works on the Melamchi Water Supply Project while expressing happiness over the works currently being carried out in two shifts as per the 28-day integrated action plan for bringing 170 million litres of water daily from Melamchi to Sundarijal of Kathmandu within a month. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The PM also urged the bodies concerned to look for other sources of water to supply water in the Kathmandu Valley which has a daily demand of 250 million litres water. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Water Supply Minister Mahendra Raya Yadav, Minister Kirati, Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sushila Shreepali, Chief Secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal, Water Supply Secretary Suresh Acharya, Culture Secretary Deepak Kafle , Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar, among other officials shed light on topics related to works and responsibilities of their respective ministries. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19539', 'image' => '20231225111753_428123538_nac twin.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 11:15:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19811', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Cuts Power Supply to Two more Industries ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to two more industries reasoning that they failed to clear the tariff for the dedicated and trunk lines. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px">December 25: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to two more industries reasoning that they failed to clear the tariff for the dedicated and trunk lines. <br /> The Parasi Distribution Centre of NEA cut off electricity to Sarbottam Cement and Laxmi Steel. The NEA informed that Sarbottam has dues of Rs 850 million while that of Laxmi Steel is Rs 620 million. <br /> Earlier, the NEA had stopped electricity supply to four industries for the same reason. <br /> On Thursday, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had directed the NEA to stop power supply to the defaulting industries and companies. He had asked the NEA to collect tariff by disrupting the electricity supply. <br /> The NEA was facing criticism that it was disrupting power only to small industries while letting the big ones go scot free. <br /> The authority had stopped supply to Jagadamba Cement, Reliance Spinning Mills, Ghorahi Cement and Arghakhanchi Cements. They had been ignoring the request to clear the dues. -- RSS</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19538', 'image' => '20231225105033_20231224112254_NEA_eight by six.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 10:49:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19810', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ichchhakamana Farmers Earn 100 Million Rupees from Orange Sales', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'More than 450 farmers in the Ichchhakamana rural municipality are set to collectively earn Rs 100 million this year from the sale of oranges alone in Chitwan, according to the Agriculture Development Section of the rural municipality.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">December 25: More than 450 farmers in the Ichchhakamana rural municipality are set to collectively earn Rs 100 million this year from the sale of oranges alone in Chitwan, </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">according to the Agriculture Development Section of the rural municipality.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This remarkable achievement is attributed to the high market demand and favourable pricing for the oranges produced by local farmers. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">At present a kilogram of oranges fetches between Rs 75 to Rs 90 at the orchards of these farmers, marking a significant increase in income.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Orange cultivation covers 80 hectares of land in the Ichchhakamana rural municipality this year, with actual production taking place on 60 hectares. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Out of the 20,000 orange trees grown in the region, 15,000 trees bore fruits. Although this year's production is slightly lower, the farmers have benefited from the improved pricing. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Ashish Tripathi, the Section Chief, of the rural municipality explained that despite a 12 percent decline in production compared to the previous year, the income for farmers has surged.</span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Last year, the Orange Growing Area Expansion Programme, initiated by the Agriculture Knowledge Centre (AKC), led to the planting of 5,100 orange trees. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While the orange plantation area expanded this year, the area with higher production remained consistent. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In specific geographical areas like Ichchhakamana rural municipality and Bharatpur Metropolitan City-29, located in the hilly regions of Chitwan district, orange farming has become a pivotal source of income for local communities. (RSS)</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19537', 'image' => '20231225072411_collage (9).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 07:22:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19808', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Onion Drops by 21 Percent in a Week', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: The price of onion has decreased by 21 percent in one week.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 24: The price of onion has decreased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">21</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent in one week.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the price of dry onion has decreased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">21.43</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent in a period of one week.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the committee, onion which was sold at an average price of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">140</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg on December </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">17</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> is being sold at an average price of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">110</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg on Sunday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The supply of onion has also decreased in the last one week. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A total of </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">71</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">707 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">kg of onions were supplied to the Kalimati market on December </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">6, which dropped to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">37</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">130 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">kg on Saturday </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">(</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 23). The supply of onions decreased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">48 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">percent on Saturday compared to last December </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">6</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the price of large local tomatoes has remained stable at Rs 55 per kg compared to last week. However, the price of large tomatoes imported from India has decreased from Rs 85 per kg to Rs 75 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the other hand, je price of small tomatoes produced in the domestic market has increased from Rs 12 to Rs 17 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of locally produced red potatoes has slightly decreased from Rs 35.67 to Rs 35 per kg while the price of red potatoes imported from India has increased from Rs 31 to Rs 33 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the price of local carrot has increased from Rs 45 to Rs 55 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of cauliflower has increased from Rs 35 to Rs 40 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of local cabbage has increased from Rs 32 to Rs 34 per kg while that of cabbage produced in the Terai has dropped from Rs 32 to Rs 27 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of red radish has remained stable at Rs 17 per kg while that of white radish remains unchanged at Rs 12 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19535', 'image' => '20231224022545_20230829032102_1692625925.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 14:24:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19806', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Footwear Industry Producing Shoes at 40 Percent Capacity', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: Nepal's shoe industry has been producing shoes at only 40 percent of its capacity, the state-owned RSS reported.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 24: Nepal's shoe industry has been producing shoes at only 40 percent of its capacity, the state-owned RSS reported. In other words, production has decreased by 60 percent. The shoe industry has not been able to produce shoes according to its capacity due to the decrease in exports of shoes and an increase in import as well as smuggling of shoes. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Naniraj Ghimire, president of the Footwear Manufacturers Association of Nepal, the Nepali footwear industry has the capacity to produce about 160 million pairs of shoes annually. There are 1,500 shoe factories in Nepal including 1,200 small factories, 200 medium ones and 100 large factories. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ghimire told RSS that businessmen have invested Rs 30 billion in the footwear industry of Nepal and 60 percent of the investment is bank loan. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Ghimire, although the shoe industry has capacity to produce much more, the production is currently limited to 40 percent of the full capacity. At present, the estimated demand for shoes in the domestic market of Nepal is 100 million pairs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Seventy percent of the demand is fulfilled by domestically produced shoes and 30 percent is imported from abroad.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Before the catastrophic Gorkha earthquake, Nepal used to export 30 million pairs of shoes annually, but now it has dropped to around 6.5 million pairs. Ghimire said that shoes manufactured in Nepal are mostly sold in India and 18 other countries. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Rudra Prasad Neupane, the vice president of the association, the problem has surfaced because the government has not implemented the policy related to shoes. Nepal’s shoe industry is unable to produce shoes according to its capacity due to smuggling of shoes, lack of skilled workers, and high interest rates of banks among others. The cost has also increased because the customs duty of raw materials has increased from 10 percent to 20 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Neupane, high-ranking government employees are changed frequently due to political instability and therefore their problems never get addressed. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The shoe industry of Nepal has been providing direct employment to 55,000 people. Since Nepal lacks skilled manpower in this sector, half of the workers are foreigners. Neupane said that if the industry can run at full capacity, 125,000 people will get employment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19534', 'image' => '20231224125041_20190124015719_birat.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 12:50:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19807', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Tells Youth to Make Best Use of Digital Platforms', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has urged the youth force of the country to get involved in the digital platforms within the country instead of going abroad.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 24: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has urged the youth force of the country to get involved in the digital platforms within the country instead of going abroad. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Inaugurating the 'CIN Youth Entrepreneur Forum Nepal Startup Fest </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2023</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">', Finance Minister Mahat said that if the young generation has the ability, imagination and dedication, they can do a lot through the digital platform.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The organisers of the programme that about </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">40</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the youth are connected to this sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“There is a trend of students going abroad after the </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">12</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">th grade and it should be stopped,” said Minister Mahat, adding, “I request everyone to start working through this platform to stop the wave of going abroad after class </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">12.</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Finance Minister Mahat said that the digital platform as given ample opportunities not only to business but to every sector. He said that those who are engaged in production can easily access the market through digital platform and increase their income at a low cost. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"This opportunity is available for everyone. It gives confidence to young entrepreneurs," he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The minister added that the government will enhance the IT policy in the coming days. "The government is ready to help the Nepalese youth in whatever field they want to work in. The government is ready to facilitate them." </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He said that the information technology sector plays an important role in the economic development of Nepal and even now a large amount of software is exported abroad. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Exports in the IT sector are increasing, and will increase even more in the coming days,” he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19533', 'image' => '20231224020035_20230817055515_collage (20).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 13:59:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19805', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Governor Tells Banks to Give Loans to Hard-Working and Diligent People', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has urged bankers to give loans to hard-working people instead of fraudsters. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 24: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has urged bankers to give loans to hard-working people instead of fraudsters. Addressing the </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">37</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">th annual general meeting of the Nepal Bankers' Association amid a recent function, Governor Adhikari said that the banks should distinguish between hard-working and diligent people from fraudsters and disburse loans accordingly.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Stating that he visited an animal farm in Chitwan on Saturday, the governor said, "The farm owner earns Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">600</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per month by rearing </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">107</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> cattle and buffaloes with a loan of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">5</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million. This is a good example.'' </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Advising the banks to help new businessmen instead of attracting borrowers from other banks, Governor Adhikari added, “Make an environment to be proud that so many new businessmen are born in a year.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He clarified that there is no shortage of liquidity in banks for making investment while foreign exchange reserves are also sufficient.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sunil KC, Chief Executive Officer of NMB Bank, and president of the Association and Santosh Koirala, Chief Executive Officer of Machhapuchcher Bank and vice president of the association shed light about the current situation of the banks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Anil Sharma, executive director of the association, talked about the recent activities of the association. On this occasion, Shravan Maskey of the then Bank of Kathmandu and Krishna Bahadur Adhikari of Nepal Bank Limited who completed their tenure as Chief Executive Officers were honoured.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Likewise, Kul Chandra Gautam was also honoured for his services in various fields along with the banking sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The AGM appointed five new members of the association. Ashok Sherchan, Chief Executive Officer of Prabhu Bank, Sanjeev Manandhar, Chief Executive Officer of Prime Commercial Bank, Sunder Prasad Kandel, Chief Executive Officer of Siddharth Bank, Nischal Raj Pandey, Chief Executive Officer of Sanima Bank and Kiran Kumar Shrestha, Chief Executive Officer of Rastriya Banijya Bank were apointed as new members of the association.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19532', 'image' => '20231224121144_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 12:10:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19802', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'New Cases of Covid up by 52 Percent Globally in One Month: WHO ', 'sub_title' => 'Influenza, RSV, and common childhood pneumonia are also on the rise ', 'summary' => 'December 24: The number of new COVID cases increased by 52 per cent during the past four-odd weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, with over 850 000 new cases reported during this period. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 24: The number of new COVID cases increased by 52 per cent during the past four-odd weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, with over 850 000 new cases reported during this period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The number of new deaths decreased by 8 per cent as compared to the previous 28-day period, with over 3,000 new fatalities reported, WHO said in its latest press release. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As of December 17, over 772 million confirmed cases and nearly seven million deaths have been reported globally since the onset of COVID-19, the WHO noted. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Furthermore, the WHO said over 118,000 new COVID-19 hospitalisations and over 1600 new intensive care unit (ICU) admissions have been recorded, with an overall increase of 23 per cent and 51 per cent, respectively, globally. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As of December 18, 2023, JN.1, a sub-lineage of BA.2.86 Omicron variant has been designated a separate variant of interest (VOI) apart from its parent lineage BA.2.86 due to its rapid increase in prevalence in recent weeks. Globally, EG.5 remains the most reported variant of interest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Due to its rapidly increasing spread, WHO is classifying the variant JN.1 as a separate variant of interest (VOI) from the parent lineage BA.2.86. It was previously classified as VOI as part of BA.2.86 sublineages. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Based on the available evidence, the additional global public health risk posed by JN.1 is currently evaluated as low. Despite this, with the onset of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, JN.1 could increase the burden of respiratory infections in many countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The WHO had earlier said it was continuously monitoring the evidence and would update the JN.1 risk evaluation as needed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Current vaccines continue to protect against severe disease and death from JN.1 and other circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, it noted. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">COVID-19 is not the only respiratory disease circulating. Influenza, RSV, and common childhood pneumonia are also on the rise. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The WHO advises people to take measures to prevent infections and severe disease using all available tools. These include wearing a mask in crowded, enclosed, or poorly ventilated areas, keeping a safe distance from others, practicing respiratory etiquette (covering coughs and sneezes), cleaning hands regularly, and getting tested if one has any symptoms or if you might have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 or influenza. – ANI/RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19529', 'image' => '20231224105344_WHO eight.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 10:52:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19801', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Power Supply to Defaulter Industries Cut Off ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to some large-scale industries that have failed for a long time to pay their electricity tariff for using dedicated and truck lines. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 24: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to some large-scale industries that have failed for a long time to pay their electricity tariff for using dedicated and truck lines. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NEA took the measure after Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Thursday ordered the state-owned power utility to plug off the power lines and recover the tariff from them. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NEA had been facing public criticism for cutting off power supply of household consumers but exempting the large-scale industries. According to the NEA, power supply to Jagdamba Steel, Reliance Spinning Mills, Ghorahi Cement and Arghakhanchi Cement industries have been cut off. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NEA sources informed that Jagdamba Steel alone has to pay tariff worth Rs 4.14 billion. Similarly, Reliance Spinning Mills has to pay Rs 1.09 billion, Ghorahi Cement has to pay Rs 1.36 billion and Arghakhanchi Cement owes Rs. 1.3 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Despite repeated calls the industries have not cleared their dues to the NEA. The latest report of the Office of the Auditor General too had instructed the NEA to collect the arrears. Furthermore, various committees of the parliament had also directed to raise the tariff immediately. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19528', 'image' => '20231224102117_NEA_20191104081559.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 10:20:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19818', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Former British Army Veteran Funds Rs 13.9 Million for New School Building Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Former British army member Krishna Bahadur Rai has funded the construction of a new school building in Pauwadung rural municipality, located in the eastern region of Bhojpur district. The cost of the project amounted to Rs 13.9 million.', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">December 26: Former British army member Krishna Bahadur Rai has funded the construction of a new school building in Pauwadung rural municipality, located in the eastern region of Bhojpur district. The cost of the project amounted to Rs 13.9 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Shitaladevi Basic School, which previously had outdated infrastructure, received a new 6-room building due to Rai's commitment to improving education for remote villagers. The handover ceremony to the school management team took place on Monday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Krishna Bahadur Rai, aged 70, dedicated his income to this educational initiative, redirecting his initial plan to construct a building for a health post to address the pressing needs of the school. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In addition to the new building, Rai announced his intention to facilitate the development of a playground for the benefit of the schoolchildren.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Reflecting on his decision, Rai stated, "Although my initial plan was for a health post, I redirected my support to the school, considering the health post already had a new building." </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">He expressed confidence that the new infrastructure would contribute significantly to enhancing the quality of education in the region.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Rural municipality chair Kiran Rai acknowledged and praised Krishna Bahadur's philanthropic gesture, describing it as a substantial contribution to the village. "We're indebted to him for this significant development," Kiran Rai remarked.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">School principal Chandra Bogati highlighted the positive impact of the new school building, emphasizing its role in retaining students and ensuring the delivery of quality education. (RSS) </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-26', 'modified' => '2023-12-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19545', 'image' => '20231226090856_collage (10).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-26 09:06:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19817', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Imports in Current FY Lower than Last Year when NRB had Imposed Restrictions', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: The imports of Nepal in the first five months of the current fiscal year has been less than the imports in the corresponding period of last fiscal year when the government had restricted imports of luxurious goods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 25: The imports of Nepal in the first five months of the current fiscal year has been less than the imports in the corresponding period of last fiscal year when the government had restricted imports of luxurious goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">This indicates that there is lack of demand in the market and the government has failed to revitalize the economy despite efforts from the central bank and the federal government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">From mid-July to mid-December last year, Nepal had imported goods worth more than Rs 664 billion which fell to Rs 642 billion in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal’s import expenses fell 3.39 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period of last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has imposed a restrictions on the imports of ten luxury goods from April 26, 2022 to August 31 this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As a result, cars except ambulances, all types of readymade alcohol except industrial raw materials, motorcycles with capacity of more than 150 cc and smartphones worth more than USD 300, foods such as chips, color televisions larger than 32 inches, playing cards, diamonds, cigarettes and tobacco products and all kinds of toys were restru=icted during that period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After August 31, the import ban on food items like chips, color televisions larger than 32 inches, playing cards, diamonds, cigarettes and tobacco products and all types of toys was lifted. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The import ban on the remaining items was still in place until mid-December. Customs data has confirmed that the lifting of the ban on the import of the remaining four items from mid-December has had little effect in easing imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Two years ago, at this time, the policy makers were focused on reducing imports due to the declining foreign exchange reserves. However, businessmen had raised concerns that such a move would curb economic activities and that would lead to the decline in overall economic growth.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although both import and export have increased in the Nepali month of Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December) compared to the previous month, it does not hold much significance because there were long holidays in the month of Kartik (mid-October to mid-November) due to Dashain and Tihar.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Government offices and banks and financial institutions were open only for 16 days in the festive season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the data released by the Department of Customs, Nepal Rs 129.70 billion in the month of Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December), while the export figures stood at Rs 12.64 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the month of Kartik, Nepal imported goods worth Rs 104.74 billion and exported goods equal to Rs 9.79 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The records with the Department of Customs (DoC) show that the country’s trade deficit declined 3.09 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The central bank has already reduced the interest rate while reviewing the monetary policy saying that the situation in the external sector is strong. After that, banks are also emphasizing on providing loans by reducing interest rates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As the foreign exchange reserves eased, the government opened import restrictions and Nepal Rastra Bank also reviewed its policy. According to the report of NRB, the total foreign exchange reserve is enough to cover imports of goods for 13.6 months and goods and services for 11.3 months.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19544', 'image' => '20231225024159_Trade.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 14:41:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19816', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Extends Loan Restructuring and Rescheduling Facility until mid-April', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Nepal Rastra Bank has extended the loan restructuring and rescheduling facility provided as relief to the industrialists affected by the economic recession.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 25: Nepal Rastra Bank has extended the loan restructuring and rescheduling facility provided as relief to the industrialists affected by the economic recession. In order to implement the announcement made in the first quarterly review of the monetary policy, the central bank on Sunday amended the unified directive and extended the facility to restructure and reschedule the loan until mid-April.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the quarterly review of the monetary policy, the central bank has mentioned that the borrowers who are in trouble due to circumstances will be facilitated through means such as loan restructuring and rescheduling while strict action will be taken against those who intentional default payment of loans.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Accordingly, the central bank made arrangements for banks and financial institutions to recover ten percent of the outstanding loans’ interest and reschedule the loan until mid-April based on applications filed by the borrowers who have been in trouble due to recession. Prior to this, the NRB had fixed the deadline for rescheduling of loans until mid-January. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The central bank has made arrangements for restructuring and rescheduling of any loans up to Rs 50 million provided to agriculture and forestry, fisheries, mining, beverage production, non-food production, metal products, machinery and electronic tools, transportation, storage and communication, wholesale and retail, tourism, education, health and construction sectors. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Upon request from the borrower, banks can decide on restructuring the loans after analyzing the cash flow and income of the industry/business.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, one of the preconditions set by the central bank for rescheduling the loans is that the loans should be active loans as of mid-July this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, banks need to set aside 5 percent provisioning fund for rescheduling or restructuring loans.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19543', 'image' => '20231225023957_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 14:39:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19815', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Department of Electricity Development Seeks Progress Report from 55 Hydropower Projects', 'sub_title' => 'Govt Mulls Revoking License of the Work Progress is not Satisfactory', 'summary' => 'December 25: The Department of Electricity Development has asked 55 hydropower projects that have not started work after acquiring license to submit progress report.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 25: The Department of Electricity Development has asked </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">55</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hydropower projects that have not started work after acquiring license to submit progress report.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government plans to cancel the license of projects if their work progress is not satisfactory.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Thursday called Energy Minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet and directed him to initiate the process of canceling the licenses of hydropower companies that have acquired license but have not done anything worthwhile.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The department had earlier issued notices in the name of </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">55</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hydropower companies on December 4 last year and asked them to appear with a written statement on their physical and financial progress after it was found that many companies had had not started work long after acquiring power generation license.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Director General of the department, Chiranjeevi Chataut, said that the department has asked for progress report from the companies that have not been working for a long time after obtaining the license.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Those projects have been contacting the department and submitting their progress report.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“We are also discussing the reasons why the work of the projects is stuck and what kind of assistance can be provided by the department. We are also looking into whether the projects can proceed with the work immediately or not and how to get rid of the problems," he told New Business Age, adding, "If the projects are found to have acquired license but are unlikely to begin work, their license will be revoked immediately.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">There are both small and large scale projects that have not started work due to various reasons after acquiring permits. Those who have not submitted progress report include </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">42</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Upper Modi 'A' Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">42.9</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Ankhukhola Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">285</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Upper Tamor Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">6.5</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Rawakhola Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10.4</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Sabhakhola 'A' Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Upper Magdi Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">4</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Rupsekhola Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">243</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Manang Masryangdi Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">140</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Lower Manang Masryangdi Hydropower Project.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">440 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">MW Tila-</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hydropower Project and the </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">420 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">MW Tila-</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hydropar Project have also not provided progress report, according to the department. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Among the projects that have not submitted their progress report, some have stalled their work after completing </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20/22 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">percent of the work, while some other projects have not even started their work. Chataut informed that some of them have not start work even eight years after obtaining the permit.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19542', 'image' => '20231225013916_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 13:37:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19814', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC Takes Over Ground-handling Work of Thai Airways at TIA', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has reached an agreement with Thai Airways to provide ground handling services to Thai aircraft at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has reached an agreement with Thai Airways to provide ground handling services to Thai aircraft at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Until now, Thai Airways had been doing its own ground handling works at TIA. As per the agreement, Nepal Airlines Corporation will not oversee the ground handling of Thai Airways.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">NAC and Thai Airways signed an agreement to this effect on October </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">29</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">. Since then, NAC has been doing the ground handling works of Thai Airways.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Thai Airways has already handed over </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> ground handling equipment to the NAC. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">NAC informed that the two companies signed ownership transfer agreement December 16 so that the equipment will remain under NAC’s ownership.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Executive Chairman of NAC Yuvraj Adhikari and Narintorn Sukkasiam, head of the Western and Middle East Affairs of Thai Airways signed the agreement to this effect.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The NAC has been providing ground handling services at the TIA until now. This is one of the major sources of income of the debt-ridden NAC. However, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal recently announced that the ground handling service of Tribhuvan International Airport will be provided through competition. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19541', 'image' => '20231225124933_20230627040802_20220428023242_5e.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 12:48:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19813', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Christmas Gaining Popularity among Urban Youth', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Christmas is gaining popularity among the urban population of Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 25: Christmas is gaining popularity among the urban population of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Besides the followers of Christianity, even the young generation of urban youths and well-to-do families have adopted this Western culture despite maintaining their own culture and tradition.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Christmas is being celebrated across the country today with much fanfare by the followers of Christianity as well as other faiths. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Besides making Christmas cakes and decorating Christmas tree as well as exchange of gifts, urban centers are decorated to attract people on this day. People spend this day celebrating and partying till late night in a new trend that has been emerging in Nepal. People wearing the dress of Santa Clause has become a common sight in the city areas of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Ram Chandra Paudel and Vice President Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav have wished for happiness, peace and good health of all Christians on the occasion of the Christmas Day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In a message of greetings today, the president said that this festival would help further strengthen national unity. The president was of the view that mutual goodwill, tolerance and solidary among diverse cultural identities and religious values would help further strengthen our national unity. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the vice president said that the festival of Christmas is a social and cultural celebration like other festivals being observed in Nepal. Vice President Yadav expressed the confidence that this festival would promote the sentiment of unity among diverse communities with diverse cultural backgrounds. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19540', 'image' => '20231225114643_Santa-Clause.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 11:45:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19812', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Dahal Tells Govt Bodies to Maintain Transparency in Aircraft Purchase Deal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has directed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to move ahead with the process of purchasing aircraft for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) in a transparent manner, leaving no room for any error and dispute. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 25: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has directed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to move ahead with the process of purchasing aircraft for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) in a transparent manner, leaving no room for any error and dispute. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He gave this directive in a joint briefing and discussions programme attended by officials of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Water Supply held at the Singha Durbar on Sunday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Questions are always raised in aircraft purchase deals in Nepal. Let there be no such errors this time. The aircraft purchase process should be cent per cent correct, error-free and transparent. There should be no mistakes and questions like in the past in the procurement process this time," he reiterated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The PM also spoke on the need of changing several of our tourism-related policies and regulations as they are not tourist-friendly. "Let us all think about creating a conducive environment for the tourists. Let’s attract tourists by opening up the prohibited areas. Night time services should also be opened in the tourist areas and the government should be flexible in this too," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati said the airports constructed on the basis of 'political pressure' were not operating in an effective way. He stressed on the need for constructing airports only on need-basis in the coming days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He said solution should be sought for the areas prohibited for tourists and suggested making diplomatic initiation for operating the Bhairahawa and Pokhara international airports in their full capacity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">PM Dahal instructed the bodies concerned to immediately resolve the problem of the consumers having to pay water tariff even for taps which are dry. He directed for writing off the water tariff of consumers who are not getting water supply. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also called for further expediting works on the Melamchi Water Supply Project while expressing happiness over the works currently being carried out in two shifts as per the 28-day integrated action plan for bringing 170 million litres of water daily from Melamchi to Sundarijal of Kathmandu within a month. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The PM also urged the bodies concerned to look for other sources of water to supply water in the Kathmandu Valley which has a daily demand of 250 million litres water. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Water Supply Minister Mahendra Raya Yadav, Minister Kirati, Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sushila Shreepali, Chief Secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal, Water Supply Secretary Suresh Acharya, Culture Secretary Deepak Kafle , Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar, among other officials shed light on topics related to works and responsibilities of their respective ministries. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19539', 'image' => '20231225111753_428123538_nac twin.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 11:15:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19811', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Cuts Power Supply to Two more Industries ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to two more industries reasoning that they failed to clear the tariff for the dedicated and trunk lines. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px">December 25: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to two more industries reasoning that they failed to clear the tariff for the dedicated and trunk lines. <br /> The Parasi Distribution Centre of NEA cut off electricity to Sarbottam Cement and Laxmi Steel. The NEA informed that Sarbottam has dues of Rs 850 million while that of Laxmi Steel is Rs 620 million. <br /> Earlier, the NEA had stopped electricity supply to four industries for the same reason. <br /> On Thursday, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had directed the NEA to stop power supply to the defaulting industries and companies. He had asked the NEA to collect tariff by disrupting the electricity supply. <br /> The NEA was facing criticism that it was disrupting power only to small industries while letting the big ones go scot free. <br /> The authority had stopped supply to Jagadamba Cement, Reliance Spinning Mills, Ghorahi Cement and Arghakhanchi Cements. They had been ignoring the request to clear the dues. -- RSS</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19538', 'image' => '20231225105033_20231224112254_NEA_eight by six.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 10:49:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19810', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ichchhakamana Farmers Earn 100 Million Rupees from Orange Sales', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'More than 450 farmers in the Ichchhakamana rural municipality are set to collectively earn Rs 100 million this year from the sale of oranges alone in Chitwan, according to the Agriculture Development Section of the rural municipality.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">December 25: More than 450 farmers in the Ichchhakamana rural municipality are set to collectively earn Rs 100 million this year from the sale of oranges alone in Chitwan, </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">according to the Agriculture Development Section of the rural municipality.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This remarkable achievement is attributed to the high market demand and favourable pricing for the oranges produced by local farmers. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">At present a kilogram of oranges fetches between Rs 75 to Rs 90 at the orchards of these farmers, marking a significant increase in income.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Orange cultivation covers 80 hectares of land in the Ichchhakamana rural municipality this year, with actual production taking place on 60 hectares. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Out of the 20,000 orange trees grown in the region, 15,000 trees bore fruits. Although this year's production is slightly lower, the farmers have benefited from the improved pricing. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Ashish Tripathi, the Section Chief, of the rural municipality explained that despite a 12 percent decline in production compared to the previous year, the income for farmers has surged.</span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Last year, the Orange Growing Area Expansion Programme, initiated by the Agriculture Knowledge Centre (AKC), led to the planting of 5,100 orange trees. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While the orange plantation area expanded this year, the area with higher production remained consistent. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In specific geographical areas like Ichchhakamana rural municipality and Bharatpur Metropolitan City-29, located in the hilly regions of Chitwan district, orange farming has become a pivotal source of income for local communities. (RSS)</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19537', 'image' => '20231225072411_collage (9).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 07:22:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19808', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Onion Drops by 21 Percent in a Week', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: The price of onion has decreased by 21 percent in one week.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 24: The price of onion has decreased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">21</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent in one week.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the price of dry onion has decreased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">21.43</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent in a period of one week.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the committee, onion which was sold at an average price of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">140</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg on December </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">17</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> is being sold at an average price of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">110</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg on Sunday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The supply of onion has also decreased in the last one week. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A total of </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">71</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">707 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">kg of onions were supplied to the Kalimati market on December </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">6, which dropped to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">37</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">130 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">kg on Saturday </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">(</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 23). The supply of onions decreased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">48 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">percent on Saturday compared to last December </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">6</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the price of large local tomatoes has remained stable at Rs 55 per kg compared to last week. However, the price of large tomatoes imported from India has decreased from Rs 85 per kg to Rs 75 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the other hand, je price of small tomatoes produced in the domestic market has increased from Rs 12 to Rs 17 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of locally produced red potatoes has slightly decreased from Rs 35.67 to Rs 35 per kg while the price of red potatoes imported from India has increased from Rs 31 to Rs 33 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the price of local carrot has increased from Rs 45 to Rs 55 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of cauliflower has increased from Rs 35 to Rs 40 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of local cabbage has increased from Rs 32 to Rs 34 per kg while that of cabbage produced in the Terai has dropped from Rs 32 to Rs 27 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of red radish has remained stable at Rs 17 per kg while that of white radish remains unchanged at Rs 12 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19535', 'image' => '20231224022545_20230829032102_1692625925.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 14:24:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19806', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Footwear Industry Producing Shoes at 40 Percent Capacity', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: Nepal's shoe industry has been producing shoes at only 40 percent of its capacity, the state-owned RSS reported.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 24: Nepal's shoe industry has been producing shoes at only 40 percent of its capacity, the state-owned RSS reported. In other words, production has decreased by 60 percent. The shoe industry has not been able to produce shoes according to its capacity due to the decrease in exports of shoes and an increase in import as well as smuggling of shoes. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Naniraj Ghimire, president of the Footwear Manufacturers Association of Nepal, the Nepali footwear industry has the capacity to produce about 160 million pairs of shoes annually. There are 1,500 shoe factories in Nepal including 1,200 small factories, 200 medium ones and 100 large factories. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ghimire told RSS that businessmen have invested Rs 30 billion in the footwear industry of Nepal and 60 percent of the investment is bank loan. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Ghimire, although the shoe industry has capacity to produce much more, the production is currently limited to 40 percent of the full capacity. At present, the estimated demand for shoes in the domestic market of Nepal is 100 million pairs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Seventy percent of the demand is fulfilled by domestically produced shoes and 30 percent is imported from abroad.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Before the catastrophic Gorkha earthquake, Nepal used to export 30 million pairs of shoes annually, but now it has dropped to around 6.5 million pairs. Ghimire said that shoes manufactured in Nepal are mostly sold in India and 18 other countries. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Rudra Prasad Neupane, the vice president of the association, the problem has surfaced because the government has not implemented the policy related to shoes. Nepal’s shoe industry is unable to produce shoes according to its capacity due to smuggling of shoes, lack of skilled workers, and high interest rates of banks among others. The cost has also increased because the customs duty of raw materials has increased from 10 percent to 20 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Neupane, high-ranking government employees are changed frequently due to political instability and therefore their problems never get addressed. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The shoe industry of Nepal has been providing direct employment to 55,000 people. Since Nepal lacks skilled manpower in this sector, half of the workers are foreigners. Neupane said that if the industry can run at full capacity, 125,000 people will get employment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19534', 'image' => '20231224125041_20190124015719_birat.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 12:50:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19807', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Tells Youth to Make Best Use of Digital Platforms', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has urged the youth force of the country to get involved in the digital platforms within the country instead of going abroad.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 24: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has urged the youth force of the country to get involved in the digital platforms within the country instead of going abroad. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Inaugurating the 'CIN Youth Entrepreneur Forum Nepal Startup Fest </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2023</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">', Finance Minister Mahat said that if the young generation has the ability, imagination and dedication, they can do a lot through the digital platform.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The organisers of the programme that about </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">40</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the youth are connected to this sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“There is a trend of students going abroad after the </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">12</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">th grade and it should be stopped,” said Minister Mahat, adding, “I request everyone to start working through this platform to stop the wave of going abroad after class </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">12.</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Finance Minister Mahat said that the digital platform as given ample opportunities not only to business but to every sector. He said that those who are engaged in production can easily access the market through digital platform and increase their income at a low cost. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"This opportunity is available for everyone. It gives confidence to young entrepreneurs," he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The minister added that the government will enhance the IT policy in the coming days. "The government is ready to help the Nepalese youth in whatever field they want to work in. The government is ready to facilitate them." </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He said that the information technology sector plays an important role in the economic development of Nepal and even now a large amount of software is exported abroad. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Exports in the IT sector are increasing, and will increase even more in the coming days,” he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19533', 'image' => '20231224020035_20230817055515_collage (20).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 13:59:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19805', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Governor Tells Banks to Give Loans to Hard-Working and Diligent People', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has urged bankers to give loans to hard-working people instead of fraudsters. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 24: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has urged bankers to give loans to hard-working people instead of fraudsters. Addressing the </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">37</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">th annual general meeting of the Nepal Bankers' Association amid a recent function, Governor Adhikari said that the banks should distinguish between hard-working and diligent people from fraudsters and disburse loans accordingly.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Stating that he visited an animal farm in Chitwan on Saturday, the governor said, "The farm owner earns Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">600</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per month by rearing </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">107</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> cattle and buffaloes with a loan of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">5</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million. This is a good example.'' </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Advising the banks to help new businessmen instead of attracting borrowers from other banks, Governor Adhikari added, “Make an environment to be proud that so many new businessmen are born in a year.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He clarified that there is no shortage of liquidity in banks for making investment while foreign exchange reserves are also sufficient.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sunil KC, Chief Executive Officer of NMB Bank, and president of the Association and Santosh Koirala, Chief Executive Officer of Machhapuchcher Bank and vice president of the association shed light about the current situation of the banks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Anil Sharma, executive director of the association, talked about the recent activities of the association. On this occasion, Shravan Maskey of the then Bank of Kathmandu and Krishna Bahadur Adhikari of Nepal Bank Limited who completed their tenure as Chief Executive Officers were honoured.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Likewise, Kul Chandra Gautam was also honoured for his services in various fields along with the banking sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The AGM appointed five new members of the association. Ashok Sherchan, Chief Executive Officer of Prabhu Bank, Sanjeev Manandhar, Chief Executive Officer of Prime Commercial Bank, Sunder Prasad Kandel, Chief Executive Officer of Siddharth Bank, Nischal Raj Pandey, Chief Executive Officer of Sanima Bank and Kiran Kumar Shrestha, Chief Executive Officer of Rastriya Banijya Bank were apointed as new members of the association.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19532', 'image' => '20231224121144_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 12:10:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19802', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'New Cases of Covid up by 52 Percent Globally in One Month: WHO ', 'sub_title' => 'Influenza, RSV, and common childhood pneumonia are also on the rise ', 'summary' => 'December 24: The number of new COVID cases increased by 52 per cent during the past four-odd weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, with over 850 000 new cases reported during this period. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 24: The number of new COVID cases increased by 52 per cent during the past four-odd weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, with over 850 000 new cases reported during this period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The number of new deaths decreased by 8 per cent as compared to the previous 28-day period, with over 3,000 new fatalities reported, WHO said in its latest press release. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As of December 17, over 772 million confirmed cases and nearly seven million deaths have been reported globally since the onset of COVID-19, the WHO noted. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Furthermore, the WHO said over 118,000 new COVID-19 hospitalisations and over 1600 new intensive care unit (ICU) admissions have been recorded, with an overall increase of 23 per cent and 51 per cent, respectively, globally. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As of December 18, 2023, JN.1, a sub-lineage of BA.2.86 Omicron variant has been designated a separate variant of interest (VOI) apart from its parent lineage BA.2.86 due to its rapid increase in prevalence in recent weeks. Globally, EG.5 remains the most reported variant of interest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Due to its rapidly increasing spread, WHO is classifying the variant JN.1 as a separate variant of interest (VOI) from the parent lineage BA.2.86. It was previously classified as VOI as part of BA.2.86 sublineages. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Based on the available evidence, the additional global public health risk posed by JN.1 is currently evaluated as low. Despite this, with the onset of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, JN.1 could increase the burden of respiratory infections in many countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The WHO had earlier said it was continuously monitoring the evidence and would update the JN.1 risk evaluation as needed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Current vaccines continue to protect against severe disease and death from JN.1 and other circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, it noted. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">COVID-19 is not the only respiratory disease circulating. Influenza, RSV, and common childhood pneumonia are also on the rise. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The WHO advises people to take measures to prevent infections and severe disease using all available tools. These include wearing a mask in crowded, enclosed, or poorly ventilated areas, keeping a safe distance from others, practicing respiratory etiquette (covering coughs and sneezes), cleaning hands regularly, and getting tested if one has any symptoms or if you might have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 or influenza. – ANI/RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19529', 'image' => '20231224105344_WHO eight.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 10:52:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19801', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Power Supply to Defaulter Industries Cut Off ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to some large-scale industries that have failed for a long time to pay their electricity tariff for using dedicated and truck lines. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 24: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to some large-scale industries that have failed for a long time to pay their electricity tariff for using dedicated and truck lines. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NEA took the measure after Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Thursday ordered the state-owned power utility to plug off the power lines and recover the tariff from them. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NEA had been facing public criticism for cutting off power supply of household consumers but exempting the large-scale industries. According to the NEA, power supply to Jagdamba Steel, Reliance Spinning Mills, Ghorahi Cement and Arghakhanchi Cement industries have been cut off. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NEA sources informed that Jagdamba Steel alone has to pay tariff worth Rs 4.14 billion. Similarly, Reliance Spinning Mills has to pay Rs 1.09 billion, Ghorahi Cement has to pay Rs 1.36 billion and Arghakhanchi Cement owes Rs. 1.3 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Despite repeated calls the industries have not cleared their dues to the NEA. The latest report of the Office of the Auditor General too had instructed the NEA to collect the arrears. Furthermore, various committees of the parliament had also directed to raise the tariff immediately. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19528', 'image' => '20231224102117_NEA_20191104081559.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 10:20:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19818', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Former British Army Veteran Funds Rs 13.9 Million for New School Building Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Former British army member Krishna Bahadur Rai has funded the construction of a new school building in Pauwadung rural municipality, located in the eastern region of Bhojpur district. The cost of the project amounted to Rs 13.9 million.', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">December 26: Former British army member Krishna Bahadur Rai has funded the construction of a new school building in Pauwadung rural municipality, located in the eastern region of Bhojpur district. The cost of the project amounted to Rs 13.9 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Shitaladevi Basic School, which previously had outdated infrastructure, received a new 6-room building due to Rai's commitment to improving education for remote villagers. The handover ceremony to the school management team took place on Monday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Krishna Bahadur Rai, aged 70, dedicated his income to this educational initiative, redirecting his initial plan to construct a building for a health post to address the pressing needs of the school. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In addition to the new building, Rai announced his intention to facilitate the development of a playground for the benefit of the schoolchildren.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Reflecting on his decision, Rai stated, "Although my initial plan was for a health post, I redirected my support to the school, considering the health post already had a new building." </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">He expressed confidence that the new infrastructure would contribute significantly to enhancing the quality of education in the region.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Rural municipality chair Kiran Rai acknowledged and praised Krishna Bahadur's philanthropic gesture, describing it as a substantial contribution to the village. "We're indebted to him for this significant development," Kiran Rai remarked.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">School principal Chandra Bogati highlighted the positive impact of the new school building, emphasizing its role in retaining students and ensuring the delivery of quality education. (RSS) </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-26', 'modified' => '2023-12-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19545', 'image' => '20231226090856_collage (10).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-26 09:06:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19817', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Imports in Current FY Lower than Last Year when NRB had Imposed Restrictions', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: The imports of Nepal in the first five months of the current fiscal year has been less than the imports in the corresponding period of last fiscal year when the government had restricted imports of luxurious goods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 25: The imports of Nepal in the first five months of the current fiscal year has been less than the imports in the corresponding period of last fiscal year when the government had restricted imports of luxurious goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">This indicates that there is lack of demand in the market and the government has failed to revitalize the economy despite efforts from the central bank and the federal government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">From mid-July to mid-December last year, Nepal had imported goods worth more than Rs 664 billion which fell to Rs 642 billion in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal’s import expenses fell 3.39 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period of last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has imposed a restrictions on the imports of ten luxury goods from April 26, 2022 to August 31 this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As a result, cars except ambulances, all types of readymade alcohol except industrial raw materials, motorcycles with capacity of more than 150 cc and smartphones worth more than USD 300, foods such as chips, color televisions larger than 32 inches, playing cards, diamonds, cigarettes and tobacco products and all kinds of toys were restru=icted during that period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After August 31, the import ban on food items like chips, color televisions larger than 32 inches, playing cards, diamonds, cigarettes and tobacco products and all types of toys was lifted. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The import ban on the remaining items was still in place until mid-December. Customs data has confirmed that the lifting of the ban on the import of the remaining four items from mid-December has had little effect in easing imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Two years ago, at this time, the policy makers were focused on reducing imports due to the declining foreign exchange reserves. However, businessmen had raised concerns that such a move would curb economic activities and that would lead to the decline in overall economic growth.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although both import and export have increased in the Nepali month of Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December) compared to the previous month, it does not hold much significance because there were long holidays in the month of Kartik (mid-October to mid-November) due to Dashain and Tihar.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Government offices and banks and financial institutions were open only for 16 days in the festive season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the data released by the Department of Customs, Nepal Rs 129.70 billion in the month of Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December), while the export figures stood at Rs 12.64 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the month of Kartik, Nepal imported goods worth Rs 104.74 billion and exported goods equal to Rs 9.79 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The records with the Department of Customs (DoC) show that the country’s trade deficit declined 3.09 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The central bank has already reduced the interest rate while reviewing the monetary policy saying that the situation in the external sector is strong. After that, banks are also emphasizing on providing loans by reducing interest rates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As the foreign exchange reserves eased, the government opened import restrictions and Nepal Rastra Bank also reviewed its policy. According to the report of NRB, the total foreign exchange reserve is enough to cover imports of goods for 13.6 months and goods and services for 11.3 months.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19544', 'image' => '20231225024159_Trade.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 14:41:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19816', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Extends Loan Restructuring and Rescheduling Facility until mid-April', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Nepal Rastra Bank has extended the loan restructuring and rescheduling facility provided as relief to the industrialists affected by the economic recession.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 25: Nepal Rastra Bank has extended the loan restructuring and rescheduling facility provided as relief to the industrialists affected by the economic recession. In order to implement the announcement made in the first quarterly review of the monetary policy, the central bank on Sunday amended the unified directive and extended the facility to restructure and reschedule the loan until mid-April.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the quarterly review of the monetary policy, the central bank has mentioned that the borrowers who are in trouble due to circumstances will be facilitated through means such as loan restructuring and rescheduling while strict action will be taken against those who intentional default payment of loans.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Accordingly, the central bank made arrangements for banks and financial institutions to recover ten percent of the outstanding loans’ interest and reschedule the loan until mid-April based on applications filed by the borrowers who have been in trouble due to recession. Prior to this, the NRB had fixed the deadline for rescheduling of loans until mid-January. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The central bank has made arrangements for restructuring and rescheduling of any loans up to Rs 50 million provided to agriculture and forestry, fisheries, mining, beverage production, non-food production, metal products, machinery and electronic tools, transportation, storage and communication, wholesale and retail, tourism, education, health and construction sectors. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Upon request from the borrower, banks can decide on restructuring the loans after analyzing the cash flow and income of the industry/business.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, one of the preconditions set by the central bank for rescheduling the loans is that the loans should be active loans as of mid-July this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, banks need to set aside 5 percent provisioning fund for rescheduling or restructuring loans.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19543', 'image' => '20231225023957_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 14:39:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19815', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Department of Electricity Development Seeks Progress Report from 55 Hydropower Projects', 'sub_title' => 'Govt Mulls Revoking License of the Work Progress is not Satisfactory', 'summary' => 'December 25: The Department of Electricity Development has asked 55 hydropower projects that have not started work after acquiring license to submit progress report.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 25: The Department of Electricity Development has asked </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">55</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hydropower projects that have not started work after acquiring license to submit progress report.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government plans to cancel the license of projects if their work progress is not satisfactory.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Thursday called Energy Minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet and directed him to initiate the process of canceling the licenses of hydropower companies that have acquired license but have not done anything worthwhile.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The department had earlier issued notices in the name of </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">55</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hydropower companies on December 4 last year and asked them to appear with a written statement on their physical and financial progress after it was found that many companies had had not started work long after acquiring power generation license.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Director General of the department, Chiranjeevi Chataut, said that the department has asked for progress report from the companies that have not been working for a long time after obtaining the license.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Those projects have been contacting the department and submitting their progress report.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“We are also discussing the reasons why the work of the projects is stuck and what kind of assistance can be provided by the department. We are also looking into whether the projects can proceed with the work immediately or not and how to get rid of the problems," he told New Business Age, adding, "If the projects are found to have acquired license but are unlikely to begin work, their license will be revoked immediately.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">There are both small and large scale projects that have not started work due to various reasons after acquiring permits. Those who have not submitted progress report include </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">42</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Upper Modi 'A' Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">42.9</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Ankhukhola Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">285</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Upper Tamor Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">6.5</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Rawakhola Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10.4</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Sabhakhola 'A' Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Upper Magdi Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">4</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Rupsekhola Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">243</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Manang Masryangdi Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">140</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Lower Manang Masryangdi Hydropower Project.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">440 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">MW Tila-</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hydropower Project and the </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">420 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">MW Tila-</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hydropar Project have also not provided progress report, according to the department. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Among the projects that have not submitted their progress report, some have stalled their work after completing </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20/22 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">percent of the work, while some other projects have not even started their work. Chataut informed that some of them have not start work even eight years after obtaining the permit.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19542', 'image' => '20231225013916_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 13:37:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19814', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC Takes Over Ground-handling Work of Thai Airways at TIA', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has reached an agreement with Thai Airways to provide ground handling services to Thai aircraft at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has reached an agreement with Thai Airways to provide ground handling services to Thai aircraft at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Until now, Thai Airways had been doing its own ground handling works at TIA. As per the agreement, Nepal Airlines Corporation will not oversee the ground handling of Thai Airways.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">NAC and Thai Airways signed an agreement to this effect on October </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">29</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">. Since then, NAC has been doing the ground handling works of Thai Airways.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Thai Airways has already handed over </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> ground handling equipment to the NAC. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">NAC informed that the two companies signed ownership transfer agreement December 16 so that the equipment will remain under NAC’s ownership.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Executive Chairman of NAC Yuvraj Adhikari and Narintorn Sukkasiam, head of the Western and Middle East Affairs of Thai Airways signed the agreement to this effect.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The NAC has been providing ground handling services at the TIA until now. This is one of the major sources of income of the debt-ridden NAC. However, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal recently announced that the ground handling service of Tribhuvan International Airport will be provided through competition. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19541', 'image' => '20231225124933_20230627040802_20220428023242_5e.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 12:48:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19813', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Christmas Gaining Popularity among Urban Youth', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Christmas is gaining popularity among the urban population of Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 25: Christmas is gaining popularity among the urban population of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Besides the followers of Christianity, even the young generation of urban youths and well-to-do families have adopted this Western culture despite maintaining their own culture and tradition.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Christmas is being celebrated across the country today with much fanfare by the followers of Christianity as well as other faiths. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Besides making Christmas cakes and decorating Christmas tree as well as exchange of gifts, urban centers are decorated to attract people on this day. People spend this day celebrating and partying till late night in a new trend that has been emerging in Nepal. People wearing the dress of Santa Clause has become a common sight in the city areas of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Ram Chandra Paudel and Vice President Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav have wished for happiness, peace and good health of all Christians on the occasion of the Christmas Day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In a message of greetings today, the president said that this festival would help further strengthen national unity. The president was of the view that mutual goodwill, tolerance and solidary among diverse cultural identities and religious values would help further strengthen our national unity. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the vice president said that the festival of Christmas is a social and cultural celebration like other festivals being observed in Nepal. Vice President Yadav expressed the confidence that this festival would promote the sentiment of unity among diverse communities with diverse cultural backgrounds. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19540', 'image' => '20231225114643_Santa-Clause.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 11:45:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19812', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Dahal Tells Govt Bodies to Maintain Transparency in Aircraft Purchase Deal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has directed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to move ahead with the process of purchasing aircraft for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) in a transparent manner, leaving no room for any error and dispute. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 25: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has directed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to move ahead with the process of purchasing aircraft for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) in a transparent manner, leaving no room for any error and dispute. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He gave this directive in a joint briefing and discussions programme attended by officials of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Water Supply held at the Singha Durbar on Sunday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Questions are always raised in aircraft purchase deals in Nepal. Let there be no such errors this time. The aircraft purchase process should be cent per cent correct, error-free and transparent. There should be no mistakes and questions like in the past in the procurement process this time," he reiterated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The PM also spoke on the need of changing several of our tourism-related policies and regulations as they are not tourist-friendly. "Let us all think about creating a conducive environment for the tourists. Let’s attract tourists by opening up the prohibited areas. Night time services should also be opened in the tourist areas and the government should be flexible in this too," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati said the airports constructed on the basis of 'political pressure' were not operating in an effective way. He stressed on the need for constructing airports only on need-basis in the coming days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He said solution should be sought for the areas prohibited for tourists and suggested making diplomatic initiation for operating the Bhairahawa and Pokhara international airports in their full capacity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">PM Dahal instructed the bodies concerned to immediately resolve the problem of the consumers having to pay water tariff even for taps which are dry. He directed for writing off the water tariff of consumers who are not getting water supply. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also called for further expediting works on the Melamchi Water Supply Project while expressing happiness over the works currently being carried out in two shifts as per the 28-day integrated action plan for bringing 170 million litres of water daily from Melamchi to Sundarijal of Kathmandu within a month. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The PM also urged the bodies concerned to look for other sources of water to supply water in the Kathmandu Valley which has a daily demand of 250 million litres water. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Water Supply Minister Mahendra Raya Yadav, Minister Kirati, Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sushila Shreepali, Chief Secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal, Water Supply Secretary Suresh Acharya, Culture Secretary Deepak Kafle , Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar, among other officials shed light on topics related to works and responsibilities of their respective ministries. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19539', 'image' => '20231225111753_428123538_nac twin.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 11:15:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19811', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Cuts Power Supply to Two more Industries ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to two more industries reasoning that they failed to clear the tariff for the dedicated and trunk lines. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px">December 25: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to two more industries reasoning that they failed to clear the tariff for the dedicated and trunk lines. <br /> The Parasi Distribution Centre of NEA cut off electricity to Sarbottam Cement and Laxmi Steel. The NEA informed that Sarbottam has dues of Rs 850 million while that of Laxmi Steel is Rs 620 million. <br /> Earlier, the NEA had stopped electricity supply to four industries for the same reason. <br /> On Thursday, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had directed the NEA to stop power supply to the defaulting industries and companies. He had asked the NEA to collect tariff by disrupting the electricity supply. <br /> The NEA was facing criticism that it was disrupting power only to small industries while letting the big ones go scot free. <br /> The authority had stopped supply to Jagadamba Cement, Reliance Spinning Mills, Ghorahi Cement and Arghakhanchi Cements. They had been ignoring the request to clear the dues. -- RSS</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19538', 'image' => '20231225105033_20231224112254_NEA_eight by six.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 10:49:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19810', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ichchhakamana Farmers Earn 100 Million Rupees from Orange Sales', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'More than 450 farmers in the Ichchhakamana rural municipality are set to collectively earn Rs 100 million this year from the sale of oranges alone in Chitwan, according to the Agriculture Development Section of the rural municipality.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">December 25: More than 450 farmers in the Ichchhakamana rural municipality are set to collectively earn Rs 100 million this year from the sale of oranges alone in Chitwan, </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">according to the Agriculture Development Section of the rural municipality.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This remarkable achievement is attributed to the high market demand and favourable pricing for the oranges produced by local farmers. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">At present a kilogram of oranges fetches between Rs 75 to Rs 90 at the orchards of these farmers, marking a significant increase in income.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Orange cultivation covers 80 hectares of land in the Ichchhakamana rural municipality this year, with actual production taking place on 60 hectares. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Out of the 20,000 orange trees grown in the region, 15,000 trees bore fruits. Although this year's production is slightly lower, the farmers have benefited from the improved pricing. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Ashish Tripathi, the Section Chief, of the rural municipality explained that despite a 12 percent decline in production compared to the previous year, the income for farmers has surged.</span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Last year, the Orange Growing Area Expansion Programme, initiated by the Agriculture Knowledge Centre (AKC), led to the planting of 5,100 orange trees. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While the orange plantation area expanded this year, the area with higher production remained consistent. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In specific geographical areas like Ichchhakamana rural municipality and Bharatpur Metropolitan City-29, located in the hilly regions of Chitwan district, orange farming has become a pivotal source of income for local communities. (RSS)</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19537', 'image' => '20231225072411_collage (9).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 07:22:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19808', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Onion Drops by 21 Percent in a Week', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: The price of onion has decreased by 21 percent in one week.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 24: The price of onion has decreased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">21</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent in one week.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the price of dry onion has decreased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">21.43</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent in a period of one week.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the committee, onion which was sold at an average price of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">140</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg on December </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">17</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> is being sold at an average price of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">110</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg on Sunday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The supply of onion has also decreased in the last one week. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A total of </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">71</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">707 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">kg of onions were supplied to the Kalimati market on December </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">6, which dropped to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">37</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">130 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">kg on Saturday </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">(</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 23). The supply of onions decreased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">48 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">percent on Saturday compared to last December </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">6</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the price of large local tomatoes has remained stable at Rs 55 per kg compared to last week. However, the price of large tomatoes imported from India has decreased from Rs 85 per kg to Rs 75 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the other hand, je price of small tomatoes produced in the domestic market has increased from Rs 12 to Rs 17 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of locally produced red potatoes has slightly decreased from Rs 35.67 to Rs 35 per kg while the price of red potatoes imported from India has increased from Rs 31 to Rs 33 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the price of local carrot has increased from Rs 45 to Rs 55 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of cauliflower has increased from Rs 35 to Rs 40 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of local cabbage has increased from Rs 32 to Rs 34 per kg while that of cabbage produced in the Terai has dropped from Rs 32 to Rs 27 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of red radish has remained stable at Rs 17 per kg while that of white radish remains unchanged at Rs 12 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19535', 'image' => '20231224022545_20230829032102_1692625925.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 14:24:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19806', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Footwear Industry Producing Shoes at 40 Percent Capacity', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: Nepal's shoe industry has been producing shoes at only 40 percent of its capacity, the state-owned RSS reported.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 24: Nepal's shoe industry has been producing shoes at only 40 percent of its capacity, the state-owned RSS reported. In other words, production has decreased by 60 percent. The shoe industry has not been able to produce shoes according to its capacity due to the decrease in exports of shoes and an increase in import as well as smuggling of shoes. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Naniraj Ghimire, president of the Footwear Manufacturers Association of Nepal, the Nepali footwear industry has the capacity to produce about 160 million pairs of shoes annually. There are 1,500 shoe factories in Nepal including 1,200 small factories, 200 medium ones and 100 large factories. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ghimire told RSS that businessmen have invested Rs 30 billion in the footwear industry of Nepal and 60 percent of the investment is bank loan. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Ghimire, although the shoe industry has capacity to produce much more, the production is currently limited to 40 percent of the full capacity. At present, the estimated demand for shoes in the domestic market of Nepal is 100 million pairs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Seventy percent of the demand is fulfilled by domestically produced shoes and 30 percent is imported from abroad.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Before the catastrophic Gorkha earthquake, Nepal used to export 30 million pairs of shoes annually, but now it has dropped to around 6.5 million pairs. Ghimire said that shoes manufactured in Nepal are mostly sold in India and 18 other countries. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Rudra Prasad Neupane, the vice president of the association, the problem has surfaced because the government has not implemented the policy related to shoes. Nepal’s shoe industry is unable to produce shoes according to its capacity due to smuggling of shoes, lack of skilled workers, and high interest rates of banks among others. The cost has also increased because the customs duty of raw materials has increased from 10 percent to 20 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Neupane, high-ranking government employees are changed frequently due to political instability and therefore their problems never get addressed. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The shoe industry of Nepal has been providing direct employment to 55,000 people. Since Nepal lacks skilled manpower in this sector, half of the workers are foreigners. Neupane said that if the industry can run at full capacity, 125,000 people will get employment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19534', 'image' => '20231224125041_20190124015719_birat.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 12:50:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19807', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Tells Youth to Make Best Use of Digital Platforms', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has urged the youth force of the country to get involved in the digital platforms within the country instead of going abroad.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 24: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has urged the youth force of the country to get involved in the digital platforms within the country instead of going abroad. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Inaugurating the 'CIN Youth Entrepreneur Forum Nepal Startup Fest </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2023</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">', Finance Minister Mahat said that if the young generation has the ability, imagination and dedication, they can do a lot through the digital platform.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The organisers of the programme that about </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">40</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the youth are connected to this sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“There is a trend of students going abroad after the </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">12</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">th grade and it should be stopped,” said Minister Mahat, adding, “I request everyone to start working through this platform to stop the wave of going abroad after class </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">12.</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Finance Minister Mahat said that the digital platform as given ample opportunities not only to business but to every sector. He said that those who are engaged in production can easily access the market through digital platform and increase their income at a low cost. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"This opportunity is available for everyone. It gives confidence to young entrepreneurs," he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The minister added that the government will enhance the IT policy in the coming days. "The government is ready to help the Nepalese youth in whatever field they want to work in. The government is ready to facilitate them." </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He said that the information technology sector plays an important role in the economic development of Nepal and even now a large amount of software is exported abroad. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Exports in the IT sector are increasing, and will increase even more in the coming days,” he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19533', 'image' => '20231224020035_20230817055515_collage (20).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 13:59:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19805', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Governor Tells Banks to Give Loans to Hard-Working and Diligent People', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has urged bankers to give loans to hard-working people instead of fraudsters. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 24: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has urged bankers to give loans to hard-working people instead of fraudsters. Addressing the </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">37</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">th annual general meeting of the Nepal Bankers' Association amid a recent function, Governor Adhikari said that the banks should distinguish between hard-working and diligent people from fraudsters and disburse loans accordingly.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Stating that he visited an animal farm in Chitwan on Saturday, the governor said, "The farm owner earns Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">600</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per month by rearing </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">107</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> cattle and buffaloes with a loan of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">5</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million. This is a good example.'' </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Advising the banks to help new businessmen instead of attracting borrowers from other banks, Governor Adhikari added, “Make an environment to be proud that so many new businessmen are born in a year.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He clarified that there is no shortage of liquidity in banks for making investment while foreign exchange reserves are also sufficient.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sunil KC, Chief Executive Officer of NMB Bank, and president of the Association and Santosh Koirala, Chief Executive Officer of Machhapuchcher Bank and vice president of the association shed light about the current situation of the banks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Anil Sharma, executive director of the association, talked about the recent activities of the association. On this occasion, Shravan Maskey of the then Bank of Kathmandu and Krishna Bahadur Adhikari of Nepal Bank Limited who completed their tenure as Chief Executive Officers were honoured.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Likewise, Kul Chandra Gautam was also honoured for his services in various fields along with the banking sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The AGM appointed five new members of the association. Ashok Sherchan, Chief Executive Officer of Prabhu Bank, Sanjeev Manandhar, Chief Executive Officer of Prime Commercial Bank, Sunder Prasad Kandel, Chief Executive Officer of Siddharth Bank, Nischal Raj Pandey, Chief Executive Officer of Sanima Bank and Kiran Kumar Shrestha, Chief Executive Officer of Rastriya Banijya Bank were apointed as new members of the association.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19532', 'image' => '20231224121144_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 12:10:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19802', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'New Cases of Covid up by 52 Percent Globally in One Month: WHO ', 'sub_title' => 'Influenza, RSV, and common childhood pneumonia are also on the rise ', 'summary' => 'December 24: The number of new COVID cases increased by 52 per cent during the past four-odd weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, with over 850 000 new cases reported during this period. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 24: The number of new COVID cases increased by 52 per cent during the past four-odd weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, with over 850 000 new cases reported during this period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The number of new deaths decreased by 8 per cent as compared to the previous 28-day period, with over 3,000 new fatalities reported, WHO said in its latest press release. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As of December 17, over 772 million confirmed cases and nearly seven million deaths have been reported globally since the onset of COVID-19, the WHO noted. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Furthermore, the WHO said over 118,000 new COVID-19 hospitalisations and over 1600 new intensive care unit (ICU) admissions have been recorded, with an overall increase of 23 per cent and 51 per cent, respectively, globally. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As of December 18, 2023, JN.1, a sub-lineage of BA.2.86 Omicron variant has been designated a separate variant of interest (VOI) apart from its parent lineage BA.2.86 due to its rapid increase in prevalence in recent weeks. Globally, EG.5 remains the most reported variant of interest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Due to its rapidly increasing spread, WHO is classifying the variant JN.1 as a separate variant of interest (VOI) from the parent lineage BA.2.86. It was previously classified as VOI as part of BA.2.86 sublineages. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Based on the available evidence, the additional global public health risk posed by JN.1 is currently evaluated as low. Despite this, with the onset of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, JN.1 could increase the burden of respiratory infections in many countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The WHO had earlier said it was continuously monitoring the evidence and would update the JN.1 risk evaluation as needed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Current vaccines continue to protect against severe disease and death from JN.1 and other circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, it noted. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">COVID-19 is not the only respiratory disease circulating. Influenza, RSV, and common childhood pneumonia are also on the rise. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The WHO advises people to take measures to prevent infections and severe disease using all available tools. These include wearing a mask in crowded, enclosed, or poorly ventilated areas, keeping a safe distance from others, practicing respiratory etiquette (covering coughs and sneezes), cleaning hands regularly, and getting tested if one has any symptoms or if you might have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 or influenza. – ANI/RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19529', 'image' => '20231224105344_WHO eight.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 10:52:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19801', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Power Supply to Defaulter Industries Cut Off ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to some large-scale industries that have failed for a long time to pay their electricity tariff for using dedicated and truck lines. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 24: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to some large-scale industries that have failed for a long time to pay their electricity tariff for using dedicated and truck lines. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NEA took the measure after Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Thursday ordered the state-owned power utility to plug off the power lines and recover the tariff from them. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NEA had been facing public criticism for cutting off power supply of household consumers but exempting the large-scale industries. According to the NEA, power supply to Jagdamba Steel, Reliance Spinning Mills, Ghorahi Cement and Arghakhanchi Cement industries have been cut off. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NEA sources informed that Jagdamba Steel alone has to pay tariff worth Rs 4.14 billion. Similarly, Reliance Spinning Mills has to pay Rs 1.09 billion, Ghorahi Cement has to pay Rs 1.36 billion and Arghakhanchi Cement owes Rs. 1.3 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Despite repeated calls the industries have not cleared their dues to the NEA. The latest report of the Office of the Auditor General too had instructed the NEA to collect the arrears. Furthermore, various committees of the parliament had also directed to raise the tariff immediately. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19528', 'image' => '20231224102117_NEA_20191104081559.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 10:20:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19818', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Former British Army Veteran Funds Rs 13.9 Million for New School Building Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Former British army member Krishna Bahadur Rai has funded the construction of a new school building in Pauwadung rural municipality, located in the eastern region of Bhojpur district. The cost of the project amounted to Rs 13.9 million.', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">December 26: Former British army member Krishna Bahadur Rai has funded the construction of a new school building in Pauwadung rural municipality, located in the eastern region of Bhojpur district. The cost of the project amounted to Rs 13.9 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Shitaladevi Basic School, which previously had outdated infrastructure, received a new 6-room building due to Rai's commitment to improving education for remote villagers. The handover ceremony to the school management team took place on Monday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Krishna Bahadur Rai, aged 70, dedicated his income to this educational initiative, redirecting his initial plan to construct a building for a health post to address the pressing needs of the school. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In addition to the new building, Rai announced his intention to facilitate the development of a playground for the benefit of the schoolchildren.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Reflecting on his decision, Rai stated, "Although my initial plan was for a health post, I redirected my support to the school, considering the health post already had a new building." </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">He expressed confidence that the new infrastructure would contribute significantly to enhancing the quality of education in the region.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Rural municipality chair Kiran Rai acknowledged and praised Krishna Bahadur's philanthropic gesture, describing it as a substantial contribution to the village. "We're indebted to him for this significant development," Kiran Rai remarked.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">School principal Chandra Bogati highlighted the positive impact of the new school building, emphasizing its role in retaining students and ensuring the delivery of quality education. (RSS) </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-26', 'modified' => '2023-12-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19545', 'image' => '20231226090856_collage (10).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-26 09:06:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19817', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Imports in Current FY Lower than Last Year when NRB had Imposed Restrictions', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: The imports of Nepal in the first five months of the current fiscal year has been less than the imports in the corresponding period of last fiscal year when the government had restricted imports of luxurious goods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">December 25: The imports of Nepal in the first five months of the current fiscal year has been less than the imports in the corresponding period of last fiscal year when the government had restricted imports of luxurious goods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">This indicates that there is lack of demand in the market and the government has failed to revitalize the economy despite efforts from the central bank and the federal government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">From mid-July to mid-December last year, Nepal had imported goods worth more than Rs 664 billion which fell to Rs 642 billion in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal’s import expenses fell 3.39 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period of last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has imposed a restrictions on the imports of ten luxury goods from April 26, 2022 to August 31 this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As a result, cars except ambulances, all types of readymade alcohol except industrial raw materials, motorcycles with capacity of more than 150 cc and smartphones worth more than USD 300, foods such as chips, color televisions larger than 32 inches, playing cards, diamonds, cigarettes and tobacco products and all kinds of toys were restru=icted during that period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After August 31, the import ban on food items like chips, color televisions larger than 32 inches, playing cards, diamonds, cigarettes and tobacco products and all types of toys was lifted. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The import ban on the remaining items was still in place until mid-December. Customs data has confirmed that the lifting of the ban on the import of the remaining four items from mid-December has had little effect in easing imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Two years ago, at this time, the policy makers were focused on reducing imports due to the declining foreign exchange reserves. However, businessmen had raised concerns that such a move would curb economic activities and that would lead to the decline in overall economic growth.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although both import and export have increased in the Nepali month of Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December) compared to the previous month, it does not hold much significance because there were long holidays in the month of Kartik (mid-October to mid-November) due to Dashain and Tihar.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Government offices and banks and financial institutions were open only for 16 days in the festive season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the data released by the Department of Customs, Nepal Rs 129.70 billion in the month of Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December), while the export figures stood at Rs 12.64 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the month of Kartik, Nepal imported goods worth Rs 104.74 billion and exported goods equal to Rs 9.79 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The records with the Department of Customs (DoC) show that the country’s trade deficit declined 3.09 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The central bank has already reduced the interest rate while reviewing the monetary policy saying that the situation in the external sector is strong. After that, banks are also emphasizing on providing loans by reducing interest rates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As the foreign exchange reserves eased, the government opened import restrictions and Nepal Rastra Bank also reviewed its policy. According to the report of NRB, the total foreign exchange reserve is enough to cover imports of goods for 13.6 months and goods and services for 11.3 months.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19544', 'image' => '20231225024159_Trade.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 14:41:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19816', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Extends Loan Restructuring and Rescheduling Facility until mid-April', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Nepal Rastra Bank has extended the loan restructuring and rescheduling facility provided as relief to the industrialists affected by the economic recession.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 25: Nepal Rastra Bank has extended the loan restructuring and rescheduling facility provided as relief to the industrialists affected by the economic recession. In order to implement the announcement made in the first quarterly review of the monetary policy, the central bank on Sunday amended the unified directive and extended the facility to restructure and reschedule the loan until mid-April.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the quarterly review of the monetary policy, the central bank has mentioned that the borrowers who are in trouble due to circumstances will be facilitated through means such as loan restructuring and rescheduling while strict action will be taken against those who intentional default payment of loans.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Accordingly, the central bank made arrangements for banks and financial institutions to recover ten percent of the outstanding loans’ interest and reschedule the loan until mid-April based on applications filed by the borrowers who have been in trouble due to recession. Prior to this, the NRB had fixed the deadline for rescheduling of loans until mid-January. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The central bank has made arrangements for restructuring and rescheduling of any loans up to Rs 50 million provided to agriculture and forestry, fisheries, mining, beverage production, non-food production, metal products, machinery and electronic tools, transportation, storage and communication, wholesale and retail, tourism, education, health and construction sectors. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Upon request from the borrower, banks can decide on restructuring the loans after analyzing the cash flow and income of the industry/business.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, one of the preconditions set by the central bank for rescheduling the loans is that the loans should be active loans as of mid-July this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, banks need to set aside 5 percent provisioning fund for rescheduling or restructuring loans.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19543', 'image' => '20231225023957_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 14:39:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19815', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Department of Electricity Development Seeks Progress Report from 55 Hydropower Projects', 'sub_title' => 'Govt Mulls Revoking License of the Work Progress is not Satisfactory', 'summary' => 'December 25: The Department of Electricity Development has asked 55 hydropower projects that have not started work after acquiring license to submit progress report.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 25: The Department of Electricity Development has asked </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">55</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hydropower projects that have not started work after acquiring license to submit progress report.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government plans to cancel the license of projects if their work progress is not satisfactory.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Thursday called Energy Minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet and directed him to initiate the process of canceling the licenses of hydropower companies that have acquired license but have not done anything worthwhile.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The department had earlier issued notices in the name of </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">55</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hydropower companies on December 4 last year and asked them to appear with a written statement on their physical and financial progress after it was found that many companies had had not started work long after acquiring power generation license.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Director General of the department, Chiranjeevi Chataut, said that the department has asked for progress report from the companies that have not been working for a long time after obtaining the license.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Those projects have been contacting the department and submitting their progress report.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“We are also discussing the reasons why the work of the projects is stuck and what kind of assistance can be provided by the department. We are also looking into whether the projects can proceed with the work immediately or not and how to get rid of the problems," he told New Business Age, adding, "If the projects are found to have acquired license but are unlikely to begin work, their license will be revoked immediately.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">There are both small and large scale projects that have not started work due to various reasons after acquiring permits. Those who have not submitted progress report include </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">42</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Upper Modi 'A' Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">42.9</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Ankhukhola Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">285</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Upper Tamor Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">6.5</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Rawakhola Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10.4</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Sabhakhola 'A' Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Upper Magdi Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">4</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Rupsekhola Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">243</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Manang Masryangdi Hydropower Project, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">140</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> MW Lower Manang Masryangdi Hydropower Project.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">440 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">MW Tila-</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hydropower Project and the </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">420 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">MW Tila-</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hydropar Project have also not provided progress report, according to the department. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Among the projects that have not submitted their progress report, some have stalled their work after completing </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20/22 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">percent of the work, while some other projects have not even started their work. Chataut informed that some of them have not start work even eight years after obtaining the permit.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19542', 'image' => '20231225013916_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 13:37:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19814', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC Takes Over Ground-handling Work of Thai Airways at TIA', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has reached an agreement with Thai Airways to provide ground handling services to Thai aircraft at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has reached an agreement with Thai Airways to provide ground handling services to Thai aircraft at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Until now, Thai Airways had been doing its own ground handling works at TIA. As per the agreement, Nepal Airlines Corporation will not oversee the ground handling of Thai Airways.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">NAC and Thai Airways signed an agreement to this effect on October </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">29</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">. Since then, NAC has been doing the ground handling works of Thai Airways.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Thai Airways has already handed over </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> ground handling equipment to the NAC. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">NAC informed that the two companies signed ownership transfer agreement December 16 so that the equipment will remain under NAC’s ownership.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Executive Chairman of NAC Yuvraj Adhikari and Narintorn Sukkasiam, head of the Western and Middle East Affairs of Thai Airways signed the agreement to this effect.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The NAC has been providing ground handling services at the TIA until now. This is one of the major sources of income of the debt-ridden NAC. However, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal recently announced that the ground handling service of Tribhuvan International Airport will be provided through competition. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19541', 'image' => '20231225124933_20230627040802_20220428023242_5e.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 12:48:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19813', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Christmas Gaining Popularity among Urban Youth', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Christmas is gaining popularity among the urban population of Nepal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 25: Christmas is gaining popularity among the urban population of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Besides the followers of Christianity, even the young generation of urban youths and well-to-do families have adopted this Western culture despite maintaining their own culture and tradition.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Christmas is being celebrated across the country today with much fanfare by the followers of Christianity as well as other faiths. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Besides making Christmas cakes and decorating Christmas tree as well as exchange of gifts, urban centers are decorated to attract people on this day. People spend this day celebrating and partying till late night in a new trend that has been emerging in Nepal. People wearing the dress of Santa Clause has become a common sight in the city areas of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Ram Chandra Paudel and Vice President Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav have wished for happiness, peace and good health of all Christians on the occasion of the Christmas Day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In a message of greetings today, the president said that this festival would help further strengthen national unity. The president was of the view that mutual goodwill, tolerance and solidary among diverse cultural identities and religious values would help further strengthen our national unity. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the vice president said that the festival of Christmas is a social and cultural celebration like other festivals being observed in Nepal. Vice President Yadav expressed the confidence that this festival would promote the sentiment of unity among diverse communities with diverse cultural backgrounds. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19540', 'image' => '20231225114643_Santa-Clause.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 11:45:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19812', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Dahal Tells Govt Bodies to Maintain Transparency in Aircraft Purchase Deal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has directed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to move ahead with the process of purchasing aircraft for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) in a transparent manner, leaving no room for any error and dispute. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 25: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has directed the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to move ahead with the process of purchasing aircraft for Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) in a transparent manner, leaving no room for any error and dispute. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He gave this directive in a joint briefing and discussions programme attended by officials of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Water Supply held at the Singha Durbar on Sunday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Questions are always raised in aircraft purchase deals in Nepal. Let there be no such errors this time. The aircraft purchase process should be cent per cent correct, error-free and transparent. There should be no mistakes and questions like in the past in the procurement process this time," he reiterated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The PM also spoke on the need of changing several of our tourism-related policies and regulations as they are not tourist-friendly. "Let us all think about creating a conducive environment for the tourists. Let’s attract tourists by opening up the prohibited areas. Night time services should also be opened in the tourist areas and the government should be flexible in this too," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati said the airports constructed on the basis of 'political pressure' were not operating in an effective way. He stressed on the need for constructing airports only on need-basis in the coming days. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He said solution should be sought for the areas prohibited for tourists and suggested making diplomatic initiation for operating the Bhairahawa and Pokhara international airports in their full capacity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">PM Dahal instructed the bodies concerned to immediately resolve the problem of the consumers having to pay water tariff even for taps which are dry. He directed for writing off the water tariff of consumers who are not getting water supply. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also called for further expediting works on the Melamchi Water Supply Project while expressing happiness over the works currently being carried out in two shifts as per the 28-day integrated action plan for bringing 170 million litres of water daily from Melamchi to Sundarijal of Kathmandu within a month. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The PM also urged the bodies concerned to look for other sources of water to supply water in the Kathmandu Valley which has a daily demand of 250 million litres water. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Water Supply Minister Mahendra Raya Yadav, Minister Kirati, Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sushila Shreepali, Chief Secretary Dr Baikuntha Aryal, Water Supply Secretary Suresh Acharya, Culture Secretary Deepak Kafle , Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar, among other officials shed light on topics related to works and responsibilities of their respective ministries. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19539', 'image' => '20231225111753_428123538_nac twin.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 11:15:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19811', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Cuts Power Supply to Two more Industries ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 25: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to two more industries reasoning that they failed to clear the tariff for the dedicated and trunk lines. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px">December 25: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to two more industries reasoning that they failed to clear the tariff for the dedicated and trunk lines. <br /> The Parasi Distribution Centre of NEA cut off electricity to Sarbottam Cement and Laxmi Steel. The NEA informed that Sarbottam has dues of Rs 850 million while that of Laxmi Steel is Rs 620 million. <br /> Earlier, the NEA had stopped electricity supply to four industries for the same reason. <br /> On Thursday, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had directed the NEA to stop power supply to the defaulting industries and companies. He had asked the NEA to collect tariff by disrupting the electricity supply. <br /> The NEA was facing criticism that it was disrupting power only to small industries while letting the big ones go scot free. <br /> The authority had stopped supply to Jagadamba Cement, Reliance Spinning Mills, Ghorahi Cement and Arghakhanchi Cements. They had been ignoring the request to clear the dues. -- RSS</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19538', 'image' => '20231225105033_20231224112254_NEA_eight by six.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 10:49:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19810', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ichchhakamana Farmers Earn 100 Million Rupees from Orange Sales', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'More than 450 farmers in the Ichchhakamana rural municipality are set to collectively earn Rs 100 million this year from the sale of oranges alone in Chitwan, according to the Agriculture Development Section of the rural municipality.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">December 25: More than 450 farmers in the Ichchhakamana rural municipality are set to collectively earn Rs 100 million this year from the sale of oranges alone in Chitwan, </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">according to the Agriculture Development Section of the rural municipality.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This remarkable achievement is attributed to the high market demand and favourable pricing for the oranges produced by local farmers. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">At present a kilogram of oranges fetches between Rs 75 to Rs 90 at the orchards of these farmers, marking a significant increase in income.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Orange cultivation covers 80 hectares of land in the Ichchhakamana rural municipality this year, with actual production taking place on 60 hectares. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Out of the 20,000 orange trees grown in the region, 15,000 trees bore fruits. Although this year's production is slightly lower, the farmers have benefited from the improved pricing. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Ashish Tripathi, the Section Chief, of the rural municipality explained that despite a 12 percent decline in production compared to the previous year, the income for farmers has surged.</span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Last year, the Orange Growing Area Expansion Programme, initiated by the Agriculture Knowledge Centre (AKC), led to the planting of 5,100 orange trees. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While the orange plantation area expanded this year, the area with higher production remained consistent. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In specific geographical areas like Ichchhakamana rural municipality and Bharatpur Metropolitan City-29, located in the hilly regions of Chitwan district, orange farming has become a pivotal source of income for local communities. (RSS)</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-25', 'modified' => '2023-12-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19537', 'image' => '20231225072411_collage (9).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-25 07:22:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19808', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Onion Drops by 21 Percent in a Week', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: The price of onion has decreased by 21 percent in one week.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 24: The price of onion has decreased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">21</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent in one week.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the price of dry onion has decreased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">21.43</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent in a period of one week.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the committee, onion which was sold at an average price of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">140</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg on December </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">17</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> is being sold at an average price of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">110</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg on Sunday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The supply of onion has also decreased in the last one week. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A total of </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">71</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">707 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">kg of onions were supplied to the Kalimati market on December </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">6, which dropped to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">37</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">130 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">kg on Saturday </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">(</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 23). The supply of onions decreased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">48 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">percent on Saturday compared to last December </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">6</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the price of large local tomatoes has remained stable at Rs 55 per kg compared to last week. However, the price of large tomatoes imported from India has decreased from Rs 85 per kg to Rs 75 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the other hand, je price of small tomatoes produced in the domestic market has increased from Rs 12 to Rs 17 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of locally produced red potatoes has slightly decreased from Rs 35.67 to Rs 35 per kg while the price of red potatoes imported from India has increased from Rs 31 to Rs 33 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the price of local carrot has increased from Rs 45 to Rs 55 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of cauliflower has increased from Rs 35 to Rs 40 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of local cabbage has increased from Rs 32 to Rs 34 per kg while that of cabbage produced in the Terai has dropped from Rs 32 to Rs 27 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of red radish has remained stable at Rs 17 per kg while that of white radish remains unchanged at Rs 12 per kg.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19535', 'image' => '20231224022545_20230829032102_1692625925.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 14:24:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19806', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Footwear Industry Producing Shoes at 40 Percent Capacity', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: Nepal's shoe industry has been producing shoes at only 40 percent of its capacity, the state-owned RSS reported.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 24: Nepal's shoe industry has been producing shoes at only 40 percent of its capacity, the state-owned RSS reported. In other words, production has decreased by 60 percent. The shoe industry has not been able to produce shoes according to its capacity due to the decrease in exports of shoes and an increase in import as well as smuggling of shoes. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Naniraj Ghimire, president of the Footwear Manufacturers Association of Nepal, the Nepali footwear industry has the capacity to produce about 160 million pairs of shoes annually. There are 1,500 shoe factories in Nepal including 1,200 small factories, 200 medium ones and 100 large factories. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ghimire told RSS that businessmen have invested Rs 30 billion in the footwear industry of Nepal and 60 percent of the investment is bank loan. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Ghimire, although the shoe industry has capacity to produce much more, the production is currently limited to 40 percent of the full capacity. At present, the estimated demand for shoes in the domestic market of Nepal is 100 million pairs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Seventy percent of the demand is fulfilled by domestically produced shoes and 30 percent is imported from abroad.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Before the catastrophic Gorkha earthquake, Nepal used to export 30 million pairs of shoes annually, but now it has dropped to around 6.5 million pairs. Ghimire said that shoes manufactured in Nepal are mostly sold in India and 18 other countries. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Rudra Prasad Neupane, the vice president of the association, the problem has surfaced because the government has not implemented the policy related to shoes. Nepal’s shoe industry is unable to produce shoes according to its capacity due to smuggling of shoes, lack of skilled workers, and high interest rates of banks among others. The cost has also increased because the customs duty of raw materials has increased from 10 percent to 20 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Neupane, high-ranking government employees are changed frequently due to political instability and therefore their problems never get addressed. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The shoe industry of Nepal has been providing direct employment to 55,000 people. Since Nepal lacks skilled manpower in this sector, half of the workers are foreigners. Neupane said that if the industry can run at full capacity, 125,000 people will get employment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19534', 'image' => '20231224125041_20190124015719_birat.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 12:50:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19807', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Tells Youth to Make Best Use of Digital Platforms', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has urged the youth force of the country to get involved in the digital platforms within the country instead of going abroad.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 24: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has urged the youth force of the country to get involved in the digital platforms within the country instead of going abroad. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Inaugurating the 'CIN Youth Entrepreneur Forum Nepal Startup Fest </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2023</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">', Finance Minister Mahat said that if the young generation has the ability, imagination and dedication, they can do a lot through the digital platform.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The organisers of the programme that about </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">40</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the youth are connected to this sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“There is a trend of students going abroad after the </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">12</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">th grade and it should be stopped,” said Minister Mahat, adding, “I request everyone to start working through this platform to stop the wave of going abroad after class </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">12.</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Finance Minister Mahat said that the digital platform as given ample opportunities not only to business but to every sector. He said that those who are engaged in production can easily access the market through digital platform and increase their income at a low cost. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"This opportunity is available for everyone. It gives confidence to young entrepreneurs," he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The minister added that the government will enhance the IT policy in the coming days. "The government is ready to help the Nepalese youth in whatever field they want to work in. The government is ready to facilitate them." </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He said that the information technology sector plays an important role in the economic development of Nepal and even now a large amount of software is exported abroad. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Exports in the IT sector are increasing, and will increase even more in the coming days,” he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19533', 'image' => '20231224020035_20230817055515_collage (20).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 13:59:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19805', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Governor Tells Banks to Give Loans to Hard-Working and Diligent People', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has urged bankers to give loans to hard-working people instead of fraudsters. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">December 24: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has urged bankers to give loans to hard-working people instead of fraudsters. Addressing the </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">37</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">th annual general meeting of the Nepal Bankers' Association amid a recent function, Governor Adhikari said that the banks should distinguish between hard-working and diligent people from fraudsters and disburse loans accordingly.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Stating that he visited an animal farm in Chitwan on Saturday, the governor said, "The farm owner earns Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">600</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per month by rearing </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">107</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> cattle and buffaloes with a loan of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">5</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million. This is a good example.'' </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Advising the banks to help new businessmen instead of attracting borrowers from other banks, Governor Adhikari added, “Make an environment to be proud that so many new businessmen are born in a year.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He clarified that there is no shortage of liquidity in banks for making investment while foreign exchange reserves are also sufficient.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sunil KC, Chief Executive Officer of NMB Bank, and president of the Association and Santosh Koirala, Chief Executive Officer of Machhapuchcher Bank and vice president of the association shed light about the current situation of the banks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Anil Sharma, executive director of the association, talked about the recent activities of the association. On this occasion, Shravan Maskey of the then Bank of Kathmandu and Krishna Bahadur Adhikari of Nepal Bank Limited who completed their tenure as Chief Executive Officers were honoured.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Likewise, Kul Chandra Gautam was also honoured for his services in various fields along with the banking sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The AGM appointed five new members of the association. Ashok Sherchan, Chief Executive Officer of Prabhu Bank, Sanjeev Manandhar, Chief Executive Officer of Prime Commercial Bank, Sunder Prasad Kandel, Chief Executive Officer of Siddharth Bank, Nischal Raj Pandey, Chief Executive Officer of Sanima Bank and Kiran Kumar Shrestha, Chief Executive Officer of Rastriya Banijya Bank were apointed as new members of the association.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19532', 'image' => '20231224121144_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 12:10:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19802', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'New Cases of Covid up by 52 Percent Globally in One Month: WHO ', 'sub_title' => 'Influenza, RSV, and common childhood pneumonia are also on the rise ', 'summary' => 'December 24: The number of new COVID cases increased by 52 per cent during the past four-odd weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, with over 850 000 new cases reported during this period. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 24: The number of new COVID cases increased by 52 per cent during the past four-odd weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, with over 850 000 new cases reported during this period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The number of new deaths decreased by 8 per cent as compared to the previous 28-day period, with over 3,000 new fatalities reported, WHO said in its latest press release. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As of December 17, over 772 million confirmed cases and nearly seven million deaths have been reported globally since the onset of COVID-19, the WHO noted. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Furthermore, the WHO said over 118,000 new COVID-19 hospitalisations and over 1600 new intensive care unit (ICU) admissions have been recorded, with an overall increase of 23 per cent and 51 per cent, respectively, globally. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As of December 18, 2023, JN.1, a sub-lineage of BA.2.86 Omicron variant has been designated a separate variant of interest (VOI) apart from its parent lineage BA.2.86 due to its rapid increase in prevalence in recent weeks. Globally, EG.5 remains the most reported variant of interest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Due to its rapidly increasing spread, WHO is classifying the variant JN.1 as a separate variant of interest (VOI) from the parent lineage BA.2.86. It was previously classified as VOI as part of BA.2.86 sublineages. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Based on the available evidence, the additional global public health risk posed by JN.1 is currently evaluated as low. Despite this, with the onset of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, JN.1 could increase the burden of respiratory infections in many countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The WHO had earlier said it was continuously monitoring the evidence and would update the JN.1 risk evaluation as needed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Current vaccines continue to protect against severe disease and death from JN.1 and other circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, it noted. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">COVID-19 is not the only respiratory disease circulating. Influenza, RSV, and common childhood pneumonia are also on the rise. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The WHO advises people to take measures to prevent infections and severe disease using all available tools. These include wearing a mask in crowded, enclosed, or poorly ventilated areas, keeping a safe distance from others, practicing respiratory etiquette (covering coughs and sneezes), cleaning hands regularly, and getting tested if one has any symptoms or if you might have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 or influenza. – ANI/RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19529', 'image' => '20231224105344_WHO eight.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 10:52:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19801', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Power Supply to Defaulter Industries Cut Off ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'December 24: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to some large-scale industries that have failed for a long time to pay their electricity tariff for using dedicated and truck lines. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">December 24: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has cut off power supply to some large-scale industries that have failed for a long time to pay their electricity tariff for using dedicated and truck lines. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NEA took the measure after Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Thursday ordered the state-owned power utility to plug off the power lines and recover the tariff from them. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NEA had been facing public criticism for cutting off power supply of household consumers but exempting the large-scale industries. According to the NEA, power supply to Jagdamba Steel, Reliance Spinning Mills, Ghorahi Cement and Arghakhanchi Cement industries have been cut off. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NEA sources informed that Jagdamba Steel alone has to pay tariff worth Rs 4.14 billion. Similarly, Reliance Spinning Mills has to pay Rs 1.09 billion, Ghorahi Cement has to pay Rs 1.36 billion and Arghakhanchi Cement owes Rs. 1.3 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Despite repeated calls the industries have not cleared their dues to the NEA. The latest report of the Office of the Auditor General too had instructed the NEA to collect the arrears. Furthermore, various committees of the parliament had also directed to raise the tariff immediately. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-12-24', 'modified' => '2023-12-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19528', 'image' => '20231224102117_NEA_20191104081559.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-12-24 10:20:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
