KATHMANDU: Climate experts gathered from various countries at an international dialogue organized by the Government of Nepal viewed the mountain ecosystem was at the receiving end due to climate…
KATHMANDU: Climate experts gathered from various countries at an international dialogue organized by the Government of Nepal viewed the mountain ecosystem was at the receiving end due to climate…
KATHMANDU: The arrest of media tycoon Kailash Sirohia has drawn their serious attention, said the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce…
KATHMANDU: Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal Chapter, in collaboration with Nepal Tourism Board and seven private sector tourism and hospitality businesses, made an effective participation to promote Nepal’s tourism sector at the 32nd Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) held from May 16 to 18 at the Canton Fair Complex, Guangzhou,…
KATHMANDU: Actor and model Chhiring Sherpa has successfully climbed Sagarmatha (Mt Everest).…
LONDON: Sectors exposed to artificial intelligence (AI) are seeing rising productivity and faster growth in salaries even as the technology provokes job insecurity concerns, AFP reported citing a PwC study published on…
We editors working at major media outlets in Nepal want to draw your attention to a recent case of arrest from a media house:…
KATHMANDU: Bagmati Province is set to top the contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) in the country, while Karnali Province ranks at the…
The 2568th birth anniversary of Siddhartha Gautama, popularly known around the world as Buddha, the harbinger of peace, is being celebrated…
SALLERI: Two climbers, including one Nepali and one Briton, have gone missing during their descent from Mt…
KATHMANDU: Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change of Bangladesh, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, has expressed concern that Bangladesh's very existence might be imperiled by the melting of snow in the Himalayas in Nepal due to climate…
KATHMANDU: Kamirita Sherpa has set a new record in mountain climbing history by scaling Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, for the 30th time.…
KATHMANDU: Nepal Media Society and Media Alliance have protested the arrest of Kantipur Media Group’s Chairman Kailash…
JOMSOM: The road linking Jomsom, the district headquarters of Mustang, with the religious and tourism destination Kagbeni in the Muktichhetra rural municipality is being…
KATHMANDU: A police team deployed from the Valley Crime Investigation Office, Kathmandu on Tuesday arrested Chairman of Kantipur Publication, Kailash Sirohiya, on charge of citizenship-related…
The Birgunj Customs Office, a major border point for imports and exports, has failed to meet its revenue target for the first ten months of the current fiscal year 2080/81. The office has achieved only 62.82% of its revenue…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Climate experts gathered from various countries at an international dialogue organized by the Government of Nepal viewed the mountain ecosystem was at the receiving end due to climate change. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Addressing the two-day dialogue on 'Mountain, Human and Climate Change' on Wednesday, they viewed mountain region had witnessed rapid change in climates, thereby wreaking havoc. </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"">The first session was addressed by Bangladeshi Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Sabar Hussain; associate dean at UN Climate Change Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), Harry Vreuls; former special envoy of Kyrgyz's President on mountains, Nurlan Aitmurzayev; and Australian Ambassador to Nepal, Felicity Volk. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the same session, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha was the keynote speaker. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">World's 40 percent people are depended on mountain water- for drinking, irrigation, hydropower etc- which however is facing challenges owing to global rise in temperate. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The climate change has further caused extreme weather events to which Nepal is bearing the brunt, they noted. The international dialogue is held to foster debate and advocacy for global attention on mountain. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20793', 'image' => '20240523033019_DKL-Phuning.9.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 15:29:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21066', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Private Sector Organisations Raise Serious Concern Over Arrest of Kailash Sirohiya', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: The arrest of media tycoon Kailash Sirohia has drawn their serious attention, said the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: The arrest of media tycoon Kailash Sirohia has drawn their serious attention, said the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Issuing a joint statement on Thursday, the private sector organisations said that they are aware that anyone proven to have acted against the law should face action but it is not appropriate to arrest someone based on a complaint.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“The arbitrary arrest and detention on the basis of a complaint will further reduce the morale of entrepreneurs, businessmen and investors and will not give a positive message,” reads the statement.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Nepalese Industry, and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce have been saying since a long time that they should not be arrested in case of complaints or allegations but should be given a chance to clarify themselves. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“It is our request that entrepreneurs, businessmen or anyone should not be arrested based on complaints, but the state should listen to them. Since the trend of listening only after detention has a negative impact on the entire sector, we urge the state to provide bail in advance if necessary and proceed with the legal process only after the charges are proven,” added the statement.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The private sector organisations noted that the country has not yet recovered from the economic crisis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“In this situation, we urge all concerned not to disturb the business environment.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">They noted that an investment environment cannot be created by demeaning any businessman and discouraging them. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Now small to big businesses in the country need encouragement and encouragement. The government should provide guardianship to industrialists and investors. We would like to draw everyone's attention again to the fact that the work of disturbing the business environment in the country should not be done on any pretext.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20792', 'image' => '20240523043704_20240522110456_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 16:36:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21065', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Shines at GITF 2024, Winning Awards and Garnering Strong Interest from the Chinese Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal Chapter, in collaboration with Nepal Tourism Board and seven private sector tourism and hospitality businesses, made an effective participation to promote Nepal’s tourism sector at the 32nd Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) held from May 16 to 18 at the Canton Fair Complex, Guangzhou, China.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal Chapter, in collaboration with Nepal Tourism Board and seven private sector tourism and hospitality businesses, made an effective participation to promote Nepal’s tourism sector at the 32nd Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) held from May 16 to 18 at the Canton Fair Complex, Guangzhou, China. Issuing a statement on Thursday, PATA said the fair witnessed over 40,000 visitors from China and other international countries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the first day of the fair, Nepal Tourism Board made a destination promotion presentation on the stage in front of local Chinese visitors and tour operators. In the evening, the PATA Nepal Chapter received two prestigious awards: the Gold Award for "Overall Performance" from the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI) and the "Best Partner" Award from GITF during the Buyers Night organized at the Westin Pazhou in Guangzhou, China, added the statement. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) received the "Most Popular Cultural Tourism Destination" Award from GITF, and Jugal Holidays from Nepal won the Gold Award for "Product Innovation" from COTRI.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">At the GITF 2024 Conference held on May 17, Lakpa Phuti Sherpa (Executive Member of PATA Nepal Chapter), Suresh Singh Budal (CEO of PATA Nepal Chapter), and Kundan Sharma (Officer of NTB) participated in an insightful panel discussion on 'Sustainable Tourism Offerings of Nepal for Chinese Visitors during the Times of Climate Change,' moderated by Dr Timothy Lee, professor at Macao University of Science and Technology.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sujit Regmi, Executive Director of Nepal Big Mountain Travel Company, said, “I found many people interested in visiting Nepal, and there were a lot of inquiries for Nepal at our booth. Since we have been working in the Chinese market for the last 11 years, I believe Nepal's participation at GITF this year has been very impactful in terms of destination visibility and tourism business promotion.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Himmat Puri, Executive Director of Destinago Tours and Travels, shared his happiness about participating in GITF for the first time. He believes that Nepal’s first post-pandemic participation in GITF is going to be fruitful, facilitating reconnection opportunities with Chinese operators and trade visitors. He found the response and interest of Chinese operators and trade visitors in Nepal to be very optimistic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Neeta Thapa, Director of Sales representing Hilton Kathmandu, believes that Nepal as a destination has huge potential in China. She said, “It was a great honor to promote and showcase Hilton Kathmandu, the first Hilton brand in Nepal, among Chinese operators and visitors. We thank PATA Nepal for providing the opportunity to participate in GITF 2024.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Deepesh KC, General Manager of Hotel Himalaya, stated that participating in GITF was a milestone to restart promotion in the Chinese market. As a hotelier, he found the trip indeed fruitful along with other service providers from Nepal. He appreciated the role of PATA Nepal and NTB in coordinating this promotional participation and suggested that the government should enhance such international promotion and marketing programs in many source markets within China to grasp the immense potential from this largest tourism source market. He further advised that Nepal should prioritize and increase its digital presence and promotion on various OTAs/online platforms for the Chinese market, including Ctrip, WeChat, TikTok, etc. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Suresh Singh Budal, CEO of PATA Nepal Chapter, stated that China has become the world's largest tourism source market, with many destinations prioritizing China through aggressive marketing and promotion. In contrast, Nepal's promotion efforts are comparatively lower. He further noted that destinations such as New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, and others manage their tourism board branch offices and representatives in various provinces of China to promote effectively. He emphasized that Nepal Tourism Board also needs to expand its branches in key and large source markets and engage in extensive and effective targeted marketing.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20791', 'image' => '20240523035435_Buyers Night.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 15:53:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21063', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Actor and Model Chhiring Sherpa Atop Sagarmatha ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Actor and model Chhiring Sherpa has successfully climbed Sagarmatha (Mt Everest). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Actor and model Chhiring Sherpa has successfully climbed Sagarmatha (Mt Everest). She reached atop the world's highest peak on Sunday and unfurled the first poster of her upcoming movie 'Tashi Delek' and also the flags of various organisations on the summit. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following her ascent of Sagarmatha, Sherpa underscored on raising voice in the national and international level for mitigating the impact of climate change in the mountain region. Informing about her climbing success via social media, she stressed on investing some portion of the revenue received from the mountaineers for the development of the mountainous region. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In her message on social media, Chhiring also called for creating an environment where in the Sherpa community can connect itself to every state apparatus, rather than merely taking them as the mountaineers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She urged the state to keep the geographically remote mountainous region in special priority and make plans for its development. Chiiring also called for putting in place a mechanism wherein the climbers will have instant access to information. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She also underlined on the need of managing the challenges and the problem of 'too many climbers on Everest', as well as of making the climbing profession 'decent'. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20790', 'image' => '20240523013203_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 13:31:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21062', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sectors Exposed to AI Witness a Boost in Productivity and Salaries: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'LONDON: Sectors exposed to artificial intelligence (AI) are seeing rising productivity and faster growth in salaries even as the technology provokes job insecurity concerns, AFP reported citing a PwC study published on Tuesday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">LONDON: </span></strong><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Sectors exposed to artificial intelligence (AI) are seeing rising productivity and faster growth in salaries even as the technology provokes job insecurity concerns, AFP reported citing a PwC study published on Tuesday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Skills which are easily transferable to AI, such as in finance or computer science, have seen "almost fivefold greater labour productivity growth", the global consultancy said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Job offers requiring AI skills are on the rise, at a rate 3.5 times faster than the average, according to the study of more than 500 million job offers in over 15 countries, added the news report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">In the United States, Canada, Australia and Singapore -- the labour markets where data is available -- salaries can also be up to 25 percent higher, the study said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">PwC said that indicated that "those who adapt may enjoy vast new opportunities", notwithstanding concerns about the impact of AI on jobs and business.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Technology could as a result "allow many nations to break out of persistent low productivity growth, generating economic development, higher wages, and enhanced living standards", it added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Carol Stubbings, global markets and tax and legal services leader at PwC, said that as workers will need to build new skills, organisations will also have to invest in new AI strategies and people.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">According to AFP, a separate study published in March by the British Institute for Public Policy Research think tank warned that the rise of AI could threaten nearly eight million UK jobs.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">But it said an "apocalypse" for jobs could be avoided by encouraging employee upskilling while some tasks are automated.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Adecco, the world's biggest temping agency, has also urged firms to better prepare their staff for the arrival of AI.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Its survey of chief financial officers in nine countries indicated that most felt ill-equipped to manage the technological transition. -- AFP</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20789', 'image' => '20240523104437_20240416013648_20240303093044_Artificial-intelligence--scaled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 10:43:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21061', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Special Editorial: Initiate Probe Against Home Minister for Dual Passports and Cooperative Scam', 'sub_title' => 'Joint Letter submitted to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal by 31 editors following the arrest of Kantipur Group's Chairman Kailash Sirohiya', 'summary' => 'We editors working at major media outlets in Nepal want to draw your attention to a recent case of arrest from a media house: ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Right Honourable Prime Minister</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">We editors working at major media outlets in Nepal want to draw your attention to a recent case of arrest from a media house:</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">1. Police arrested Kantipur Media Group’s Chairman Kailash Sirohiya from his office on Tuesday. All citizens should equally abide by the laws of the land and Sirohiya should be punished as per the law if he has done anything against it. Sirohiya himself has publicly said that he is ready for that.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">2. The context and the allegations levelled against him and the modus operandi of his arrest have raised serious questions. We have taken the arrest from inside a media house as intended to create pressure and fear on the press. The government agencies have never interrogated Sirohiya about the allegations. Yesterday he was suddenly arrested over some technical issues of his citizenship certificate. This issue will now be resolved by the court.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">3. Mr Prime Minister, we want to remind you—Rabi Lamichhane was not a Nepali citizen when he first became home minister in your Cabinet. Though he re-acquired Nepal’s citizenship following a court order, he was and is someone who can be punished for simultaneously holding passports of two countries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">4. We also want to make it clear why Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane has recently been attacking the media with animosity. The problem of cooperative fraud has become severe. Billions of rupees deposited by millions of Nepalis in cooperatives have been misappropriated, and they have not received their own deposits back. Media has continuously reported on around one billion rupees misappropriated by Rabi Lamichhane and Gorkha Media Network, where Lamichhane was one of the partners.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">While addressing a Parliament meeting, he claimed that he was a victim of a ‘media trial’. However, investigations conducted at the municipal level and by Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) have established that he and the media company he managed embezzled cooperative funds. The home minister has prevented prosecution and the filing of charges against him by abusing power. We also want to draw the prime minister’s attention to this matter and remind you that it is your responsibility to ensure that the police investigation against Lamichhane moves ahead and builds an environment for prosecuting the case against him impartially.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">5. We editors, who have been working in Nepali media for a long time, are well aware of press freedom, rule of law and our responsibilities. And we also want to make it clear that we won’t make any compromise when it comes to defending them and fulfilling our responsibilities.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The editors who signed the letter include Akhanda Bhandari, Annapurna Post; Ameet Dhakal, Setopati; Arun Baral, Khabarhub; Basanta Basnet, Onlinekhabar; Bijay Paudel, Kantipur TV; Bimal Gautam, Lokaantar; Biswas Baral, The Kathmandu Post; Durga Khanal, Ekantipur; Gunaraj Luintel, Nagarik; Hari Bahadur Thapa, Baahrakhari; Kamal Dev Bhattarai, The Annapurna Express; Kiran Nepal, Centre for Investigative Journalism-Nepal; Koshraj Koirala, Republica; Madan Lamsal, Arthik Abhiyan; Kosmos Bishwakarma; Prakash Rimal; Prateek Pradhan, Baahrakhari; Purna Basnet, Nepalkhabar; Pushpa Dulal, Clickmandu; Rajaram Gautam; Ram Prasad Dahal, Ratopati; Rameshwar Bohara, Ukaalo; Rupesh Shrestha, Kantipur TV; Sagar Pandit, Nepal Samacharpatra; Sanjeev Satgainya; Saroj Mishra, Rajdhani; Shiva Gaunle, Onlinekhabar; Sudheer Sharma; Sujit Mahat, Ukaalo; Umesh Chauhan, Kantipur and Yubraj Ghimire, Deshsanchar.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20788', 'image' => '20240523102211_editors_20240522195351.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 10:17:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21060', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bagmati Province to Top Contribution to GDP in Current FY ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Bagmati Province is set to top the contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) in the country, while Karnali Province ranks at the bottom.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Bagmati Province is set to top the contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) in the country, while Karnali Province ranks at the bottom.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Provincial GDP Estimates for 2080/81, made public by the National Statistics Office on Wednesday, show that Bagmati Province is estimated to contribute 36.4 percent to the nation's GDP in the current fiscal year, which ends in mid-July.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Following Bagmati Province is Koshi Province with 15.8 percent contribution to the GDP, Lumbini with 14.3 percent, Madhesh with 13.1 percent, Gandaki with 9.1 percent, and Sudurpaschim with 7.1 percent respectively. Karnali Province has the lowest share of GDP, contributing only 4.3 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There has been a marginal change in provincial contributions to GDP as per the revised estimates for the fiscal year 2079/80. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Compared to last year, there is a marginal decline in the GDP contribution by Koshi, Madhesh, Karnali, and Sudurpaschim provinces, while others are expected to see a slight increase," the Office stated.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The GDP at consumer prices is estimated at Rs 575 billion for the current fiscal year, 2080/81.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Since the adoption of federalism, the Office has been monitoring economic activities and producing data to support evidence-based policy making and reduce socioeconomic disparities. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20787', 'image' => '20240523095911_20220429044433_gdp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 09:58:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21059', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Buddha Jayanti and Ubhauli Festival Being Observed', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The 2568th birth anniversary of Siddhartha Gautama, popularly known around the world as Buddha, the harbinger of peace, is being celebrated today.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 23: The 2568th birth anniversary of Siddhartha Gautama, popularly known around the world as Buddha, the harbinger of peace, is being celebrated today.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Buddha Jayanti is celebrated every year on the full moon day of the month of Baisakh in the lunar calendar. As Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and death all fall on the full moon day of Baisakh, Buddhists around the world, including in Nepal, celebrate the day with reverence and devotion to Buddha.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, Buddhist monks and religious leaders sit in chaityas, monasteries, vihars, and other sacred places to perform traditional rituals. Special events are held in Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, and in Kapilvastu, Swayambhu, and Boudha.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Siddhartha Gautama was born to King Suddhodana and Queen Mayadevi in Lumbini, in the present-day Rupandehi district, in 563 BC, which is 2568 years ago. Born as a prince, he became concerned upon seeing the sufferings of the people. At the age of 29, he left the palace and embarked on a journey of meditation and penance.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Additionally, the Ubhauli festival is being celebrated today, particularly by the Kirant Rai community across the country. During the festival, there is a tradition of worshiping nature before planting crops to ensure a good harvest. The Chandi dance is also performed on this occasion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Sakela dance is performed among different sects of the Kirant community. Meanwhile, in Kathmandu, the Kirant Rai Yayokkha is hosting a special event that includes prayers and worship at Sakelasthan in Hattiban, Lalitpur.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> However, the people of Ainselukharka Rural Municipality in Khotang celebrate this festival after the 22nd of the month of Jeth (the first week of June) in the lunar calendar. (RSS) </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20786', 'image' => '20240523055939_collage (8).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 05:57:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21057', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Two Climbers go Missing during Everest Expedition ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'SALLERI: Two climbers, including one Nepali and one Briton, have gone missing during their descent from Mt Everest.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">SALLERI: Two climbers, including one Nepali and one Briton, have gone missing during their descent from Mt Everest. Those missing have been identified as Sherpa guide Tenzi Sherpa, 21, and British citizen Daniel Paul Peterson, 40, according to the Director at the Department of Tourism, Kali Bahadur Bhujel. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The two reportedly slipped from an altitude of 8750 meters at the South Col on Wednesday morning. They successfully climbed Everest on the morning of May 21. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Their expedition was facilitated by the Eight K Expedition Pvt Ltd. A team of six trained mountain guides have been mobilized to search for the missing climbers. The department has called for cooperation from all quarters in the search operation for the two. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20784', 'image' => '20240522031556_20230517093316_122208-01-02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 15:15:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21056', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Snow Melting in Nepal’s Himalayas May Imperil the Existence of Bangladesh: Bangladeshi Minister', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change of Bangladesh, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, has expressed concern that Bangladesh's very existence might be imperiled by the melting of snow in the Himalayas in Nepal due to climate change.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">KATHMANDU: Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change of Bangladesh, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, has expressed concern that Bangladesh's very existence might be imperiled by the melting of snow in the Himalayas in Nepal due to climate change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Addressing the 'Global Dialogue on Mountain, People, and Climate,' which commenced in Kathmandu on Wednesday to draw global attention to the impact of climate change in the Himalayas, he stated that climate change has significantly impacted the region, leading to rapid melting of snow. This, in turn, could result in problems like flooding in Bangladesh.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Bangladeshi minister emphasized that the very existence of downstream and coastal regions is at risk due to Himalayan snowmelt, unless timely measures and adequate vigilance are adopted to mitigate the impacts of climate change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">He stressed the importance of focusing on minimizing climate change impacts and promoting adaptation to secure climate resilience.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"The developed countries emit 81 percent of the total global carbon emissions. Developing countries like Nepal and Bangladesh are suffering due to this. The developed countries have not fulfilled their commitments made at various climate conferences regarding reducing carbon emissions. They must be held accountable," he added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Minister Hossain noted that the government alone cannot alleviate poverty and mitigate the impacts of climate change. He emphasized the need to manage the budget required for implementing climate change adaptation programs.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"Political will is needed to address the problems created by the adverse impacts of climate change," he reiterated.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Experts from 25 countries are participating in the Global Dialogue. More than 200 representatives from mountainous and small island nations, including Nepal, as well as members of the international community, development partners, INGOs, the private sector, and civil society, are attending the program.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The experts will deliberate on topics related to coordinating, prioritizing, and strengthening climate-resilient activities based on the mountain ecosystem. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20783', 'image' => '20240522030328_PRO_KTM-066A5834.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 15:02:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21054', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kamirita Sherpa Reaches Atop Everest for 30th Time Breaking his Own Record ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Kamirita Sherpa has set a new record in mountain climbing history by scaling Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, for the 30th time. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Kamirita Sherpa has set a new record in mountain climbing history by scaling Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, for the 30th time. According to the Department of Tourism's temporary office at the Everest Base Camp, Sherpa reached the summit at 7:49 am on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Office Chief Khimlal Gautam confirmed Sherpa's remarkable achievement, marking his 30th successful ascent to Everest, thereby breaking his own previous records. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Born in Thame of Khumbu Pasang Lhamu rural municipality in Solukhumbu district, the 54-year-old Sherpa is a proficient mountain guide. His first ascent to the world's highest mountain was recorded on May 13, 1994. Sherpa also holds the record for the most ascents to peaks above 8,000 meters. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This spring season has witnessed a significant number of climbers attempting to scale Everest, with over 460 individuals, including Sherpa guides, having successfully reached the summit so far, according to office records. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Everest expedition for this year's spring season officially commenced on May 10. A total of 414 climbers, comprising 339 males and 75 females, obtained permission from the department for their Everest expedition. These climbers represent 41 expedition teams, with 75 percent having already successfully summited the peak. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20782', 'image' => '20240522020604_20240512073522_20230523022113_20230518105218_FwTHtq6agAEVihB (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 14:05:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21051', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Media Organisations Protest Arrest of Kailash Sirohiya, Express Concern Over Attack on Press Freedom', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Nepal Media Society and Media Alliance have protested the arrest of Kantipur Media Group’s Chairman Kailash Sirohiya.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Nepal Media Society and Media Alliance have protested the arrest of Kantipur Media Group’s Chairman Kailash Sirohiya.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Organising a press conference at the office premises of Kantipur in Thapathali on Wednesday, both the organizations deplored the arrest and detention of the media tycoon by the police.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at the press conference, Chairman of ABC Media Group as well as the Media Society Subha Shankar Kandel said that the incident of Sirohiya’s arrest gave a glimpse of the reign of former king Gyanendra when the police administration entered the media house and worked in the newsroom.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"This is the first time that the police entered the media house after 2058, when the government arrested the then managing director Sirohiya, director Binodraj Gyawali and editor Yuvraj Ghimire for publishing the views of the then underground Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai in Kantipur Daily," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Kandel said that it is highly objectionable for the political party leaders to treat the media house like this especially after they pledged to build a new Nepal after doing away with the old system.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He alleged that the government intervened in Kantipur Media and prosecuted Sirohiya in retaliation for publishing the news that at least Rs 958 million were embezzled from the deposits made by the general public in cooperatives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at the press conference, General Secretary of Media Alliance Nepal Direklal Shrestha also said that no one is above the law and if found guilty by the police investigation regarding dual citizenship, everyone should face the punishment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He added that he was not showing solidarity with Kailas Sirohiya alone but against the state's attack on press freedom. A person from media background himself that attacking freedom of press today is like spitting on the plate that he himself ate from.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, Rishi Dhamala, the founder of Reports Club, said that Rabi Lamichhane became the home minister because of the struggle of Nepali media against the monarchy. He added that Lamichhane’s attempt to stifle press freedom nothing but the misuse of state authority.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He said that it is not good for the police administration to try to suppress the media just for the coverage of the news related to the co-operative fraud case, and said that they should instead help investigate the allegations against the cooperatives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at the press conference, RK Shrestha, president of the Valley Radio Broadcasting Forum, said that it was unfortunate that the police administration entered the media house with weapons. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, General Secretary of Nepal Media Society Madan Lamsal said that Sirohiya was arrested in the style of the then Panchayat system. Speaking at the press conference, General Secretary Lamsal said that the home ministry and the government took steps in the wrong direction.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Lamsal said that the law allows the government to interrogate and investigate anyone but Sirohiya was arrested in a dictatorial style.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Stating that all the media-related organizations were unanimous in terming this move as a wrongful act, he said that till the owner of Kantipur Media House, Kailash Sirohiya, should be released with honor. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">”We will strongly resist and oppose it,” he said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20778', 'image' => '20240522123213_0_kQUCCCQpfK7vWZTi.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 12:31:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21050', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Blacktopping of Jomsom-Kagbeni Road Begins', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'JOMSOM: The road linking Jomsom, the district headquarters of Mustang, with the religious and tourism destination Kagbeni in the Muktichhetra rural municipality is being blacktopped.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">JOMSOM: The road linking Jomsom, the district headquarters of Mustang, with the religious and tourism destination Kagbeni in the Muktichhetra rural municipality is being blacktopped. The 13-km-long Jomsom-Kagbeni road has been widened to 11 meters and is being blacktopped using asphalt technology.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Rautah-Atreya JV was awarded a contract worth Rs 281.4 million in August 2022 to blacktop the Jomsom-Kagbeni section of the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road, a national pride project. According to Sanjay Bhatta, the project manager for the contractor company, they have already applied the prime coat on two kilometers of road in the Eklebhatti area. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"We have placed the prime coat along two kilometers of the road section," Bhatta stated. "We imported bitumen and managed the necessary equipment for blacktopping the entire road section."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The task of preparing the base and sub-base has been completed, and preparations are underway to blacktop the Jomsom-Kagbeni section within the current fiscal year. The company, which was awarded an eighteen-month contract, started blacktopping the road after receiving repeated warnings from the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road project to confiscate the deposit and blacklist the contractor if the work was not completed on time.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Project chief Dhruba Kumar Jha reported that 75 kilometers of the 110-kilometer road connecting Jomsom to the Korala border in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China have been graveled. Additionally, almost 85 percent of the 25-kilometer Charang-Chhoser section has been completed. Jha informed RSS that all sections connecting the Jomsom-Korala road will be graveled after the upgradation of this section. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20777', 'image' => '20240522112130_SG_MYAGDI_.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 11:20:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21049', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Publisher of Kantipur Publications Sirohiya Arrested ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: A police team deployed from the Valley Crime Investigation Office, Kathmandu on Tuesday arrested Chairman of Kantipur Publication, Kailash Sirohiya, on charge of citizenship-related offense. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: A police team deployed from the Valley Crime Investigation Office, Kathmandu on Tuesday arrested Chairman of Kantipur Publication, Kailash Sirohiya, on charge of citizenship-related offense. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The police <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">team led Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sanuram Bhattarai and Superintendent of Police (SP) Rabindra Regmi nabbed publisher Sirohiya from the latter's office in Thapathali, Kathmandu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">SP Regmi stated that Sirohiya was arrested for an investigation on the citizenship issue and added that preparations were underway to take Sirohiya to Janakpur. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During his arrest, Sirohiya expressed his serious objection to the step taken by the government despite his pledge to cooperate with the government agencies for the probe. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Sirohiya claimed that Deputy Prime Minister Ravi Lamichhane arrested him with mala fide intention for the news coverage by Kantiour Media regarding the cooperative scam involving the deputy prime minister.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“The home minister has a case over dual passport. I am hopeful that an arrest warrant will be issued against him as well,” said Sirohiya. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier on Tuesday, a single bench of Judge Chitra Bahadur Gurung of the Dhanusha District Court had given permission to the police to issue an arrest warrant against Sirohiya. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following the arrest warrant, Sirohiya lodged a petition at the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday itself demanding to vacate the order of the Dhanusha District Court. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Information Officer of SC Govinda Prasad Ghimire said that the decision will be taken on Wednesday whether or not to register the writ petition. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The District Police Office, Dhanusha, sought approval from the court to arrest Sirohiya after the citizenship number of Sirohiya and another person was found to be identical. <em>(With inputs from RSS)</em></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20776', 'image' => '20240522110456_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 11:04:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21048', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Birgunj Customs Office Misses Revenue Target, Collects Only 62%', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Birgunj Customs Office, a major border point for imports and exports, has failed to meet its revenue target for the first ten months of the current fiscal year 2080/81. The office has achieved only 62.82% of its revenue goal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Birgunj: The Birgunj Customs Office, a major border point for imports and exports, has failed to meet its revenue target for the first ten months of the current fiscal year 2080/81. The office has achieved only 62.82% of its revenue goal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the data on its website, the customs office aimed to collect Rs 202.9 billion by the end of Baisakh. However, only Rs 127.46 billion was collected. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Specifically, the customs office collected Rs 47.2372 billion in import duties, which is 60.88% of the target set at Rs 77.5877 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The highest revenue came from Value Added Tax (VAT), with Rs 54.2658 billion collected, achieving 63.99% of the target. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">For excise duties, the office collected Rs 8.5208 billion, against a target of Rs 12.1157 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Apart from the road construction and maintenance fees, the customs office did not meet its revenue targets in any category. It collected revenue under various headings, including advance income tax, health risk tax, infrastructure tax, export duties, agricultural improvement fees, road repair and maintenance fees, and luxury fees.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Officials said that the decline in imports of vehicles, fuel, and industrial raw materials, which are the main items imported through Birgunj, impacted the revenue. On the export side, processed edible oil, juice, pulp, and fabrics are the main items. However, Nepal's exports have decreased as Indian traders are importing oil from third countries due to India's zero customs duty policy on oil imports.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20775', 'image' => '20240522084206_collage (7).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 08:40:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ) ) $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' => '21064', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' 'Mountain Ecosystem at the Receiving End due to Climate Change' ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Climate experts gathered from various countries at an international dialogue organized by the Government of Nepal viewed the mountain ecosystem was at the receiving end due to climate change. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Climate experts gathered from various countries at an international dialogue organized by the Government of Nepal viewed the mountain ecosystem was at the receiving end due to climate change. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Addressing the two-day dialogue on 'Mountain, Human and Climate Change' on Wednesday, they viewed mountain region had witnessed rapid change in climates, thereby wreaking havoc. </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"">The first session was addressed by Bangladeshi Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Sabar Hussain; associate dean at UN Climate Change Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), Harry Vreuls; former special envoy of Kyrgyz's President on mountains, Nurlan Aitmurzayev; and Australian Ambassador to Nepal, Felicity Volk. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the same session, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha was the keynote speaker. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">World's 40 percent people are depended on mountain water- for drinking, irrigation, hydropower etc- which however is facing challenges owing to global rise in temperate. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The climate change has further caused extreme weather events to which Nepal is bearing the brunt, they noted. The international dialogue is held to foster debate and advocacy for global attention on mountain. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20793', 'image' => '20240523033019_DKL-Phuning.9.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 15:29:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21066', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Private Sector Organisations Raise Serious Concern Over Arrest of Kailash Sirohiya', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: The arrest of media tycoon Kailash Sirohia has drawn their serious attention, said the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: The arrest of media tycoon Kailash Sirohia has drawn their serious attention, said the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Issuing a joint statement on Thursday, the private sector organisations said that they are aware that anyone proven to have acted against the law should face action but it is not appropriate to arrest someone based on a complaint.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“The arbitrary arrest and detention on the basis of a complaint will further reduce the morale of entrepreneurs, businessmen and investors and will not give a positive message,” reads the statement.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Nepalese Industry, and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce have been saying since a long time that they should not be arrested in case of complaints or allegations but should be given a chance to clarify themselves. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“It is our request that entrepreneurs, businessmen or anyone should not be arrested based on complaints, but the state should listen to them. Since the trend of listening only after detention has a negative impact on the entire sector, we urge the state to provide bail in advance if necessary and proceed with the legal process only after the charges are proven,” added the statement.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The private sector organisations noted that the country has not yet recovered from the economic crisis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“In this situation, we urge all concerned not to disturb the business environment.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">They noted that an investment environment cannot be created by demeaning any businessman and discouraging them. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Now small to big businesses in the country need encouragement and encouragement. The government should provide guardianship to industrialists and investors. We would like to draw everyone's attention again to the fact that the work of disturbing the business environment in the country should not be done on any pretext.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20792', 'image' => '20240523043704_20240522110456_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 16:36:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21065', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Shines at GITF 2024, Winning Awards and Garnering Strong Interest from the Chinese Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal Chapter, in collaboration with Nepal Tourism Board and seven private sector tourism and hospitality businesses, made an effective participation to promote Nepal’s tourism sector at the 32nd Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) held from May 16 to 18 at the Canton Fair Complex, Guangzhou, China.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal Chapter, in collaboration with Nepal Tourism Board and seven private sector tourism and hospitality businesses, made an effective participation to promote Nepal’s tourism sector at the 32nd Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) held from May 16 to 18 at the Canton Fair Complex, Guangzhou, China. Issuing a statement on Thursday, PATA said the fair witnessed over 40,000 visitors from China and other international countries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the first day of the fair, Nepal Tourism Board made a destination promotion presentation on the stage in front of local Chinese visitors and tour operators. In the evening, the PATA Nepal Chapter received two prestigious awards: the Gold Award for "Overall Performance" from the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI) and the "Best Partner" Award from GITF during the Buyers Night organized at the Westin Pazhou in Guangzhou, China, added the statement. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) received the "Most Popular Cultural Tourism Destination" Award from GITF, and Jugal Holidays from Nepal won the Gold Award for "Product Innovation" from COTRI.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">At the GITF 2024 Conference held on May 17, Lakpa Phuti Sherpa (Executive Member of PATA Nepal Chapter), Suresh Singh Budal (CEO of PATA Nepal Chapter), and Kundan Sharma (Officer of NTB) participated in an insightful panel discussion on 'Sustainable Tourism Offerings of Nepal for Chinese Visitors during the Times of Climate Change,' moderated by Dr Timothy Lee, professor at Macao University of Science and Technology.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sujit Regmi, Executive Director of Nepal Big Mountain Travel Company, said, “I found many people interested in visiting Nepal, and there were a lot of inquiries for Nepal at our booth. Since we have been working in the Chinese market for the last 11 years, I believe Nepal's participation at GITF this year has been very impactful in terms of destination visibility and tourism business promotion.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Himmat Puri, Executive Director of Destinago Tours and Travels, shared his happiness about participating in GITF for the first time. He believes that Nepal’s first post-pandemic participation in GITF is going to be fruitful, facilitating reconnection opportunities with Chinese operators and trade visitors. He found the response and interest of Chinese operators and trade visitors in Nepal to be very optimistic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Neeta Thapa, Director of Sales representing Hilton Kathmandu, believes that Nepal as a destination has huge potential in China. She said, “It was a great honor to promote and showcase Hilton Kathmandu, the first Hilton brand in Nepal, among Chinese operators and visitors. We thank PATA Nepal for providing the opportunity to participate in GITF 2024.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Deepesh KC, General Manager of Hotel Himalaya, stated that participating in GITF was a milestone to restart promotion in the Chinese market. As a hotelier, he found the trip indeed fruitful along with other service providers from Nepal. He appreciated the role of PATA Nepal and NTB in coordinating this promotional participation and suggested that the government should enhance such international promotion and marketing programs in many source markets within China to grasp the immense potential from this largest tourism source market. He further advised that Nepal should prioritize and increase its digital presence and promotion on various OTAs/online platforms for the Chinese market, including Ctrip, WeChat, TikTok, etc. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Suresh Singh Budal, CEO of PATA Nepal Chapter, stated that China has become the world's largest tourism source market, with many destinations prioritizing China through aggressive marketing and promotion. In contrast, Nepal's promotion efforts are comparatively lower. He further noted that destinations such as New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, and others manage their tourism board branch offices and representatives in various provinces of China to promote effectively. He emphasized that Nepal Tourism Board also needs to expand its branches in key and large source markets and engage in extensive and effective targeted marketing.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20791', 'image' => '20240523035435_Buyers Night.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 15:53:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21063', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Actor and Model Chhiring Sherpa Atop Sagarmatha ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Actor and model Chhiring Sherpa has successfully climbed Sagarmatha (Mt Everest). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Actor and model Chhiring Sherpa has successfully climbed Sagarmatha (Mt Everest). She reached atop the world's highest peak on Sunday and unfurled the first poster of her upcoming movie 'Tashi Delek' and also the flags of various organisations on the summit. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following her ascent of Sagarmatha, Sherpa underscored on raising voice in the national and international level for mitigating the impact of climate change in the mountain region. Informing about her climbing success via social media, she stressed on investing some portion of the revenue received from the mountaineers for the development of the mountainous region. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In her message on social media, Chhiring also called for creating an environment where in the Sherpa community can connect itself to every state apparatus, rather than merely taking them as the mountaineers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She urged the state to keep the geographically remote mountainous region in special priority and make plans for its development. Chiiring also called for putting in place a mechanism wherein the climbers will have instant access to information. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She also underlined on the need of managing the challenges and the problem of 'too many climbers on Everest', as well as of making the climbing profession 'decent'. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20790', 'image' => '20240523013203_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 13:31:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21062', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sectors Exposed to AI Witness a Boost in Productivity and Salaries: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'LONDON: Sectors exposed to artificial intelligence (AI) are seeing rising productivity and faster growth in salaries even as the technology provokes job insecurity concerns, AFP reported citing a PwC study published on Tuesday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">LONDON: </span></strong><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Sectors exposed to artificial intelligence (AI) are seeing rising productivity and faster growth in salaries even as the technology provokes job insecurity concerns, AFP reported citing a PwC study published on Tuesday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Skills which are easily transferable to AI, such as in finance or computer science, have seen "almost fivefold greater labour productivity growth", the global consultancy said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Job offers requiring AI skills are on the rise, at a rate 3.5 times faster than the average, according to the study of more than 500 million job offers in over 15 countries, added the news report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">In the United States, Canada, Australia and Singapore -- the labour markets where data is available -- salaries can also be up to 25 percent higher, the study said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">PwC said that indicated that "those who adapt may enjoy vast new opportunities", notwithstanding concerns about the impact of AI on jobs and business.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Technology could as a result "allow many nations to break out of persistent low productivity growth, generating economic development, higher wages, and enhanced living standards", it added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Carol Stubbings, global markets and tax and legal services leader at PwC, said that as workers will need to build new skills, organisations will also have to invest in new AI strategies and people.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">According to AFP, a separate study published in March by the British Institute for Public Policy Research think tank warned that the rise of AI could threaten nearly eight million UK jobs.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">But it said an "apocalypse" for jobs could be avoided by encouraging employee upskilling while some tasks are automated.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Adecco, the world's biggest temping agency, has also urged firms to better prepare their staff for the arrival of AI.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Its survey of chief financial officers in nine countries indicated that most felt ill-equipped to manage the technological transition. -- AFP</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20789', 'image' => '20240523104437_20240416013648_20240303093044_Artificial-intelligence--scaled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 10:43:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21061', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Special Editorial: Initiate Probe Against Home Minister for Dual Passports and Cooperative Scam', 'sub_title' => 'Joint Letter submitted to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal by 31 editors following the arrest of Kantipur Group's Chairman Kailash Sirohiya', 'summary' => 'We editors working at major media outlets in Nepal want to draw your attention to a recent case of arrest from a media house: ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Right Honourable Prime Minister</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">We editors working at major media outlets in Nepal want to draw your attention to a recent case of arrest from a media house:</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">1. Police arrested Kantipur Media Group’s Chairman Kailash Sirohiya from his office on Tuesday. All citizens should equally abide by the laws of the land and Sirohiya should be punished as per the law if he has done anything against it. Sirohiya himself has publicly said that he is ready for that.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">2. The context and the allegations levelled against him and the modus operandi of his arrest have raised serious questions. We have taken the arrest from inside a media house as intended to create pressure and fear on the press. The government agencies have never interrogated Sirohiya about the allegations. Yesterday he was suddenly arrested over some technical issues of his citizenship certificate. This issue will now be resolved by the court.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">3. Mr Prime Minister, we want to remind you—Rabi Lamichhane was not a Nepali citizen when he first became home minister in your Cabinet. Though he re-acquired Nepal’s citizenship following a court order, he was and is someone who can be punished for simultaneously holding passports of two countries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">4. We also want to make it clear why Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane has recently been attacking the media with animosity. The problem of cooperative fraud has become severe. Billions of rupees deposited by millions of Nepalis in cooperatives have been misappropriated, and they have not received their own deposits back. Media has continuously reported on around one billion rupees misappropriated by Rabi Lamichhane and Gorkha Media Network, where Lamichhane was one of the partners.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">While addressing a Parliament meeting, he claimed that he was a victim of a ‘media trial’. However, investigations conducted at the municipal level and by Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) have established that he and the media company he managed embezzled cooperative funds. The home minister has prevented prosecution and the filing of charges against him by abusing power. We also want to draw the prime minister’s attention to this matter and remind you that it is your responsibility to ensure that the police investigation against Lamichhane moves ahead and builds an environment for prosecuting the case against him impartially.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">5. We editors, who have been working in Nepali media for a long time, are well aware of press freedom, rule of law and our responsibilities. And we also want to make it clear that we won’t make any compromise when it comes to defending them and fulfilling our responsibilities.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The editors who signed the letter include Akhanda Bhandari, Annapurna Post; Ameet Dhakal, Setopati; Arun Baral, Khabarhub; Basanta Basnet, Onlinekhabar; Bijay Paudel, Kantipur TV; Bimal Gautam, Lokaantar; Biswas Baral, The Kathmandu Post; Durga Khanal, Ekantipur; Gunaraj Luintel, Nagarik; Hari Bahadur Thapa, Baahrakhari; Kamal Dev Bhattarai, The Annapurna Express; Kiran Nepal, Centre for Investigative Journalism-Nepal; Koshraj Koirala, Republica; Madan Lamsal, Arthik Abhiyan; Kosmos Bishwakarma; Prakash Rimal; Prateek Pradhan, Baahrakhari; Purna Basnet, Nepalkhabar; Pushpa Dulal, Clickmandu; Rajaram Gautam; Ram Prasad Dahal, Ratopati; Rameshwar Bohara, Ukaalo; Rupesh Shrestha, Kantipur TV; Sagar Pandit, Nepal Samacharpatra; Sanjeev Satgainya; Saroj Mishra, Rajdhani; Shiva Gaunle, Onlinekhabar; Sudheer Sharma; Sujit Mahat, Ukaalo; Umesh Chauhan, Kantipur and Yubraj Ghimire, Deshsanchar.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20788', 'image' => '20240523102211_editors_20240522195351.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 10:17:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21060', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bagmati Province to Top Contribution to GDP in Current FY ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Bagmati Province is set to top the contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) in the country, while Karnali Province ranks at the bottom.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Bagmati Province is set to top the contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) in the country, while Karnali Province ranks at the bottom.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Provincial GDP Estimates for 2080/81, made public by the National Statistics Office on Wednesday, show that Bagmati Province is estimated to contribute 36.4 percent to the nation's GDP in the current fiscal year, which ends in mid-July.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Following Bagmati Province is Koshi Province with 15.8 percent contribution to the GDP, Lumbini with 14.3 percent, Madhesh with 13.1 percent, Gandaki with 9.1 percent, and Sudurpaschim with 7.1 percent respectively. Karnali Province has the lowest share of GDP, contributing only 4.3 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There has been a marginal change in provincial contributions to GDP as per the revised estimates for the fiscal year 2079/80. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Compared to last year, there is a marginal decline in the GDP contribution by Koshi, Madhesh, Karnali, and Sudurpaschim provinces, while others are expected to see a slight increase," the Office stated.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The GDP at consumer prices is estimated at Rs 575 billion for the current fiscal year, 2080/81.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Since the adoption of federalism, the Office has been monitoring economic activities and producing data to support evidence-based policy making and reduce socioeconomic disparities. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20787', 'image' => '20240523095911_20220429044433_gdp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 09:58:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21059', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Buddha Jayanti and Ubhauli Festival Being Observed', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The 2568th birth anniversary of Siddhartha Gautama, popularly known around the world as Buddha, the harbinger of peace, is being celebrated today.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 23: The 2568th birth anniversary of Siddhartha Gautama, popularly known around the world as Buddha, the harbinger of peace, is being celebrated today.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Buddha Jayanti is celebrated every year on the full moon day of the month of Baisakh in the lunar calendar. As Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and death all fall on the full moon day of Baisakh, Buddhists around the world, including in Nepal, celebrate the day with reverence and devotion to Buddha.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, Buddhist monks and religious leaders sit in chaityas, monasteries, vihars, and other sacred places to perform traditional rituals. Special events are held in Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, and in Kapilvastu, Swayambhu, and Boudha.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Siddhartha Gautama was born to King Suddhodana and Queen Mayadevi in Lumbini, in the present-day Rupandehi district, in 563 BC, which is 2568 years ago. Born as a prince, he became concerned upon seeing the sufferings of the people. At the age of 29, he left the palace and embarked on a journey of meditation and penance.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Additionally, the Ubhauli festival is being celebrated today, particularly by the Kirant Rai community across the country. During the festival, there is a tradition of worshiping nature before planting crops to ensure a good harvest. The Chandi dance is also performed on this occasion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Sakela dance is performed among different sects of the Kirant community. Meanwhile, in Kathmandu, the Kirant Rai Yayokkha is hosting a special event that includes prayers and worship at Sakelasthan in Hattiban, Lalitpur.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> However, the people of Ainselukharka Rural Municipality in Khotang celebrate this festival after the 22nd of the month of Jeth (the first week of June) in the lunar calendar. (RSS) </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20786', 'image' => '20240523055939_collage (8).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 05:57:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21057', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Two Climbers go Missing during Everest Expedition ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'SALLERI: Two climbers, including one Nepali and one Briton, have gone missing during their descent from Mt Everest.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">SALLERI: Two climbers, including one Nepali and one Briton, have gone missing during their descent from Mt Everest. Those missing have been identified as Sherpa guide Tenzi Sherpa, 21, and British citizen Daniel Paul Peterson, 40, according to the Director at the Department of Tourism, Kali Bahadur Bhujel. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The two reportedly slipped from an altitude of 8750 meters at the South Col on Wednesday morning. They successfully climbed Everest on the morning of May 21. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Their expedition was facilitated by the Eight K Expedition Pvt Ltd. A team of six trained mountain guides have been mobilized to search for the missing climbers. The department has called for cooperation from all quarters in the search operation for the two. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20784', 'image' => '20240522031556_20230517093316_122208-01-02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 15:15:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21056', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Snow Melting in Nepal’s Himalayas May Imperil the Existence of Bangladesh: Bangladeshi Minister', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change of Bangladesh, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, has expressed concern that Bangladesh's very existence might be imperiled by the melting of snow in the Himalayas in Nepal due to climate change.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">KATHMANDU: Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change of Bangladesh, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, has expressed concern that Bangladesh's very existence might be imperiled by the melting of snow in the Himalayas in Nepal due to climate change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Addressing the 'Global Dialogue on Mountain, People, and Climate,' which commenced in Kathmandu on Wednesday to draw global attention to the impact of climate change in the Himalayas, he stated that climate change has significantly impacted the region, leading to rapid melting of snow. This, in turn, could result in problems like flooding in Bangladesh.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Bangladeshi minister emphasized that the very existence of downstream and coastal regions is at risk due to Himalayan snowmelt, unless timely measures and adequate vigilance are adopted to mitigate the impacts of climate change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">He stressed the importance of focusing on minimizing climate change impacts and promoting adaptation to secure climate resilience.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"The developed countries emit 81 percent of the total global carbon emissions. Developing countries like Nepal and Bangladesh are suffering due to this. The developed countries have not fulfilled their commitments made at various climate conferences regarding reducing carbon emissions. They must be held accountable," he added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Minister Hossain noted that the government alone cannot alleviate poverty and mitigate the impacts of climate change. He emphasized the need to manage the budget required for implementing climate change adaptation programs.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"Political will is needed to address the problems created by the adverse impacts of climate change," he reiterated.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Experts from 25 countries are participating in the Global Dialogue. More than 200 representatives from mountainous and small island nations, including Nepal, as well as members of the international community, development partners, INGOs, the private sector, and civil society, are attending the program.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The experts will deliberate on topics related to coordinating, prioritizing, and strengthening climate-resilient activities based on the mountain ecosystem. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20783', 'image' => '20240522030328_PRO_KTM-066A5834.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 15:02:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21054', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kamirita Sherpa Reaches Atop Everest for 30th Time Breaking his Own Record ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Kamirita Sherpa has set a new record in mountain climbing history by scaling Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, for the 30th time. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Kamirita Sherpa has set a new record in mountain climbing history by scaling Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, for the 30th time. According to the Department of Tourism's temporary office at the Everest Base Camp, Sherpa reached the summit at 7:49 am on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Office Chief Khimlal Gautam confirmed Sherpa's remarkable achievement, marking his 30th successful ascent to Everest, thereby breaking his own previous records. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Born in Thame of Khumbu Pasang Lhamu rural municipality in Solukhumbu district, the 54-year-old Sherpa is a proficient mountain guide. His first ascent to the world's highest mountain was recorded on May 13, 1994. Sherpa also holds the record for the most ascents to peaks above 8,000 meters. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This spring season has witnessed a significant number of climbers attempting to scale Everest, with over 460 individuals, including Sherpa guides, having successfully reached the summit so far, according to office records. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Everest expedition for this year's spring season officially commenced on May 10. A total of 414 climbers, comprising 339 males and 75 females, obtained permission from the department for their Everest expedition. These climbers represent 41 expedition teams, with 75 percent having already successfully summited the peak. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20782', 'image' => '20240522020604_20240512073522_20230523022113_20230518105218_FwTHtq6agAEVihB (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 14:05:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21051', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Media Organisations Protest Arrest of Kailash Sirohiya, Express Concern Over Attack on Press Freedom', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Nepal Media Society and Media Alliance have protested the arrest of Kantipur Media Group’s Chairman Kailash Sirohiya.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Nepal Media Society and Media Alliance have protested the arrest of Kantipur Media Group’s Chairman Kailash Sirohiya.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Organising a press conference at the office premises of Kantipur in Thapathali on Wednesday, both the organizations deplored the arrest and detention of the media tycoon by the police.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at the press conference, Chairman of ABC Media Group as well as the Media Society Subha Shankar Kandel said that the incident of Sirohiya’s arrest gave a glimpse of the reign of former king Gyanendra when the police administration entered the media house and worked in the newsroom.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"This is the first time that the police entered the media house after 2058, when the government arrested the then managing director Sirohiya, director Binodraj Gyawali and editor Yuvraj Ghimire for publishing the views of the then underground Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai in Kantipur Daily," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Kandel said that it is highly objectionable for the political party leaders to treat the media house like this especially after they pledged to build a new Nepal after doing away with the old system.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He alleged that the government intervened in Kantipur Media and prosecuted Sirohiya in retaliation for publishing the news that at least Rs 958 million were embezzled from the deposits made by the general public in cooperatives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at the press conference, General Secretary of Media Alliance Nepal Direklal Shrestha also said that no one is above the law and if found guilty by the police investigation regarding dual citizenship, everyone should face the punishment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He added that he was not showing solidarity with Kailas Sirohiya alone but against the state's attack on press freedom. A person from media background himself that attacking freedom of press today is like spitting on the plate that he himself ate from.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, Rishi Dhamala, the founder of Reports Club, said that Rabi Lamichhane became the home minister because of the struggle of Nepali media against the monarchy. He added that Lamichhane’s attempt to stifle press freedom nothing but the misuse of state authority.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He said that it is not good for the police administration to try to suppress the media just for the coverage of the news related to the co-operative fraud case, and said that they should instead help investigate the allegations against the cooperatives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at the press conference, RK Shrestha, president of the Valley Radio Broadcasting Forum, said that it was unfortunate that the police administration entered the media house with weapons. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, General Secretary of Nepal Media Society Madan Lamsal said that Sirohiya was arrested in the style of the then Panchayat system. Speaking at the press conference, General Secretary Lamsal said that the home ministry and the government took steps in the wrong direction.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Lamsal said that the law allows the government to interrogate and investigate anyone but Sirohiya was arrested in a dictatorial style.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Stating that all the media-related organizations were unanimous in terming this move as a wrongful act, he said that till the owner of Kantipur Media House, Kailash Sirohiya, should be released with honor. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">”We will strongly resist and oppose it,” he said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20778', 'image' => '20240522123213_0_kQUCCCQpfK7vWZTi.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 12:31:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21050', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Blacktopping of Jomsom-Kagbeni Road Begins', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'JOMSOM: The road linking Jomsom, the district headquarters of Mustang, with the religious and tourism destination Kagbeni in the Muktichhetra rural municipality is being blacktopped.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">JOMSOM: The road linking Jomsom, the district headquarters of Mustang, with the religious and tourism destination Kagbeni in the Muktichhetra rural municipality is being blacktopped. The 13-km-long Jomsom-Kagbeni road has been widened to 11 meters and is being blacktopped using asphalt technology.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Rautah-Atreya JV was awarded a contract worth Rs 281.4 million in August 2022 to blacktop the Jomsom-Kagbeni section of the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road, a national pride project. According to Sanjay Bhatta, the project manager for the contractor company, they have already applied the prime coat on two kilometers of road in the Eklebhatti area. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"We have placed the prime coat along two kilometers of the road section," Bhatta stated. "We imported bitumen and managed the necessary equipment for blacktopping the entire road section."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The task of preparing the base and sub-base has been completed, and preparations are underway to blacktop the Jomsom-Kagbeni section within the current fiscal year. The company, which was awarded an eighteen-month contract, started blacktopping the road after receiving repeated warnings from the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road project to confiscate the deposit and blacklist the contractor if the work was not completed on time.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Project chief Dhruba Kumar Jha reported that 75 kilometers of the 110-kilometer road connecting Jomsom to the Korala border in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China have been graveled. Additionally, almost 85 percent of the 25-kilometer Charang-Chhoser section has been completed. Jha informed RSS that all sections connecting the Jomsom-Korala road will be graveled after the upgradation of this section. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20777', 'image' => '20240522112130_SG_MYAGDI_.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 11:20:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21049', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Publisher of Kantipur Publications Sirohiya Arrested ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: A police team deployed from the Valley Crime Investigation Office, Kathmandu on Tuesday arrested Chairman of Kantipur Publication, Kailash Sirohiya, on charge of citizenship-related offense. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: A police team deployed from the Valley Crime Investigation Office, Kathmandu on Tuesday arrested Chairman of Kantipur Publication, Kailash Sirohiya, on charge of citizenship-related offense. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The police <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">team led Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sanuram Bhattarai and Superintendent of Police (SP) Rabindra Regmi nabbed publisher Sirohiya from the latter's office in Thapathali, Kathmandu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">SP Regmi stated that Sirohiya was arrested for an investigation on the citizenship issue and added that preparations were underway to take Sirohiya to Janakpur. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During his arrest, Sirohiya expressed his serious objection to the step taken by the government despite his pledge to cooperate with the government agencies for the probe. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Sirohiya claimed that Deputy Prime Minister Ravi Lamichhane arrested him with mala fide intention for the news coverage by Kantiour Media regarding the cooperative scam involving the deputy prime minister.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“The home minister has a case over dual passport. I am hopeful that an arrest warrant will be issued against him as well,” said Sirohiya. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier on Tuesday, a single bench of Judge Chitra Bahadur Gurung of the Dhanusha District Court had given permission to the police to issue an arrest warrant against Sirohiya. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following the arrest warrant, Sirohiya lodged a petition at the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday itself demanding to vacate the order of the Dhanusha District Court. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Information Officer of SC Govinda Prasad Ghimire said that the decision will be taken on Wednesday whether or not to register the writ petition. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The District Police Office, Dhanusha, sought approval from the court to arrest Sirohiya after the citizenship number of Sirohiya and another person was found to be identical. <em>(With inputs from RSS)</em></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20776', 'image' => '20240522110456_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 11:04:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21048', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Birgunj Customs Office Misses Revenue Target, Collects Only 62%', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Birgunj Customs Office, a major border point for imports and exports, has failed to meet its revenue target for the first ten months of the current fiscal year 2080/81. The office has achieved only 62.82% of its revenue goal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Birgunj: The Birgunj Customs Office, a major border point for imports and exports, has failed to meet its revenue target for the first ten months of the current fiscal year 2080/81. The office has achieved only 62.82% of its revenue goal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the data on its website, the customs office aimed to collect Rs 202.9 billion by the end of Baisakh. However, only Rs 127.46 billion was collected. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Specifically, the customs office collected Rs 47.2372 billion in import duties, which is 60.88% of the target set at Rs 77.5877 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The highest revenue came from Value Added Tax (VAT), with Rs 54.2658 billion collected, achieving 63.99% of the target. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">For excise duties, the office collected Rs 8.5208 billion, against a target of Rs 12.1157 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Apart from the road construction and maintenance fees, the customs office did not meet its revenue targets in any category. It collected revenue under various headings, including advance income tax, health risk tax, infrastructure tax, export duties, agricultural improvement fees, road repair and maintenance fees, and luxury fees.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Officials said that the decline in imports of vehicles, fuel, and industrial raw materials, which are the main items imported through Birgunj, impacted the revenue. On the export side, processed edible oil, juice, pulp, and fabrics are the main items. However, Nepal's exports have decreased as Indian traders are importing oil from third countries due to India's zero customs duty policy on oil imports.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20775', 'image' => '20240522084206_collage (7).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 08:40:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ) ) $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' => '21064', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' 'Mountain Ecosystem at the Receiving End due to Climate Change' ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Climate experts gathered from various countries at an international dialogue organized by the Government of Nepal viewed the mountain ecosystem was at the receiving end due to climate change. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Climate experts gathered from various countries at an international dialogue organized by the Government of Nepal viewed the mountain ecosystem was at the receiving end due to climate change. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Addressing the two-day dialogue on 'Mountain, Human and Climate Change' on Wednesday, they viewed mountain region had witnessed rapid change in climates, thereby wreaking havoc. </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"">The first session was addressed by Bangladeshi Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Sabar Hussain; associate dean at UN Climate Change Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), Harry Vreuls; former special envoy of Kyrgyz's President on mountains, Nurlan Aitmurzayev; and Australian Ambassador to Nepal, Felicity Volk. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the same session, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha was the keynote speaker. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">World's 40 percent people are depended on mountain water- for drinking, irrigation, hydropower etc- which however is facing challenges owing to global rise in temperate. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The climate change has further caused extreme weather events to which Nepal is bearing the brunt, they noted. The international dialogue is held to foster debate and advocacy for global attention on mountain. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20793', 'image' => '20240523033019_DKL-Phuning.9.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 15:29:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21066', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Private Sector Organisations Raise Serious Concern Over Arrest of Kailash Sirohiya', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: The arrest of media tycoon Kailash Sirohia has drawn their serious attention, said the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: The arrest of media tycoon Kailash Sirohia has drawn their serious attention, said the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Issuing a joint statement on Thursday, the private sector organisations said that they are aware that anyone proven to have acted against the law should face action but it is not appropriate to arrest someone based on a complaint.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“The arbitrary arrest and detention on the basis of a complaint will further reduce the morale of entrepreneurs, businessmen and investors and will not give a positive message,” reads the statement.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Nepalese Industry, and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce have been saying since a long time that they should not be arrested in case of complaints or allegations but should be given a chance to clarify themselves. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“It is our request that entrepreneurs, businessmen or anyone should not be arrested based on complaints, but the state should listen to them. Since the trend of listening only after detention has a negative impact on the entire sector, we urge the state to provide bail in advance if necessary and proceed with the legal process only after the charges are proven,” added the statement.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The private sector organisations noted that the country has not yet recovered from the economic crisis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“In this situation, we urge all concerned not to disturb the business environment.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">They noted that an investment environment cannot be created by demeaning any businessman and discouraging them. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Now small to big businesses in the country need encouragement and encouragement. The government should provide guardianship to industrialists and investors. We would like to draw everyone's attention again to the fact that the work of disturbing the business environment in the country should not be done on any pretext.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20792', 'image' => '20240523043704_20240522110456_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 16:36:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21065', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Shines at GITF 2024, Winning Awards and Garnering Strong Interest from the Chinese Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal Chapter, in collaboration with Nepal Tourism Board and seven private sector tourism and hospitality businesses, made an effective participation to promote Nepal’s tourism sector at the 32nd Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) held from May 16 to 18 at the Canton Fair Complex, Guangzhou, China.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal Chapter, in collaboration with Nepal Tourism Board and seven private sector tourism and hospitality businesses, made an effective participation to promote Nepal’s tourism sector at the 32nd Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) held from May 16 to 18 at the Canton Fair Complex, Guangzhou, China. Issuing a statement on Thursday, PATA said the fair witnessed over 40,000 visitors from China and other international countries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the first day of the fair, Nepal Tourism Board made a destination promotion presentation on the stage in front of local Chinese visitors and tour operators. In the evening, the PATA Nepal Chapter received two prestigious awards: the Gold Award for "Overall Performance" from the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI) and the "Best Partner" Award from GITF during the Buyers Night organized at the Westin Pazhou in Guangzhou, China, added the statement. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) received the "Most Popular Cultural Tourism Destination" Award from GITF, and Jugal Holidays from Nepal won the Gold Award for "Product Innovation" from COTRI.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">At the GITF 2024 Conference held on May 17, Lakpa Phuti Sherpa (Executive Member of PATA Nepal Chapter), Suresh Singh Budal (CEO of PATA Nepal Chapter), and Kundan Sharma (Officer of NTB) participated in an insightful panel discussion on 'Sustainable Tourism Offerings of Nepal for Chinese Visitors during the Times of Climate Change,' moderated by Dr Timothy Lee, professor at Macao University of Science and Technology.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sujit Regmi, Executive Director of Nepal Big Mountain Travel Company, said, “I found many people interested in visiting Nepal, and there were a lot of inquiries for Nepal at our booth. Since we have been working in the Chinese market for the last 11 years, I believe Nepal's participation at GITF this year has been very impactful in terms of destination visibility and tourism business promotion.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Himmat Puri, Executive Director of Destinago Tours and Travels, shared his happiness about participating in GITF for the first time. He believes that Nepal’s first post-pandemic participation in GITF is going to be fruitful, facilitating reconnection opportunities with Chinese operators and trade visitors. He found the response and interest of Chinese operators and trade visitors in Nepal to be very optimistic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Neeta Thapa, Director of Sales representing Hilton Kathmandu, believes that Nepal as a destination has huge potential in China. She said, “It was a great honor to promote and showcase Hilton Kathmandu, the first Hilton brand in Nepal, among Chinese operators and visitors. We thank PATA Nepal for providing the opportunity to participate in GITF 2024.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Deepesh KC, General Manager of Hotel Himalaya, stated that participating in GITF was a milestone to restart promotion in the Chinese market. As a hotelier, he found the trip indeed fruitful along with other service providers from Nepal. He appreciated the role of PATA Nepal and NTB in coordinating this promotional participation and suggested that the government should enhance such international promotion and marketing programs in many source markets within China to grasp the immense potential from this largest tourism source market. He further advised that Nepal should prioritize and increase its digital presence and promotion on various OTAs/online platforms for the Chinese market, including Ctrip, WeChat, TikTok, etc. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Suresh Singh Budal, CEO of PATA Nepal Chapter, stated that China has become the world's largest tourism source market, with many destinations prioritizing China through aggressive marketing and promotion. In contrast, Nepal's promotion efforts are comparatively lower. He further noted that destinations such as New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, and others manage their tourism board branch offices and representatives in various provinces of China to promote effectively. He emphasized that Nepal Tourism Board also needs to expand its branches in key and large source markets and engage in extensive and effective targeted marketing.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20791', 'image' => '20240523035435_Buyers Night.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 15:53:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21063', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Actor and Model Chhiring Sherpa Atop Sagarmatha ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Actor and model Chhiring Sherpa has successfully climbed Sagarmatha (Mt Everest). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Actor and model Chhiring Sherpa has successfully climbed Sagarmatha (Mt Everest). She reached atop the world's highest peak on Sunday and unfurled the first poster of her upcoming movie 'Tashi Delek' and also the flags of various organisations on the summit. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following her ascent of Sagarmatha, Sherpa underscored on raising voice in the national and international level for mitigating the impact of climate change in the mountain region. Informing about her climbing success via social media, she stressed on investing some portion of the revenue received from the mountaineers for the development of the mountainous region. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In her message on social media, Chhiring also called for creating an environment where in the Sherpa community can connect itself to every state apparatus, rather than merely taking them as the mountaineers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She urged the state to keep the geographically remote mountainous region in special priority and make plans for its development. Chiiring also called for putting in place a mechanism wherein the climbers will have instant access to information. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She also underlined on the need of managing the challenges and the problem of 'too many climbers on Everest', as well as of making the climbing profession 'decent'. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20790', 'image' => '20240523013203_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 13:31:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21062', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sectors Exposed to AI Witness a Boost in Productivity and Salaries: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'LONDON: Sectors exposed to artificial intelligence (AI) are seeing rising productivity and faster growth in salaries even as the technology provokes job insecurity concerns, AFP reported citing a PwC study published on Tuesday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">LONDON: </span></strong><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Sectors exposed to artificial intelligence (AI) are seeing rising productivity and faster growth in salaries even as the technology provokes job insecurity concerns, AFP reported citing a PwC study published on Tuesday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Skills which are easily transferable to AI, such as in finance or computer science, have seen "almost fivefold greater labour productivity growth", the global consultancy said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Job offers requiring AI skills are on the rise, at a rate 3.5 times faster than the average, according to the study of more than 500 million job offers in over 15 countries, added the news report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">In the United States, Canada, Australia and Singapore -- the labour markets where data is available -- salaries can also be up to 25 percent higher, the study said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">PwC said that indicated that "those who adapt may enjoy vast new opportunities", notwithstanding concerns about the impact of AI on jobs and business.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Technology could as a result "allow many nations to break out of persistent low productivity growth, generating economic development, higher wages, and enhanced living standards", it added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Carol Stubbings, global markets and tax and legal services leader at PwC, said that as workers will need to build new skills, organisations will also have to invest in new AI strategies and people.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">According to AFP, a separate study published in March by the British Institute for Public Policy Research think tank warned that the rise of AI could threaten nearly eight million UK jobs.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">But it said an "apocalypse" for jobs could be avoided by encouraging employee upskilling while some tasks are automated.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Adecco, the world's biggest temping agency, has also urged firms to better prepare their staff for the arrival of AI.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Its survey of chief financial officers in nine countries indicated that most felt ill-equipped to manage the technological transition. -- AFP</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20789', 'image' => '20240523104437_20240416013648_20240303093044_Artificial-intelligence--scaled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 10:43:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21061', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Special Editorial: Initiate Probe Against Home Minister for Dual Passports and Cooperative Scam', 'sub_title' => 'Joint Letter submitted to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal by 31 editors following the arrest of Kantipur Group's Chairman Kailash Sirohiya', 'summary' => 'We editors working at major media outlets in Nepal want to draw your attention to a recent case of arrest from a media house: ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Right Honourable Prime Minister</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">We editors working at major media outlets in Nepal want to draw your attention to a recent case of arrest from a media house:</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">1. Police arrested Kantipur Media Group’s Chairman Kailash Sirohiya from his office on Tuesday. All citizens should equally abide by the laws of the land and Sirohiya should be punished as per the law if he has done anything against it. Sirohiya himself has publicly said that he is ready for that.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">2. The context and the allegations levelled against him and the modus operandi of his arrest have raised serious questions. We have taken the arrest from inside a media house as intended to create pressure and fear on the press. The government agencies have never interrogated Sirohiya about the allegations. Yesterday he was suddenly arrested over some technical issues of his citizenship certificate. This issue will now be resolved by the court.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">3. Mr Prime Minister, we want to remind you—Rabi Lamichhane was not a Nepali citizen when he first became home minister in your Cabinet. Though he re-acquired Nepal’s citizenship following a court order, he was and is someone who can be punished for simultaneously holding passports of two countries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">4. We also want to make it clear why Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane has recently been attacking the media with animosity. The problem of cooperative fraud has become severe. Billions of rupees deposited by millions of Nepalis in cooperatives have been misappropriated, and they have not received their own deposits back. Media has continuously reported on around one billion rupees misappropriated by Rabi Lamichhane and Gorkha Media Network, where Lamichhane was one of the partners.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">While addressing a Parliament meeting, he claimed that he was a victim of a ‘media trial’. However, investigations conducted at the municipal level and by Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) have established that he and the media company he managed embezzled cooperative funds. The home minister has prevented prosecution and the filing of charges against him by abusing power. We also want to draw the prime minister’s attention to this matter and remind you that it is your responsibility to ensure that the police investigation against Lamichhane moves ahead and builds an environment for prosecuting the case against him impartially.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">5. We editors, who have been working in Nepali media for a long time, are well aware of press freedom, rule of law and our responsibilities. And we also want to make it clear that we won’t make any compromise when it comes to defending them and fulfilling our responsibilities.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The editors who signed the letter include Akhanda Bhandari, Annapurna Post; Ameet Dhakal, Setopati; Arun Baral, Khabarhub; Basanta Basnet, Onlinekhabar; Bijay Paudel, Kantipur TV; Bimal Gautam, Lokaantar; Biswas Baral, The Kathmandu Post; Durga Khanal, Ekantipur; Gunaraj Luintel, Nagarik; Hari Bahadur Thapa, Baahrakhari; Kamal Dev Bhattarai, The Annapurna Express; Kiran Nepal, Centre for Investigative Journalism-Nepal; Koshraj Koirala, Republica; Madan Lamsal, Arthik Abhiyan; Kosmos Bishwakarma; Prakash Rimal; Prateek Pradhan, Baahrakhari; Purna Basnet, Nepalkhabar; Pushpa Dulal, Clickmandu; Rajaram Gautam; Ram Prasad Dahal, Ratopati; Rameshwar Bohara, Ukaalo; Rupesh Shrestha, Kantipur TV; Sagar Pandit, Nepal Samacharpatra; Sanjeev Satgainya; Saroj Mishra, Rajdhani; Shiva Gaunle, Onlinekhabar; Sudheer Sharma; Sujit Mahat, Ukaalo; Umesh Chauhan, Kantipur and Yubraj Ghimire, Deshsanchar.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20788', 'image' => '20240523102211_editors_20240522195351.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 10:17:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21060', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bagmati Province to Top Contribution to GDP in Current FY ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Bagmati Province is set to top the contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) in the country, while Karnali Province ranks at the bottom.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Bagmati Province is set to top the contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) in the country, while Karnali Province ranks at the bottom.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Provincial GDP Estimates for 2080/81, made public by the National Statistics Office on Wednesday, show that Bagmati Province is estimated to contribute 36.4 percent to the nation's GDP in the current fiscal year, which ends in mid-July.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Following Bagmati Province is Koshi Province with 15.8 percent contribution to the GDP, Lumbini with 14.3 percent, Madhesh with 13.1 percent, Gandaki with 9.1 percent, and Sudurpaschim with 7.1 percent respectively. Karnali Province has the lowest share of GDP, contributing only 4.3 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There has been a marginal change in provincial contributions to GDP as per the revised estimates for the fiscal year 2079/80. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Compared to last year, there is a marginal decline in the GDP contribution by Koshi, Madhesh, Karnali, and Sudurpaschim provinces, while others are expected to see a slight increase," the Office stated.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The GDP at consumer prices is estimated at Rs 575 billion for the current fiscal year, 2080/81.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Since the adoption of federalism, the Office has been monitoring economic activities and producing data to support evidence-based policy making and reduce socioeconomic disparities. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20787', 'image' => '20240523095911_20220429044433_gdp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 09:58:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21059', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Buddha Jayanti and Ubhauli Festival Being Observed', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The 2568th birth anniversary of Siddhartha Gautama, popularly known around the world as Buddha, the harbinger of peace, is being celebrated today.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 23: The 2568th birth anniversary of Siddhartha Gautama, popularly known around the world as Buddha, the harbinger of peace, is being celebrated today.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Buddha Jayanti is celebrated every year on the full moon day of the month of Baisakh in the lunar calendar. As Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and death all fall on the full moon day of Baisakh, Buddhists around the world, including in Nepal, celebrate the day with reverence and devotion to Buddha.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, Buddhist monks and religious leaders sit in chaityas, monasteries, vihars, and other sacred places to perform traditional rituals. Special events are held in Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, and in Kapilvastu, Swayambhu, and Boudha.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Siddhartha Gautama was born to King Suddhodana and Queen Mayadevi in Lumbini, in the present-day Rupandehi district, in 563 BC, which is 2568 years ago. Born as a prince, he became concerned upon seeing the sufferings of the people. At the age of 29, he left the palace and embarked on a journey of meditation and penance.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Additionally, the Ubhauli festival is being celebrated today, particularly by the Kirant Rai community across the country. During the festival, there is a tradition of worshiping nature before planting crops to ensure a good harvest. The Chandi dance is also performed on this occasion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Sakela dance is performed among different sects of the Kirant community. Meanwhile, in Kathmandu, the Kirant Rai Yayokkha is hosting a special event that includes prayers and worship at Sakelasthan in Hattiban, Lalitpur.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> However, the people of Ainselukharka Rural Municipality in Khotang celebrate this festival after the 22nd of the month of Jeth (the first week of June) in the lunar calendar. (RSS) </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20786', 'image' => '20240523055939_collage (8).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 05:57:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21057', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Two Climbers go Missing during Everest Expedition ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'SALLERI: Two climbers, including one Nepali and one Briton, have gone missing during their descent from Mt Everest.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">SALLERI: Two climbers, including one Nepali and one Briton, have gone missing during their descent from Mt Everest. Those missing have been identified as Sherpa guide Tenzi Sherpa, 21, and British citizen Daniel Paul Peterson, 40, according to the Director at the Department of Tourism, Kali Bahadur Bhujel. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The two reportedly slipped from an altitude of 8750 meters at the South Col on Wednesday morning. They successfully climbed Everest on the morning of May 21. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Their expedition was facilitated by the Eight K Expedition Pvt Ltd. A team of six trained mountain guides have been mobilized to search for the missing climbers. The department has called for cooperation from all quarters in the search operation for the two. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20784', 'image' => '20240522031556_20230517093316_122208-01-02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 15:15:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21056', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Snow Melting in Nepal’s Himalayas May Imperil the Existence of Bangladesh: Bangladeshi Minister', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change of Bangladesh, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, has expressed concern that Bangladesh's very existence might be imperiled by the melting of snow in the Himalayas in Nepal due to climate change.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">KATHMANDU: Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change of Bangladesh, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, has expressed concern that Bangladesh's very existence might be imperiled by the melting of snow in the Himalayas in Nepal due to climate change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Addressing the 'Global Dialogue on Mountain, People, and Climate,' which commenced in Kathmandu on Wednesday to draw global attention to the impact of climate change in the Himalayas, he stated that climate change has significantly impacted the region, leading to rapid melting of snow. This, in turn, could result in problems like flooding in Bangladesh.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Bangladeshi minister emphasized that the very existence of downstream and coastal regions is at risk due to Himalayan snowmelt, unless timely measures and adequate vigilance are adopted to mitigate the impacts of climate change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">He stressed the importance of focusing on minimizing climate change impacts and promoting adaptation to secure climate resilience.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"The developed countries emit 81 percent of the total global carbon emissions. Developing countries like Nepal and Bangladesh are suffering due to this. The developed countries have not fulfilled their commitments made at various climate conferences regarding reducing carbon emissions. They must be held accountable," he added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Minister Hossain noted that the government alone cannot alleviate poverty and mitigate the impacts of climate change. He emphasized the need to manage the budget required for implementing climate change adaptation programs.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"Political will is needed to address the problems created by the adverse impacts of climate change," he reiterated.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Experts from 25 countries are participating in the Global Dialogue. More than 200 representatives from mountainous and small island nations, including Nepal, as well as members of the international community, development partners, INGOs, the private sector, and civil society, are attending the program.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The experts will deliberate on topics related to coordinating, prioritizing, and strengthening climate-resilient activities based on the mountain ecosystem. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20783', 'image' => '20240522030328_PRO_KTM-066A5834.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 15:02:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21054', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kamirita Sherpa Reaches Atop Everest for 30th Time Breaking his Own Record ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Kamirita Sherpa has set a new record in mountain climbing history by scaling Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, for the 30th time. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Kamirita Sherpa has set a new record in mountain climbing history by scaling Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, for the 30th time. According to the Department of Tourism's temporary office at the Everest Base Camp, Sherpa reached the summit at 7:49 am on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Office Chief Khimlal Gautam confirmed Sherpa's remarkable achievement, marking his 30th successful ascent to Everest, thereby breaking his own previous records. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Born in Thame of Khumbu Pasang Lhamu rural municipality in Solukhumbu district, the 54-year-old Sherpa is a proficient mountain guide. His first ascent to the world's highest mountain was recorded on May 13, 1994. Sherpa also holds the record for the most ascents to peaks above 8,000 meters. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This spring season has witnessed a significant number of climbers attempting to scale Everest, with over 460 individuals, including Sherpa guides, having successfully reached the summit so far, according to office records. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Everest expedition for this year's spring season officially commenced on May 10. A total of 414 climbers, comprising 339 males and 75 females, obtained permission from the department for their Everest expedition. These climbers represent 41 expedition teams, with 75 percent having already successfully summited the peak. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20782', 'image' => '20240522020604_20240512073522_20230523022113_20230518105218_FwTHtq6agAEVihB (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 14:05:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21051', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Media Organisations Protest Arrest of Kailash Sirohiya, Express Concern Over Attack on Press Freedom', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Nepal Media Society and Media Alliance have protested the arrest of Kantipur Media Group’s Chairman Kailash Sirohiya.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Nepal Media Society and Media Alliance have protested the arrest of Kantipur Media Group’s Chairman Kailash Sirohiya.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Organising a press conference at the office premises of Kantipur in Thapathali on Wednesday, both the organizations deplored the arrest and detention of the media tycoon by the police.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at the press conference, Chairman of ABC Media Group as well as the Media Society Subha Shankar Kandel said that the incident of Sirohiya’s arrest gave a glimpse of the reign of former king Gyanendra when the police administration entered the media house and worked in the newsroom.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"This is the first time that the police entered the media house after 2058, when the government arrested the then managing director Sirohiya, director Binodraj Gyawali and editor Yuvraj Ghimire for publishing the views of the then underground Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai in Kantipur Daily," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Kandel said that it is highly objectionable for the political party leaders to treat the media house like this especially after they pledged to build a new Nepal after doing away with the old system.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He alleged that the government intervened in Kantipur Media and prosecuted Sirohiya in retaliation for publishing the news that at least Rs 958 million were embezzled from the deposits made by the general public in cooperatives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at the press conference, General Secretary of Media Alliance Nepal Direklal Shrestha also said that no one is above the law and if found guilty by the police investigation regarding dual citizenship, everyone should face the punishment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He added that he was not showing solidarity with Kailas Sirohiya alone but against the state's attack on press freedom. A person from media background himself that attacking freedom of press today is like spitting on the plate that he himself ate from.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, Rishi Dhamala, the founder of Reports Club, said that Rabi Lamichhane became the home minister because of the struggle of Nepali media against the monarchy. He added that Lamichhane’s attempt to stifle press freedom nothing but the misuse of state authority.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He said that it is not good for the police administration to try to suppress the media just for the coverage of the news related to the co-operative fraud case, and said that they should instead help investigate the allegations against the cooperatives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at the press conference, RK Shrestha, president of the Valley Radio Broadcasting Forum, said that it was unfortunate that the police administration entered the media house with weapons. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, General Secretary of Nepal Media Society Madan Lamsal said that Sirohiya was arrested in the style of the then Panchayat system. Speaking at the press conference, General Secretary Lamsal said that the home ministry and the government took steps in the wrong direction.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Lamsal said that the law allows the government to interrogate and investigate anyone but Sirohiya was arrested in a dictatorial style.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Stating that all the media-related organizations were unanimous in terming this move as a wrongful act, he said that till the owner of Kantipur Media House, Kailash Sirohiya, should be released with honor. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">”We will strongly resist and oppose it,” he said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20778', 'image' => '20240522123213_0_kQUCCCQpfK7vWZTi.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 12:31:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21050', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Blacktopping of Jomsom-Kagbeni Road Begins', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'JOMSOM: The road linking Jomsom, the district headquarters of Mustang, with the religious and tourism destination Kagbeni in the Muktichhetra rural municipality is being blacktopped.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">JOMSOM: The road linking Jomsom, the district headquarters of Mustang, with the religious and tourism destination Kagbeni in the Muktichhetra rural municipality is being blacktopped. The 13-km-long Jomsom-Kagbeni road has been widened to 11 meters and is being blacktopped using asphalt technology.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Rautah-Atreya JV was awarded a contract worth Rs 281.4 million in August 2022 to blacktop the Jomsom-Kagbeni section of the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road, a national pride project. According to Sanjay Bhatta, the project manager for the contractor company, they have already applied the prime coat on two kilometers of road in the Eklebhatti area. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"We have placed the prime coat along two kilometers of the road section," Bhatta stated. "We imported bitumen and managed the necessary equipment for blacktopping the entire road section."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The task of preparing the base and sub-base has been completed, and preparations are underway to blacktop the Jomsom-Kagbeni section within the current fiscal year. The company, which was awarded an eighteen-month contract, started blacktopping the road after receiving repeated warnings from the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road project to confiscate the deposit and blacklist the contractor if the work was not completed on time.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Project chief Dhruba Kumar Jha reported that 75 kilometers of the 110-kilometer road connecting Jomsom to the Korala border in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China have been graveled. Additionally, almost 85 percent of the 25-kilometer Charang-Chhoser section has been completed. Jha informed RSS that all sections connecting the Jomsom-Korala road will be graveled after the upgradation of this section. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20777', 'image' => '20240522112130_SG_MYAGDI_.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 11:20:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21049', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Publisher of Kantipur Publications Sirohiya Arrested ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: A police team deployed from the Valley Crime Investigation Office, Kathmandu on Tuesday arrested Chairman of Kantipur Publication, Kailash Sirohiya, on charge of citizenship-related offense. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: A police team deployed from the Valley Crime Investigation Office, Kathmandu on Tuesday arrested Chairman of Kantipur Publication, Kailash Sirohiya, on charge of citizenship-related offense. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The police <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">team led Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sanuram Bhattarai and Superintendent of Police (SP) Rabindra Regmi nabbed publisher Sirohiya from the latter's office in Thapathali, Kathmandu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">SP Regmi stated that Sirohiya was arrested for an investigation on the citizenship issue and added that preparations were underway to take Sirohiya to Janakpur. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During his arrest, Sirohiya expressed his serious objection to the step taken by the government despite his pledge to cooperate with the government agencies for the probe. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Sirohiya claimed that Deputy Prime Minister Ravi Lamichhane arrested him with mala fide intention for the news coverage by Kantiour Media regarding the cooperative scam involving the deputy prime minister.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“The home minister has a case over dual passport. I am hopeful that an arrest warrant will be issued against him as well,” said Sirohiya. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier on Tuesday, a single bench of Judge Chitra Bahadur Gurung of the Dhanusha District Court had given permission to the police to issue an arrest warrant against Sirohiya. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following the arrest warrant, Sirohiya lodged a petition at the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday itself demanding to vacate the order of the Dhanusha District Court. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Information Officer of SC Govinda Prasad Ghimire said that the decision will be taken on Wednesday whether or not to register the writ petition. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The District Police Office, Dhanusha, sought approval from the court to arrest Sirohiya after the citizenship number of Sirohiya and another person was found to be identical. <em>(With inputs from RSS)</em></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20776', 'image' => '20240522110456_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 11:04:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21048', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Birgunj Customs Office Misses Revenue Target, Collects Only 62%', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Birgunj Customs Office, a major border point for imports and exports, has failed to meet its revenue target for the first ten months of the current fiscal year 2080/81. The office has achieved only 62.82% of its revenue goal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Birgunj: The Birgunj Customs Office, a major border point for imports and exports, has failed to meet its revenue target for the first ten months of the current fiscal year 2080/81. The office has achieved only 62.82% of its revenue goal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the data on its website, the customs office aimed to collect Rs 202.9 billion by the end of Baisakh. However, only Rs 127.46 billion was collected. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Specifically, the customs office collected Rs 47.2372 billion in import duties, which is 60.88% of the target set at Rs 77.5877 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The highest revenue came from Value Added Tax (VAT), with Rs 54.2658 billion collected, achieving 63.99% of the target. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">For excise duties, the office collected Rs 8.5208 billion, against a target of Rs 12.1157 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Apart from the road construction and maintenance fees, the customs office did not meet its revenue targets in any category. It collected revenue under various headings, including advance income tax, health risk tax, infrastructure tax, export duties, agricultural improvement fees, road repair and maintenance fees, and luxury fees.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Officials said that the decline in imports of vehicles, fuel, and industrial raw materials, which are the main items imported through Birgunj, impacted the revenue. On the export side, processed edible oil, juice, pulp, and fabrics are the main items. However, Nepal's exports have decreased as Indian traders are importing oil from third countries due to India's zero customs duty policy on oil imports.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20775', 'image' => '20240522084206_collage (7).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 08:40:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Climate experts gathered from various countries at an international dialogue organized by the Government of Nepal viewed the mountain ecosystem was at the receiving end due to climate change. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Addressing the two-day dialogue on 'Mountain, Human and Climate Change' on Wednesday, they viewed mountain region had witnessed rapid change in climates, thereby wreaking havoc. </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"">The first session was addressed by Bangladeshi Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Sabar Hussain; associate dean at UN Climate Change Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA), Harry Vreuls; former special envoy of Kyrgyz's President on mountains, Nurlan Aitmurzayev; and Australian Ambassador to Nepal, Felicity Volk. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the same session, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha was the keynote speaker. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">World's 40 percent people are depended on mountain water- for drinking, irrigation, hydropower etc- which however is facing challenges owing to global rise in temperate. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The climate change has further caused extreme weather events to which Nepal is bearing the brunt, they noted. The international dialogue is held to foster debate and advocacy for global attention on mountain. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20793', 'image' => '20240523033019_DKL-Phuning.9.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 15:29:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21066', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Private Sector Organisations Raise Serious Concern Over Arrest of Kailash Sirohiya', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: The arrest of media tycoon Kailash Sirohia has drawn their serious attention, said the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: The arrest of media tycoon Kailash Sirohia has drawn their serious attention, said the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC). </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Issuing a joint statement on Thursday, the private sector organisations said that they are aware that anyone proven to have acted against the law should face action but it is not appropriate to arrest someone based on a complaint.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“The arbitrary arrest and detention on the basis of a complaint will further reduce the morale of entrepreneurs, businessmen and investors and will not give a positive message,” reads the statement.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Nepalese Industry, and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce have been saying since a long time that they should not be arrested in case of complaints or allegations but should be given a chance to clarify themselves. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“It is our request that entrepreneurs, businessmen or anyone should not be arrested based on complaints, but the state should listen to them. Since the trend of listening only after detention has a negative impact on the entire sector, we urge the state to provide bail in advance if necessary and proceed with the legal process only after the charges are proven,” added the statement.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The private sector organisations noted that the country has not yet recovered from the economic crisis.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“In this situation, we urge all concerned not to disturb the business environment.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">They noted that an investment environment cannot be created by demeaning any businessman and discouraging them. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Now small to big businesses in the country need encouragement and encouragement. The government should provide guardianship to industrialists and investors. We would like to draw everyone's attention again to the fact that the work of disturbing the business environment in the country should not be done on any pretext.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20792', 'image' => '20240523043704_20240522110456_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 16:36:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21065', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Shines at GITF 2024, Winning Awards and Garnering Strong Interest from the Chinese Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal Chapter, in collaboration with Nepal Tourism Board and seven private sector tourism and hospitality businesses, made an effective participation to promote Nepal’s tourism sector at the 32nd Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) held from May 16 to 18 at the Canton Fair Complex, Guangzhou, China.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Nepal Chapter, in collaboration with Nepal Tourism Board and seven private sector tourism and hospitality businesses, made an effective participation to promote Nepal’s tourism sector at the 32nd Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF) held from May 16 to 18 at the Canton Fair Complex, Guangzhou, China. Issuing a statement on Thursday, PATA said the fair witnessed over 40,000 visitors from China and other international countries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the first day of the fair, Nepal Tourism Board made a destination promotion presentation on the stage in front of local Chinese visitors and tour operators. In the evening, the PATA Nepal Chapter received two prestigious awards: the Gold Award for "Overall Performance" from the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI) and the "Best Partner" Award from GITF during the Buyers Night organized at the Westin Pazhou in Guangzhou, China, added the statement. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) received the "Most Popular Cultural Tourism Destination" Award from GITF, and Jugal Holidays from Nepal won the Gold Award for "Product Innovation" from COTRI.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">At the GITF 2024 Conference held on May 17, Lakpa Phuti Sherpa (Executive Member of PATA Nepal Chapter), Suresh Singh Budal (CEO of PATA Nepal Chapter), and Kundan Sharma (Officer of NTB) participated in an insightful panel discussion on 'Sustainable Tourism Offerings of Nepal for Chinese Visitors during the Times of Climate Change,' moderated by Dr Timothy Lee, professor at Macao University of Science and Technology.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sujit Regmi, Executive Director of Nepal Big Mountain Travel Company, said, “I found many people interested in visiting Nepal, and there were a lot of inquiries for Nepal at our booth. Since we have been working in the Chinese market for the last 11 years, I believe Nepal's participation at GITF this year has been very impactful in terms of destination visibility and tourism business promotion.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Himmat Puri, Executive Director of Destinago Tours and Travels, shared his happiness about participating in GITF for the first time. He believes that Nepal’s first post-pandemic participation in GITF is going to be fruitful, facilitating reconnection opportunities with Chinese operators and trade visitors. He found the response and interest of Chinese operators and trade visitors in Nepal to be very optimistic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Neeta Thapa, Director of Sales representing Hilton Kathmandu, believes that Nepal as a destination has huge potential in China. She said, “It was a great honor to promote and showcase Hilton Kathmandu, the first Hilton brand in Nepal, among Chinese operators and visitors. We thank PATA Nepal for providing the opportunity to participate in GITF 2024.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Deepesh KC, General Manager of Hotel Himalaya, stated that participating in GITF was a milestone to restart promotion in the Chinese market. As a hotelier, he found the trip indeed fruitful along with other service providers from Nepal. He appreciated the role of PATA Nepal and NTB in coordinating this promotional participation and suggested that the government should enhance such international promotion and marketing programs in many source markets within China to grasp the immense potential from this largest tourism source market. He further advised that Nepal should prioritize and increase its digital presence and promotion on various OTAs/online platforms for the Chinese market, including Ctrip, WeChat, TikTok, etc. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Suresh Singh Budal, CEO of PATA Nepal Chapter, stated that China has become the world's largest tourism source market, with many destinations prioritizing China through aggressive marketing and promotion. In contrast, Nepal's promotion efforts are comparatively lower. He further noted that destinations such as New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, and others manage their tourism board branch offices and representatives in various provinces of China to promote effectively. He emphasized that Nepal Tourism Board also needs to expand its branches in key and large source markets and engage in extensive and effective targeted marketing.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20791', 'image' => '20240523035435_Buyers Night.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 15:53:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21063', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Actor and Model Chhiring Sherpa Atop Sagarmatha ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Actor and model Chhiring Sherpa has successfully climbed Sagarmatha (Mt Everest). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Actor and model Chhiring Sherpa has successfully climbed Sagarmatha (Mt Everest). She reached atop the world's highest peak on Sunday and unfurled the first poster of her upcoming movie 'Tashi Delek' and also the flags of various organisations on the summit. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following her ascent of Sagarmatha, Sherpa underscored on raising voice in the national and international level for mitigating the impact of climate change in the mountain region. Informing about her climbing success via social media, she stressed on investing some portion of the revenue received from the mountaineers for the development of the mountainous region. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In her message on social media, Chhiring also called for creating an environment where in the Sherpa community can connect itself to every state apparatus, rather than merely taking them as the mountaineers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She urged the state to keep the geographically remote mountainous region in special priority and make plans for its development. Chiiring also called for putting in place a mechanism wherein the climbers will have instant access to information. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She also underlined on the need of managing the challenges and the problem of 'too many climbers on Everest', as well as of making the climbing profession 'decent'. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20790', 'image' => '20240523013203_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 13:31:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21062', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sectors Exposed to AI Witness a Boost in Productivity and Salaries: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'LONDON: Sectors exposed to artificial intelligence (AI) are seeing rising productivity and faster growth in salaries even as the technology provokes job insecurity concerns, AFP reported citing a PwC study published on Tuesday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">LONDON: </span></strong><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Sectors exposed to artificial intelligence (AI) are seeing rising productivity and faster growth in salaries even as the technology provokes job insecurity concerns, AFP reported citing a PwC study published on Tuesday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Skills which are easily transferable to AI, such as in finance or computer science, have seen "almost fivefold greater labour productivity growth", the global consultancy said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Job offers requiring AI skills are on the rise, at a rate 3.5 times faster than the average, according to the study of more than 500 million job offers in over 15 countries, added the news report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">In the United States, Canada, Australia and Singapore -- the labour markets where data is available -- salaries can also be up to 25 percent higher, the study said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">PwC said that indicated that "those who adapt may enjoy vast new opportunities", notwithstanding concerns about the impact of AI on jobs and business.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Technology could as a result "allow many nations to break out of persistent low productivity growth, generating economic development, higher wages, and enhanced living standards", it added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Carol Stubbings, global markets and tax and legal services leader at PwC, said that as workers will need to build new skills, organisations will also have to invest in new AI strategies and people.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">According to AFP, a separate study published in March by the British Institute for Public Policy Research think tank warned that the rise of AI could threaten nearly eight million UK jobs.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">But it said an "apocalypse" for jobs could be avoided by encouraging employee upskilling while some tasks are automated.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Adecco, the world's biggest temping agency, has also urged firms to better prepare their staff for the arrival of AI.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Its survey of chief financial officers in nine countries indicated that most felt ill-equipped to manage the technological transition. -- AFP</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20789', 'image' => '20240523104437_20240416013648_20240303093044_Artificial-intelligence--scaled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 10:43:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21061', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Special Editorial: Initiate Probe Against Home Minister for Dual Passports and Cooperative Scam', 'sub_title' => 'Joint Letter submitted to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal by 31 editors following the arrest of Kantipur Group's Chairman Kailash Sirohiya', 'summary' => 'We editors working at major media outlets in Nepal want to draw your attention to a recent case of arrest from a media house: ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Right Honourable Prime Minister</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">We editors working at major media outlets in Nepal want to draw your attention to a recent case of arrest from a media house:</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">1. Police arrested Kantipur Media Group’s Chairman Kailash Sirohiya from his office on Tuesday. All citizens should equally abide by the laws of the land and Sirohiya should be punished as per the law if he has done anything against it. Sirohiya himself has publicly said that he is ready for that.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">2. The context and the allegations levelled against him and the modus operandi of his arrest have raised serious questions. We have taken the arrest from inside a media house as intended to create pressure and fear on the press. The government agencies have never interrogated Sirohiya about the allegations. Yesterday he was suddenly arrested over some technical issues of his citizenship certificate. This issue will now be resolved by the court.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">3. Mr Prime Minister, we want to remind you—Rabi Lamichhane was not a Nepali citizen when he first became home minister in your Cabinet. Though he re-acquired Nepal’s citizenship following a court order, he was and is someone who can be punished for simultaneously holding passports of two countries.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">4. We also want to make it clear why Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane has recently been attacking the media with animosity. The problem of cooperative fraud has become severe. Billions of rupees deposited by millions of Nepalis in cooperatives have been misappropriated, and they have not received their own deposits back. Media has continuously reported on around one billion rupees misappropriated by Rabi Lamichhane and Gorkha Media Network, where Lamichhane was one of the partners.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">While addressing a Parliament meeting, he claimed that he was a victim of a ‘media trial’. However, investigations conducted at the municipal level and by Nepal Police’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) have established that he and the media company he managed embezzled cooperative funds. The home minister has prevented prosecution and the filing of charges against him by abusing power. We also want to draw the prime minister’s attention to this matter and remind you that it is your responsibility to ensure that the police investigation against Lamichhane moves ahead and builds an environment for prosecuting the case against him impartially.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">5. We editors, who have been working in Nepali media for a long time, are well aware of press freedom, rule of law and our responsibilities. And we also want to make it clear that we won’t make any compromise when it comes to defending them and fulfilling our responsibilities.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The editors who signed the letter include Akhanda Bhandari, Annapurna Post; Ameet Dhakal, Setopati; Arun Baral, Khabarhub; Basanta Basnet, Onlinekhabar; Bijay Paudel, Kantipur TV; Bimal Gautam, Lokaantar; Biswas Baral, The Kathmandu Post; Durga Khanal, Ekantipur; Gunaraj Luintel, Nagarik; Hari Bahadur Thapa, Baahrakhari; Kamal Dev Bhattarai, The Annapurna Express; Kiran Nepal, Centre for Investigative Journalism-Nepal; Koshraj Koirala, Republica; Madan Lamsal, Arthik Abhiyan; Kosmos Bishwakarma; Prakash Rimal; Prateek Pradhan, Baahrakhari; Purna Basnet, Nepalkhabar; Pushpa Dulal, Clickmandu; Rajaram Gautam; Ram Prasad Dahal, Ratopati; Rameshwar Bohara, Ukaalo; Rupesh Shrestha, Kantipur TV; Sagar Pandit, Nepal Samacharpatra; Sanjeev Satgainya; Saroj Mishra, Rajdhani; Shiva Gaunle, Onlinekhabar; Sudheer Sharma; Sujit Mahat, Ukaalo; Umesh Chauhan, Kantipur and Yubraj Ghimire, Deshsanchar.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20788', 'image' => '20240523102211_editors_20240522195351.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 10:17:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21060', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bagmati Province to Top Contribution to GDP in Current FY ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Bagmati Province is set to top the contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) in the country, while Karnali Province ranks at the bottom.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Bagmati Province is set to top the contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) in the country, while Karnali Province ranks at the bottom.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Provincial GDP Estimates for 2080/81, made public by the National Statistics Office on Wednesday, show that Bagmati Province is estimated to contribute 36.4 percent to the nation's GDP in the current fiscal year, which ends in mid-July.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Following Bagmati Province is Koshi Province with 15.8 percent contribution to the GDP, Lumbini with 14.3 percent, Madhesh with 13.1 percent, Gandaki with 9.1 percent, and Sudurpaschim with 7.1 percent respectively. Karnali Province has the lowest share of GDP, contributing only 4.3 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There has been a marginal change in provincial contributions to GDP as per the revised estimates for the fiscal year 2079/80. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Compared to last year, there is a marginal decline in the GDP contribution by Koshi, Madhesh, Karnali, and Sudurpaschim provinces, while others are expected to see a slight increase," the Office stated.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The GDP at consumer prices is estimated at Rs 575 billion for the current fiscal year, 2080/81.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Since the adoption of federalism, the Office has been monitoring economic activities and producing data to support evidence-based policy making and reduce socioeconomic disparities. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20787', 'image' => '20240523095911_20220429044433_gdp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 09:58:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21059', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Buddha Jayanti and Ubhauli Festival Being Observed', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The 2568th birth anniversary of Siddhartha Gautama, popularly known around the world as Buddha, the harbinger of peace, is being celebrated today.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 23: The 2568th birth anniversary of Siddhartha Gautama, popularly known around the world as Buddha, the harbinger of peace, is being celebrated today.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Buddha Jayanti is celebrated every year on the full moon day of the month of Baisakh in the lunar calendar. As Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and death all fall on the full moon day of Baisakh, Buddhists around the world, including in Nepal, celebrate the day with reverence and devotion to Buddha.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, Buddhist monks and religious leaders sit in chaityas, monasteries, vihars, and other sacred places to perform traditional rituals. Special events are held in Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, and in Kapilvastu, Swayambhu, and Boudha.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Siddhartha Gautama was born to King Suddhodana and Queen Mayadevi in Lumbini, in the present-day Rupandehi district, in 563 BC, which is 2568 years ago. Born as a prince, he became concerned upon seeing the sufferings of the people. At the age of 29, he left the palace and embarked on a journey of meditation and penance.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Additionally, the Ubhauli festival is being celebrated today, particularly by the Kirant Rai community across the country. During the festival, there is a tradition of worshiping nature before planting crops to ensure a good harvest. The Chandi dance is also performed on this occasion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Sakela dance is performed among different sects of the Kirant community. Meanwhile, in Kathmandu, the Kirant Rai Yayokkha is hosting a special event that includes prayers and worship at Sakelasthan in Hattiban, Lalitpur.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> However, the people of Ainselukharka Rural Municipality in Khotang celebrate this festival after the 22nd of the month of Jeth (the first week of June) in the lunar calendar. (RSS) </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-23', 'modified' => '2024-05-23', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20786', 'image' => '20240523055939_collage (8).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-23 05:57:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21057', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Two Climbers go Missing during Everest Expedition ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'SALLERI: Two climbers, including one Nepali and one Briton, have gone missing during their descent from Mt Everest.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">SALLERI: Two climbers, including one Nepali and one Briton, have gone missing during their descent from Mt Everest. Those missing have been identified as Sherpa guide Tenzi Sherpa, 21, and British citizen Daniel Paul Peterson, 40, according to the Director at the Department of Tourism, Kali Bahadur Bhujel. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The two reportedly slipped from an altitude of 8750 meters at the South Col on Wednesday morning. They successfully climbed Everest on the morning of May 21. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Their expedition was facilitated by the Eight K Expedition Pvt Ltd. A team of six trained mountain guides have been mobilized to search for the missing climbers. The department has called for cooperation from all quarters in the search operation for the two. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20784', 'image' => '20240522031556_20230517093316_122208-01-02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 15:15:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21056', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Snow Melting in Nepal’s Himalayas May Imperil the Existence of Bangladesh: Bangladeshi Minister', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change of Bangladesh, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, has expressed concern that Bangladesh's very existence might be imperiled by the melting of snow in the Himalayas in Nepal due to climate change.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">KATHMANDU: Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change of Bangladesh, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, has expressed concern that Bangladesh's very existence might be imperiled by the melting of snow in the Himalayas in Nepal due to climate change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Addressing the 'Global Dialogue on Mountain, People, and Climate,' which commenced in Kathmandu on Wednesday to draw global attention to the impact of climate change in the Himalayas, he stated that climate change has significantly impacted the region, leading to rapid melting of snow. This, in turn, could result in problems like flooding in Bangladesh.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Bangladeshi minister emphasized that the very existence of downstream and coastal regions is at risk due to Himalayan snowmelt, unless timely measures and adequate vigilance are adopted to mitigate the impacts of climate change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">He stressed the importance of focusing on minimizing climate change impacts and promoting adaptation to secure climate resilience.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"The developed countries emit 81 percent of the total global carbon emissions. Developing countries like Nepal and Bangladesh are suffering due to this. The developed countries have not fulfilled their commitments made at various climate conferences regarding reducing carbon emissions. They must be held accountable," he added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Minister Hossain noted that the government alone cannot alleviate poverty and mitigate the impacts of climate change. He emphasized the need to manage the budget required for implementing climate change adaptation programs.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"Political will is needed to address the problems created by the adverse impacts of climate change," he reiterated.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Experts from 25 countries are participating in the Global Dialogue. More than 200 representatives from mountainous and small island nations, including Nepal, as well as members of the international community, development partners, INGOs, the private sector, and civil society, are attending the program.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The experts will deliberate on topics related to coordinating, prioritizing, and strengthening climate-resilient activities based on the mountain ecosystem. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20783', 'image' => '20240522030328_PRO_KTM-066A5834.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 15:02:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21054', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kamirita Sherpa Reaches Atop Everest for 30th Time Breaking his Own Record ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Kamirita Sherpa has set a new record in mountain climbing history by scaling Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, for the 30th time. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Kamirita Sherpa has set a new record in mountain climbing history by scaling Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, for the 30th time. According to the Department of Tourism's temporary office at the Everest Base Camp, Sherpa reached the summit at 7:49 am on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Office Chief Khimlal Gautam confirmed Sherpa's remarkable achievement, marking his 30th successful ascent to Everest, thereby breaking his own previous records. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Born in Thame of Khumbu Pasang Lhamu rural municipality in Solukhumbu district, the 54-year-old Sherpa is a proficient mountain guide. His first ascent to the world's highest mountain was recorded on May 13, 1994. Sherpa also holds the record for the most ascents to peaks above 8,000 meters. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This spring season has witnessed a significant number of climbers attempting to scale Everest, with over 460 individuals, including Sherpa guides, having successfully reached the summit so far, according to office records. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Everest expedition for this year's spring season officially commenced on May 10. A total of 414 climbers, comprising 339 males and 75 females, obtained permission from the department for their Everest expedition. These climbers represent 41 expedition teams, with 75 percent having already successfully summited the peak. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20782', 'image' => '20240522020604_20240512073522_20230523022113_20230518105218_FwTHtq6agAEVihB (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 14:05:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21051', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Media Organisations Protest Arrest of Kailash Sirohiya, Express Concern Over Attack on Press Freedom', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: Nepal Media Society and Media Alliance have protested the arrest of Kantipur Media Group’s Chairman Kailash Sirohiya.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: Nepal Media Society and Media Alliance have protested the arrest of Kantipur Media Group’s Chairman Kailash Sirohiya.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Organising a press conference at the office premises of Kantipur in Thapathali on Wednesday, both the organizations deplored the arrest and detention of the media tycoon by the police.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at the press conference, Chairman of ABC Media Group as well as the Media Society Subha Shankar Kandel said that the incident of Sirohiya’s arrest gave a glimpse of the reign of former king Gyanendra when the police administration entered the media house and worked in the newsroom.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"This is the first time that the police entered the media house after 2058, when the government arrested the then managing director Sirohiya, director Binodraj Gyawali and editor Yuvraj Ghimire for publishing the views of the then underground Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai in Kantipur Daily," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Kandel said that it is highly objectionable for the political party leaders to treat the media house like this especially after they pledged to build a new Nepal after doing away with the old system.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He alleged that the government intervened in Kantipur Media and prosecuted Sirohiya in retaliation for publishing the news that at least Rs 958 million were embezzled from the deposits made by the general public in cooperatives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at the press conference, General Secretary of Media Alliance Nepal Direklal Shrestha also said that no one is above the law and if found guilty by the police investigation regarding dual citizenship, everyone should face the punishment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He added that he was not showing solidarity with Kailas Sirohiya alone but against the state's attack on press freedom. A person from media background himself that attacking freedom of press today is like spitting on the plate that he himself ate from.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, Rishi Dhamala, the founder of Reports Club, said that Rabi Lamichhane became the home minister because of the struggle of Nepali media against the monarchy. He added that Lamichhane’s attempt to stifle press freedom nothing but the misuse of state authority.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He said that it is not good for the police administration to try to suppress the media just for the coverage of the news related to the co-operative fraud case, and said that they should instead help investigate the allegations against the cooperatives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at the press conference, RK Shrestha, president of the Valley Radio Broadcasting Forum, said that it was unfortunate that the police administration entered the media house with weapons. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, General Secretary of Nepal Media Society Madan Lamsal said that Sirohiya was arrested in the style of the then Panchayat system. Speaking at the press conference, General Secretary Lamsal said that the home ministry and the government took steps in the wrong direction.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Lamsal said that the law allows the government to interrogate and investigate anyone but Sirohiya was arrested in a dictatorial style.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Stating that all the media-related organizations were unanimous in terming this move as a wrongful act, he said that till the owner of Kantipur Media House, Kailash Sirohiya, should be released with honor. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">”We will strongly resist and oppose it,” he said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20778', 'image' => '20240522123213_0_kQUCCCQpfK7vWZTi.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 12:31:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21050', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Blacktopping of Jomsom-Kagbeni Road Begins', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'JOMSOM: The road linking Jomsom, the district headquarters of Mustang, with the religious and tourism destination Kagbeni in the Muktichhetra rural municipality is being blacktopped.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">JOMSOM: The road linking Jomsom, the district headquarters of Mustang, with the religious and tourism destination Kagbeni in the Muktichhetra rural municipality is being blacktopped. The 13-km-long Jomsom-Kagbeni road has been widened to 11 meters and is being blacktopped using asphalt technology.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Rautah-Atreya JV was awarded a contract worth Rs 281.4 million in August 2022 to blacktop the Jomsom-Kagbeni section of the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road, a national pride project. According to Sanjay Bhatta, the project manager for the contractor company, they have already applied the prime coat on two kilometers of road in the Eklebhatti area. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"We have placed the prime coat along two kilometers of the road section," Bhatta stated. "We imported bitumen and managed the necessary equipment for blacktopping the entire road section."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The task of preparing the base and sub-base has been completed, and preparations are underway to blacktop the Jomsom-Kagbeni section within the current fiscal year. The company, which was awarded an eighteen-month contract, started blacktopping the road after receiving repeated warnings from the Beni-Jomsom-Korala road project to confiscate the deposit and blacklist the contractor if the work was not completed on time.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Project chief Dhruba Kumar Jha reported that 75 kilometers of the 110-kilometer road connecting Jomsom to the Korala border in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China have been graveled. Additionally, almost 85 percent of the 25-kilometer Charang-Chhoser section has been completed. Jha informed RSS that all sections connecting the Jomsom-Korala road will be graveled after the upgradation of this section. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20777', 'image' => '20240522112130_SG_MYAGDI_.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 11:20:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21049', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Publisher of Kantipur Publications Sirohiya Arrested ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'KATHMANDU: A police team deployed from the Valley Crime Investigation Office, Kathmandu on Tuesday arrested Chairman of Kantipur Publication, Kailash Sirohiya, on charge of citizenship-related offense. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">KATHMANDU: A police team deployed from the Valley Crime Investigation Office, Kathmandu on Tuesday arrested Chairman of Kantipur Publication, Kailash Sirohiya, on charge of citizenship-related offense. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The police <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">team led Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sanuram Bhattarai and Superintendent of Police (SP) Rabindra Regmi nabbed publisher Sirohiya from the latter's office in Thapathali, Kathmandu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">SP Regmi stated that Sirohiya was arrested for an investigation on the citizenship issue and added that preparations were underway to take Sirohiya to Janakpur. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During his arrest, Sirohiya expressed his serious objection to the step taken by the government despite his pledge to cooperate with the government agencies for the probe. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Sirohiya claimed that Deputy Prime Minister Ravi Lamichhane arrested him with mala fide intention for the news coverage by Kantiour Media regarding the cooperative scam involving the deputy prime minister.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“The home minister has a case over dual passport. I am hopeful that an arrest warrant will be issued against him as well,” said Sirohiya. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier on Tuesday, a single bench of Judge Chitra Bahadur Gurung of the Dhanusha District Court had given permission to the police to issue an arrest warrant against Sirohiya. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following the arrest warrant, Sirohiya lodged a petition at the Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday itself demanding to vacate the order of the Dhanusha District Court. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Information Officer of SC Govinda Prasad Ghimire said that the decision will be taken on Wednesday whether or not to register the writ petition. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The District Police Office, Dhanusha, sought approval from the court to arrest Sirohiya after the citizenship number of Sirohiya and another person was found to be identical. <em>(With inputs from RSS)</em></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20776', 'image' => '20240522110456_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 11:04:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '21048', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Birgunj Customs Office Misses Revenue Target, Collects Only 62%', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Birgunj Customs Office, a major border point for imports and exports, has failed to meet its revenue target for the first ten months of the current fiscal year 2080/81. The office has achieved only 62.82% of its revenue goal.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Birgunj: The Birgunj Customs Office, a major border point for imports and exports, has failed to meet its revenue target for the first ten months of the current fiscal year 2080/81. The office has achieved only 62.82% of its revenue goal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the data on its website, the customs office aimed to collect Rs 202.9 billion by the end of Baisakh. However, only Rs 127.46 billion was collected. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Specifically, the customs office collected Rs 47.2372 billion in import duties, which is 60.88% of the target set at Rs 77.5877 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The highest revenue came from Value Added Tax (VAT), with Rs 54.2658 billion collected, achieving 63.99% of the target. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">For excise duties, the office collected Rs 8.5208 billion, against a target of Rs 12.1157 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Apart from the road construction and maintenance fees, the customs office did not meet its revenue targets in any category. It collected revenue under various headings, including advance income tax, health risk tax, infrastructure tax, export duties, agricultural improvement fees, road repair and maintenance fees, and luxury fees.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Officials said that the decline in imports of vehicles, fuel, and industrial raw materials, which are the main items imported through Birgunj, impacted the revenue. On the export side, processed edible oil, juice, pulp, and fabrics are the main items. However, Nepal's exports have decreased as Indian traders are importing oil from third countries due to India's zero customs duty policy on oil imports.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-05-22', 'modified' => '2024-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20775', 'image' => '20240522084206_collage (7).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-05-22 08:40:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ) ) $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
