April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period.…
April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period.…
April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the…
April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5).…
April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country.…
April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy.…
April 4: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic-induced crisis is expected to decelerate Nepal’s economic growth to 5.3 percent (at market prices) in the fiscal year 2020, down from 7.1 percent a year earlier, according to the latest report published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).…
April 3: Commercial and development banks have started donating money to the fund set up by the government in an effort to minimize the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.…
April 3: The British multinational banking and financial services company Standard Chartered Group has launched a USD 50 million global fund to provide assistance to those affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.…
April 3: Global equities mostly rebounded Thursday from recent coronavirus-fuelled losses, as oil rallied on hopes of an end to a Saudi-Russia price…
April 3: In a move to ease the crippling lockdown imposed on March 24 to stop the possible outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), the government has decided to allow industries producing essential goods to resume operation provided that they meet certain health…
April 3: Five entrepreneurs and a golfer from Nepal have made it to the Forbes list of 30 under 30, 2020 in…
April 3: Consumers have complained of difficulties in getting daily essentials due to the shortage in the market following the lockdown imposed by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus.…
April 3: The lockdown to contain corona pandemic has hit the gold and silver trade in the country…
April 2: The government is facing mounting challenge for resource management with the coronavirus taking heavy toll on the country’s economy.…
April 2: The government has cancelled the agreement with a private company to supply medical kits from China for the prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemic.…
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', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Although the government has decided to ease production and supply of essential goods during the ongoing lockdown to prevent the spread of corona infection, entrepreneurs suggest that the supply of such commodities has not been as smooth as expected. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Despite the government’s commitment, the entrepreneurs are still facing problems to manage manpower, import raw materials, and to transport the manufactured goods to the market.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of Association of Nepalese Rice, Oil and Pulses, informed that most of the food industries are now dependent on the stocked raw material for production.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Most of the industries are currently using the raw materials for production which they had stocked before,” he informed. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">There has not been any supply of raw materials since the lockdown. Likewise, transportation of goods is also not easily accessible, he added. </span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, Gupta claimed that there would be no shortage of food at least for three months. The stock of raw and the finished products are enough to sustain the supply for at least three months, he added.</span> </span></span></p> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11629', 'image' => '20200405103819_Birgunj-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:37:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11878', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Coming Week more Stressful for Nepal: Experts ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the country.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the country. This means that more challenges are likely for the prevention and control of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, according to experts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">An individual in Dhangadhi of Kailali district tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday—the 12th day of the ongoing nationwide lockdown. On Saturday alone, three new cases of COVID-19, all from Sudur Paschim Province, were confirmed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Of them, two are India returnees while the third one is the family member of an infected youth who had recently returned home from the UAE. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Director of Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital Dr Sagar Rajbhandari said that more challenges are likely with the transfer of COVID-19 from one person to another. Now all foreign returnees and those who came in contact with them should be tested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“Not only the foreign returnees now the community they are living in also should be screened,” Dr Rajbhandari said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He added that we should remain more alert since Nepal’s bordering states of India including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been reporting increasing number of new cases of COVID-19. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Dr Rajbhandari suggested that all people coming home from abroad including India should be kept under quarantines along with proper surveillance. He added that the coming week will show the real picture of COVID-19 infection in Nepal, as sample testing have been initiated in all seven states and new cases have surfaced almost every day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He was of the view that the ongoing lockdown should be extended and all individuals from the infected people’s community should be tested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As the government has suspended all international flights for nearly two weeks now, people have not arrived from foreign countries via air route. The border with neighbouring India too has been sealed temporarily. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11628', 'image' => '20200405102445_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:23:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11877', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rapid Testing in 3 Districts where new cases of Covid-19 Emerged', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5). Among the three new infections reported in Kailali and Kanchanpur districts of Sudur Paschim Province, one case was a local transmission instead of an imported case seen before. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Saturday evening decided to carry out the rapid tests as it reviewed other measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Government spokesperson Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada said that the Council of Ministers also decided to stop the mobility of people from one province to another, from one local level to another and from one district to another in order to check the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected 1.2 million people and killed over 64,000 people as of Sunday morning. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Khatiwada, who is also the minister for finance as well as communication and information technology, further said that the provincial and local governments need to work more effectively to ensure strict implementation of the lockdown. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The cabinet meeting also decided to make arrangement of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the health workers immediately, recognizing their important role in the current situation, said the state-owned news agency RSS (Rastriya Samachar Samiti). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government had earlier announced insurance scheme and other incentives for the health professionals. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"A decision has been taken to mobilize the health workers with complete safety, wipe out any other obstacles to their work and take legal action against anyone involved in endangering the security and well-being of the health workers," RSS quoted Minister Khatiwada as saying. According to him, all levels of government including the local administration need to ensure security to the health workers. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11627', 'image' => '20200405101029_1586016240.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:09:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11876', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three More Test Positive for COVID-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country. All three are from Kanchanpur district of Sudurpaschim Province, according to the state-run national news agency RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Those confirmed to have contracted the virus include a 21-year-old male who recently returned from Mumbai, India; the second is a 41 -year-old male who arrived home recently from Uttarakhand, India, and the third is a 41-year-old woman, RSS reported citing the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division under the Ministry of Health and Population. The woman is the relative of the one who was tested positive earlier in the district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Their swab samples were collected some days ago and the tests were conducted on Friday, said director of the division Dr Basudev Pandey. All three are being treated at the Dhanagadhi-based Sudurpaschim Provincial Hospital. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">This is the first locally transmitted case, RSS said. The first COVID-19 case was detected in a student who arrived from Wuhan of China in January and the patient has been already cured. Other infected are receiving treatment under isolation, the ministry said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the latest update by worldometer, more than 1.1 million people have been infected by coronavirus around the world and the death toll is nearing 60,000.</span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11626', 'image' => '20200404033603_infographic-mers-689.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 15:33:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11875', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Serving Humanity with Free Lunch', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy. Some restaurateurs and hoteliers are providing free meals to the people bearing the brunt of the lockdown.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From serving free lunch to police personnel and doctors to giving out free takeaway meals to stranded tourists, they are providing support to the needy at this time of crisis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Here are some initiatives of a few restaurants and hotels to provide possible relief to people during the time of emergency.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Kathmandu Guest House (KGH)</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From Day 1 of the lockdown, this iconic boutique hotel in Thamel has been distributing food to the needy ones as well as stranded tourists for free. “With the help from Thamel Tourism Board and coordination from police, we have distributed almost 3000 plus packets of packed food,” says Rajan Shakya, CEO of KGH Group of Hotels. Apart from that, it has been giving out ration to Rohingya refugees and has been providing PPEs to hospitals. “Provided that any hospital asks us for PPE, we go and give them,” says Shakya. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Dalle </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Dalle has been serving the police personnel with free lunch every day since the beginning of the lockdown. It has been giving out around 150 lunch boxes every day. “We have stocks of vegetables and other groceries, which will rot if we don’t use. So, on one hand, serving food at this time will give us satisfaction and on the other, help the police force to do its duty properly as they don’t have to worry about going home or spending for lunch,” says Subhash Gauchan, co-founder of Dalle. Gauchan says at this situation there is a need of mutual cooperation so that the ones who are at the forefront against the Covid 19 can do their duty properly without having the need to worry about basic things. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Bajeko Sekuwa</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Bajeko Sekuwa has been serving free lunches from 11 am to 2 pm to the police personnel, doctors and needy people. It has been providing more than 100 plus lunch boxes every day. “As we are in the business of serving, it is our duty to serve not only at good times but also when people need us the most. This is our social responsibility and we couldn’t step back at this time of crisis,” says Sanjeev Kumar Timilsina, operation head of Bajeko Sekuwa. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Moondance Restaurant Pokhara</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Moondance Restaurant and Bar in Pokhara provided free lunch from Day 1 of the lockdown to till the eight day to the stranded tourists. Now, as most of the tourists have returned to Kathmandu or their home country, they have recently stopped the service. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">These are few examples of cooperation from the private sector during times of crisis. There are many players from the private sector who have been actively giving back to the society at the moment. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11625', 'image' => '20200404031010_food distribution by KGH.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 15:08:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11874', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ADB Forecasts 5.3% Economic Growth for Nepal in 2020', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic-induced crisis is expected to decelerate Nepal’s economic growth to 5.3 percent (at market prices) in the fiscal year 2020, down from 7.1 percent a year earlier, according to the latest report published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">April 4: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic-induced crisis is expected to decelerate Nepal’s economic growth to 5.3 percent (at market prices) in the fiscal year 2020, down from 7.1 percent a year earlier, according to the latest report published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Manila-based lender in its annual flagship publication the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020 projects Nepal’s GDP to recover at 6.4 percent for FY2021, assuming a quick end to the COVID-19 pandemic, a return to pre-COVID economic activities, and a normal monsoon. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">“The government of Nepal expects a couple of large infrastructure projects, namely the 456-megawatt Upper Tamakoshi Hydroelectric Plant and Gautam Buddha International Airport, to be commercially operational by FY2021. Expectation of higher subnational level spending will also stimulate growth,” ADB said in a press statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">“The global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent nationwide lockdown that is necessary to contain the contagion will adversely affect the country’s economy,” the statement quoted ADB Country Director for Nepal Mukhtor Khamudkhanov as saying. According to him, industry and services face supply disruptions, and remittances will likely decline during the last quarter of this fiscal year, dampening domestic demand. “Growth will also be slower as a result of lower rice production. If the situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic further worsens, growth in FY2020 could be lower than currently anticipated growth,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">Similarly, in its Nepal Macroeconomic Update, which was released on the same day ADO 2020 was published (April 3), ADB has stated that average annual inflation will inch up to 6 percent in FY2020, up from 4.6 percent a year earlier, reflecting lower production and supply chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the report, headline inflation has averaged 6.5 percent in the first seven months of FY2020, significantly higher than 4.2 percent a year earlier. “Food inflation increased by 9.8 percent as of mid-February 2020 compared to a year earlier, with significant increase in the prices of vegetables, spices, and alcoholic beverages. The temporary closure of international borders over COVID-19 concern has nudged up food prices. The average annual inflation for FY2020 could be higher than anticipated if the situation further worsens due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” says the report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">According to ADB, merchandise trade deficit narrowed by 4.9 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of FY2020 after widening by 15 percent in the year-earlier period. The deficit contracted on higher export growth, particularly of palm oil and cardamom to India and reduced import of construction materials, vehicles, and petroleum products. The improved trade balance has helped contain current account deficit to USD1 billion in the fiscal year through mid-February 2020 from USD 1.5 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier. The deficit is forecast to narrow from 7.7 percent of GDP in FY2019 to 5.4 percent on shrinking imports of petroleum products, capital, and consumer goods. However, ADB has expected it could be higher if remittances fall substantially in the last quarter of FY2020 </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">According to the Nepal Macroeconomic Update, average annual inflation will stay moderate at 5.5 percent in FY2021, assuming a reversal to normal activities after the COVID-19 disruption, better harvest, subdued oil prices, and a modest uptick of inflation in India. “The current account deficit is expected to widen from 5 percent of GDP in FY2020 to 5.6 percent as imports of capital goods increase. The deficit will, however, be largely contained by lower oil prices, a gradual reduction in the import of fossil fuel with better electricity supply, and higher hydroelectricity exports to India, according to the report,” reads the report. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">ADB said that downside risks to the outlook in FY2021 are the pervasiveness of the COVID-19 pandemic that could paralyze the economy if the outbreak persists. It warned against natural hazards like erratic monsoons and flood could depress farm output and damage infrastructure. “Persistent capacity deficiencies regarding project and program execution at the provincial and local levels will weaken subnational spending. Exogenous shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic will weaken global demand, affecting out-migration for foreign employment and putting pressure on Nepal’s external stability,” reads the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11624', 'image' => '20200404094739_82fecd1.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 09:46:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11873', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banks Contribute Rs 254 Million for Fight Against COVID-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Commercial and development banks have started donating money to the fund set up by the government in an effort to minimize the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 3: Commercial and development banks have started donating money to the fund set up by the government in an effort to minimize the impact of the coronavirus pandemic .</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The banks have started voluntarily contributing to the cause after the government imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 24 to contain the spread of the pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As of Thursday (April 2), around Rs 2 billion has been collected in the fund. The contribution of 27 A-class commercial banks alone stands at Rs 254 million, according to Nepal Bankers’ Association.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Meanwhile, Rastriya Banijya Bank has contributed Rs 18.5 million while Nepal Bank Limited has contributed Rs 13.5 million. Agriculture Development Bank has deposited Rs 16 million in the fund.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Other banks who have contributed to the fund include NMB Bank (Rs 15.1 million), Global IME Bank (Rs11.5 million), Bank of Kathmandu (Rs10.5 million), Citizens Bank (Rs 5 million), Century Bank (Rs 8.5 million), Civil Bank (Rs 7.8 million), Himalayan Bank (Rs 12.5 million), Kumari Bank (Rs 7 million), Laxmi Bank (Rs 10 million), Machhapuchhre Bank (Rs 10.06 million), Mega Bank (Rs 13.5 million), NCC Bank (Rs 10 million), Nepal Bangladesh Bank (Rs 14.5 million), Nepal SBI Bank (Rs 10 million), Nepal Investment Bank (Rs 10 million), Prabhu Bank (Rs 10.1 million), Prime Bank (Rs 17.5 million), Sanima Bank (Rs 16.8 million) and Siddhartha Bank (Rs 8.5 million). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Meanwhile, Standard Chartered Bank, Sunrise Bank, NIC Asia Bank, Nabil Bank and Everest Bank are said to be holding internal discussion about contributing to the fund. All of these banks have pledged to support the government initiative.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The fund collected around Rs 1 billion on Thursday alone. According to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), the fund has received around Rs 2 billion from generous contributors.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government had set up the fund on March 24 with an initial contribution of Rs 500 million to provide relief to the sectors affected by coronavirus. Spokesperson at the OPMCM Rajendra Kumar Poudel informed that the fund is receiving more contributions day by day.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada informed that the transactions of the fund will be transparent as the government has already formed a work procedure to mobilise the fund.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">It has been learnt that the fund will be basically used to procure medicines and equipment for coronavirus and for free treatment of the patients.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11623', 'image' => '20200403045712_20200205110120_nw.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 16:56:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11872', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'StanChart Announces USD 50m COVID-19 Assistance Fund', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: The British multinational banking and financial services company Standard Chartered Group has launched a USD 50 million global fund to provide assistance to those affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">April 3: The British multinational banking and financial services company Standard Chartered Group has launched a USD 50 million global fund to provide assistance to those affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">Issuing a press statement, Standard Chartered said that the Group will immediately donate USD 25 million to support emergency relief in the most affected markets. “The additional USD 25 million will help communities over the medium term to recover from the economic impact of the virus. It will also match contributions made by its employees and other donors to meet the USD 50 million target,” reads the statement. According to the bank, all the Group’s board and management team members will be making personal contributions to the fund.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">Through individual country and regional efforts, Standard Chartered has already donated USD 1.85 million to COVID-19 relief efforts to date.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">The Group has also launched initiatives to provide economic support and protect the wellbeing of customers, clients and the Group’s 84,000 employees around the world. “On 30 March, the Group announced that it is committing up to USD 1 billion </span><span style="font-family:Arial">of loans, import/export financing and working capital, at preferential rates, for companies providing goods and services to help in the fight against COVID-19, and support those re-deploying production resources to help fight the pandemic,” said the bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">According to the statement, companies in scope include manufacturers and distributors in the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare providers, as well as non-medical companies that have volunteered to add this capability to their manufacturing output. “Goods in scope include ventilators, face masks, protective equipment and sanitisers,” reads the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11622', 'image' => '20200403035917_Standard-Chartered.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 15:57:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11871', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Global Equities Attempt Rebound from Virus-fuelled Losses', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Global equities mostly rebounded Thursday from recent coronavirus-fuelled losses, as oil rallied on hopes of an end to a Saudi-Russia price war.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">April 3: Global equities mostly rebounded Thursday from recent coronavirus-fuelled losses, as oil rallied on hopes of an end to a Saudi-Russia price war, and resurgent Chinese energy demand, AFP reported citing the dealers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">According to the French news agency, traders were on tenterhooks before US jobless claims data, which will again lay bare the impact of COVID-19 on the world's biggest economy after dire figures last week.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">“In midday deals, the London stock market advanced 0.3 percent with energy majors BP and Shell winning almost ten percent on the back of soaring crude futures that lift profits. In the eurozone, Frankfurt added 0.4 percent, Milan won 0.8 percent and Paris gained 0.7 percent,” AFP reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">Oil soared more than ten percent on hopes for a US intervention to end a Saudi-Russia price war, with US President Donald Trump saying he expected the two to resolve the row, while dealers were also cheered by China's decision to snap up bargain crude.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">The European single currency meanwhile dipped versus the dollar.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">"We do appear to be seeing some gains ... on a couple of headlines that China will start topping up its state reserves, and that Saudi Arabia is supporting co-operation amongst oil producers to stabilise oil markets," AFP quoted CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson as saying.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">"These gains are helping support rebounds in Royal Dutch Shell and BP's share price, as well as a modest stabilisation in early trading for European markets."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">On the downside, Madrid stocks dived 1.1 percent on news that the coronavirus death toll in Spain has surged past 10,000.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">After two weeks of much-needed gains fuelled by trillions of dollars in stimulus and widespread monetary easing, focus has returned to the devastation wrought on populations and the long-term impact of the pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">According to AFP, US President Trump's COVID-19 task force has warned America could see almost a quarter of a million deaths and the president warned of a "horrific" couple of weeks ahead.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">His comments came as a number of countries said they would extend lockdowns, which have already gouged economies around the world, the news agency further reported.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11621', 'image' => '20200403011201_Global equities.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 13:11:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11868', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Allows Industries Producing Daily Essentials to Resume Operation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: In a move to ease the crippling lockdown imposed on March 24 to stop the possible outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), the government has decided to allow industries producing essential goods to resume operation provided that they meet certain health criteria.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 3: In a move to ease the crippling lockdown imposed on March 24 to stop the possible outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), the government has decided to allow industries producing essential goods to resume operation provided that they meet certain health criteria.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Industries producing food stuffs and other daily essentials will be allowed to resume operation on condition that they manage all the works with residential staff. The High-Level Coordination Committee for Prevention and Control of COVID-19 took a decision to this effect on Thursday (April 2).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Finance Minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada informed that the industries will be allowed to function if they can manage residential for production and fullfill all health and safety requirements.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Dr Khatiwada, who is also the government spokesperson, said that the industries can be operated in coordination with the local units. However, such industries cannot use workers from outside. According to Dr Khatiwada, the industries will have to mobilise the local labourers. “Industries can be operated in coordination with the local levels,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, the committee also decided to resume the construction works of large development projects like Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project and Melamchi Water Supply Project. For this, the projects will have to assign staff who are already stationed at the project sites. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“The local bodies will oversee to ensure that no worker from outside enter and those working inside leave the sites,” said Khatiwada. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The committee has also decided to allow harvesting of winter crop and planting of paddy seeds without bringing workers from outside and using local and family workers. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Meanwhile, the government has decided to procure medical kits and equipment from China on its own after an earlier decision to bring those materials through a private firm courted controversy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Minister Khatiwada said that the matters related to the procurement of medical appliances and kits are under investigation. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He further said that the process of procurement of medical supplies through tender has been scrapped after complaint of financial irregularities and now the government has began a fresh bid through G-2-G (government to government) process. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11620', 'image' => '20200403123551_unnamed.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 12:34:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11867', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Six Nepalis in Forbes 30 under 30 List', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Five entrepreneurs and a golfer from Nepal have made it to the Forbes list of 30 under 30, 2020 in Asia.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 3: Five entrepreneurs and a golfer from Nepal have made it to the Forbes list of 30 under 30, 2020 in Asia. Forbes released the list on Thursday. The list includes various youths from entrepreneurship, social work and the ones who have been influencing the society. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The six Nepalis on this list are Golfer Pratima Sherpa, Nikita Acharya and Kiran Timsina, co-founders, Urban Girls. Shubhangi Rana and Jeselina Rana, Pad2Go. and Rohit Tiwari, co-founder, Foodmario. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Nikita Acharya and Kiran Timsina had established Urban Girls in 2012. The company, which started with online selling of ladies accessories, has now expanded to bakery products and accessories for men. “There were many challenges in these seven years. This news has given a lot of motivation to move forward,” says Acharya. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Similarly, Shubhangi Rana and Jeselina Rana started Pad2Go in 2018. Pad2Go has been creating awareness of menstrual health. The venture has installed 80 sanitary napkin vending machines in hospitals, schools, banks and cinema halls of all seven provinces. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Likewise, Rohit Tiwari who has been operating Foodmario has been working as a bridge between homemakers and the customers who order food through online means. Tiwari, on the one hand, has been giving a platform to the homemakers to show their skill, and on the other has been serving office goers and others with hygienic homemade food. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“Being listed under 30 under 30 was my dream. This has further motivated me to push myself,” said Tiwari. “We have been prioritising hygiene from the beginning and will continue to do that. We are further planning to work on the efficiency in the kitchen so that we can deliver the food faster, he said. Foodmario is also about to start its own cloud kitchen. “We will be able to work more efficiently after we start cloud kitchen,” he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/new4835.jpg" style="height:173px; width:792px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11619', 'image' => '20200403120659_593846784_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 12:06:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11869', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Consumers Facing Difficulty to get Daily Essentials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Consumers have complained of difficulties in getting daily essentials due to the shortage in the market following the lockdown imposed by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 3: Consumers have complained of difficulties in getting daily essentials due to the shortage in the market following the lockdown imposed by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Doma Sherpa of Mahankal in Kathmandu Metropolitan City said that they have been facing difficulty to get daily essentials including sugar, salt, rice and vegetables in the market despite looking for it in the market. Sherpa added even shopkeepers operating during morning and evening are also running out the stock of daily essentials. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A shopkeeper Madan Shrestha said that it was challenging to bring goods from wholesale. He added it would not be a problem for him to sell goods to consumers if he gets goods for his shop. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Though the government had announced to ask the department stores to deliver goods to the customers’ doorsteps, it has not been effective. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11618', 'image' => '20200403123817_Buying Yam at Ason Chock, Photo By Prakash K (1)(1).JPG', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 12:37:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11870', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Coronavirus Pandemic Hits Gold and Silver Trade', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: The lockdown to contain corona pandemic has hit the gold and silver trade in the country adversely.', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 3: The lockdown to contain corona pandemic has hit the gold and silver trade in the country adversely. Gold and silver trade was already declining since the beginning of the current fiscal year due sharp hike in price because of the US-China trade war. However, the lockdown has completely ruined the gold and silver business, at least for the time being. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Some months ago, the trade war between China and the US and the tensions between Iran and the US, led to sharp rise in the price of gold in the international market.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Since the price of gold in Nepal is determined on the basis of the price in global market, the price of gold has been on the rise in the domestic market since last July.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The price of one tola (approx. 11 grams) of gold which was Rs 60,000 until the first week of July rose to Rs 82,500 by mid-July last year. Currently, the price of 11 grams of gold in the domestic market is Rs 77,000. The trade of gold is declining due to rising price. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The businessmen involve in gold and silver trade are worried as coronavirus pandemic has brought their business to a grinding halt.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Federation of Nepali Gold and Silver Dealers Association, there are 22,000 jewelry shops in Nepal which are currently closed. Most of these jewelry shops are operated in rented areas and the lockdown has led to loss of income of the traders and added cost burden. </span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In such a situation, the gold and silver dealers are now worried about their expenses, mainly the rent and salaries of their staff members. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Tej Ratna Shakya, former president of the Federation of Nepali Gold and Silver Dealers Association, informed that the biggest concern for all the gold and silver dealers is rent and salary of their staff. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“At present, the whole nation is under lockdown and in such a situation traders and entrepreneurs involved in gold and silvers business won’t be able to pay the rents,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">We are also worried about paying salary to the staff, he added. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11617', 'image' => '20200403010205_jewellry (Copy).jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 13:01:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11866', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Mulls Budget Transfer and Mobilizing Foreign Aid to Cope with COVID-19 Crisis', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 2: The government is facing mounting challenge for resource management with the coronavirus taking heavy toll on the country’s economy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">April 2: The government is facing mounting challenge for resource management with the coronavirus taking heavy toll on the country’s economy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">On one hand, the economic activities have come to a complete halt due to the lockdown while on the other hand the government faces an uphill battle to mange resources to control the spread of the disease. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">In order to manage funds to ward off the crisis, the Ministry of Finance has resorted to budget transfer and mobilization of foreign aid.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">The finance ministry has transferred Rs 850 million from one budget head to another as per the request of the Ministry of Health and Population. A highly-placed source at the finance ministry told New Business Age that the budget has been transferred from various other programmes under the health ministry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">According to the finance ministry, it has also transferred Rs 500 million to the fund for preventing the spread of COVID-19 from other heads.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">Joint Secretary at the ministry Uttar Kumar Khatri informed that the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has almost finalized the work procedure to utilize the fund. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">“The government will utilize the fund in accordance to the work procedure. If the budget is insufficient, the fund will be managed by transferring amount from the annual budget of the concerned ministries,” said Khatri. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">Spokesperson of Nepal Rastra Bank Gunakar Bhatta says resource management will not be a problem for the government as revenue collection, inflow of remittance and budget expenditure are taking place as expected till last month. He said that the government will start facing problems if the current problem persists for more than a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">“As most of the countries around the world are under lockdown, the inflow of remittance is expected to decrease and the foreign exchange reserve will also decline. The government will face problems in such a situation,” said Bhatta.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">The government has already made it clear that it is ready to mobilize foreign assistance for resource management to cope with the current crisis. A meeting of the Council of Ministers held last week has given the authority to the finance ministry to hold discussions with the donor agencies to mobilize the funds for the government’s fight against coronavirus.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">The finance ministry has said that the government has initiated the process to receive concessional loan of Rs 3.43 billion from the World Bank to deal with the coronavirus crisis. It has also accepted credit facility of Rs 13.09 billion from the International Monetary Fund. The finance ministry is also doing its homework to acquire US$ 60 million from the Asian Development Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">Joint Secretary at the finance ministry Khatri also informed that the government is discussing about taking concessional loan from other development partners to deal with the current crisis.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">The finance ministry has formed a committee to study the impact of coronavirus on Nepal’s economy but the government has not released the findings of the report yet.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">Former Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi is of the view that the government should transfer the budget allocated for development works to the sectors affected by coronavirus as there is no possibility of capital expenditure at the moment.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-02', 'modified' => '2020-04-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11616', 'image' => '20200402121158_1585779198.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-02 12:11:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11863', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Government Terminates Contract for Medical Supplies from China', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 2: The government has cancelled the agreement with a private company to supply medical kits from China for the prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 2: The government has cancelled the agreement with a private company to supply medical kits from China for the prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Director-General of the Department of Health, Mahendra Prasad Shrestha shared at a press conference organized by the Ministry of Health and Population on Wednesday (April 1) that the agreement with Omni Business Corporate International Pvt Ltd has been terminated due to the company's inability to supply the required medical kits. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"The company has expressed its inability to deliver the medical supplies including rapid diagnostic kits in the stipulated time," he said, claiming the agreement signed with the supplier, therefore, was nullified. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Shrestha further shared that the contractor, as per the agreement, had only supplied 10 per cent of the required kits and drugs at an expense of 18 per cent amount. He added the government would confiscate the surety amount deposited by the contractor and also request the authority concerned to blacklist the company for not being able to supply medical drugs and appliances as agreed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Director-General also admitted that the materials imported through the company during the time of crisis cost 20 percent more than normal price. It may be noted that the government on Sunday had signed the agreement with the Omni Group to purchase medical supplies used for testing and treating coronavirus. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Shrestha shared that a new process would be initiated for the procurement of medical appliances from Thursday (April 2) again after scrapping the agreement with Omni Business Group.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS""> The ministry is preparing to import medical appliances within five days after soliciting a bid with a three-day deadline. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"For now, we have adequate stocks," he said, adding, "We can provide sufficient medical equipment to the doctors and health workers involved in the treatment of patients". -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-02', 'modified' => '2020-04-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11615', 'image' => '20200402094346_singha durbar gate.JPG', 'article_date' => '2020-04-02 09:43:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11879', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industrialists Demand Easing Import of Raw Materials and Supply of Goods ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period. ', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Although the government has decided to ease production and supply of essential goods during the ongoing lockdown to prevent the spread of corona infection, entrepreneurs suggest that the supply of such commodities has not been as smooth as expected. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Despite the government’s commitment, the entrepreneurs are still facing problems to manage manpower, import raw materials, and to transport the manufactured goods to the market.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of Association of Nepalese Rice, Oil and Pulses, informed that most of the food industries are now dependent on the stocked raw material for production.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Most of the industries are currently using the raw materials for production which they had stocked before,” he informed. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">There has not been any supply of raw materials since the lockdown. Likewise, transportation of goods is also not easily accessible, he added. </span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, Gupta claimed that there would be no shortage of food at least for three months. The stock of raw and the finished products are enough to sustain the supply for at least three months, he added.</span> </span></span></p> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11629', 'image' => '20200405103819_Birgunj-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:37:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11878', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Coming Week more Stressful for Nepal: Experts ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the country.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the country. This means that more challenges are likely for the prevention and control of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, according to experts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">An individual in Dhangadhi of Kailali district tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday—the 12th day of the ongoing nationwide lockdown. On Saturday alone, three new cases of COVID-19, all from Sudur Paschim Province, were confirmed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Of them, two are India returnees while the third one is the family member of an infected youth who had recently returned home from the UAE. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Director of Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital Dr Sagar Rajbhandari said that more challenges are likely with the transfer of COVID-19 from one person to another. Now all foreign returnees and those who came in contact with them should be tested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“Not only the foreign returnees now the community they are living in also should be screened,” Dr Rajbhandari said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He added that we should remain more alert since Nepal’s bordering states of India including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been reporting increasing number of new cases of COVID-19. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Dr Rajbhandari suggested that all people coming home from abroad including India should be kept under quarantines along with proper surveillance. He added that the coming week will show the real picture of COVID-19 infection in Nepal, as sample testing have been initiated in all seven states and new cases have surfaced almost every day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He was of the view that the ongoing lockdown should be extended and all individuals from the infected people’s community should be tested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As the government has suspended all international flights for nearly two weeks now, people have not arrived from foreign countries via air route. The border with neighbouring India too has been sealed temporarily. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11628', 'image' => '20200405102445_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:23:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11877', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rapid Testing in 3 Districts where new cases of Covid-19 Emerged', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5). Among the three new infections reported in Kailali and Kanchanpur districts of Sudur Paschim Province, one case was a local transmission instead of an imported case seen before. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Saturday evening decided to carry out the rapid tests as it reviewed other measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Government spokesperson Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada said that the Council of Ministers also decided to stop the mobility of people from one province to another, from one local level to another and from one district to another in order to check the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected 1.2 million people and killed over 64,000 people as of Sunday morning. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Khatiwada, who is also the minister for finance as well as communication and information technology, further said that the provincial and local governments need to work more effectively to ensure strict implementation of the lockdown. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The cabinet meeting also decided to make arrangement of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the health workers immediately, recognizing their important role in the current situation, said the state-owned news agency RSS (Rastriya Samachar Samiti). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government had earlier announced insurance scheme and other incentives for the health professionals. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"A decision has been taken to mobilize the health workers with complete safety, wipe out any other obstacles to their work and take legal action against anyone involved in endangering the security and well-being of the health workers," RSS quoted Minister Khatiwada as saying. According to him, all levels of government including the local administration need to ensure security to the health workers. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11627', 'image' => '20200405101029_1586016240.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:09:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11876', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three More Test Positive for COVID-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country. All three are from Kanchanpur district of Sudurpaschim Province, according to the state-run national news agency RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Those confirmed to have contracted the virus include a 21-year-old male who recently returned from Mumbai, India; the second is a 41 -year-old male who arrived home recently from Uttarakhand, India, and the third is a 41-year-old woman, RSS reported citing the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division under the Ministry of Health and Population. The woman is the relative of the one who was tested positive earlier in the district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Their swab samples were collected some days ago and the tests were conducted on Friday, said director of the division Dr Basudev Pandey. All three are being treated at the Dhanagadhi-based Sudurpaschim Provincial Hospital. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">This is the first locally transmitted case, RSS said. The first COVID-19 case was detected in a student who arrived from Wuhan of China in January and the patient has been already cured. Other infected are receiving treatment under isolation, the ministry said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the latest update by worldometer, more than 1.1 million people have been infected by coronavirus around the world and the death toll is nearing 60,000.</span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11626', 'image' => '20200404033603_infographic-mers-689.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 15:33:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11875', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Serving Humanity with Free Lunch', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy. Some restaurateurs and hoteliers are providing free meals to the people bearing the brunt of the lockdown.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From serving free lunch to police personnel and doctors to giving out free takeaway meals to stranded tourists, they are providing support to the needy at this time of crisis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Here are some initiatives of a few restaurants and hotels to provide possible relief to people during the time of emergency.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Kathmandu Guest House (KGH)</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From Day 1 of the lockdown, this iconic boutique hotel in Thamel has been distributing food to the needy ones as well as stranded tourists for free. “With the help from Thamel Tourism Board and coordination from police, we have distributed almost 3000 plus packets of packed food,” says Rajan Shakya, CEO of KGH Group of Hotels. Apart from that, it has been giving out ration to Rohingya refugees and has been providing PPEs to hospitals. “Provided that any hospital asks us for PPE, we go and give them,” says Shakya. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Dalle </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Dalle has been serving the police personnel with free lunch every day since the beginning of the lockdown. It has been giving out around 150 lunch boxes every day. “We have stocks of vegetables and other groceries, which will rot if we don’t use. So, on one hand, serving food at this time will give us satisfaction and on the other, help the police force to do its duty properly as they don’t have to worry about going home or spending for lunch,” says Subhash Gauchan, co-founder of Dalle. Gauchan says at this situation there is a need of mutual cooperation so that the ones who are at the forefront against the Covid 19 can do their duty properly without having the need to worry about basic things. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Bajeko Sekuwa</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Bajeko Sekuwa has been serving free lunches from 11 am to 2 pm to the police personnel, doctors and needy people. It has been providing more than 100 plus lunch boxes every day. “As we are in the business of serving, it is our duty to serve not only at good times but also when people need us the most. This is our social responsibility and we couldn’t step back at this time of crisis,” says Sanjeev Kumar Timilsina, operation head of Bajeko Sekuwa. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Moondance Restaurant Pokhara</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Moondance Restaurant and Bar in Pokhara provided free lunch from Day 1 of the lockdown to till the eight day to the stranded tourists. Now, as most of the tourists have returned to Kathmandu or their home country, they have recently stopped the service. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">These are few examples of cooperation from the private sector during times of crisis. There are many players from the private sector who have been actively giving back to the society at the moment. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11625', 'image' => '20200404031010_food distribution by KGH.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 15:08:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11874', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ADB Forecasts 5.3% Economic Growth for Nepal in 2020', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic-induced crisis is expected to decelerate Nepal’s economic growth to 5.3 percent (at market prices) in the fiscal year 2020, down from 7.1 percent a year earlier, according to the latest report published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">April 4: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic-induced crisis is expected to decelerate Nepal’s economic growth to 5.3 percent (at market prices) in the fiscal year 2020, down from 7.1 percent a year earlier, according to the latest report published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Manila-based lender in its annual flagship publication the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020 projects Nepal’s GDP to recover at 6.4 percent for FY2021, assuming a quick end to the COVID-19 pandemic, a return to pre-COVID economic activities, and a normal monsoon. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">“The government of Nepal expects a couple of large infrastructure projects, namely the 456-megawatt Upper Tamakoshi Hydroelectric Plant and Gautam Buddha International Airport, to be commercially operational by FY2021. Expectation of higher subnational level spending will also stimulate growth,” ADB said in a press statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">“The global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent nationwide lockdown that is necessary to contain the contagion will adversely affect the country’s economy,” the statement quoted ADB Country Director for Nepal Mukhtor Khamudkhanov as saying. According to him, industry and services face supply disruptions, and remittances will likely decline during the last quarter of this fiscal year, dampening domestic demand. “Growth will also be slower as a result of lower rice production. If the situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic further worsens, growth in FY2020 could be lower than currently anticipated growth,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">Similarly, in its Nepal Macroeconomic Update, which was released on the same day ADO 2020 was published (April 3), ADB has stated that average annual inflation will inch up to 6 percent in FY2020, up from 4.6 percent a year earlier, reflecting lower production and supply chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the report, headline inflation has averaged 6.5 percent in the first seven months of FY2020, significantly higher than 4.2 percent a year earlier. “Food inflation increased by 9.8 percent as of mid-February 2020 compared to a year earlier, with significant increase in the prices of vegetables, spices, and alcoholic beverages. The temporary closure of international borders over COVID-19 concern has nudged up food prices. The average annual inflation for FY2020 could be higher than anticipated if the situation further worsens due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” says the report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">According to ADB, merchandise trade deficit narrowed by 4.9 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of FY2020 after widening by 15 percent in the year-earlier period. The deficit contracted on higher export growth, particularly of palm oil and cardamom to India and reduced import of construction materials, vehicles, and petroleum products. The improved trade balance has helped contain current account deficit to USD1 billion in the fiscal year through mid-February 2020 from USD 1.5 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier. The deficit is forecast to narrow from 7.7 percent of GDP in FY2019 to 5.4 percent on shrinking imports of petroleum products, capital, and consumer goods. However, ADB has expected it could be higher if remittances fall substantially in the last quarter of FY2020 </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">According to the Nepal Macroeconomic Update, average annual inflation will stay moderate at 5.5 percent in FY2021, assuming a reversal to normal activities after the COVID-19 disruption, better harvest, subdued oil prices, and a modest uptick of inflation in India. “The current account deficit is expected to widen from 5 percent of GDP in FY2020 to 5.6 percent as imports of capital goods increase. The deficit will, however, be largely contained by lower oil prices, a gradual reduction in the import of fossil fuel with better electricity supply, and higher hydroelectricity exports to India, according to the report,” reads the report. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">ADB said that downside risks to the outlook in FY2021 are the pervasiveness of the COVID-19 pandemic that could paralyze the economy if the outbreak persists. It warned against natural hazards like erratic monsoons and flood could depress farm output and damage infrastructure. “Persistent capacity deficiencies regarding project and program execution at the provincial and local levels will weaken subnational spending. Exogenous shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic will weaken global demand, affecting out-migration for foreign employment and putting pressure on Nepal’s external stability,” reads the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11624', 'image' => '20200404094739_82fecd1.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 09:46:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11873', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banks Contribute Rs 254 Million for Fight Against COVID-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Commercial and development banks have started donating money to the fund set up by the government in an effort to minimize the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 3: Commercial and development banks have started donating money to the fund set up by the government in an effort to minimize the impact of the coronavirus pandemic .</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The banks have started voluntarily contributing to the cause after the government imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 24 to contain the spread of the pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As of Thursday (April 2), around Rs 2 billion has been collected in the fund. The contribution of 27 A-class commercial banks alone stands at Rs 254 million, according to Nepal Bankers’ Association.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Meanwhile, Rastriya Banijya Bank has contributed Rs 18.5 million while Nepal Bank Limited has contributed Rs 13.5 million. Agriculture Development Bank has deposited Rs 16 million in the fund.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Other banks who have contributed to the fund include NMB Bank (Rs 15.1 million), Global IME Bank (Rs11.5 million), Bank of Kathmandu (Rs10.5 million), Citizens Bank (Rs 5 million), Century Bank (Rs 8.5 million), Civil Bank (Rs 7.8 million), Himalayan Bank (Rs 12.5 million), Kumari Bank (Rs 7 million), Laxmi Bank (Rs 10 million), Machhapuchhre Bank (Rs 10.06 million), Mega Bank (Rs 13.5 million), NCC Bank (Rs 10 million), Nepal Bangladesh Bank (Rs 14.5 million), Nepal SBI Bank (Rs 10 million), Nepal Investment Bank (Rs 10 million), Prabhu Bank (Rs 10.1 million), Prime Bank (Rs 17.5 million), Sanima Bank (Rs 16.8 million) and Siddhartha Bank (Rs 8.5 million). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Meanwhile, Standard Chartered Bank, Sunrise Bank, NIC Asia Bank, Nabil Bank and Everest Bank are said to be holding internal discussion about contributing to the fund. All of these banks have pledged to support the government initiative.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The fund collected around Rs 1 billion on Thursday alone. According to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), the fund has received around Rs 2 billion from generous contributors.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government had set up the fund on March 24 with an initial contribution of Rs 500 million to provide relief to the sectors affected by coronavirus. Spokesperson at the OPMCM Rajendra Kumar Poudel informed that the fund is receiving more contributions day by day.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada informed that the transactions of the fund will be transparent as the government has already formed a work procedure to mobilise the fund.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">It has been learnt that the fund will be basically used to procure medicines and equipment for coronavirus and for free treatment of the patients.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11623', 'image' => '20200403045712_20200205110120_nw.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 16:56:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11872', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'StanChart Announces USD 50m COVID-19 Assistance Fund', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: The British multinational banking and financial services company Standard Chartered Group has launched a USD 50 million global fund to provide assistance to those affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">April 3: The British multinational banking and financial services company Standard Chartered Group has launched a USD 50 million global fund to provide assistance to those affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">Issuing a press statement, Standard Chartered said that the Group will immediately donate USD 25 million to support emergency relief in the most affected markets. “The additional USD 25 million will help communities over the medium term to recover from the economic impact of the virus. It will also match contributions made by its employees and other donors to meet the USD 50 million target,” reads the statement. According to the bank, all the Group’s board and management team members will be making personal contributions to the fund.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">Through individual country and regional efforts, Standard Chartered has already donated USD 1.85 million to COVID-19 relief efforts to date.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">The Group has also launched initiatives to provide economic support and protect the wellbeing of customers, clients and the Group’s 84,000 employees around the world. “On 30 March, the Group announced that it is committing up to USD 1 billion </span><span style="font-family:Arial">of loans, import/export financing and working capital, at preferential rates, for companies providing goods and services to help in the fight against COVID-19, and support those re-deploying production resources to help fight the pandemic,” said the bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">According to the statement, companies in scope include manufacturers and distributors in the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare providers, as well as non-medical companies that have volunteered to add this capability to their manufacturing output. “Goods in scope include ventilators, face masks, protective equipment and sanitisers,” reads the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11622', 'image' => '20200403035917_Standard-Chartered.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 15:57:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11871', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Global Equities Attempt Rebound from Virus-fuelled Losses', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Global equities mostly rebounded Thursday from recent coronavirus-fuelled losses, as oil rallied on hopes of an end to a Saudi-Russia price war.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">April 3: Global equities mostly rebounded Thursday from recent coronavirus-fuelled losses, as oil rallied on hopes of an end to a Saudi-Russia price war, and resurgent Chinese energy demand, AFP reported citing the dealers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">According to the French news agency, traders were on tenterhooks before US jobless claims data, which will again lay bare the impact of COVID-19 on the world's biggest economy after dire figures last week.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">“In midday deals, the London stock market advanced 0.3 percent with energy majors BP and Shell winning almost ten percent on the back of soaring crude futures that lift profits. In the eurozone, Frankfurt added 0.4 percent, Milan won 0.8 percent and Paris gained 0.7 percent,” AFP reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">Oil soared more than ten percent on hopes for a US intervention to end a Saudi-Russia price war, with US President Donald Trump saying he expected the two to resolve the row, while dealers were also cheered by China's decision to snap up bargain crude.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">The European single currency meanwhile dipped versus the dollar.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">"We do appear to be seeing some gains ... on a couple of headlines that China will start topping up its state reserves, and that Saudi Arabia is supporting co-operation amongst oil producers to stabilise oil markets," AFP quoted CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson as saying.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">"These gains are helping support rebounds in Royal Dutch Shell and BP's share price, as well as a modest stabilisation in early trading for European markets."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">On the downside, Madrid stocks dived 1.1 percent on news that the coronavirus death toll in Spain has surged past 10,000.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">After two weeks of much-needed gains fuelled by trillions of dollars in stimulus and widespread monetary easing, focus has returned to the devastation wrought on populations and the long-term impact of the pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">According to AFP, US President Trump's COVID-19 task force has warned America could see almost a quarter of a million deaths and the president warned of a "horrific" couple of weeks ahead.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">His comments came as a number of countries said they would extend lockdowns, which have already gouged economies around the world, the news agency further reported.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11621', 'image' => '20200403011201_Global equities.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 13:11:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11868', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Allows Industries Producing Daily Essentials to Resume Operation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: In a move to ease the crippling lockdown imposed on March 24 to stop the possible outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), the government has decided to allow industries producing essential goods to resume operation provided that they meet certain health criteria.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 3: In a move to ease the crippling lockdown imposed on March 24 to stop the possible outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), the government has decided to allow industries producing essential goods to resume operation provided that they meet certain health criteria.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Industries producing food stuffs and other daily essentials will be allowed to resume operation on condition that they manage all the works with residential staff. The High-Level Coordination Committee for Prevention and Control of COVID-19 took a decision to this effect on Thursday (April 2).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Finance Minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada informed that the industries will be allowed to function if they can manage residential for production and fullfill all health and safety requirements.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Dr Khatiwada, who is also the government spokesperson, said that the industries can be operated in coordination with the local units. However, such industries cannot use workers from outside. According to Dr Khatiwada, the industries will have to mobilise the local labourers. “Industries can be operated in coordination with the local levels,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, the committee also decided to resume the construction works of large development projects like Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project and Melamchi Water Supply Project. For this, the projects will have to assign staff who are already stationed at the project sites. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“The local bodies will oversee to ensure that no worker from outside enter and those working inside leave the sites,” said Khatiwada. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The committee has also decided to allow harvesting of winter crop and planting of paddy seeds without bringing workers from outside and using local and family workers. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Meanwhile, the government has decided to procure medical kits and equipment from China on its own after an earlier decision to bring those materials through a private firm courted controversy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Minister Khatiwada said that the matters related to the procurement of medical appliances and kits are under investigation. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He further said that the process of procurement of medical supplies through tender has been scrapped after complaint of financial irregularities and now the government has began a fresh bid through G-2-G (government to government) process. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11620', 'image' => '20200403123551_unnamed.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 12:34:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11867', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Six Nepalis in Forbes 30 under 30 List', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Five entrepreneurs and a golfer from Nepal have made it to the Forbes list of 30 under 30, 2020 in Asia.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 3: Five entrepreneurs and a golfer from Nepal have made it to the Forbes list of 30 under 30, 2020 in Asia. Forbes released the list on Thursday. The list includes various youths from entrepreneurship, social work and the ones who have been influencing the society. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The six Nepalis on this list are Golfer Pratima Sherpa, Nikita Acharya and Kiran Timsina, co-founders, Urban Girls. Shubhangi Rana and Jeselina Rana, Pad2Go. and Rohit Tiwari, co-founder, Foodmario. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Nikita Acharya and Kiran Timsina had established Urban Girls in 2012. The company, which started with online selling of ladies accessories, has now expanded to bakery products and accessories for men. “There were many challenges in these seven years. This news has given a lot of motivation to move forward,” says Acharya. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Similarly, Shubhangi Rana and Jeselina Rana started Pad2Go in 2018. Pad2Go has been creating awareness of menstrual health. The venture has installed 80 sanitary napkin vending machines in hospitals, schools, banks and cinema halls of all seven provinces. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Likewise, Rohit Tiwari who has been operating Foodmario has been working as a bridge between homemakers and the customers who order food through online means. Tiwari, on the one hand, has been giving a platform to the homemakers to show their skill, and on the other has been serving office goers and others with hygienic homemade food. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“Being listed under 30 under 30 was my dream. This has further motivated me to push myself,” said Tiwari. “We have been prioritising hygiene from the beginning and will continue to do that. We are further planning to work on the efficiency in the kitchen so that we can deliver the food faster, he said. Foodmario is also about to start its own cloud kitchen. “We will be able to work more efficiently after we start cloud kitchen,” he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/new4835.jpg" style="height:173px; width:792px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11619', 'image' => '20200403120659_593846784_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 12:06:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11869', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Consumers Facing Difficulty to get Daily Essentials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Consumers have complained of difficulties in getting daily essentials due to the shortage in the market following the lockdown imposed by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 3: Consumers have complained of difficulties in getting daily essentials due to the shortage in the market following the lockdown imposed by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Doma Sherpa of Mahankal in Kathmandu Metropolitan City said that they have been facing difficulty to get daily essentials including sugar, salt, rice and vegetables in the market despite looking for it in the market. Sherpa added even shopkeepers operating during morning and evening are also running out the stock of daily essentials. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A shopkeeper Madan Shrestha said that it was challenging to bring goods from wholesale. He added it would not be a problem for him to sell goods to consumers if he gets goods for his shop. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Though the government had announced to ask the department stores to deliver goods to the customers’ doorsteps, it has not been effective. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11618', 'image' => '20200403123817_Buying Yam at Ason Chock, Photo By Prakash K (1)(1).JPG', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 12:37:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11870', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Coronavirus Pandemic Hits Gold and Silver Trade', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: The lockdown to contain corona pandemic has hit the gold and silver trade in the country adversely.', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 3: The lockdown to contain corona pandemic has hit the gold and silver trade in the country adversely. Gold and silver trade was already declining since the beginning of the current fiscal year due sharp hike in price because of the US-China trade war. However, the lockdown has completely ruined the gold and silver business, at least for the time being. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Some months ago, the trade war between China and the US and the tensions between Iran and the US, led to sharp rise in the price of gold in the international market.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Since the price of gold in Nepal is determined on the basis of the price in global market, the price of gold has been on the rise in the domestic market since last July.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The price of one tola (approx. 11 grams) of gold which was Rs 60,000 until the first week of July rose to Rs 82,500 by mid-July last year. Currently, the price of 11 grams of gold in the domestic market is Rs 77,000. The trade of gold is declining due to rising price. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The businessmen involve in gold and silver trade are worried as coronavirus pandemic has brought their business to a grinding halt.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Federation of Nepali Gold and Silver Dealers Association, there are 22,000 jewelry shops in Nepal which are currently closed. Most of these jewelry shops are operated in rented areas and the lockdown has led to loss of income of the traders and added cost burden. </span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In such a situation, the gold and silver dealers are now worried about their expenses, mainly the rent and salaries of their staff members. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Tej Ratna Shakya, former president of the Federation of Nepali Gold and Silver Dealers Association, informed that the biggest concern for all the gold and silver dealers is rent and salary of their staff. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“At present, the whole nation is under lockdown and in such a situation traders and entrepreneurs involved in gold and silvers business won’t be able to pay the rents,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">We are also worried about paying salary to the staff, he added. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11617', 'image' => '20200403010205_jewellry (Copy).jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 13:01:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11866', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Mulls Budget Transfer and Mobilizing Foreign Aid to Cope with COVID-19 Crisis', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 2: The government is facing mounting challenge for resource management with the coronavirus taking heavy toll on the country’s economy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">April 2: The government is facing mounting challenge for resource management with the coronavirus taking heavy toll on the country’s economy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">On one hand, the economic activities have come to a complete halt due to the lockdown while on the other hand the government faces an uphill battle to mange resources to control the spread of the disease. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">In order to manage funds to ward off the crisis, the Ministry of Finance has resorted to budget transfer and mobilization of foreign aid.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">The finance ministry has transferred Rs 850 million from one budget head to another as per the request of the Ministry of Health and Population. A highly-placed source at the finance ministry told New Business Age that the budget has been transferred from various other programmes under the health ministry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">According to the finance ministry, it has also transferred Rs 500 million to the fund for preventing the spread of COVID-19 from other heads.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">Joint Secretary at the ministry Uttar Kumar Khatri informed that the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has almost finalized the work procedure to utilize the fund. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">“The government will utilize the fund in accordance to the work procedure. If the budget is insufficient, the fund will be managed by transferring amount from the annual budget of the concerned ministries,” said Khatri. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">Spokesperson of Nepal Rastra Bank Gunakar Bhatta says resource management will not be a problem for the government as revenue collection, inflow of remittance and budget expenditure are taking place as expected till last month. He said that the government will start facing problems if the current problem persists for more than a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">“As most of the countries around the world are under lockdown, the inflow of remittance is expected to decrease and the foreign exchange reserve will also decline. The government will face problems in such a situation,” said Bhatta.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">The government has already made it clear that it is ready to mobilize foreign assistance for resource management to cope with the current crisis. A meeting of the Council of Ministers held last week has given the authority to the finance ministry to hold discussions with the donor agencies to mobilize the funds for the government’s fight against coronavirus.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">The finance ministry has said that the government has initiated the process to receive concessional loan of Rs 3.43 billion from the World Bank to deal with the coronavirus crisis. It has also accepted credit facility of Rs 13.09 billion from the International Monetary Fund. The finance ministry is also doing its homework to acquire US$ 60 million from the Asian Development Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">Joint Secretary at the finance ministry Khatri also informed that the government is discussing about taking concessional loan from other development partners to deal with the current crisis.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">The finance ministry has formed a committee to study the impact of coronavirus on Nepal’s economy but the government has not released the findings of the report yet.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">Former Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi is of the view that the government should transfer the budget allocated for development works to the sectors affected by coronavirus as there is no possibility of capital expenditure at the moment.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-02', 'modified' => '2020-04-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11616', 'image' => '20200402121158_1585779198.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-02 12:11:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11863', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Government Terminates Contract for Medical Supplies from China', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 2: The government has cancelled the agreement with a private company to supply medical kits from China for the prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 2: The government has cancelled the agreement with a private company to supply medical kits from China for the prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Director-General of the Department of Health, Mahendra Prasad Shrestha shared at a press conference organized by the Ministry of Health and Population on Wednesday (April 1) that the agreement with Omni Business Corporate International Pvt Ltd has been terminated due to the company's inability to supply the required medical kits. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"The company has expressed its inability to deliver the medical supplies including rapid diagnostic kits in the stipulated time," he said, claiming the agreement signed with the supplier, therefore, was nullified. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Shrestha further shared that the contractor, as per the agreement, had only supplied 10 per cent of the required kits and drugs at an expense of 18 per cent amount. He added the government would confiscate the surety amount deposited by the contractor and also request the authority concerned to blacklist the company for not being able to supply medical drugs and appliances as agreed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Director-General also admitted that the materials imported through the company during the time of crisis cost 20 percent more than normal price. It may be noted that the government on Sunday had signed the agreement with the Omni Group to purchase medical supplies used for testing and treating coronavirus. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Shrestha shared that a new process would be initiated for the procurement of medical appliances from Thursday (April 2) again after scrapping the agreement with Omni Business Group.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS""> The ministry is preparing to import medical appliances within five days after soliciting a bid with a three-day deadline. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"For now, we have adequate stocks," he said, adding, "We can provide sufficient medical equipment to the doctors and health workers involved in the treatment of patients". -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-02', 'modified' => '2020-04-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11615', 'image' => '20200402094346_singha durbar gate.JPG', 'article_date' => '2020-04-02 09:43:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11879', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Industrialists Demand Easing Import of Raw Materials and Supply of Goods ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period. ', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Although the government has decided to ease production and supply of essential goods during the ongoing lockdown to prevent the spread of corona infection, entrepreneurs suggest that the supply of such commodities has not been as smooth as expected. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Despite the government’s commitment, the entrepreneurs are still facing problems to manage manpower, import raw materials, and to transport the manufactured goods to the market.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of Association of Nepalese Rice, Oil and Pulses, informed that most of the food industries are now dependent on the stocked raw material for production.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Most of the industries are currently using the raw materials for production which they had stocked before,” he informed. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">There has not been any supply of raw materials since the lockdown. Likewise, transportation of goods is also not easily accessible, he added. </span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, Gupta claimed that there would be no shortage of food at least for three months. The stock of raw and the finished products are enough to sustain the supply for at least three months, he added.</span> </span></span></p> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11629', 'image' => '20200405103819_Birgunj-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:37:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11878', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Coming Week more Stressful for Nepal: Experts ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the country.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the country. This means that more challenges are likely for the prevention and control of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, according to experts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">An individual in Dhangadhi of Kailali district tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday—the 12th day of the ongoing nationwide lockdown. On Saturday alone, three new cases of COVID-19, all from Sudur Paschim Province, were confirmed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Of them, two are India returnees while the third one is the family member of an infected youth who had recently returned home from the UAE. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Director of Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital Dr Sagar Rajbhandari said that more challenges are likely with the transfer of COVID-19 from one person to another. Now all foreign returnees and those who came in contact with them should be tested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“Not only the foreign returnees now the community they are living in also should be screened,” Dr Rajbhandari said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He added that we should remain more alert since Nepal’s bordering states of India including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been reporting increasing number of new cases of COVID-19. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Dr Rajbhandari suggested that all people coming home from abroad including India should be kept under quarantines along with proper surveillance. He added that the coming week will show the real picture of COVID-19 infection in Nepal, as sample testing have been initiated in all seven states and new cases have surfaced almost every day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He was of the view that the ongoing lockdown should be extended and all individuals from the infected people’s community should be tested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As the government has suspended all international flights for nearly two weeks now, people have not arrived from foreign countries via air route. The border with neighbouring India too has been sealed temporarily. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11628', 'image' => '20200405102445_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:23:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11877', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rapid Testing in 3 Districts where new cases of Covid-19 Emerged', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5). Among the three new infections reported in Kailali and Kanchanpur districts of Sudur Paschim Province, one case was a local transmission instead of an imported case seen before. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Saturday evening decided to carry out the rapid tests as it reviewed other measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Government spokesperson Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada said that the Council of Ministers also decided to stop the mobility of people from one province to another, from one local level to another and from one district to another in order to check the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected 1.2 million people and killed over 64,000 people as of Sunday morning. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Khatiwada, who is also the minister for finance as well as communication and information technology, further said that the provincial and local governments need to work more effectively to ensure strict implementation of the lockdown. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The cabinet meeting also decided to make arrangement of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the health workers immediately, recognizing their important role in the current situation, said the state-owned news agency RSS (Rastriya Samachar Samiti). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government had earlier announced insurance scheme and other incentives for the health professionals. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"A decision has been taken to mobilize the health workers with complete safety, wipe out any other obstacles to their work and take legal action against anyone involved in endangering the security and well-being of the health workers," RSS quoted Minister Khatiwada as saying. According to him, all levels of government including the local administration need to ensure security to the health workers. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11627', 'image' => '20200405101029_1586016240.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:09:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11876', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three More Test Positive for COVID-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country. All three are from Kanchanpur district of Sudurpaschim Province, according to the state-run national news agency RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Those confirmed to have contracted the virus include a 21-year-old male who recently returned from Mumbai, India; the second is a 41 -year-old male who arrived home recently from Uttarakhand, India, and the third is a 41-year-old woman, RSS reported citing the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division under the Ministry of Health and Population. The woman is the relative of the one who was tested positive earlier in the district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Their swab samples were collected some days ago and the tests were conducted on Friday, said director of the division Dr Basudev Pandey. All three are being treated at the Dhanagadhi-based Sudurpaschim Provincial Hospital. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">This is the first locally transmitted case, RSS said. The first COVID-19 case was detected in a student who arrived from Wuhan of China in January and the patient has been already cured. Other infected are receiving treatment under isolation, the ministry said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the latest update by worldometer, more than 1.1 million people have been infected by coronavirus around the world and the death toll is nearing 60,000.</span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11626', 'image' => '20200404033603_infographic-mers-689.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 15:33:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11875', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Serving Humanity with Free Lunch', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy. Some restaurateurs and hoteliers are providing free meals to the people bearing the brunt of the lockdown.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From serving free lunch to police personnel and doctors to giving out free takeaway meals to stranded tourists, they are providing support to the needy at this time of crisis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Here are some initiatives of a few restaurants and hotels to provide possible relief to people during the time of emergency.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Kathmandu Guest House (KGH)</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From Day 1 of the lockdown, this iconic boutique hotel in Thamel has been distributing food to the needy ones as well as stranded tourists for free. “With the help from Thamel Tourism Board and coordination from police, we have distributed almost 3000 plus packets of packed food,” says Rajan Shakya, CEO of KGH Group of Hotels. Apart from that, it has been giving out ration to Rohingya refugees and has been providing PPEs to hospitals. “Provided that any hospital asks us for PPE, we go and give them,” says Shakya. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Dalle </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Dalle has been serving the police personnel with free lunch every day since the beginning of the lockdown. It has been giving out around 150 lunch boxes every day. “We have stocks of vegetables and other groceries, which will rot if we don’t use. So, on one hand, serving food at this time will give us satisfaction and on the other, help the police force to do its duty properly as they don’t have to worry about going home or spending for lunch,” says Subhash Gauchan, co-founder of Dalle. Gauchan says at this situation there is a need of mutual cooperation so that the ones who are at the forefront against the Covid 19 can do their duty properly without having the need to worry about basic things. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Bajeko Sekuwa</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Bajeko Sekuwa has been serving free lunches from 11 am to 2 pm to the police personnel, doctors and needy people. It has been providing more than 100 plus lunch boxes every day. “As we are in the business of serving, it is our duty to serve not only at good times but also when people need us the most. This is our social responsibility and we couldn’t step back at this time of crisis,” says Sanjeev Kumar Timilsina, operation head of Bajeko Sekuwa. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Moondance Restaurant Pokhara</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Moondance Restaurant and Bar in Pokhara provided free lunch from Day 1 of the lockdown to till the eight day to the stranded tourists. Now, as most of the tourists have returned to Kathmandu or their home country, they have recently stopped the service. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">These are few examples of cooperation from the private sector during times of crisis. There are many players from the private sector who have been actively giving back to the society at the moment. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11625', 'image' => '20200404031010_food distribution by KGH.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 15:08:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11874', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ADB Forecasts 5.3% Economic Growth for Nepal in 2020', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic-induced crisis is expected to decelerate Nepal’s economic growth to 5.3 percent (at market prices) in the fiscal year 2020, down from 7.1 percent a year earlier, according to the latest report published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">April 4: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic-induced crisis is expected to decelerate Nepal’s economic growth to 5.3 percent (at market prices) in the fiscal year 2020, down from 7.1 percent a year earlier, according to the latest report published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Manila-based lender in its annual flagship publication the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020 projects Nepal’s GDP to recover at 6.4 percent for FY2021, assuming a quick end to the COVID-19 pandemic, a return to pre-COVID economic activities, and a normal monsoon. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">“The government of Nepal expects a couple of large infrastructure projects, namely the 456-megawatt Upper Tamakoshi Hydroelectric Plant and Gautam Buddha International Airport, to be commercially operational by FY2021. Expectation of higher subnational level spending will also stimulate growth,” ADB said in a press statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">“The global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent nationwide lockdown that is necessary to contain the contagion will adversely affect the country’s economy,” the statement quoted ADB Country Director for Nepal Mukhtor Khamudkhanov as saying. According to him, industry and services face supply disruptions, and remittances will likely decline during the last quarter of this fiscal year, dampening domestic demand. “Growth will also be slower as a result of lower rice production. If the situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic further worsens, growth in FY2020 could be lower than currently anticipated growth,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">Similarly, in its Nepal Macroeconomic Update, which was released on the same day ADO 2020 was published (April 3), ADB has stated that average annual inflation will inch up to 6 percent in FY2020, up from 4.6 percent a year earlier, reflecting lower production and supply chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the report, headline inflation has averaged 6.5 percent in the first seven months of FY2020, significantly higher than 4.2 percent a year earlier. “Food inflation increased by 9.8 percent as of mid-February 2020 compared to a year earlier, with significant increase in the prices of vegetables, spices, and alcoholic beverages. The temporary closure of international borders over COVID-19 concern has nudged up food prices. The average annual inflation for FY2020 could be higher than anticipated if the situation further worsens due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” says the report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">According to ADB, merchandise trade deficit narrowed by 4.9 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of FY2020 after widening by 15 percent in the year-earlier period. The deficit contracted on higher export growth, particularly of palm oil and cardamom to India and reduced import of construction materials, vehicles, and petroleum products. The improved trade balance has helped contain current account deficit to USD1 billion in the fiscal year through mid-February 2020 from USD 1.5 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier. The deficit is forecast to narrow from 7.7 percent of GDP in FY2019 to 5.4 percent on shrinking imports of petroleum products, capital, and consumer goods. However, ADB has expected it could be higher if remittances fall substantially in the last quarter of FY2020 </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">According to the Nepal Macroeconomic Update, average annual inflation will stay moderate at 5.5 percent in FY2021, assuming a reversal to normal activities after the COVID-19 disruption, better harvest, subdued oil prices, and a modest uptick of inflation in India. “The current account deficit is expected to widen from 5 percent of GDP in FY2020 to 5.6 percent as imports of capital goods increase. The deficit will, however, be largely contained by lower oil prices, a gradual reduction in the import of fossil fuel with better electricity supply, and higher hydroelectricity exports to India, according to the report,” reads the report. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">ADB said that downside risks to the outlook in FY2021 are the pervasiveness of the COVID-19 pandemic that could paralyze the economy if the outbreak persists. It warned against natural hazards like erratic monsoons and flood could depress farm output and damage infrastructure. “Persistent capacity deficiencies regarding project and program execution at the provincial and local levels will weaken subnational spending. Exogenous shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic will weaken global demand, affecting out-migration for foreign employment and putting pressure on Nepal’s external stability,” reads the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11624', 'image' => '20200404094739_82fecd1.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 09:46:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11873', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banks Contribute Rs 254 Million for Fight Against COVID-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Commercial and development banks have started donating money to the fund set up by the government in an effort to minimize the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 3: Commercial and development banks have started donating money to the fund set up by the government in an effort to minimize the impact of the coronavirus pandemic .</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The banks have started voluntarily contributing to the cause after the government imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 24 to contain the spread of the pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As of Thursday (April 2), around Rs 2 billion has been collected in the fund. The contribution of 27 A-class commercial banks alone stands at Rs 254 million, according to Nepal Bankers’ Association.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Meanwhile, Rastriya Banijya Bank has contributed Rs 18.5 million while Nepal Bank Limited has contributed Rs 13.5 million. Agriculture Development Bank has deposited Rs 16 million in the fund.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Other banks who have contributed to the fund include NMB Bank (Rs 15.1 million), Global IME Bank (Rs11.5 million), Bank of Kathmandu (Rs10.5 million), Citizens Bank (Rs 5 million), Century Bank (Rs 8.5 million), Civil Bank (Rs 7.8 million), Himalayan Bank (Rs 12.5 million), Kumari Bank (Rs 7 million), Laxmi Bank (Rs 10 million), Machhapuchhre Bank (Rs 10.06 million), Mega Bank (Rs 13.5 million), NCC Bank (Rs 10 million), Nepal Bangladesh Bank (Rs 14.5 million), Nepal SBI Bank (Rs 10 million), Nepal Investment Bank (Rs 10 million), Prabhu Bank (Rs 10.1 million), Prime Bank (Rs 17.5 million), Sanima Bank (Rs 16.8 million) and Siddhartha Bank (Rs 8.5 million). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Meanwhile, Standard Chartered Bank, Sunrise Bank, NIC Asia Bank, Nabil Bank and Everest Bank are said to be holding internal discussion about contributing to the fund. All of these banks have pledged to support the government initiative.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The fund collected around Rs 1 billion on Thursday alone. According to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), the fund has received around Rs 2 billion from generous contributors.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government had set up the fund on March 24 with an initial contribution of Rs 500 million to provide relief to the sectors affected by coronavirus. Spokesperson at the OPMCM Rajendra Kumar Poudel informed that the fund is receiving more contributions day by day.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada informed that the transactions of the fund will be transparent as the government has already formed a work procedure to mobilise the fund.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">It has been learnt that the fund will be basically used to procure medicines and equipment for coronavirus and for free treatment of the patients.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11623', 'image' => '20200403045712_20200205110120_nw.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 16:56:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11872', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'StanChart Announces USD 50m COVID-19 Assistance Fund', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: The British multinational banking and financial services company Standard Chartered Group has launched a USD 50 million global fund to provide assistance to those affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">April 3: The British multinational banking and financial services company Standard Chartered Group has launched a USD 50 million global fund to provide assistance to those affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">Issuing a press statement, Standard Chartered said that the Group will immediately donate USD 25 million to support emergency relief in the most affected markets. “The additional USD 25 million will help communities over the medium term to recover from the economic impact of the virus. It will also match contributions made by its employees and other donors to meet the USD 50 million target,” reads the statement. According to the bank, all the Group’s board and management team members will be making personal contributions to the fund.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">Through individual country and regional efforts, Standard Chartered has already donated USD 1.85 million to COVID-19 relief efforts to date.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">The Group has also launched initiatives to provide economic support and protect the wellbeing of customers, clients and the Group’s 84,000 employees around the world. “On 30 March, the Group announced that it is committing up to USD 1 billion </span><span style="font-family:Arial">of loans, import/export financing and working capital, at preferential rates, for companies providing goods and services to help in the fight against COVID-19, and support those re-deploying production resources to help fight the pandemic,” said the bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">According to the statement, companies in scope include manufacturers and distributors in the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare providers, as well as non-medical companies that have volunteered to add this capability to their manufacturing output. “Goods in scope include ventilators, face masks, protective equipment and sanitisers,” reads the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11622', 'image' => '20200403035917_Standard-Chartered.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 15:57:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11871', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Global Equities Attempt Rebound from Virus-fuelled Losses', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Global equities mostly rebounded Thursday from recent coronavirus-fuelled losses, as oil rallied on hopes of an end to a Saudi-Russia price war.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">April 3: Global equities mostly rebounded Thursday from recent coronavirus-fuelled losses, as oil rallied on hopes of an end to a Saudi-Russia price war, and resurgent Chinese energy demand, AFP reported citing the dealers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">According to the French news agency, traders were on tenterhooks before US jobless claims data, which will again lay bare the impact of COVID-19 on the world's biggest economy after dire figures last week.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">“In midday deals, the London stock market advanced 0.3 percent with energy majors BP and Shell winning almost ten percent on the back of soaring crude futures that lift profits. In the eurozone, Frankfurt added 0.4 percent, Milan won 0.8 percent and Paris gained 0.7 percent,” AFP reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">Oil soared more than ten percent on hopes for a US intervention to end a Saudi-Russia price war, with US President Donald Trump saying he expected the two to resolve the row, while dealers were also cheered by China's decision to snap up bargain crude.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">The European single currency meanwhile dipped versus the dollar.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">"We do appear to be seeing some gains ... on a couple of headlines that China will start topping up its state reserves, and that Saudi Arabia is supporting co-operation amongst oil producers to stabilise oil markets," AFP quoted CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson as saying.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">"These gains are helping support rebounds in Royal Dutch Shell and BP's share price, as well as a modest stabilisation in early trading for European markets."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">On the downside, Madrid stocks dived 1.1 percent on news that the coronavirus death toll in Spain has surged past 10,000.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">After two weeks of much-needed gains fuelled by trillions of dollars in stimulus and widespread monetary easing, focus has returned to the devastation wrought on populations and the long-term impact of the pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">According to AFP, US President Trump's COVID-19 task force has warned America could see almost a quarter of a million deaths and the president warned of a "horrific" couple of weeks ahead.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">His comments came as a number of countries said they would extend lockdowns, which have already gouged economies around the world, the news agency further reported.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11621', 'image' => '20200403011201_Global equities.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 13:11:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11868', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Allows Industries Producing Daily Essentials to Resume Operation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: In a move to ease the crippling lockdown imposed on March 24 to stop the possible outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), the government has decided to allow industries producing essential goods to resume operation provided that they meet certain health criteria.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 3: In a move to ease the crippling lockdown imposed on March 24 to stop the possible outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), the government has decided to allow industries producing essential goods to resume operation provided that they meet certain health criteria.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Industries producing food stuffs and other daily essentials will be allowed to resume operation on condition that they manage all the works with residential staff. The High-Level Coordination Committee for Prevention and Control of COVID-19 took a decision to this effect on Thursday (April 2).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Finance Minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada informed that the industries will be allowed to function if they can manage residential for production and fullfill all health and safety requirements.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Dr Khatiwada, who is also the government spokesperson, said that the industries can be operated in coordination with the local units. However, such industries cannot use workers from outside. According to Dr Khatiwada, the industries will have to mobilise the local labourers. “Industries can be operated in coordination with the local levels,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, the committee also decided to resume the construction works of large development projects like Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project and Melamchi Water Supply Project. For this, the projects will have to assign staff who are already stationed at the project sites. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“The local bodies will oversee to ensure that no worker from outside enter and those working inside leave the sites,” said Khatiwada. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The committee has also decided to allow harvesting of winter crop and planting of paddy seeds without bringing workers from outside and using local and family workers. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Meanwhile, the government has decided to procure medical kits and equipment from China on its own after an earlier decision to bring those materials through a private firm courted controversy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Minister Khatiwada said that the matters related to the procurement of medical appliances and kits are under investigation. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He further said that the process of procurement of medical supplies through tender has been scrapped after complaint of financial irregularities and now the government has began a fresh bid through G-2-G (government to government) process. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11620', 'image' => '20200403123551_unnamed.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 12:34:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11867', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Six Nepalis in Forbes 30 under 30 List', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Five entrepreneurs and a golfer from Nepal have made it to the Forbes list of 30 under 30, 2020 in Asia.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 3: Five entrepreneurs and a golfer from Nepal have made it to the Forbes list of 30 under 30, 2020 in Asia. Forbes released the list on Thursday. The list includes various youths from entrepreneurship, social work and the ones who have been influencing the society. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The six Nepalis on this list are Golfer Pratima Sherpa, Nikita Acharya and Kiran Timsina, co-founders, Urban Girls. Shubhangi Rana and Jeselina Rana, Pad2Go. and Rohit Tiwari, co-founder, Foodmario. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Nikita Acharya and Kiran Timsina had established Urban Girls in 2012. The company, which started with online selling of ladies accessories, has now expanded to bakery products and accessories for men. “There were many challenges in these seven years. This news has given a lot of motivation to move forward,” says Acharya. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Similarly, Shubhangi Rana and Jeselina Rana started Pad2Go in 2018. Pad2Go has been creating awareness of menstrual health. The venture has installed 80 sanitary napkin vending machines in hospitals, schools, banks and cinema halls of all seven provinces. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Likewise, Rohit Tiwari who has been operating Foodmario has been working as a bridge between homemakers and the customers who order food through online means. Tiwari, on the one hand, has been giving a platform to the homemakers to show their skill, and on the other has been serving office goers and others with hygienic homemade food. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“Being listed under 30 under 30 was my dream. This has further motivated me to push myself,” said Tiwari. “We have been prioritising hygiene from the beginning and will continue to do that. We are further planning to work on the efficiency in the kitchen so that we can deliver the food faster, he said. Foodmario is also about to start its own cloud kitchen. “We will be able to work more efficiently after we start cloud kitchen,” he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/new4835.jpg" style="height:173px; width:792px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11619', 'image' => '20200403120659_593846784_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 12:06:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11869', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Consumers Facing Difficulty to get Daily Essentials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Consumers have complained of difficulties in getting daily essentials due to the shortage in the market following the lockdown imposed by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 3: Consumers have complained of difficulties in getting daily essentials due to the shortage in the market following the lockdown imposed by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Doma Sherpa of Mahankal in Kathmandu Metropolitan City said that they have been facing difficulty to get daily essentials including sugar, salt, rice and vegetables in the market despite looking for it in the market. Sherpa added even shopkeepers operating during morning and evening are also running out the stock of daily essentials. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A shopkeeper Madan Shrestha said that it was challenging to bring goods from wholesale. He added it would not be a problem for him to sell goods to consumers if he gets goods for his shop. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Though the government had announced to ask the department stores to deliver goods to the customers’ doorsteps, it has not been effective. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11618', 'image' => '20200403123817_Buying Yam at Ason Chock, Photo By Prakash K (1)(1).JPG', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 12:37:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11870', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Coronavirus Pandemic Hits Gold and Silver Trade', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: The lockdown to contain corona pandemic has hit the gold and silver trade in the country adversely.', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 3: The lockdown to contain corona pandemic has hit the gold and silver trade in the country adversely. Gold and silver trade was already declining since the beginning of the current fiscal year due sharp hike in price because of the US-China trade war. However, the lockdown has completely ruined the gold and silver business, at least for the time being. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Some months ago, the trade war between China and the US and the tensions between Iran and the US, led to sharp rise in the price of gold in the international market.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Since the price of gold in Nepal is determined on the basis of the price in global market, the price of gold has been on the rise in the domestic market since last July.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The price of one tola (approx. 11 grams) of gold which was Rs 60,000 until the first week of July rose to Rs 82,500 by mid-July last year. Currently, the price of 11 grams of gold in the domestic market is Rs 77,000. The trade of gold is declining due to rising price. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The businessmen involve in gold and silver trade are worried as coronavirus pandemic has brought their business to a grinding halt.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Federation of Nepali Gold and Silver Dealers Association, there are 22,000 jewelry shops in Nepal which are currently closed. Most of these jewelry shops are operated in rented areas and the lockdown has led to loss of income of the traders and added cost burden. </span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In such a situation, the gold and silver dealers are now worried about their expenses, mainly the rent and salaries of their staff members. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Tej Ratna Shakya, former president of the Federation of Nepali Gold and Silver Dealers Association, informed that the biggest concern for all the gold and silver dealers is rent and salary of their staff. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“At present, the whole nation is under lockdown and in such a situation traders and entrepreneurs involved in gold and silvers business won’t be able to pay the rents,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">We are also worried about paying salary to the staff, he added. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11617', 'image' => '20200403010205_jewellry (Copy).jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 13:01:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11866', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Mulls Budget Transfer and Mobilizing Foreign Aid to Cope with COVID-19 Crisis', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 2: The government is facing mounting challenge for resource management with the coronavirus taking heavy toll on the country’s economy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">April 2: The government is facing mounting challenge for resource management with the coronavirus taking heavy toll on the country’s economy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">On one hand, the economic activities have come to a complete halt due to the lockdown while on the other hand the government faces an uphill battle to mange resources to control the spread of the disease. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">In order to manage funds to ward off the crisis, the Ministry of Finance has resorted to budget transfer and mobilization of foreign aid.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">The finance ministry has transferred Rs 850 million from one budget head to another as per the request of the Ministry of Health and Population. A highly-placed source at the finance ministry told New Business Age that the budget has been transferred from various other programmes under the health ministry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">According to the finance ministry, it has also transferred Rs 500 million to the fund for preventing the spread of COVID-19 from other heads.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">Joint Secretary at the ministry Uttar Kumar Khatri informed that the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has almost finalized the work procedure to utilize the fund. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">“The government will utilize the fund in accordance to the work procedure. If the budget is insufficient, the fund will be managed by transferring amount from the annual budget of the concerned ministries,” said Khatri. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">Spokesperson of Nepal Rastra Bank Gunakar Bhatta says resource management will not be a problem for the government as revenue collection, inflow of remittance and budget expenditure are taking place as expected till last month. He said that the government will start facing problems if the current problem persists for more than a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">“As most of the countries around the world are under lockdown, the inflow of remittance is expected to decrease and the foreign exchange reserve will also decline. The government will face problems in such a situation,” said Bhatta.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">The government has already made it clear that it is ready to mobilize foreign assistance for resource management to cope with the current crisis. A meeting of the Council of Ministers held last week has given the authority to the finance ministry to hold discussions with the donor agencies to mobilize the funds for the government’s fight against coronavirus.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">The finance ministry has said that the government has initiated the process to receive concessional loan of Rs 3.43 billion from the World Bank to deal with the coronavirus crisis. It has also accepted credit facility of Rs 13.09 billion from the International Monetary Fund. The finance ministry is also doing its homework to acquire US$ 60 million from the Asian Development Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">Joint Secretary at the finance ministry Khatri also informed that the government is discussing about taking concessional loan from other development partners to deal with the current crisis.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">The finance ministry has formed a committee to study the impact of coronavirus on Nepal’s economy but the government has not released the findings of the report yet.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">Former Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi is of the view that the government should transfer the budget allocated for development works to the sectors affected by coronavirus as there is no possibility of capital expenditure at the moment.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-02', 'modified' => '2020-04-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11616', 'image' => '20200402121158_1585779198.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-02 12:11:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11863', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Government Terminates Contract for Medical Supplies from China', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 2: The government has cancelled the agreement with a private company to supply medical kits from China for the prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 2: The government has cancelled the agreement with a private company to supply medical kits from China for the prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Director-General of the Department of Health, Mahendra Prasad Shrestha shared at a press conference organized by the Ministry of Health and Population on Wednesday (April 1) that the agreement with Omni Business Corporate International Pvt Ltd has been terminated due to the company's inability to supply the required medical kits. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"The company has expressed its inability to deliver the medical supplies including rapid diagnostic kits in the stipulated time," he said, claiming the agreement signed with the supplier, therefore, was nullified. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Shrestha further shared that the contractor, as per the agreement, had only supplied 10 per cent of the required kits and drugs at an expense of 18 per cent amount. He added the government would confiscate the surety amount deposited by the contractor and also request the authority concerned to blacklist the company for not being able to supply medical drugs and appliances as agreed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Director-General also admitted that the materials imported through the company during the time of crisis cost 20 percent more than normal price. It may be noted that the government on Sunday had signed the agreement with the Omni Group to purchase medical supplies used for testing and treating coronavirus. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Shrestha shared that a new process would be initiated for the procurement of medical appliances from Thursday (April 2) again after scrapping the agreement with Omni Business Group.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS""> The ministry is preparing to import medical appliances within five days after soliciting a bid with a three-day deadline. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"For now, we have adequate stocks," he said, adding, "We can provide sufficient medical equipment to the doctors and health workers involved in the treatment of patients". -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-02', 'modified' => '2020-04-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11615', 'image' => '20200402094346_singha durbar gate.JPG', 'article_date' => '2020-04-02 09:43:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 5: Entrepreneurs and industrialists have demanded that the government make the import of raw materials and transportation of commodities easily accessible during the lockdown period. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Although the government has decided to ease production and supply of essential goods during the ongoing lockdown to prevent the spread of corona infection, entrepreneurs suggest that the supply of such commodities has not been as smooth as expected. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Despite the government’s commitment, the entrepreneurs are still facing problems to manage manpower, import raw materials, and to transport the manufactured goods to the market.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Subodh Kumar Gupta, president of Association of Nepalese Rice, Oil and Pulses, informed that most of the food industries are now dependent on the stocked raw material for production.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“Most of the industries are currently using the raw materials for production which they had stocked before,” he informed. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">There has not been any supply of raw materials since the lockdown. Likewise, transportation of goods is also not easily accessible, he added. </span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">However, Gupta claimed that there would be no shortage of food at least for three months. The stock of raw and the finished products are enough to sustain the supply for at least three months, he added.</span> </span></span></p> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <h1> </h1> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11629', 'image' => '20200405103819_Birgunj-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:37:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11878', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Coming Week more Stressful for Nepal: Experts ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the country.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 5: With the confirmation of transmission of coronavirus from an foreign returnee to a member of the family, the COVID-19 disease has entered into the second phase of transmission in the country. This means that more challenges are likely for the prevention and control of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, according to experts. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">An individual in Dhangadhi of Kailali district tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday—the 12th day of the ongoing nationwide lockdown. On Saturday alone, three new cases of COVID-19, all from Sudur Paschim Province, were confirmed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Of them, two are India returnees while the third one is the family member of an infected youth who had recently returned home from the UAE. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Director of Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital Dr Sagar Rajbhandari said that more challenges are likely with the transfer of COVID-19 from one person to another. Now all foreign returnees and those who came in contact with them should be tested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">“Not only the foreign returnees now the community they are living in also should be screened,” Dr Rajbhandari said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He added that we should remain more alert since Nepal’s bordering states of India including Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been reporting increasing number of new cases of COVID-19. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Dr Rajbhandari suggested that all people coming home from abroad including India should be kept under quarantines along with proper surveillance. He added that the coming week will show the real picture of COVID-19 infection in Nepal, as sample testing have been initiated in all seven states and new cases have surfaced almost every day. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">He was of the view that the ongoing lockdown should be extended and all individuals from the infected people’s community should be tested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As the government has suspended all international flights for nearly two weeks now, people have not arrived from foreign countries via air route. The border with neighbouring India too has been sealed temporarily. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11628', 'image' => '20200405102445_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:23:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11877', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rapid Testing in 3 Districts where new cases of Covid-19 Emerged', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 5: The government has decided to carry out rapid tests for possible COVID-19 infection in the three districts where new cases of coronavirus were reported on Saturday (April 5). Among the three new infections reported in Kailali and Kanchanpur districts of Sudur Paschim Province, one case was a local transmission instead of an imported case seen before. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Saturday evening decided to carry out the rapid tests as it reviewed other measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country. Government spokesperson Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada said that the Council of Ministers also decided to stop the mobility of people from one province to another, from one local level to another and from one district to another in order to check the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected 1.2 million people and killed over 64,000 people as of Sunday morning. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Khatiwada, who is also the minister for finance as well as communication and information technology, further said that the provincial and local governments need to work more effectively to ensure strict implementation of the lockdown. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The cabinet meeting also decided to make arrangement of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the health workers immediately, recognizing their important role in the current situation, said the state-owned news agency RSS (Rastriya Samachar Samiti). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government had earlier announced insurance scheme and other incentives for the health professionals. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"A decision has been taken to mobilize the health workers with complete safety, wipe out any other obstacles to their work and take legal action against anyone involved in endangering the security and well-being of the health workers," RSS quoted Minister Khatiwada as saying. According to him, all levels of government including the local administration need to ensure security to the health workers. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-05', 'modified' => '2020-04-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11627', 'image' => '20200405101029_1586016240.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-05 10:09:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11876', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three More Test Positive for COVID-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 4: Three more people have tested positive for COVID-19, taking the confirmed cases to nine so far in the country. All three are from Kanchanpur district of Sudurpaschim Province, according to the state-run national news agency RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Those confirmed to have contracted the virus include a 21-year-old male who recently returned from Mumbai, India; the second is a 41 -year-old male who arrived home recently from Uttarakhand, India, and the third is a 41-year-old woman, RSS reported citing the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division under the Ministry of Health and Population. The woman is the relative of the one who was tested positive earlier in the district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Their swab samples were collected some days ago and the tests were conducted on Friday, said director of the division Dr Basudev Pandey. All three are being treated at the Dhanagadhi-based Sudurpaschim Provincial Hospital. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">This is the first locally transmitted case, RSS said. The first COVID-19 case was detected in a student who arrived from Wuhan of China in January and the patient has been already cured. Other infected are receiving treatment under isolation, the ministry said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">According to the latest update by worldometer, more than 1.1 million people have been infected by coronavirus around the world and the death toll is nearing 60,000.</span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11626', 'image' => '20200404033603_infographic-mers-689.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 15:33:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11875', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Serving Humanity with Free Lunch', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 3: At a time when the lives of people across the country have been crippled by the lockdown, which is in place since March 24 to stop the possible spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), good Samaritans have also come forward to help the needy. Some restaurateurs and hoteliers are providing free meals to the people bearing the brunt of the lockdown.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From serving free lunch to police personnel and doctors to giving out free takeaway meals to stranded tourists, they are providing support to the needy at this time of crisis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Here are some initiatives of a few restaurants and hotels to provide possible relief to people during the time of emergency.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Kathmandu Guest House (KGH)</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">From Day 1 of the lockdown, this iconic boutique hotel in Thamel has been distributing food to the needy ones as well as stranded tourists for free. “With the help from Thamel Tourism Board and coordination from police, we have distributed almost 3000 plus packets of packed food,” says Rajan Shakya, CEO of KGH Group of Hotels. Apart from that, it has been giving out ration to Rohingya refugees and has been providing PPEs to hospitals. “Provided that any hospital asks us for PPE, we go and give them,” says Shakya. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Dalle </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Dalle has been serving the police personnel with free lunch every day since the beginning of the lockdown. It has been giving out around 150 lunch boxes every day. “We have stocks of vegetables and other groceries, which will rot if we don’t use. So, on one hand, serving food at this time will give us satisfaction and on the other, help the police force to do its duty properly as they don’t have to worry about going home or spending for lunch,” says Subhash Gauchan, co-founder of Dalle. Gauchan says at this situation there is a need of mutual cooperation so that the ones who are at the forefront against the Covid 19 can do their duty properly without having the need to worry about basic things. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Bajeko Sekuwa</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Bajeko Sekuwa has been serving free lunches from 11 am to 2 pm to the police personnel, doctors and needy people. It has been providing more than 100 plus lunch boxes every day. “As we are in the business of serving, it is our duty to serve not only at good times but also when people need us the most. This is our social responsibility and we couldn’t step back at this time of crisis,” says Sanjeev Kumar Timilsina, operation head of Bajeko Sekuwa. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><strong>Moondance Restaurant Pokhara</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Moondance Restaurant and Bar in Pokhara provided free lunch from Day 1 of the lockdown to till the eight day to the stranded tourists. Now, as most of the tourists have returned to Kathmandu or their home country, they have recently stopped the service. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">These are few examples of cooperation from the private sector during times of crisis. There are many players from the private sector who have been actively giving back to the society at the moment. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11625', 'image' => '20200404031010_food distribution by KGH.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 15:08:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11874', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ADB Forecasts 5.3% Economic Growth for Nepal in 2020', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 4: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic-induced crisis is expected to decelerate Nepal’s economic growth to 5.3 percent (at market prices) in the fiscal year 2020, down from 7.1 percent a year earlier, according to the latest report published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">April 4: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic-induced crisis is expected to decelerate Nepal’s economic growth to 5.3 percent (at market prices) in the fiscal year 2020, down from 7.1 percent a year earlier, according to the latest report published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Manila-based lender in its annual flagship publication the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020 projects Nepal’s GDP to recover at 6.4 percent for FY2021, assuming a quick end to the COVID-19 pandemic, a return to pre-COVID economic activities, and a normal monsoon. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">“The government of Nepal expects a couple of large infrastructure projects, namely the 456-megawatt Upper Tamakoshi Hydroelectric Plant and Gautam Buddha International Airport, to be commercially operational by FY2021. Expectation of higher subnational level spending will also stimulate growth,” ADB said in a press statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">“The global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent nationwide lockdown that is necessary to contain the contagion will adversely affect the country’s economy,” the statement quoted ADB Country Director for Nepal Mukhtor Khamudkhanov as saying. According to him, industry and services face supply disruptions, and remittances will likely decline during the last quarter of this fiscal year, dampening domestic demand. “Growth will also be slower as a result of lower rice production. If the situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic further worsens, growth in FY2020 could be lower than currently anticipated growth,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">Similarly, in its Nepal Macroeconomic Update, which was released on the same day ADO 2020 was published (April 3), ADB has stated that average annual inflation will inch up to 6 percent in FY2020, up from 4.6 percent a year earlier, reflecting lower production and supply chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the report, headline inflation has averaged 6.5 percent in the first seven months of FY2020, significantly higher than 4.2 percent a year earlier. “Food inflation increased by 9.8 percent as of mid-February 2020 compared to a year earlier, with significant increase in the prices of vegetables, spices, and alcoholic beverages. The temporary closure of international borders over COVID-19 concern has nudged up food prices. The average annual inflation for FY2020 could be higher than anticipated if the situation further worsens due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” says the report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">According to ADB, merchandise trade deficit narrowed by 4.9 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of FY2020 after widening by 15 percent in the year-earlier period. The deficit contracted on higher export growth, particularly of palm oil and cardamom to India and reduced import of construction materials, vehicles, and petroleum products. The improved trade balance has helped contain current account deficit to USD1 billion in the fiscal year through mid-February 2020 from USD 1.5 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier. The deficit is forecast to narrow from 7.7 percent of GDP in FY2019 to 5.4 percent on shrinking imports of petroleum products, capital, and consumer goods. However, ADB has expected it could be higher if remittances fall substantially in the last quarter of FY2020 </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">According to the Nepal Macroeconomic Update, average annual inflation will stay moderate at 5.5 percent in FY2021, assuming a reversal to normal activities after the COVID-19 disruption, better harvest, subdued oil prices, and a modest uptick of inflation in India. “The current account deficit is expected to widen from 5 percent of GDP in FY2020 to 5.6 percent as imports of capital goods increase. The deficit will, however, be largely contained by lower oil prices, a gradual reduction in the import of fossil fuel with better electricity supply, and higher hydroelectricity exports to India, according to the report,” reads the report. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">ADB said that downside risks to the outlook in FY2021 are the pervasiveness of the COVID-19 pandemic that could paralyze the economy if the outbreak persists. It warned against natural hazards like erratic monsoons and flood could depress farm output and damage infrastructure. “Persistent capacity deficiencies regarding project and program execution at the provincial and local levels will weaken subnational spending. Exogenous shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic will weaken global demand, affecting out-migration for foreign employment and putting pressure on Nepal’s external stability,” reads the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-04', 'modified' => '2020-04-04', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11624', 'image' => '20200404094739_82fecd1.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-04 09:46:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11873', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banks Contribute Rs 254 Million for Fight Against COVID-19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Commercial and development banks have started donating money to the fund set up by the government in an effort to minimize the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 3: Commercial and development banks have started donating money to the fund set up by the government in an effort to minimize the impact of the coronavirus pandemic .</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The banks have started voluntarily contributing to the cause after the government imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 24 to contain the spread of the pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">As of Thursday (April 2), around Rs 2 billion has been collected in the fund. The contribution of 27 A-class commercial banks alone stands at Rs 254 million, according to Nepal Bankers’ Association.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Meanwhile, Rastriya Banijya Bank has contributed Rs 18.5 million while Nepal Bank Limited has contributed Rs 13.5 million. Agriculture Development Bank has deposited Rs 16 million in the fund.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Other banks who have contributed to the fund include NMB Bank (Rs 15.1 million), Global IME Bank (Rs11.5 million), Bank of Kathmandu (Rs10.5 million), Citizens Bank (Rs 5 million), Century Bank (Rs 8.5 million), Civil Bank (Rs 7.8 million), Himalayan Bank (Rs 12.5 million), Kumari Bank (Rs 7 million), Laxmi Bank (Rs 10 million), Machhapuchhre Bank (Rs 10.06 million), Mega Bank (Rs 13.5 million), NCC Bank (Rs 10 million), Nepal Bangladesh Bank (Rs 14.5 million), Nepal SBI Bank (Rs 10 million), Nepal Investment Bank (Rs 10 million), Prabhu Bank (Rs 10.1 million), Prime Bank (Rs 17.5 million), Sanima Bank (Rs 16.8 million) and Siddhartha Bank (Rs 8.5 million). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Meanwhile, Standard Chartered Bank, Sunrise Bank, NIC Asia Bank, Nabil Bank and Everest Bank are said to be holding internal discussion about contributing to the fund. All of these banks have pledged to support the government initiative.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The fund collected around Rs 1 billion on Thursday alone. According to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM), the fund has received around Rs 2 billion from generous contributors.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The government had set up the fund on March 24 with an initial contribution of Rs 500 million to provide relief to the sectors affected by coronavirus. Spokesperson at the OPMCM Rajendra Kumar Poudel informed that the fund is receiving more contributions day by day.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada informed that the transactions of the fund will be transparent as the government has already formed a work procedure to mobilise the fund.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">It has been learnt that the fund will be basically used to procure medicines and equipment for coronavirus and for free treatment of the patients.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11623', 'image' => '20200403045712_20200205110120_nw.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 16:56:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11872', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'StanChart Announces USD 50m COVID-19 Assistance Fund', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: The British multinational banking and financial services company Standard Chartered Group has launched a USD 50 million global fund to provide assistance to those affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">April 3: The British multinational banking and financial services company Standard Chartered Group has launched a USD 50 million global fund to provide assistance to those affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">Issuing a press statement, Standard Chartered said that the Group will immediately donate USD 25 million to support emergency relief in the most affected markets. “The additional USD 25 million will help communities over the medium term to recover from the economic impact of the virus. It will also match contributions made by its employees and other donors to meet the USD 50 million target,” reads the statement. According to the bank, all the Group’s board and management team members will be making personal contributions to the fund.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">Through individual country and regional efforts, Standard Chartered has already donated USD 1.85 million to COVID-19 relief efforts to date.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">The Group has also launched initiatives to provide economic support and protect the wellbeing of customers, clients and the Group’s 84,000 employees around the world. “On 30 March, the Group announced that it is committing up to USD 1 billion </span><span style="font-family:Arial">of loans, import/export financing and working capital, at preferential rates, for companies providing goods and services to help in the fight against COVID-19, and support those re-deploying production resources to help fight the pandemic,” said the bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""><span style="font-family:Arial">According to the statement, companies in scope include manufacturers and distributors in the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare providers, as well as non-medical companies that have volunteered to add this capability to their manufacturing output. “Goods in scope include ventilators, face masks, protective equipment and sanitisers,” reads the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11622', 'image' => '20200403035917_Standard-Chartered.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 15:57:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11871', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Global Equities Attempt Rebound from Virus-fuelled Losses', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Global equities mostly rebounded Thursday from recent coronavirus-fuelled losses, as oil rallied on hopes of an end to a Saudi-Russia price war.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">April 3: Global equities mostly rebounded Thursday from recent coronavirus-fuelled losses, as oil rallied on hopes of an end to a Saudi-Russia price war, and resurgent Chinese energy demand, AFP reported citing the dealers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">According to the French news agency, traders were on tenterhooks before US jobless claims data, which will again lay bare the impact of COVID-19 on the world's biggest economy after dire figures last week.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">“In midday deals, the London stock market advanced 0.3 percent with energy majors BP and Shell winning almost ten percent on the back of soaring crude futures that lift profits. In the eurozone, Frankfurt added 0.4 percent, Milan won 0.8 percent and Paris gained 0.7 percent,” AFP reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">Oil soared more than ten percent on hopes for a US intervention to end a Saudi-Russia price war, with US President Donald Trump saying he expected the two to resolve the row, while dealers were also cheered by China's decision to snap up bargain crude.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">The European single currency meanwhile dipped versus the dollar.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">"We do appear to be seeing some gains ... on a couple of headlines that China will start topping up its state reserves, and that Saudi Arabia is supporting co-operation amongst oil producers to stabilise oil markets," AFP quoted CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson as saying.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">"These gains are helping support rebounds in Royal Dutch Shell and BP's share price, as well as a modest stabilisation in early trading for European markets."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">On the downside, Madrid stocks dived 1.1 percent on news that the coronavirus death toll in Spain has surged past 10,000.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">After two weeks of much-needed gains fuelled by trillions of dollars in stimulus and widespread monetary easing, focus has returned to the devastation wrought on populations and the long-term impact of the pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">According to AFP, US President Trump's COVID-19 task force has warned America could see almost a quarter of a million deaths and the president warned of a "horrific" couple of weeks ahead.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:Verdana">His comments came as a number of countries said they would extend lockdowns, which have already gouged economies around the world, the news agency further reported.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11621', 'image' => '20200403011201_Global equities.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 13:11:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11868', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Allows Industries Producing Daily Essentials to Resume Operation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: In a move to ease the crippling lockdown imposed on March 24 to stop the possible outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), the government has decided to allow industries producing essential goods to resume operation provided that they meet certain health criteria.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 3: In a move to ease the crippling lockdown imposed on March 24 to stop the possible outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), the government has decided to allow industries producing essential goods to resume operation provided that they meet certain health criteria.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Industries producing food stuffs and other daily essentials will be allowed to resume operation on condition that they manage all the works with residential staff. The High-Level Coordination Committee for Prevention and Control of COVID-19 took a decision to this effect on Thursday (April 2).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Finance Minister Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada informed that the industries will be allowed to function if they can manage residential for production and fullfill all health and safety requirements.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Dr Khatiwada, who is also the government spokesperson, said that the industries can be operated in coordination with the local units. However, such industries cannot use workers from outside. According to Dr Khatiwada, the industries will have to mobilise the local labourers. “Industries can be operated in coordination with the local levels,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Likewise, the committee also decided to resume the construction works of large development projects like Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project and Melamchi Water Supply Project. For this, the projects will have to assign staff who are already stationed at the project sites. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“The local bodies will oversee to ensure that no worker from outside enter and those working inside leave the sites,” said Khatiwada. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The committee has also decided to allow harvesting of winter crop and planting of paddy seeds without bringing workers from outside and using local and family workers. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Meanwhile, the government has decided to procure medical kits and equipment from China on its own after an earlier decision to bring those materials through a private firm courted controversy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Minister Khatiwada said that the matters related to the procurement of medical appliances and kits are under investigation. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">He further said that the process of procurement of medical supplies through tender has been scrapped after complaint of financial irregularities and now the government has began a fresh bid through G-2-G (government to government) process. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11620', 'image' => '20200403123551_unnamed.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 12:34:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11867', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Six Nepalis in Forbes 30 under 30 List', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Five entrepreneurs and a golfer from Nepal have made it to the Forbes list of 30 under 30, 2020 in Asia.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">April 3: Five entrepreneurs and a golfer from Nepal have made it to the Forbes list of 30 under 30, 2020 in Asia. Forbes released the list on Thursday. The list includes various youths from entrepreneurship, social work and the ones who have been influencing the society. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">The six Nepalis on this list are Golfer Pratima Sherpa, Nikita Acharya and Kiran Timsina, co-founders, Urban Girls. Shubhangi Rana and Jeselina Rana, Pad2Go. and Rohit Tiwari, co-founder, Foodmario. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Nikita Acharya and Kiran Timsina had established Urban Girls in 2012. The company, which started with online selling of ladies accessories, has now expanded to bakery products and accessories for men. “There were many challenges in these seven years. This news has given a lot of motivation to move forward,” says Acharya. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Similarly, Shubhangi Rana and Jeselina Rana started Pad2Go in 2018. Pad2Go has been creating awareness of menstrual health. The venture has installed 80 sanitary napkin vending machines in hospitals, schools, banks and cinema halls of all seven provinces. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">Likewise, Rohit Tiwari who has been operating Foodmario has been working as a bridge between homemakers and the customers who order food through online means. Tiwari, on the one hand, has been giving a platform to the homemakers to show their skill, and on the other has been serving office goers and others with hygienic homemade food. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri">“Being listed under 30 under 30 was my dream. This has further motivated me to push myself,” said Tiwari. “We have been prioritising hygiene from the beginning and will continue to do that. We are further planning to work on the efficiency in the kitchen so that we can deliver the food faster, he said. Foodmario is also about to start its own cloud kitchen. “We will be able to work more efficiently after we start cloud kitchen,” he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/new4835.jpg" style="height:173px; width:792px" /></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11619', 'image' => '20200403120659_593846784_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 12:06:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11869', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Consumers Facing Difficulty to get Daily Essentials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: Consumers have complained of difficulties in getting daily essentials due to the shortage in the market following the lockdown imposed by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 3: Consumers have complained of difficulties in getting daily essentials due to the shortage in the market following the lockdown imposed by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Doma Sherpa of Mahankal in Kathmandu Metropolitan City said that they have been facing difficulty to get daily essentials including sugar, salt, rice and vegetables in the market despite looking for it in the market. Sherpa added even shopkeepers operating during morning and evening are also running out the stock of daily essentials. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">A shopkeeper Madan Shrestha said that it was challenging to bring goods from wholesale. He added it would not be a problem for him to sell goods to consumers if he gets goods for his shop. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Though the government had announced to ask the department stores to deliver goods to the customers’ doorsteps, it has not been effective. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11618', 'image' => '20200403123817_Buying Yam at Ason Chock, Photo By Prakash K (1)(1).JPG', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 12:37:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11870', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Coronavirus Pandemic Hits Gold and Silver Trade', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 3: The lockdown to contain corona pandemic has hit the gold and silver trade in the country adversely.', 'content' => '<h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">April 3: The lockdown to contain corona pandemic has hit the gold and silver trade in the country adversely. Gold and silver trade was already declining since the beginning of the current fiscal year due sharp hike in price because of the US-China trade war. However, the lockdown has completely ruined the gold and silver business, at least for the time being. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Some months ago, the trade war between China and the US and the tensions between Iran and the US, led to sharp rise in the price of gold in the international market.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Since the price of gold in Nepal is determined on the basis of the price in global market, the price of gold has been on the rise in the domestic market since last July.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The price of one tola (approx. 11 grams) of gold which was Rs 60,000 until the first week of July rose to Rs 82,500 by mid-July last year. Currently, the price of 11 grams of gold in the domestic market is Rs 77,000. The trade of gold is declining due to rising price. </span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">The businessmen involve in gold and silver trade are worried as coronavirus pandemic has brought their business to a grinding halt.</span></span></h1> <h1><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">According to the Federation of Nepali Gold and Silver Dealers Association, there are 22,000 jewelry shops in Nepal which are currently closed. Most of these jewelry shops are operated in rented areas and the lockdown has led to loss of income of the traders and added cost burden. </span></span></h1> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">In such a situation, the gold and silver dealers are now worried about their expenses, mainly the rent and salaries of their staff members. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">Tej Ratna Shakya, former president of the Federation of Nepali Gold and Silver Dealers Association, informed that the biggest concern for all the gold and silver dealers is rent and salary of their staff. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">“At present, the whole nation is under lockdown and in such a situation traders and entrepreneurs involved in gold and silvers business won’t be able to pay the rents,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">We are also worried about paying salary to the staff, he added. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-03', 'modified' => '2020-04-03', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11617', 'image' => '20200403010205_jewellry (Copy).jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-03 13:01:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11866', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Mulls Budget Transfer and Mobilizing Foreign Aid to Cope with COVID-19 Crisis', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 2: The government is facing mounting challenge for resource management with the coronavirus taking heavy toll on the country’s economy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">April 2: The government is facing mounting challenge for resource management with the coronavirus taking heavy toll on the country’s economy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">On one hand, the economic activities have come to a complete halt due to the lockdown while on the other hand the government faces an uphill battle to mange resources to control the spread of the disease. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">In order to manage funds to ward off the crisis, the Ministry of Finance has resorted to budget transfer and mobilization of foreign aid.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">The finance ministry has transferred Rs 850 million from one budget head to another as per the request of the Ministry of Health and Population. A highly-placed source at the finance ministry told New Business Age that the budget has been transferred from various other programmes under the health ministry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">According to the finance ministry, it has also transferred Rs 500 million to the fund for preventing the spread of COVID-19 from other heads.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">Joint Secretary at the ministry Uttar Kumar Khatri informed that the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has almost finalized the work procedure to utilize the fund. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">“The government will utilize the fund in accordance to the work procedure. If the budget is insufficient, the fund will be managed by transferring amount from the annual budget of the concerned ministries,” said Khatri. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">Spokesperson of Nepal Rastra Bank Gunakar Bhatta says resource management will not be a problem for the government as revenue collection, inflow of remittance and budget expenditure are taking place as expected till last month. He said that the government will start facing problems if the current problem persists for more than a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">“As most of the countries around the world are under lockdown, the inflow of remittance is expected to decrease and the foreign exchange reserve will also decline. The government will face problems in such a situation,” said Bhatta.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">The government has already made it clear that it is ready to mobilize foreign assistance for resource management to cope with the current crisis. A meeting of the Council of Ministers held last week has given the authority to the finance ministry to hold discussions with the donor agencies to mobilize the funds for the government’s fight against coronavirus.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">The finance ministry has said that the government has initiated the process to receive concessional loan of Rs 3.43 billion from the World Bank to deal with the coronavirus crisis. It has also accepted credit facility of Rs 13.09 billion from the International Monetary Fund. The finance ministry is also doing its homework to acquire US$ 60 million from the Asian Development Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">Joint Secretary at the finance ministry Khatri also informed that the government is discussing about taking concessional loan from other development partners to deal with the current crisis.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">The finance ministry has formed a committee to study the impact of coronavirus on Nepal’s economy but the government has not released the findings of the report yet.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Times">Former Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi is of the view that the government should transfer the budget allocated for development works to the sectors affected by coronavirus as there is no possibility of capital expenditure at the moment.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-02', 'modified' => '2020-04-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11616', 'image' => '20200402121158_1585779198.jpg', 'article_date' => '2020-04-02 12:11:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '11863', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' Government Terminates Contract for Medical Supplies from China', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 2: The government has cancelled the agreement with a private company to supply medical kits from China for the prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemic. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">April 2: The government has cancelled the agreement with a private company to supply medical kits from China for the prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemic. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Director-General of the Department of Health, Mahendra Prasad Shrestha shared at a press conference organized by the Ministry of Health and Population on Wednesday (April 1) that the agreement with Omni Business Corporate International Pvt Ltd has been terminated due to the company's inability to supply the required medical kits. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"The company has expressed its inability to deliver the medical supplies including rapid diagnostic kits in the stipulated time," he said, claiming the agreement signed with the supplier, therefore, was nullified. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Shrestha further shared that the contractor, as per the agreement, had only supplied 10 per cent of the required kits and drugs at an expense of 18 per cent amount. He added the government would confiscate the surety amount deposited by the contractor and also request the authority concerned to blacklist the company for not being able to supply medical drugs and appliances as agreed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">The Director-General also admitted that the materials imported through the company during the time of crisis cost 20 percent more than normal price. It may be noted that the government on Sunday had signed the agreement with the Omni Group to purchase medical supplies used for testing and treating coronavirus. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">Shrestha shared that a new process would be initiated for the procurement of medical appliances from Thursday (April 2) again after scrapping the agreement with Omni Business Group.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS""> The ministry is preparing to import medical appliances within five days after soliciting a bid with a three-day deadline. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Cambria"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS"">"For now, we have adequate stocks," he said, adding, "We can provide sufficient medical equipment to the doctors and health workers involved in the treatment of patients". -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2020-04-02', 'modified' => '2020-04-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '11615', 'image' => '20200402094346_singha durbar gate.JPG', 'article_date' => '2020-04-02 09:43:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '20' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| 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
