March 13: One million rupees disappeared from a person's bank account in a recent incident raising concerns of online…
March 13: One million rupees disappeared from a person's bank account in a recent incident raising concerns of online…
March 12: A draft bill prepared by the government has underlined the use of innovative technology to manage IT and cyber security.…
March 13: Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA) has introduced strict provisions for insurance companies from investing in real estate sector, water resources, agriculture, tourism and other…
March 13: The demand for juice produced in Nepal is increasing in the international market, according to the Department of Customs’ data of seven months of the current fiscal year…
March 12: The Industry and Commerce, Labour and Consumer Interest Committee under the House of Representatives has formed a sub-committee to carry out a study the customs and excise duties on sponge iron and billet, the state-owned RSS…
March 12: Transportation along the Karnali Bridge has been halted after 14 support wires sustained damages after they caught fire from a truck on…
A total of 1.44 million visitors arrived in Singapore in February, up 50 percent year-on-year, according to the latest statistics released by the Singapore Tourism Board…
The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a significant increase of 58.55 points, equivalent to 2.85%, closing at 2111.24 on Tuesday, on the second trading day of the week on…
March 12: Natural predators like birds, beetles and bugs might be an effective alternative to pesticides, keeping crop-devouring pests populations down while boosting crop yields, AFP reported last week citing…
March 12: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in…
March 12: Weapons imports to Europe nearly doubled over the past five years, partly due to the war in Ukraine, while exports from Russia halved, raising concerns for third-world countries like Nepal who are dependent on grants and loans from European…
The government and the usury victims struggle committee have singed a four-pint agreement. The talks held on Sunday between the two sides at the Ministry of Home Affairs at the initiative of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane led to the agreement. As a result, the loan shark victims have withdrawn their…
Siddhartha Bank Limited has introduced a 'Pink Debit Card' for its women customers under Women Saving Account on the occasion of International Women's Day 2024 with the aim of contributing to women's…
The construction of a 'Pokhara home' with art gallery, public library, clock tower and integrated tourism information centre has begun in the tourist city,…
March 11: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in…
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The hacker withdrew the amount through Connect IPS.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Rs 900,000 withdrawn from Sivanandan's account was sent to Parameshwar Thapa Chhetri’s account in NIC Asia Bank, Buddhachowk branch. It seems that the money from the mother's account was sent to an account in Siddharth Bank Limited and withdrawn several times. According to Mehta, the amount was stolen by hacking his email and password.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Mehta says that the hacker managed to withdraw funds from the account due to the negligence of NIC Asia Bank and Sanima Bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After receiving an alert on his mobile phone that the money had been withdrawn from the account, he contacted the bank and informed that the account was hacked and the money was stolen, but the bank was not interested in taking immediate action, Mehta told New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“I went to the concerned bank within 5 minutes after receiving the money transfer alert from the bank on my mobile and informed them, but they were not interested. If the bank had immediately suspended the account of the unauthorized person, he could not have withdrawn the money,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As soon as NIC Asia Bank said that the account could not be closed, Mehta called the office of Connect IPS and asked them to freeze the money, but after the office said that the money had already been transferred and they could not do anything.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Officials of Sanima Bank in Koshi Province claim that as soon as the victim gave the information, the bank tried to freeze the amount. However, the attempt was not successful as the hacker had already withdrawn the money.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“The amount was withdrawn from the hacker’s account before we got the information,” said the official, “There was nothing we could do.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The police could not catch him</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After the hacker stole a large amount of money, Mehta also filed a complaint at the District Police Office, Sunsari. The police registered a complaint. However, the hacker has not been caught yet. According to Mehta, the police are investigating the case.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dan Bahadur Karki says that it is difficult to catch the culprits of such incidents immediately. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"We have started an investigation after receiving the complaint," said SSP Karki in a conversation with New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Karki says that in recent times, maintaining weak passwords and keeping all the details in the mobile phone makes it easier for hackers to access the account details of people.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The victim, Mehta, has appealed from Nepal Rastra Bank to the Ministry of Home Affairs. After the hacker suddenly swindled the large amount of his hard-earned money, he appealed to Singh Darbar for justice. Even though he pleaded to the home ministry, finance ministry and prime minister's office inside the Singh Darbar take initiative to bring back the money, no one listened, says Mehta adding that he submitted an application to Nepal Rastra Bank, Baluwatar on January 29.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal Rastra Bank says that they have tightened monitoring and investigation due to the increase in such incidents in recent days. The central bank has formed a separate unit to investigate such incidents. Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr. Prakash Kumar Shrestha said that fraud cases have started to increase with the increase in digital transactions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“Such incidents have increased due to the use of weak passwords and misuse of OTP (One Time Password). We are sensitive about it," he told New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">He said that Rashtra Bank is moving towards strengthening the overall banking security system by increasing financial literacy to meet the challenges.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20206', 'image' => '20240313031110_banknotes.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 15:10:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20478', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Draft Bill on IT and Cyber Security Seeks Use of Innovative Technology ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: A draft bill prepared by the government has underlined the use of innovative technology to manage IT and cyber security. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">March 12: A draft bill prepared by the government has underlined the use of innovative technology to manage IT and cyber security. It has stated that artificial intelligence, machine learning, block chain, and IoT should be used in a transparent, accountable, safe and respectful manner. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Unveiling the draft bill, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has sought feedback on the bill within two weeks. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The bill proposes the Government of Nepal to set up a centre for excellence for research and development of the new technologies such as AI, machine learning and block chain. Issues such as electronic records, data, originator of records, invocation of law of contract for electronic transaction, digital signature, public service delivery via electronic medium, technical audit of IT, vetting, operation, regulation and management of domain name, registration of IT industry and business, information/data safety and privacy, digital harassment, collection of personal details, establishment of cyber security centre, data centre and cloud, are included in the bill. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Critical IT infrastructures, cyber monitoring of critical IT infrastructures, cyber security audit and auditor for it, activities banned on cyber space, crime and punishment, use of digital forensic, and establishment of IT tribunal are other topics in the draft bill. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Under the data safety, none is allowed to disrupt harmonious relations among federal units, nationality or national unity, dignity, national security, sovereignty, territorial integrity by means of electronic system. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The bill proposes banning cyber bulling, cyber harassment, production and distribution of indecent content, and cyber scam. Theft of data and code is punishable, as per the proposed bill. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the draft bill, the government would not collect personal data unless required by the law. In case of the need to collect personal information, he/she would be informed mandatorily before it. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As per the bill, every government body and public corporation is asked to run its own website to provide service and share information. The development/design of website to be operated by these bodies should be similar and meet standard set by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Similarly, any individual or office willing to register np domain needs to get it registered at the department, submitting necessary fee. The domain name needs to be renewed every two years. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Individuals or companies willing to provide cyber security service are also required to get license. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The draft bill is available at https://api.giwms.gov.np/storage/22/posts/1710050856_14.pdf. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20205', 'image' => '20240313023133_cybersecurity-freepik.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 14:30:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20477', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NIA Tightens the Screws on Investment of Insurance Companies', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 13: Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA) has introduced strict provisions for insurance companies from investing in real estate sector, water resources, agriculture, tourism and other sectors.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">March 13: Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA) has introduced strict provisions for insurance companies from investing in real estate sector, water resources, agriculture, tourism and other sectors. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The NIA had revised the investment guidelines only three months ago to ease the investment in these sectors but made a u-turn recently and revised the directive to tighten the investment in those areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The authority has instructed the insurance companies to submit additional details for approval of investment in tourism and airline sectors, education and health, agriculture, cable car and real estate business. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the instructions of the NIA, the insurance companies need to submit due diligence and feasibility study report for investment in tourism and airline sector, due diligence report for agriculture sector, 10-year business plan for cable car and feasibility study report for real estate sector. Companies can invest in these areas only after the approval from the insurance authority.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Earlier in December, the NIA had revised the investment guidelines and expanded the area and scope of investment for insurance companies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As per the new guidelines, the insurance companies require prior approval from the NIA to invest in private equity and venture capital funds in infrastructure and productive sectors such as real estate business and water resources, agriculture, tourism, etc.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Similarly, the pre-approval of the NIA is also required to invest in areas other than those specified in the directive.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Rajuraman Paudel, executive director of the authority, said that the directives have been revised to further manage the investments in the areas opened by the guidelines. He says that this will protect the investment of insurance companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Currently, insurance companies are allowed to invest in a dozen areas determined by the authority. However, the investment of companies is focused on term deposits of banks and financial institutions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the NIA’s data, as of mid-January of the current fiscal year, life insurance companies have invested a total of Rs 635 billion, non-life insurance companies Rs 62.32 billion, micro life insurance Rs 1.49 billion, non-life micro insurance Rs 1.41 billion and reinsurance companies Rs 35.74 billion. More than 60 percent of the total investment of the insurance companies is in fixed deposits of banks and financial institutions. After fixed deposits, they have invested in shares of companies listed in the secondary market of securities, government bonds, etc.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After insurance companies complained that they were not able to diversify their investments, the then Insurance Board (currently Nepal Insurance Authority) revised the investment guidelines five years ago, paving the way for companies to invest in infrastructure and productive sectors including real estate business and water resources, agriculture, tourism, in addition to fixed deposits and shares. However, even after five years of the changes in the guidelines, companies have not been able to invest in new areas.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20204', 'image' => '20240313011018_INSURANCE-COVERAGE.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 13:09:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20476', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Exports Juice worth Over Rs 4 Billion in Seven Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 13: The demand for juice produced in Nepal is increasing in the international market, according to the Department of Customs’ data of seven months of the current fiscal year (FY).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">March 13: The demand for juice produced in Nepal is increasing in the international market, according to the Department of Customs’ data of seven months of the current fiscal year (FY).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Juice ranks fifth in the list of most exported goods from Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">According to the department, Nepal exported juice worth Rs 4.38 billion from mid-July to mid-February of the current fiscal year. During the review period, 4,57,67,682 liters of juice have been exported from Nepal. This is 11 percent more than the export during the same period of last year. Compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year, the income from juice export has increased by 33 percent this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Last year, 4,11,14,527 liters of juice worth Rs 3.28 billion were exported from Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Nepal has been exporting juice to India, China, Australia, the United States of America, Italy, Germany and other countries. Most of them are exported to India. In the last seven months, 4,57,16,643 liters of juice worth Rs 4.34 billion were exported to India alone. Similarly, 26,103 liters of juice worth Rs 40.19 million were exported to China.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20203', 'image' => '20240313124059_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 12:40:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20475', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'House Panel forms Sub-Committee to Study Customs Duty on Sponge Iron and Billet ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: The Industry and Commerce, Labour and Consumer Interest Committee under the House of Representatives has formed a sub-committee to carry out a study the customs and excise duties on sponge iron and billet, the state-owned RSS reported.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">March 12: The Industry and Commerce, Labour and Consumer Interest Committee under the House of Representatives has formed a sub-committee to carry out a study the customs and excise duties on sponge iron and billet, the state-owned RSS reported. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The government had introduced zero tariff on import of sponge iron and significantly increased the excise duty on import of billet through the replacement bill in September 2021, drawing widespread controversy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The government argued that it adopted this new policy with the aim of protecting domestic industries and promoting the establishment of billet plants in the country. However, industrialists argued that the policy was introduced without any prior discussions and was aimed to discourage existing industries.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In order to study the disputed issue, the parliamentary committee on Tuesday formed the seven-member sub-committee on Tuesday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The members of the sub-committee are Krishna Kumar Shrestha, Ganesh Parajuli, Geeta Basnet, Dhurba Thapa, Rekha Yadav, Lakshmi Mahato Koiri and Suryaman Tamang. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Meanwhile, the meeting of the committee also instructed concerned authorities to provide details of tobacco and production of tobacco products in Nepal and details of annual imports. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20202', 'image' => '20240313111254_Parliament.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 11:12:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20474', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Transportation Halted on Karnali Bridge as Fire Damages 14 Support Wires', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: Transportation along the Karnali Bridge has been halted after 14 support wires sustained damages after they caught fire from a truck on Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 12: Transportation along the Karnali Bridge has been halted after 14 support wires sustained damages after they caught fire from a truck on Monday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A special technical team suggested the authorities not to operate vehicles on bridge until a detailed inspection was done, according to Road Division Office, Nepalgunj. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Engineer at the Division Office, Niraj Shakya, said vehicular movement along the bridge has being stopped for the time being. "We reached the incident site on Monday night. Another technical team is arriving for further inspection," he added. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police Inspector at Area Police Office, Chisapani, Hariram Dangi, said all the vehicle drivers were requested to use alternative routes with the closure of the regular route. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The vehicles operated from Sudurpaschim Province to federal capital Kathmandu and other provinces were asked to travel to Nepalgunj by Bardiya using the Sattipur Bridge. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A truck (Na 5 Kha 5297) heading towards the west suddenly caught fire while running on the Karnali Bridge on Monday afternoon. The fire from the truck later caught the construction wires of the bridge, spreading panic among the people. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20201', 'image' => '20240314123932_DN-Lamki.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 10:57:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20473', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 1.4 Million Tourists Visit Singapore in February', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'A total of 1.44 million visitors arrived in Singapore in February, up 50 percent year-on-year, according to the latest statistics released by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 13: A total of 1.44 million visitors arrived in Singapore in February, up 50 percent year-on-year, according to the latest statistics released by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Chinese mainland topped Singapore's visitor source in February with nearly 327,000 travelers, followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, and Britain, the data showed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">China and Singapore implemented mutual 30-day visa-free travel in February. The STB estimated international visitor arrivals to reach 15 million to 16 million this year. (Agencies) </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20200', 'image' => '20240313060428_collage (50).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 06:03:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20472', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Surpasses 2100 Mark', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a significant increase of 58.55 points, equivalent to 2.85%, closing at 2111.24 on Tuesday, on the second trading day of the week on Tuesday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">March 12: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a significant increase of 58.55 points, equivalent to 2.85%, closing at 2111.24 on Tuesday, on the second trading day of the week on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Throughout today's trading session, a total of 305 scrips were exchanged on the NEPSE through 82,746 transactions. This resulted in the trading of 10,609,597 units of shares, amounting to a total turnover of Rs 4.55 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Leading the transactions was Shivam Cements Limited (SHIVM) with a total transaction worth Rs 37 crores. Furthermore, five companies, including Janautthan Samudayic Laghubitta Sanstha (JSLBB) and Jalpa Laghibitta Bittiya Sanstha (JALPA), experienced a 10% increase each, hitting the positive circuit for the day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">However, the mutual fund named Himalayan 80-20 (H8020) suffered the highest loss, at 2.57%, closing at 9.10.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Regarding sector indices, all sector indices ended in positive territory. Notably, Life Insurance and Microfinance witnessed gains of 5.54% and 5.05%, respectively, while the Hydropower Index recorded a minimal gain of 0.99%.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20199', 'image' => '20240312041554_collage (11).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 16:14:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20470', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Birds, Beetles, Bugs could Help Replace Pesticides: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: Natural predators like birds, beetles and bugs might be an effective alternative to pesticides, keeping crop-devouring pests populations down while boosting crop yields, AFP reported last week citing researchers.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 12: Natural predators like birds, beetles and bugs might be an effective alternative to pesticides, keeping crop-devouring pests populations down while boosting crop yields, AFP reported last week citing researchers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the news report, pests are responsible for around 10 percent -- or 21 million tonnes -- of crop losses every year, but controlling them has lead to the widespread use of chemical pesticides.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Could birds, spiders and beetles among other invertebrate predators do the job as well?</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Researchers in Brazil, the United States and the Czech Republic analysed past research on predator pest control and found that they helped reduce pest populations by more than 70 percent, while increasing crop yields by 25 percent, added the news agency.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Natural predators are good pest control agents, and their maintenance is fundamental to guaranteeing pest control in a future with imminent climate change," lead author Gabriel Boldorini, a PhD student at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco in Brazil, told AFP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although the researchers did not directly compare the effectiveness of invertebrates versus pesticides, he said, the damage that pesticides cause to ecosystems and biological control was well documented, from biodiversity loss and water and soil pollution to human health risks.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The researchers found that predators were more effective at pest control in regions with greater rain variability -- which is expected to increase because of climate change.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The researchers were also surprised to find that having a single species of natural predator was as effective as having multiple species, Boldorini said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Generally speaking, the more species there are, the better ecosystems function. But there are exceptions," he said, adding that a single species could do the job just as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Climate change and rising carbon dioxide levels affect both crop yield and pest dynamics by expanding the distribution of pests and increasing their survival rates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, other studies have shown that invertebrates vital for ecosystem health are suffering a rapid decline globally.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Boldorini said the conservation of invertebrates "guarantees pest control and increased productivity, without damaging ecosystems". – AFP/RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20198', 'image' => '20240312085847_KDN_Dang-DSC_5527.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 08:58:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20471', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Pun Invites US Investors in Investment Summit ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in April. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 12</span></span><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in April. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During a meeting with the US Ambassador to Nepal, Dean R. Thompson, at the Finance Ministry on Sunday, Minister Pun urged the US Envoy for creating an environment conducive to ensure participation of more and more investors for the US. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that Nepal has a favourable environment for foreign investors, Minister Pun expressed readiness on the part of the government for ensuring legal and practical facilitations. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Nepal is a virgin land for international investors. I would like to urge for the participation of more and more US investors in the Investment Summit through you," Finance Minister Pun told the US envoy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the finance minister shared that agriculture, industry and information technology sectors carry huge potential for investment in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In response, the US Ambassador shared that the US investors are willing to participate in the upcoming Nepal Investment Summit and pledged to create enabling environment for the participation of the US investors in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On a different note, the US Ambassador expressed the confidence that the tasks of the transitional justice and peace process will be finalized soon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the meeting, Ambassador Thompson said that the US government was ready to extend economic assistance to Nepal and pledged for continued development support to Nepal. Likewise, he expressed his concerns for timely completion of the MCC projects. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20197', 'image' => '20240312090039_PRO-KTM-IMG_0302.JPG', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 09:00:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20469', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'European Arms Imports nearly Doubles, Raising Concerns of Grant Cuts to Third World Countries', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: Weapons imports to Europe nearly doubled over the past five years, partly due to the war in Ukraine, while exports from Russia halved, raising concerns for third-world countries like Nepal who are dependent on grants and loans from European countries.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 12: Weapons imports to Europe nearly doubled over the past five years, partly due to the war in Ukraine, while exports from Russia halved, raising concerns for third-world countries like Nepal who are dependent on grants and loans from European countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to a news report published by AFP, Ukraine has become the world's fourth largest arms importer, while France has replaced Russia as the world's second largest exporter behind the United States.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Arms imports to Europe rose by 94 percent in 2019-2023, compared to the preceding five-year period, while overall global arms transfers decreased slightly, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The increase is partially explained by the war in Ukraine, and Ukraine has become the fourth largest importer of arms in the world in the last five years," AFP quoted SIPRI researcher Katarina Djokic as saying.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SIPRI noted that at least 30 countries had supplied major weapons as military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022. But other European nations also increased imports, with a larger share coming from the world's number one exporter of arms, the United States, added the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Russia -- which long held the position as the second largest exporter -- saw its exports fall by 53 percent between 2014-2018 and 2019-2023.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Russia was not only exporting fewer weapons, it was also exporting to fewer recipients. It only exported to 12 countries in 2023, compared to 31 in 2019, AFP added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"There are also important changes in the policies of their biggest customer, China," Djokic said, adding China was traditionally one of the biggest recipients of Russian arms but has been pushing to develop its domestic production.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">China still accounted for 21 percent of Russian exports, while India was the biggest recipient with 34 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Experts say that the security threat in Europe may significantly impact the donors’ investment in humanitarian causes and other support to third world countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the context of Nepal, foreign grants provided by the donor agencies have been declining due to the decline in the capacity of the Government of Nepal to mobilize the foreign aid in addition to the external factors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the latest Development Cooperation Report published by the Ministry of Finance, the government of Nepal received USD 1.44 billion from donors as foreign aid in the FY 2021/22, which is the lowest since FY 2017/18.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Among the development partners, Nepal received the maximum financial assistance from the World Bank in FY 2021/22. In the review year, 99.5 percent of the total loans received by Nepal were mainly from five development partners - World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, India and Japan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, 57.5 percent of the total grants was received from the United Nations, the United Kingdom, Norway, the European Union and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20196', 'image' => '20240312085726_at24_banner_image_himars_us_army_central.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 08:56:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20467', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'The Government and Usury Victims Ink Four-Point Agreement', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The government and the usury victims struggle committee have singed a four-pint agreement. The talks held on Sunday between the two sides at the Ministry of Home Affairs at the initiative of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane led to the agreement. As a result, the loan shark victims have withdrawn their protest.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 12: The government and the usury victims struggle committee have singed a four-pint agreement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The talks held on Sunday between the two sides at the Ministry of Home Affairs at the initiative of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane led to the agreement. As a result, the loan shark victims have withdrawn their protest.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the agreement, an inquiry commission will be formed to study the practice of exorbitant charging of interest by money lenders. The commission will submit its report within three months in accordance with the Commission of Inquiry Act, 2026 BS.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A request will also be made to the Ministry of Finance to make necessary arrangements in the upcoming budget for financial aid, relief and compensation to the underprivileged class so that they do not fall victims to usury. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After walking for 23 days from Kakadvitta in Jhapa and Mahendranagar in Kanchanpur, the loan shark victims had arrived in Kathmandu on February 21. Spokesperson of Struggle Committee, Nirga Naveen, said the agitation been stopped following the agreement.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichanne expressed the commitment to fully implement the agreement. Addressing the usury victims, he said that the government will make sure that the victims do not have to make such arduous journey travelling on foot to the capital seeking justice. (RSS) </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20194', 'image' => '20240312061012_collage (49).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 06:08:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20465', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Siddhartha Bank Unveils Pink Debit Card', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Siddhartha Bank Limited has introduced a 'Pink Debit Card' for its women customers under Women Saving Account on the occasion of International Women's Day 2024 with the aim of contributing to women's health.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">March 11: Siddhartha Bank Limited has introduced a 'Pink Debit Card' for its women customers under Women Saving Account on the occasion of International Women's Day 2024 with the aim of contributing to women's health. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The bank has unveiled pink card to encourage women customers to contribute to women's health programs as the bank will spend 0.10 per cent amount of the purchases made to the health programme. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This initiative is expected not only to encourages cashless transactions but also to contribute to conducing women’ health related programme. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-11', 'modified' => '2024-03-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20192', 'image' => '20240311040225_collage (9).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-11 16:01:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20464', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Construction of ‘Pokhara Home’ Kicks off', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The construction of a 'Pokhara home' with art gallery, public library, clock tower and integrated tourism information centre has begun in the tourist city, Pokhara.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">March 11: The construction of a 'Pokhara home' with art gallery, public library, clock tower and integrated tourism information centre has begun in the tourist city, Pokhara.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The foundation stone was laid for the construction of the the building on Sunday coinciding the seventh establishment day of Pokhara Metropolitan City. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Pokhara metropolis mayor Dhanraj Acharya laid the foundation stone of Pokhara home building to be constructed in Pokhara-9, Prithvichowk. The home is is expected to be a destination of domestic and foreign tourists coming to visit Pokhara. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The five-storey building will be constructed at an investment of Rs 50.14 million, shared chief engineer of metropolis infrastructure development division, Surendra Pandey. As per the contract, the construction will be completed within next one and a half years, he informed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The building will have parking on the ground floor, gift home and information centre on the first floor, library and meeting hall on the second floor, art gallery on the third floor and clock tower on the fifth floor, engineer Pandey said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Laying the foundation stone, mayor Acharya said the 'Pokhara home' will impart comprehensive information about Pokhara. The Pokhara home will become an original of wooden porch blending the use of traditional architecture and modern technology, mayor Acharya added. (RSS) </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-11', 'modified' => '2024-03-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20191', 'image' => '20240311024210_collage (8).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-11 14:40:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20463', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Pun Invites US Investors in Investment Summit ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 11: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in April. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 11: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in April. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During a meeting with the US Ambassador to Nepal, Dean R. Thompson, at the Finance Ministry on Sunday, Minister Pun urged the US Envoy for creating an environment conducive to ensure participation of more and more investors for the US. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that Nepal has a favourable environment for foreign investors, Minister Pun expressed readiness on the part of the government for ensuring legal and practical facilitations. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Nepal is a virgin land for international investors. I would like to urge for the participation of more and more US investors in the Investment Summit through you," Finance Minister Pun told the US envoy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the finance minister shared that agriculture, industry and information technology sectors carry huge potential for investment in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In response, the US Ambassador shared that the US investors are willing to participate in the upcoming Nepal Investment Summit and pledged to create enabling environment for the participation of the US investors in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On a different note, the US Ambassador expressed the confidence that the tasks of the transitional justice and peace process will be finalized soon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the meeting, Ambassador Thompson said that the US government was ready to extend economic assistance to Nepal and pledged for continued development support to Nepal. Likewise, he expressed his concerns for timely completion of the MCC projects. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-11', 'modified' => '2024-03-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20190', 'image' => '20240311122912_PRO-KTM-IMG_0302.JPG', 'article_date' => '2024-03-11 12:28:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20479', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Police Unable to Trace Rs 1 Million Siphoned by Hacker from Bank Accounts', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 13: One million rupees disappeared from a person's bank account in a recent incident raising concerns of online fraud.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">March 13: One million rupees disappeared from a person's bank account in a recent incident raising concerns of online fraud. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Shivanandan Mehta of Inaruwa, Sunsari was in disbelief to learn that his account number 01001117001327 maintained at Sanima Bank's Inruwa branch was debited by Rs 900,000 in the morning of January 24.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">On the same day, Rs 110,000 was withdrawn from Lumbini Bank’s account number 01711600063202000001 in the name of his mother Rusni Devi Mehta. The hacker withdrew the amount through Connect IPS.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Rs 900,000 withdrawn from Sivanandan's account was sent to Parameshwar Thapa Chhetri’s account in NIC Asia Bank, Buddhachowk branch. It seems that the money from the mother's account was sent to an account in Siddharth Bank Limited and withdrawn several times. According to Mehta, the amount was stolen by hacking his email and password.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Mehta says that the hacker managed to withdraw funds from the account due to the negligence of NIC Asia Bank and Sanima Bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After receiving an alert on his mobile phone that the money had been withdrawn from the account, he contacted the bank and informed that the account was hacked and the money was stolen, but the bank was not interested in taking immediate action, Mehta told New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“I went to the concerned bank within 5 minutes after receiving the money transfer alert from the bank on my mobile and informed them, but they were not interested. If the bank had immediately suspended the account of the unauthorized person, he could not have withdrawn the money,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As soon as NIC Asia Bank said that the account could not be closed, Mehta called the office of Connect IPS and asked them to freeze the money, but after the office said that the money had already been transferred and they could not do anything.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Officials of Sanima Bank in Koshi Province claim that as soon as the victim gave the information, the bank tried to freeze the amount. However, the attempt was not successful as the hacker had already withdrawn the money.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“The amount was withdrawn from the hacker’s account before we got the information,” said the official, “There was nothing we could do.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The police could not catch him</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After the hacker stole a large amount of money, Mehta also filed a complaint at the District Police Office, Sunsari. The police registered a complaint. However, the hacker has not been caught yet. According to Mehta, the police are investigating the case.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dan Bahadur Karki says that it is difficult to catch the culprits of such incidents immediately. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"We have started an investigation after receiving the complaint," said SSP Karki in a conversation with New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Karki says that in recent times, maintaining weak passwords and keeping all the details in the mobile phone makes it easier for hackers to access the account details of people.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The victim, Mehta, has appealed from Nepal Rastra Bank to the Ministry of Home Affairs. After the hacker suddenly swindled the large amount of his hard-earned money, he appealed to Singh Darbar for justice. Even though he pleaded to the home ministry, finance ministry and prime minister's office inside the Singh Darbar take initiative to bring back the money, no one listened, says Mehta adding that he submitted an application to Nepal Rastra Bank, Baluwatar on January 29.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal Rastra Bank says that they have tightened monitoring and investigation due to the increase in such incidents in recent days. The central bank has formed a separate unit to investigate such incidents. Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr. Prakash Kumar Shrestha said that fraud cases have started to increase with the increase in digital transactions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“Such incidents have increased due to the use of weak passwords and misuse of OTP (One Time Password). We are sensitive about it," he told New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">He said that Rashtra Bank is moving towards strengthening the overall banking security system by increasing financial literacy to meet the challenges.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20206', 'image' => '20240313031110_banknotes.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 15:10:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20478', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Draft Bill on IT and Cyber Security Seeks Use of Innovative Technology ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: A draft bill prepared by the government has underlined the use of innovative technology to manage IT and cyber security. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">March 12: A draft bill prepared by the government has underlined the use of innovative technology to manage IT and cyber security. It has stated that artificial intelligence, machine learning, block chain, and IoT should be used in a transparent, accountable, safe and respectful manner. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Unveiling the draft bill, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has sought feedback on the bill within two weeks. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The bill proposes the Government of Nepal to set up a centre for excellence for research and development of the new technologies such as AI, machine learning and block chain. Issues such as electronic records, data, originator of records, invocation of law of contract for electronic transaction, digital signature, public service delivery via electronic medium, technical audit of IT, vetting, operation, regulation and management of domain name, registration of IT industry and business, information/data safety and privacy, digital harassment, collection of personal details, establishment of cyber security centre, data centre and cloud, are included in the bill. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Critical IT infrastructures, cyber monitoring of critical IT infrastructures, cyber security audit and auditor for it, activities banned on cyber space, crime and punishment, use of digital forensic, and establishment of IT tribunal are other topics in the draft bill. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Under the data safety, none is allowed to disrupt harmonious relations among federal units, nationality or national unity, dignity, national security, sovereignty, territorial integrity by means of electronic system. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The bill proposes banning cyber bulling, cyber harassment, production and distribution of indecent content, and cyber scam. Theft of data and code is punishable, as per the proposed bill. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the draft bill, the government would not collect personal data unless required by the law. In case of the need to collect personal information, he/she would be informed mandatorily before it. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As per the bill, every government body and public corporation is asked to run its own website to provide service and share information. The development/design of website to be operated by these bodies should be similar and meet standard set by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Similarly, any individual or office willing to register np domain needs to get it registered at the department, submitting necessary fee. The domain name needs to be renewed every two years. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Individuals or companies willing to provide cyber security service are also required to get license. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The draft bill is available at https://api.giwms.gov.np/storage/22/posts/1710050856_14.pdf. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20205', 'image' => '20240313023133_cybersecurity-freepik.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 14:30:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20477', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NIA Tightens the Screws on Investment of Insurance Companies', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 13: Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA) has introduced strict provisions for insurance companies from investing in real estate sector, water resources, agriculture, tourism and other sectors.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">March 13: Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA) has introduced strict provisions for insurance companies from investing in real estate sector, water resources, agriculture, tourism and other sectors. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The NIA had revised the investment guidelines only three months ago to ease the investment in these sectors but made a u-turn recently and revised the directive to tighten the investment in those areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The authority has instructed the insurance companies to submit additional details for approval of investment in tourism and airline sectors, education and health, agriculture, cable car and real estate business. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the instructions of the NIA, the insurance companies need to submit due diligence and feasibility study report for investment in tourism and airline sector, due diligence report for agriculture sector, 10-year business plan for cable car and feasibility study report for real estate sector. Companies can invest in these areas only after the approval from the insurance authority.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Earlier in December, the NIA had revised the investment guidelines and expanded the area and scope of investment for insurance companies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As per the new guidelines, the insurance companies require prior approval from the NIA to invest in private equity and venture capital funds in infrastructure and productive sectors such as real estate business and water resources, agriculture, tourism, etc.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Similarly, the pre-approval of the NIA is also required to invest in areas other than those specified in the directive.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Rajuraman Paudel, executive director of the authority, said that the directives have been revised to further manage the investments in the areas opened by the guidelines. He says that this will protect the investment of insurance companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Currently, insurance companies are allowed to invest in a dozen areas determined by the authority. However, the investment of companies is focused on term deposits of banks and financial institutions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the NIA’s data, as of mid-January of the current fiscal year, life insurance companies have invested a total of Rs 635 billion, non-life insurance companies Rs 62.32 billion, micro life insurance Rs 1.49 billion, non-life micro insurance Rs 1.41 billion and reinsurance companies Rs 35.74 billion. More than 60 percent of the total investment of the insurance companies is in fixed deposits of banks and financial institutions. After fixed deposits, they have invested in shares of companies listed in the secondary market of securities, government bonds, etc.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After insurance companies complained that they were not able to diversify their investments, the then Insurance Board (currently Nepal Insurance Authority) revised the investment guidelines five years ago, paving the way for companies to invest in infrastructure and productive sectors including real estate business and water resources, agriculture, tourism, in addition to fixed deposits and shares. However, even after five years of the changes in the guidelines, companies have not been able to invest in new areas.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20204', 'image' => '20240313011018_INSURANCE-COVERAGE.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 13:09:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20476', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Exports Juice worth Over Rs 4 Billion in Seven Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 13: The demand for juice produced in Nepal is increasing in the international market, according to the Department of Customs’ data of seven months of the current fiscal year (FY).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">March 13: The demand for juice produced in Nepal is increasing in the international market, according to the Department of Customs’ data of seven months of the current fiscal year (FY).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Juice ranks fifth in the list of most exported goods from Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">According to the department, Nepal exported juice worth Rs 4.38 billion from mid-July to mid-February of the current fiscal year. During the review period, 4,57,67,682 liters of juice have been exported from Nepal. This is 11 percent more than the export during the same period of last year. Compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year, the income from juice export has increased by 33 percent this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Last year, 4,11,14,527 liters of juice worth Rs 3.28 billion were exported from Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Nepal has been exporting juice to India, China, Australia, the United States of America, Italy, Germany and other countries. Most of them are exported to India. In the last seven months, 4,57,16,643 liters of juice worth Rs 4.34 billion were exported to India alone. Similarly, 26,103 liters of juice worth Rs 40.19 million were exported to China.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20203', 'image' => '20240313124059_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 12:40:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20475', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'House Panel forms Sub-Committee to Study Customs Duty on Sponge Iron and Billet ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: The Industry and Commerce, Labour and Consumer Interest Committee under the House of Representatives has formed a sub-committee to carry out a study the customs and excise duties on sponge iron and billet, the state-owned RSS reported.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">March 12: The Industry and Commerce, Labour and Consumer Interest Committee under the House of Representatives has formed a sub-committee to carry out a study the customs and excise duties on sponge iron and billet, the state-owned RSS reported. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The government had introduced zero tariff on import of sponge iron and significantly increased the excise duty on import of billet through the replacement bill in September 2021, drawing widespread controversy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The government argued that it adopted this new policy with the aim of protecting domestic industries and promoting the establishment of billet plants in the country. However, industrialists argued that the policy was introduced without any prior discussions and was aimed to discourage existing industries.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In order to study the disputed issue, the parliamentary committee on Tuesday formed the seven-member sub-committee on Tuesday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The members of the sub-committee are Krishna Kumar Shrestha, Ganesh Parajuli, Geeta Basnet, Dhurba Thapa, Rekha Yadav, Lakshmi Mahato Koiri and Suryaman Tamang. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Meanwhile, the meeting of the committee also instructed concerned authorities to provide details of tobacco and production of tobacco products in Nepal and details of annual imports. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20202', 'image' => '20240313111254_Parliament.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 11:12:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20474', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Transportation Halted on Karnali Bridge as Fire Damages 14 Support Wires', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: Transportation along the Karnali Bridge has been halted after 14 support wires sustained damages after they caught fire from a truck on Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 12: Transportation along the Karnali Bridge has been halted after 14 support wires sustained damages after they caught fire from a truck on Monday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A special technical team suggested the authorities not to operate vehicles on bridge until a detailed inspection was done, according to Road Division Office, Nepalgunj. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Engineer at the Division Office, Niraj Shakya, said vehicular movement along the bridge has being stopped for the time being. "We reached the incident site on Monday night. Another technical team is arriving for further inspection," he added. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police Inspector at Area Police Office, Chisapani, Hariram Dangi, said all the vehicle drivers were requested to use alternative routes with the closure of the regular route. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The vehicles operated from Sudurpaschim Province to federal capital Kathmandu and other provinces were asked to travel to Nepalgunj by Bardiya using the Sattipur Bridge. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A truck (Na 5 Kha 5297) heading towards the west suddenly caught fire while running on the Karnali Bridge on Monday afternoon. The fire from the truck later caught the construction wires of the bridge, spreading panic among the people. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20201', 'image' => '20240314123932_DN-Lamki.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 10:57:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20473', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 1.4 Million Tourists Visit Singapore in February', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'A total of 1.44 million visitors arrived in Singapore in February, up 50 percent year-on-year, according to the latest statistics released by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 13: A total of 1.44 million visitors arrived in Singapore in February, up 50 percent year-on-year, according to the latest statistics released by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Chinese mainland topped Singapore's visitor source in February with nearly 327,000 travelers, followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, and Britain, the data showed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">China and Singapore implemented mutual 30-day visa-free travel in February. The STB estimated international visitor arrivals to reach 15 million to 16 million this year. (Agencies) </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20200', 'image' => '20240313060428_collage (50).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 06:03:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20472', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Surpasses 2100 Mark', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a significant increase of 58.55 points, equivalent to 2.85%, closing at 2111.24 on Tuesday, on the second trading day of the week on Tuesday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">March 12: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a significant increase of 58.55 points, equivalent to 2.85%, closing at 2111.24 on Tuesday, on the second trading day of the week on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Throughout today's trading session, a total of 305 scrips were exchanged on the NEPSE through 82,746 transactions. This resulted in the trading of 10,609,597 units of shares, amounting to a total turnover of Rs 4.55 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Leading the transactions was Shivam Cements Limited (SHIVM) with a total transaction worth Rs 37 crores. Furthermore, five companies, including Janautthan Samudayic Laghubitta Sanstha (JSLBB) and Jalpa Laghibitta Bittiya Sanstha (JALPA), experienced a 10% increase each, hitting the positive circuit for the day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">However, the mutual fund named Himalayan 80-20 (H8020) suffered the highest loss, at 2.57%, closing at 9.10.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Regarding sector indices, all sector indices ended in positive territory. Notably, Life Insurance and Microfinance witnessed gains of 5.54% and 5.05%, respectively, while the Hydropower Index recorded a minimal gain of 0.99%.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20199', 'image' => '20240312041554_collage (11).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 16:14:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20470', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Birds, Beetles, Bugs could Help Replace Pesticides: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: Natural predators like birds, beetles and bugs might be an effective alternative to pesticides, keeping crop-devouring pests populations down while boosting crop yields, AFP reported last week citing researchers.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 12: Natural predators like birds, beetles and bugs might be an effective alternative to pesticides, keeping crop-devouring pests populations down while boosting crop yields, AFP reported last week citing researchers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the news report, pests are responsible for around 10 percent -- or 21 million tonnes -- of crop losses every year, but controlling them has lead to the widespread use of chemical pesticides.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Could birds, spiders and beetles among other invertebrate predators do the job as well?</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Researchers in Brazil, the United States and the Czech Republic analysed past research on predator pest control and found that they helped reduce pest populations by more than 70 percent, while increasing crop yields by 25 percent, added the news agency.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Natural predators are good pest control agents, and their maintenance is fundamental to guaranteeing pest control in a future with imminent climate change," lead author Gabriel Boldorini, a PhD student at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco in Brazil, told AFP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although the researchers did not directly compare the effectiveness of invertebrates versus pesticides, he said, the damage that pesticides cause to ecosystems and biological control was well documented, from biodiversity loss and water and soil pollution to human health risks.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The researchers found that predators were more effective at pest control in regions with greater rain variability -- which is expected to increase because of climate change.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The researchers were also surprised to find that having a single species of natural predator was as effective as having multiple species, Boldorini said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Generally speaking, the more species there are, the better ecosystems function. But there are exceptions," he said, adding that a single species could do the job just as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Climate change and rising carbon dioxide levels affect both crop yield and pest dynamics by expanding the distribution of pests and increasing their survival rates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, other studies have shown that invertebrates vital for ecosystem health are suffering a rapid decline globally.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Boldorini said the conservation of invertebrates "guarantees pest control and increased productivity, without damaging ecosystems". – AFP/RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20198', 'image' => '20240312085847_KDN_Dang-DSC_5527.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 08:58:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20471', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Pun Invites US Investors in Investment Summit ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in April. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 12</span></span><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in April. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During a meeting with the US Ambassador to Nepal, Dean R. Thompson, at the Finance Ministry on Sunday, Minister Pun urged the US Envoy for creating an environment conducive to ensure participation of more and more investors for the US. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that Nepal has a favourable environment for foreign investors, Minister Pun expressed readiness on the part of the government for ensuring legal and practical facilitations. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Nepal is a virgin land for international investors. I would like to urge for the participation of more and more US investors in the Investment Summit through you," Finance Minister Pun told the US envoy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the finance minister shared that agriculture, industry and information technology sectors carry huge potential for investment in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In response, the US Ambassador shared that the US investors are willing to participate in the upcoming Nepal Investment Summit and pledged to create enabling environment for the participation of the US investors in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On a different note, the US Ambassador expressed the confidence that the tasks of the transitional justice and peace process will be finalized soon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the meeting, Ambassador Thompson said that the US government was ready to extend economic assistance to Nepal and pledged for continued development support to Nepal. Likewise, he expressed his concerns for timely completion of the MCC projects. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20197', 'image' => '20240312090039_PRO-KTM-IMG_0302.JPG', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 09:00:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20469', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'European Arms Imports nearly Doubles, Raising Concerns of Grant Cuts to Third World Countries', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: Weapons imports to Europe nearly doubled over the past five years, partly due to the war in Ukraine, while exports from Russia halved, raising concerns for third-world countries like Nepal who are dependent on grants and loans from European countries.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 12: Weapons imports to Europe nearly doubled over the past five years, partly due to the war in Ukraine, while exports from Russia halved, raising concerns for third-world countries like Nepal who are dependent on grants and loans from European countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to a news report published by AFP, Ukraine has become the world's fourth largest arms importer, while France has replaced Russia as the world's second largest exporter behind the United States.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Arms imports to Europe rose by 94 percent in 2019-2023, compared to the preceding five-year period, while overall global arms transfers decreased slightly, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The increase is partially explained by the war in Ukraine, and Ukraine has become the fourth largest importer of arms in the world in the last five years," AFP quoted SIPRI researcher Katarina Djokic as saying.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SIPRI noted that at least 30 countries had supplied major weapons as military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022. But other European nations also increased imports, with a larger share coming from the world's number one exporter of arms, the United States, added the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Russia -- which long held the position as the second largest exporter -- saw its exports fall by 53 percent between 2014-2018 and 2019-2023.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Russia was not only exporting fewer weapons, it was also exporting to fewer recipients. It only exported to 12 countries in 2023, compared to 31 in 2019, AFP added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"There are also important changes in the policies of their biggest customer, China," Djokic said, adding China was traditionally one of the biggest recipients of Russian arms but has been pushing to develop its domestic production.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">China still accounted for 21 percent of Russian exports, while India was the biggest recipient with 34 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Experts say that the security threat in Europe may significantly impact the donors’ investment in humanitarian causes and other support to third world countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the context of Nepal, foreign grants provided by the donor agencies have been declining due to the decline in the capacity of the Government of Nepal to mobilize the foreign aid in addition to the external factors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the latest Development Cooperation Report published by the Ministry of Finance, the government of Nepal received USD 1.44 billion from donors as foreign aid in the FY 2021/22, which is the lowest since FY 2017/18.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Among the development partners, Nepal received the maximum financial assistance from the World Bank in FY 2021/22. In the review year, 99.5 percent of the total loans received by Nepal were mainly from five development partners - World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, India and Japan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, 57.5 percent of the total grants was received from the United Nations, the United Kingdom, Norway, the European Union and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20196', 'image' => '20240312085726_at24_banner_image_himars_us_army_central.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 08:56:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20467', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'The Government and Usury Victims Ink Four-Point Agreement', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The government and the usury victims struggle committee have singed a four-pint agreement. The talks held on Sunday between the two sides at the Ministry of Home Affairs at the initiative of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane led to the agreement. As a result, the loan shark victims have withdrawn their protest.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 12: The government and the usury victims struggle committee have singed a four-pint agreement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The talks held on Sunday between the two sides at the Ministry of Home Affairs at the initiative of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane led to the agreement. As a result, the loan shark victims have withdrawn their protest.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the agreement, an inquiry commission will be formed to study the practice of exorbitant charging of interest by money lenders. The commission will submit its report within three months in accordance with the Commission of Inquiry Act, 2026 BS.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A request will also be made to the Ministry of Finance to make necessary arrangements in the upcoming budget for financial aid, relief and compensation to the underprivileged class so that they do not fall victims to usury. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After walking for 23 days from Kakadvitta in Jhapa and Mahendranagar in Kanchanpur, the loan shark victims had arrived in Kathmandu on February 21. Spokesperson of Struggle Committee, Nirga Naveen, said the agitation been stopped following the agreement.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichanne expressed the commitment to fully implement the agreement. Addressing the usury victims, he said that the government will make sure that the victims do not have to make such arduous journey travelling on foot to the capital seeking justice. (RSS) </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20194', 'image' => '20240312061012_collage (49).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 06:08:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20465', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Siddhartha Bank Unveils Pink Debit Card', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Siddhartha Bank Limited has introduced a 'Pink Debit Card' for its women customers under Women Saving Account on the occasion of International Women's Day 2024 with the aim of contributing to women's health.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">March 11: Siddhartha Bank Limited has introduced a 'Pink Debit Card' for its women customers under Women Saving Account on the occasion of International Women's Day 2024 with the aim of contributing to women's health. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The bank has unveiled pink card to encourage women customers to contribute to women's health programs as the bank will spend 0.10 per cent amount of the purchases made to the health programme. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This initiative is expected not only to encourages cashless transactions but also to contribute to conducing women’ health related programme. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-11', 'modified' => '2024-03-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20192', 'image' => '20240311040225_collage (9).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-11 16:01:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20464', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Construction of ‘Pokhara Home’ Kicks off', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The construction of a 'Pokhara home' with art gallery, public library, clock tower and integrated tourism information centre has begun in the tourist city, Pokhara.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">March 11: The construction of a 'Pokhara home' with art gallery, public library, clock tower and integrated tourism information centre has begun in the tourist city, Pokhara.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The foundation stone was laid for the construction of the the building on Sunday coinciding the seventh establishment day of Pokhara Metropolitan City. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Pokhara metropolis mayor Dhanraj Acharya laid the foundation stone of Pokhara home building to be constructed in Pokhara-9, Prithvichowk. The home is is expected to be a destination of domestic and foreign tourists coming to visit Pokhara. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The five-storey building will be constructed at an investment of Rs 50.14 million, shared chief engineer of metropolis infrastructure development division, Surendra Pandey. As per the contract, the construction will be completed within next one and a half years, he informed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The building will have parking on the ground floor, gift home and information centre on the first floor, library and meeting hall on the second floor, art gallery on the third floor and clock tower on the fifth floor, engineer Pandey said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Laying the foundation stone, mayor Acharya said the 'Pokhara home' will impart comprehensive information about Pokhara. The Pokhara home will become an original of wooden porch blending the use of traditional architecture and modern technology, mayor Acharya added. (RSS) </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-11', 'modified' => '2024-03-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20191', 'image' => '20240311024210_collage (8).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-11 14:40:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20463', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Pun Invites US Investors in Investment Summit ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 11: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in April. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 11: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in April. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During a meeting with the US Ambassador to Nepal, Dean R. Thompson, at the Finance Ministry on Sunday, Minister Pun urged the US Envoy for creating an environment conducive to ensure participation of more and more investors for the US. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that Nepal has a favourable environment for foreign investors, Minister Pun expressed readiness on the part of the government for ensuring legal and practical facilitations. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Nepal is a virgin land for international investors. I would like to urge for the participation of more and more US investors in the Investment Summit through you," Finance Minister Pun told the US envoy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the finance minister shared that agriculture, industry and information technology sectors carry huge potential for investment in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In response, the US Ambassador shared that the US investors are willing to participate in the upcoming Nepal Investment Summit and pledged to create enabling environment for the participation of the US investors in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On a different note, the US Ambassador expressed the confidence that the tasks of the transitional justice and peace process will be finalized soon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the meeting, Ambassador Thompson said that the US government was ready to extend economic assistance to Nepal and pledged for continued development support to Nepal. Likewise, he expressed his concerns for timely completion of the MCC projects. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-11', 'modified' => '2024-03-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20190', 'image' => '20240311122912_PRO-KTM-IMG_0302.JPG', 'article_date' => '2024-03-11 12:28:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20479', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Police Unable to Trace Rs 1 Million Siphoned by Hacker from Bank Accounts', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 13: One million rupees disappeared from a person's bank account in a recent incident raising concerns of online fraud.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">March 13: One million rupees disappeared from a person's bank account in a recent incident raising concerns of online fraud. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Shivanandan Mehta of Inaruwa, Sunsari was in disbelief to learn that his account number 01001117001327 maintained at Sanima Bank's Inruwa branch was debited by Rs 900,000 in the morning of January 24.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">On the same day, Rs 110,000 was withdrawn from Lumbini Bank’s account number 01711600063202000001 in the name of his mother Rusni Devi Mehta. The hacker withdrew the amount through Connect IPS.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Rs 900,000 withdrawn from Sivanandan's account was sent to Parameshwar Thapa Chhetri’s account in NIC Asia Bank, Buddhachowk branch. It seems that the money from the mother's account was sent to an account in Siddharth Bank Limited and withdrawn several times. According to Mehta, the amount was stolen by hacking his email and password.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Mehta says that the hacker managed to withdraw funds from the account due to the negligence of NIC Asia Bank and Sanima Bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After receiving an alert on his mobile phone that the money had been withdrawn from the account, he contacted the bank and informed that the account was hacked and the money was stolen, but the bank was not interested in taking immediate action, Mehta told New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“I went to the concerned bank within 5 minutes after receiving the money transfer alert from the bank on my mobile and informed them, but they were not interested. If the bank had immediately suspended the account of the unauthorized person, he could not have withdrawn the money,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As soon as NIC Asia Bank said that the account could not be closed, Mehta called the office of Connect IPS and asked them to freeze the money, but after the office said that the money had already been transferred and they could not do anything.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Officials of Sanima Bank in Koshi Province claim that as soon as the victim gave the information, the bank tried to freeze the amount. However, the attempt was not successful as the hacker had already withdrawn the money.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“The amount was withdrawn from the hacker’s account before we got the information,” said the official, “There was nothing we could do.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The police could not catch him</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After the hacker stole a large amount of money, Mehta also filed a complaint at the District Police Office, Sunsari. The police registered a complaint. However, the hacker has not been caught yet. According to Mehta, the police are investigating the case.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dan Bahadur Karki says that it is difficult to catch the culprits of such incidents immediately. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"We have started an investigation after receiving the complaint," said SSP Karki in a conversation with New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Karki says that in recent times, maintaining weak passwords and keeping all the details in the mobile phone makes it easier for hackers to access the account details of people.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The victim, Mehta, has appealed from Nepal Rastra Bank to the Ministry of Home Affairs. After the hacker suddenly swindled the large amount of his hard-earned money, he appealed to Singh Darbar for justice. Even though he pleaded to the home ministry, finance ministry and prime minister's office inside the Singh Darbar take initiative to bring back the money, no one listened, says Mehta adding that he submitted an application to Nepal Rastra Bank, Baluwatar on January 29.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal Rastra Bank says that they have tightened monitoring and investigation due to the increase in such incidents in recent days. The central bank has formed a separate unit to investigate such incidents. Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr. Prakash Kumar Shrestha said that fraud cases have started to increase with the increase in digital transactions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“Such incidents have increased due to the use of weak passwords and misuse of OTP (One Time Password). We are sensitive about it," he told New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">He said that Rashtra Bank is moving towards strengthening the overall banking security system by increasing financial literacy to meet the challenges.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20206', 'image' => '20240313031110_banknotes.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 15:10:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20478', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Draft Bill on IT and Cyber Security Seeks Use of Innovative Technology ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: A draft bill prepared by the government has underlined the use of innovative technology to manage IT and cyber security. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">March 12: A draft bill prepared by the government has underlined the use of innovative technology to manage IT and cyber security. It has stated that artificial intelligence, machine learning, block chain, and IoT should be used in a transparent, accountable, safe and respectful manner. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Unveiling the draft bill, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has sought feedback on the bill within two weeks. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The bill proposes the Government of Nepal to set up a centre for excellence for research and development of the new technologies such as AI, machine learning and block chain. Issues such as electronic records, data, originator of records, invocation of law of contract for electronic transaction, digital signature, public service delivery via electronic medium, technical audit of IT, vetting, operation, regulation and management of domain name, registration of IT industry and business, information/data safety and privacy, digital harassment, collection of personal details, establishment of cyber security centre, data centre and cloud, are included in the bill. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Critical IT infrastructures, cyber monitoring of critical IT infrastructures, cyber security audit and auditor for it, activities banned on cyber space, crime and punishment, use of digital forensic, and establishment of IT tribunal are other topics in the draft bill. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Under the data safety, none is allowed to disrupt harmonious relations among federal units, nationality or national unity, dignity, national security, sovereignty, territorial integrity by means of electronic system. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The bill proposes banning cyber bulling, cyber harassment, production and distribution of indecent content, and cyber scam. Theft of data and code is punishable, as per the proposed bill. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the draft bill, the government would not collect personal data unless required by the law. In case of the need to collect personal information, he/she would be informed mandatorily before it. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As per the bill, every government body and public corporation is asked to run its own website to provide service and share information. The development/design of website to be operated by these bodies should be similar and meet standard set by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Similarly, any individual or office willing to register np domain needs to get it registered at the department, submitting necessary fee. The domain name needs to be renewed every two years. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Individuals or companies willing to provide cyber security service are also required to get license. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The draft bill is available at https://api.giwms.gov.np/storage/22/posts/1710050856_14.pdf. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20205', 'image' => '20240313023133_cybersecurity-freepik.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 14:30:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20477', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NIA Tightens the Screws on Investment of Insurance Companies', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 13: Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA) has introduced strict provisions for insurance companies from investing in real estate sector, water resources, agriculture, tourism and other sectors.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">March 13: Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA) has introduced strict provisions for insurance companies from investing in real estate sector, water resources, agriculture, tourism and other sectors. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The NIA had revised the investment guidelines only three months ago to ease the investment in these sectors but made a u-turn recently and revised the directive to tighten the investment in those areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The authority has instructed the insurance companies to submit additional details for approval of investment in tourism and airline sectors, education and health, agriculture, cable car and real estate business. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the instructions of the NIA, the insurance companies need to submit due diligence and feasibility study report for investment in tourism and airline sector, due diligence report for agriculture sector, 10-year business plan for cable car and feasibility study report for real estate sector. Companies can invest in these areas only after the approval from the insurance authority.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Earlier in December, the NIA had revised the investment guidelines and expanded the area and scope of investment for insurance companies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As per the new guidelines, the insurance companies require prior approval from the NIA to invest in private equity and venture capital funds in infrastructure and productive sectors such as real estate business and water resources, agriculture, tourism, etc.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Similarly, the pre-approval of the NIA is also required to invest in areas other than those specified in the directive.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Rajuraman Paudel, executive director of the authority, said that the directives have been revised to further manage the investments in the areas opened by the guidelines. He says that this will protect the investment of insurance companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Currently, insurance companies are allowed to invest in a dozen areas determined by the authority. However, the investment of companies is focused on term deposits of banks and financial institutions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the NIA’s data, as of mid-January of the current fiscal year, life insurance companies have invested a total of Rs 635 billion, non-life insurance companies Rs 62.32 billion, micro life insurance Rs 1.49 billion, non-life micro insurance Rs 1.41 billion and reinsurance companies Rs 35.74 billion. More than 60 percent of the total investment of the insurance companies is in fixed deposits of banks and financial institutions. After fixed deposits, they have invested in shares of companies listed in the secondary market of securities, government bonds, etc.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After insurance companies complained that they were not able to diversify their investments, the then Insurance Board (currently Nepal Insurance Authority) revised the investment guidelines five years ago, paving the way for companies to invest in infrastructure and productive sectors including real estate business and water resources, agriculture, tourism, in addition to fixed deposits and shares. However, even after five years of the changes in the guidelines, companies have not been able to invest in new areas.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20204', 'image' => '20240313011018_INSURANCE-COVERAGE.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 13:09:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20476', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Exports Juice worth Over Rs 4 Billion in Seven Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 13: The demand for juice produced in Nepal is increasing in the international market, according to the Department of Customs’ data of seven months of the current fiscal year (FY).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">March 13: The demand for juice produced in Nepal is increasing in the international market, according to the Department of Customs’ data of seven months of the current fiscal year (FY).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Juice ranks fifth in the list of most exported goods from Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">According to the department, Nepal exported juice worth Rs 4.38 billion from mid-July to mid-February of the current fiscal year. During the review period, 4,57,67,682 liters of juice have been exported from Nepal. This is 11 percent more than the export during the same period of last year. Compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year, the income from juice export has increased by 33 percent this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Last year, 4,11,14,527 liters of juice worth Rs 3.28 billion were exported from Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Nepal has been exporting juice to India, China, Australia, the United States of America, Italy, Germany and other countries. Most of them are exported to India. In the last seven months, 4,57,16,643 liters of juice worth Rs 4.34 billion were exported to India alone. Similarly, 26,103 liters of juice worth Rs 40.19 million were exported to China.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20203', 'image' => '20240313124059_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 12:40:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20475', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'House Panel forms Sub-Committee to Study Customs Duty on Sponge Iron and Billet ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: The Industry and Commerce, Labour and Consumer Interest Committee under the House of Representatives has formed a sub-committee to carry out a study the customs and excise duties on sponge iron and billet, the state-owned RSS reported.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">March 12: The Industry and Commerce, Labour and Consumer Interest Committee under the House of Representatives has formed a sub-committee to carry out a study the customs and excise duties on sponge iron and billet, the state-owned RSS reported. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The government had introduced zero tariff on import of sponge iron and significantly increased the excise duty on import of billet through the replacement bill in September 2021, drawing widespread controversy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The government argued that it adopted this new policy with the aim of protecting domestic industries and promoting the establishment of billet plants in the country. However, industrialists argued that the policy was introduced without any prior discussions and was aimed to discourage existing industries.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In order to study the disputed issue, the parliamentary committee on Tuesday formed the seven-member sub-committee on Tuesday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The members of the sub-committee are Krishna Kumar Shrestha, Ganesh Parajuli, Geeta Basnet, Dhurba Thapa, Rekha Yadav, Lakshmi Mahato Koiri and Suryaman Tamang. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Meanwhile, the meeting of the committee also instructed concerned authorities to provide details of tobacco and production of tobacco products in Nepal and details of annual imports. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20202', 'image' => '20240313111254_Parliament.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 11:12:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20474', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Transportation Halted on Karnali Bridge as Fire Damages 14 Support Wires', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: Transportation along the Karnali Bridge has been halted after 14 support wires sustained damages after they caught fire from a truck on Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 12: Transportation along the Karnali Bridge has been halted after 14 support wires sustained damages after they caught fire from a truck on Monday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A special technical team suggested the authorities not to operate vehicles on bridge until a detailed inspection was done, according to Road Division Office, Nepalgunj. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Engineer at the Division Office, Niraj Shakya, said vehicular movement along the bridge has being stopped for the time being. "We reached the incident site on Monday night. Another technical team is arriving for further inspection," he added. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police Inspector at Area Police Office, Chisapani, Hariram Dangi, said all the vehicle drivers were requested to use alternative routes with the closure of the regular route. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The vehicles operated from Sudurpaschim Province to federal capital Kathmandu and other provinces were asked to travel to Nepalgunj by Bardiya using the Sattipur Bridge. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A truck (Na 5 Kha 5297) heading towards the west suddenly caught fire while running on the Karnali Bridge on Monday afternoon. The fire from the truck later caught the construction wires of the bridge, spreading panic among the people. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20201', 'image' => '20240314123932_DN-Lamki.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 10:57:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20473', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 1.4 Million Tourists Visit Singapore in February', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'A total of 1.44 million visitors arrived in Singapore in February, up 50 percent year-on-year, according to the latest statistics released by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 13: A total of 1.44 million visitors arrived in Singapore in February, up 50 percent year-on-year, according to the latest statistics released by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Chinese mainland topped Singapore's visitor source in February with nearly 327,000 travelers, followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, and Britain, the data showed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">China and Singapore implemented mutual 30-day visa-free travel in February. The STB estimated international visitor arrivals to reach 15 million to 16 million this year. (Agencies) </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20200', 'image' => '20240313060428_collage (50).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 06:03:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20472', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Surpasses 2100 Mark', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a significant increase of 58.55 points, equivalent to 2.85%, closing at 2111.24 on Tuesday, on the second trading day of the week on Tuesday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">March 12: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a significant increase of 58.55 points, equivalent to 2.85%, closing at 2111.24 on Tuesday, on the second trading day of the week on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Throughout today's trading session, a total of 305 scrips were exchanged on the NEPSE through 82,746 transactions. This resulted in the trading of 10,609,597 units of shares, amounting to a total turnover of Rs 4.55 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Leading the transactions was Shivam Cements Limited (SHIVM) with a total transaction worth Rs 37 crores. Furthermore, five companies, including Janautthan Samudayic Laghubitta Sanstha (JSLBB) and Jalpa Laghibitta Bittiya Sanstha (JALPA), experienced a 10% increase each, hitting the positive circuit for the day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">However, the mutual fund named Himalayan 80-20 (H8020) suffered the highest loss, at 2.57%, closing at 9.10.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Regarding sector indices, all sector indices ended in positive territory. Notably, Life Insurance and Microfinance witnessed gains of 5.54% and 5.05%, respectively, while the Hydropower Index recorded a minimal gain of 0.99%.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20199', 'image' => '20240312041554_collage (11).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 16:14:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20470', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Birds, Beetles, Bugs could Help Replace Pesticides: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: Natural predators like birds, beetles and bugs might be an effective alternative to pesticides, keeping crop-devouring pests populations down while boosting crop yields, AFP reported last week citing researchers.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 12: Natural predators like birds, beetles and bugs might be an effective alternative to pesticides, keeping crop-devouring pests populations down while boosting crop yields, AFP reported last week citing researchers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the news report, pests are responsible for around 10 percent -- or 21 million tonnes -- of crop losses every year, but controlling them has lead to the widespread use of chemical pesticides.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Could birds, spiders and beetles among other invertebrate predators do the job as well?</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Researchers in Brazil, the United States and the Czech Republic analysed past research on predator pest control and found that they helped reduce pest populations by more than 70 percent, while increasing crop yields by 25 percent, added the news agency.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Natural predators are good pest control agents, and their maintenance is fundamental to guaranteeing pest control in a future with imminent climate change," lead author Gabriel Boldorini, a PhD student at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco in Brazil, told AFP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although the researchers did not directly compare the effectiveness of invertebrates versus pesticides, he said, the damage that pesticides cause to ecosystems and biological control was well documented, from biodiversity loss and water and soil pollution to human health risks.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The researchers found that predators were more effective at pest control in regions with greater rain variability -- which is expected to increase because of climate change.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The researchers were also surprised to find that having a single species of natural predator was as effective as having multiple species, Boldorini said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Generally speaking, the more species there are, the better ecosystems function. But there are exceptions," he said, adding that a single species could do the job just as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Climate change and rising carbon dioxide levels affect both crop yield and pest dynamics by expanding the distribution of pests and increasing their survival rates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, other studies have shown that invertebrates vital for ecosystem health are suffering a rapid decline globally.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Boldorini said the conservation of invertebrates "guarantees pest control and increased productivity, without damaging ecosystems". – AFP/RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20198', 'image' => '20240312085847_KDN_Dang-DSC_5527.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 08:58:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20471', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Pun Invites US Investors in Investment Summit ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in April. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 12</span></span><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in April. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During a meeting with the US Ambassador to Nepal, Dean R. Thompson, at the Finance Ministry on Sunday, Minister Pun urged the US Envoy for creating an environment conducive to ensure participation of more and more investors for the US. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that Nepal has a favourable environment for foreign investors, Minister Pun expressed readiness on the part of the government for ensuring legal and practical facilitations. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Nepal is a virgin land for international investors. I would like to urge for the participation of more and more US investors in the Investment Summit through you," Finance Minister Pun told the US envoy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the finance minister shared that agriculture, industry and information technology sectors carry huge potential for investment in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In response, the US Ambassador shared that the US investors are willing to participate in the upcoming Nepal Investment Summit and pledged to create enabling environment for the participation of the US investors in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On a different note, the US Ambassador expressed the confidence that the tasks of the transitional justice and peace process will be finalized soon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the meeting, Ambassador Thompson said that the US government was ready to extend economic assistance to Nepal and pledged for continued development support to Nepal. Likewise, he expressed his concerns for timely completion of the MCC projects. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20197', 'image' => '20240312090039_PRO-KTM-IMG_0302.JPG', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 09:00:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20469', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'European Arms Imports nearly Doubles, Raising Concerns of Grant Cuts to Third World Countries', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: Weapons imports to Europe nearly doubled over the past five years, partly due to the war in Ukraine, while exports from Russia halved, raising concerns for third-world countries like Nepal who are dependent on grants and loans from European countries.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 12: Weapons imports to Europe nearly doubled over the past five years, partly due to the war in Ukraine, while exports from Russia halved, raising concerns for third-world countries like Nepal who are dependent on grants and loans from European countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to a news report published by AFP, Ukraine has become the world's fourth largest arms importer, while France has replaced Russia as the world's second largest exporter behind the United States.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Arms imports to Europe rose by 94 percent in 2019-2023, compared to the preceding five-year period, while overall global arms transfers decreased slightly, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The increase is partially explained by the war in Ukraine, and Ukraine has become the fourth largest importer of arms in the world in the last five years," AFP quoted SIPRI researcher Katarina Djokic as saying.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SIPRI noted that at least 30 countries had supplied major weapons as military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022. But other European nations also increased imports, with a larger share coming from the world's number one exporter of arms, the United States, added the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Russia -- which long held the position as the second largest exporter -- saw its exports fall by 53 percent between 2014-2018 and 2019-2023.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Russia was not only exporting fewer weapons, it was also exporting to fewer recipients. It only exported to 12 countries in 2023, compared to 31 in 2019, AFP added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"There are also important changes in the policies of their biggest customer, China," Djokic said, adding China was traditionally one of the biggest recipients of Russian arms but has been pushing to develop its domestic production.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">China still accounted for 21 percent of Russian exports, while India was the biggest recipient with 34 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Experts say that the security threat in Europe may significantly impact the donors’ investment in humanitarian causes and other support to third world countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the context of Nepal, foreign grants provided by the donor agencies have been declining due to the decline in the capacity of the Government of Nepal to mobilize the foreign aid in addition to the external factors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the latest Development Cooperation Report published by the Ministry of Finance, the government of Nepal received USD 1.44 billion from donors as foreign aid in the FY 2021/22, which is the lowest since FY 2017/18.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Among the development partners, Nepal received the maximum financial assistance from the World Bank in FY 2021/22. In the review year, 99.5 percent of the total loans received by Nepal were mainly from five development partners - World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, India and Japan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, 57.5 percent of the total grants was received from the United Nations, the United Kingdom, Norway, the European Union and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20196', 'image' => '20240312085726_at24_banner_image_himars_us_army_central.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 08:56:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20467', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'The Government and Usury Victims Ink Four-Point Agreement', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The government and the usury victims struggle committee have singed a four-pint agreement. The talks held on Sunday between the two sides at the Ministry of Home Affairs at the initiative of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane led to the agreement. As a result, the loan shark victims have withdrawn their protest.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 12: The government and the usury victims struggle committee have singed a four-pint agreement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The talks held on Sunday between the two sides at the Ministry of Home Affairs at the initiative of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane led to the agreement. As a result, the loan shark victims have withdrawn their protest.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the agreement, an inquiry commission will be formed to study the practice of exorbitant charging of interest by money lenders. The commission will submit its report within three months in accordance with the Commission of Inquiry Act, 2026 BS.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A request will also be made to the Ministry of Finance to make necessary arrangements in the upcoming budget for financial aid, relief and compensation to the underprivileged class so that they do not fall victims to usury. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After walking for 23 days from Kakadvitta in Jhapa and Mahendranagar in Kanchanpur, the loan shark victims had arrived in Kathmandu on February 21. Spokesperson of Struggle Committee, Nirga Naveen, said the agitation been stopped following the agreement.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichanne expressed the commitment to fully implement the agreement. Addressing the usury victims, he said that the government will make sure that the victims do not have to make such arduous journey travelling on foot to the capital seeking justice. (RSS) </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20194', 'image' => '20240312061012_collage (49).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 06:08:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20465', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Siddhartha Bank Unveils Pink Debit Card', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Siddhartha Bank Limited has introduced a 'Pink Debit Card' for its women customers under Women Saving Account on the occasion of International Women's Day 2024 with the aim of contributing to women's health.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">March 11: Siddhartha Bank Limited has introduced a 'Pink Debit Card' for its women customers under Women Saving Account on the occasion of International Women's Day 2024 with the aim of contributing to women's health. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The bank has unveiled pink card to encourage women customers to contribute to women's health programs as the bank will spend 0.10 per cent amount of the purchases made to the health programme. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This initiative is expected not only to encourages cashless transactions but also to contribute to conducing women’ health related programme. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-11', 'modified' => '2024-03-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20192', 'image' => '20240311040225_collage (9).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-11 16:01:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20464', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Construction of ‘Pokhara Home’ Kicks off', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The construction of a 'Pokhara home' with art gallery, public library, clock tower and integrated tourism information centre has begun in the tourist city, Pokhara.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">March 11: The construction of a 'Pokhara home' with art gallery, public library, clock tower and integrated tourism information centre has begun in the tourist city, Pokhara.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The foundation stone was laid for the construction of the the building on Sunday coinciding the seventh establishment day of Pokhara Metropolitan City. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Pokhara metropolis mayor Dhanraj Acharya laid the foundation stone of Pokhara home building to be constructed in Pokhara-9, Prithvichowk. The home is is expected to be a destination of domestic and foreign tourists coming to visit Pokhara. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The five-storey building will be constructed at an investment of Rs 50.14 million, shared chief engineer of metropolis infrastructure development division, Surendra Pandey. As per the contract, the construction will be completed within next one and a half years, he informed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The building will have parking on the ground floor, gift home and information centre on the first floor, library and meeting hall on the second floor, art gallery on the third floor and clock tower on the fifth floor, engineer Pandey said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Laying the foundation stone, mayor Acharya said the 'Pokhara home' will impart comprehensive information about Pokhara. The Pokhara home will become an original of wooden porch blending the use of traditional architecture and modern technology, mayor Acharya added. (RSS) </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-11', 'modified' => '2024-03-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20191', 'image' => '20240311024210_collage (8).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-11 14:40:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20463', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Pun Invites US Investors in Investment Summit ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 11: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in April. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 11: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in April. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During a meeting with the US Ambassador to Nepal, Dean R. Thompson, at the Finance Ministry on Sunday, Minister Pun urged the US Envoy for creating an environment conducive to ensure participation of more and more investors for the US. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that Nepal has a favourable environment for foreign investors, Minister Pun expressed readiness on the part of the government for ensuring legal and practical facilitations. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Nepal is a virgin land for international investors. I would like to urge for the participation of more and more US investors in the Investment Summit through you," Finance Minister Pun told the US envoy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the finance minister shared that agriculture, industry and information technology sectors carry huge potential for investment in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In response, the US Ambassador shared that the US investors are willing to participate in the upcoming Nepal Investment Summit and pledged to create enabling environment for the participation of the US investors in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On a different note, the US Ambassador expressed the confidence that the tasks of the transitional justice and peace process will be finalized soon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the meeting, Ambassador Thompson said that the US government was ready to extend economic assistance to Nepal and pledged for continued development support to Nepal. Likewise, he expressed his concerns for timely completion of the MCC projects. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-11', 'modified' => '2024-03-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20190', 'image' => '20240311122912_PRO-KTM-IMG_0302.JPG', 'article_date' => '2024-03-11 12:28:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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The hacker withdrew the amount through Connect IPS.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Rs 900,000 withdrawn from Sivanandan's account was sent to Parameshwar Thapa Chhetri’s account in NIC Asia Bank, Buddhachowk branch. It seems that the money from the mother's account was sent to an account in Siddharth Bank Limited and withdrawn several times. According to Mehta, the amount was stolen by hacking his email and password.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Mehta says that the hacker managed to withdraw funds from the account due to the negligence of NIC Asia Bank and Sanima Bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After receiving an alert on his mobile phone that the money had been withdrawn from the account, he contacted the bank and informed that the account was hacked and the money was stolen, but the bank was not interested in taking immediate action, Mehta told New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“I went to the concerned bank within 5 minutes after receiving the money transfer alert from the bank on my mobile and informed them, but they were not interested. If the bank had immediately suspended the account of the unauthorized person, he could not have withdrawn the money,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As soon as NIC Asia Bank said that the account could not be closed, Mehta called the office of Connect IPS and asked them to freeze the money, but after the office said that the money had already been transferred and they could not do anything.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Officials of Sanima Bank in Koshi Province claim that as soon as the victim gave the information, the bank tried to freeze the amount. However, the attempt was not successful as the hacker had already withdrawn the money.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“The amount was withdrawn from the hacker’s account before we got the information,” said the official, “There was nothing we could do.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The police could not catch him</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After the hacker stole a large amount of money, Mehta also filed a complaint at the District Police Office, Sunsari. The police registered a complaint. However, the hacker has not been caught yet. According to Mehta, the police are investigating the case.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dan Bahadur Karki says that it is difficult to catch the culprits of such incidents immediately. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"We have started an investigation after receiving the complaint," said SSP Karki in a conversation with New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Karki says that in recent times, maintaining weak passwords and keeping all the details in the mobile phone makes it easier for hackers to access the account details of people.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The victim, Mehta, has appealed from Nepal Rastra Bank to the Ministry of Home Affairs. After the hacker suddenly swindled the large amount of his hard-earned money, he appealed to Singh Darbar for justice. Even though he pleaded to the home ministry, finance ministry and prime minister's office inside the Singh Darbar take initiative to bring back the money, no one listened, says Mehta adding that he submitted an application to Nepal Rastra Bank, Baluwatar on January 29.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal Rastra Bank says that they have tightened monitoring and investigation due to the increase in such incidents in recent days. The central bank has formed a separate unit to investigate such incidents. Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Dr. Prakash Kumar Shrestha said that fraud cases have started to increase with the increase in digital transactions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“Such incidents have increased due to the use of weak passwords and misuse of OTP (One Time Password). We are sensitive about it," he told New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">He said that Rashtra Bank is moving towards strengthening the overall banking security system by increasing financial literacy to meet the challenges.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20206', 'image' => '20240313031110_banknotes.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 15:10:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20478', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Draft Bill on IT and Cyber Security Seeks Use of Innovative Technology ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: A draft bill prepared by the government has underlined the use of innovative technology to manage IT and cyber security. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">March 12: A draft bill prepared by the government has underlined the use of innovative technology to manage IT and cyber security. It has stated that artificial intelligence, machine learning, block chain, and IoT should be used in a transparent, accountable, safe and respectful manner. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Unveiling the draft bill, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has sought feedback on the bill within two weeks. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The bill proposes the Government of Nepal to set up a centre for excellence for research and development of the new technologies such as AI, machine learning and block chain. Issues such as electronic records, data, originator of records, invocation of law of contract for electronic transaction, digital signature, public service delivery via electronic medium, technical audit of IT, vetting, operation, regulation and management of domain name, registration of IT industry and business, information/data safety and privacy, digital harassment, collection of personal details, establishment of cyber security centre, data centre and cloud, are included in the bill. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Critical IT infrastructures, cyber monitoring of critical IT infrastructures, cyber security audit and auditor for it, activities banned on cyber space, crime and punishment, use of digital forensic, and establishment of IT tribunal are other topics in the draft bill. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Under the data safety, none is allowed to disrupt harmonious relations among federal units, nationality or national unity, dignity, national security, sovereignty, territorial integrity by means of electronic system. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The bill proposes banning cyber bulling, cyber harassment, production and distribution of indecent content, and cyber scam. Theft of data and code is punishable, as per the proposed bill. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the draft bill, the government would not collect personal data unless required by the law. In case of the need to collect personal information, he/she would be informed mandatorily before it. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As per the bill, every government body and public corporation is asked to run its own website to provide service and share information. The development/design of website to be operated by these bodies should be similar and meet standard set by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Similarly, any individual or office willing to register np domain needs to get it registered at the department, submitting necessary fee. The domain name needs to be renewed every two years. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Individuals or companies willing to provide cyber security service are also required to get license. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The draft bill is available at https://api.giwms.gov.np/storage/22/posts/1710050856_14.pdf. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20205', 'image' => '20240313023133_cybersecurity-freepik.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 14:30:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20477', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NIA Tightens the Screws on Investment of Insurance Companies', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 13: Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA) has introduced strict provisions for insurance companies from investing in real estate sector, water resources, agriculture, tourism and other sectors.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">March 13: Nepal Insurance Authority (NIA) has introduced strict provisions for insurance companies from investing in real estate sector, water resources, agriculture, tourism and other sectors. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The NIA had revised the investment guidelines only three months ago to ease the investment in these sectors but made a u-turn recently and revised the directive to tighten the investment in those areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The authority has instructed the insurance companies to submit additional details for approval of investment in tourism and airline sectors, education and health, agriculture, cable car and real estate business. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the instructions of the NIA, the insurance companies need to submit due diligence and feasibility study report for investment in tourism and airline sector, due diligence report for agriculture sector, 10-year business plan for cable car and feasibility study report for real estate sector. Companies can invest in these areas only after the approval from the insurance authority.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Earlier in December, the NIA had revised the investment guidelines and expanded the area and scope of investment for insurance companies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As per the new guidelines, the insurance companies require prior approval from the NIA to invest in private equity and venture capital funds in infrastructure and productive sectors such as real estate business and water resources, agriculture, tourism, etc.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Similarly, the pre-approval of the NIA is also required to invest in areas other than those specified in the directive.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Rajuraman Paudel, executive director of the authority, said that the directives have been revised to further manage the investments in the areas opened by the guidelines. He says that this will protect the investment of insurance companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Currently, insurance companies are allowed to invest in a dozen areas determined by the authority. However, the investment of companies is focused on term deposits of banks and financial institutions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the NIA’s data, as of mid-January of the current fiscal year, life insurance companies have invested a total of Rs 635 billion, non-life insurance companies Rs 62.32 billion, micro life insurance Rs 1.49 billion, non-life micro insurance Rs 1.41 billion and reinsurance companies Rs 35.74 billion. More than 60 percent of the total investment of the insurance companies is in fixed deposits of banks and financial institutions. After fixed deposits, they have invested in shares of companies listed in the secondary market of securities, government bonds, etc.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After insurance companies complained that they were not able to diversify their investments, the then Insurance Board (currently Nepal Insurance Authority) revised the investment guidelines five years ago, paving the way for companies to invest in infrastructure and productive sectors including real estate business and water resources, agriculture, tourism, in addition to fixed deposits and shares. However, even after five years of the changes in the guidelines, companies have not been able to invest in new areas.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20204', 'image' => '20240313011018_INSURANCE-COVERAGE.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 13:09:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20476', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Exports Juice worth Over Rs 4 Billion in Seven Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 13: The demand for juice produced in Nepal is increasing in the international market, according to the Department of Customs’ data of seven months of the current fiscal year (FY).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">March 13: The demand for juice produced in Nepal is increasing in the international market, according to the Department of Customs’ data of seven months of the current fiscal year (FY).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Juice ranks fifth in the list of most exported goods from Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">According to the department, Nepal exported juice worth Rs 4.38 billion from mid-July to mid-February of the current fiscal year. During the review period, 4,57,67,682 liters of juice have been exported from Nepal. This is 11 percent more than the export during the same period of last year. Compared to the corresponding period of last fiscal year, the income from juice export has increased by 33 percent this year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Last year, 4,11,14,527 liters of juice worth Rs 3.28 billion were exported from Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Nepal has been exporting juice to India, China, Australia, the United States of America, Italy, Germany and other countries. Most of them are exported to India. In the last seven months, 4,57,16,643 liters of juice worth Rs 4.34 billion were exported to India alone. Similarly, 26,103 liters of juice worth Rs 40.19 million were exported to China.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20203', 'image' => '20240313124059_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 12:40:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20475', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'House Panel forms Sub-Committee to Study Customs Duty on Sponge Iron and Billet ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: The Industry and Commerce, Labour and Consumer Interest Committee under the House of Representatives has formed a sub-committee to carry out a study the customs and excise duties on sponge iron and billet, the state-owned RSS reported.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">March 12: The Industry and Commerce, Labour and Consumer Interest Committee under the House of Representatives has formed a sub-committee to carry out a study the customs and excise duties on sponge iron and billet, the state-owned RSS reported. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The government had introduced zero tariff on import of sponge iron and significantly increased the excise duty on import of billet through the replacement bill in September 2021, drawing widespread controversy.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The government argued that it adopted this new policy with the aim of protecting domestic industries and promoting the establishment of billet plants in the country. However, industrialists argued that the policy was introduced without any prior discussions and was aimed to discourage existing industries.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In order to study the disputed issue, the parliamentary committee on Tuesday formed the seven-member sub-committee on Tuesday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The members of the sub-committee are Krishna Kumar Shrestha, Ganesh Parajuli, Geeta Basnet, Dhurba Thapa, Rekha Yadav, Lakshmi Mahato Koiri and Suryaman Tamang. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Meanwhile, the meeting of the committee also instructed concerned authorities to provide details of tobacco and production of tobacco products in Nepal and details of annual imports. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20202', 'image' => '20240313111254_Parliament.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 11:12:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20474', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Transportation Halted on Karnali Bridge as Fire Damages 14 Support Wires', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: Transportation along the Karnali Bridge has been halted after 14 support wires sustained damages after they caught fire from a truck on Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 12: Transportation along the Karnali Bridge has been halted after 14 support wires sustained damages after they caught fire from a truck on Monday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A special technical team suggested the authorities not to operate vehicles on bridge until a detailed inspection was done, according to Road Division Office, Nepalgunj. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Engineer at the Division Office, Niraj Shakya, said vehicular movement along the bridge has being stopped for the time being. "We reached the incident site on Monday night. Another technical team is arriving for further inspection," he added. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police Inspector at Area Police Office, Chisapani, Hariram Dangi, said all the vehicle drivers were requested to use alternative routes with the closure of the regular route. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The vehicles operated from Sudurpaschim Province to federal capital Kathmandu and other provinces were asked to travel to Nepalgunj by Bardiya using the Sattipur Bridge. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A truck (Na 5 Kha 5297) heading towards the west suddenly caught fire while running on the Karnali Bridge on Monday afternoon. The fire from the truck later caught the construction wires of the bridge, spreading panic among the people. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20201', 'image' => '20240314123932_DN-Lamki.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 10:57:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20473', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 1.4 Million Tourists Visit Singapore in February', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'A total of 1.44 million visitors arrived in Singapore in February, up 50 percent year-on-year, according to the latest statistics released by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 13: A total of 1.44 million visitors arrived in Singapore in February, up 50 percent year-on-year, according to the latest statistics released by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Chinese mainland topped Singapore's visitor source in February with nearly 327,000 travelers, followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, and Britain, the data showed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">China and Singapore implemented mutual 30-day visa-free travel in February. The STB estimated international visitor arrivals to reach 15 million to 16 million this year. (Agencies) </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-13', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20200', 'image' => '20240313060428_collage (50).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-13 06:03:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20472', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Surpasses 2100 Mark', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a significant increase of 58.55 points, equivalent to 2.85%, closing at 2111.24 on Tuesday, on the second trading day of the week on Tuesday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">March 12: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a significant increase of 58.55 points, equivalent to 2.85%, closing at 2111.24 on Tuesday, on the second trading day of the week on Tuesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Throughout today's trading session, a total of 305 scrips were exchanged on the NEPSE through 82,746 transactions. This resulted in the trading of 10,609,597 units of shares, amounting to a total turnover of Rs 4.55 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Leading the transactions was Shivam Cements Limited (SHIVM) with a total transaction worth Rs 37 crores. Furthermore, five companies, including Janautthan Samudayic Laghubitta Sanstha (JSLBB) and Jalpa Laghibitta Bittiya Sanstha (JALPA), experienced a 10% increase each, hitting the positive circuit for the day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">However, the mutual fund named Himalayan 80-20 (H8020) suffered the highest loss, at 2.57%, closing at 9.10.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Regarding sector indices, all sector indices ended in positive territory. Notably, Life Insurance and Microfinance witnessed gains of 5.54% and 5.05%, respectively, while the Hydropower Index recorded a minimal gain of 0.99%.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20199', 'image' => '20240312041554_collage (11).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 16:14:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20470', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Birds, Beetles, Bugs could Help Replace Pesticides: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: Natural predators like birds, beetles and bugs might be an effective alternative to pesticides, keeping crop-devouring pests populations down while boosting crop yields, AFP reported last week citing researchers.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 12: Natural predators like birds, beetles and bugs might be an effective alternative to pesticides, keeping crop-devouring pests populations down while boosting crop yields, AFP reported last week citing researchers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the news report, pests are responsible for around 10 percent -- or 21 million tonnes -- of crop losses every year, but controlling them has lead to the widespread use of chemical pesticides.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Could birds, spiders and beetles among other invertebrate predators do the job as well?</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Researchers in Brazil, the United States and the Czech Republic analysed past research on predator pest control and found that they helped reduce pest populations by more than 70 percent, while increasing crop yields by 25 percent, added the news agency.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Natural predators are good pest control agents, and their maintenance is fundamental to guaranteeing pest control in a future with imminent climate change," lead author Gabriel Boldorini, a PhD student at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco in Brazil, told AFP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although the researchers did not directly compare the effectiveness of invertebrates versus pesticides, he said, the damage that pesticides cause to ecosystems and biological control was well documented, from biodiversity loss and water and soil pollution to human health risks.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The researchers found that predators were more effective at pest control in regions with greater rain variability -- which is expected to increase because of climate change.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The researchers were also surprised to find that having a single species of natural predator was as effective as having multiple species, Boldorini said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Generally speaking, the more species there are, the better ecosystems function. But there are exceptions," he said, adding that a single species could do the job just as well.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Climate change and rising carbon dioxide levels affect both crop yield and pest dynamics by expanding the distribution of pests and increasing their survival rates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, other studies have shown that invertebrates vital for ecosystem health are suffering a rapid decline globally.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Boldorini said the conservation of invertebrates "guarantees pest control and increased productivity, without damaging ecosystems". – AFP/RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20198', 'image' => '20240312085847_KDN_Dang-DSC_5527.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 08:58:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20471', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Pun Invites US Investors in Investment Summit ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in April. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 12</span></span><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in April. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During a meeting with the US Ambassador to Nepal, Dean R. Thompson, at the Finance Ministry on Sunday, Minister Pun urged the US Envoy for creating an environment conducive to ensure participation of more and more investors for the US. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that Nepal has a favourable environment for foreign investors, Minister Pun expressed readiness on the part of the government for ensuring legal and practical facilitations. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Nepal is a virgin land for international investors. I would like to urge for the participation of more and more US investors in the Investment Summit through you," Finance Minister Pun told the US envoy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the finance minister shared that agriculture, industry and information technology sectors carry huge potential for investment in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In response, the US Ambassador shared that the US investors are willing to participate in the upcoming Nepal Investment Summit and pledged to create enabling environment for the participation of the US investors in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On a different note, the US Ambassador expressed the confidence that the tasks of the transitional justice and peace process will be finalized soon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the meeting, Ambassador Thompson said that the US government was ready to extend economic assistance to Nepal and pledged for continued development support to Nepal. Likewise, he expressed his concerns for timely completion of the MCC projects. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20197', 'image' => '20240312090039_PRO-KTM-IMG_0302.JPG', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 09:00:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20469', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'European Arms Imports nearly Doubles, Raising Concerns of Grant Cuts to Third World Countries', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 12: Weapons imports to Europe nearly doubled over the past five years, partly due to the war in Ukraine, while exports from Russia halved, raising concerns for third-world countries like Nepal who are dependent on grants and loans from European countries.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 12: Weapons imports to Europe nearly doubled over the past five years, partly due to the war in Ukraine, while exports from Russia halved, raising concerns for third-world countries like Nepal who are dependent on grants and loans from European countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to a news report published by AFP, Ukraine has become the world's fourth largest arms importer, while France has replaced Russia as the world's second largest exporter behind the United States.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Arms imports to Europe rose by 94 percent in 2019-2023, compared to the preceding five-year period, while overall global arms transfers decreased slightly, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The increase is partially explained by the war in Ukraine, and Ukraine has become the fourth largest importer of arms in the world in the last five years," AFP quoted SIPRI researcher Katarina Djokic as saying.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SIPRI noted that at least 30 countries had supplied major weapons as military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022. But other European nations also increased imports, with a larger share coming from the world's number one exporter of arms, the United States, added the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Russia -- which long held the position as the second largest exporter -- saw its exports fall by 53 percent between 2014-2018 and 2019-2023.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Russia was not only exporting fewer weapons, it was also exporting to fewer recipients. It only exported to 12 countries in 2023, compared to 31 in 2019, AFP added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"There are also important changes in the policies of their biggest customer, China," Djokic said, adding China was traditionally one of the biggest recipients of Russian arms but has been pushing to develop its domestic production.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">China still accounted for 21 percent of Russian exports, while India was the biggest recipient with 34 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Experts say that the security threat in Europe may significantly impact the donors’ investment in humanitarian causes and other support to third world countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the context of Nepal, foreign grants provided by the donor agencies have been declining due to the decline in the capacity of the Government of Nepal to mobilize the foreign aid in addition to the external factors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the latest Development Cooperation Report published by the Ministry of Finance, the government of Nepal received USD 1.44 billion from donors as foreign aid in the FY 2021/22, which is the lowest since FY 2017/18.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Among the development partners, Nepal received the maximum financial assistance from the World Bank in FY 2021/22. In the review year, 99.5 percent of the total loans received by Nepal were mainly from five development partners - World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, India and Japan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, 57.5 percent of the total grants was received from the United Nations, the United Kingdom, Norway, the European Union and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20196', 'image' => '20240312085726_at24_banner_image_himars_us_army_central.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 08:56:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20467', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'The Government and Usury Victims Ink Four-Point Agreement', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The government and the usury victims struggle committee have singed a four-pint agreement. The talks held on Sunday between the two sides at the Ministry of Home Affairs at the initiative of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane led to the agreement. As a result, the loan shark victims have withdrawn their protest.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 12: The government and the usury victims struggle committee have singed a four-pint agreement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The talks held on Sunday between the two sides at the Ministry of Home Affairs at the initiative of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane led to the agreement. As a result, the loan shark victims have withdrawn their protest.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the agreement, an inquiry commission will be formed to study the practice of exorbitant charging of interest by money lenders. The commission will submit its report within three months in accordance with the Commission of Inquiry Act, 2026 BS.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A request will also be made to the Ministry of Finance to make necessary arrangements in the upcoming budget for financial aid, relief and compensation to the underprivileged class so that they do not fall victims to usury. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After walking for 23 days from Kakadvitta in Jhapa and Mahendranagar in Kanchanpur, the loan shark victims had arrived in Kathmandu on February 21. Spokesperson of Struggle Committee, Nirga Naveen, said the agitation been stopped following the agreement.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichanne expressed the commitment to fully implement the agreement. Addressing the usury victims, he said that the government will make sure that the victims do not have to make such arduous journey travelling on foot to the capital seeking justice. (RSS) </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-12', 'modified' => '2024-03-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20194', 'image' => '20240312061012_collage (49).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-12 06:08:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20465', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Siddhartha Bank Unveils Pink Debit Card', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Siddhartha Bank Limited has introduced a 'Pink Debit Card' for its women customers under Women Saving Account on the occasion of International Women's Day 2024 with the aim of contributing to women's health.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">March 11: Siddhartha Bank Limited has introduced a 'Pink Debit Card' for its women customers under Women Saving Account on the occasion of International Women's Day 2024 with the aim of contributing to women's health. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The bank has unveiled pink card to encourage women customers to contribute to women's health programs as the bank will spend 0.10 per cent amount of the purchases made to the health programme. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This initiative is expected not only to encourages cashless transactions but also to contribute to conducing women’ health related programme. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-11', 'modified' => '2024-03-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20192', 'image' => '20240311040225_collage (9).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-11 16:01:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20464', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Construction of ‘Pokhara Home’ Kicks off', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The construction of a 'Pokhara home' with art gallery, public library, clock tower and integrated tourism information centre has begun in the tourist city, Pokhara.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">March 11: The construction of a 'Pokhara home' with art gallery, public library, clock tower and integrated tourism information centre has begun in the tourist city, Pokhara.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The foundation stone was laid for the construction of the the building on Sunday coinciding the seventh establishment day of Pokhara Metropolitan City. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Pokhara metropolis mayor Dhanraj Acharya laid the foundation stone of Pokhara home building to be constructed in Pokhara-9, Prithvichowk. The home is is expected to be a destination of domestic and foreign tourists coming to visit Pokhara. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The five-storey building will be constructed at an investment of Rs 50.14 million, shared chief engineer of metropolis infrastructure development division, Surendra Pandey. As per the contract, the construction will be completed within next one and a half years, he informed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The building will have parking on the ground floor, gift home and information centre on the first floor, library and meeting hall on the second floor, art gallery on the third floor and clock tower on the fifth floor, engineer Pandey said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Laying the foundation stone, mayor Acharya said the 'Pokhara home' will impart comprehensive information about Pokhara. The Pokhara home will become an original of wooden porch blending the use of traditional architecture and modern technology, mayor Acharya added. (RSS) </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-11', 'modified' => '2024-03-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20191', 'image' => '20240311024210_collage (8).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-03-11 14:40:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20463', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Pun Invites US Investors in Investment Summit ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 11: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in April. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 11: Finance Minister Barshaman Pun has urged the US investors to participate in the Third Nepal Investment Summit scheduled to be held in April. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During a meeting with the US Ambassador to Nepal, Dean R. Thompson, at the Finance Ministry on Sunday, Minister Pun urged the US Envoy for creating an environment conducive to ensure participation of more and more investors for the US. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that Nepal has a favourable environment for foreign investors, Minister Pun expressed readiness on the part of the government for ensuring legal and practical facilitations. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Nepal is a virgin land for international investors. I would like to urge for the participation of more and more US investors in the Investment Summit through you," Finance Minister Pun told the US envoy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the finance minister shared that agriculture, industry and information technology sectors carry huge potential for investment in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In response, the US Ambassador shared that the US investors are willing to participate in the upcoming Nepal Investment Summit and pledged to create enabling environment for the participation of the US investors in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On a different note, the US Ambassador expressed the confidence that the tasks of the transitional justice and peace process will be finalized soon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the meeting, Ambassador Thompson said that the US government was ready to extend economic assistance to Nepal and pledged for continued development support to Nepal. Likewise, he expressed his concerns for timely completion of the MCC projects. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-03-11', 'modified' => '2024-03-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '20190', 'image' => '20240311122912_PRO-KTM-IMG_0302.JPG', 'article_date' => '2024-03-11 12:28:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
