February 16: Airbus revenues increased by 11 percent to 65.4 billion euros (70.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, with revenues in commercial aircraft up by 15 percent, the European aircraft manufacturer said…
February 16: Airbus revenues increased by 11 percent to 65.4 billion euros (70.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, with revenues in commercial aircraft up by 15 percent, the European aircraft manufacturer said…
February 16: The government has initiated the process of creating a new industrial area on the land of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Simra of Bara district.…
February 16: The Special Court on Thursday convicted a dozen people in the Lalita Niwas land embezzlement…
February 16: An earthquake of magnitude 4.4 occurred with its epicenter at Parakatne of Thalara Rural Municipality in Bajhang district at 9:32 am this…
The Employment Permit Section of Korea, operating under the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), will commence the Korean Language Test (KLT) on February…
Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank has rolled out a new loan scheme tailored for the Nepali new year 2081, offering competitive interest rates on home loans, business loans, and personal vehicle…
The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) witnessed a decline of 14.46 points or 0.69%, closing at 2062.03 on the last trading day of the week on…
February 15: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expressed concerns regarding the outflow of currency from Nepal for higher education…
February 15: At a time when the government has been expressing concern over the decline in revenue collection, businessmen insist that the revenue leakage is taking place due to the government policies.…
February 15: The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) is holding a high-level conference in Nepal.…
February 15: The World Health Organization (WHO) has praised Nepal for restricting levels of industrially produced trans-fatty acids in the food supply through a legislation, which the UN body said was a move aimed at promoting health and saving…
February 15: Shankhar Bahadur Gurung of Salleri in Solukhumbu finds the present weather quite unusual in the district.…
February 15: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to initiate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with hydropower projects of up to 10 megawatts to encourage domestic investors to invest in small hydropower…
February 15: Sugar industries in Nawalparasi West have been facing shortage of sugarcane, the main raw material for the…
February 14: The agricultural insurance scheme in Sudurpaschim Province has encountered several challenges in attracting farmers, mainly due to the lack of awareness among farmers about the scheme's…
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]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' => '20272', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Airbus Revenues Increase by 11 Percent in 2023 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 16: Airbus revenues increased by 11 percent to 65.4 billion euros (70.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, with revenues in commercial aircraft up by 15 percent, the European aircraft manufacturer said Thursday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 16: Airbus revenues increased by 11 percent to 65.4 billion euros (70.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, with revenues in commercial aircraft up by 15 percent, the European aircraft manufacturer said Thursday. </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"">"In 2023 we recorded strong order intake across all our businesses and we delivered on our commitments. This was a significant achievement given the complexity of the operating environment," said Airbus Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury. </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"">Airbus delivered 735 commercial aircraft in 2023, comprising 68 A220s, 571 A320 Family, 32 A330s and 64 A350s, marking an 11-percent increase in the number of units over 2022 when 661 units were delivered, according to its report of full-year 2023 results. </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"">In 2023, Airbus Helicopters delivered 346 units, almost unchanged from the 344 units delivered in 2022, resulting in a 4 percent rise in revenues. Moreover, revenues of Airbus Defence and Space increased by 2 percent. A total of eight A400M military airlifters were delivered last year, in comparison to 10 units in 2022. </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"">However, consolidated net income, or profits, fell by 11 percent to 3,789 million euros due to high special charges in the defence and aerospace division. For 2024, the group said it "targets to achieve around 800 commercial aircraft deliveries" on the basis that "it assumes no additional disruptions to the world economy, air traffic, the supply chain, the Company's internal operations, and its ability to deliver products and services." (1 euro = 1.07 U.S. dollar) – Xinhua/RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19999', 'image' => '20240216012820_4str-080531_Airbus_380_F-WWDD_Berlin_(ILA).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 13:27:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20271', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Initiates Process of Creating Industrial Area within the Premises of Special Economic Zone', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 16: The government has initiated the process of creating a new industrial area on the land of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Simra of Bara district. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 16: The government has initiated the process of creating a new industrial area on the land of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Simra of Bara district. The process was initiated through a ministerial-level decision taken by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The MoICS has written to the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation to proceed with the process of providing 311 bighas of land in D and E blocks of SEZ to the Industrial District Management Limited, a corporate entity established by the government in 1988 for the overall management and supervision of industrial districts as well as promotion of industries within those districts.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The SEZ structure has been prepared in three blocks, A, B and C, spread over 800 bighas of land. Preparations have been made for setting up an industrial area in the other blocks.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Earlier, the Industrial District Management Limited had submitted a preliminary report recommending that the land of SEZ should be turned into an industrial area. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The MoICS has concluded that Simra is the best place for the development of industrial sector. Being close to the country’s biggest dry port and sea ports of neighbouring India, this place is best suited for industrial sector also because of its trade route and other infrastructure. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The letter written by the MoICS mentions that the proposal for the construction of the industrial zone has been passed by the Board of Directors of the Industrial District Management Limited and SEZ Authority.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Hari Gautam, senior vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Industry and Commerce, said that the industrialists have been demanding a new industrial area due to the difficulty in acquiring land for industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor. Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Ramesh Rijal had been assuring the industrialists about the creation of industrial zones. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Gautam said that the industrialists were struggling to acquire land in the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor for setting up new industries. In such a situation, the government’s initiative to create a new industrial zone has made the entrepreneurs optimistic, said Gautam.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The entrepreneurs are not attracted towards SEZ due to the mandatory provision of exporting certain percentage of products manufactured in the SEZ. Therefore, they had been demanding to make SEZ an industrial zone. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19998', 'image' => '20240216121111_20220405012430_1649031704.Clipboard05.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 12:10:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20269', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Special Court Convicts 12 in Lalita Niwas Land Grab Case, Former Ministers Acquitted ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 16: The Special Court on Thursday convicted a dozen people in the Lalita Niwas land embezzlement case. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 16: The Special Court on Thursday convicted a dozen people in the Lalita Niwas land embezzlement case. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A joint bench of judges Khusi Prasad Tharu, Ram Bahadur Thapa and Ritendra Thapa not only convicted 12 persons but also declared that the land registered and transferred under 65 individuals would be sequestrated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Special Court spokesperson Dhan Bahadur Karki informed that the verdict delivered warranted the land back and recovery of the loss incurred over embezzlement of the public land of Lalita Niwas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the court order, Ram Kumar Subedi, Shova Kant Dhakal, owner of Bhatbhateni supermarket, Min Bahadur Gurung, then secretaries of land ministry, Chhabi Raj Pant and Dip Basnyat and even the family of Subarna Shumsher have been found guilty. Others in the list of convicts are Kaladhar Deuja, Surendra Man Kapali, Yukta Prasad Shrestha, Jagat Prasad Pudasaini. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The court has ordered to recover Rs 19.6 million from then secretaries Chhabiraj Pant and Dip Basnyat and then employees of land revenue office and land reform office for embezzling 19 ropanis of land. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the court has given a clean chit to then Minister for Physical Infrastructures, Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, then ministers for land reform, Dambar Bahadur Shrestha and Chandra Dev Joshi in this case. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, then Secretary Dinesh Hari Adhikari also got acquitted. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority had registered a corruption case at the Special Court on February 5, 2020, citing 113 ropanis of public land of Lalita Niwas was transferred and registered in the names of individuals. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The CIAA had made 175 people as defendants, including four former ministers and three former secretaries in this case. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19997', 'image' => '20240216104051_court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 10:40:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20270', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Earthquake Jolts Bajhang ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 16: An earthquake of magnitude 4.4 occurred with its epicenter at Parakatne of Thalara Rural Municipality in Bajhang district at 9:32 am this morning.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 16: An earthquake of magnitude 4.4 occurred with its epicenter at Parakatne of Thalara Rural Municipality in Bajhang district at 9:32 am this morning, the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre said. The district had also witnessed an earthquake of 4.4 in the Richter scale on January 12. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19996', 'image' => '20240216113354_Earthquake_qHefATN.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 11:33:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20268', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Korean Language Test to Commence on February 19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Employment Permit Section of Korea, operating under the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), will commence the Korean Language Test (KLT) on February 19.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 15: The Employment Permit Section of Korea, operating under the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), will commence the Korean Language Test (KLT) on February 19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">EPS Korea has announced that the examination will take place at the National Vocational Training Academy in Bhainsepati. Maiya Kandel, Director at EPS Korea, stated that the exams will be administered in five shifts daily, accommodating up to 1,000 students per day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Preparations have been made to conduct exams even on Saturdays. Approximately 47,000 students are expected to take the KLT in the initial shift," added Kandel.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Students are required to undergo biometric registration of their fingerprints a day prior at the EPS Korea Section Office in Gwarko, Lalitpur. Biometric verification will be carried out at the examination center. (RSS)</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19995', 'image' => '20240216062531_collage (35).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 06:24:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20267', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank Unveils New Loan Scheme', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank has rolled out a new loan scheme tailored for the Nepali new year 2081, offering competitive interest rates on home loans, business loans, and personal vehicle loans.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">February 15: Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank has rolled out a new loan scheme tailored for the Nepali new year 2081, offering competitive interest rates on home loans, business loans, and personal vehicle loans. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Under this initiative, there will be a stable interest rate for the initial year, and up to 25% discount on service charges will be given for female costumers. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In line with the scheme, home loans will offer a flexible term ranging from 2 to 30 years, with loan amount up to Rs. 5 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Similarly, small and medium-sized enterprises can avail themselves of loans at an attractive annual interest rate ranging from 10.99% for up to the term of 15 years. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, individual borrowers seeking personal vehicle loans will benefit from an annual interest rate of 11.49% for a period of up to 15 years. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The minimum tenure for personal vehicle loans is two years, extendable to a maximum of five years.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19994', 'image' => '20240215042621_collage (11).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 16:25:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20266', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Plummets by 14.46 Points, Closing at 2062.03', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) witnessed a decline of 14.46 points or 0.69%, closing at 2062.03 on the last trading day of the week on Thursday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 15: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) witnessed a decline of 14.46 points or 0.69%, closing at 2062.03 on the last trading day of the week on Thursday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">During today’s session, 305 scrips were traded on the NEPSE via 81,056 transactions. A total of 11,407,264 shares changed hands, resulting in a turnover of Rs 3.86 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> Himalayan Reinsurance Limited (HRL) led the turnover with transactions worth Rs 22 crores. Bottlers Nepal Limited (BNL) and Samaj Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (SAMAJ) both experienced a 10% gain, and hit the positive circuit for the day.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Conversely, Mailung Khola Jal Vidhyut Company Limited (MKJC) suffered the highest loss at 5.70%, closing at a market price of Rs 546 per share.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Regarding sector indices, all sectors except Manufacturing and Processing experienced declines. The Finance Index recorded the highest loss at 2.71%, while the HydroPower Index saw the least decline at 0.30%.</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> Only Manufacturing and Processing closed in positive territory, gaining 0.15%.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19993', 'image' => '20240215034506_collage (10).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 15:43:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20265', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Outflow of Money from Nepal for Higher Education should be Stopped’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expressed concerns regarding the outflow of currency from Nepal for higher education abroad.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">February 15: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expressed concerns regarding the outflow of currency from Nepal for higher education abroad. He said that this trend needs to be stopped, according to the state-owned RSS. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Addressing the inauguration of the North Zone Vice Chancellors' Meet 2024 of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and Bharat-Nepal Higher Education Summit on Thursday, the PM underscored the need for making efforts for retaining the majority of youths within the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">"There is a huge outflow of money from countries like Nepal on higher education and this trend should now be reversed. We should create a conducive environment at home for those youths seeking opportunities abroad," RSS quoted PM Dahal as saying.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Stating the education sector is struggling against the challenges brought by global forces, the prime minister said that students and intellectuals are getting drawn to the foreign universities as they have invested much resource in skill and education development.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">According to the latest report of Nepal Rastra Bank, the country spent Rs 58.95 billion for education in the first six months of the current fiscal year. This amount is more than the travel income of Rs 39.56 billion earned by the country in the review period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">According to the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report released recently by the central bank, Nepal’s travel payments increased 60.6 percent to Rs.92.87 billion, including Rs.58.95 billion for education in the review period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">It means that Nepal spends much more on travel expenses and foreign education than it earns from foreign visitors.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19992', 'image' => '20240215020558_20231217112227_20230313020040_foreign education.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 14:05:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20264', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Illegal Imports Thriving due to Flaws in Government Policy: Traders', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: At a time when the government has been expressing concern over the decline in revenue collection, businessmen insist that the revenue leakage is taking place due to the government policies. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 15: At a time when the government has been expressing concern over the decline in revenue collection, businessmen insist that the revenue leakage is taking place due to the government policies. They say that the lack of reforms in the tax system and the strict policy on foreign trade have led to the flourishing of unauthorized trade in the border areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">They claim that the illegal import of goods is having a direct impact on the revenue collection of the government while it is also adversely affecting legitimate domestic trade. Businessmen say that the unauthorized import of daily consumer goods from India through the open border has increased significantly in recent times.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Ashok Kumar Temani, president of the Madhes Province chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce Industry and Commerce, said that the government should radically reform the revenue system to control such illegal imports. The illegal import of goods on which the government has imposed high customs duties has increased through the open border, says Temani.</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 Niranjan Agarwal, the owner of Sweetmart Food Industries, says that goods such as sugar, cashews, raisins, which are subject to high customs duties, are rarely imported through the customs. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“There is no shortage of such items in the market. As the businessmen were subjected to 30 to 45 percent of customs duty on these items, they simply opted to import them through the illegal channels. All steel utensils are imported illegally. Because of the high customs duty on steel vessels, they evade the customs,” 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">Customs officials say that the number of such items passing through the customs is decreasing. Daily essentials such as rice, lentil, oil, potatoes, onions, biscuits, cumin and coriander, are coming through illegal channels.</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 government imposed VAT on potato and onion from the current fiscal year, its legitimate import has almost come to a standstill. The policy of curbing the import of peas, pepper, betel nuts and dry dates is still in place. Traders say that there is no shortage of such items in the market, but the prices have skyrocketed.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Clothes are the main smuggled items. Industrialists say that the domestic industries are facing problems due to the smuggling of clothes. Traders allege that these smuggled goods are brought to Kathmandu in collusion with the government agencies responsible for checking smuggling.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A customs officer of Birgunj Customs said that the government has not paid attention to policy reforms as the existing loopholes have become a means of earning for politicians and the government agencies responsible to curb illegal imports.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The businessmen in general complain that the legitimate business has been badly affected dye to the illegal imports.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Madhav Rajpal, vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce, complained that the government has turned a deaf ear to the legitimate concerns of the traders.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">India has radically reformed the tax system since July 2017. India levies a Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 5 percent on most daily consumer goods consumed by the general consumer. This has reduced the price of consumer goods there. Since the implementation of GST in India, illegal imports have started to increase in Nepal. On the other hand, all levels of government in Nepal have been imposing ‘tax terror’, according to the businessmen.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"Since we have to pay high customs duty and 13 percent VAT on all goods, the price of daily consumption goods has also increased. Illegal imports from India have increased due to this price gap. The situation will not improve until the government reforms the tax system,'' said businessman Niranjan Agarwal. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19991', 'image' => '20240215014633_20210818024801_20210118020708_1610926784.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 13:45:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20263', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank to Hold High-Level Conference in Nepal in June', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) is holding a high-level conference in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 15: The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) is holding a high-level conference in Nepal. The conference to be held here in the third week of June. This is the first time such a conference is being held in Nepal. Even the government has termed it the biggest conference so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Ministry of Finance, representatives of 92 countries will attend the conference. According to government officials, the World Bank has already agreed in principle to host the conference in Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat, the Government of Nepal had written a letter to the World Bank seeking its support to hold the conference. After receiving Nepal's letter, the World Bank expressed its agreement in principle. Finance Minister Mahat said that a high-level conference of this kind has not been organized in Nepal so far. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"This will be the first such gathering," he said at a press conference held to review the budget, adding, "Representatives of 92 countries from around the world, including the president of the World Bank, will come to Nepal."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Finance Minister Mahat, this conference will pave the way of foreign investment in Nepal. Currently, projects worth more than Rs 200 billion are being implemented in Nepal with the support of the World Bank. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Officials of the Ministry of Finance are currently busy with homework as the Third Investment Summit will be held ahead of the World Bank’s conference.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Investors from China, Bangladesh, India, Japan, UK, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and other countries are being invited to the Investment Summit on April 28 and 29. Finance Ministry sources said that the government is preparing to send a formal letter to the investors of those countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the half-yearly review program of the budget, Minister Mahat claimed that if the investment conference is successful, the investment in multinational companies operating in Nepal will increase. In the meeting of the Investment Summit Steering Committee held last Thursday, Minister Mahat said that international investors are expressing interest in the summit. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“There is an unprecedented opportunity for us to attract investment. The government will leave no stone unturned in legal and policy reforms to attract foreign investors as well as Nepali investors and non-resident Nepalis," the finance minister’s secretariat said quoting FM Mahat.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has already started the process of amending laws related to investment, targeting the investment summit and the World Bank conference. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to government officials, the work of amending some laws and regulations has been carried out with the aim of removing the legal and policy obstacles for investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Amending those laws will also address the problems seen in delay in implementation of projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Besides, the government is also emphasizing on the country sovereign credit rating. According to Dhaniram Sharma, spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, the credit rating work of Nepal has been expedited. Since the investment conference will be held in April, it is likely that the rating will be completed before that. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19990', 'image' => '20240215010906_World.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 13:08:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20262', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'WHO Praises Nepal’s Legislation to Restrict Trans-fatty Acids in Food', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: The World Health Organization (WHO) has praised Nepal for restricting levels of industrially produced trans-fatty acids in the food supply through a legislation, which the UN body said was a move aimed at promoting health and saving lives.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 15: The World Health Organization (WHO) has praised Nepal for restricting levels of industrially produced trans-fatty acids in the food supply through a legislation, which the UN body said was a move aimed at promoting health and saving lives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Eliminating trans-fatty acids is a cost-effective measure with great health benefits in preventing premature deaths from cardiovascular diseases,” Saima Wazed, regional director of WHO South-East Asia, said in a press statement issued on Wednesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Prioritizing prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in South-East Asia Region, WHO has been supporting countries for elimination of trans-fatty acids from national food supplies, along with other measures. With Nepal’s legislation, now nearly 80% of the region’s population of 1.6 billion people will be potentially protected from the harms of trans-fatty acids, the statement added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Globally, 540,000 deaths every year can be attributed to intake of industrially produced trans-fatty acids, the WHO added. High trans-fat intake significantly increases the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases. Trans-fat has no known health benefits, the WHO further said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Non-communicable diseases cause 69% of the nearly 9 million deaths every year in the WHO South-East Asia Region. Cardiovascular diseases are a major cause of deaths, according to the WHO.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In 2018 WHO released REPLACE a guide of six strategies to help achieve the elimination of industrially produced trans-fatty acids. In collaboration with Resolve to Save Lives, REPLACE protocols are being implemented across the region, reads the statement issued by WHO.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">By 2022 Thailand, India and Bangladesh had adopted regulations for elimination of trans-fatty acids in food supply. Indonesia had complementary policy measures. Sri Lanka issued a regulation in 2023. Nepal issued the legislation on trans-fatty acids on February 8, according to the WHO.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Restricting trans-fatty acids is one of the measures under WHO South-East Asia Region’s ‘SEA HEARTS’ that emphasizes on united effort across all partners and all stakeholders for aligned and effective acceleration of actions to reduce deaths from cardiovascular diseases.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the WHO, Nepal’s legislation on trans-fatty acids will add 30 million people to the SEA HEARTS target of protecting two billion people from the harmful effects of trans-fatty acids through best practices or complementary policy measures of WHO REPLACE by 2025.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">WHO has been urging countries in the region to focus on best-practice policies, monitoring and surveillance, to drive progress against trans-fatty acids.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The statement added that eliminating trans-fatty acids from the food supply will enhance the health and well-being of people and also help attain the SDG targets of reducing premature mortality by one-third from non-communicable diseases by 2030.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19989', 'image' => '20240215115945_20240114110800_WHO.jpg.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 11:59:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20261', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Winter Charm Eludes Solukhumbu, Upsets Populace ', 'sub_title' => 'Neither Snowfall nor Rains', 'summary' => 'February 15: Shankhar Bahadur Gurung of Salleri in Solukhumbu finds the present weather quite unusual in the district. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 15: Shankhar Bahadur Gurung of Salleri in Solukhumbu finds the present weather quite unusual in the district. "Winter is exiting soon, but we have neither experienced winter rain nor snowfall this time. What's happening?" he is intrigued. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The septuagenarian shares that this is the first time he has noticed such aberration in the weather pattern in his life. In the absence of snowfall, Solukhumbu, the mountainous district in the Koshi Province, no longer seems as it used to be. The hills and mountains usually blanketed with snow now look bare, wearing a deserted look. </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"">"We have started feeling a rise in temperature with the beginning of the month of Falgun (mid-February to mid-March) and lost hope of snowfall this year," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Meteorological Station at Salleri, the temperature is on the rise for the past five days. Locals said that winter days are not as chilly as they used to be. Until four to five years ago, they used to have chilling cold, but this time, the days are hotter. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Farmers in the region had hoped for snowfall and rains, as the lack of snowfall adversely affects winter crops such as wheat, potato, and barley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Prem Kumar Basnet of Likhupike rural municipality-4 shared their plight that cardamom farming was suffering due to lack of winter rains. Cardamom farming takes place in Likhupike, Sotang, Mahakulung, Mapya Dudhkoshi, and Nechasalyan areas, usually conducted on 158 hectares of land. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Tourism entrepreneurs are also worried about the unusual weather pattern. Sagarmatha (Mt Everest), the world's highest peak, lies in the Khumbu region of the district, which failed to witness sufficient snowfall this time. Although the highland recorded a light snowfall, it was meagre and partial, according to Lamakaji Sherpa of Namche. The area is now entirely dry, and tourism entrepreneurs fear losing the winter charm that usually attracts visitors. </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"">Damu Sherpa from Lukla said that snowfall in the Khumbu region is an essential attraction for tourists, both domestic and international. However, this time, the situation is different. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Moreover, the populace here is gripped with fear of wildfires likely to be flared up by the dry winter. Last Saturday, the Khamding Mulabari Community Forest at Kanku of Mapya Dudhkoshi rural municipality-5 and Mendopake Community Forest at Chyalsa of Mendopake of Solududhkunda municipality-7 reported fires. According to Ramji Shah, officiating forest divisional officer at the Forest Division Office, the fires destroyed a large stretch of vegetation and also affected the precious wildlife. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The office data shows that community forest areas cover 105,330 hectares of land, with a total of 72 community forests in the district alone. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Environmental expert Rajan Thapa informed that forest fires not only create adversity but also impact wildlife, human settlements, and the overall ecology. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19988', 'image' => '20240215112158_240646_218722601484804_3009691_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 11:21:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20260', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Decides to Initiate PPA with Hydropower Projects of up to 10 MW', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to initiate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with hydropower projects of up to 10 megawatts to encourage domestic investors to invest in small hydropower projects.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">February 15: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to initiate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with hydropower projects of up to 10 megawatts to encourage domestic investors to invest in small hydropower projects.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The 963rd meeting of the Board of Directors of the NEA held on February 7 under the chairmanship of the Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet decided to sign PPA with the run-of-river (RoR) and semi-reservoir (PROR) hydropower projects of up to 10 megawatts at any time and any amount.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">NEA will purchase electricity from the hydropower projects up to 10 megawatts on the basis of 'take or pay' scheme. The electricity of the project will be purchased at Rs 8.40 and Rs 4.80 per unit for the dry season (start of December to May end) and rainy season (start of June to November end) respectively.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority Kulman Ghising said that the PPA limit set on the basis of production mix is not applicable in projects up to 10 megawatts in order to encourage the maximum use of local natural resources and the investment from domestic investors in small hydropower projects.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">"PPA of hydropower projects up to 10 MW could not be signed due to the provision of quota. Now the quota will not applicable for projects up to 10 MW, so PPA can be signed anytime. This will encourage small domestic investors," said Executive Director Ghising.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Altogether 89 projects up to 10 megawatts have applied to the NEA for PPA. The capacity of the project is 351 MW. Among them, 44 projects with total capacity of 195 megawatts have already completed grid-related agreements.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The NEA had set the target of becoming self-sufficient in electricity through internal production of 15,000 megawatts of electricity in the next 10 years, under the concept of energy mix which would see 25 percent contribution from reservoir-based projects, 30 percent of peaking ROR, and 45 percent of ROR.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The limit of PPA was fixed on the same basis. Since the limit of 6750 MW was set for ROR project has been fulfilled, PPA was not possible even for projects up to 10 MW. Most of the projects up to 10 MW are ROR. The Authority has signed PPA of 9200 MW so far.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19987', 'image' => '20240215103354_NEA_eight by six.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 10:32:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20259', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sugar Industries Facing Sugarcane Shortage in Nawalparasi West', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: Sugar industries in Nawalparasi West have been facing shortage of sugarcane, the main raw material for the industries.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 15: Sugar industries in Nawalparasi West have been facing shortage of sugarcane, the main raw material for the industries. As a result, the sugar industries here have not been able to operate at full capacity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Since sugarcane production was not as expected in Nawalparasi West, the sugar industries are forced to purchase sugarcane from outside districts at higher cost.</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"">Sunwal-based Lumbini Sugar Industry is purchasing sugarcane from Kapilvastu and Nawalparasi East. Head of administration of the industry, Kush Subedi, said that they were compelled to purchase sugarcane from other districts due to the lack of sufficient sugarcane production in the district. He said that the industry has purchased 15,000 quintals of sugarcane this year from Kapilvastu alone. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Three big sugar industries in the district have said that they are not able to function as per their target due to the shortage of sugarcane. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Bagmati Khadsari Sugar Industry in Susta and Indira Sugar Agro Industries Pvt. Ltd. in Pratappur also stated that they could not function at their full capacity due to lack of sugarcane. A total of four sugar factories are operating in the district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the farmers are gradually turning to alternative crops for farming due to the non-payment for their produce for a long time. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19986', 'image' => '20240215095503_20221117014847_20190107104522_sugarcane.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 09:53:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20256', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Agricultural Insurance Fails to Attract Farmers in Sudurpaschim Province', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The agricultural insurance scheme in Sudurpaschim Province has encountered several challenges in attracting farmers, mainly due to the lack of awareness among farmers about the scheme's benefits.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 14: The agricultural insurance scheme in Sudurpaschim Province has encountered several challenges in attracting farmers, mainly due to the lack of awareness among farmers about the scheme's benefits.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Despite the government covering the entire premium cost (80 percent by the federal government and 20 percent by the province), the number of insured farmers has not seen a substantial increase.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to Hridaya Raj Pandit, chief of the Dhangadhi-based regional office of Nepal Insurance Authority, only 2,314 insurance reference numbers were issued in the province as of mid-January in the current fiscal year 2023-24. The nationwide number of farmers enrolled in agricultural insurance stands at 70,772.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The office launched publicity programs through FM radios in nine districts and conducted local-level interactions to promote the indemnity scheme. Despite these efforts, the results have been slow. To enroll in the scheme, farmers are required to pay a nominal fee of Rs 500.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In specific districts, the enrollment figures are notably low, with no farmers participating in Darchula, while the numbers are 365 in Kanchanpur, 290 in Achham, 253 in Dadeldhura, 85 in Bajhang, 82 in Doti, 29 in Bajura, and 20 in Baitadi districts.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Several factors have been identified as contributors to low participation, including the inability of insurance agents to reach out to remote villages, farmers' reluctance, external influencing factors, and delays in premium payments to insurance companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The authorized companies facilitating agricultural insurance in the province include Nepal Insurance Company (Kanchanpur, Dadeldhura, Baitadi, and Darchula), Rastriya Beema Company (Kailali, Doti, and Bajhang), and Ajod Insurance Company (Achham and Bajura).</span> -- <span style="font-size:14.0pt">RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-14', 'modified' => '2024-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19983', 'image' => '20240214060943_20220108025334_Clipboard42.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-14 18:08:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, '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' => '20272', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Airbus Revenues Increase by 11 Percent in 2023 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 16: Airbus revenues increased by 11 percent to 65.4 billion euros (70.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, with revenues in commercial aircraft up by 15 percent, the European aircraft manufacturer said Thursday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 16: Airbus revenues increased by 11 percent to 65.4 billion euros (70.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, with revenues in commercial aircraft up by 15 percent, the European aircraft manufacturer said Thursday. </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"">"In 2023 we recorded strong order intake across all our businesses and we delivered on our commitments. This was a significant achievement given the complexity of the operating environment," said Airbus Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury. </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"">Airbus delivered 735 commercial aircraft in 2023, comprising 68 A220s, 571 A320 Family, 32 A330s and 64 A350s, marking an 11-percent increase in the number of units over 2022 when 661 units were delivered, according to its report of full-year 2023 results. </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"">In 2023, Airbus Helicopters delivered 346 units, almost unchanged from the 344 units delivered in 2022, resulting in a 4 percent rise in revenues. Moreover, revenues of Airbus Defence and Space increased by 2 percent. A total of eight A400M military airlifters were delivered last year, in comparison to 10 units in 2022. </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"">However, consolidated net income, or profits, fell by 11 percent to 3,789 million euros due to high special charges in the defence and aerospace division. For 2024, the group said it "targets to achieve around 800 commercial aircraft deliveries" on the basis that "it assumes no additional disruptions to the world economy, air traffic, the supply chain, the Company's internal operations, and its ability to deliver products and services." (1 euro = 1.07 U.S. dollar) – Xinhua/RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19999', 'image' => '20240216012820_4str-080531_Airbus_380_F-WWDD_Berlin_(ILA).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 13:27:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20271', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Initiates Process of Creating Industrial Area within the Premises of Special Economic Zone', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 16: The government has initiated the process of creating a new industrial area on the land of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Simra of Bara district. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 16: The government has initiated the process of creating a new industrial area on the land of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Simra of Bara district. The process was initiated through a ministerial-level decision taken by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The MoICS has written to the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation to proceed with the process of providing 311 bighas of land in D and E blocks of SEZ to the Industrial District Management Limited, a corporate entity established by the government in 1988 for the overall management and supervision of industrial districts as well as promotion of industries within those districts.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The SEZ structure has been prepared in three blocks, A, B and C, spread over 800 bighas of land. Preparations have been made for setting up an industrial area in the other blocks.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Earlier, the Industrial District Management Limited had submitted a preliminary report recommending that the land of SEZ should be turned into an industrial area. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The MoICS has concluded that Simra is the best place for the development of industrial sector. Being close to the country’s biggest dry port and sea ports of neighbouring India, this place is best suited for industrial sector also because of its trade route and other infrastructure. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The letter written by the MoICS mentions that the proposal for the construction of the industrial zone has been passed by the Board of Directors of the Industrial District Management Limited and SEZ Authority.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Hari Gautam, senior vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Industry and Commerce, said that the industrialists have been demanding a new industrial area due to the difficulty in acquiring land for industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor. Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Ramesh Rijal had been assuring the industrialists about the creation of industrial zones. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Gautam said that the industrialists were struggling to acquire land in the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor for setting up new industries. In such a situation, the government’s initiative to create a new industrial zone has made the entrepreneurs optimistic, said Gautam.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The entrepreneurs are not attracted towards SEZ due to the mandatory provision of exporting certain percentage of products manufactured in the SEZ. Therefore, they had been demanding to make SEZ an industrial zone. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19998', 'image' => '20240216121111_20220405012430_1649031704.Clipboard05.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 12:10:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20269', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Special Court Convicts 12 in Lalita Niwas Land Grab Case, Former Ministers Acquitted ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 16: The Special Court on Thursday convicted a dozen people in the Lalita Niwas land embezzlement case. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 16: The Special Court on Thursday convicted a dozen people in the Lalita Niwas land embezzlement case. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A joint bench of judges Khusi Prasad Tharu, Ram Bahadur Thapa and Ritendra Thapa not only convicted 12 persons but also declared that the land registered and transferred under 65 individuals would be sequestrated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Special Court spokesperson Dhan Bahadur Karki informed that the verdict delivered warranted the land back and recovery of the loss incurred over embezzlement of the public land of Lalita Niwas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the court order, Ram Kumar Subedi, Shova Kant Dhakal, owner of Bhatbhateni supermarket, Min Bahadur Gurung, then secretaries of land ministry, Chhabi Raj Pant and Dip Basnyat and even the family of Subarna Shumsher have been found guilty. Others in the list of convicts are Kaladhar Deuja, Surendra Man Kapali, Yukta Prasad Shrestha, Jagat Prasad Pudasaini. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The court has ordered to recover Rs 19.6 million from then secretaries Chhabiraj Pant and Dip Basnyat and then employees of land revenue office and land reform office for embezzling 19 ropanis of land. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the court has given a clean chit to then Minister for Physical Infrastructures, Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, then ministers for land reform, Dambar Bahadur Shrestha and Chandra Dev Joshi in this case. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, then Secretary Dinesh Hari Adhikari also got acquitted. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority had registered a corruption case at the Special Court on February 5, 2020, citing 113 ropanis of public land of Lalita Niwas was transferred and registered in the names of individuals. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The CIAA had made 175 people as defendants, including four former ministers and three former secretaries in this case. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19997', 'image' => '20240216104051_court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 10:40:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20270', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Earthquake Jolts Bajhang ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 16: An earthquake of magnitude 4.4 occurred with its epicenter at Parakatne of Thalara Rural Municipality in Bajhang district at 9:32 am this morning.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 16: An earthquake of magnitude 4.4 occurred with its epicenter at Parakatne of Thalara Rural Municipality in Bajhang district at 9:32 am this morning, the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre said. The district had also witnessed an earthquake of 4.4 in the Richter scale on January 12. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19996', 'image' => '20240216113354_Earthquake_qHefATN.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 11:33:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20268', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Korean Language Test to Commence on February 19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Employment Permit Section of Korea, operating under the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), will commence the Korean Language Test (KLT) on February 19.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 15: The Employment Permit Section of Korea, operating under the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), will commence the Korean Language Test (KLT) on February 19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">EPS Korea has announced that the examination will take place at the National Vocational Training Academy in Bhainsepati. Maiya Kandel, Director at EPS Korea, stated that the exams will be administered in five shifts daily, accommodating up to 1,000 students per day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Preparations have been made to conduct exams even on Saturdays. Approximately 47,000 students are expected to take the KLT in the initial shift," added Kandel.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Students are required to undergo biometric registration of their fingerprints a day prior at the EPS Korea Section Office in Gwarko, Lalitpur. Biometric verification will be carried out at the examination center. (RSS)</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19995', 'image' => '20240216062531_collage (35).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 06:24:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20267', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank Unveils New Loan Scheme', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank has rolled out a new loan scheme tailored for the Nepali new year 2081, offering competitive interest rates on home loans, business loans, and personal vehicle loans.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">February 15: Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank has rolled out a new loan scheme tailored for the Nepali new year 2081, offering competitive interest rates on home loans, business loans, and personal vehicle loans. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Under this initiative, there will be a stable interest rate for the initial year, and up to 25% discount on service charges will be given for female costumers. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In line with the scheme, home loans will offer a flexible term ranging from 2 to 30 years, with loan amount up to Rs. 5 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Similarly, small and medium-sized enterprises can avail themselves of loans at an attractive annual interest rate ranging from 10.99% for up to the term of 15 years. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, individual borrowers seeking personal vehicle loans will benefit from an annual interest rate of 11.49% for a period of up to 15 years. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The minimum tenure for personal vehicle loans is two years, extendable to a maximum of five years.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19994', 'image' => '20240215042621_collage (11).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 16:25:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20266', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Plummets by 14.46 Points, Closing at 2062.03', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) witnessed a decline of 14.46 points or 0.69%, closing at 2062.03 on the last trading day of the week on Thursday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 15: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) witnessed a decline of 14.46 points or 0.69%, closing at 2062.03 on the last trading day of the week on Thursday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">During today’s session, 305 scrips were traded on the NEPSE via 81,056 transactions. A total of 11,407,264 shares changed hands, resulting in a turnover of Rs 3.86 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> Himalayan Reinsurance Limited (HRL) led the turnover with transactions worth Rs 22 crores. Bottlers Nepal Limited (BNL) and Samaj Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (SAMAJ) both experienced a 10% gain, and hit the positive circuit for the day.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Conversely, Mailung Khola Jal Vidhyut Company Limited (MKJC) suffered the highest loss at 5.70%, closing at a market price of Rs 546 per share.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Regarding sector indices, all sectors except Manufacturing and Processing experienced declines. The Finance Index recorded the highest loss at 2.71%, while the HydroPower Index saw the least decline at 0.30%.</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> Only Manufacturing and Processing closed in positive territory, gaining 0.15%.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19993', 'image' => '20240215034506_collage (10).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 15:43:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20265', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Outflow of Money from Nepal for Higher Education should be Stopped’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expressed concerns regarding the outflow of currency from Nepal for higher education abroad.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">February 15: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expressed concerns regarding the outflow of currency from Nepal for higher education abroad. He said that this trend needs to be stopped, according to the state-owned RSS. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Addressing the inauguration of the North Zone Vice Chancellors' Meet 2024 of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and Bharat-Nepal Higher Education Summit on Thursday, the PM underscored the need for making efforts for retaining the majority of youths within the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">"There is a huge outflow of money from countries like Nepal on higher education and this trend should now be reversed. We should create a conducive environment at home for those youths seeking opportunities abroad," RSS quoted PM Dahal as saying.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Stating the education sector is struggling against the challenges brought by global forces, the prime minister said that students and intellectuals are getting drawn to the foreign universities as they have invested much resource in skill and education development.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">According to the latest report of Nepal Rastra Bank, the country spent Rs 58.95 billion for education in the first six months of the current fiscal year. This amount is more than the travel income of Rs 39.56 billion earned by the country in the review period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">According to the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report released recently by the central bank, Nepal’s travel payments increased 60.6 percent to Rs.92.87 billion, including Rs.58.95 billion for education in the review period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">It means that Nepal spends much more on travel expenses and foreign education than it earns from foreign visitors.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19992', 'image' => '20240215020558_20231217112227_20230313020040_foreign education.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 14:05:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20264', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Illegal Imports Thriving due to Flaws in Government Policy: Traders', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: At a time when the government has been expressing concern over the decline in revenue collection, businessmen insist that the revenue leakage is taking place due to the government policies. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 15: At a time when the government has been expressing concern over the decline in revenue collection, businessmen insist that the revenue leakage is taking place due to the government policies. They say that the lack of reforms in the tax system and the strict policy on foreign trade have led to the flourishing of unauthorized trade in the border areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">They claim that the illegal import of goods is having a direct impact on the revenue collection of the government while it is also adversely affecting legitimate domestic trade. Businessmen say that the unauthorized import of daily consumer goods from India through the open border has increased significantly in recent times.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Ashok Kumar Temani, president of the Madhes Province chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce Industry and Commerce, said that the government should radically reform the revenue system to control such illegal imports. The illegal import of goods on which the government has imposed high customs duties has increased through the open border, says Temani.</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 Niranjan Agarwal, the owner of Sweetmart Food Industries, says that goods such as sugar, cashews, raisins, which are subject to high customs duties, are rarely imported through the customs. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“There is no shortage of such items in the market. As the businessmen were subjected to 30 to 45 percent of customs duty on these items, they simply opted to import them through the illegal channels. All steel utensils are imported illegally. Because of the high customs duty on steel vessels, they evade the customs,” 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">Customs officials say that the number of such items passing through the customs is decreasing. Daily essentials such as rice, lentil, oil, potatoes, onions, biscuits, cumin and coriander, are coming through illegal channels.</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 government imposed VAT on potato and onion from the current fiscal year, its legitimate import has almost come to a standstill. The policy of curbing the import of peas, pepper, betel nuts and dry dates is still in place. Traders say that there is no shortage of such items in the market, but the prices have skyrocketed.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Clothes are the main smuggled items. Industrialists say that the domestic industries are facing problems due to the smuggling of clothes. Traders allege that these smuggled goods are brought to Kathmandu in collusion with the government agencies responsible for checking smuggling.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A customs officer of Birgunj Customs said that the government has not paid attention to policy reforms as the existing loopholes have become a means of earning for politicians and the government agencies responsible to curb illegal imports.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The businessmen in general complain that the legitimate business has been badly affected dye to the illegal imports.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Madhav Rajpal, vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce, complained that the government has turned a deaf ear to the legitimate concerns of the traders.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">India has radically reformed the tax system since July 2017. India levies a Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 5 percent on most daily consumer goods consumed by the general consumer. This has reduced the price of consumer goods there. Since the implementation of GST in India, illegal imports have started to increase in Nepal. On the other hand, all levels of government in Nepal have been imposing ‘tax terror’, according to the businessmen.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"Since we have to pay high customs duty and 13 percent VAT on all goods, the price of daily consumption goods has also increased. Illegal imports from India have increased due to this price gap. The situation will not improve until the government reforms the tax system,'' said businessman Niranjan Agarwal. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19991', 'image' => '20240215014633_20210818024801_20210118020708_1610926784.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 13:45:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20263', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank to Hold High-Level Conference in Nepal in June', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) is holding a high-level conference in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 15: The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) is holding a high-level conference in Nepal. The conference to be held here in the third week of June. This is the first time such a conference is being held in Nepal. Even the government has termed it the biggest conference so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Ministry of Finance, representatives of 92 countries will attend the conference. According to government officials, the World Bank has already agreed in principle to host the conference in Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat, the Government of Nepal had written a letter to the World Bank seeking its support to hold the conference. After receiving Nepal's letter, the World Bank expressed its agreement in principle. Finance Minister Mahat said that a high-level conference of this kind has not been organized in Nepal so far. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"This will be the first such gathering," he said at a press conference held to review the budget, adding, "Representatives of 92 countries from around the world, including the president of the World Bank, will come to Nepal."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Finance Minister Mahat, this conference will pave the way of foreign investment in Nepal. Currently, projects worth more than Rs 200 billion are being implemented in Nepal with the support of the World Bank. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Officials of the Ministry of Finance are currently busy with homework as the Third Investment Summit will be held ahead of the World Bank’s conference.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Investors from China, Bangladesh, India, Japan, UK, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and other countries are being invited to the Investment Summit on April 28 and 29. Finance Ministry sources said that the government is preparing to send a formal letter to the investors of those countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the half-yearly review program of the budget, Minister Mahat claimed that if the investment conference is successful, the investment in multinational companies operating in Nepal will increase. In the meeting of the Investment Summit Steering Committee held last Thursday, Minister Mahat said that international investors are expressing interest in the summit. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“There is an unprecedented opportunity for us to attract investment. The government will leave no stone unturned in legal and policy reforms to attract foreign investors as well as Nepali investors and non-resident Nepalis," the finance minister’s secretariat said quoting FM Mahat.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has already started the process of amending laws related to investment, targeting the investment summit and the World Bank conference. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to government officials, the work of amending some laws and regulations has been carried out with the aim of removing the legal and policy obstacles for investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Amending those laws will also address the problems seen in delay in implementation of projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Besides, the government is also emphasizing on the country sovereign credit rating. According to Dhaniram Sharma, spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, the credit rating work of Nepal has been expedited. Since the investment conference will be held in April, it is likely that the rating will be completed before that. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19990', 'image' => '20240215010906_World.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 13:08:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20262', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'WHO Praises Nepal’s Legislation to Restrict Trans-fatty Acids in Food', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: The World Health Organization (WHO) has praised Nepal for restricting levels of industrially produced trans-fatty acids in the food supply through a legislation, which the UN body said was a move aimed at promoting health and saving lives.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 15: The World Health Organization (WHO) has praised Nepal for restricting levels of industrially produced trans-fatty acids in the food supply through a legislation, which the UN body said was a move aimed at promoting health and saving lives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Eliminating trans-fatty acids is a cost-effective measure with great health benefits in preventing premature deaths from cardiovascular diseases,” Saima Wazed, regional director of WHO South-East Asia, said in a press statement issued on Wednesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Prioritizing prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in South-East Asia Region, WHO has been supporting countries for elimination of trans-fatty acids from national food supplies, along with other measures. With Nepal’s legislation, now nearly 80% of the region’s population of 1.6 billion people will be potentially protected from the harms of trans-fatty acids, the statement added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Globally, 540,000 deaths every year can be attributed to intake of industrially produced trans-fatty acids, the WHO added. High trans-fat intake significantly increases the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases. Trans-fat has no known health benefits, the WHO further said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Non-communicable diseases cause 69% of the nearly 9 million deaths every year in the WHO South-East Asia Region. Cardiovascular diseases are a major cause of deaths, according to the WHO.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In 2018 WHO released REPLACE a guide of six strategies to help achieve the elimination of industrially produced trans-fatty acids. In collaboration with Resolve to Save Lives, REPLACE protocols are being implemented across the region, reads the statement issued by WHO.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">By 2022 Thailand, India and Bangladesh had adopted regulations for elimination of trans-fatty acids in food supply. Indonesia had complementary policy measures. Sri Lanka issued a regulation in 2023. Nepal issued the legislation on trans-fatty acids on February 8, according to the WHO.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Restricting trans-fatty acids is one of the measures under WHO South-East Asia Region’s ‘SEA HEARTS’ that emphasizes on united effort across all partners and all stakeholders for aligned and effective acceleration of actions to reduce deaths from cardiovascular diseases.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the WHO, Nepal’s legislation on trans-fatty acids will add 30 million people to the SEA HEARTS target of protecting two billion people from the harmful effects of trans-fatty acids through best practices or complementary policy measures of WHO REPLACE by 2025.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">WHO has been urging countries in the region to focus on best-practice policies, monitoring and surveillance, to drive progress against trans-fatty acids.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The statement added that eliminating trans-fatty acids from the food supply will enhance the health and well-being of people and also help attain the SDG targets of reducing premature mortality by one-third from non-communicable diseases by 2030.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19989', 'image' => '20240215115945_20240114110800_WHO.jpg.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 11:59:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20261', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Winter Charm Eludes Solukhumbu, Upsets Populace ', 'sub_title' => 'Neither Snowfall nor Rains', 'summary' => 'February 15: Shankhar Bahadur Gurung of Salleri in Solukhumbu finds the present weather quite unusual in the district. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 15: Shankhar Bahadur Gurung of Salleri in Solukhumbu finds the present weather quite unusual in the district. "Winter is exiting soon, but we have neither experienced winter rain nor snowfall this time. What's happening?" he is intrigued. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The septuagenarian shares that this is the first time he has noticed such aberration in the weather pattern in his life. In the absence of snowfall, Solukhumbu, the mountainous district in the Koshi Province, no longer seems as it used to be. The hills and mountains usually blanketed with snow now look bare, wearing a deserted look. </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"">"We have started feeling a rise in temperature with the beginning of the month of Falgun (mid-February to mid-March) and lost hope of snowfall this year," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Meteorological Station at Salleri, the temperature is on the rise for the past five days. Locals said that winter days are not as chilly as they used to be. Until four to five years ago, they used to have chilling cold, but this time, the days are hotter. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Farmers in the region had hoped for snowfall and rains, as the lack of snowfall adversely affects winter crops such as wheat, potato, and barley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Prem Kumar Basnet of Likhupike rural municipality-4 shared their plight that cardamom farming was suffering due to lack of winter rains. Cardamom farming takes place in Likhupike, Sotang, Mahakulung, Mapya Dudhkoshi, and Nechasalyan areas, usually conducted on 158 hectares of land. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Tourism entrepreneurs are also worried about the unusual weather pattern. Sagarmatha (Mt Everest), the world's highest peak, lies in the Khumbu region of the district, which failed to witness sufficient snowfall this time. Although the highland recorded a light snowfall, it was meagre and partial, according to Lamakaji Sherpa of Namche. The area is now entirely dry, and tourism entrepreneurs fear losing the winter charm that usually attracts visitors. </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"">Damu Sherpa from Lukla said that snowfall in the Khumbu region is an essential attraction for tourists, both domestic and international. However, this time, the situation is different. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Moreover, the populace here is gripped with fear of wildfires likely to be flared up by the dry winter. Last Saturday, the Khamding Mulabari Community Forest at Kanku of Mapya Dudhkoshi rural municipality-5 and Mendopake Community Forest at Chyalsa of Mendopake of Solududhkunda municipality-7 reported fires. According to Ramji Shah, officiating forest divisional officer at the Forest Division Office, the fires destroyed a large stretch of vegetation and also affected the precious wildlife. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The office data shows that community forest areas cover 105,330 hectares of land, with a total of 72 community forests in the district alone. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Environmental expert Rajan Thapa informed that forest fires not only create adversity but also impact wildlife, human settlements, and the overall ecology. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19988', 'image' => '20240215112158_240646_218722601484804_3009691_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 11:21:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20260', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Decides to Initiate PPA with Hydropower Projects of up to 10 MW', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to initiate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with hydropower projects of up to 10 megawatts to encourage domestic investors to invest in small hydropower projects.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">February 15: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to initiate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with hydropower projects of up to 10 megawatts to encourage domestic investors to invest in small hydropower projects.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The 963rd meeting of the Board of Directors of the NEA held on February 7 under the chairmanship of the Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet decided to sign PPA with the run-of-river (RoR) and semi-reservoir (PROR) hydropower projects of up to 10 megawatts at any time and any amount.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">NEA will purchase electricity from the hydropower projects up to 10 megawatts on the basis of 'take or pay' scheme. The electricity of the project will be purchased at Rs 8.40 and Rs 4.80 per unit for the dry season (start of December to May end) and rainy season (start of June to November end) respectively.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority Kulman Ghising said that the PPA limit set on the basis of production mix is not applicable in projects up to 10 megawatts in order to encourage the maximum use of local natural resources and the investment from domestic investors in small hydropower projects.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">"PPA of hydropower projects up to 10 MW could not be signed due to the provision of quota. Now the quota will not applicable for projects up to 10 MW, so PPA can be signed anytime. This will encourage small domestic investors," said Executive Director Ghising.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Altogether 89 projects up to 10 megawatts have applied to the NEA for PPA. The capacity of the project is 351 MW. Among them, 44 projects with total capacity of 195 megawatts have already completed grid-related agreements.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The NEA had set the target of becoming self-sufficient in electricity through internal production of 15,000 megawatts of electricity in the next 10 years, under the concept of energy mix which would see 25 percent contribution from reservoir-based projects, 30 percent of peaking ROR, and 45 percent of ROR.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The limit of PPA was fixed on the same basis. Since the limit of 6750 MW was set for ROR project has been fulfilled, PPA was not possible even for projects up to 10 MW. Most of the projects up to 10 MW are ROR. The Authority has signed PPA of 9200 MW so far.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19987', 'image' => '20240215103354_NEA_eight by six.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 10:32:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20259', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sugar Industries Facing Sugarcane Shortage in Nawalparasi West', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: Sugar industries in Nawalparasi West have been facing shortage of sugarcane, the main raw material for the industries.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 15: Sugar industries in Nawalparasi West have been facing shortage of sugarcane, the main raw material for the industries. As a result, the sugar industries here have not been able to operate at full capacity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Since sugarcane production was not as expected in Nawalparasi West, the sugar industries are forced to purchase sugarcane from outside districts at higher cost.</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"">Sunwal-based Lumbini Sugar Industry is purchasing sugarcane from Kapilvastu and Nawalparasi East. Head of administration of the industry, Kush Subedi, said that they were compelled to purchase sugarcane from other districts due to the lack of sufficient sugarcane production in the district. He said that the industry has purchased 15,000 quintals of sugarcane this year from Kapilvastu alone. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Three big sugar industries in the district have said that they are not able to function as per their target due to the shortage of sugarcane. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Bagmati Khadsari Sugar Industry in Susta and Indira Sugar Agro Industries Pvt. Ltd. in Pratappur also stated that they could not function at their full capacity due to lack of sugarcane. A total of four sugar factories are operating in the district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the farmers are gradually turning to alternative crops for farming due to the non-payment for their produce for a long time. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19986', 'image' => '20240215095503_20221117014847_20190107104522_sugarcane.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 09:53:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20256', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Agricultural Insurance Fails to Attract Farmers in Sudurpaschim Province', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The agricultural insurance scheme in Sudurpaschim Province has encountered several challenges in attracting farmers, mainly due to the lack of awareness among farmers about the scheme's benefits.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 14: The agricultural insurance scheme in Sudurpaschim Province has encountered several challenges in attracting farmers, mainly due to the lack of awareness among farmers about the scheme's benefits.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Despite the government covering the entire premium cost (80 percent by the federal government and 20 percent by the province), the number of insured farmers has not seen a substantial increase.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to Hridaya Raj Pandit, chief of the Dhangadhi-based regional office of Nepal Insurance Authority, only 2,314 insurance reference numbers were issued in the province as of mid-January in the current fiscal year 2023-24. The nationwide number of farmers enrolled in agricultural insurance stands at 70,772.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The office launched publicity programs through FM radios in nine districts and conducted local-level interactions to promote the indemnity scheme. Despite these efforts, the results have been slow. To enroll in the scheme, farmers are required to pay a nominal fee of Rs 500.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In specific districts, the enrollment figures are notably low, with no farmers participating in Darchula, while the numbers are 365 in Kanchanpur, 290 in Achham, 253 in Dadeldhura, 85 in Bajhang, 82 in Doti, 29 in Bajura, and 20 in Baitadi districts.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Several factors have been identified as contributors to low participation, including the inability of insurance agents to reach out to remote villages, farmers' reluctance, external influencing factors, and delays in premium payments to insurance companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The authorized companies facilitating agricultural insurance in the province include Nepal Insurance Company (Kanchanpur, Dadeldhura, Baitadi, and Darchula), Rastriya Beema Company (Kailali, Doti, and Bajhang), and Ajod Insurance Company (Achham and Bajura).</span> -- <span style="font-size:14.0pt">RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-14', 'modified' => '2024-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19983', 'image' => '20240214060943_20220108025334_Clipboard42.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-14 18:08:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, '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' => '20272', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Airbus Revenues Increase by 11 Percent in 2023 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 16: Airbus revenues increased by 11 percent to 65.4 billion euros (70.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, with revenues in commercial aircraft up by 15 percent, the European aircraft manufacturer said Thursday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 16: Airbus revenues increased by 11 percent to 65.4 billion euros (70.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, with revenues in commercial aircraft up by 15 percent, the European aircraft manufacturer said Thursday. </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"">"In 2023 we recorded strong order intake across all our businesses and we delivered on our commitments. This was a significant achievement given the complexity of the operating environment," said Airbus Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury. </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"">Airbus delivered 735 commercial aircraft in 2023, comprising 68 A220s, 571 A320 Family, 32 A330s and 64 A350s, marking an 11-percent increase in the number of units over 2022 when 661 units were delivered, according to its report of full-year 2023 results. </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"">In 2023, Airbus Helicopters delivered 346 units, almost unchanged from the 344 units delivered in 2022, resulting in a 4 percent rise in revenues. Moreover, revenues of Airbus Defence and Space increased by 2 percent. A total of eight A400M military airlifters were delivered last year, in comparison to 10 units in 2022. </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"">However, consolidated net income, or profits, fell by 11 percent to 3,789 million euros due to high special charges in the defence and aerospace division. For 2024, the group said it "targets to achieve around 800 commercial aircraft deliveries" on the basis that "it assumes no additional disruptions to the world economy, air traffic, the supply chain, the Company's internal operations, and its ability to deliver products and services." (1 euro = 1.07 U.S. dollar) – Xinhua/RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19999', 'image' => '20240216012820_4str-080531_Airbus_380_F-WWDD_Berlin_(ILA).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 13:27:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20271', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Initiates Process of Creating Industrial Area within the Premises of Special Economic Zone', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 16: The government has initiated the process of creating a new industrial area on the land of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Simra of Bara district. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 16: The government has initiated the process of creating a new industrial area on the land of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Simra of Bara district. The process was initiated through a ministerial-level decision taken by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The MoICS has written to the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation to proceed with the process of providing 311 bighas of land in D and E blocks of SEZ to the Industrial District Management Limited, a corporate entity established by the government in 1988 for the overall management and supervision of industrial districts as well as promotion of industries within those districts.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The SEZ structure has been prepared in three blocks, A, B and C, spread over 800 bighas of land. Preparations have been made for setting up an industrial area in the other blocks.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Earlier, the Industrial District Management Limited had submitted a preliminary report recommending that the land of SEZ should be turned into an industrial area. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The MoICS has concluded that Simra is the best place for the development of industrial sector. Being close to the country’s biggest dry port and sea ports of neighbouring India, this place is best suited for industrial sector also because of its trade route and other infrastructure. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The letter written by the MoICS mentions that the proposal for the construction of the industrial zone has been passed by the Board of Directors of the Industrial District Management Limited and SEZ Authority.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Hari Gautam, senior vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Industry and Commerce, said that the industrialists have been demanding a new industrial area due to the difficulty in acquiring land for industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor. Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Ramesh Rijal had been assuring the industrialists about the creation of industrial zones. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Gautam said that the industrialists were struggling to acquire land in the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor for setting up new industries. In such a situation, the government’s initiative to create a new industrial zone has made the entrepreneurs optimistic, said Gautam.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The entrepreneurs are not attracted towards SEZ due to the mandatory provision of exporting certain percentage of products manufactured in the SEZ. Therefore, they had been demanding to make SEZ an industrial zone. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19998', 'image' => '20240216121111_20220405012430_1649031704.Clipboard05.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 12:10:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20269', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Special Court Convicts 12 in Lalita Niwas Land Grab Case, Former Ministers Acquitted ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 16: The Special Court on Thursday convicted a dozen people in the Lalita Niwas land embezzlement case. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 16: The Special Court on Thursday convicted a dozen people in the Lalita Niwas land embezzlement case. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A joint bench of judges Khusi Prasad Tharu, Ram Bahadur Thapa and Ritendra Thapa not only convicted 12 persons but also declared that the land registered and transferred under 65 individuals would be sequestrated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Special Court spokesperson Dhan Bahadur Karki informed that the verdict delivered warranted the land back and recovery of the loss incurred over embezzlement of the public land of Lalita Niwas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the court order, Ram Kumar Subedi, Shova Kant Dhakal, owner of Bhatbhateni supermarket, Min Bahadur Gurung, then secretaries of land ministry, Chhabi Raj Pant and Dip Basnyat and even the family of Subarna Shumsher have been found guilty. Others in the list of convicts are Kaladhar Deuja, Surendra Man Kapali, Yukta Prasad Shrestha, Jagat Prasad Pudasaini. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The court has ordered to recover Rs 19.6 million from then secretaries Chhabiraj Pant and Dip Basnyat and then employees of land revenue office and land reform office for embezzling 19 ropanis of land. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the court has given a clean chit to then Minister for Physical Infrastructures, Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, then ministers for land reform, Dambar Bahadur Shrestha and Chandra Dev Joshi in this case. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, then Secretary Dinesh Hari Adhikari also got acquitted. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority had registered a corruption case at the Special Court on February 5, 2020, citing 113 ropanis of public land of Lalita Niwas was transferred and registered in the names of individuals. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The CIAA had made 175 people as defendants, including four former ministers and three former secretaries in this case. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19997', 'image' => '20240216104051_court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 10:40:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20270', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Earthquake Jolts Bajhang ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 16: An earthquake of magnitude 4.4 occurred with its epicenter at Parakatne of Thalara Rural Municipality in Bajhang district at 9:32 am this morning.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 16: An earthquake of magnitude 4.4 occurred with its epicenter at Parakatne of Thalara Rural Municipality in Bajhang district at 9:32 am this morning, the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre said. The district had also witnessed an earthquake of 4.4 in the Richter scale on January 12. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19996', 'image' => '20240216113354_Earthquake_qHefATN.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 11:33:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20268', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Korean Language Test to Commence on February 19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Employment Permit Section of Korea, operating under the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), will commence the Korean Language Test (KLT) on February 19.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 15: The Employment Permit Section of Korea, operating under the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), will commence the Korean Language Test (KLT) on February 19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">EPS Korea has announced that the examination will take place at the National Vocational Training Academy in Bhainsepati. Maiya Kandel, Director at EPS Korea, stated that the exams will be administered in five shifts daily, accommodating up to 1,000 students per day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Preparations have been made to conduct exams even on Saturdays. Approximately 47,000 students are expected to take the KLT in the initial shift," added Kandel.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Students are required to undergo biometric registration of their fingerprints a day prior at the EPS Korea Section Office in Gwarko, Lalitpur. Biometric verification will be carried out at the examination center. (RSS)</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19995', 'image' => '20240216062531_collage (35).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 06:24:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20267', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank Unveils New Loan Scheme', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank has rolled out a new loan scheme tailored for the Nepali new year 2081, offering competitive interest rates on home loans, business loans, and personal vehicle loans.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">February 15: Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank has rolled out a new loan scheme tailored for the Nepali new year 2081, offering competitive interest rates on home loans, business loans, and personal vehicle loans. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Under this initiative, there will be a stable interest rate for the initial year, and up to 25% discount on service charges will be given for female costumers. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In line with the scheme, home loans will offer a flexible term ranging from 2 to 30 years, with loan amount up to Rs. 5 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Similarly, small and medium-sized enterprises can avail themselves of loans at an attractive annual interest rate ranging from 10.99% for up to the term of 15 years. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, individual borrowers seeking personal vehicle loans will benefit from an annual interest rate of 11.49% for a period of up to 15 years. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The minimum tenure for personal vehicle loans is two years, extendable to a maximum of five years.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19994', 'image' => '20240215042621_collage (11).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 16:25:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20266', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Plummets by 14.46 Points, Closing at 2062.03', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) witnessed a decline of 14.46 points or 0.69%, closing at 2062.03 on the last trading day of the week on Thursday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 15: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) witnessed a decline of 14.46 points or 0.69%, closing at 2062.03 on the last trading day of the week on Thursday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">During today’s session, 305 scrips were traded on the NEPSE via 81,056 transactions. A total of 11,407,264 shares changed hands, resulting in a turnover of Rs 3.86 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> Himalayan Reinsurance Limited (HRL) led the turnover with transactions worth Rs 22 crores. Bottlers Nepal Limited (BNL) and Samaj Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (SAMAJ) both experienced a 10% gain, and hit the positive circuit for the day.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Conversely, Mailung Khola Jal Vidhyut Company Limited (MKJC) suffered the highest loss at 5.70%, closing at a market price of Rs 546 per share.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Regarding sector indices, all sectors except Manufacturing and Processing experienced declines. The Finance Index recorded the highest loss at 2.71%, while the HydroPower Index saw the least decline at 0.30%.</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> Only Manufacturing and Processing closed in positive territory, gaining 0.15%.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19993', 'image' => '20240215034506_collage (10).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 15:43:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20265', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Outflow of Money from Nepal for Higher Education should be Stopped’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expressed concerns regarding the outflow of currency from Nepal for higher education abroad.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">February 15: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expressed concerns regarding the outflow of currency from Nepal for higher education abroad. He said that this trend needs to be stopped, according to the state-owned RSS. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Addressing the inauguration of the North Zone Vice Chancellors' Meet 2024 of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and Bharat-Nepal Higher Education Summit on Thursday, the PM underscored the need for making efforts for retaining the majority of youths within the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">"There is a huge outflow of money from countries like Nepal on higher education and this trend should now be reversed. We should create a conducive environment at home for those youths seeking opportunities abroad," RSS quoted PM Dahal as saying.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Stating the education sector is struggling against the challenges brought by global forces, the prime minister said that students and intellectuals are getting drawn to the foreign universities as they have invested much resource in skill and education development.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">According to the latest report of Nepal Rastra Bank, the country spent Rs 58.95 billion for education in the first six months of the current fiscal year. This amount is more than the travel income of Rs 39.56 billion earned by the country in the review period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">According to the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report released recently by the central bank, Nepal’s travel payments increased 60.6 percent to Rs.92.87 billion, including Rs.58.95 billion for education in the review period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">It means that Nepal spends much more on travel expenses and foreign education than it earns from foreign visitors.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19992', 'image' => '20240215020558_20231217112227_20230313020040_foreign education.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 14:05:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20264', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Illegal Imports Thriving due to Flaws in Government Policy: Traders', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: At a time when the government has been expressing concern over the decline in revenue collection, businessmen insist that the revenue leakage is taking place due to the government policies. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 15: At a time when the government has been expressing concern over the decline in revenue collection, businessmen insist that the revenue leakage is taking place due to the government policies. They say that the lack of reforms in the tax system and the strict policy on foreign trade have led to the flourishing of unauthorized trade in the border areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">They claim that the illegal import of goods is having a direct impact on the revenue collection of the government while it is also adversely affecting legitimate domestic trade. Businessmen say that the unauthorized import of daily consumer goods from India through the open border has increased significantly in recent times.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Ashok Kumar Temani, president of the Madhes Province chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce Industry and Commerce, said that the government should radically reform the revenue system to control such illegal imports. The illegal import of goods on which the government has imposed high customs duties has increased through the open border, says Temani.</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 Niranjan Agarwal, the owner of Sweetmart Food Industries, says that goods such as sugar, cashews, raisins, which are subject to high customs duties, are rarely imported through the customs. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“There is no shortage of such items in the market. As the businessmen were subjected to 30 to 45 percent of customs duty on these items, they simply opted to import them through the illegal channels. All steel utensils are imported illegally. Because of the high customs duty on steel vessels, they evade the customs,” 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">Customs officials say that the number of such items passing through the customs is decreasing. Daily essentials such as rice, lentil, oil, potatoes, onions, biscuits, cumin and coriander, are coming through illegal channels.</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 government imposed VAT on potato and onion from the current fiscal year, its legitimate import has almost come to a standstill. The policy of curbing the import of peas, pepper, betel nuts and dry dates is still in place. Traders say that there is no shortage of such items in the market, but the prices have skyrocketed.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Clothes are the main smuggled items. Industrialists say that the domestic industries are facing problems due to the smuggling of clothes. Traders allege that these smuggled goods are brought to Kathmandu in collusion with the government agencies responsible for checking smuggling.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A customs officer of Birgunj Customs said that the government has not paid attention to policy reforms as the existing loopholes have become a means of earning for politicians and the government agencies responsible to curb illegal imports.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The businessmen in general complain that the legitimate business has been badly affected dye to the illegal imports.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Madhav Rajpal, vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce, complained that the government has turned a deaf ear to the legitimate concerns of the traders.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">India has radically reformed the tax system since July 2017. India levies a Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 5 percent on most daily consumer goods consumed by the general consumer. This has reduced the price of consumer goods there. Since the implementation of GST in India, illegal imports have started to increase in Nepal. On the other hand, all levels of government in Nepal have been imposing ‘tax terror’, according to the businessmen.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"Since we have to pay high customs duty and 13 percent VAT on all goods, the price of daily consumption goods has also increased. Illegal imports from India have increased due to this price gap. The situation will not improve until the government reforms the tax system,'' said businessman Niranjan Agarwal. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19991', 'image' => '20240215014633_20210818024801_20210118020708_1610926784.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 13:45:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20263', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank to Hold High-Level Conference in Nepal in June', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) is holding a high-level conference in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 15: The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) is holding a high-level conference in Nepal. The conference to be held here in the third week of June. This is the first time such a conference is being held in Nepal. Even the government has termed it the biggest conference so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Ministry of Finance, representatives of 92 countries will attend the conference. According to government officials, the World Bank has already agreed in principle to host the conference in Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat, the Government of Nepal had written a letter to the World Bank seeking its support to hold the conference. After receiving Nepal's letter, the World Bank expressed its agreement in principle. Finance Minister Mahat said that a high-level conference of this kind has not been organized in Nepal so far. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"This will be the first such gathering," he said at a press conference held to review the budget, adding, "Representatives of 92 countries from around the world, including the president of the World Bank, will come to Nepal."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Finance Minister Mahat, this conference will pave the way of foreign investment in Nepal. Currently, projects worth more than Rs 200 billion are being implemented in Nepal with the support of the World Bank. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Officials of the Ministry of Finance are currently busy with homework as the Third Investment Summit will be held ahead of the World Bank’s conference.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Investors from China, Bangladesh, India, Japan, UK, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and other countries are being invited to the Investment Summit on April 28 and 29. Finance Ministry sources said that the government is preparing to send a formal letter to the investors of those countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the half-yearly review program of the budget, Minister Mahat claimed that if the investment conference is successful, the investment in multinational companies operating in Nepal will increase. In the meeting of the Investment Summit Steering Committee held last Thursday, Minister Mahat said that international investors are expressing interest in the summit. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“There is an unprecedented opportunity for us to attract investment. The government will leave no stone unturned in legal and policy reforms to attract foreign investors as well as Nepali investors and non-resident Nepalis," the finance minister’s secretariat said quoting FM Mahat.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has already started the process of amending laws related to investment, targeting the investment summit and the World Bank conference. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to government officials, the work of amending some laws and regulations has been carried out with the aim of removing the legal and policy obstacles for investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Amending those laws will also address the problems seen in delay in implementation of projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Besides, the government is also emphasizing on the country sovereign credit rating. According to Dhaniram Sharma, spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, the credit rating work of Nepal has been expedited. Since the investment conference will be held in April, it is likely that the rating will be completed before that. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19990', 'image' => '20240215010906_World.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 13:08:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20262', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'WHO Praises Nepal’s Legislation to Restrict Trans-fatty Acids in Food', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: The World Health Organization (WHO) has praised Nepal for restricting levels of industrially produced trans-fatty acids in the food supply through a legislation, which the UN body said was a move aimed at promoting health and saving lives.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 15: The World Health Organization (WHO) has praised Nepal for restricting levels of industrially produced trans-fatty acids in the food supply through a legislation, which the UN body said was a move aimed at promoting health and saving lives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Eliminating trans-fatty acids is a cost-effective measure with great health benefits in preventing premature deaths from cardiovascular diseases,” Saima Wazed, regional director of WHO South-East Asia, said in a press statement issued on Wednesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Prioritizing prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in South-East Asia Region, WHO has been supporting countries for elimination of trans-fatty acids from national food supplies, along with other measures. With Nepal’s legislation, now nearly 80% of the region’s population of 1.6 billion people will be potentially protected from the harms of trans-fatty acids, the statement added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Globally, 540,000 deaths every year can be attributed to intake of industrially produced trans-fatty acids, the WHO added. High trans-fat intake significantly increases the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases. Trans-fat has no known health benefits, the WHO further said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Non-communicable diseases cause 69% of the nearly 9 million deaths every year in the WHO South-East Asia Region. Cardiovascular diseases are a major cause of deaths, according to the WHO.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In 2018 WHO released REPLACE a guide of six strategies to help achieve the elimination of industrially produced trans-fatty acids. In collaboration with Resolve to Save Lives, REPLACE protocols are being implemented across the region, reads the statement issued by WHO.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">By 2022 Thailand, India and Bangladesh had adopted regulations for elimination of trans-fatty acids in food supply. Indonesia had complementary policy measures. Sri Lanka issued a regulation in 2023. Nepal issued the legislation on trans-fatty acids on February 8, according to the WHO.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Restricting trans-fatty acids is one of the measures under WHO South-East Asia Region’s ‘SEA HEARTS’ that emphasizes on united effort across all partners and all stakeholders for aligned and effective acceleration of actions to reduce deaths from cardiovascular diseases.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the WHO, Nepal’s legislation on trans-fatty acids will add 30 million people to the SEA HEARTS target of protecting two billion people from the harmful effects of trans-fatty acids through best practices or complementary policy measures of WHO REPLACE by 2025.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">WHO has been urging countries in the region to focus on best-practice policies, monitoring and surveillance, to drive progress against trans-fatty acids.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The statement added that eliminating trans-fatty acids from the food supply will enhance the health and well-being of people and also help attain the SDG targets of reducing premature mortality by one-third from non-communicable diseases by 2030.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19989', 'image' => '20240215115945_20240114110800_WHO.jpg.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 11:59:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20261', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Winter Charm Eludes Solukhumbu, Upsets Populace ', 'sub_title' => 'Neither Snowfall nor Rains', 'summary' => 'February 15: Shankhar Bahadur Gurung of Salleri in Solukhumbu finds the present weather quite unusual in the district. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 15: Shankhar Bahadur Gurung of Salleri in Solukhumbu finds the present weather quite unusual in the district. "Winter is exiting soon, but we have neither experienced winter rain nor snowfall this time. What's happening?" he is intrigued. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The septuagenarian shares that this is the first time he has noticed such aberration in the weather pattern in his life. In the absence of snowfall, Solukhumbu, the mountainous district in the Koshi Province, no longer seems as it used to be. The hills and mountains usually blanketed with snow now look bare, wearing a deserted look. </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"">"We have started feeling a rise in temperature with the beginning of the month of Falgun (mid-February to mid-March) and lost hope of snowfall this year," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Meteorological Station at Salleri, the temperature is on the rise for the past five days. Locals said that winter days are not as chilly as they used to be. Until four to five years ago, they used to have chilling cold, but this time, the days are hotter. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Farmers in the region had hoped for snowfall and rains, as the lack of snowfall adversely affects winter crops such as wheat, potato, and barley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Prem Kumar Basnet of Likhupike rural municipality-4 shared their plight that cardamom farming was suffering due to lack of winter rains. Cardamom farming takes place in Likhupike, Sotang, Mahakulung, Mapya Dudhkoshi, and Nechasalyan areas, usually conducted on 158 hectares of land. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Tourism entrepreneurs are also worried about the unusual weather pattern. Sagarmatha (Mt Everest), the world's highest peak, lies in the Khumbu region of the district, which failed to witness sufficient snowfall this time. Although the highland recorded a light snowfall, it was meagre and partial, according to Lamakaji Sherpa of Namche. The area is now entirely dry, and tourism entrepreneurs fear losing the winter charm that usually attracts visitors. </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"">Damu Sherpa from Lukla said that snowfall in the Khumbu region is an essential attraction for tourists, both domestic and international. However, this time, the situation is different. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Moreover, the populace here is gripped with fear of wildfires likely to be flared up by the dry winter. Last Saturday, the Khamding Mulabari Community Forest at Kanku of Mapya Dudhkoshi rural municipality-5 and Mendopake Community Forest at Chyalsa of Mendopake of Solududhkunda municipality-7 reported fires. According to Ramji Shah, officiating forest divisional officer at the Forest Division Office, the fires destroyed a large stretch of vegetation and also affected the precious wildlife. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The office data shows that community forest areas cover 105,330 hectares of land, with a total of 72 community forests in the district alone. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Environmental expert Rajan Thapa informed that forest fires not only create adversity but also impact wildlife, human settlements, and the overall ecology. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19988', 'image' => '20240215112158_240646_218722601484804_3009691_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 11:21:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20260', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Decides to Initiate PPA with Hydropower Projects of up to 10 MW', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to initiate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with hydropower projects of up to 10 megawatts to encourage domestic investors to invest in small hydropower projects.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">February 15: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to initiate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with hydropower projects of up to 10 megawatts to encourage domestic investors to invest in small hydropower projects.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The 963rd meeting of the Board of Directors of the NEA held on February 7 under the chairmanship of the Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet decided to sign PPA with the run-of-river (RoR) and semi-reservoir (PROR) hydropower projects of up to 10 megawatts at any time and any amount.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">NEA will purchase electricity from the hydropower projects up to 10 megawatts on the basis of 'take or pay' scheme. The electricity of the project will be purchased at Rs 8.40 and Rs 4.80 per unit for the dry season (start of December to May end) and rainy season (start of June to November end) respectively.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority Kulman Ghising said that the PPA limit set on the basis of production mix is not applicable in projects up to 10 megawatts in order to encourage the maximum use of local natural resources and the investment from domestic investors in small hydropower projects.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">"PPA of hydropower projects up to 10 MW could not be signed due to the provision of quota. Now the quota will not applicable for projects up to 10 MW, so PPA can be signed anytime. This will encourage small domestic investors," said Executive Director Ghising.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Altogether 89 projects up to 10 megawatts have applied to the NEA for PPA. The capacity of the project is 351 MW. Among them, 44 projects with total capacity of 195 megawatts have already completed grid-related agreements.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The NEA had set the target of becoming self-sufficient in electricity through internal production of 15,000 megawatts of electricity in the next 10 years, under the concept of energy mix which would see 25 percent contribution from reservoir-based projects, 30 percent of peaking ROR, and 45 percent of ROR.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The limit of PPA was fixed on the same basis. Since the limit of 6750 MW was set for ROR project has been fulfilled, PPA was not possible even for projects up to 10 MW. Most of the projects up to 10 MW are ROR. The Authority has signed PPA of 9200 MW so far.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19987', 'image' => '20240215103354_NEA_eight by six.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 10:32:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20259', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sugar Industries Facing Sugarcane Shortage in Nawalparasi West', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: Sugar industries in Nawalparasi West have been facing shortage of sugarcane, the main raw material for the industries.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 15: Sugar industries in Nawalparasi West have been facing shortage of sugarcane, the main raw material for the industries. As a result, the sugar industries here have not been able to operate at full capacity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Since sugarcane production was not as expected in Nawalparasi West, the sugar industries are forced to purchase sugarcane from outside districts at higher cost.</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"">Sunwal-based Lumbini Sugar Industry is purchasing sugarcane from Kapilvastu and Nawalparasi East. Head of administration of the industry, Kush Subedi, said that they were compelled to purchase sugarcane from other districts due to the lack of sufficient sugarcane production in the district. He said that the industry has purchased 15,000 quintals of sugarcane this year from Kapilvastu alone. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Three big sugar industries in the district have said that they are not able to function as per their target due to the shortage of sugarcane. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Bagmati Khadsari Sugar Industry in Susta and Indira Sugar Agro Industries Pvt. Ltd. in Pratappur also stated that they could not function at their full capacity due to lack of sugarcane. A total of four sugar factories are operating in the district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the farmers are gradually turning to alternative crops for farming due to the non-payment for their produce for a long time. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19986', 'image' => '20240215095503_20221117014847_20190107104522_sugarcane.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 09:53:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20256', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Agricultural Insurance Fails to Attract Farmers in Sudurpaschim Province', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The agricultural insurance scheme in Sudurpaschim Province has encountered several challenges in attracting farmers, mainly due to the lack of awareness among farmers about the scheme's benefits.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 14: The agricultural insurance scheme in Sudurpaschim Province has encountered several challenges in attracting farmers, mainly due to the lack of awareness among farmers about the scheme's benefits.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Despite the government covering the entire premium cost (80 percent by the federal government and 20 percent by the province), the number of insured farmers has not seen a substantial increase.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to Hridaya Raj Pandit, chief of the Dhangadhi-based regional office of Nepal Insurance Authority, only 2,314 insurance reference numbers were issued in the province as of mid-January in the current fiscal year 2023-24. The nationwide number of farmers enrolled in agricultural insurance stands at 70,772.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The office launched publicity programs through FM radios in nine districts and conducted local-level interactions to promote the indemnity scheme. Despite these efforts, the results have been slow. To enroll in the scheme, farmers are required to pay a nominal fee of Rs 500.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In specific districts, the enrollment figures are notably low, with no farmers participating in Darchula, while the numbers are 365 in Kanchanpur, 290 in Achham, 253 in Dadeldhura, 85 in Bajhang, 82 in Doti, 29 in Bajura, and 20 in Baitadi districts.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Several factors have been identified as contributors to low participation, including the inability of insurance agents to reach out to remote villages, farmers' reluctance, external influencing factors, and delays in premium payments to insurance companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The authorized companies facilitating agricultural insurance in the province include Nepal Insurance Company (Kanchanpur, Dadeldhura, Baitadi, and Darchula), Rastriya Beema Company (Kailali, Doti, and Bajhang), and Ajod Insurance Company (Achham and Bajura).</span> -- <span style="font-size:14.0pt">RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-14', 'modified' => '2024-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19983', 'image' => '20240214060943_20220108025334_Clipboard42.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-14 18:08:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20272', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Airbus Revenues Increase by 11 Percent in 2023 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 16: Airbus revenues increased by 11 percent to 65.4 billion euros (70.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, with revenues in commercial aircraft up by 15 percent, the European aircraft manufacturer said Thursday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 16: Airbus revenues increased by 11 percent to 65.4 billion euros (70.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, with revenues in commercial aircraft up by 15 percent, the European aircraft manufacturer said Thursday. </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"">"In 2023 we recorded strong order intake across all our businesses and we delivered on our commitments. This was a significant achievement given the complexity of the operating environment," said Airbus Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury. </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"">Airbus delivered 735 commercial aircraft in 2023, comprising 68 A220s, 571 A320 Family, 32 A330s and 64 A350s, marking an 11-percent increase in the number of units over 2022 when 661 units were delivered, according to its report of full-year 2023 results. </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"">In 2023, Airbus Helicopters delivered 346 units, almost unchanged from the 344 units delivered in 2022, resulting in a 4 percent rise in revenues. Moreover, revenues of Airbus Defence and Space increased by 2 percent. A total of eight A400M military airlifters were delivered last year, in comparison to 10 units in 2022. </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"">However, consolidated net income, or profits, fell by 11 percent to 3,789 million euros due to high special charges in the defence and aerospace division. For 2024, the group said it "targets to achieve around 800 commercial aircraft deliveries" on the basis that "it assumes no additional disruptions to the world economy, air traffic, the supply chain, the Company's internal operations, and its ability to deliver products and services." (1 euro = 1.07 U.S. dollar) – Xinhua/RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19999', 'image' => '20240216012820_4str-080531_Airbus_380_F-WWDD_Berlin_(ILA).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 13:27:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20271', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt Initiates Process of Creating Industrial Area within the Premises of Special Economic Zone', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 16: The government has initiated the process of creating a new industrial area on the land of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Simra of Bara district. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 16: The government has initiated the process of creating a new industrial area on the land of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Simra of Bara district. The process was initiated through a ministerial-level decision taken by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The MoICS has written to the Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation to proceed with the process of providing 311 bighas of land in D and E blocks of SEZ to the Industrial District Management Limited, a corporate entity established by the government in 1988 for the overall management and supervision of industrial districts as well as promotion of industries within those districts.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The SEZ structure has been prepared in three blocks, A, B and C, spread over 800 bighas of land. Preparations have been made for setting up an industrial area in the other blocks.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Earlier, the Industrial District Management Limited had submitted a preliminary report recommending that the land of SEZ should be turned into an industrial area. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The MoICS has concluded that Simra is the best place for the development of industrial sector. Being close to the country’s biggest dry port and sea ports of neighbouring India, this place is best suited for industrial sector also because of its trade route and other infrastructure. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The letter written by the MoICS mentions that the proposal for the construction of the industrial zone has been passed by the Board of Directors of the Industrial District Management Limited and SEZ Authority.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Hari Gautam, senior vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Industry and Commerce, said that the industrialists have been demanding a new industrial area due to the difficulty in acquiring land for industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor. Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Ramesh Rijal had been assuring the industrialists about the creation of industrial zones. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Gautam said that the industrialists were struggling to acquire land in the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor for setting up new industries. In such a situation, the government’s initiative to create a new industrial zone has made the entrepreneurs optimistic, said Gautam.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The entrepreneurs are not attracted towards SEZ due to the mandatory provision of exporting certain percentage of products manufactured in the SEZ. Therefore, they had been demanding to make SEZ an industrial zone. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19998', 'image' => '20240216121111_20220405012430_1649031704.Clipboard05.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 12:10:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20269', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Special Court Convicts 12 in Lalita Niwas Land Grab Case, Former Ministers Acquitted ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 16: The Special Court on Thursday convicted a dozen people in the Lalita Niwas land embezzlement case. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 16: The Special Court on Thursday convicted a dozen people in the Lalita Niwas land embezzlement case. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A joint bench of judges Khusi Prasad Tharu, Ram Bahadur Thapa and Ritendra Thapa not only convicted 12 persons but also declared that the land registered and transferred under 65 individuals would be sequestrated. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Special Court spokesperson Dhan Bahadur Karki informed that the verdict delivered warranted the land back and recovery of the loss incurred over embezzlement of the public land of Lalita Niwas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the court order, Ram Kumar Subedi, Shova Kant Dhakal, owner of Bhatbhateni supermarket, Min Bahadur Gurung, then secretaries of land ministry, Chhabi Raj Pant and Dip Basnyat and even the family of Subarna Shumsher have been found guilty. Others in the list of convicts are Kaladhar Deuja, Surendra Man Kapali, Yukta Prasad Shrestha, Jagat Prasad Pudasaini. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The court has ordered to recover Rs 19.6 million from then secretaries Chhabiraj Pant and Dip Basnyat and then employees of land revenue office and land reform office for embezzling 19 ropanis of land. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the court has given a clean chit to then Minister for Physical Infrastructures, Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar, then ministers for land reform, Dambar Bahadur Shrestha and Chandra Dev Joshi in this case. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, then Secretary Dinesh Hari Adhikari also got acquitted. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority had registered a corruption case at the Special Court on February 5, 2020, citing 113 ropanis of public land of Lalita Niwas was transferred and registered in the names of individuals. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The CIAA had made 175 people as defendants, including four former ministers and three former secretaries in this case. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19997', 'image' => '20240216104051_court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 10:40:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20270', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Earthquake Jolts Bajhang ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 16: An earthquake of magnitude 4.4 occurred with its epicenter at Parakatne of Thalara Rural Municipality in Bajhang district at 9:32 am this morning.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 16: An earthquake of magnitude 4.4 occurred with its epicenter at Parakatne of Thalara Rural Municipality in Bajhang district at 9:32 am this morning, the National Earthquake Monitoring and Research Centre said. The district had also witnessed an earthquake of 4.4 in the Richter scale on January 12. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19996', 'image' => '20240216113354_Earthquake_qHefATN.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 11:33:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20268', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Korean Language Test to Commence on February 19', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Employment Permit Section of Korea, operating under the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), will commence the Korean Language Test (KLT) on February 19.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 15: The Employment Permit Section of Korea, operating under the Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE), will commence the Korean Language Test (KLT) on February 19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">EPS Korea has announced that the examination will take place at the National Vocational Training Academy in Bhainsepati. Maiya Kandel, Director at EPS Korea, stated that the exams will be administered in five shifts daily, accommodating up to 1,000 students per day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Preparations have been made to conduct exams even on Saturdays. Approximately 47,000 students are expected to take the KLT in the initial shift," added Kandel.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Students are required to undergo biometric registration of their fingerprints a day prior at the EPS Korea Section Office in Gwarko, Lalitpur. Biometric verification will be carried out at the examination center. (RSS)</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-16', 'modified' => '2024-02-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19995', 'image' => '20240216062531_collage (35).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-16 06:24:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20267', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank Unveils New Loan Scheme', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank has rolled out a new loan scheme tailored for the Nepali new year 2081, offering competitive interest rates on home loans, business loans, and personal vehicle loans.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">February 15: Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank has rolled out a new loan scheme tailored for the Nepali new year 2081, offering competitive interest rates on home loans, business loans, and personal vehicle loans. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Under this initiative, there will be a stable interest rate for the initial year, and up to 25% discount on service charges will be given for female costumers. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In line with the scheme, home loans will offer a flexible term ranging from 2 to 30 years, with loan amount up to Rs. 5 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Similarly, small and medium-sized enterprises can avail themselves of loans at an attractive annual interest rate ranging from 10.99% for up to the term of 15 years. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, individual borrowers seeking personal vehicle loans will benefit from an annual interest rate of 11.49% for a period of up to 15 years. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The minimum tenure for personal vehicle loans is two years, extendable to a maximum of five years.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19994', 'image' => '20240215042621_collage (11).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 16:25:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20266', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Plummets by 14.46 Points, Closing at 2062.03', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) witnessed a decline of 14.46 points or 0.69%, closing at 2062.03 on the last trading day of the week on Thursday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 15: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) witnessed a decline of 14.46 points or 0.69%, closing at 2062.03 on the last trading day of the week on Thursday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">During today’s session, 305 scrips were traded on the NEPSE via 81,056 transactions. A total of 11,407,264 shares changed hands, resulting in a turnover of Rs 3.86 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> Himalayan Reinsurance Limited (HRL) led the turnover with transactions worth Rs 22 crores. Bottlers Nepal Limited (BNL) and Samaj Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (SAMAJ) both experienced a 10% gain, and hit the positive circuit for the day.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Conversely, Mailung Khola Jal Vidhyut Company Limited (MKJC) suffered the highest loss at 5.70%, closing at a market price of Rs 546 per share.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Regarding sector indices, all sectors except Manufacturing and Processing experienced declines. The Finance Index recorded the highest loss at 2.71%, while the HydroPower Index saw the least decline at 0.30%.</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> Only Manufacturing and Processing closed in positive territory, gaining 0.15%.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19993', 'image' => '20240215034506_collage (10).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 15:43:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20265', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Outflow of Money from Nepal for Higher Education should be Stopped’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expressed concerns regarding the outflow of currency from Nepal for higher education abroad.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">February 15: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has expressed concerns regarding the outflow of currency from Nepal for higher education abroad. He said that this trend needs to be stopped, according to the state-owned RSS. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Addressing the inauguration of the North Zone Vice Chancellors' Meet 2024 of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and Bharat-Nepal Higher Education Summit on Thursday, the PM underscored the need for making efforts for retaining the majority of youths within the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">"There is a huge outflow of money from countries like Nepal on higher education and this trend should now be reversed. We should create a conducive environment at home for those youths seeking opportunities abroad," RSS quoted PM Dahal as saying.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Stating the education sector is struggling against the challenges brought by global forces, the prime minister said that students and intellectuals are getting drawn to the foreign universities as they have invested much resource in skill and education development.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">According to the latest report of Nepal Rastra Bank, the country spent Rs 58.95 billion for education in the first six months of the current fiscal year. This amount is more than the travel income of Rs 39.56 billion earned by the country in the review period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">According to the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report released recently by the central bank, Nepal’s travel payments increased 60.6 percent to Rs.92.87 billion, including Rs.58.95 billion for education in the review period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">It means that Nepal spends much more on travel expenses and foreign education than it earns from foreign visitors.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19992', 'image' => '20240215020558_20231217112227_20230313020040_foreign education.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 14:05:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20264', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Illegal Imports Thriving due to Flaws in Government Policy: Traders', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: At a time when the government has been expressing concern over the decline in revenue collection, businessmen insist that the revenue leakage is taking place due to the government policies. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 15: At a time when the government has been expressing concern over the decline in revenue collection, businessmen insist that the revenue leakage is taking place due to the government policies. They say that the lack of reforms in the tax system and the strict policy on foreign trade have led to the flourishing of unauthorized trade in the border areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">They claim that the illegal import of goods is having a direct impact on the revenue collection of the government while it is also adversely affecting legitimate domestic trade. Businessmen say that the unauthorized import of daily consumer goods from India through the open border has increased significantly in recent times.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Ashok Kumar Temani, president of the Madhes Province chapter of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce Industry and Commerce, said that the government should radically reform the revenue system to control such illegal imports. The illegal import of goods on which the government has imposed high customs duties has increased through the open border, says Temani.</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 Niranjan Agarwal, the owner of Sweetmart Food Industries, says that goods such as sugar, cashews, raisins, which are subject to high customs duties, are rarely imported through the customs. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“There is no shortage of such items in the market. As the businessmen were subjected to 30 to 45 percent of customs duty on these items, they simply opted to import them through the illegal channels. All steel utensils are imported illegally. Because of the high customs duty on steel vessels, they evade the customs,” 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">Customs officials say that the number of such items passing through the customs is decreasing. Daily essentials such as rice, lentil, oil, potatoes, onions, biscuits, cumin and coriander, are coming through illegal channels.</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 government imposed VAT on potato and onion from the current fiscal year, its legitimate import has almost come to a standstill. The policy of curbing the import of peas, pepper, betel nuts and dry dates is still in place. Traders say that there is no shortage of such items in the market, but the prices have skyrocketed.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Clothes are the main smuggled items. Industrialists say that the domestic industries are facing problems due to the smuggling of clothes. Traders allege that these smuggled goods are brought to Kathmandu in collusion with the government agencies responsible for checking smuggling.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A customs officer of Birgunj Customs said that the government has not paid attention to policy reforms as the existing loopholes have become a means of earning for politicians and the government agencies responsible to curb illegal imports.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The businessmen in general complain that the legitimate business has been badly affected dye to the illegal imports.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Madhav Rajpal, vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce, complained that the government has turned a deaf ear to the legitimate concerns of the traders.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">India has radically reformed the tax system since July 2017. India levies a Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 5 percent on most daily consumer goods consumed by the general consumer. This has reduced the price of consumer goods there. Since the implementation of GST in India, illegal imports have started to increase in Nepal. On the other hand, all levels of government in Nepal have been imposing ‘tax terror’, according to the businessmen.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"Since we have to pay high customs duty and 13 percent VAT on all goods, the price of daily consumption goods has also increased. Illegal imports from India have increased due to this price gap. The situation will not improve until the government reforms the tax system,'' said businessman Niranjan Agarwal. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19991', 'image' => '20240215014633_20210818024801_20210118020708_1610926784.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 13:45:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20263', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank to Hold High-Level Conference in Nepal in June', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) is holding a high-level conference in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 15: The World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) is holding a high-level conference in Nepal. The conference to be held here in the third week of June. This is the first time such a conference is being held in Nepal. Even the government has termed it the biggest conference so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Ministry of Finance, representatives of 92 countries will attend the conference. According to government officials, the World Bank has already agreed in principle to host the conference in Nepal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat, the Government of Nepal had written a letter to the World Bank seeking its support to hold the conference. After receiving Nepal's letter, the World Bank expressed its agreement in principle. Finance Minister Mahat said that a high-level conference of this kind has not been organized in Nepal so far. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"This will be the first such gathering," he said at a press conference held to review the budget, adding, "Representatives of 92 countries from around the world, including the president of the World Bank, will come to Nepal."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Finance Minister Mahat, this conference will pave the way of foreign investment in Nepal. Currently, projects worth more than Rs 200 billion are being implemented in Nepal with the support of the World Bank. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Officials of the Ministry of Finance are currently busy with homework as the Third Investment Summit will be held ahead of the World Bank’s conference.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Investors from China, Bangladesh, India, Japan, UK, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and other countries are being invited to the Investment Summit on April 28 and 29. Finance Ministry sources said that the government is preparing to send a formal letter to the investors of those countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the half-yearly review program of the budget, Minister Mahat claimed that if the investment conference is successful, the investment in multinational companies operating in Nepal will increase. In the meeting of the Investment Summit Steering Committee held last Thursday, Minister Mahat said that international investors are expressing interest in the summit. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“There is an unprecedented opportunity for us to attract investment. The government will leave no stone unturned in legal and policy reforms to attract foreign investors as well as Nepali investors and non-resident Nepalis," the finance minister’s secretariat said quoting FM Mahat.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has already started the process of amending laws related to investment, targeting the investment summit and the World Bank conference. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to government officials, the work of amending some laws and regulations has been carried out with the aim of removing the legal and policy obstacles for investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Amending those laws will also address the problems seen in delay in implementation of projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Besides, the government is also emphasizing on the country sovereign credit rating. According to Dhaniram Sharma, spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, the credit rating work of Nepal has been expedited. Since the investment conference will be held in April, it is likely that the rating will be completed before that. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19990', 'image' => '20240215010906_World.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 13:08:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20262', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'WHO Praises Nepal’s Legislation to Restrict Trans-fatty Acids in Food', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: The World Health Organization (WHO) has praised Nepal for restricting levels of industrially produced trans-fatty acids in the food supply through a legislation, which the UN body said was a move aimed at promoting health and saving lives.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 15: The World Health Organization (WHO) has praised Nepal for restricting levels of industrially produced trans-fatty acids in the food supply through a legislation, which the UN body said was a move aimed at promoting health and saving lives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Eliminating trans-fatty acids is a cost-effective measure with great health benefits in preventing premature deaths from cardiovascular diseases,” Saima Wazed, regional director of WHO South-East Asia, said in a press statement issued on Wednesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Prioritizing prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in South-East Asia Region, WHO has been supporting countries for elimination of trans-fatty acids from national food supplies, along with other measures. With Nepal’s legislation, now nearly 80% of the region’s population of 1.6 billion people will be potentially protected from the harms of trans-fatty acids, the statement added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Globally, 540,000 deaths every year can be attributed to intake of industrially produced trans-fatty acids, the WHO added. High trans-fat intake significantly increases the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases. Trans-fat has no known health benefits, the WHO further said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Non-communicable diseases cause 69% of the nearly 9 million deaths every year in the WHO South-East Asia Region. Cardiovascular diseases are a major cause of deaths, according to the WHO.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In 2018 WHO released REPLACE a guide of six strategies to help achieve the elimination of industrially produced trans-fatty acids. In collaboration with Resolve to Save Lives, REPLACE protocols are being implemented across the region, reads the statement issued by WHO.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">By 2022 Thailand, India and Bangladesh had adopted regulations for elimination of trans-fatty acids in food supply. Indonesia had complementary policy measures. Sri Lanka issued a regulation in 2023. Nepal issued the legislation on trans-fatty acids on February 8, according to the WHO.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Restricting trans-fatty acids is one of the measures under WHO South-East Asia Region’s ‘SEA HEARTS’ that emphasizes on united effort across all partners and all stakeholders for aligned and effective acceleration of actions to reduce deaths from cardiovascular diseases.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the WHO, Nepal’s legislation on trans-fatty acids will add 30 million people to the SEA HEARTS target of protecting two billion people from the harmful effects of trans-fatty acids through best practices or complementary policy measures of WHO REPLACE by 2025.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">WHO has been urging countries in the region to focus on best-practice policies, monitoring and surveillance, to drive progress against trans-fatty acids.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The statement added that eliminating trans-fatty acids from the food supply will enhance the health and well-being of people and also help attain the SDG targets of reducing premature mortality by one-third from non-communicable diseases by 2030.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19989', 'image' => '20240215115945_20240114110800_WHO.jpg.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 11:59:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20261', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Winter Charm Eludes Solukhumbu, Upsets Populace ', 'sub_title' => 'Neither Snowfall nor Rains', 'summary' => 'February 15: Shankhar Bahadur Gurung of Salleri in Solukhumbu finds the present weather quite unusual in the district. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 15: Shankhar Bahadur Gurung of Salleri in Solukhumbu finds the present weather quite unusual in the district. "Winter is exiting soon, but we have neither experienced winter rain nor snowfall this time. What's happening?" he is intrigued. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The septuagenarian shares that this is the first time he has noticed such aberration in the weather pattern in his life. In the absence of snowfall, Solukhumbu, the mountainous district in the Koshi Province, no longer seems as it used to be. The hills and mountains usually blanketed with snow now look bare, wearing a deserted look. </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"">"We have started feeling a rise in temperature with the beginning of the month of Falgun (mid-February to mid-March) and lost hope of snowfall this year," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Meteorological Station at Salleri, the temperature is on the rise for the past five days. Locals said that winter days are not as chilly as they used to be. Until four to five years ago, they used to have chilling cold, but this time, the days are hotter. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Farmers in the region had hoped for snowfall and rains, as the lack of snowfall adversely affects winter crops such as wheat, potato, and barley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Prem Kumar Basnet of Likhupike rural municipality-4 shared their plight that cardamom farming was suffering due to lack of winter rains. Cardamom farming takes place in Likhupike, Sotang, Mahakulung, Mapya Dudhkoshi, and Nechasalyan areas, usually conducted on 158 hectares of land. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Tourism entrepreneurs are also worried about the unusual weather pattern. Sagarmatha (Mt Everest), the world's highest peak, lies in the Khumbu region of the district, which failed to witness sufficient snowfall this time. Although the highland recorded a light snowfall, it was meagre and partial, according to Lamakaji Sherpa of Namche. The area is now entirely dry, and tourism entrepreneurs fear losing the winter charm that usually attracts visitors. </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"">Damu Sherpa from Lukla said that snowfall in the Khumbu region is an essential attraction for tourists, both domestic and international. However, this time, the situation is different. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Moreover, the populace here is gripped with fear of wildfires likely to be flared up by the dry winter. Last Saturday, the Khamding Mulabari Community Forest at Kanku of Mapya Dudhkoshi rural municipality-5 and Mendopake Community Forest at Chyalsa of Mendopake of Solududhkunda municipality-7 reported fires. According to Ramji Shah, officiating forest divisional officer at the Forest Division Office, the fires destroyed a large stretch of vegetation and also affected the precious wildlife. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The office data shows that community forest areas cover 105,330 hectares of land, with a total of 72 community forests in the district alone. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Environmental expert Rajan Thapa informed that forest fires not only create adversity but also impact wildlife, human settlements, and the overall ecology. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19988', 'image' => '20240215112158_240646_218722601484804_3009691_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 11:21:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20260', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Decides to Initiate PPA with Hydropower Projects of up to 10 MW', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to initiate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with hydropower projects of up to 10 megawatts to encourage domestic investors to invest in small hydropower projects.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">February 15: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to initiate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with hydropower projects of up to 10 megawatts to encourage domestic investors to invest in small hydropower projects.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The 963rd meeting of the Board of Directors of the NEA held on February 7 under the chairmanship of the Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet decided to sign PPA with the run-of-river (RoR) and semi-reservoir (PROR) hydropower projects of up to 10 megawatts at any time and any amount.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">NEA will purchase electricity from the hydropower projects up to 10 megawatts on the basis of 'take or pay' scheme. The electricity of the project will be purchased at Rs 8.40 and Rs 4.80 per unit for the dry season (start of December to May end) and rainy season (start of June to November end) respectively.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority Kulman Ghising said that the PPA limit set on the basis of production mix is not applicable in projects up to 10 megawatts in order to encourage the maximum use of local natural resources and the investment from domestic investors in small hydropower projects.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">"PPA of hydropower projects up to 10 MW could not be signed due to the provision of quota. Now the quota will not applicable for projects up to 10 MW, so PPA can be signed anytime. This will encourage small domestic investors," said Executive Director Ghising.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Altogether 89 projects up to 10 megawatts have applied to the NEA for PPA. The capacity of the project is 351 MW. Among them, 44 projects with total capacity of 195 megawatts have already completed grid-related agreements.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The NEA had set the target of becoming self-sufficient in electricity through internal production of 15,000 megawatts of electricity in the next 10 years, under the concept of energy mix which would see 25 percent contribution from reservoir-based projects, 30 percent of peaking ROR, and 45 percent of ROR.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The limit of PPA was fixed on the same basis. Since the limit of 6750 MW was set for ROR project has been fulfilled, PPA was not possible even for projects up to 10 MW. Most of the projects up to 10 MW are ROR. The Authority has signed PPA of 9200 MW so far.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19987', 'image' => '20240215103354_NEA_eight by six.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 10:32:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20259', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sugar Industries Facing Sugarcane Shortage in Nawalparasi West', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 15: Sugar industries in Nawalparasi West have been facing shortage of sugarcane, the main raw material for the industries.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 15: Sugar industries in Nawalparasi West have been facing shortage of sugarcane, the main raw material for the industries. As a result, the sugar industries here have not been able to operate at full capacity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Since sugarcane production was not as expected in Nawalparasi West, the sugar industries are forced to purchase sugarcane from outside districts at higher cost.</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"">Sunwal-based Lumbini Sugar Industry is purchasing sugarcane from Kapilvastu and Nawalparasi East. Head of administration of the industry, Kush Subedi, said that they were compelled to purchase sugarcane from other districts due to the lack of sufficient sugarcane production in the district. He said that the industry has purchased 15,000 quintals of sugarcane this year from Kapilvastu alone. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Three big sugar industries in the district have said that they are not able to function as per their target due to the shortage of sugarcane. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Bagmati Khadsari Sugar Industry in Susta and Indira Sugar Agro Industries Pvt. Ltd. in Pratappur also stated that they could not function at their full capacity due to lack of sugarcane. A total of four sugar factories are operating in the district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the farmers are gradually turning to alternative crops for farming due to the non-payment for their produce for a long time. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-15', 'modified' => '2024-02-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19986', 'image' => '20240215095503_20221117014847_20190107104522_sugarcane.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-15 09:53:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20256', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Agricultural Insurance Fails to Attract Farmers in Sudurpaschim Province', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The agricultural insurance scheme in Sudurpaschim Province has encountered several challenges in attracting farmers, mainly due to the lack of awareness among farmers about the scheme's benefits.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 14: The agricultural insurance scheme in Sudurpaschim Province has encountered several challenges in attracting farmers, mainly due to the lack of awareness among farmers about the scheme's benefits.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Despite the government covering the entire premium cost (80 percent by the federal government and 20 percent by the province), the number of insured farmers has not seen a substantial increase.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to Hridaya Raj Pandit, chief of the Dhangadhi-based regional office of Nepal Insurance Authority, only 2,314 insurance reference numbers were issued in the province as of mid-January in the current fiscal year 2023-24. The nationwide number of farmers enrolled in agricultural insurance stands at 70,772.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The office launched publicity programs through FM radios in nine districts and conducted local-level interactions to promote the indemnity scheme. Despite these efforts, the results have been slow. To enroll in the scheme, farmers are required to pay a nominal fee of Rs 500.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In specific districts, the enrollment figures are notably low, with no farmers participating in Darchula, while the numbers are 365 in Kanchanpur, 290 in Achham, 253 in Dadeldhura, 85 in Bajhang, 82 in Doti, 29 in Bajura, and 20 in Baitadi districts.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Several factors have been identified as contributors to low participation, including the inability of insurance agents to reach out to remote villages, farmers' reluctance, external influencing factors, and delays in premium payments to insurance companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The authorized companies facilitating agricultural insurance in the province include Nepal Insurance Company (Kanchanpur, Dadeldhura, Baitadi, and Darchula), Rastriya Beema Company (Kailali, Doti, and Bajhang), and Ajod Insurance Company (Achham and Bajura).</span> -- <span style="font-size:14.0pt">RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-02-14', 'modified' => '2024-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19983', 'image' => '20240214060943_20220108025334_Clipboard42.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-02-14 18:08:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, '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
