January 28: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to operate flights to remote areas of Karnali Province from Surkhet soon.…
January 28: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to operate flights to remote areas of Karnali Province from Surkhet soon.…
January 28: Farmers of Jaljala rural muncicpality-1, Banskharka, in Parbat district have been facing problems in transporting oranges to the market due to the bad condition of…
January 28: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has announced to provide free vehicle parking services on the Dharahara premises in Sundhara of Kathmandu from today, January…
January 28: Snowfall in highland areas of Sankhuwasabha district has adversely affected people's…
January 27: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned on Friday that global disruptions and volatility are the "new normal", with more geo-economic tensions on the…
January 26: Revenue collection of Sagarmatha National Park has increased by more than 10…
January 26: The Joint Self-employed Street Traders Struggle Committee (JSSTSC) has announced a phase-wise protest against the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), putting forth a seven-point charter of…
January 26: Stakeholders on Friday underlined the need to make the customs administration of Nepal compatible with the present-day needs through…
January 26: Around 1.3 billion tourists travelled abroad in 2023, a 44 percent jump from the previous year, according to the latest report of the World Tourism Organization which recently changed its name to UN…
January 26: Tripureshwar-based Nepal Eye Hospital has successfully performed a lens-sparing vitrectomy (LSV) for the first time at the…
January 26: The government has failed to meet its paddy procurement target despite setting an ambitious goal.…
January 26: The business of non-life insurance companies increased by 23 percent in a one-month period from mid-December to mid-January (Nepali month of Poush) compared to the preceding month…
January 26: The Government of Nepal is preparing to announce the Internal Migration Decade from 2081 to 91 BS, according to Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Sharat Singh…
January 26: The year ahead will be "very tough" for fiscal policy -- especially for countries holding elections -- the IMF chief said…
Karnali province exported goats worth Rs 3.24 billion, generating substantial income for the people in the fa-flung…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 28: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to operate flights to remote areas of Karnali Province from Surkhet soon. A team including the executive chairman of the NAC Yuvraj Adhikari discussed this issue with Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the discussion, Deputy Prime Minister Khadka asked to start flights from Surkhet to Jumla, Humla, Simikot, Talcha, Dolpa and other destinations of Karnali Province on priority basis. The executive chairman of the NAC said that preparations are being made for the flight from Surkhet. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"A committee has also been formed for operating flights to the remote areas," he said, adding, "We are working to connect various districts of Karnali Province to Surkhet through domestic flights.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Deputy Prime Minister Khadka advised the NAC to proceed with a strategic plan to expand flights within the country and to various destinations in the world using all the available aircraft. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"The NAC should be able to make the maximum benefit by operating the currently available aircraft at full capacity," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NAC currently has only two Twin-otter aircraft for operating flights in the domestic sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NAC is in the process of buying three Twin-otter planes for expanding its flights to remote areas. It is said the NAC is purchasing these aircraft with its internal resources. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The state-owned airliner recently called for tenders to purchase three aircraft. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-28', 'modified' => '2024-01-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19819', 'image' => '20240128010626_nacccc.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-28 13:05:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20091', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bad Condition of Road Causing Problems in Orange Supply ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 28: Farmers of Jaljala rural muncicpality-1, Banskharka, in Parbat district have been facing problems in transporting oranges to the market due to the bad condition of road. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 28: Farmers of Jaljala rural muncicpality-1, Banskharka, in Parbat district have been facing problems in transporting oranges to the market due to the bad condition of road. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although a single village of the rural municipality produces oranges worth millions of rupees, the farmers are not able to transport the oranges to the market because of the bad condition of road in the villages. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There is a problem for large vehicles to reach villages in lack of proper roads leading to Banskharka. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A local Jagat Bahadur Khatri said, "There is gravel road from Baribeni and Milan Chowk to reach Banskharka but big vehicles cannot reach the orange gardens due to dilapidated condition of road. So, we are compelled to transport oranges in small vehicles up to Beni-Maldhunga road and then shift the oranges into large vehicles. It takes more time and cost to transport oranges in this way.” </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">An entrepreneur of Kalimati, who reached Banskkharka to buy oranges, shared that it would have been easier if they could transport oranges in a big containers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“It take around one and half hours to cross the 10-kilometer road section,” he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A detailed project report (DPR) has already been prepared to blacktop the road linking Barabeni of Jaljala rural municipaliy-2 to Banskharka but the road has not been upgraded yet as the government has not allocated budget for the purpose. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-28', 'modified' => '2024-01-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19818', 'image' => '20240128121011_PUR_SUNTALA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-28 12:08:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20090', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Free Vehicle Parking on Dharahara Premises ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 28: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has announced to provide free vehicle parking services on the Dharahara premises in Sundhara of Kathmandu from today, January 28. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 28: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has announced to provide free vehicle parking services on the Dharahara premises in Sundhara of Kathmandu from today, January 28. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Free parking service will be available on the first floor of the parking building built next to the Dharahara tower, according to the KMC. </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"">It may be noted that the KMC has banned roadside parking in New Road area. The metropolis recently declared the blacktopped roads in New Road area as parking prohibited zone. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Head of KMC Police, Senior Superintendent of Police Rajunath Pandey, said parking facility will also be provided free on the premises of Dharahara along with the free parking service at Kathmandu Tower (former bus park). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">An area of 50,000 square feet will be available for free parking at the Dharaha premises, which can be reached from the road leading to Khichapokhari from Kathmandu Mall. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-28', 'modified' => '2024-01-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19817', 'image' => '20240128111427_Dharahara3-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-28 11:13:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20089', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Snowfall in Sankhuwasabha Cripples Lives ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 28: Snowfall in highland areas of Sankhuwasabha district has adversely affected people's lives.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 28: Snowfall in highland areas of Sankhuwasabha district has adversely affected people's lives. The upper parts of the district witnessed snowfall since Friday evening. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Daily activities have come to a halt temporarily following the heavy snowfall. </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"">Grounds in the northern area of the district such as Kimathanka checkpoint, Makalu base camp, Tinjure Gufa Pokhari, Mangalbare are covered with a blanket of snow. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Locals said that the snowfall continued till Sunday evening. </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"">Cold has sharply increased in the highland due to snowfall especially affecting children, elderly people and cattle among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The local residents have not been able to go out of their houses due to the biting cold. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-28', 'modified' => '2024-01-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19816', 'image' => '20240128103243_728_gufa-pokhari-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-28 10:31:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20088', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Global Turbulence the 'New Normal': EU President', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 27: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned on Friday that global disruptions and volatility are the "new normal", with more geo-economic tensions on the horizon.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 27: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned on Friday that global disruptions and volatility are the "new normal", with more geo-economic tensions on the horizon.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"2024 will be a decisive year, with more geo-economic tensions expected -- from the Red Sea to the Taiwan Strait -- which also means more frequent disruptions to supply chains and greater volatility on the energy markets," she told a climate conference in Hamburg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"International competition is becoming harder. That is the new normal that we have to deal with."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More frequent extreme weather events added to the mix means Europe needs to pull together "as never before" to face the challenges.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The 27-nation bloc, she assessed, had reacted quickly to curb its dependence on Russian gas after Moscow's fully-fledged invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The emergency meant that the EU was likely to be generating more energy from wind and solar than from gas this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">But von der Leyen said energy prices needed to come down further, and she urged the "right investment decisions" to make that happen.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Industries in Europe have been severely hit by Russia's war on Ukraine, which has disrupted supply chains and driven up energy prices, sparking sustained inflation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The difficulties faced by businesses have been compounded by attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In response, Britain and the United States have struck Huthi targets.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The election in Taiwan of a new president from the Democratic Progressive Party, which rejects China's claim to the island, has also sparked fears of fresh turbulence in East Asia. – AFP/RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19815', 'image' => '20240126094819_AP22228293776041.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 21:46:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20087', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Revenue Collection of Sagarmatha National Park up by 10 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: Revenue collection of Sagarmatha National Park has increased by more than 10 percent.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 27: Revenue collection of Sagarmatha National Park has increased by more than 10 percent. According to the Namche-based national park office, the revenue collection has gone up by 10.54 percent in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2023/24 as compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year (FY 2022/23).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The national park officials shared that they collected Rs 62.32 million in revenue from Shrawn (mid-July to mid-August) to Poush (mid-December to mid-January) of the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, the national park collected Rs 69.67 million in revenue during the corresponding period of the current fiscal year, said Information Officer of the Park, Manoj Kumar Mandal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He shared that Rs 656,000 in revenue was collected in the month of Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August), Rs 3.395 million in Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September), Rs 21.054 million in Asoj (mid-September to mid-October), Rs 31.227 million in Kartik (mid-October to mid-November), Rs 10.143 million in Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December) and Rs 3.21 million in Poush (mid-December to mid-January) of the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mandal, who is also the conservation officer of the national park, said that the national park collected the maximum revenue of Rs 66.67 million under the tourism heading followed by Rs 4.083 million revenue under the heading of forest fodder sales, and Rs 2.5 million from penalty and fines.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the national park, a total of 28,390 tourists visited the Sagarmatha area in the current fiscal year. The park has fixed the entry fee of Rs 100 for Nepali citizens, Rs 1,500 for tourists of SAARC countries, and Rs 3,000 for tourists from other countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, it charges Rs 3,000 for landing a helicopter. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-27', 'keywords' => 'Sagarmatha, Everest, revenue, tourists, Nepal, mountains, national, park, Namche', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19814', 'image' => '20240126093809_256058_218722994818098_1370242_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 21:37:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20086', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Street Vendors Announce Phase-Wise Protest against KMC', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The Joint Self-employed Street Traders Struggle Committee (JSSTSC) has announced a phase-wise protest against the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), putting forth a seven-point charter of demands.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 26: The Joint Self-employed Street Traders Struggle Committee (JSSTSC) has announced a phase-wise protest against the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), putting forth a seven-point charter of demands.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Organizing a press conference in the capital on Friday, the struggle committee declared that it will wage a protest from January 29 to February 11 under various phases. Accordingly, the struggle committee will hand over a memorandum to the KMC on January 29, will organize a sit-in and picketing along with a public demonstration at the KMC office on January 30, and will submit a memorandum to the Kathmandu District Administration Office on January 31, said Maya Gurung, the president of Nepal Self-employed Trade Workers Association.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to her, they will hand over a memorandum to the Ministry of Home Affairs on February 1, to the Prime Minister's Office on February 2, to the CPN (Unified Socialist) party on February 4, to the CPN (Maoist Center) on February 5, to the Nepali Congress on February 6 and to the CPN (UML) on February 7.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, the struggle committee will hold a demonstration with wider people's participation, clanging plates with spoons and also picketing the KMC office on February 11, said Kumar Sapkota, president of Nepal Independent Street Trade Workers Organisation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said a seven-point demand has been submitted to KMC with the announcement of the programs of protest.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Returning the goods of traders seized by the KMC in different periods, arranging goods at cheap prices for the citizens by running a 'fair price market' in all wards of KMC, allowing the entrepreneurs to run their business in the existing places by determining appropriate time until alternative arrangements are made, are the demands of the struggle committee.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the struggle committee demanded to initiate activities related to labor management by establishing a labor desk at KMC immediately and the formation of a high-powered management task force under the coordination of the mayor and deputy-mayor comprising stakeholders including trade unions’ representatives associated with the struggle committee, said chairperson of National Self-Employed Traders Association, Leela Bahadur Dahal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Gurung shared that they would announce an additional program of agitation if the bodies concerned did not pay any interest to address the demands of traders, adding they wanted a long-term solution by holding a discussion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, Sapkota demanded that the KMC should bring self-employed street traders under the ambit of tax after managing the street business. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although municipal police had expressed commitment to return the seized goods of traders, the traders have been returning empty-handed, said Chairperson Dahal. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19813', 'image' => '20240126081333_20230108115430_20151216012947_STRAWBERRY_DSC0544.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 20:12:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20085', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Stakeholders Demand Digitalization of Customs Administration', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: Stakeholders on Friday underlined the need to make the customs administration of Nepal compatible with the present-day needs through digitization.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 26: Stakeholders on Friday underlined the need to make the customs administration of Nepal compatible with the present-day needs through digitization. They made such remarks during a program organized in the capital to mark the 72nd International Customs Day on Friday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Director General of the Department of Customs, Shobhakant Paudel, said that the department is ready to switch to paperless, faceless and contactless systems in customs service by improving customs infrastructures. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Experts believe that the paperless system would help minimize hassles faced by the importers at the customs but many are still doubtful of the implementation of the new system.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat underlined the need for digitization of the customs administration to enhance its effectiveness. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He called for efforts to build a dynamic customs administration by utilizing the available technology and international good practices.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department’s former directors general Tanka Mani Sharma and Krishnahari Baskota called for further systematizing customs administration, making it private-sector friendly. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Private sector representatives including President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) Rajendra Malla and President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) Rajesh Kumar Agrawal called for making the customs service compatible with time and to curb smuggling of goods. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Secretary Dr Krishna Hari Pushkar said the ministry has accorded priority to the investment in customs administration. The department is witnessing improvement in collaboration with the private sector, he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Finance Minister Dr Mahat launched the service for electronic signature and also inaugurated the customs museum. The department honored 25 employees and eight customs agents on the occasion.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19812', 'image' => '20240126072547_20230824034338_20230124115624_Chobhar Dy port.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 19:25:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20084', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Number of Global Tourists up by 44 Percent in 2023', 'sub_title' => 'UN Unveils Streamlined name for its Global Tourism Agency ', 'summary' => 'January 26: Around 1.3 billion tourists travelled abroad in 2023, a 44 percent jump from the previous year, according to the latest report of the World Tourism Organization which recently changed its name to UN Tourism.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 26: Around 1.3 billion tourists travelled abroad in 2023, a 44 percent jump from the previous year, according to the latest report of the World Tourism Organization which recently changed its name to UN Tourism.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report published last week states that the outbound tourists last year was still just 88 percent of the number of tourists who headed abroad in 2019, the last full year before global travel restrictions imposed to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. </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"">Meanwhile, </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">the World Tourism Organization recently announced that it had changed its name to UN Tourism, to make clear that the Madrid-based agency is part of the United Nations. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">AFP reported that the new name, along with a new logo featuring a human figure in motion with the tagline "Bringing the world closer", was unveiled at the opening of Madrid's FITUR tourism congress on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"By moving away from acronyms, UN Tourism adopts a more approachable stance," the body said in a statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">An intergovernmental body that promotes tourism and facilitates international trade between nations, the agency has been based in Madrid since it was founded in 1974, added AFP. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The body, which groups 160 member states, also has regional offices in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Morocco, and regularly publishes estimates and forecasts of tourist arrivals by region and country. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19811', 'image' => '20240126015431_Tourist.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 13:53:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20083', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Makes ‘Historic Achievement’ in Eye Surgery', 'sub_title' => 'Nepal Eye Hospital Successfully Performs Lens Sparing Vitrectomy on a 29-Week-Old Baby', 'summary' => 'January 26: Tripureshwar-based Nepal Eye Hospital has successfully performed a lens-sparing vitrectomy (LSV) for the first time at the hospital.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px">January 26: Tripureshwar-based Nepal Eye Hospital has successfully performed a lens-sparing vitrectomy (LSV) for the first time at the hospital. Such complex surgeries are rare in Nepal, said the hospital. <br /> LSV is done when there is a blood clot in the eye resulting obstruction of blood flow to the eye due to retinopathy of pre-maturity (ROP) of the newborn.<br /> Until now, there was a compulsion to go to India for such surgery. The successful performance of LSV surgery in the left eye of a newborn child, aged only 29 weeks, is a historic leap in eye treatment. <br /> The newborn who was referred to the hospital underwent an eye surgery on December 26, Dr Priya Bajgain, who led the complex surgery, said, adding, "This is the first time that LSV surgery was performed on a baby of such a delicate age at Nepal Eye Hospital. The baby was brought to the hospital for follow-up on last Wednesday. I found improvements in both the eyes." <br /> The baby was treated with laser technology for ROP problem in the right eye under the leadership of Dr Bajgain.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">"After the successful treatment of the right eye with laser technology, the complicated LSV surgery was done in his left eye," said Dr Bajgain.<br /> Dr Bajgain was accompanied by pediatric anesthesiologist Shanta Sapkota. It took more than an hour for retinal specialist Bajgain to perform the LSV surgery on the baby. <br /> "Such surgeries are of higher risks," she said, adding, "But I tried my best to save the baby's eyes, which was successful. It is also a delightful moment of my life." <br /> At the time of birth, the baby weighed only 1,200 grams. The baby was treated in the NICU for 28 days after birth. After 34 days of birth, the baby was brought to the eye hospital for eye treatment while he was in the ICU. <br /> According to ophthalmologists, the ROP is of five stages when the blood vessels of the eye do not develop. <br /> Dr Bajgain said, "The baby was suffering from problems in both eyes due to low birth weight, pregnancy less than 34 weeks, oxygen therapy due to fluctuations in oxygen at birth, jaundice and stomach problems. Babies born less than 34 weeks of pregnancy or less than two kilograms are at risk of blindness due to ROP. <br /> She is also involved in eye treatment of newborn babies born at Maternity Home Thapathali. <br /> Newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Nepal Eye Hospital, Dharmaraj Gosain said that they did not charge any fee from the parents for the surgery and other treatment of the infant.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">"As per the policy of the Ministry of Health and Population, we are engaged in a campaign to make eye treatment services better and affordable," he said. <br /> In the coming days, we will adopt a policy to further expand the services of the hospital, he shared. <br /> According to Santosh Poudel, medical records officer of the hospital, out of 157,000 patients served by the hospital last year, 300 were children under 34 weeks of age. -- RSS </span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19810', 'image' => '20240126015317_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 13:52:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20082', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Fails to Meet Paddy Procurement Target', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The government has failed to meet its paddy procurement target despite setting an ambitious goal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 26: The government has failed to meet its paddy procurement target despite setting an ambitious goal. The state-owned Food Management and Trading Company (FMTC) is facing a shortage of paddy at a time when the country witnessed an increase in production of paddy this year. FMTC is facing a shortage of paddy as it failed to purchase paddy and rice as per its target.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It is mandatory for the government to keep a stock of <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">33</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">000</span> metric tons of food grains for emergency use. However, the government currently has a stock of only <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">13</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">000</span> metric tons of food.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The FMTC had announced to purchase <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">200</span> metric tons of paddy worth Rs <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span>.<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">74</span> billion from <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">11</span> centers across the country this year. However, the FMTC has purchased only 4,660 metric tons of paddy from 5 centers across the country so far this year. The company informed that it has not been able to purchase paddy from six purchase centres except those set up at Rajapur, Nepalgunj, Dhangadhi, Mahendranagar and Janakpur.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The company's chief executive officer Mohan Prakash Chand said that the FMTC is yet to begin procurement at the purchase centers in Bhairahawa, Birgunj, Lahan, Biratnagar, Birtamod and Jumla.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Chand, the FMTC was unable to purchase paddy from farmers in those areas as the businessmen purchased paddy from them in those places at a better rate than the support price fixed by the government. The government has set the minimum support price of thick paddy at Rs <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">198</span> per quintal and medium paddy at Rs <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">362</span> per quintal this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Many farmers did not sell the paddy to us this year because the businessmen offered Rs <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span>00 per quintal more than the price fixed by the government. We also wish that the farmers get better price for their produce. At the moment, the FMTC has less amount of stock than required. Therefore, we are under pressure to purchase food grains anyhow,” said Chand.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“But that doesn’t mean we are allowed to pay the farmers more than the market price. If we purchase paddy at a higher cost, we will be compelled to sell rice at a higher rate to the general public,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">FMTC has purchased very less amount of paddy even in places where it was available. The company purchased only <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8</span>0<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2</span> tons of paddy from Nepalgunj against the target of purchasing 7000 metric tons of paddy. Likewise, it purchased <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">680</span> metric tons of paddy from Rajapur against the target of <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">9</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">500</span> tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, FMTC had set a target of purchasing <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8000</span> metric tons of paddy from Dhangadhi but was able to purchase only <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">878</span> metric tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In Mahendranagar, the FMCT had set a target of purchasing <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">500</span> metric tons but it managed to procure only<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> 295</span> metric tons. Likewise, the company purchased only four metric tons of paddy from Janakpur against the target of 5,5<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">00</span> metric tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, paddy production increased by <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">4.33</span> percent this year compared to last year. In Fiscal Year <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2079/80</span>, the country produced in <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">54</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">86</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">472</span> metric tons of paddy, which increased to <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">57</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">24</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">234</span> tons in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As the FMTC is unable to purchase paddy from the farmers, it has now issued a tender notice to purchase paddy. However, FMTC officials say that suppliers have not submitted any proposal so far. Chand says that the importers have now shown any interest to supply rice to the FMTC as the cost is likely to increase after India restricted exports of paddy.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19809', 'image' => '20240126015111_paddyyy-transformed.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 13:49:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20081', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Business of Non-Life Insurance Companies Up by 23 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The business of non-life insurance companies increased by 23 percent in a one-month period from mid-December to mid-January (Nepali month of Poush) compared to the preceding month (Mangshir).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 26: The business of non-life insurance companies increased by 23 percent in a one-month period from mid-December to mid-January (Nepali month of Poush) compared to the preceding month (Mangshir).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The business of insurance companies improved due to the increase in domestic economic activities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Nepal Insurance Authority, non-life insurance companies collected insurance premium worth Rs 3.67 billion in the review month. The insurance companies had collected only Rs 2.99 billion between mid-November and mid-December. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Currently, 14 non-life insurance companies are operational in the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the review month, Shikhar Insurance Company collected the highest insurance premium of Rs 873.1 million while Rastriya Beema Company collected the least insurance premium of Rs 67.2 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although the insurance premium collection of the insurance companies increased in the review month, the insurance policies issued during this period declined. The non-life insurance companies had issued a total of 272,358 insurance policies in mid-November to mid-December which dropped to 259,815 in mid-December to mid-January. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As of mid-January of the current fiscal year, non-life insurance companies have issued a total of 14,21,000 insurance policies and have collected Rs 19.39 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There has been an excess of liquidity in banks and financial institutions of late due to increase in the inflow of remittance. As a result, banks have started to reduce the interest rates and are focused on credit expansion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank has also reduced the policy rate through the review of monetary policy and has become lenient towards extending loans to the real estate and shares. The non-life insurance companies started witnessing an increase in business activities after the banks increased their credit flow.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19808', 'image' => '20240126010409_insurance non life.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 13:03:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20080', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Preparing to Announce Internal Migration Decade', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The Government of Nepal is preparing to announce the Internal Migration Decade from 2081 to 91 BS, according to Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Sharat Singh Bhandari. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 26: The Government of Nepal is preparing to announce the Internal Migration Decade from 2081 to 91 BS, according to Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Sharat Singh Bhandari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a programme organised to launch the Nabil Skilled Overseas Entrepreneurship Loan programme on Thursday, the minister shared government’s plan of observing the National Migration Decade beginning from next year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He said that a taskforce is working on the national migration policy. </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 are responsible for preventing the plight of domestic workforce through the promotion of job creation internally. Currently, the development of an internal employment information system is underway towards that end," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Labour Minister Bhandari said that although foreign employment has been a great support for the country's gross domestic product, the exodus of workforce has caused issues in the domestic labour market. Youths are forced to go outside in lack of job opportunities at home. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also acknowledged that the government has not been able to create a favourable atmosphere for foreign migrant returnees to utilise their skills and capital back at home. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Also speaking on the occasion, Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Kewal Prasad Bhandari said climate change and poverty are the factors promoting domestic and foreign migration. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There is a big circle of domestic migration. The statistics state that rural-urban migration is increasing, according to Secretary Bhandari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also took time to urge banks and financial institutions to support build a working atmosphere for foreign returnees back home. He also advocated for a bank loan facility to those pursuing foreign employment so as to liberate them from the situation of seeking loans at an exorbitant interest rates. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This scheme launched by the Nabil Bank is targeted at those returns from overseas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The bank ‘schief executive officer, Gyanendra Prasad Dhungana, said the scheme will be helpful for overseas returnees in starting income-generating business and enterprises. It is available at a soft interest rate, a minimum service charge by keeping the proposed project as collateral. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the bank, this loan is available at 1.5 percent interest rates with the ceiling of Rs 100 million. It will be provide in four different categories and the duration of loan payment is of 10 years. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19807', 'image' => '20240126120555_migration.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 12:05:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20079', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IMF Chief Warns of Spending 'Pressure' before Global 2024 Elections', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The year ahead will be "very tough" for fiscal policy -- especially for countries holding elections -- the IMF chief said recently.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 26: The year ahead will be "very tough" for fiscal policy -- especially for countries holding elections -- the IMF chief said recently.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"This is going to be a very tough year, because fiscal policy has to rebuild buffers and deal with the debt that was accumulated in many countries," International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in an interview with AFP in Washington.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"About 80 countries are going to have elections, and we know what happens with pressure on spending during election cycles," she continued.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Billions of people in dozens of countries around the world are due to go to the polls this year, from India to the United States, putting pressure on governments to either raise spending or cut taxes to win popular support.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The IMF is due to publish updated economic forecasts later this month which will show the global economy is broadly "on track" to meet its previous forecasts, according to Georgieva.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The global economy is "poised for a soft landing," she said, adding: "Monetary policy is doing a good job, inflation is going down, but the job is not quite done."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"So we are in this trickiest place of not easing too fast or too slow," she said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the US, the Federal Reserve recently held interest rates at a 22-year high and penciled in as many as three interest rate cuts this year, while the European Central Bank has also stopped hiking interest rates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">These steps have led traders to become more optimistic about the possibility of a loosening of monetary policy in the months ahead, which can act to boost economic growth.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The concern at the IMF, Georgieva said, is that governments around the world spend big this year and undermine the progress made in the fight against high inflation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"If monetary policy tightens and fiscal policy expands, going against the objective of bringing inflation down, we might be for a longer ride," she added.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19806', 'image' => '20240126113337_imf-logo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 11:32:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20078', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Karnali Province Exports Goats Worth Rs 3.24 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Karnali province exported goats worth Rs 3.24 billion, generating substantial income for the people in the fa-flung province.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif">January 25: Karnali province exported goats worth Rs 3.24 billion, generating substantial income for the people in the far-flung province. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif">Organizing a press meet at Birendranagar Surkhet on Wednesday, Karnali Province Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperative Development informed about the export of the goats.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"> Unveiling achievements of first year of his tenure, Minister Bhim Prakash Sharma said Karnali exported vegetables, kiwi, ginger and milk worth Rs 240 million from different districts. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif">Similarly, agriculture and livestock products worth Rs 222.28 8 million were exported from Kapurkot of Salyan and</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> Babai temporary data collection centre of Surkhet since November 15 of the current fiscal year. (RSS) </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-25', 'modified' => '2024-01-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19805', 'image' => '20240125034648_collage (29).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-25 15:45:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20092', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC Preparing to Fly to Remote Districts of Karnali Province from Surkhet', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 28: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to operate flights to remote areas of Karnali Province from Surkhet soon. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 28: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to operate flights to remote areas of Karnali Province from Surkhet soon. A team including the executive chairman of the NAC Yuvraj Adhikari discussed this issue with Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the discussion, Deputy Prime Minister Khadka asked to start flights from Surkhet to Jumla, Humla, Simikot, Talcha, Dolpa and other destinations of Karnali Province on priority basis. The executive chairman of the NAC said that preparations are being made for the flight from Surkhet. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"A committee has also been formed for operating flights to the remote areas," he said, adding, "We are working to connect various districts of Karnali Province to Surkhet through domestic flights.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Deputy Prime Minister Khadka advised the NAC to proceed with a strategic plan to expand flights within the country and to various destinations in the world using all the available aircraft. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"The NAC should be able to make the maximum benefit by operating the currently available aircraft at full capacity," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NAC currently has only two Twin-otter aircraft for operating flights in the domestic sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NAC is in the process of buying three Twin-otter planes for expanding its flights to remote areas. It is said the NAC is purchasing these aircraft with its internal resources. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The state-owned airliner recently called for tenders to purchase three aircraft. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-28', 'modified' => '2024-01-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19819', 'image' => '20240128010626_nacccc.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-28 13:05:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20091', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bad Condition of Road Causing Problems in Orange Supply ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 28: Farmers of Jaljala rural muncicpality-1, Banskharka, in Parbat district have been facing problems in transporting oranges to the market due to the bad condition of road. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 28: Farmers of Jaljala rural muncicpality-1, Banskharka, in Parbat district have been facing problems in transporting oranges to the market due to the bad condition of road. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although a single village of the rural municipality produces oranges worth millions of rupees, the farmers are not able to transport the oranges to the market because of the bad condition of road in the villages. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There is a problem for large vehicles to reach villages in lack of proper roads leading to Banskharka. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A local Jagat Bahadur Khatri said, "There is gravel road from Baribeni and Milan Chowk to reach Banskharka but big vehicles cannot reach the orange gardens due to dilapidated condition of road. So, we are compelled to transport oranges in small vehicles up to Beni-Maldhunga road and then shift the oranges into large vehicles. It takes more time and cost to transport oranges in this way.” </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">An entrepreneur of Kalimati, who reached Banskkharka to buy oranges, shared that it would have been easier if they could transport oranges in a big containers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“It take around one and half hours to cross the 10-kilometer road section,” he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A detailed project report (DPR) has already been prepared to blacktop the road linking Barabeni of Jaljala rural municipaliy-2 to Banskharka but the road has not been upgraded yet as the government has not allocated budget for the purpose. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-28', 'modified' => '2024-01-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19818', 'image' => '20240128121011_PUR_SUNTALA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-28 12:08:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20090', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Free Vehicle Parking on Dharahara Premises ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 28: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has announced to provide free vehicle parking services on the Dharahara premises in Sundhara of Kathmandu from today, January 28. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 28: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has announced to provide free vehicle parking services on the Dharahara premises in Sundhara of Kathmandu from today, January 28. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Free parking service will be available on the first floor of the parking building built next to the Dharahara tower, according to the KMC. </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"">It may be noted that the KMC has banned roadside parking in New Road area. The metropolis recently declared the blacktopped roads in New Road area as parking prohibited zone. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Head of KMC Police, Senior Superintendent of Police Rajunath Pandey, said parking facility will also be provided free on the premises of Dharahara along with the free parking service at Kathmandu Tower (former bus park). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">An area of 50,000 square feet will be available for free parking at the Dharaha premises, which can be reached from the road leading to Khichapokhari from Kathmandu Mall. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-28', 'modified' => '2024-01-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19817', 'image' => '20240128111427_Dharahara3-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-28 11:13:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20089', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Snowfall in Sankhuwasabha Cripples Lives ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 28: Snowfall in highland areas of Sankhuwasabha district has adversely affected people's lives.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 28: Snowfall in highland areas of Sankhuwasabha district has adversely affected people's lives. The upper parts of the district witnessed snowfall since Friday evening. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Daily activities have come to a halt temporarily following the heavy snowfall. </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"">Grounds in the northern area of the district such as Kimathanka checkpoint, Makalu base camp, Tinjure Gufa Pokhari, Mangalbare are covered with a blanket of snow. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Locals said that the snowfall continued till Sunday evening. </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"">Cold has sharply increased in the highland due to snowfall especially affecting children, elderly people and cattle among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The local residents have not been able to go out of their houses due to the biting cold. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-28', 'modified' => '2024-01-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19816', 'image' => '20240128103243_728_gufa-pokhari-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-28 10:31:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20088', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Global Turbulence the 'New Normal': EU President', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 27: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned on Friday that global disruptions and volatility are the "new normal", with more geo-economic tensions on the horizon.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 27: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned on Friday that global disruptions and volatility are the "new normal", with more geo-economic tensions on the horizon.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"2024 will be a decisive year, with more geo-economic tensions expected -- from the Red Sea to the Taiwan Strait -- which also means more frequent disruptions to supply chains and greater volatility on the energy markets," she told a climate conference in Hamburg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"International competition is becoming harder. That is the new normal that we have to deal with."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More frequent extreme weather events added to the mix means Europe needs to pull together "as never before" to face the challenges.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The 27-nation bloc, she assessed, had reacted quickly to curb its dependence on Russian gas after Moscow's fully-fledged invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The emergency meant that the EU was likely to be generating more energy from wind and solar than from gas this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">But von der Leyen said energy prices needed to come down further, and she urged the "right investment decisions" to make that happen.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Industries in Europe have been severely hit by Russia's war on Ukraine, which has disrupted supply chains and driven up energy prices, sparking sustained inflation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The difficulties faced by businesses have been compounded by attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In response, Britain and the United States have struck Huthi targets.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The election in Taiwan of a new president from the Democratic Progressive Party, which rejects China's claim to the island, has also sparked fears of fresh turbulence in East Asia. – AFP/RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19815', 'image' => '20240126094819_AP22228293776041.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 21:46:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20087', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Revenue Collection of Sagarmatha National Park up by 10 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: Revenue collection of Sagarmatha National Park has increased by more than 10 percent.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 27: Revenue collection of Sagarmatha National Park has increased by more than 10 percent. According to the Namche-based national park office, the revenue collection has gone up by 10.54 percent in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2023/24 as compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year (FY 2022/23).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The national park officials shared that they collected Rs 62.32 million in revenue from Shrawn (mid-July to mid-August) to Poush (mid-December to mid-January) of the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, the national park collected Rs 69.67 million in revenue during the corresponding period of the current fiscal year, said Information Officer of the Park, Manoj Kumar Mandal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He shared that Rs 656,000 in revenue was collected in the month of Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August), Rs 3.395 million in Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September), Rs 21.054 million in Asoj (mid-September to mid-October), Rs 31.227 million in Kartik (mid-October to mid-November), Rs 10.143 million in Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December) and Rs 3.21 million in Poush (mid-December to mid-January) of the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mandal, who is also the conservation officer of the national park, said that the national park collected the maximum revenue of Rs 66.67 million under the tourism heading followed by Rs 4.083 million revenue under the heading of forest fodder sales, and Rs 2.5 million from penalty and fines.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the national park, a total of 28,390 tourists visited the Sagarmatha area in the current fiscal year. The park has fixed the entry fee of Rs 100 for Nepali citizens, Rs 1,500 for tourists of SAARC countries, and Rs 3,000 for tourists from other countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, it charges Rs 3,000 for landing a helicopter. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-27', 'keywords' => 'Sagarmatha, Everest, revenue, tourists, Nepal, mountains, national, park, Namche', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19814', 'image' => '20240126093809_256058_218722994818098_1370242_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 21:37:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20086', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Street Vendors Announce Phase-Wise Protest against KMC', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The Joint Self-employed Street Traders Struggle Committee (JSSTSC) has announced a phase-wise protest against the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), putting forth a seven-point charter of demands.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 26: The Joint Self-employed Street Traders Struggle Committee (JSSTSC) has announced a phase-wise protest against the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), putting forth a seven-point charter of demands.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Organizing a press conference in the capital on Friday, the struggle committee declared that it will wage a protest from January 29 to February 11 under various phases. Accordingly, the struggle committee will hand over a memorandum to the KMC on January 29, will organize a sit-in and picketing along with a public demonstration at the KMC office on January 30, and will submit a memorandum to the Kathmandu District Administration Office on January 31, said Maya Gurung, the president of Nepal Self-employed Trade Workers Association.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to her, they will hand over a memorandum to the Ministry of Home Affairs on February 1, to the Prime Minister's Office on February 2, to the CPN (Unified Socialist) party on February 4, to the CPN (Maoist Center) on February 5, to the Nepali Congress on February 6 and to the CPN (UML) on February 7.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, the struggle committee will hold a demonstration with wider people's participation, clanging plates with spoons and also picketing the KMC office on February 11, said Kumar Sapkota, president of Nepal Independent Street Trade Workers Organisation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said a seven-point demand has been submitted to KMC with the announcement of the programs of protest.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Returning the goods of traders seized by the KMC in different periods, arranging goods at cheap prices for the citizens by running a 'fair price market' in all wards of KMC, allowing the entrepreneurs to run their business in the existing places by determining appropriate time until alternative arrangements are made, are the demands of the struggle committee.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the struggle committee demanded to initiate activities related to labor management by establishing a labor desk at KMC immediately and the formation of a high-powered management task force under the coordination of the mayor and deputy-mayor comprising stakeholders including trade unions’ representatives associated with the struggle committee, said chairperson of National Self-Employed Traders Association, Leela Bahadur Dahal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Gurung shared that they would announce an additional program of agitation if the bodies concerned did not pay any interest to address the demands of traders, adding they wanted a long-term solution by holding a discussion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, Sapkota demanded that the KMC should bring self-employed street traders under the ambit of tax after managing the street business. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although municipal police had expressed commitment to return the seized goods of traders, the traders have been returning empty-handed, said Chairperson Dahal. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19813', 'image' => '20240126081333_20230108115430_20151216012947_STRAWBERRY_DSC0544.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 20:12:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20085', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Stakeholders Demand Digitalization of Customs Administration', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: Stakeholders on Friday underlined the need to make the customs administration of Nepal compatible with the present-day needs through digitization.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 26: Stakeholders on Friday underlined the need to make the customs administration of Nepal compatible with the present-day needs through digitization. They made such remarks during a program organized in the capital to mark the 72nd International Customs Day on Friday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Director General of the Department of Customs, Shobhakant Paudel, said that the department is ready to switch to paperless, faceless and contactless systems in customs service by improving customs infrastructures. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Experts believe that the paperless system would help minimize hassles faced by the importers at the customs but many are still doubtful of the implementation of the new system.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat underlined the need for digitization of the customs administration to enhance its effectiveness. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He called for efforts to build a dynamic customs administration by utilizing the available technology and international good practices.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department’s former directors general Tanka Mani Sharma and Krishnahari Baskota called for further systematizing customs administration, making it private-sector friendly. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Private sector representatives including President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) Rajendra Malla and President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) Rajesh Kumar Agrawal called for making the customs service compatible with time and to curb smuggling of goods. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Secretary Dr Krishna Hari Pushkar said the ministry has accorded priority to the investment in customs administration. The department is witnessing improvement in collaboration with the private sector, he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Finance Minister Dr Mahat launched the service for electronic signature and also inaugurated the customs museum. The department honored 25 employees and eight customs agents on the occasion.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19812', 'image' => '20240126072547_20230824034338_20230124115624_Chobhar Dy port.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 19:25:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20084', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Number of Global Tourists up by 44 Percent in 2023', 'sub_title' => 'UN Unveils Streamlined name for its Global Tourism Agency ', 'summary' => 'January 26: Around 1.3 billion tourists travelled abroad in 2023, a 44 percent jump from the previous year, according to the latest report of the World Tourism Organization which recently changed its name to UN Tourism.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 26: Around 1.3 billion tourists travelled abroad in 2023, a 44 percent jump from the previous year, according to the latest report of the World Tourism Organization which recently changed its name to UN Tourism.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report published last week states that the outbound tourists last year was still just 88 percent of the number of tourists who headed abroad in 2019, the last full year before global travel restrictions imposed to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. </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"">Meanwhile, </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">the World Tourism Organization recently announced that it had changed its name to UN Tourism, to make clear that the Madrid-based agency is part of the United Nations. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">AFP reported that the new name, along with a new logo featuring a human figure in motion with the tagline "Bringing the world closer", was unveiled at the opening of Madrid's FITUR tourism congress on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"By moving away from acronyms, UN Tourism adopts a more approachable stance," the body said in a statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">An intergovernmental body that promotes tourism and facilitates international trade between nations, the agency has been based in Madrid since it was founded in 1974, added AFP. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The body, which groups 160 member states, also has regional offices in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Morocco, and regularly publishes estimates and forecasts of tourist arrivals by region and country. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19811', 'image' => '20240126015431_Tourist.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 13:53:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20083', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Makes ‘Historic Achievement’ in Eye Surgery', 'sub_title' => 'Nepal Eye Hospital Successfully Performs Lens Sparing Vitrectomy on a 29-Week-Old Baby', 'summary' => 'January 26: Tripureshwar-based Nepal Eye Hospital has successfully performed a lens-sparing vitrectomy (LSV) for the first time at the hospital.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px">January 26: Tripureshwar-based Nepal Eye Hospital has successfully performed a lens-sparing vitrectomy (LSV) for the first time at the hospital. Such complex surgeries are rare in Nepal, said the hospital. <br /> LSV is done when there is a blood clot in the eye resulting obstruction of blood flow to the eye due to retinopathy of pre-maturity (ROP) of the newborn.<br /> Until now, there was a compulsion to go to India for such surgery. The successful performance of LSV surgery in the left eye of a newborn child, aged only 29 weeks, is a historic leap in eye treatment. <br /> The newborn who was referred to the hospital underwent an eye surgery on December 26, Dr Priya Bajgain, who led the complex surgery, said, adding, "This is the first time that LSV surgery was performed on a baby of such a delicate age at Nepal Eye Hospital. The baby was brought to the hospital for follow-up on last Wednesday. I found improvements in both the eyes." <br /> The baby was treated with laser technology for ROP problem in the right eye under the leadership of Dr Bajgain.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">"After the successful treatment of the right eye with laser technology, the complicated LSV surgery was done in his left eye," said Dr Bajgain.<br /> Dr Bajgain was accompanied by pediatric anesthesiologist Shanta Sapkota. It took more than an hour for retinal specialist Bajgain to perform the LSV surgery on the baby. <br /> "Such surgeries are of higher risks," she said, adding, "But I tried my best to save the baby's eyes, which was successful. It is also a delightful moment of my life." <br /> At the time of birth, the baby weighed only 1,200 grams. The baby was treated in the NICU for 28 days after birth. After 34 days of birth, the baby was brought to the eye hospital for eye treatment while he was in the ICU. <br /> According to ophthalmologists, the ROP is of five stages when the blood vessels of the eye do not develop. <br /> Dr Bajgain said, "The baby was suffering from problems in both eyes due to low birth weight, pregnancy less than 34 weeks, oxygen therapy due to fluctuations in oxygen at birth, jaundice and stomach problems. Babies born less than 34 weeks of pregnancy or less than two kilograms are at risk of blindness due to ROP. <br /> She is also involved in eye treatment of newborn babies born at Maternity Home Thapathali. <br /> Newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Nepal Eye Hospital, Dharmaraj Gosain said that they did not charge any fee from the parents for the surgery and other treatment of the infant.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">"As per the policy of the Ministry of Health and Population, we are engaged in a campaign to make eye treatment services better and affordable," he said. <br /> In the coming days, we will adopt a policy to further expand the services of the hospital, he shared. <br /> According to Santosh Poudel, medical records officer of the hospital, out of 157,000 patients served by the hospital last year, 300 were children under 34 weeks of age. -- RSS </span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19810', 'image' => '20240126015317_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 13:52:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20082', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Fails to Meet Paddy Procurement Target', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The government has failed to meet its paddy procurement target despite setting an ambitious goal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 26: The government has failed to meet its paddy procurement target despite setting an ambitious goal. The state-owned Food Management and Trading Company (FMTC) is facing a shortage of paddy at a time when the country witnessed an increase in production of paddy this year. FMTC is facing a shortage of paddy as it failed to purchase paddy and rice as per its target.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It is mandatory for the government to keep a stock of <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">33</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">000</span> metric tons of food grains for emergency use. However, the government currently has a stock of only <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">13</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">000</span> metric tons of food.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The FMTC had announced to purchase <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">200</span> metric tons of paddy worth Rs <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span>.<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">74</span> billion from <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">11</span> centers across the country this year. However, the FMTC has purchased only 4,660 metric tons of paddy from 5 centers across the country so far this year. The company informed that it has not been able to purchase paddy from six purchase centres except those set up at Rajapur, Nepalgunj, Dhangadhi, Mahendranagar and Janakpur.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The company's chief executive officer Mohan Prakash Chand said that the FMTC is yet to begin procurement at the purchase centers in Bhairahawa, Birgunj, Lahan, Biratnagar, Birtamod and Jumla.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Chand, the FMTC was unable to purchase paddy from farmers in those areas as the businessmen purchased paddy from them in those places at a better rate than the support price fixed by the government. The government has set the minimum support price of thick paddy at Rs <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">198</span> per quintal and medium paddy at Rs <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">362</span> per quintal this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Many farmers did not sell the paddy to us this year because the businessmen offered Rs <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span>00 per quintal more than the price fixed by the government. We also wish that the farmers get better price for their produce. At the moment, the FMTC has less amount of stock than required. Therefore, we are under pressure to purchase food grains anyhow,” said Chand.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“But that doesn’t mean we are allowed to pay the farmers more than the market price. If we purchase paddy at a higher cost, we will be compelled to sell rice at a higher rate to the general public,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">FMTC has purchased very less amount of paddy even in places where it was available. The company purchased only <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8</span>0<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2</span> tons of paddy from Nepalgunj against the target of purchasing 7000 metric tons of paddy. Likewise, it purchased <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">680</span> metric tons of paddy from Rajapur against the target of <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">9</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">500</span> tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, FMTC had set a target of purchasing <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8000</span> metric tons of paddy from Dhangadhi but was able to purchase only <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">878</span> metric tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In Mahendranagar, the FMCT had set a target of purchasing <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">500</span> metric tons but it managed to procure only<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> 295</span> metric tons. Likewise, the company purchased only four metric tons of paddy from Janakpur against the target of 5,5<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">00</span> metric tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, paddy production increased by <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">4.33</span> percent this year compared to last year. In Fiscal Year <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2079/80</span>, the country produced in <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">54</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">86</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">472</span> metric tons of paddy, which increased to <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">57</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">24</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">234</span> tons in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As the FMTC is unable to purchase paddy from the farmers, it has now issued a tender notice to purchase paddy. However, FMTC officials say that suppliers have not submitted any proposal so far. Chand says that the importers have now shown any interest to supply rice to the FMTC as the cost is likely to increase after India restricted exports of paddy.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19809', 'image' => '20240126015111_paddyyy-transformed.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 13:49:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20081', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Business of Non-Life Insurance Companies Up by 23 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The business of non-life insurance companies increased by 23 percent in a one-month period from mid-December to mid-January (Nepali month of Poush) compared to the preceding month (Mangshir).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 26: The business of non-life insurance companies increased by 23 percent in a one-month period from mid-December to mid-January (Nepali month of Poush) compared to the preceding month (Mangshir).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The business of insurance companies improved due to the increase in domestic economic activities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Nepal Insurance Authority, non-life insurance companies collected insurance premium worth Rs 3.67 billion in the review month. The insurance companies had collected only Rs 2.99 billion between mid-November and mid-December. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Currently, 14 non-life insurance companies are operational in the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the review month, Shikhar Insurance Company collected the highest insurance premium of Rs 873.1 million while Rastriya Beema Company collected the least insurance premium of Rs 67.2 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although the insurance premium collection of the insurance companies increased in the review month, the insurance policies issued during this period declined. The non-life insurance companies had issued a total of 272,358 insurance policies in mid-November to mid-December which dropped to 259,815 in mid-December to mid-January. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As of mid-January of the current fiscal year, non-life insurance companies have issued a total of 14,21,000 insurance policies and have collected Rs 19.39 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There has been an excess of liquidity in banks and financial institutions of late due to increase in the inflow of remittance. As a result, banks have started to reduce the interest rates and are focused on credit expansion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank has also reduced the policy rate through the review of monetary policy and has become lenient towards extending loans to the real estate and shares. The non-life insurance companies started witnessing an increase in business activities after the banks increased their credit flow.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19808', 'image' => '20240126010409_insurance non life.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 13:03:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20080', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Preparing to Announce Internal Migration Decade', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The Government of Nepal is preparing to announce the Internal Migration Decade from 2081 to 91 BS, according to Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Sharat Singh Bhandari. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 26: The Government of Nepal is preparing to announce the Internal Migration Decade from 2081 to 91 BS, according to Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Sharat Singh Bhandari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a programme organised to launch the Nabil Skilled Overseas Entrepreneurship Loan programme on Thursday, the minister shared government’s plan of observing the National Migration Decade beginning from next year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He said that a taskforce is working on the national migration policy. </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 are responsible for preventing the plight of domestic workforce through the promotion of job creation internally. Currently, the development of an internal employment information system is underway towards that end," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Labour Minister Bhandari said that although foreign employment has been a great support for the country's gross domestic product, the exodus of workforce has caused issues in the domestic labour market. Youths are forced to go outside in lack of job opportunities at home. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also acknowledged that the government has not been able to create a favourable atmosphere for foreign migrant returnees to utilise their skills and capital back at home. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Also speaking on the occasion, Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Kewal Prasad Bhandari said climate change and poverty are the factors promoting domestic and foreign migration. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There is a big circle of domestic migration. The statistics state that rural-urban migration is increasing, according to Secretary Bhandari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also took time to urge banks and financial institutions to support build a working atmosphere for foreign returnees back home. He also advocated for a bank loan facility to those pursuing foreign employment so as to liberate them from the situation of seeking loans at an exorbitant interest rates. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This scheme launched by the Nabil Bank is targeted at those returns from overseas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The bank ‘schief executive officer, Gyanendra Prasad Dhungana, said the scheme will be helpful for overseas returnees in starting income-generating business and enterprises. It is available at a soft interest rate, a minimum service charge by keeping the proposed project as collateral. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the bank, this loan is available at 1.5 percent interest rates with the ceiling of Rs 100 million. It will be provide in four different categories and the duration of loan payment is of 10 years. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19807', 'image' => '20240126120555_migration.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 12:05:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20079', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IMF Chief Warns of Spending 'Pressure' before Global 2024 Elections', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The year ahead will be "very tough" for fiscal policy -- especially for countries holding elections -- the IMF chief said recently.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 26: The year ahead will be "very tough" for fiscal policy -- especially for countries holding elections -- the IMF chief said recently.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"This is going to be a very tough year, because fiscal policy has to rebuild buffers and deal with the debt that was accumulated in many countries," International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in an interview with AFP in Washington.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"About 80 countries are going to have elections, and we know what happens with pressure on spending during election cycles," she continued.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Billions of people in dozens of countries around the world are due to go to the polls this year, from India to the United States, putting pressure on governments to either raise spending or cut taxes to win popular support.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The IMF is due to publish updated economic forecasts later this month which will show the global economy is broadly "on track" to meet its previous forecasts, according to Georgieva.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The global economy is "poised for a soft landing," she said, adding: "Monetary policy is doing a good job, inflation is going down, but the job is not quite done."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"So we are in this trickiest place of not easing too fast or too slow," she said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the US, the Federal Reserve recently held interest rates at a 22-year high and penciled in as many as three interest rate cuts this year, while the European Central Bank has also stopped hiking interest rates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">These steps have led traders to become more optimistic about the possibility of a loosening of monetary policy in the months ahead, which can act to boost economic growth.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The concern at the IMF, Georgieva said, is that governments around the world spend big this year and undermine the progress made in the fight against high inflation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"If monetary policy tightens and fiscal policy expands, going against the objective of bringing inflation down, we might be for a longer ride," she added.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19806', 'image' => '20240126113337_imf-logo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 11:32:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20078', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Karnali Province Exports Goats Worth Rs 3.24 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Karnali province exported goats worth Rs 3.24 billion, generating substantial income for the people in the fa-flung province.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif">January 25: Karnali province exported goats worth Rs 3.24 billion, generating substantial income for the people in the far-flung province. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif">Organizing a press meet at Birendranagar Surkhet on Wednesday, Karnali Province Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperative Development informed about the export of the goats.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"> Unveiling achievements of first year of his tenure, Minister Bhim Prakash Sharma said Karnali exported vegetables, kiwi, ginger and milk worth Rs 240 million from different districts. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif">Similarly, agriculture and livestock products worth Rs 222.28 8 million were exported from Kapurkot of Salyan and</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> Babai temporary data collection centre of Surkhet since November 15 of the current fiscal year. (RSS) </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-25', 'modified' => '2024-01-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19805', 'image' => '20240125034648_collage (29).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-25 15:45:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20092', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC Preparing to Fly to Remote Districts of Karnali Province from Surkhet', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 28: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to operate flights to remote areas of Karnali Province from Surkhet soon. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 28: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to operate flights to remote areas of Karnali Province from Surkhet soon. A team including the executive chairman of the NAC Yuvraj Adhikari discussed this issue with Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the discussion, Deputy Prime Minister Khadka asked to start flights from Surkhet to Jumla, Humla, Simikot, Talcha, Dolpa and other destinations of Karnali Province on priority basis. The executive chairman of the NAC said that preparations are being made for the flight from Surkhet. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"A committee has also been formed for operating flights to the remote areas," he said, adding, "We are working to connect various districts of Karnali Province to Surkhet through domestic flights.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Deputy Prime Minister Khadka advised the NAC to proceed with a strategic plan to expand flights within the country and to various destinations in the world using all the available aircraft. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"The NAC should be able to make the maximum benefit by operating the currently available aircraft at full capacity," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NAC currently has only two Twin-otter aircraft for operating flights in the domestic sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NAC is in the process of buying three Twin-otter planes for expanding its flights to remote areas. It is said the NAC is purchasing these aircraft with its internal resources. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The state-owned airliner recently called for tenders to purchase three aircraft. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-28', 'modified' => '2024-01-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19819', 'image' => '20240128010626_nacccc.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-28 13:05:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20091', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bad Condition of Road Causing Problems in Orange Supply ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 28: Farmers of Jaljala rural muncicpality-1, Banskharka, in Parbat district have been facing problems in transporting oranges to the market due to the bad condition of road. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 28: Farmers of Jaljala rural muncicpality-1, Banskharka, in Parbat district have been facing problems in transporting oranges to the market due to the bad condition of road. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although a single village of the rural municipality produces oranges worth millions of rupees, the farmers are not able to transport the oranges to the market because of the bad condition of road in the villages. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There is a problem for large vehicles to reach villages in lack of proper roads leading to Banskharka. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A local Jagat Bahadur Khatri said, "There is gravel road from Baribeni and Milan Chowk to reach Banskharka but big vehicles cannot reach the orange gardens due to dilapidated condition of road. So, we are compelled to transport oranges in small vehicles up to Beni-Maldhunga road and then shift the oranges into large vehicles. It takes more time and cost to transport oranges in this way.” </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">An entrepreneur of Kalimati, who reached Banskkharka to buy oranges, shared that it would have been easier if they could transport oranges in a big containers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“It take around one and half hours to cross the 10-kilometer road section,” he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A detailed project report (DPR) has already been prepared to blacktop the road linking Barabeni of Jaljala rural municipaliy-2 to Banskharka but the road has not been upgraded yet as the government has not allocated budget for the purpose. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-28', 'modified' => '2024-01-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19818', 'image' => '20240128121011_PUR_SUNTALA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-28 12:08:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20090', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Free Vehicle Parking on Dharahara Premises ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 28: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has announced to provide free vehicle parking services on the Dharahara premises in Sundhara of Kathmandu from today, January 28. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 28: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has announced to provide free vehicle parking services on the Dharahara premises in Sundhara of Kathmandu from today, January 28. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Free parking service will be available on the first floor of the parking building built next to the Dharahara tower, according to the KMC. </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"">It may be noted that the KMC has banned roadside parking in New Road area. The metropolis recently declared the blacktopped roads in New Road area as parking prohibited zone. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Head of KMC Police, Senior Superintendent of Police Rajunath Pandey, said parking facility will also be provided free on the premises of Dharahara along with the free parking service at Kathmandu Tower (former bus park). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">An area of 50,000 square feet will be available for free parking at the Dharaha premises, which can be reached from the road leading to Khichapokhari from Kathmandu Mall. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-28', 'modified' => '2024-01-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19817', 'image' => '20240128111427_Dharahara3-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-28 11:13:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20089', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Snowfall in Sankhuwasabha Cripples Lives ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 28: Snowfall in highland areas of Sankhuwasabha district has adversely affected people's lives.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 28: Snowfall in highland areas of Sankhuwasabha district has adversely affected people's lives. The upper parts of the district witnessed snowfall since Friday evening. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Daily activities have come to a halt temporarily following the heavy snowfall. </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"">Grounds in the northern area of the district such as Kimathanka checkpoint, Makalu base camp, Tinjure Gufa Pokhari, Mangalbare are covered with a blanket of snow. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Locals said that the snowfall continued till Sunday evening. </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"">Cold has sharply increased in the highland due to snowfall especially affecting children, elderly people and cattle among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The local residents have not been able to go out of their houses due to the biting cold. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-28', 'modified' => '2024-01-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19816', 'image' => '20240128103243_728_gufa-pokhari-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-28 10:31:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20088', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Global Turbulence the 'New Normal': EU President', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 27: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned on Friday that global disruptions and volatility are the "new normal", with more geo-economic tensions on the horizon.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 27: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned on Friday that global disruptions and volatility are the "new normal", with more geo-economic tensions on the horizon.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"2024 will be a decisive year, with more geo-economic tensions expected -- from the Red Sea to the Taiwan Strait -- which also means more frequent disruptions to supply chains and greater volatility on the energy markets," she told a climate conference in Hamburg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"International competition is becoming harder. That is the new normal that we have to deal with."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More frequent extreme weather events added to the mix means Europe needs to pull together "as never before" to face the challenges.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The 27-nation bloc, she assessed, had reacted quickly to curb its dependence on Russian gas after Moscow's fully-fledged invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The emergency meant that the EU was likely to be generating more energy from wind and solar than from gas this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">But von der Leyen said energy prices needed to come down further, and she urged the "right investment decisions" to make that happen.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Industries in Europe have been severely hit by Russia's war on Ukraine, which has disrupted supply chains and driven up energy prices, sparking sustained inflation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The difficulties faced by businesses have been compounded by attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In response, Britain and the United States have struck Huthi targets.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The election in Taiwan of a new president from the Democratic Progressive Party, which rejects China's claim to the island, has also sparked fears of fresh turbulence in East Asia. – AFP/RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19815', 'image' => '20240126094819_AP22228293776041.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 21:46:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20087', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Revenue Collection of Sagarmatha National Park up by 10 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: Revenue collection of Sagarmatha National Park has increased by more than 10 percent.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 27: Revenue collection of Sagarmatha National Park has increased by more than 10 percent. According to the Namche-based national park office, the revenue collection has gone up by 10.54 percent in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2023/24 as compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year (FY 2022/23).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The national park officials shared that they collected Rs 62.32 million in revenue from Shrawn (mid-July to mid-August) to Poush (mid-December to mid-January) of the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, the national park collected Rs 69.67 million in revenue during the corresponding period of the current fiscal year, said Information Officer of the Park, Manoj Kumar Mandal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He shared that Rs 656,000 in revenue was collected in the month of Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August), Rs 3.395 million in Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September), Rs 21.054 million in Asoj (mid-September to mid-October), Rs 31.227 million in Kartik (mid-October to mid-November), Rs 10.143 million in Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December) and Rs 3.21 million in Poush (mid-December to mid-January) of the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mandal, who is also the conservation officer of the national park, said that the national park collected the maximum revenue of Rs 66.67 million under the tourism heading followed by Rs 4.083 million revenue under the heading of forest fodder sales, and Rs 2.5 million from penalty and fines.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the national park, a total of 28,390 tourists visited the Sagarmatha area in the current fiscal year. The park has fixed the entry fee of Rs 100 for Nepali citizens, Rs 1,500 for tourists of SAARC countries, and Rs 3,000 for tourists from other countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, it charges Rs 3,000 for landing a helicopter. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-27', 'keywords' => 'Sagarmatha, Everest, revenue, tourists, Nepal, mountains, national, park, Namche', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19814', 'image' => '20240126093809_256058_218722994818098_1370242_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 21:37:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20086', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Street Vendors Announce Phase-Wise Protest against KMC', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The Joint Self-employed Street Traders Struggle Committee (JSSTSC) has announced a phase-wise protest against the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), putting forth a seven-point charter of demands.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 26: The Joint Self-employed Street Traders Struggle Committee (JSSTSC) has announced a phase-wise protest against the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), putting forth a seven-point charter of demands.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Organizing a press conference in the capital on Friday, the struggle committee declared that it will wage a protest from January 29 to February 11 under various phases. Accordingly, the struggle committee will hand over a memorandum to the KMC on January 29, will organize a sit-in and picketing along with a public demonstration at the KMC office on January 30, and will submit a memorandum to the Kathmandu District Administration Office on January 31, said Maya Gurung, the president of Nepal Self-employed Trade Workers Association.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to her, they will hand over a memorandum to the Ministry of Home Affairs on February 1, to the Prime Minister's Office on February 2, to the CPN (Unified Socialist) party on February 4, to the CPN (Maoist Center) on February 5, to the Nepali Congress on February 6 and to the CPN (UML) on February 7.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, the struggle committee will hold a demonstration with wider people's participation, clanging plates with spoons and also picketing the KMC office on February 11, said Kumar Sapkota, president of Nepal Independent Street Trade Workers Organisation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said a seven-point demand has been submitted to KMC with the announcement of the programs of protest.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Returning the goods of traders seized by the KMC in different periods, arranging goods at cheap prices for the citizens by running a 'fair price market' in all wards of KMC, allowing the entrepreneurs to run their business in the existing places by determining appropriate time until alternative arrangements are made, are the demands of the struggle committee.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the struggle committee demanded to initiate activities related to labor management by establishing a labor desk at KMC immediately and the formation of a high-powered management task force under the coordination of the mayor and deputy-mayor comprising stakeholders including trade unions’ representatives associated with the struggle committee, said chairperson of National Self-Employed Traders Association, Leela Bahadur Dahal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Gurung shared that they would announce an additional program of agitation if the bodies concerned did not pay any interest to address the demands of traders, adding they wanted a long-term solution by holding a discussion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, Sapkota demanded that the KMC should bring self-employed street traders under the ambit of tax after managing the street business. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although municipal police had expressed commitment to return the seized goods of traders, the traders have been returning empty-handed, said Chairperson Dahal. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19813', 'image' => '20240126081333_20230108115430_20151216012947_STRAWBERRY_DSC0544.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 20:12:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20085', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Stakeholders Demand Digitalization of Customs Administration', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: Stakeholders on Friday underlined the need to make the customs administration of Nepal compatible with the present-day needs through digitization.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 26: Stakeholders on Friday underlined the need to make the customs administration of Nepal compatible with the present-day needs through digitization. They made such remarks during a program organized in the capital to mark the 72nd International Customs Day on Friday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Director General of the Department of Customs, Shobhakant Paudel, said that the department is ready to switch to paperless, faceless and contactless systems in customs service by improving customs infrastructures. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Experts believe that the paperless system would help minimize hassles faced by the importers at the customs but many are still doubtful of the implementation of the new system.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat underlined the need for digitization of the customs administration to enhance its effectiveness. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He called for efforts to build a dynamic customs administration by utilizing the available technology and international good practices.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department’s former directors general Tanka Mani Sharma and Krishnahari Baskota called for further systematizing customs administration, making it private-sector friendly. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Private sector representatives including President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) Rajendra Malla and President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) Rajesh Kumar Agrawal called for making the customs service compatible with time and to curb smuggling of goods. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Secretary Dr Krishna Hari Pushkar said the ministry has accorded priority to the investment in customs administration. The department is witnessing improvement in collaboration with the private sector, he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Finance Minister Dr Mahat launched the service for electronic signature and also inaugurated the customs museum. The department honored 25 employees and eight customs agents on the occasion.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19812', 'image' => '20240126072547_20230824034338_20230124115624_Chobhar Dy port.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 19:25:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20084', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Number of Global Tourists up by 44 Percent in 2023', 'sub_title' => 'UN Unveils Streamlined name for its Global Tourism Agency ', 'summary' => 'January 26: Around 1.3 billion tourists travelled abroad in 2023, a 44 percent jump from the previous year, according to the latest report of the World Tourism Organization which recently changed its name to UN Tourism.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 26: Around 1.3 billion tourists travelled abroad in 2023, a 44 percent jump from the previous year, according to the latest report of the World Tourism Organization which recently changed its name to UN Tourism.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report published last week states that the outbound tourists last year was still just 88 percent of the number of tourists who headed abroad in 2019, the last full year before global travel restrictions imposed to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. </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"">Meanwhile, </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">the World Tourism Organization recently announced that it had changed its name to UN Tourism, to make clear that the Madrid-based agency is part of the United Nations. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">AFP reported that the new name, along with a new logo featuring a human figure in motion with the tagline "Bringing the world closer", was unveiled at the opening of Madrid's FITUR tourism congress on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"By moving away from acronyms, UN Tourism adopts a more approachable stance," the body said in a statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">An intergovernmental body that promotes tourism and facilitates international trade between nations, the agency has been based in Madrid since it was founded in 1974, added AFP. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The body, which groups 160 member states, also has regional offices in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Morocco, and regularly publishes estimates and forecasts of tourist arrivals by region and country. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19811', 'image' => '20240126015431_Tourist.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 13:53:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20083', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Makes ‘Historic Achievement’ in Eye Surgery', 'sub_title' => 'Nepal Eye Hospital Successfully Performs Lens Sparing Vitrectomy on a 29-Week-Old Baby', 'summary' => 'January 26: Tripureshwar-based Nepal Eye Hospital has successfully performed a lens-sparing vitrectomy (LSV) for the first time at the hospital.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px">January 26: Tripureshwar-based Nepal Eye Hospital has successfully performed a lens-sparing vitrectomy (LSV) for the first time at the hospital. Such complex surgeries are rare in Nepal, said the hospital. <br /> LSV is done when there is a blood clot in the eye resulting obstruction of blood flow to the eye due to retinopathy of pre-maturity (ROP) of the newborn.<br /> Until now, there was a compulsion to go to India for such surgery. The successful performance of LSV surgery in the left eye of a newborn child, aged only 29 weeks, is a historic leap in eye treatment. <br /> The newborn who was referred to the hospital underwent an eye surgery on December 26, Dr Priya Bajgain, who led the complex surgery, said, adding, "This is the first time that LSV surgery was performed on a baby of such a delicate age at Nepal Eye Hospital. The baby was brought to the hospital for follow-up on last Wednesday. I found improvements in both the eyes." <br /> The baby was treated with laser technology for ROP problem in the right eye under the leadership of Dr Bajgain.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">"After the successful treatment of the right eye with laser technology, the complicated LSV surgery was done in his left eye," said Dr Bajgain.<br /> Dr Bajgain was accompanied by pediatric anesthesiologist Shanta Sapkota. It took more than an hour for retinal specialist Bajgain to perform the LSV surgery on the baby. <br /> "Such surgeries are of higher risks," she said, adding, "But I tried my best to save the baby's eyes, which was successful. It is also a delightful moment of my life." <br /> At the time of birth, the baby weighed only 1,200 grams. The baby was treated in the NICU for 28 days after birth. After 34 days of birth, the baby was brought to the eye hospital for eye treatment while he was in the ICU. <br /> According to ophthalmologists, the ROP is of five stages when the blood vessels of the eye do not develop. <br /> Dr Bajgain said, "The baby was suffering from problems in both eyes due to low birth weight, pregnancy less than 34 weeks, oxygen therapy due to fluctuations in oxygen at birth, jaundice and stomach problems. Babies born less than 34 weeks of pregnancy or less than two kilograms are at risk of blindness due to ROP. <br /> She is also involved in eye treatment of newborn babies born at Maternity Home Thapathali. <br /> Newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Nepal Eye Hospital, Dharmaraj Gosain said that they did not charge any fee from the parents for the surgery and other treatment of the infant.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">"As per the policy of the Ministry of Health and Population, we are engaged in a campaign to make eye treatment services better and affordable," he said. <br /> In the coming days, we will adopt a policy to further expand the services of the hospital, he shared. <br /> According to Santosh Poudel, medical records officer of the hospital, out of 157,000 patients served by the hospital last year, 300 were children under 34 weeks of age. -- RSS </span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19810', 'image' => '20240126015317_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 13:52:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20082', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Fails to Meet Paddy Procurement Target', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The government has failed to meet its paddy procurement target despite setting an ambitious goal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 26: The government has failed to meet its paddy procurement target despite setting an ambitious goal. The state-owned Food Management and Trading Company (FMTC) is facing a shortage of paddy at a time when the country witnessed an increase in production of paddy this year. FMTC is facing a shortage of paddy as it failed to purchase paddy and rice as per its target.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It is mandatory for the government to keep a stock of <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">33</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">000</span> metric tons of food grains for emergency use. However, the government currently has a stock of only <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">13</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">000</span> metric tons of food.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The FMTC had announced to purchase <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">200</span> metric tons of paddy worth Rs <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span>.<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">74</span> billion from <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">11</span> centers across the country this year. However, the FMTC has purchased only 4,660 metric tons of paddy from 5 centers across the country so far this year. The company informed that it has not been able to purchase paddy from six purchase centres except those set up at Rajapur, Nepalgunj, Dhangadhi, Mahendranagar and Janakpur.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The company's chief executive officer Mohan Prakash Chand said that the FMTC is yet to begin procurement at the purchase centers in Bhairahawa, Birgunj, Lahan, Biratnagar, Birtamod and Jumla.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Chand, the FMTC was unable to purchase paddy from farmers in those areas as the businessmen purchased paddy from them in those places at a better rate than the support price fixed by the government. The government has set the minimum support price of thick paddy at Rs <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">198</span> per quintal and medium paddy at Rs <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">362</span> per quintal this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Many farmers did not sell the paddy to us this year because the businessmen offered Rs <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span>00 per quintal more than the price fixed by the government. We also wish that the farmers get better price for their produce. At the moment, the FMTC has less amount of stock than required. Therefore, we are under pressure to purchase food grains anyhow,” said Chand.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“But that doesn’t mean we are allowed to pay the farmers more than the market price. If we purchase paddy at a higher cost, we will be compelled to sell rice at a higher rate to the general public,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">FMTC has purchased very less amount of paddy even in places where it was available. The company purchased only <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8</span>0<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2</span> tons of paddy from Nepalgunj against the target of purchasing 7000 metric tons of paddy. Likewise, it purchased <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">680</span> metric tons of paddy from Rajapur against the target of <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">9</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">500</span> tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, FMTC had set a target of purchasing <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8000</span> metric tons of paddy from Dhangadhi but was able to purchase only <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">878</span> metric tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In Mahendranagar, the FMCT had set a target of purchasing <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">500</span> metric tons but it managed to procure only<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> 295</span> metric tons. Likewise, the company purchased only four metric tons of paddy from Janakpur against the target of 5,5<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">00</span> metric tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, paddy production increased by <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">4.33</span> percent this year compared to last year. In Fiscal Year <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2079/80</span>, the country produced in <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">54</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">86</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">472</span> metric tons of paddy, which increased to <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">57</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">24</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">234</span> tons in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As the FMTC is unable to purchase paddy from the farmers, it has now issued a tender notice to purchase paddy. However, FMTC officials say that suppliers have not submitted any proposal so far. Chand says that the importers have now shown any interest to supply rice to the FMTC as the cost is likely to increase after India restricted exports of paddy.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19809', 'image' => '20240126015111_paddyyy-transformed.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 13:49:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20081', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Business of Non-Life Insurance Companies Up by 23 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The business of non-life insurance companies increased by 23 percent in a one-month period from mid-December to mid-January (Nepali month of Poush) compared to the preceding month (Mangshir).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 26: The business of non-life insurance companies increased by 23 percent in a one-month period from mid-December to mid-January (Nepali month of Poush) compared to the preceding month (Mangshir).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The business of insurance companies improved due to the increase in domestic economic activities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Nepal Insurance Authority, non-life insurance companies collected insurance premium worth Rs 3.67 billion in the review month. The insurance companies had collected only Rs 2.99 billion between mid-November and mid-December. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Currently, 14 non-life insurance companies are operational in the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the review month, Shikhar Insurance Company collected the highest insurance premium of Rs 873.1 million while Rastriya Beema Company collected the least insurance premium of Rs 67.2 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although the insurance premium collection of the insurance companies increased in the review month, the insurance policies issued during this period declined. The non-life insurance companies had issued a total of 272,358 insurance policies in mid-November to mid-December which dropped to 259,815 in mid-December to mid-January. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As of mid-January of the current fiscal year, non-life insurance companies have issued a total of 14,21,000 insurance policies and have collected Rs 19.39 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There has been an excess of liquidity in banks and financial institutions of late due to increase in the inflow of remittance. As a result, banks have started to reduce the interest rates and are focused on credit expansion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank has also reduced the policy rate through the review of monetary policy and has become lenient towards extending loans to the real estate and shares. The non-life insurance companies started witnessing an increase in business activities after the banks increased their credit flow.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19808', 'image' => '20240126010409_insurance non life.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 13:03:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20080', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Preparing to Announce Internal Migration Decade', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The Government of Nepal is preparing to announce the Internal Migration Decade from 2081 to 91 BS, according to Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Sharat Singh Bhandari. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 26: The Government of Nepal is preparing to announce the Internal Migration Decade from 2081 to 91 BS, according to Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Sharat Singh Bhandari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a programme organised to launch the Nabil Skilled Overseas Entrepreneurship Loan programme on Thursday, the minister shared government’s plan of observing the National Migration Decade beginning from next year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He said that a taskforce is working on the national migration policy. </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 are responsible for preventing the plight of domestic workforce through the promotion of job creation internally. Currently, the development of an internal employment information system is underway towards that end," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Labour Minister Bhandari said that although foreign employment has been a great support for the country's gross domestic product, the exodus of workforce has caused issues in the domestic labour market. Youths are forced to go outside in lack of job opportunities at home. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also acknowledged that the government has not been able to create a favourable atmosphere for foreign migrant returnees to utilise their skills and capital back at home. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Also speaking on the occasion, Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Kewal Prasad Bhandari said climate change and poverty are the factors promoting domestic and foreign migration. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There is a big circle of domestic migration. The statistics state that rural-urban migration is increasing, according to Secretary Bhandari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also took time to urge banks and financial institutions to support build a working atmosphere for foreign returnees back home. He also advocated for a bank loan facility to those pursuing foreign employment so as to liberate them from the situation of seeking loans at an exorbitant interest rates. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This scheme launched by the Nabil Bank is targeted at those returns from overseas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The bank ‘schief executive officer, Gyanendra Prasad Dhungana, said the scheme will be helpful for overseas returnees in starting income-generating business and enterprises. It is available at a soft interest rate, a minimum service charge by keeping the proposed project as collateral. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the bank, this loan is available at 1.5 percent interest rates with the ceiling of Rs 100 million. It will be provide in four different categories and the duration of loan payment is of 10 years. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19807', 'image' => '20240126120555_migration.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 12:05:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20079', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IMF Chief Warns of Spending 'Pressure' before Global 2024 Elections', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The year ahead will be "very tough" for fiscal policy -- especially for countries holding elections -- the IMF chief said recently.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 26: The year ahead will be "very tough" for fiscal policy -- especially for countries holding elections -- the IMF chief said recently.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"This is going to be a very tough year, because fiscal policy has to rebuild buffers and deal with the debt that was accumulated in many countries," International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in an interview with AFP in Washington.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"About 80 countries are going to have elections, and we know what happens with pressure on spending during election cycles," she continued.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Billions of people in dozens of countries around the world are due to go to the polls this year, from India to the United States, putting pressure on governments to either raise spending or cut taxes to win popular support.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The IMF is due to publish updated economic forecasts later this month which will show the global economy is broadly "on track" to meet its previous forecasts, according to Georgieva.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The global economy is "poised for a soft landing," she said, adding: "Monetary policy is doing a good job, inflation is going down, but the job is not quite done."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"So we are in this trickiest place of not easing too fast or too slow," she said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the US, the Federal Reserve recently held interest rates at a 22-year high and penciled in as many as three interest rate cuts this year, while the European Central Bank has also stopped hiking interest rates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">These steps have led traders to become more optimistic about the possibility of a loosening of monetary policy in the months ahead, which can act to boost economic growth.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The concern at the IMF, Georgieva said, is that governments around the world spend big this year and undermine the progress made in the fight against high inflation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"If monetary policy tightens and fiscal policy expands, going against the objective of bringing inflation down, we might be for a longer ride," she added.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19806', 'image' => '20240126113337_imf-logo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 11:32:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20078', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Karnali Province Exports Goats Worth Rs 3.24 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Karnali province exported goats worth Rs 3.24 billion, generating substantial income for the people in the fa-flung province.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif">January 25: Karnali province exported goats worth Rs 3.24 billion, generating substantial income for the people in the far-flung province. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif">Organizing a press meet at Birendranagar Surkhet on Wednesday, Karnali Province Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperative Development informed about the export of the goats.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"> Unveiling achievements of first year of his tenure, Minister Bhim Prakash Sharma said Karnali exported vegetables, kiwi, ginger and milk worth Rs 240 million from different districts. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif">Similarly, agriculture and livestock products worth Rs 222.28 8 million were exported from Kapurkot of Salyan and</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> Babai temporary data collection centre of Surkhet since November 15 of the current fiscal year. (RSS) </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-25', 'modified' => '2024-01-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19805', 'image' => '20240125034648_collage (29).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-25 15:45:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 28: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to operate flights to remote areas of Karnali Province from Surkhet soon. A team including the executive chairman of the NAC Yuvraj Adhikari discussed this issue with Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the discussion, Deputy Prime Minister Khadka asked to start flights from Surkhet to Jumla, Humla, Simikot, Talcha, Dolpa and other destinations of Karnali Province on priority basis. The executive chairman of the NAC said that preparations are being made for the flight from Surkhet. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"A committee has also been formed for operating flights to the remote areas," he said, adding, "We are working to connect various districts of Karnali Province to Surkhet through domestic flights.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Deputy Prime Minister Khadka advised the NAC to proceed with a strategic plan to expand flights within the country and to various destinations in the world using all the available aircraft. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"The NAC should be able to make the maximum benefit by operating the currently available aircraft at full capacity," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NAC currently has only two Twin-otter aircraft for operating flights in the domestic sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NAC is in the process of buying three Twin-otter planes for expanding its flights to remote areas. It is said the NAC is purchasing these aircraft with its internal resources. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The state-owned airliner recently called for tenders to purchase three aircraft. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-28', 'modified' => '2024-01-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19819', 'image' => '20240128010626_nacccc.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-28 13:05:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20091', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bad Condition of Road Causing Problems in Orange Supply ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 28: Farmers of Jaljala rural muncicpality-1, Banskharka, in Parbat district have been facing problems in transporting oranges to the market due to the bad condition of road. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 28: Farmers of Jaljala rural muncicpality-1, Banskharka, in Parbat district have been facing problems in transporting oranges to the market due to the bad condition of road. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although a single village of the rural municipality produces oranges worth millions of rupees, the farmers are not able to transport the oranges to the market because of the bad condition of road in the villages. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There is a problem for large vehicles to reach villages in lack of proper roads leading to Banskharka. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A local Jagat Bahadur Khatri said, "There is gravel road from Baribeni and Milan Chowk to reach Banskharka but big vehicles cannot reach the orange gardens due to dilapidated condition of road. So, we are compelled to transport oranges in small vehicles up to Beni-Maldhunga road and then shift the oranges into large vehicles. It takes more time and cost to transport oranges in this way.” </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">An entrepreneur of Kalimati, who reached Banskkharka to buy oranges, shared that it would have been easier if they could transport oranges in a big containers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“It take around one and half hours to cross the 10-kilometer road section,” he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A detailed project report (DPR) has already been prepared to blacktop the road linking Barabeni of Jaljala rural municipaliy-2 to Banskharka but the road has not been upgraded yet as the government has not allocated budget for the purpose. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-28', 'modified' => '2024-01-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19818', 'image' => '20240128121011_PUR_SUNTALA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-28 12:08:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20090', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Free Vehicle Parking on Dharahara Premises ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 28: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has announced to provide free vehicle parking services on the Dharahara premises in Sundhara of Kathmandu from today, January 28. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 28: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has announced to provide free vehicle parking services on the Dharahara premises in Sundhara of Kathmandu from today, January 28. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Free parking service will be available on the first floor of the parking building built next to the Dharahara tower, according to the KMC. </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"">It may be noted that the KMC has banned roadside parking in New Road area. The metropolis recently declared the blacktopped roads in New Road area as parking prohibited zone. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Head of KMC Police, Senior Superintendent of Police Rajunath Pandey, said parking facility will also be provided free on the premises of Dharahara along with the free parking service at Kathmandu Tower (former bus park). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">An area of 50,000 square feet will be available for free parking at the Dharaha premises, which can be reached from the road leading to Khichapokhari from Kathmandu Mall. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-28', 'modified' => '2024-01-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19817', 'image' => '20240128111427_Dharahara3-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-28 11:13:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20089', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Snowfall in Sankhuwasabha Cripples Lives ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 28: Snowfall in highland areas of Sankhuwasabha district has adversely affected people's lives.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 28: Snowfall in highland areas of Sankhuwasabha district has adversely affected people's lives. The upper parts of the district witnessed snowfall since Friday evening. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Daily activities have come to a halt temporarily following the heavy snowfall. </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"">Grounds in the northern area of the district such as Kimathanka checkpoint, Makalu base camp, Tinjure Gufa Pokhari, Mangalbare are covered with a blanket of snow. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Locals said that the snowfall continued till Sunday evening. </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"">Cold has sharply increased in the highland due to snowfall especially affecting children, elderly people and cattle among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The local residents have not been able to go out of their houses due to the biting cold. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-28', 'modified' => '2024-01-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19816', 'image' => '20240128103243_728_gufa-pokhari-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-28 10:31:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20088', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Global Turbulence the 'New Normal': EU President', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 27: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned on Friday that global disruptions and volatility are the "new normal", with more geo-economic tensions on the horizon.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 27: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned on Friday that global disruptions and volatility are the "new normal", with more geo-economic tensions on the horizon.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"2024 will be a decisive year, with more geo-economic tensions expected -- from the Red Sea to the Taiwan Strait -- which also means more frequent disruptions to supply chains and greater volatility on the energy markets," she told a climate conference in Hamburg.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"International competition is becoming harder. That is the new normal that we have to deal with."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More frequent extreme weather events added to the mix means Europe needs to pull together "as never before" to face the challenges.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The 27-nation bloc, she assessed, had reacted quickly to curb its dependence on Russian gas after Moscow's fully-fledged invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The emergency meant that the EU was likely to be generating more energy from wind and solar than from gas this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">But von der Leyen said energy prices needed to come down further, and she urged the "right investment decisions" to make that happen.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Industries in Europe have been severely hit by Russia's war on Ukraine, which has disrupted supply chains and driven up energy prices, sparking sustained inflation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The difficulties faced by businesses have been compounded by attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In response, Britain and the United States have struck Huthi targets.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The election in Taiwan of a new president from the Democratic Progressive Party, which rejects China's claim to the island, has also sparked fears of fresh turbulence in East Asia. – AFP/RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-27', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19815', 'image' => '20240126094819_AP22228293776041.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 21:46:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20087', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Revenue Collection of Sagarmatha National Park up by 10 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: Revenue collection of Sagarmatha National Park has increased by more than 10 percent.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 27: Revenue collection of Sagarmatha National Park has increased by more than 10 percent. According to the Namche-based national park office, the revenue collection has gone up by 10.54 percent in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2023/24 as compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year (FY 2022/23).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The national park officials shared that they collected Rs 62.32 million in revenue from Shrawn (mid-July to mid-August) to Poush (mid-December to mid-January) of the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, the national park collected Rs 69.67 million in revenue during the corresponding period of the current fiscal year, said Information Officer of the Park, Manoj Kumar Mandal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He shared that Rs 656,000 in revenue was collected in the month of Shrawan (mid-July to mid-August), Rs 3.395 million in Bhadra (mid-August to mid-September), Rs 21.054 million in Asoj (mid-September to mid-October), Rs 31.227 million in Kartik (mid-October to mid-November), Rs 10.143 million in Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December) and Rs 3.21 million in Poush (mid-December to mid-January) of the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mandal, who is also the conservation officer of the national park, said that the national park collected the maximum revenue of Rs 66.67 million under the tourism heading followed by Rs 4.083 million revenue under the heading of forest fodder sales, and Rs 2.5 million from penalty and fines.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the national park, a total of 28,390 tourists visited the Sagarmatha area in the current fiscal year. The park has fixed the entry fee of Rs 100 for Nepali citizens, Rs 1,500 for tourists of SAARC countries, and Rs 3,000 for tourists from other countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, it charges Rs 3,000 for landing a helicopter. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-27', 'keywords' => 'Sagarmatha, Everest, revenue, tourists, Nepal, mountains, national, park, Namche', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19814', 'image' => '20240126093809_256058_218722994818098_1370242_o.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 21:37:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20086', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Street Vendors Announce Phase-Wise Protest against KMC', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The Joint Self-employed Street Traders Struggle Committee (JSSTSC) has announced a phase-wise protest against the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), putting forth a seven-point charter of demands.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 26: The Joint Self-employed Street Traders Struggle Committee (JSSTSC) has announced a phase-wise protest against the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), putting forth a seven-point charter of demands.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Organizing a press conference in the capital on Friday, the struggle committee declared that it will wage a protest from January 29 to February 11 under various phases. Accordingly, the struggle committee will hand over a memorandum to the KMC on January 29, will organize a sit-in and picketing along with a public demonstration at the KMC office on January 30, and will submit a memorandum to the Kathmandu District Administration Office on January 31, said Maya Gurung, the president of Nepal Self-employed Trade Workers Association.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to her, they will hand over a memorandum to the Ministry of Home Affairs on February 1, to the Prime Minister's Office on February 2, to the CPN (Unified Socialist) party on February 4, to the CPN (Maoist Center) on February 5, to the Nepali Congress on February 6 and to the CPN (UML) on February 7.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, the struggle committee will hold a demonstration with wider people's participation, clanging plates with spoons and also picketing the KMC office on February 11, said Kumar Sapkota, president of Nepal Independent Street Trade Workers Organisation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said a seven-point demand has been submitted to KMC with the announcement of the programs of protest.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Returning the goods of traders seized by the KMC in different periods, arranging goods at cheap prices for the citizens by running a 'fair price market' in all wards of KMC, allowing the entrepreneurs to run their business in the existing places by determining appropriate time until alternative arrangements are made, are the demands of the struggle committee.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the struggle committee demanded to initiate activities related to labor management by establishing a labor desk at KMC immediately and the formation of a high-powered management task force under the coordination of the mayor and deputy-mayor comprising stakeholders including trade unions’ representatives associated with the struggle committee, said chairperson of National Self-Employed Traders Association, Leela Bahadur Dahal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Gurung shared that they would announce an additional program of agitation if the bodies concerned did not pay any interest to address the demands of traders, adding they wanted a long-term solution by holding a discussion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, Sapkota demanded that the KMC should bring self-employed street traders under the ambit of tax after managing the street business. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although municipal police had expressed commitment to return the seized goods of traders, the traders have been returning empty-handed, said Chairperson Dahal. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19813', 'image' => '20240126081333_20230108115430_20151216012947_STRAWBERRY_DSC0544.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 20:12:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20085', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Stakeholders Demand Digitalization of Customs Administration', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: Stakeholders on Friday underlined the need to make the customs administration of Nepal compatible with the present-day needs through digitization.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 26: Stakeholders on Friday underlined the need to make the customs administration of Nepal compatible with the present-day needs through digitization. They made such remarks during a program organized in the capital to mark the 72nd International Customs Day on Friday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Director General of the Department of Customs, Shobhakant Paudel, said that the department is ready to switch to paperless, faceless and contactless systems in customs service by improving customs infrastructures. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Experts believe that the paperless system would help minimize hassles faced by the importers at the customs but many are still doubtful of the implementation of the new system.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat underlined the need for digitization of the customs administration to enhance its effectiveness. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He called for efforts to build a dynamic customs administration by utilizing the available technology and international good practices.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department’s former directors general Tanka Mani Sharma and Krishnahari Baskota called for further systematizing customs administration, making it private-sector friendly. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Private sector representatives including President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) Rajendra Malla and President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) Rajesh Kumar Agrawal called for making the customs service compatible with time and to curb smuggling of goods. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Secretary Dr Krishna Hari Pushkar said the ministry has accorded priority to the investment in customs administration. The department is witnessing improvement in collaboration with the private sector, he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Finance Minister Dr Mahat launched the service for electronic signature and also inaugurated the customs museum. The department honored 25 employees and eight customs agents on the occasion.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19812', 'image' => '20240126072547_20230824034338_20230124115624_Chobhar Dy port.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 19:25:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20084', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Number of Global Tourists up by 44 Percent in 2023', 'sub_title' => 'UN Unveils Streamlined name for its Global Tourism Agency ', 'summary' => 'January 26: Around 1.3 billion tourists travelled abroad in 2023, a 44 percent jump from the previous year, according to the latest report of the World Tourism Organization which recently changed its name to UN Tourism.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 26: Around 1.3 billion tourists travelled abroad in 2023, a 44 percent jump from the previous year, according to the latest report of the World Tourism Organization which recently changed its name to UN Tourism.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report published last week states that the outbound tourists last year was still just 88 percent of the number of tourists who headed abroad in 2019, the last full year before global travel restrictions imposed to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. </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"">Meanwhile, </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">the World Tourism Organization recently announced that it had changed its name to UN Tourism, to make clear that the Madrid-based agency is part of the United Nations. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">AFP reported that the new name, along with a new logo featuring a human figure in motion with the tagline "Bringing the world closer", was unveiled at the opening of Madrid's FITUR tourism congress on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"By moving away from acronyms, UN Tourism adopts a more approachable stance," the body said in a statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">An intergovernmental body that promotes tourism and facilitates international trade between nations, the agency has been based in Madrid since it was founded in 1974, added AFP. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The body, which groups 160 member states, also has regional offices in Japan, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Morocco, and regularly publishes estimates and forecasts of tourist arrivals by region and country. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19811', 'image' => '20240126015431_Tourist.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 13:53:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20083', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Makes ‘Historic Achievement’ in Eye Surgery', 'sub_title' => 'Nepal Eye Hospital Successfully Performs Lens Sparing Vitrectomy on a 29-Week-Old Baby', 'summary' => 'January 26: Tripureshwar-based Nepal Eye Hospital has successfully performed a lens-sparing vitrectomy (LSV) for the first time at the hospital.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px">January 26: Tripureshwar-based Nepal Eye Hospital has successfully performed a lens-sparing vitrectomy (LSV) for the first time at the hospital. Such complex surgeries are rare in Nepal, said the hospital. <br /> LSV is done when there is a blood clot in the eye resulting obstruction of blood flow to the eye due to retinopathy of pre-maturity (ROP) of the newborn.<br /> Until now, there was a compulsion to go to India for such surgery. The successful performance of LSV surgery in the left eye of a newborn child, aged only 29 weeks, is a historic leap in eye treatment. <br /> The newborn who was referred to the hospital underwent an eye surgery on December 26, Dr Priya Bajgain, who led the complex surgery, said, adding, "This is the first time that LSV surgery was performed on a baby of such a delicate age at Nepal Eye Hospital. The baby was brought to the hospital for follow-up on last Wednesday. I found improvements in both the eyes." <br /> The baby was treated with laser technology for ROP problem in the right eye under the leadership of Dr Bajgain.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">"After the successful treatment of the right eye with laser technology, the complicated LSV surgery was done in his left eye," said Dr Bajgain.<br /> Dr Bajgain was accompanied by pediatric anesthesiologist Shanta Sapkota. It took more than an hour for retinal specialist Bajgain to perform the LSV surgery on the baby. <br /> "Such surgeries are of higher risks," she said, adding, "But I tried my best to save the baby's eyes, which was successful. It is also a delightful moment of my life." <br /> At the time of birth, the baby weighed only 1,200 grams. The baby was treated in the NICU for 28 days after birth. After 34 days of birth, the baby was brought to the eye hospital for eye treatment while he was in the ICU. <br /> According to ophthalmologists, the ROP is of five stages when the blood vessels of the eye do not develop. <br /> Dr Bajgain said, "The baby was suffering from problems in both eyes due to low birth weight, pregnancy less than 34 weeks, oxygen therapy due to fluctuations in oxygen at birth, jaundice and stomach problems. Babies born less than 34 weeks of pregnancy or less than two kilograms are at risk of blindness due to ROP. <br /> She is also involved in eye treatment of newborn babies born at Maternity Home Thapathali. <br /> Newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Nepal Eye Hospital, Dharmaraj Gosain said that they did not charge any fee from the parents for the surgery and other treatment of the infant.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">"As per the policy of the Ministry of Health and Population, we are engaged in a campaign to make eye treatment services better and affordable," he said. <br /> In the coming days, we will adopt a policy to further expand the services of the hospital, he shared. <br /> According to Santosh Poudel, medical records officer of the hospital, out of 157,000 patients served by the hospital last year, 300 were children under 34 weeks of age. -- RSS </span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19810', 'image' => '20240126015317_maxresdefault.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 13:52:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20082', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Fails to Meet Paddy Procurement Target', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The government has failed to meet its paddy procurement target despite setting an ambitious goal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 26: The government has failed to meet its paddy procurement target despite setting an ambitious goal. The state-owned Food Management and Trading Company (FMTC) is facing a shortage of paddy at a time when the country witnessed an increase in production of paddy this year. FMTC is facing a shortage of paddy as it failed to purchase paddy and rice as per its target.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It is mandatory for the government to keep a stock of <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">33</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">000</span> metric tons of food grains for emergency use. However, the government currently has a stock of only <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">13</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">000</span> metric tons of food.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The FMTC had announced to purchase <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">200</span> metric tons of paddy worth Rs <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span>.<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">74</span> billion from <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">11</span> centers across the country this year. However, the FMTC has purchased only 4,660 metric tons of paddy from 5 centers across the country so far this year. The company informed that it has not been able to purchase paddy from six purchase centres except those set up at Rajapur, Nepalgunj, Dhangadhi, Mahendranagar and Janakpur.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The company's chief executive officer Mohan Prakash Chand said that the FMTC is yet to begin procurement at the purchase centers in Bhairahawa, Birgunj, Lahan, Biratnagar, Birtamod and Jumla.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Chand, the FMTC was unable to purchase paddy from farmers in those areas as the businessmen purchased paddy from them in those places at a better rate than the support price fixed by the government. The government has set the minimum support price of thick paddy at Rs <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">198</span> per quintal and medium paddy at Rs <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">362</span> per quintal this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Many farmers did not sell the paddy to us this year because the businessmen offered Rs <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span>00 per quintal more than the price fixed by the government. We also wish that the farmers get better price for their produce. At the moment, the FMTC has less amount of stock than required. Therefore, we are under pressure to purchase food grains anyhow,” said Chand.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“But that doesn’t mean we are allowed to pay the farmers more than the market price. If we purchase paddy at a higher cost, we will be compelled to sell rice at a higher rate to the general public,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">FMTC has purchased very less amount of paddy even in places where it was available. The company purchased only <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8</span>0<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2</span> tons of paddy from Nepalgunj against the target of purchasing 7000 metric tons of paddy. Likewise, it purchased <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">680</span> metric tons of paddy from Rajapur against the target of <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">9</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">500</span> tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, FMTC had set a target of purchasing <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">8000</span> metric tons of paddy from Dhangadhi but was able to purchase only <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">878</span> metric tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In Mahendranagar, the FMCT had set a target of purchasing <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">500</span> metric tons but it managed to procure only<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> 295</span> metric tons. Likewise, the company purchased only four metric tons of paddy from Janakpur against the target of 5,5<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">00</span> metric tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, paddy production increased by <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">4.33</span> percent this year compared to last year. In Fiscal Year <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2079/80</span>, the country produced in <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">54</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">86</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">472</span> metric tons of paddy, which increased to <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">57</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">24</span>,<span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">234</span> tons in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As the FMTC is unable to purchase paddy from the farmers, it has now issued a tender notice to purchase paddy. However, FMTC officials say that suppliers have not submitted any proposal so far. Chand says that the importers have now shown any interest to supply rice to the FMTC as the cost is likely to increase after India restricted exports of paddy.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19809', 'image' => '20240126015111_paddyyy-transformed.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 13:49:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20081', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Business of Non-Life Insurance Companies Up by 23 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The business of non-life insurance companies increased by 23 percent in a one-month period from mid-December to mid-January (Nepali month of Poush) compared to the preceding month (Mangshir).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 26: The business of non-life insurance companies increased by 23 percent in a one-month period from mid-December to mid-January (Nepali month of Poush) compared to the preceding month (Mangshir).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The business of insurance companies improved due to the increase in domestic economic activities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Nepal Insurance Authority, non-life insurance companies collected insurance premium worth Rs 3.67 billion in the review month. The insurance companies had collected only Rs 2.99 billion between mid-November and mid-December. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Currently, 14 non-life insurance companies are operational in the country. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the review month, Shikhar Insurance Company collected the highest insurance premium of Rs 873.1 million while Rastriya Beema Company collected the least insurance premium of Rs 67.2 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although the insurance premium collection of the insurance companies increased in the review month, the insurance policies issued during this period declined. The non-life insurance companies had issued a total of 272,358 insurance policies in mid-November to mid-December which dropped to 259,815 in mid-December to mid-January. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As of mid-January of the current fiscal year, non-life insurance companies have issued a total of 14,21,000 insurance policies and have collected Rs 19.39 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There has been an excess of liquidity in banks and financial institutions of late due to increase in the inflow of remittance. As a result, banks have started to reduce the interest rates and are focused on credit expansion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank has also reduced the policy rate through the review of monetary policy and has become lenient towards extending loans to the real estate and shares. The non-life insurance companies started witnessing an increase in business activities after the banks increased their credit flow.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19808', 'image' => '20240126010409_insurance non life.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 13:03:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20080', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Preparing to Announce Internal Migration Decade', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The Government of Nepal is preparing to announce the Internal Migration Decade from 2081 to 91 BS, according to Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Sharat Singh Bhandari. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 26: The Government of Nepal is preparing to announce the Internal Migration Decade from 2081 to 91 BS, according to Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security Sharat Singh Bhandari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at a programme organised to launch the Nabil Skilled Overseas Entrepreneurship Loan programme on Thursday, the minister shared government’s plan of observing the National Migration Decade beginning from next year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He said that a taskforce is working on the national migration policy. </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 are responsible for preventing the plight of domestic workforce through the promotion of job creation internally. Currently, the development of an internal employment information system is underway towards that end," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Labour Minister Bhandari said that although foreign employment has been a great support for the country's gross domestic product, the exodus of workforce has caused issues in the domestic labour market. Youths are forced to go outside in lack of job opportunities at home. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also acknowledged that the government has not been able to create a favourable atmosphere for foreign migrant returnees to utilise their skills and capital back at home. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Also speaking on the occasion, Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Kewal Prasad Bhandari said climate change and poverty are the factors promoting domestic and foreign migration. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There is a big circle of domestic migration. The statistics state that rural-urban migration is increasing, according to Secretary Bhandari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also took time to urge banks and financial institutions to support build a working atmosphere for foreign returnees back home. He also advocated for a bank loan facility to those pursuing foreign employment so as to liberate them from the situation of seeking loans at an exorbitant interest rates. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This scheme launched by the Nabil Bank is targeted at those returns from overseas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The bank ‘schief executive officer, Gyanendra Prasad Dhungana, said the scheme will be helpful for overseas returnees in starting income-generating business and enterprises. It is available at a soft interest rate, a minimum service charge by keeping the proposed project as collateral. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the bank, this loan is available at 1.5 percent interest rates with the ceiling of Rs 100 million. It will be provide in four different categories and the duration of loan payment is of 10 years. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19807', 'image' => '20240126120555_migration.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 12:05:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20079', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'IMF Chief Warns of Spending 'Pressure' before Global 2024 Elections', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 26: The year ahead will be "very tough" for fiscal policy -- especially for countries holding elections -- the IMF chief said recently.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 26: The year ahead will be "very tough" for fiscal policy -- especially for countries holding elections -- the IMF chief said recently.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"This is going to be a very tough year, because fiscal policy has to rebuild buffers and deal with the debt that was accumulated in many countries," International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in an interview with AFP in Washington.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"About 80 countries are going to have elections, and we know what happens with pressure on spending during election cycles," she continued.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Billions of people in dozens of countries around the world are due to go to the polls this year, from India to the United States, putting pressure on governments to either raise spending or cut taxes to win popular support.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The IMF is due to publish updated economic forecasts later this month which will show the global economy is broadly "on track" to meet its previous forecasts, according to Georgieva.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The global economy is "poised for a soft landing," she said, adding: "Monetary policy is doing a good job, inflation is going down, but the job is not quite done."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"So we are in this trickiest place of not easing too fast or too slow," she said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the US, the Federal Reserve recently held interest rates at a 22-year high and penciled in as many as three interest rate cuts this year, while the European Central Bank has also stopped hiking interest rates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">These steps have led traders to become more optimistic about the possibility of a loosening of monetary policy in the months ahead, which can act to boost economic growth.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The concern at the IMF, Georgieva said, is that governments around the world spend big this year and undermine the progress made in the fight against high inflation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"If monetary policy tightens and fiscal policy expands, going against the objective of bringing inflation down, we might be for a longer ride," she added.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-26', 'modified' => '2024-01-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19806', 'image' => '20240126113337_imf-logo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-26 11:32:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '20078', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Karnali Province Exports Goats Worth Rs 3.24 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Karnali province exported goats worth Rs 3.24 billion, generating substantial income for the people in the fa-flung province.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif">January 25: Karnali province exported goats worth Rs 3.24 billion, generating substantial income for the people in the far-flung province. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif">Organizing a press meet at Birendranagar Surkhet on Wednesday, Karnali Province Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperative Development informed about the export of the goats.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif"> Unveiling achievements of first year of his tenure, Minister Bhim Prakash Sharma said Karnali exported vegetables, kiwi, ginger and milk worth Rs 240 million from different districts. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif">Similarly, agriculture and livestock products worth Rs 222.28 8 million were exported from Kapurkot of Salyan and</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> Babai temporary data collection centre of Surkhet since November 15 of the current fiscal year. (RSS) </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2024-01-25', 'modified' => '2024-01-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19805', 'image' => '20240125034648_collage (29).jpg', 'article_date' => '2024-01-25 15:45:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
