The police have arrested Yogaraj Dhakal aka Regal from Nepalgunj today. Following the Supreme Court’s mandamus order that nullified the presidential pardon to murder-convict Dhakal, the police nabbed…
The police have arrested Yogaraj Dhakal aka Regal from Nepalgunj today. Following the Supreme Court’s mandamus order that nullified the presidential pardon to murder-convict Dhakal, the police nabbed…
The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a minor loss of10.86 points or 0.58% and closed at 1,847.70 points on the last trading day of the week,…
November 2: Chitwan National Park has earned Rs 18.5 million from tourist entry fees during the Dashain festival.…
November 2: The price of onion has increased by 66 percent in the market of Kathmandu within a period of three weeks.…
November 2: The bill related to money laundering is gathering dust in parliament.…
November 2: The war between Israel and Hamas could trigger price shocks for raw materials such as oil and agriculture products if the conflict escalates across the Middle East, the World Bank warned in a recent…
November 2: More than 800,000 tourists arrived in Nepal in 10 months of…
November 2: The Government of Nepal and the country’s private sector have urged British investors to invest in the energy sector of Nepal, highlighting the good prospects of return in this…
November 2: Nepal’s hopes of electing its candidate to the post of South-East Asia director of the World Health Organisation was dented on Wednesday as the daughter of Bangladesh’s prime minister was selected for the top job by a secret ballot amid allegation of…
November 2: The British Council, in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University, has invited applications to the South Asia Festivals and Culture Academy (SAFCA) in response to the growth of independent and established arts and culture…
November 1: Industrialists claim that 500 big and small industries of Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor have been operating at 40 percent of their actual capacity even during the festivals when the demand is…
November 1: Nepal is all set to get concessional loan worth over Rs 16.5 billion. The United States of America has pledged to provide the aforementioned amount of concessional…
November 1: A police officer who had been deployed for the security of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his visit to the Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal has died from altitude…
November 1: The country is currently experiencing partial impact of the Westerly…
November 1: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrapped up his four-day official visit to Nepal on…
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Following the Supreme Court’s mandamus order that nullified the presidential pardon to murder-convict Dhakal, the police nabbed Regal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px">November 2: The police have arrested Yogaraj Dhakal aka Regal from Nepalgunj today. Following the Supreme Court’s mandamus order that nullified the presidential pardon to murder-convict Dhakal, the police nabbed Regal. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Banke Police Chief SP Subaschandra Bohara said that Regal was arrested after the apex court’s diktat to annul presidential pardon granted to him.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">On the recommendation of the Cabinet, President Ramchandra Paudel on the eve of the 8th Constitution Day on October 19 had pardoned the remaining jail terms of 670 convicts, including Dhakal.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">In July 2015, Dhakal, a local Congress worker and gangster from Banke, had killed Chetan Manandhar in a broad daylight using domestic weapons. He was convicted of the murder and given a 20-year jail term by the Banke district court in April 2018.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Demanding nullification of the pardon granted to Dhakal, Manandhar’s wife Bharati Sherpa had filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court. With Supreme Court’s order, Regal has to serve the remaining sentence of 11 years, 11 months, and 5 days.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19124', 'image' => '20231102054831_collage (33).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 17:46:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19395', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Index Plummets 10.86 Points to Close at 1847.70', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a minor loss of10.86 points or 0.58% and closed at 1,847.70 points on the last trading day of the week, Thursday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">November 2: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a minor loss of10.86 points or 0.58% and closed at 1,847.70 points on the last trading day of the week, Thursday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">Stock market analysts and seasoned investors attributed to the downturn of the market to economic downturn and oversupply of the IPOs and right shares.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">“New demand has not been created while the NEPSE has bene inundated with oversupply of the shares through IPOs and right shares,” said a veteran investor and analyst. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">During today's trading, there were 281 different stocks traded through 45,763 transactions. As many as 3,749,954 units of shares were traded, amounting to Rs 96.44 crore. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">Asha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd Promoter Share (ALBSLP) had the highest turnover, reaching Rs. 10.10 crores. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">Similarly, Chandragiri Hills Limited (CGH) experienced the highest gain of 6.04% today.</span> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">On the contrary, Sayapatri Hydropower Limited (SPHL) lost the highest 10.00% today.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">In terms of sector indices, indices except "Hotels And Tourism Index" and "Manufacturing And Processing" all other indices closed in the red zone. "Hotels And Tourism Index" gained the highest 4.27% while "Mutual Fund" recorded the most significant loss of 4.63% for the day.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">Sensitive Index lost 0.60%, while Float Index and Sensitive Float Index experienced a loss of 0.64% and 0.75% respectively. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19123', 'image' => '20231102051124_collage (31).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 17:09:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19394', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Chitwan National Park Earns Almost Rs 20 Million during Dashain ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: Chitwan National Park has earned Rs 18.5 million from tourist entry fees during the Dashain festival. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 2: Chitwan National Park has earned Rs 18.5 million from tourist entry fees during the Dashain festival. The park collected the amount from Ghatasthapana, the first day of Dashain, to Purnima (a period of 14 days). During the review period, more than 20,000 tourists visited the national park.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ganesh Tiwari, information officer of the national park, said that the CNP collected revenue of Rs 1.98 million from domestic tourists, Rs 12. 9 million from tourists from third countries (excluding SAARC countries), Rs 0.77 million from tourists from SAARC countries and Rs 3.68 million from jeep safari. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the period, 12,558 domestic tourists, 4,543 foreign tourists (except from SAARC countries) and 563 tourists from SAARC countries entered the park from Sauraha, the main entrance point, by booking tickets for jeep safari. Likewise, 308 domestic tourists entered the CNP from Kasara, while the number of foreign tourists (except from SAARC countries) using this entry point stood at 766 and 104 tourists from SAARC countries entered the park by buying tickets for jeep safari.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, 277 domestic tourists, 505 foreign tourists (except from SAARC countries) and 109 tourists from SAARC countries entered the park after buying tickets for jeep safari from Meghauli. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19122', 'image' => '20231102112249_20220403024054_Chitwan-sunset-sauraha-nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 11:18:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19390', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Onion Increases by 66 Percent in Three Weeks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: The price of onion has increased by 66 percent in the market of Kathmandu within a period of three weeks. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">November 2: The price of onion has increased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">66</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent in the market of Kathmandu within a period of three weeks. According to the daily price list of the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the price of onion has skyrocketed in the last three weeks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of onion has increased in Nepal due to India’s decision to tighten the export of onions on the pretext that it is difficult to meet the demand in its domestic market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the committee's price list, the wholesale price of onion, which was Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">73.80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg on October </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">12</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, increased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">66.67</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent to Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">123</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> on November </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Kalimati vegetable market meets about </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">70</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the demand of Kathmandu Valley. Balkhu, Tukucha, Kalanki, Balaju and other markets meet the remaining </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">30</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent demand.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of onion has reached Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">155</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kilogram in the wholesale market as well as the retail stores. About </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">99</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of onions imported in Kalimati market are from India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Binay Shrestha, information officer of the committee, says that India is having trouble to meet the demand for onion in the domestic market for a few weeks now. As a result, India tightened exports which directly impacted the Nepali market, says Shrestha. According to him, the import of onion from India has declined recently.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As per the data of the committee, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">56</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons of onions were imported to the Kalimati market on October </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">12</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">. By October </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">31</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, the amount of import has dropped by more than </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">57</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">24</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons. Shrestha says that it is natural for the price of onion to increase after the decline in import of onions.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The domestic production of Nepal cannot meet the market demand. Therefore, large quantities of onions are imported from India. In the last few years, there has been a decline in production of onion in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the data of the National Potato, Vegetable and Spice Crop Development Center, onion cultivation was done on </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20,900</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hectares of land in Nepal in the fiscal year </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2075/76. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the years since then, the area of onion cultivation seems to be gradually declined. According to government data, onion was cultivated in only </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">400</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hectares of land in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2076/77</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">which further dropped to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">300</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hectares in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2077/78.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Stakeholders say that Nepalis have to buy onions at high prices due to over dependence import. The center's crop development officer Sandeep Subedi said that consumers have been forced to buy onions at exorbitant prices since the government could not bring big programs for production and promotion of onion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, one reason why Nepali consumers have to rely on India for onions is the government's inability to bring big programs and the lack of quality seeds for farmers to produce quality onions by themselves. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">With the aim of making the country self-sufficient in onions, the government had conducted the ‘Mission Onion’ programme in Jhapa, Siraha, Saptari, Dhanusha, Bara, Parsa, Rupandehi, Banke and other districts with an investment of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">million in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2064/65. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, the programme was not successful. Farmers say that the Mission Onion program failed because the government only made announcements but did not monitor how the program was being run and also did not show any interest in solving the problems that surfaced during the implementation of the programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19121', 'image' => '20231102101238_1698892345.1676898665.onion.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 10:12:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19392', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bill on Money Laundering Gathering Dust in Parliament', 'sub_title' => 'Nepal Risks Landing in Grey List', 'summary' => 'November 2: The bill related to money laundering is gathering dust in parliament. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">November 2: The bill related to money laundering is gathering dust in parliament. The bill needs to be passed by the parliament in order to avoid Nepal falling in the ‘grey list’ of money laundering.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although Nepal is in imminent risk of falling in the grey list, the policy makers are least bothered about moving the bill forward to amend certain laws related to prevention of money laundering and promotion of business environment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the first session of the parliament, this bill did not get as much priority as it should have. The expectation that the bill would be passed in the second session did not materialize.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The current session of parliament is scheduled to end from Thursday (today). In the agenda of the parliament meeting for November 2, which was released by the Parliament Secretariat on Wednesday evening, nothing has been mentioned about the matter related to money laundering to be discussed in the House. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Matters such as answering questions, receiving letters from the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, and submitting the annual report have been put on the agenda as the second session of the parliament draws to a close. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Even though the bill on money laundering has been amended by the parliamentary committee and sent to the full House, the matter to be discussed on the laws related to money laundering has not been placed on the agenda.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sources at the Parliament Secretariat said that the bill was not included in the agenda because political consensus could not be reached. Although the government extended the budget session with the intention to pass the Transitional Justice Bill and the Money Laundering Bill, political parties could not reach a consensus on these issues until the end. As a result, the government is preparing to prorouge the current session of the Federal Parliament on Thursday without passing both the bills.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hitraj Pandey, chief whip of the ruling CPN Maoist Center, said that although the government wanted to end the session only after passing the bill related to money laundering and TRC, it could not be fulfilled.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, even if the agenda of money laundering is tabled in the lower house meeting, it will take time to pass the bill because it needs approval from the National Assembly, the upper house of parliament.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He claimed that both bills will be moved to the next session and will be passed in the next session. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Mahesh Kumar Bartaula, the whip of the main opposition party CPN (UML), said that this legislation was not among the priorities of the government. He told New Business Age, "In view of the danger of the country falling into the gray list, this bill was quickly passed by the parliamentary committee and sent to the full House, but it did not get priority in the House."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee of the House of Representatives has already submitted the revised report on the bill to the House of Representatives.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If passed by the House of Representatives, the bill will go to the National Assembly. National Assembly members have </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">72</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hours to amend and pass the bill and return it back to the House of Representatives.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If the National Assembly makes an amendment proposal, the House of Representatives reserves the right to accept or reject it. If it is accepted, it can be directly passed and sent to the president for authentication. But, if it is rejected, the fate of the bill will be decided by a joint meeting of both the houses of parliament.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Risk remains</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international body that regulates money laundering, has repeatedly alerted Nepal about the risk of Nepal falling in the grey list and has also given warnings. FATF has been urging Nepal to enact a strict laws related to money laundering. The Asia Pacific Group (APG) had warned in the preliminary assessment report submitted to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers in the last week of January that Nepal would be subject to international monitoring if a strong anti-money laundering law is not enacted.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">FATF has been accusing Nepal that the legal provisions are not sufficient to control organized crime, and that the Government has not paid attention to the provisions in the United Nations Convention on Financial Crimes, Terrorist Activities and Corruption.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Altogether </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">21 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">countries from Syria to the UAE are included in the grey list. Most of the countries are from Africa and the Gulf region. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If the countries in the grey list do not make any progress, they might eventually be blacklisted.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19120', 'image' => '20231102105019_1698891708.1663413681.Pratinidhi Shabha.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 10:49:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19393', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Israel-Hamas Conflict Could Lead to Oil Price Spike: World Bank', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: The war between Israel and Hamas could trigger price shocks for raw materials such as oil and agriculture products if the conflict escalates across the Middle East, the World Bank warned in a recent report.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">November 2: The war between Israel and Hamas could trigger price shocks for raw materials such as oil and agriculture products if the conflict escalates across the Middle East, the World Bank warned in a recent report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Oil has already risen six percent since the latest round of fighting, sparked when Hamas militants from Gaza stormed southern Israel and killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and seized nearly 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Israel has responded with an unrelenting bombardment of Gaza, which the Hamas-run health ministry says has killed more than 8,000 people, nearly half of them children.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The conflict between Israel and Hamas comes as Russia's war in Ukraine has already put pressure on markets, with that war being "the biggest shock to commodity markets since the 1970s," warned World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"That had disruptive effects on the global economy that persist to this day," Gill said in a statement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"Policymakers will need to be vigilant. If the conflict were to escalate, the global economy would face a dual energy shock for the first time in decades" from both the war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East, he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Many potential price hikes will depend on what happens to world oil prices and exports, the World Bank said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In an optimistic scenario, oil could rise 3-13 percent, between $93 and $102 per barrel.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A median scenario envisages prices rising up to $121, while a worst-case scenario would see oil reach a peak of between $140 and $157 -- potentially exceeding all-time highs not seen since 2008. – AFP/RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19119', 'image' => '20231102105130_World.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 10:50:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19389', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Arrival of Tourists Crosses 800,000 Mark in 10 Months ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: More than 800,000 tourists arrived in Nepal in 10 months of 2023. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 2: More than 800,000 tourists arrived in Nepal in 10 months of 2023. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Nepal Tourism Board, the number of foreign tourists visiting the country between January to October stands at 890,678. A total of 117,000 tourists entered Nepal via air route in October alone. The arrival of tourists was 88,582 in the corresponding month of the previous year, 2022. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The highest number of tourists came from India in October. According to the NTB, a total of 18,480 tourists arrived in Nepal from India followed by 14,879 tourists from the USA, 8,217 from the UK, 6,880 from China, 6,075 from Australia, 5,911 from Germany, 5,271 from France, 4,292 from Bangladesh, 2,507 from Sri Lanka and 2,467 from Italy in the review month. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19118', 'image' => '20231102091003_20211211082422_Clipboard18.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 09:09:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19388', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal, UK Mark Centenary of the Signing of Friendship Treaty', 'sub_title' => 'Government of Nepal and Private Sector Urge Investors to Invest in Nepal’s Energy Sector', 'summary' => 'November 2: The Government of Nepal and the country’s private sector have urged British investors to invest in the energy sector of Nepal, highlighting the good prospects of return in this sector.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 2: The Government of Nepal and the country’s private sector have urged British investors to invest in the energy sector of Nepal, highlighting the good prospects of return in this sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at an investment conference in London on Tuesday, Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat assured investors in the UK that the Government of Nepal has created an investment-friendly environment in the country. He told the investors that foreign investment is essential for a country like Nepal where internal resources cannot solely address the issue.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The event was organized by the Nepali embassy at the Mansion House based in the city of London to mark the completion of a centenary of the signing of the friendship treaty between Nepal and the United Kingdom in 1923.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Minister Mahat said that the budget for the current fiscal has introduced various initiatives for reforms and to facilitate investors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Necessary legal infrastructure has been readied for capital mobilization through the international financial market," said Mahat, expressing his hope that the UK’s investment in Nepal would further grow in the days to come.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Also speaking on the occasion, Nepal's Ambassador to the UK, Gyan Chandra Acharya, said that electricity promotion in Nepal would help realize the climate change goals not only in Nepal but also in South Asia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Chandra Prasad Dhakal urged the private sector and the development partners to invest in the infrastructure development of Nepal, arguing that the country is an attractive investment destination for the foreign investors and development partners.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">City of London's Alderman and Sheriff, Bronec Masojada pledged to support Nepal in achieving sustainable development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Director Ben Mellor said the investment through the British International Investment to various areas in Nepal has been increasing in recent years and the UK has been supporting Nepal to upgrade it to the status of a developing country from the category of least developed country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Birendra Sharma, the president of UK-Nepal Parliamentary Group in the UK Parliament talked about the historic relation of Nepal and the UK, citing abundant potential for investment in various sectors of Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">UK Expert Finance Chief Executive Officer Tim Reid announced their readiness to invest up to 1.5 billion pounds in Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The conference was focused on bringing investment into Nepal particularly in the renewable energy, information technology and education sectors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Separate panel discussions on these themes were held and Rajan Kandel, chair of the British College, presented a paper on available opportunities in Nepal in the education sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)’s Deputy Governor Bam Bahadur Mishra assured the investors that the NRB was committed to simplify the profit repatriation process of foreign companies investing in Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Joint Secretary of the Investment Board Nepal, Amrit Lamsal made a presentation on the investment opportunities in various sectors of Nepal, stressing that the Board is committed to facilitating the investors throughout the period from the approval of FDI to the implementation of the project.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Sandeep Dev talked on the energy sector in Nepal, especially in the hydroelectricity projects under implementation, the agreements on power development and trade agreement reached with India and China and the forthcoming plans of the Government of Nepal on the development of hydropower sector. He pointed out the need for huge capital for these projects and said investors have huge opportunities for investing in these areas. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Independent Power Producers' Association, Nepal (IPPAN)’s president Ganesh Karki provided information on the opportunities for investment in the hydropower and other renewable energy projects in Nepal, and called on the investors to invest in Nepal as the role of the government is positive to that end.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Managing Director of British International Investment, Colin Berkley and founder and chief executive officer of Dolma Impact Fund, Tim Gochar said that the investments they have made in Nepal are all fruitful and Nepal is an appropriate country for responsible investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking on behalf of the financial institutions investing in Nepal, Chief Executive Officer of Invest for Impact Nepal, Bibek Shrestha, made a presentation on investment of development financing organizations.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Also on the occasion, a memorandum of understanding on facilitating development finance institutions in Nepal was reached between the Government of Nepal, Ministry of Finance and six development financing institutions – the British International Investment, UK; FMO, the Netherlands; BIO, Belgium; Finnfund, Finland; Proparco, France and Saipem, Switzerland.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Minister Dr Mahat held a discussion with the chairman of Hinduja Group of Industries, GP Hinduja, on investing in Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Around 100 people, including British bankers, private investors, insurance companies, representatives of development financing institutions and trade ministries of various European countries, including Britain, the Nepali diaspora and the British companies investing in Nepal, attended the conference. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => 'UK, Nepal, friendship, treaty, investment, energy, renewable, conference', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19117', 'image' => '20231102081817_Flag-Pins-Nepal-Great-Britain_600x600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 08:16:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19387', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bangladesh PM's Daughter Takes WHO Top Job at the Expense of Nepal’s Candidate', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: Nepal’s hopes of electing its candidate to the post of South-East Asia director of the World Health Organisation was dented on Wednesday as the daughter of Bangladesh’s prime minister was selected for the top job by a secret ballot amid allegation of nepotism.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">November 2: Nepal’s hopes of electing its candidate to the post of South-East Asia director of the World Health Organisation was dented on Wednesday as the daughter of Bangladesh’s prime minister was selected for the top job by a secret ballot amid allegation of nepotism.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Saima Wazed, 49, daughter of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was nominated as the next WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia by the member states during a closed session of the seventy-sixth session of the WHO Regional Committee for the South-East Asia Region.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to AFP, she beat Nepal's Shambhu Acharya, 65, a professor of global health at the University of Washington with over three decades of experience working in senior WHO roles, in a secret ballot on Wednesday. Wazed secured eight votes against two garnered by Acharya.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Wazed was accused of using her mother's clout to get nominated to the position, allegations she has denied, reported AFP.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"I look forward to building a healthier South-East Asia," Wazed posted on X, formerly Twitter, after being selected for the post heading an 11-nation region home to a quarter of the world's population. Wazed's nomination, however, is subject to approval by the WHO's top board in January.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to AFP, medical journal The Lancet said in September that Wazed's candidature "raised questions over transparency and nepotism", noting that every other nation had put forward candidates who were either medical doctors or held doctorates, or both.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Wazed posts on X "under the username @drSaimaWazed, presumably on the strength of an honorary doctorate she was awarded earlier this year by a Bangladeshi university named after her grandfather," the Lancet added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">AFP further said that Wazed accompanied her mother to several high-profile diplomatic events, including the G20 summit in New Delhi, BRICS Summit in South Africa and the United Nations General Assembly.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“Hasina -- daughter of the country's founding leader -- has been in power for 15 years and has overseen rapid economic growth but her government has been accused of corruption and human rights abuses, including a violent crackdown on opposition. Many Hasina's supporters in Bangladesh see Wazed as a potential successor to her mother, who faces general elections within three months.”</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19116', 'image' => '20231102074946_F4YBdccWIAAQdY1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 07:47:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19391', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'British Council Invites Applications for South Asia Festivals and Culture Academy Course', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: The British Council, in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University, has invited applications to the South Asia Festivals and Culture Academy (SAFCA) in response to the growth of independent and established arts and culture festivals.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 2: The British Council, in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University, has invited applications to the South Asia Festivals and Culture Academy (SAFCA) in response to the growth of independent and established arts and culture festivals. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a press statement on Wednesday, the British Council said this pioneering initiative bridges the gap between festival enthusiasts and industry experts, facilitating an exchange of knowledge and insights online in India and neighbouring South Asian countries. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the British Council, the South Asia Festivals Academy’s Intermediate Course starts in January 2024, with applications open until November 19, 2023.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The statement added that SAFCA features a series of short courses specifically designed to equip festival managers with the skills essential for success in the ever-evolving festival landscape. These courses cover international programming and curation, leadership and governance, financial management, operations and staffing, marketing and audience development, risk management and health and safety, equality, diversity, and inclusion, as well as environmental sustainability, added the British Council.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Shahida MacDougall, director of the British Council Nepal said, “The significance of strong festival management skills cannot be overstated. We know from the UK’s extensive and vibrant festival scene that better managed festivals and more skilled festival managers result in greater sustainability and more possibilities for growth across the arts sector. The South Asia Festival Academy presents an exceptional opportunity for artists, performers and individuals engaged in or interested in the creative industry to cultivate their business vision within an inclusive setting while benefiting from the expertise of international festival professionals.” </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The intermediate course offered by SAFCA is the culmination of three years of experience, having evolved to align with academic BA Hons courses and adapt to the unique South Asian festival and cultural context added the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the British Council, the programme is taught by festival academics and experts from both the UK and South Asia. Designed for festival directors, founders, entrepreneurs, and senior managers of arts and cultural festivals across South Asia, this is a 10-week immersive, structured skills development programme.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Applications will be considered from those who can demonstrate active experience in a senior leadership role and possess 5–10 years of experience working within the festival and culture sector. The full cost per student is £750 (NPR 121,500), with the British Council providing a subsidy of £500 per student, reducing the total fee to £250 (NPR 40,500).</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19115', 'image' => '20231102104822_SAFCA_Image.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 10:47:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19383', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Industries Slumps to 40 Percent Even During the Festive Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: Industrialists claim that 500 big and small industries of Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor have been operating at 40 percent of their actual capacity even during the festivals when the demand is high. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 1: Industrialists claim that 500 big and small industries of Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor have been operating at 40 percent of their actual capacity even during the festivals when the demand is high. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industrialists blamed the government's inability to spend the development budget, failure to release budget to the local level on time, the decline in government's revenue and a slump in market activities as the major reasons for the decline in productivity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even the food industry could not perform business satisfactorily during Dashain. Pawan Sharda, president of Koshi Province chapter of the CNI, said that although the production of the industry has decreased due to the decrease in sales in the market, the problem has been aggravated by the government’s decision to halt the payment to the construction and other sectors.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the government should facilitate in transferring the investable funds accumulated in the banks to the market at a low interest rate. Sharda says that if a stable interest rate is guaranteed for at least five years, the demand for loans will increase. Sharda said that although the government claimed that payments and expenses will start from the first day of the fiscal year, the development and construction works have been affected because the construction businessmen have not received the dues from the government while the production of cement, rods, stones and other industries is low. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The government should pay the builders immediately. This in turn will ensure that the contractors will pay the dealer or the industry from which they procured the goods. The money will then trickle down to the workers. It drives the economic cycle,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Businessmen complain that the flour, rice, lentil, and oil mills felt some relief during the festive period, but they still could not sell like they used to do before. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Naresh Rathi, the owner of Chandrashiv Rice and Oil Mill, said that the expectations of oil and rice sales were not met. He said, “This year, Nepal's production could not be sold because oil and rice came unhindered from across the Jogbani border.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In previous years, the business had doubled during the festivals, but that did not happen this time. Businessmen say that since mustard oil costs Rs 45 per liter cheap in India and rice costs Rs 20 per kilo cheap compared to the Nepalese market, the traders have not been able to do business as expected since those goods enter the market through the backdoor. He said that unless the government tightens the customs, the Nepali businessmen will always have to bear losses.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mahesh Jaju, former president of Morang Trade Association and owner of Asian Thai Foods, said that they were expecting production of the industries, which had fallen to 40 percent in the last five months, would improve with the onset of festivals like Dashain Tihar, but it did not happen.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Jaju, the production of industries such as biscuits, confectionery, chocolate and sweets is decreasing due to the lack of easy availability of sugar. He said, “If the government had allowed the private sector to bring sugar on time, there would not have been a situation where we would have to buy sugar at an exorbitant price.”</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19111', 'image' => '20231101021458_indus.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 14:14:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19382', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'USA Pledges Concessional Loan worth Rs 16.5 Billion to Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: Nepal is all set to get concessional loan worth over Rs 16.5 billion. The United States of America has pledged to provide the aforementioned amount of concessional loan.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 1: Nepal is all set to get concessional loan worth over Rs 16.5 billion. The United States of America has pledged to provide the aforementioned amount of concessional loan. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The United States has promised a loan of Rs 16.5 billion to Nepal's small and medium-sized industries. US Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken has expressed his commitment to provide loan assistance of USD 125 million (Rs 16.625 million) in a recent meeting with Foreign Minister Narayan Prakash Saud.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The American aid will be channelled to small and medium industries through banks in Nepal. Stakeholders claim that the credit disbursement through banks will make the banking sector of Nepal more active.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign Minister Saud and US Secretary of State Blinken held a meeting at the US State Department on Monday night. The two reportedly discussed development partnership, trade and market access, investment and technology, agriculture and food security among other issues during the meeting.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Saud pointed out the need for more support as Nepal has made an action plan for upgrading from an underdeveloped country to a medium-income nation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Saud requested the American government to assist Nepal in trade and investment, market access, agriculture and information technology development. Saud also requested to provide trade concessions for more goods produced in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the American support under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the American Assistance Mission have helped significantly for the economic and social development of Nepal. During the talks, both sides said that they are confident that the MCC project will be completed on time.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19110', 'image' => '20231101015223_AP23303648593773.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 13:51:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19381', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Police Officer Deployed for UN Secy-General’s Security Dies of Altitude Sickness ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: A police officer who had been deployed for the security of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his visit to the Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal has died from altitude sickness.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 1: A police officer who had been deployed for the security of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his visit to the Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal has died from altitude sickness.</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"">According to the police, the deceased has been identified as Assistant Sub Inspector Tikaram Dhungana. After complaining of health problems, Dhungana was rushed to Pokhara by a rescue helicopter on Wednesday morning. Upon his admission to a hospital in Pokhara, he was declared dead at 9:40 am, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Shrawan Kumar BK. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Dhungana, who reached the Annapurna Base Camp by a helicopter, complained of respiratory problems upon returning on foot. He was posted at the police post at Ghandruk in Annapurna Rural Municipality of Kaski district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The UN Secretary-General headed to the Base Camp on Tuesday morning as part of his scheduled visit during his four-day stopover to Nepal. Teams of Nepalese Army and Nepal Police were deployed for his security. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19109', 'image' => '20231101013159_Tasbir_RSS_15_IMG-20231031-WA0011.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 13:31:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19380', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Light Rain and Snowfall Predicted in Mountainous Areas Today ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: The country is currently experiencing partial impact of the Westerly winds. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 1: The country is currently experiencing partial impact of the Westerly winds. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Weather Forecasting Division, the mountainous areas of the country, especially in the Koshi Province, will see partial changes in the weather while the remaining provinces will have general weather conditions today. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meteorologist Saroj Pudasaini shared that light rainfall with thunderstorm and lightning is likely to take place in one-two places of the mountainous belt having partial changes in the weather across the country today, November 1. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He further said that snowfall is predicted in one-two areas of high mountainous and hill areas of the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the country will see partial changes in the weather in the night, the division added. --- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19108', 'image' => '20231101124809_20190208014800_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 12:47:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19379', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Secretary-General Guterres Wraps Up his Official Visit to Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrapped up his four-day official visit to Nepal on Wednesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 1: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrapped up his four-day official visit to Nepal on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Purna Bahadur Khadka bade him farewell at the VVIP lounge of the Tribhuvan International Airport. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives of the United Nations Office in Nepal were present. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A contingent of the Nepalese Army offered guard of honour to Guterres in his farewell. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The UN secretary-general arrived here on October 28 for his official visit to Nepal at the cordial invitation of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During his stay in Nepal, the UN chief held separate meetings with President Ram Chandra Paudel and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal as well Nepali Congress (NC) President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-UML Chair and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Speaker Devraj Ghimire, National Assembly Chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, Deputy Prime Minister duo, Khadka and Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Prakash Saud. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In course of his stay in Nepal, he reached the Everest region and Annapurna Base Camp, Pokhara and Lumbini. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also observed historically and archeologically important Patan Durbar Square in Lalitpur. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">PM Dahal had hosted a dinner reception with cultural programme in honour of the secretary-general. He also addressed the joint session of the federal parliament. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This is the first visit of Guterres after assuming the post of UN secretary-general in 2017 and his second visit to Nepal as a UN representative. During his visit, he discussed the issues related to Nepal's home-grown peace process, climate change and poverty alleviation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">His visit has been taken as a highly important diplomatic incident. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19107', 'image' => '20231101120506_RatnaShrestha_KTM_15_20231101103624_RATL0088(3).JPG', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 12:04:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19396', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Nullifies Presidential Pardon Granted to Regal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The police have arrested Yogaraj Dhakal aka Regal from Nepalgunj today. Following the Supreme Court’s mandamus order that nullified the presidential pardon to murder-convict Dhakal, the police nabbed Regal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px">November 2: The police have arrested Yogaraj Dhakal aka Regal from Nepalgunj today. Following the Supreme Court’s mandamus order that nullified the presidential pardon to murder-convict Dhakal, the police nabbed Regal. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Banke Police Chief SP Subaschandra Bohara said that Regal was arrested after the apex court’s diktat to annul presidential pardon granted to him.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">On the recommendation of the Cabinet, President Ramchandra Paudel on the eve of the 8th Constitution Day on October 19 had pardoned the remaining jail terms of 670 convicts, including Dhakal.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">In July 2015, Dhakal, a local Congress worker and gangster from Banke, had killed Chetan Manandhar in a broad daylight using domestic weapons. He was convicted of the murder and given a 20-year jail term by the Banke district court in April 2018.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Demanding nullification of the pardon granted to Dhakal, Manandhar’s wife Bharati Sherpa had filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court. With Supreme Court’s order, Regal has to serve the remaining sentence of 11 years, 11 months, and 5 days.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19124', 'image' => '20231102054831_collage (33).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 17:46:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19395', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Index Plummets 10.86 Points to Close at 1847.70', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a minor loss of10.86 points or 0.58% and closed at 1,847.70 points on the last trading day of the week, Thursday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">November 2: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a minor loss of10.86 points or 0.58% and closed at 1,847.70 points on the last trading day of the week, Thursday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">Stock market analysts and seasoned investors attributed to the downturn of the market to economic downturn and oversupply of the IPOs and right shares.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">“New demand has not been created while the NEPSE has bene inundated with oversupply of the shares through IPOs and right shares,” said a veteran investor and analyst. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">During today's trading, there were 281 different stocks traded through 45,763 transactions. As many as 3,749,954 units of shares were traded, amounting to Rs 96.44 crore. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">Asha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd Promoter Share (ALBSLP) had the highest turnover, reaching Rs. 10.10 crores. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">Similarly, Chandragiri Hills Limited (CGH) experienced the highest gain of 6.04% today.</span> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">On the contrary, Sayapatri Hydropower Limited (SPHL) lost the highest 10.00% today.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">In terms of sector indices, indices except "Hotels And Tourism Index" and "Manufacturing And Processing" all other indices closed in the red zone. "Hotels And Tourism Index" gained the highest 4.27% while "Mutual Fund" recorded the most significant loss of 4.63% for the day.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">Sensitive Index lost 0.60%, while Float Index and Sensitive Float Index experienced a loss of 0.64% and 0.75% respectively. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19123', 'image' => '20231102051124_collage (31).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 17:09:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19394', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Chitwan National Park Earns Almost Rs 20 Million during Dashain ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: Chitwan National Park has earned Rs 18.5 million from tourist entry fees during the Dashain festival. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 2: Chitwan National Park has earned Rs 18.5 million from tourist entry fees during the Dashain festival. The park collected the amount from Ghatasthapana, the first day of Dashain, to Purnima (a period of 14 days). During the review period, more than 20,000 tourists visited the national park.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ganesh Tiwari, information officer of the national park, said that the CNP collected revenue of Rs 1.98 million from domestic tourists, Rs 12. 9 million from tourists from third countries (excluding SAARC countries), Rs 0.77 million from tourists from SAARC countries and Rs 3.68 million from jeep safari. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the period, 12,558 domestic tourists, 4,543 foreign tourists (except from SAARC countries) and 563 tourists from SAARC countries entered the park from Sauraha, the main entrance point, by booking tickets for jeep safari. Likewise, 308 domestic tourists entered the CNP from Kasara, while the number of foreign tourists (except from SAARC countries) using this entry point stood at 766 and 104 tourists from SAARC countries entered the park by buying tickets for jeep safari.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, 277 domestic tourists, 505 foreign tourists (except from SAARC countries) and 109 tourists from SAARC countries entered the park after buying tickets for jeep safari from Meghauli. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19122', 'image' => '20231102112249_20220403024054_Chitwan-sunset-sauraha-nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 11:18:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19390', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Onion Increases by 66 Percent in Three Weeks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: The price of onion has increased by 66 percent in the market of Kathmandu within a period of three weeks. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">November 2: The price of onion has increased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">66</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent in the market of Kathmandu within a period of three weeks. According to the daily price list of the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the price of onion has skyrocketed in the last three weeks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of onion has increased in Nepal due to India’s decision to tighten the export of onions on the pretext that it is difficult to meet the demand in its domestic market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the committee's price list, the wholesale price of onion, which was Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">73.80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg on October </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">12</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, increased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">66.67</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent to Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">123</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> on November </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Kalimati vegetable market meets about </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">70</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the demand of Kathmandu Valley. Balkhu, Tukucha, Kalanki, Balaju and other markets meet the remaining </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">30</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent demand.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of onion has reached Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">155</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kilogram in the wholesale market as well as the retail stores. About </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">99</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of onions imported in Kalimati market are from India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Binay Shrestha, information officer of the committee, says that India is having trouble to meet the demand for onion in the domestic market for a few weeks now. As a result, India tightened exports which directly impacted the Nepali market, says Shrestha. According to him, the import of onion from India has declined recently.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As per the data of the committee, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">56</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons of onions were imported to the Kalimati market on October </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">12</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">. By October </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">31</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, the amount of import has dropped by more than </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">57</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">24</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons. Shrestha says that it is natural for the price of onion to increase after the decline in import of onions.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The domestic production of Nepal cannot meet the market demand. Therefore, large quantities of onions are imported from India. In the last few years, there has been a decline in production of onion in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the data of the National Potato, Vegetable and Spice Crop Development Center, onion cultivation was done on </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20,900</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hectares of land in Nepal in the fiscal year </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2075/76. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the years since then, the area of onion cultivation seems to be gradually declined. According to government data, onion was cultivated in only </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">400</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hectares of land in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2076/77</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">which further dropped to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">300</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hectares in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2077/78.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Stakeholders say that Nepalis have to buy onions at high prices due to over dependence import. The center's crop development officer Sandeep Subedi said that consumers have been forced to buy onions at exorbitant prices since the government could not bring big programs for production and promotion of onion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, one reason why Nepali consumers have to rely on India for onions is the government's inability to bring big programs and the lack of quality seeds for farmers to produce quality onions by themselves. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">With the aim of making the country self-sufficient in onions, the government had conducted the ‘Mission Onion’ programme in Jhapa, Siraha, Saptari, Dhanusha, Bara, Parsa, Rupandehi, Banke and other districts with an investment of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">million in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2064/65. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, the programme was not successful. Farmers say that the Mission Onion program failed because the government only made announcements but did not monitor how the program was being run and also did not show any interest in solving the problems that surfaced during the implementation of the programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19121', 'image' => '20231102101238_1698892345.1676898665.onion.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 10:12:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19392', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bill on Money Laundering Gathering Dust in Parliament', 'sub_title' => 'Nepal Risks Landing in Grey List', 'summary' => 'November 2: The bill related to money laundering is gathering dust in parliament. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">November 2: The bill related to money laundering is gathering dust in parliament. The bill needs to be passed by the parliament in order to avoid Nepal falling in the ‘grey list’ of money laundering.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although Nepal is in imminent risk of falling in the grey list, the policy makers are least bothered about moving the bill forward to amend certain laws related to prevention of money laundering and promotion of business environment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the first session of the parliament, this bill did not get as much priority as it should have. The expectation that the bill would be passed in the second session did not materialize.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The current session of parliament is scheduled to end from Thursday (today). In the agenda of the parliament meeting for November 2, which was released by the Parliament Secretariat on Wednesday evening, nothing has been mentioned about the matter related to money laundering to be discussed in the House. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Matters such as answering questions, receiving letters from the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, and submitting the annual report have been put on the agenda as the second session of the parliament draws to a close. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Even though the bill on money laundering has been amended by the parliamentary committee and sent to the full House, the matter to be discussed on the laws related to money laundering has not been placed on the agenda.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sources at the Parliament Secretariat said that the bill was not included in the agenda because political consensus could not be reached. Although the government extended the budget session with the intention to pass the Transitional Justice Bill and the Money Laundering Bill, political parties could not reach a consensus on these issues until the end. As a result, the government is preparing to prorouge the current session of the Federal Parliament on Thursday without passing both the bills.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hitraj Pandey, chief whip of the ruling CPN Maoist Center, said that although the government wanted to end the session only after passing the bill related to money laundering and TRC, it could not be fulfilled.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, even if the agenda of money laundering is tabled in the lower house meeting, it will take time to pass the bill because it needs approval from the National Assembly, the upper house of parliament.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He claimed that both bills will be moved to the next session and will be passed in the next session. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Mahesh Kumar Bartaula, the whip of the main opposition party CPN (UML), said that this legislation was not among the priorities of the government. He told New Business Age, "In view of the danger of the country falling into the gray list, this bill was quickly passed by the parliamentary committee and sent to the full House, but it did not get priority in the House."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee of the House of Representatives has already submitted the revised report on the bill to the House of Representatives.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If passed by the House of Representatives, the bill will go to the National Assembly. National Assembly members have </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">72</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hours to amend and pass the bill and return it back to the House of Representatives.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If the National Assembly makes an amendment proposal, the House of Representatives reserves the right to accept or reject it. If it is accepted, it can be directly passed and sent to the president for authentication. But, if it is rejected, the fate of the bill will be decided by a joint meeting of both the houses of parliament.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Risk remains</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international body that regulates money laundering, has repeatedly alerted Nepal about the risk of Nepal falling in the grey list and has also given warnings. FATF has been urging Nepal to enact a strict laws related to money laundering. The Asia Pacific Group (APG) had warned in the preliminary assessment report submitted to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers in the last week of January that Nepal would be subject to international monitoring if a strong anti-money laundering law is not enacted.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">FATF has been accusing Nepal that the legal provisions are not sufficient to control organized crime, and that the Government has not paid attention to the provisions in the United Nations Convention on Financial Crimes, Terrorist Activities and Corruption.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Altogether </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">21 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">countries from Syria to the UAE are included in the grey list. Most of the countries are from Africa and the Gulf region. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If the countries in the grey list do not make any progress, they might eventually be blacklisted.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19120', 'image' => '20231102105019_1698891708.1663413681.Pratinidhi Shabha.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 10:49:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19393', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Israel-Hamas Conflict Could Lead to Oil Price Spike: World Bank', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: The war between Israel and Hamas could trigger price shocks for raw materials such as oil and agriculture products if the conflict escalates across the Middle East, the World Bank warned in a recent report.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">November 2: The war between Israel and Hamas could trigger price shocks for raw materials such as oil and agriculture products if the conflict escalates across the Middle East, the World Bank warned in a recent report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Oil has already risen six percent since the latest round of fighting, sparked when Hamas militants from Gaza stormed southern Israel and killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and seized nearly 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Israel has responded with an unrelenting bombardment of Gaza, which the Hamas-run health ministry says has killed more than 8,000 people, nearly half of them children.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The conflict between Israel and Hamas comes as Russia's war in Ukraine has already put pressure on markets, with that war being "the biggest shock to commodity markets since the 1970s," warned World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"That had disruptive effects on the global economy that persist to this day," Gill said in a statement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"Policymakers will need to be vigilant. If the conflict were to escalate, the global economy would face a dual energy shock for the first time in decades" from both the war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East, he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Many potential price hikes will depend on what happens to world oil prices and exports, the World Bank said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In an optimistic scenario, oil could rise 3-13 percent, between $93 and $102 per barrel.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A median scenario envisages prices rising up to $121, while a worst-case scenario would see oil reach a peak of between $140 and $157 -- potentially exceeding all-time highs not seen since 2008. – AFP/RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19119', 'image' => '20231102105130_World.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 10:50:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19389', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Arrival of Tourists Crosses 800,000 Mark in 10 Months ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: More than 800,000 tourists arrived in Nepal in 10 months of 2023. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 2: More than 800,000 tourists arrived in Nepal in 10 months of 2023. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Nepal Tourism Board, the number of foreign tourists visiting the country between January to October stands at 890,678. A total of 117,000 tourists entered Nepal via air route in October alone. The arrival of tourists was 88,582 in the corresponding month of the previous year, 2022. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The highest number of tourists came from India in October. According to the NTB, a total of 18,480 tourists arrived in Nepal from India followed by 14,879 tourists from the USA, 8,217 from the UK, 6,880 from China, 6,075 from Australia, 5,911 from Germany, 5,271 from France, 4,292 from Bangladesh, 2,507 from Sri Lanka and 2,467 from Italy in the review month. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19118', 'image' => '20231102091003_20211211082422_Clipboard18.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 09:09:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19388', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal, UK Mark Centenary of the Signing of Friendship Treaty', 'sub_title' => 'Government of Nepal and Private Sector Urge Investors to Invest in Nepal’s Energy Sector', 'summary' => 'November 2: The Government of Nepal and the country’s private sector have urged British investors to invest in the energy sector of Nepal, highlighting the good prospects of return in this sector.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 2: The Government of Nepal and the country’s private sector have urged British investors to invest in the energy sector of Nepal, highlighting the good prospects of return in this sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at an investment conference in London on Tuesday, Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat assured investors in the UK that the Government of Nepal has created an investment-friendly environment in the country. He told the investors that foreign investment is essential for a country like Nepal where internal resources cannot solely address the issue.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The event was organized by the Nepali embassy at the Mansion House based in the city of London to mark the completion of a centenary of the signing of the friendship treaty between Nepal and the United Kingdom in 1923.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Minister Mahat said that the budget for the current fiscal has introduced various initiatives for reforms and to facilitate investors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Necessary legal infrastructure has been readied for capital mobilization through the international financial market," said Mahat, expressing his hope that the UK’s investment in Nepal would further grow in the days to come.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Also speaking on the occasion, Nepal's Ambassador to the UK, Gyan Chandra Acharya, said that electricity promotion in Nepal would help realize the climate change goals not only in Nepal but also in South Asia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Chandra Prasad Dhakal urged the private sector and the development partners to invest in the infrastructure development of Nepal, arguing that the country is an attractive investment destination for the foreign investors and development partners.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">City of London's Alderman and Sheriff, Bronec Masojada pledged to support Nepal in achieving sustainable development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Director Ben Mellor said the investment through the British International Investment to various areas in Nepal has been increasing in recent years and the UK has been supporting Nepal to upgrade it to the status of a developing country from the category of least developed country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Birendra Sharma, the president of UK-Nepal Parliamentary Group in the UK Parliament talked about the historic relation of Nepal and the UK, citing abundant potential for investment in various sectors of Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">UK Expert Finance Chief Executive Officer Tim Reid announced their readiness to invest up to 1.5 billion pounds in Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The conference was focused on bringing investment into Nepal particularly in the renewable energy, information technology and education sectors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Separate panel discussions on these themes were held and Rajan Kandel, chair of the British College, presented a paper on available opportunities in Nepal in the education sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)’s Deputy Governor Bam Bahadur Mishra assured the investors that the NRB was committed to simplify the profit repatriation process of foreign companies investing in Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Joint Secretary of the Investment Board Nepal, Amrit Lamsal made a presentation on the investment opportunities in various sectors of Nepal, stressing that the Board is committed to facilitating the investors throughout the period from the approval of FDI to the implementation of the project.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Sandeep Dev talked on the energy sector in Nepal, especially in the hydroelectricity projects under implementation, the agreements on power development and trade agreement reached with India and China and the forthcoming plans of the Government of Nepal on the development of hydropower sector. He pointed out the need for huge capital for these projects and said investors have huge opportunities for investing in these areas. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Independent Power Producers' Association, Nepal (IPPAN)’s president Ganesh Karki provided information on the opportunities for investment in the hydropower and other renewable energy projects in Nepal, and called on the investors to invest in Nepal as the role of the government is positive to that end.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Managing Director of British International Investment, Colin Berkley and founder and chief executive officer of Dolma Impact Fund, Tim Gochar said that the investments they have made in Nepal are all fruitful and Nepal is an appropriate country for responsible investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking on behalf of the financial institutions investing in Nepal, Chief Executive Officer of Invest for Impact Nepal, Bibek Shrestha, made a presentation on investment of development financing organizations.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Also on the occasion, a memorandum of understanding on facilitating development finance institutions in Nepal was reached between the Government of Nepal, Ministry of Finance and six development financing institutions – the British International Investment, UK; FMO, the Netherlands; BIO, Belgium; Finnfund, Finland; Proparco, France and Saipem, Switzerland.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Minister Dr Mahat held a discussion with the chairman of Hinduja Group of Industries, GP Hinduja, on investing in Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Around 100 people, including British bankers, private investors, insurance companies, representatives of development financing institutions and trade ministries of various European countries, including Britain, the Nepali diaspora and the British companies investing in Nepal, attended the conference. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => 'UK, Nepal, friendship, treaty, investment, energy, renewable, conference', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19117', 'image' => '20231102081817_Flag-Pins-Nepal-Great-Britain_600x600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 08:16:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19387', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bangladesh PM's Daughter Takes WHO Top Job at the Expense of Nepal’s Candidate', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: Nepal’s hopes of electing its candidate to the post of South-East Asia director of the World Health Organisation was dented on Wednesday as the daughter of Bangladesh’s prime minister was selected for the top job by a secret ballot amid allegation of nepotism.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">November 2: Nepal’s hopes of electing its candidate to the post of South-East Asia director of the World Health Organisation was dented on Wednesday as the daughter of Bangladesh’s prime minister was selected for the top job by a secret ballot amid allegation of nepotism.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Saima Wazed, 49, daughter of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was nominated as the next WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia by the member states during a closed session of the seventy-sixth session of the WHO Regional Committee for the South-East Asia Region.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to AFP, she beat Nepal's Shambhu Acharya, 65, a professor of global health at the University of Washington with over three decades of experience working in senior WHO roles, in a secret ballot on Wednesday. Wazed secured eight votes against two garnered by Acharya.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Wazed was accused of using her mother's clout to get nominated to the position, allegations she has denied, reported AFP.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"I look forward to building a healthier South-East Asia," Wazed posted on X, formerly Twitter, after being selected for the post heading an 11-nation region home to a quarter of the world's population. Wazed's nomination, however, is subject to approval by the WHO's top board in January.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to AFP, medical journal The Lancet said in September that Wazed's candidature "raised questions over transparency and nepotism", noting that every other nation had put forward candidates who were either medical doctors or held doctorates, or both.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Wazed posts on X "under the username @drSaimaWazed, presumably on the strength of an honorary doctorate she was awarded earlier this year by a Bangladeshi university named after her grandfather," the Lancet added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">AFP further said that Wazed accompanied her mother to several high-profile diplomatic events, including the G20 summit in New Delhi, BRICS Summit in South Africa and the United Nations General Assembly.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“Hasina -- daughter of the country's founding leader -- has been in power for 15 years and has overseen rapid economic growth but her government has been accused of corruption and human rights abuses, including a violent crackdown on opposition. Many Hasina's supporters in Bangladesh see Wazed as a potential successor to her mother, who faces general elections within three months.”</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19116', 'image' => '20231102074946_F4YBdccWIAAQdY1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 07:47:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19391', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'British Council Invites Applications for South Asia Festivals and Culture Academy Course', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: The British Council, in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University, has invited applications to the South Asia Festivals and Culture Academy (SAFCA) in response to the growth of independent and established arts and culture festivals.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 2: The British Council, in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University, has invited applications to the South Asia Festivals and Culture Academy (SAFCA) in response to the growth of independent and established arts and culture festivals. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a press statement on Wednesday, the British Council said this pioneering initiative bridges the gap between festival enthusiasts and industry experts, facilitating an exchange of knowledge and insights online in India and neighbouring South Asian countries. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the British Council, the South Asia Festivals Academy’s Intermediate Course starts in January 2024, with applications open until November 19, 2023.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The statement added that SAFCA features a series of short courses specifically designed to equip festival managers with the skills essential for success in the ever-evolving festival landscape. These courses cover international programming and curation, leadership and governance, financial management, operations and staffing, marketing and audience development, risk management and health and safety, equality, diversity, and inclusion, as well as environmental sustainability, added the British Council.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Shahida MacDougall, director of the British Council Nepal said, “The significance of strong festival management skills cannot be overstated. We know from the UK’s extensive and vibrant festival scene that better managed festivals and more skilled festival managers result in greater sustainability and more possibilities for growth across the arts sector. The South Asia Festival Academy presents an exceptional opportunity for artists, performers and individuals engaged in or interested in the creative industry to cultivate their business vision within an inclusive setting while benefiting from the expertise of international festival professionals.” </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The intermediate course offered by SAFCA is the culmination of three years of experience, having evolved to align with academic BA Hons courses and adapt to the unique South Asian festival and cultural context added the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the British Council, the programme is taught by festival academics and experts from both the UK and South Asia. Designed for festival directors, founders, entrepreneurs, and senior managers of arts and cultural festivals across South Asia, this is a 10-week immersive, structured skills development programme.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Applications will be considered from those who can demonstrate active experience in a senior leadership role and possess 5–10 years of experience working within the festival and culture sector. The full cost per student is £750 (NPR 121,500), with the British Council providing a subsidy of £500 per student, reducing the total fee to £250 (NPR 40,500).</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19115', 'image' => '20231102104822_SAFCA_Image.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 10:47:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19383', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Industries Slumps to 40 Percent Even During the Festive Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: Industrialists claim that 500 big and small industries of Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor have been operating at 40 percent of their actual capacity even during the festivals when the demand is high. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 1: Industrialists claim that 500 big and small industries of Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor have been operating at 40 percent of their actual capacity even during the festivals when the demand is high. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industrialists blamed the government's inability to spend the development budget, failure to release budget to the local level on time, the decline in government's revenue and a slump in market activities as the major reasons for the decline in productivity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even the food industry could not perform business satisfactorily during Dashain. Pawan Sharda, president of Koshi Province chapter of the CNI, said that although the production of the industry has decreased due to the decrease in sales in the market, the problem has been aggravated by the government’s decision to halt the payment to the construction and other sectors.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the government should facilitate in transferring the investable funds accumulated in the banks to the market at a low interest rate. Sharda says that if a stable interest rate is guaranteed for at least five years, the demand for loans will increase. Sharda said that although the government claimed that payments and expenses will start from the first day of the fiscal year, the development and construction works have been affected because the construction businessmen have not received the dues from the government while the production of cement, rods, stones and other industries is low. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The government should pay the builders immediately. This in turn will ensure that the contractors will pay the dealer or the industry from which they procured the goods. The money will then trickle down to the workers. It drives the economic cycle,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Businessmen complain that the flour, rice, lentil, and oil mills felt some relief during the festive period, but they still could not sell like they used to do before. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Naresh Rathi, the owner of Chandrashiv Rice and Oil Mill, said that the expectations of oil and rice sales were not met. He said, “This year, Nepal's production could not be sold because oil and rice came unhindered from across the Jogbani border.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In previous years, the business had doubled during the festivals, but that did not happen this time. Businessmen say that since mustard oil costs Rs 45 per liter cheap in India and rice costs Rs 20 per kilo cheap compared to the Nepalese market, the traders have not been able to do business as expected since those goods enter the market through the backdoor. He said that unless the government tightens the customs, the Nepali businessmen will always have to bear losses.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mahesh Jaju, former president of Morang Trade Association and owner of Asian Thai Foods, said that they were expecting production of the industries, which had fallen to 40 percent in the last five months, would improve with the onset of festivals like Dashain Tihar, but it did not happen.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Jaju, the production of industries such as biscuits, confectionery, chocolate and sweets is decreasing due to the lack of easy availability of sugar. He said, “If the government had allowed the private sector to bring sugar on time, there would not have been a situation where we would have to buy sugar at an exorbitant price.”</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19111', 'image' => '20231101021458_indus.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 14:14:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19382', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'USA Pledges Concessional Loan worth Rs 16.5 Billion to Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: Nepal is all set to get concessional loan worth over Rs 16.5 billion. The United States of America has pledged to provide the aforementioned amount of concessional loan.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 1: Nepal is all set to get concessional loan worth over Rs 16.5 billion. The United States of America has pledged to provide the aforementioned amount of concessional loan. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The United States has promised a loan of Rs 16.5 billion to Nepal's small and medium-sized industries. US Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken has expressed his commitment to provide loan assistance of USD 125 million (Rs 16.625 million) in a recent meeting with Foreign Minister Narayan Prakash Saud.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The American aid will be channelled to small and medium industries through banks in Nepal. Stakeholders claim that the credit disbursement through banks will make the banking sector of Nepal more active.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign Minister Saud and US Secretary of State Blinken held a meeting at the US State Department on Monday night. The two reportedly discussed development partnership, trade and market access, investment and technology, agriculture and food security among other issues during the meeting.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Saud pointed out the need for more support as Nepal has made an action plan for upgrading from an underdeveloped country to a medium-income nation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Saud requested the American government to assist Nepal in trade and investment, market access, agriculture and information technology development. Saud also requested to provide trade concessions for more goods produced in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the American support under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the American Assistance Mission have helped significantly for the economic and social development of Nepal. During the talks, both sides said that they are confident that the MCC project will be completed on time.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19110', 'image' => '20231101015223_AP23303648593773.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 13:51:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19381', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Police Officer Deployed for UN Secy-General’s Security Dies of Altitude Sickness ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: A police officer who had been deployed for the security of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his visit to the Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal has died from altitude sickness.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 1: A police officer who had been deployed for the security of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his visit to the Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal has died from altitude sickness.</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"">According to the police, the deceased has been identified as Assistant Sub Inspector Tikaram Dhungana. After complaining of health problems, Dhungana was rushed to Pokhara by a rescue helicopter on Wednesday morning. Upon his admission to a hospital in Pokhara, he was declared dead at 9:40 am, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Shrawan Kumar BK. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Dhungana, who reached the Annapurna Base Camp by a helicopter, complained of respiratory problems upon returning on foot. He was posted at the police post at Ghandruk in Annapurna Rural Municipality of Kaski district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The UN Secretary-General headed to the Base Camp on Tuesday morning as part of his scheduled visit during his four-day stopover to Nepal. Teams of Nepalese Army and Nepal Police were deployed for his security. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19109', 'image' => '20231101013159_Tasbir_RSS_15_IMG-20231031-WA0011.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 13:31:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19380', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Light Rain and Snowfall Predicted in Mountainous Areas Today ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: The country is currently experiencing partial impact of the Westerly winds. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 1: The country is currently experiencing partial impact of the Westerly winds. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Weather Forecasting Division, the mountainous areas of the country, especially in the Koshi Province, will see partial changes in the weather while the remaining provinces will have general weather conditions today. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meteorologist Saroj Pudasaini shared that light rainfall with thunderstorm and lightning is likely to take place in one-two places of the mountainous belt having partial changes in the weather across the country today, November 1. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He further said that snowfall is predicted in one-two areas of high mountainous and hill areas of the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the country will see partial changes in the weather in the night, the division added. --- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19108', 'image' => '20231101124809_20190208014800_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 12:47:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19379', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Secretary-General Guterres Wraps Up his Official Visit to Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrapped up his four-day official visit to Nepal on Wednesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 1: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrapped up his four-day official visit to Nepal on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Purna Bahadur Khadka bade him farewell at the VVIP lounge of the Tribhuvan International Airport. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives of the United Nations Office in Nepal were present. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A contingent of the Nepalese Army offered guard of honour to Guterres in his farewell. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The UN secretary-general arrived here on October 28 for his official visit to Nepal at the cordial invitation of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During his stay in Nepal, the UN chief held separate meetings with President Ram Chandra Paudel and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal as well Nepali Congress (NC) President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-UML Chair and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Speaker Devraj Ghimire, National Assembly Chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, Deputy Prime Minister duo, Khadka and Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Prakash Saud. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In course of his stay in Nepal, he reached the Everest region and Annapurna Base Camp, Pokhara and Lumbini. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also observed historically and archeologically important Patan Durbar Square in Lalitpur. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">PM Dahal had hosted a dinner reception with cultural programme in honour of the secretary-general. He also addressed the joint session of the federal parliament. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This is the first visit of Guterres after assuming the post of UN secretary-general in 2017 and his second visit to Nepal as a UN representative. During his visit, he discussed the issues related to Nepal's home-grown peace process, climate change and poverty alleviation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">His visit has been taken as a highly important diplomatic incident. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19107', 'image' => '20231101120506_RatnaShrestha_KTM_15_20231101103624_RATL0088(3).JPG', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 12:04:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19396', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Nullifies Presidential Pardon Granted to Regal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The police have arrested Yogaraj Dhakal aka Regal from Nepalgunj today. Following the Supreme Court’s mandamus order that nullified the presidential pardon to murder-convict Dhakal, the police nabbed Regal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px">November 2: The police have arrested Yogaraj Dhakal aka Regal from Nepalgunj today. Following the Supreme Court’s mandamus order that nullified the presidential pardon to murder-convict Dhakal, the police nabbed Regal. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Banke Police Chief SP Subaschandra Bohara said that Regal was arrested after the apex court’s diktat to annul presidential pardon granted to him.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">On the recommendation of the Cabinet, President Ramchandra Paudel on the eve of the 8th Constitution Day on October 19 had pardoned the remaining jail terms of 670 convicts, including Dhakal.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">In July 2015, Dhakal, a local Congress worker and gangster from Banke, had killed Chetan Manandhar in a broad daylight using domestic weapons. He was convicted of the murder and given a 20-year jail term by the Banke district court in April 2018.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Demanding nullification of the pardon granted to Dhakal, Manandhar’s wife Bharati Sherpa had filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court. With Supreme Court’s order, Regal has to serve the remaining sentence of 11 years, 11 months, and 5 days.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19124', 'image' => '20231102054831_collage (33).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 17:46:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19395', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Index Plummets 10.86 Points to Close at 1847.70', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a minor loss of10.86 points or 0.58% and closed at 1,847.70 points on the last trading day of the week, Thursday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">November 2: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a minor loss of10.86 points or 0.58% and closed at 1,847.70 points on the last trading day of the week, Thursday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">Stock market analysts and seasoned investors attributed to the downturn of the market to economic downturn and oversupply of the IPOs and right shares.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">“New demand has not been created while the NEPSE has bene inundated with oversupply of the shares through IPOs and right shares,” said a veteran investor and analyst. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">During today's trading, there were 281 different stocks traded through 45,763 transactions. As many as 3,749,954 units of shares were traded, amounting to Rs 96.44 crore. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">Asha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd Promoter Share (ALBSLP) had the highest turnover, reaching Rs. 10.10 crores. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">Similarly, Chandragiri Hills Limited (CGH) experienced the highest gain of 6.04% today.</span> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">On the contrary, Sayapatri Hydropower Limited (SPHL) lost the highest 10.00% today.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">In terms of sector indices, indices except "Hotels And Tourism Index" and "Manufacturing And Processing" all other indices closed in the red zone. "Hotels And Tourism Index" gained the highest 4.27% while "Mutual Fund" recorded the most significant loss of 4.63% for the day.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">Sensitive Index lost 0.60%, while Float Index and Sensitive Float Index experienced a loss of 0.64% and 0.75% respectively. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19123', 'image' => '20231102051124_collage (31).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 17:09:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19394', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Chitwan National Park Earns Almost Rs 20 Million during Dashain ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: Chitwan National Park has earned Rs 18.5 million from tourist entry fees during the Dashain festival. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 2: Chitwan National Park has earned Rs 18.5 million from tourist entry fees during the Dashain festival. The park collected the amount from Ghatasthapana, the first day of Dashain, to Purnima (a period of 14 days). During the review period, more than 20,000 tourists visited the national park.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ganesh Tiwari, information officer of the national park, said that the CNP collected revenue of Rs 1.98 million from domestic tourists, Rs 12. 9 million from tourists from third countries (excluding SAARC countries), Rs 0.77 million from tourists from SAARC countries and Rs 3.68 million from jeep safari. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the period, 12,558 domestic tourists, 4,543 foreign tourists (except from SAARC countries) and 563 tourists from SAARC countries entered the park from Sauraha, the main entrance point, by booking tickets for jeep safari. Likewise, 308 domestic tourists entered the CNP from Kasara, while the number of foreign tourists (except from SAARC countries) using this entry point stood at 766 and 104 tourists from SAARC countries entered the park by buying tickets for jeep safari.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, 277 domestic tourists, 505 foreign tourists (except from SAARC countries) and 109 tourists from SAARC countries entered the park after buying tickets for jeep safari from Meghauli. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19122', 'image' => '20231102112249_20220403024054_Chitwan-sunset-sauraha-nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 11:18:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19390', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Onion Increases by 66 Percent in Three Weeks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: The price of onion has increased by 66 percent in the market of Kathmandu within a period of three weeks. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">November 2: The price of onion has increased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">66</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent in the market of Kathmandu within a period of three weeks. According to the daily price list of the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the price of onion has skyrocketed in the last three weeks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of onion has increased in Nepal due to India’s decision to tighten the export of onions on the pretext that it is difficult to meet the demand in its domestic market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the committee's price list, the wholesale price of onion, which was Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">73.80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg on October </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">12</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, increased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">66.67</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent to Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">123</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> on November </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Kalimati vegetable market meets about </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">70</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the demand of Kathmandu Valley. Balkhu, Tukucha, Kalanki, Balaju and other markets meet the remaining </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">30</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent demand.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of onion has reached Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">155</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kilogram in the wholesale market as well as the retail stores. About </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">99</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of onions imported in Kalimati market are from India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Binay Shrestha, information officer of the committee, says that India is having trouble to meet the demand for onion in the domestic market for a few weeks now. As a result, India tightened exports which directly impacted the Nepali market, says Shrestha. According to him, the import of onion from India has declined recently.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As per the data of the committee, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">56</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons of onions were imported to the Kalimati market on October </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">12</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">. By October </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">31</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, the amount of import has dropped by more than </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">57</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">24</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons. Shrestha says that it is natural for the price of onion to increase after the decline in import of onions.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The domestic production of Nepal cannot meet the market demand. Therefore, large quantities of onions are imported from India. In the last few years, there has been a decline in production of onion in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the data of the National Potato, Vegetable and Spice Crop Development Center, onion cultivation was done on </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20,900</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hectares of land in Nepal in the fiscal year </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2075/76. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the years since then, the area of onion cultivation seems to be gradually declined. According to government data, onion was cultivated in only </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">400</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hectares of land in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2076/77</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">which further dropped to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">300</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hectares in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2077/78.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Stakeholders say that Nepalis have to buy onions at high prices due to over dependence import. The center's crop development officer Sandeep Subedi said that consumers have been forced to buy onions at exorbitant prices since the government could not bring big programs for production and promotion of onion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, one reason why Nepali consumers have to rely on India for onions is the government's inability to bring big programs and the lack of quality seeds for farmers to produce quality onions by themselves. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">With the aim of making the country self-sufficient in onions, the government had conducted the ‘Mission Onion’ programme in Jhapa, Siraha, Saptari, Dhanusha, Bara, Parsa, Rupandehi, Banke and other districts with an investment of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">million in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2064/65. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, the programme was not successful. Farmers say that the Mission Onion program failed because the government only made announcements but did not monitor how the program was being run and also did not show any interest in solving the problems that surfaced during the implementation of the programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19121', 'image' => '20231102101238_1698892345.1676898665.onion.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 10:12:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19392', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bill on Money Laundering Gathering Dust in Parliament', 'sub_title' => 'Nepal Risks Landing in Grey List', 'summary' => 'November 2: The bill related to money laundering is gathering dust in parliament. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">November 2: The bill related to money laundering is gathering dust in parliament. The bill needs to be passed by the parliament in order to avoid Nepal falling in the ‘grey list’ of money laundering.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although Nepal is in imminent risk of falling in the grey list, the policy makers are least bothered about moving the bill forward to amend certain laws related to prevention of money laundering and promotion of business environment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the first session of the parliament, this bill did not get as much priority as it should have. The expectation that the bill would be passed in the second session did not materialize.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The current session of parliament is scheduled to end from Thursday (today). In the agenda of the parliament meeting for November 2, which was released by the Parliament Secretariat on Wednesday evening, nothing has been mentioned about the matter related to money laundering to be discussed in the House. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Matters such as answering questions, receiving letters from the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, and submitting the annual report have been put on the agenda as the second session of the parliament draws to a close. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Even though the bill on money laundering has been amended by the parliamentary committee and sent to the full House, the matter to be discussed on the laws related to money laundering has not been placed on the agenda.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sources at the Parliament Secretariat said that the bill was not included in the agenda because political consensus could not be reached. Although the government extended the budget session with the intention to pass the Transitional Justice Bill and the Money Laundering Bill, political parties could not reach a consensus on these issues until the end. As a result, the government is preparing to prorouge the current session of the Federal Parliament on Thursday without passing both the bills.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hitraj Pandey, chief whip of the ruling CPN Maoist Center, said that although the government wanted to end the session only after passing the bill related to money laundering and TRC, it could not be fulfilled.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, even if the agenda of money laundering is tabled in the lower house meeting, it will take time to pass the bill because it needs approval from the National Assembly, the upper house of parliament.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He claimed that both bills will be moved to the next session and will be passed in the next session. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Mahesh Kumar Bartaula, the whip of the main opposition party CPN (UML), said that this legislation was not among the priorities of the government. He told New Business Age, "In view of the danger of the country falling into the gray list, this bill was quickly passed by the parliamentary committee and sent to the full House, but it did not get priority in the House."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee of the House of Representatives has already submitted the revised report on the bill to the House of Representatives.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If passed by the House of Representatives, the bill will go to the National Assembly. National Assembly members have </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">72</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hours to amend and pass the bill and return it back to the House of Representatives.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If the National Assembly makes an amendment proposal, the House of Representatives reserves the right to accept or reject it. If it is accepted, it can be directly passed and sent to the president for authentication. But, if it is rejected, the fate of the bill will be decided by a joint meeting of both the houses of parliament.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Risk remains</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international body that regulates money laundering, has repeatedly alerted Nepal about the risk of Nepal falling in the grey list and has also given warnings. FATF has been urging Nepal to enact a strict laws related to money laundering. The Asia Pacific Group (APG) had warned in the preliminary assessment report submitted to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers in the last week of January that Nepal would be subject to international monitoring if a strong anti-money laundering law is not enacted.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">FATF has been accusing Nepal that the legal provisions are not sufficient to control organized crime, and that the Government has not paid attention to the provisions in the United Nations Convention on Financial Crimes, Terrorist Activities and Corruption.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Altogether </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">21 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">countries from Syria to the UAE are included in the grey list. Most of the countries are from Africa and the Gulf region. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If the countries in the grey list do not make any progress, they might eventually be blacklisted.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19120', 'image' => '20231102105019_1698891708.1663413681.Pratinidhi Shabha.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 10:49:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19393', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Israel-Hamas Conflict Could Lead to Oil Price Spike: World Bank', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: The war between Israel and Hamas could trigger price shocks for raw materials such as oil and agriculture products if the conflict escalates across the Middle East, the World Bank warned in a recent report.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">November 2: The war between Israel and Hamas could trigger price shocks for raw materials such as oil and agriculture products if the conflict escalates across the Middle East, the World Bank warned in a recent report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Oil has already risen six percent since the latest round of fighting, sparked when Hamas militants from Gaza stormed southern Israel and killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and seized nearly 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Israel has responded with an unrelenting bombardment of Gaza, which the Hamas-run health ministry says has killed more than 8,000 people, nearly half of them children.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The conflict between Israel and Hamas comes as Russia's war in Ukraine has already put pressure on markets, with that war being "the biggest shock to commodity markets since the 1970s," warned World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"That had disruptive effects on the global economy that persist to this day," Gill said in a statement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"Policymakers will need to be vigilant. If the conflict were to escalate, the global economy would face a dual energy shock for the first time in decades" from both the war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East, he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Many potential price hikes will depend on what happens to world oil prices and exports, the World Bank said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In an optimistic scenario, oil could rise 3-13 percent, between $93 and $102 per barrel.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A median scenario envisages prices rising up to $121, while a worst-case scenario would see oil reach a peak of between $140 and $157 -- potentially exceeding all-time highs not seen since 2008. – AFP/RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19119', 'image' => '20231102105130_World.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 10:50:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19389', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Arrival of Tourists Crosses 800,000 Mark in 10 Months ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: More than 800,000 tourists arrived in Nepal in 10 months of 2023. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 2: More than 800,000 tourists arrived in Nepal in 10 months of 2023. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Nepal Tourism Board, the number of foreign tourists visiting the country between January to October stands at 890,678. A total of 117,000 tourists entered Nepal via air route in October alone. The arrival of tourists was 88,582 in the corresponding month of the previous year, 2022. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The highest number of tourists came from India in October. According to the NTB, a total of 18,480 tourists arrived in Nepal from India followed by 14,879 tourists from the USA, 8,217 from the UK, 6,880 from China, 6,075 from Australia, 5,911 from Germany, 5,271 from France, 4,292 from Bangladesh, 2,507 from Sri Lanka and 2,467 from Italy in the review month. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19118', 'image' => '20231102091003_20211211082422_Clipboard18.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 09:09:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19388', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal, UK Mark Centenary of the Signing of Friendship Treaty', 'sub_title' => 'Government of Nepal and Private Sector Urge Investors to Invest in Nepal’s Energy Sector', 'summary' => 'November 2: The Government of Nepal and the country’s private sector have urged British investors to invest in the energy sector of Nepal, highlighting the good prospects of return in this sector.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 2: The Government of Nepal and the country’s private sector have urged British investors to invest in the energy sector of Nepal, highlighting the good prospects of return in this sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at an investment conference in London on Tuesday, Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat assured investors in the UK that the Government of Nepal has created an investment-friendly environment in the country. He told the investors that foreign investment is essential for a country like Nepal where internal resources cannot solely address the issue.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The event was organized by the Nepali embassy at the Mansion House based in the city of London to mark the completion of a centenary of the signing of the friendship treaty between Nepal and the United Kingdom in 1923.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Minister Mahat said that the budget for the current fiscal has introduced various initiatives for reforms and to facilitate investors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Necessary legal infrastructure has been readied for capital mobilization through the international financial market," said Mahat, expressing his hope that the UK’s investment in Nepal would further grow in the days to come.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Also speaking on the occasion, Nepal's Ambassador to the UK, Gyan Chandra Acharya, said that electricity promotion in Nepal would help realize the climate change goals not only in Nepal but also in South Asia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Chandra Prasad Dhakal urged the private sector and the development partners to invest in the infrastructure development of Nepal, arguing that the country is an attractive investment destination for the foreign investors and development partners.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">City of London's Alderman and Sheriff, Bronec Masojada pledged to support Nepal in achieving sustainable development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Director Ben Mellor said the investment through the British International Investment to various areas in Nepal has been increasing in recent years and the UK has been supporting Nepal to upgrade it to the status of a developing country from the category of least developed country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Birendra Sharma, the president of UK-Nepal Parliamentary Group in the UK Parliament talked about the historic relation of Nepal and the UK, citing abundant potential for investment in various sectors of Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">UK Expert Finance Chief Executive Officer Tim Reid announced their readiness to invest up to 1.5 billion pounds in Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The conference was focused on bringing investment into Nepal particularly in the renewable energy, information technology and education sectors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Separate panel discussions on these themes were held and Rajan Kandel, chair of the British College, presented a paper on available opportunities in Nepal in the education sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)’s Deputy Governor Bam Bahadur Mishra assured the investors that the NRB was committed to simplify the profit repatriation process of foreign companies investing in Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Joint Secretary of the Investment Board Nepal, Amrit Lamsal made a presentation on the investment opportunities in various sectors of Nepal, stressing that the Board is committed to facilitating the investors throughout the period from the approval of FDI to the implementation of the project.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Sandeep Dev talked on the energy sector in Nepal, especially in the hydroelectricity projects under implementation, the agreements on power development and trade agreement reached with India and China and the forthcoming plans of the Government of Nepal on the development of hydropower sector. He pointed out the need for huge capital for these projects and said investors have huge opportunities for investing in these areas. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Independent Power Producers' Association, Nepal (IPPAN)’s president Ganesh Karki provided information on the opportunities for investment in the hydropower and other renewable energy projects in Nepal, and called on the investors to invest in Nepal as the role of the government is positive to that end.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Managing Director of British International Investment, Colin Berkley and founder and chief executive officer of Dolma Impact Fund, Tim Gochar said that the investments they have made in Nepal are all fruitful and Nepal is an appropriate country for responsible investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking on behalf of the financial institutions investing in Nepal, Chief Executive Officer of Invest for Impact Nepal, Bibek Shrestha, made a presentation on investment of development financing organizations.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Also on the occasion, a memorandum of understanding on facilitating development finance institutions in Nepal was reached between the Government of Nepal, Ministry of Finance and six development financing institutions – the British International Investment, UK; FMO, the Netherlands; BIO, Belgium; Finnfund, Finland; Proparco, France and Saipem, Switzerland.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Minister Dr Mahat held a discussion with the chairman of Hinduja Group of Industries, GP Hinduja, on investing in Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Around 100 people, including British bankers, private investors, insurance companies, representatives of development financing institutions and trade ministries of various European countries, including Britain, the Nepali diaspora and the British companies investing in Nepal, attended the conference. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => 'UK, Nepal, friendship, treaty, investment, energy, renewable, conference', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19117', 'image' => '20231102081817_Flag-Pins-Nepal-Great-Britain_600x600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 08:16:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19387', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bangladesh PM's Daughter Takes WHO Top Job at the Expense of Nepal’s Candidate', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: Nepal’s hopes of electing its candidate to the post of South-East Asia director of the World Health Organisation was dented on Wednesday as the daughter of Bangladesh’s prime minister was selected for the top job by a secret ballot amid allegation of nepotism.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">November 2: Nepal’s hopes of electing its candidate to the post of South-East Asia director of the World Health Organisation was dented on Wednesday as the daughter of Bangladesh’s prime minister was selected for the top job by a secret ballot amid allegation of nepotism.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Saima Wazed, 49, daughter of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was nominated as the next WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia by the member states during a closed session of the seventy-sixth session of the WHO Regional Committee for the South-East Asia Region.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to AFP, she beat Nepal's Shambhu Acharya, 65, a professor of global health at the University of Washington with over three decades of experience working in senior WHO roles, in a secret ballot on Wednesday. Wazed secured eight votes against two garnered by Acharya.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Wazed was accused of using her mother's clout to get nominated to the position, allegations she has denied, reported AFP.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"I look forward to building a healthier South-East Asia," Wazed posted on X, formerly Twitter, after being selected for the post heading an 11-nation region home to a quarter of the world's population. Wazed's nomination, however, is subject to approval by the WHO's top board in January.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to AFP, medical journal The Lancet said in September that Wazed's candidature "raised questions over transparency and nepotism", noting that every other nation had put forward candidates who were either medical doctors or held doctorates, or both.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Wazed posts on X "under the username @drSaimaWazed, presumably on the strength of an honorary doctorate she was awarded earlier this year by a Bangladeshi university named after her grandfather," the Lancet added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">AFP further said that Wazed accompanied her mother to several high-profile diplomatic events, including the G20 summit in New Delhi, BRICS Summit in South Africa and the United Nations General Assembly.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“Hasina -- daughter of the country's founding leader -- has been in power for 15 years and has overseen rapid economic growth but her government has been accused of corruption and human rights abuses, including a violent crackdown on opposition. Many Hasina's supporters in Bangladesh see Wazed as a potential successor to her mother, who faces general elections within three months.”</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19116', 'image' => '20231102074946_F4YBdccWIAAQdY1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 07:47:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19391', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'British Council Invites Applications for South Asia Festivals and Culture Academy Course', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: The British Council, in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University, has invited applications to the South Asia Festivals and Culture Academy (SAFCA) in response to the growth of independent and established arts and culture festivals.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 2: The British Council, in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University, has invited applications to the South Asia Festivals and Culture Academy (SAFCA) in response to the growth of independent and established arts and culture festivals. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a press statement on Wednesday, the British Council said this pioneering initiative bridges the gap between festival enthusiasts and industry experts, facilitating an exchange of knowledge and insights online in India and neighbouring South Asian countries. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the British Council, the South Asia Festivals Academy’s Intermediate Course starts in January 2024, with applications open until November 19, 2023.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The statement added that SAFCA features a series of short courses specifically designed to equip festival managers with the skills essential for success in the ever-evolving festival landscape. These courses cover international programming and curation, leadership and governance, financial management, operations and staffing, marketing and audience development, risk management and health and safety, equality, diversity, and inclusion, as well as environmental sustainability, added the British Council.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Shahida MacDougall, director of the British Council Nepal said, “The significance of strong festival management skills cannot be overstated. We know from the UK’s extensive and vibrant festival scene that better managed festivals and more skilled festival managers result in greater sustainability and more possibilities for growth across the arts sector. The South Asia Festival Academy presents an exceptional opportunity for artists, performers and individuals engaged in or interested in the creative industry to cultivate their business vision within an inclusive setting while benefiting from the expertise of international festival professionals.” </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The intermediate course offered by SAFCA is the culmination of three years of experience, having evolved to align with academic BA Hons courses and adapt to the unique South Asian festival and cultural context added the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the British Council, the programme is taught by festival academics and experts from both the UK and South Asia. Designed for festival directors, founders, entrepreneurs, and senior managers of arts and cultural festivals across South Asia, this is a 10-week immersive, structured skills development programme.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Applications will be considered from those who can demonstrate active experience in a senior leadership role and possess 5–10 years of experience working within the festival and culture sector. The full cost per student is £750 (NPR 121,500), with the British Council providing a subsidy of £500 per student, reducing the total fee to £250 (NPR 40,500).</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19115', 'image' => '20231102104822_SAFCA_Image.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 10:47:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19383', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Industries Slumps to 40 Percent Even During the Festive Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: Industrialists claim that 500 big and small industries of Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor have been operating at 40 percent of their actual capacity even during the festivals when the demand is high. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 1: Industrialists claim that 500 big and small industries of Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor have been operating at 40 percent of their actual capacity even during the festivals when the demand is high. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industrialists blamed the government's inability to spend the development budget, failure to release budget to the local level on time, the decline in government's revenue and a slump in market activities as the major reasons for the decline in productivity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even the food industry could not perform business satisfactorily during Dashain. Pawan Sharda, president of Koshi Province chapter of the CNI, said that although the production of the industry has decreased due to the decrease in sales in the market, the problem has been aggravated by the government’s decision to halt the payment to the construction and other sectors.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the government should facilitate in transferring the investable funds accumulated in the banks to the market at a low interest rate. Sharda says that if a stable interest rate is guaranteed for at least five years, the demand for loans will increase. Sharda said that although the government claimed that payments and expenses will start from the first day of the fiscal year, the development and construction works have been affected because the construction businessmen have not received the dues from the government while the production of cement, rods, stones and other industries is low. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The government should pay the builders immediately. This in turn will ensure that the contractors will pay the dealer or the industry from which they procured the goods. The money will then trickle down to the workers. It drives the economic cycle,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Businessmen complain that the flour, rice, lentil, and oil mills felt some relief during the festive period, but they still could not sell like they used to do before. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Naresh Rathi, the owner of Chandrashiv Rice and Oil Mill, said that the expectations of oil and rice sales were not met. He said, “This year, Nepal's production could not be sold because oil and rice came unhindered from across the Jogbani border.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In previous years, the business had doubled during the festivals, but that did not happen this time. Businessmen say that since mustard oil costs Rs 45 per liter cheap in India and rice costs Rs 20 per kilo cheap compared to the Nepalese market, the traders have not been able to do business as expected since those goods enter the market through the backdoor. He said that unless the government tightens the customs, the Nepali businessmen will always have to bear losses.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mahesh Jaju, former president of Morang Trade Association and owner of Asian Thai Foods, said that they were expecting production of the industries, which had fallen to 40 percent in the last five months, would improve with the onset of festivals like Dashain Tihar, but it did not happen.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Jaju, the production of industries such as biscuits, confectionery, chocolate and sweets is decreasing due to the lack of easy availability of sugar. He said, “If the government had allowed the private sector to bring sugar on time, there would not have been a situation where we would have to buy sugar at an exorbitant price.”</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19111', 'image' => '20231101021458_indus.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 14:14:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19382', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'USA Pledges Concessional Loan worth Rs 16.5 Billion to Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: Nepal is all set to get concessional loan worth over Rs 16.5 billion. The United States of America has pledged to provide the aforementioned amount of concessional loan.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 1: Nepal is all set to get concessional loan worth over Rs 16.5 billion. The United States of America has pledged to provide the aforementioned amount of concessional loan. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The United States has promised a loan of Rs 16.5 billion to Nepal's small and medium-sized industries. US Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken has expressed his commitment to provide loan assistance of USD 125 million (Rs 16.625 million) in a recent meeting with Foreign Minister Narayan Prakash Saud.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The American aid will be channelled to small and medium industries through banks in Nepal. Stakeholders claim that the credit disbursement through banks will make the banking sector of Nepal more active.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign Minister Saud and US Secretary of State Blinken held a meeting at the US State Department on Monday night. The two reportedly discussed development partnership, trade and market access, investment and technology, agriculture and food security among other issues during the meeting.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Saud pointed out the need for more support as Nepal has made an action plan for upgrading from an underdeveloped country to a medium-income nation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Saud requested the American government to assist Nepal in trade and investment, market access, agriculture and information technology development. Saud also requested to provide trade concessions for more goods produced in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the American support under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the American Assistance Mission have helped significantly for the economic and social development of Nepal. During the talks, both sides said that they are confident that the MCC project will be completed on time.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19110', 'image' => '20231101015223_AP23303648593773.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 13:51:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19381', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Police Officer Deployed for UN Secy-General’s Security Dies of Altitude Sickness ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: A police officer who had been deployed for the security of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his visit to the Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal has died from altitude sickness.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 1: A police officer who had been deployed for the security of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his visit to the Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal has died from altitude sickness.</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"">According to the police, the deceased has been identified as Assistant Sub Inspector Tikaram Dhungana. After complaining of health problems, Dhungana was rushed to Pokhara by a rescue helicopter on Wednesday morning. Upon his admission to a hospital in Pokhara, he was declared dead at 9:40 am, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Shrawan Kumar BK. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Dhungana, who reached the Annapurna Base Camp by a helicopter, complained of respiratory problems upon returning on foot. He was posted at the police post at Ghandruk in Annapurna Rural Municipality of Kaski district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The UN Secretary-General headed to the Base Camp on Tuesday morning as part of his scheduled visit during his four-day stopover to Nepal. Teams of Nepalese Army and Nepal Police were deployed for his security. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19109', 'image' => '20231101013159_Tasbir_RSS_15_IMG-20231031-WA0011.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 13:31:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19380', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Light Rain and Snowfall Predicted in Mountainous Areas Today ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: The country is currently experiencing partial impact of the Westerly winds. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 1: The country is currently experiencing partial impact of the Westerly winds. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Weather Forecasting Division, the mountainous areas of the country, especially in the Koshi Province, will see partial changes in the weather while the remaining provinces will have general weather conditions today. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meteorologist Saroj Pudasaini shared that light rainfall with thunderstorm and lightning is likely to take place in one-two places of the mountainous belt having partial changes in the weather across the country today, November 1. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He further said that snowfall is predicted in one-two areas of high mountainous and hill areas of the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the country will see partial changes in the weather in the night, the division added. --- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19108', 'image' => '20231101124809_20190208014800_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 12:47:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19379', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Secretary-General Guterres Wraps Up his Official Visit to Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrapped up his four-day official visit to Nepal on Wednesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 1: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrapped up his four-day official visit to Nepal on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Purna Bahadur Khadka bade him farewell at the VVIP lounge of the Tribhuvan International Airport. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives of the United Nations Office in Nepal were present. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A contingent of the Nepalese Army offered guard of honour to Guterres in his farewell. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The UN secretary-general arrived here on October 28 for his official visit to Nepal at the cordial invitation of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During his stay in Nepal, the UN chief held separate meetings with President Ram Chandra Paudel and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal as well Nepali Congress (NC) President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-UML Chair and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Speaker Devraj Ghimire, National Assembly Chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, Deputy Prime Minister duo, Khadka and Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Prakash Saud. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In course of his stay in Nepal, he reached the Everest region and Annapurna Base Camp, Pokhara and Lumbini. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also observed historically and archeologically important Patan Durbar Square in Lalitpur. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">PM Dahal had hosted a dinner reception with cultural programme in honour of the secretary-general. He also addressed the joint session of the federal parliament. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This is the first visit of Guterres after assuming the post of UN secretary-general in 2017 and his second visit to Nepal as a UN representative. During his visit, he discussed the issues related to Nepal's home-grown peace process, climate change and poverty alleviation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">His visit has been taken as a highly important diplomatic incident. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19107', 'image' => '20231101120506_RatnaShrestha_KTM_15_20231101103624_RATL0088(3).JPG', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 12:04:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19396', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Nullifies Presidential Pardon Granted to Regal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The police have arrested Yogaraj Dhakal aka Regal from Nepalgunj today. Following the Supreme Court’s mandamus order that nullified the presidential pardon to murder-convict Dhakal, the police nabbed Regal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px">November 2: The police have arrested Yogaraj Dhakal aka Regal from Nepalgunj today. Following the Supreme Court’s mandamus order that nullified the presidential pardon to murder-convict Dhakal, the police nabbed Regal. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Banke Police Chief SP Subaschandra Bohara said that Regal was arrested after the apex court’s diktat to annul presidential pardon granted to him.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">On the recommendation of the Cabinet, President Ramchandra Paudel on the eve of the 8th Constitution Day on October 19 had pardoned the remaining jail terms of 670 convicts, including Dhakal.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">In July 2015, Dhakal, a local Congress worker and gangster from Banke, had killed Chetan Manandhar in a broad daylight using domestic weapons. He was convicted of the murder and given a 20-year jail term by the Banke district court in April 2018.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Demanding nullification of the pardon granted to Dhakal, Manandhar’s wife Bharati Sherpa had filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court. With Supreme Court’s order, Regal has to serve the remaining sentence of 11 years, 11 months, and 5 days.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19124', 'image' => '20231102054831_collage (33).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 17:46:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19395', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Index Plummets 10.86 Points to Close at 1847.70', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a minor loss of10.86 points or 0.58% and closed at 1,847.70 points on the last trading day of the week, Thursday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">November 2: The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) Index experienced a minor loss of10.86 points or 0.58% and closed at 1,847.70 points on the last trading day of the week, Thursday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">Stock market analysts and seasoned investors attributed to the downturn of the market to economic downturn and oversupply of the IPOs and right shares.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">“New demand has not been created while the NEPSE has bene inundated with oversupply of the shares through IPOs and right shares,” said a veteran investor and analyst. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">During today's trading, there were 281 different stocks traded through 45,763 transactions. As many as 3,749,954 units of shares were traded, amounting to Rs 96.44 crore. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">Asha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd Promoter Share (ALBSLP) had the highest turnover, reaching Rs. 10.10 crores. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">Similarly, Chandragiri Hills Limited (CGH) experienced the highest gain of 6.04% today.</span> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">On the contrary, Sayapatri Hydropower Limited (SPHL) lost the highest 10.00% today.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">In terms of sector indices, indices except "Hotels And Tourism Index" and "Manufacturing And Processing" all other indices closed in the red zone. "Hotels And Tourism Index" gained the highest 4.27% while "Mutual Fund" recorded the most significant loss of 4.63% for the day.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans",sans-serif">Sensitive Index lost 0.60%, while Float Index and Sensitive Float Index experienced a loss of 0.64% and 0.75% respectively. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19123', 'image' => '20231102051124_collage (31).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 17:09:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19394', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Chitwan National Park Earns Almost Rs 20 Million during Dashain ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: Chitwan National Park has earned Rs 18.5 million from tourist entry fees during the Dashain festival. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 2: Chitwan National Park has earned Rs 18.5 million from tourist entry fees during the Dashain festival. The park collected the amount from Ghatasthapana, the first day of Dashain, to Purnima (a period of 14 days). During the review period, more than 20,000 tourists visited the national park.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ganesh Tiwari, information officer of the national park, said that the CNP collected revenue of Rs 1.98 million from domestic tourists, Rs 12. 9 million from tourists from third countries (excluding SAARC countries), Rs 0.77 million from tourists from SAARC countries and Rs 3.68 million from jeep safari. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the period, 12,558 domestic tourists, 4,543 foreign tourists (except from SAARC countries) and 563 tourists from SAARC countries entered the park from Sauraha, the main entrance point, by booking tickets for jeep safari. Likewise, 308 domestic tourists entered the CNP from Kasara, while the number of foreign tourists (except from SAARC countries) using this entry point stood at 766 and 104 tourists from SAARC countries entered the park by buying tickets for jeep safari.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, 277 domestic tourists, 505 foreign tourists (except from SAARC countries) and 109 tourists from SAARC countries entered the park after buying tickets for jeep safari from Meghauli. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19122', 'image' => '20231102112249_20220403024054_Chitwan-sunset-sauraha-nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 11:18:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19390', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Onion Increases by 66 Percent in Three Weeks', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: The price of onion has increased by 66 percent in the market of Kathmandu within a period of three weeks. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">November 2: The price of onion has increased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">66</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent in the market of Kathmandu within a period of three weeks. According to the daily price list of the Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee, the price of onion has skyrocketed in the last three weeks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of onion has increased in Nepal due to India’s decision to tighten the export of onions on the pretext that it is difficult to meet the demand in its domestic market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the committee's price list, the wholesale price of onion, which was Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">73.80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg on October </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">12</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, increased by </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">66.67</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent to Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">123</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> on November </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Kalimati vegetable market meets about </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">70</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the demand of Kathmandu Valley. Balkhu, Tukucha, Kalanki, Balaju and other markets meet the remaining </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">30</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent demand.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of onion has reached Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">155</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kilogram in the wholesale market as well as the retail stores. About </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">99</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of onions imported in Kalimati market are from India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Binay Shrestha, information officer of the committee, says that India is having trouble to meet the demand for onion in the domestic market for a few weeks now. As a result, India tightened exports which directly impacted the Nepali market, says Shrestha. According to him, the import of onion from India has declined recently.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As per the data of the committee, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">56</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons of onions were imported to the Kalimati market on October </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">12</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">. By October </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">31</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, the amount of import has dropped by more than </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">57</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">24</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons. Shrestha says that it is natural for the price of onion to increase after the decline in import of onions.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The domestic production of Nepal cannot meet the market demand. Therefore, large quantities of onions are imported from India. In the last few years, there has been a decline in production of onion in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the data of the National Potato, Vegetable and Spice Crop Development Center, onion cultivation was done on </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20,900</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hectares of land in Nepal in the fiscal year </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2075/76. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the years since then, the area of onion cultivation seems to be gradually declined. According to government data, onion was cultivated in only </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">400</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hectares of land in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2076/77</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">which further dropped to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">20</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">,</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">300</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hectares in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2077/78.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Stakeholders say that Nepalis have to buy onions at high prices due to over dependence import. The center's crop development officer Sandeep Subedi said that consumers have been forced to buy onions at exorbitant prices since the government could not bring big programs for production and promotion of onion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, one reason why Nepali consumers have to rely on India for onions is the government's inability to bring big programs and the lack of quality seeds for farmers to produce quality onions by themselves. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">With the aim of making the country self-sufficient in onions, the government had conducted the ‘Mission Onion’ programme in Jhapa, Siraha, Saptari, Dhanusha, Bara, Parsa, Rupandehi, Banke and other districts with an investment of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">million in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2064/65. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, the programme was not successful. Farmers say that the Mission Onion program failed because the government only made announcements but did not monitor how the program was being run and also did not show any interest in solving the problems that surfaced during the implementation of the programme.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19121', 'image' => '20231102101238_1698892345.1676898665.onion.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 10:12:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19392', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bill on Money Laundering Gathering Dust in Parliament', 'sub_title' => 'Nepal Risks Landing in Grey List', 'summary' => 'November 2: The bill related to money laundering is gathering dust in parliament. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">November 2: The bill related to money laundering is gathering dust in parliament. The bill needs to be passed by the parliament in order to avoid Nepal falling in the ‘grey list’ of money laundering.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although Nepal is in imminent risk of falling in the grey list, the policy makers are least bothered about moving the bill forward to amend certain laws related to prevention of money laundering and promotion of business environment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the first session of the parliament, this bill did not get as much priority as it should have. The expectation that the bill would be passed in the second session did not materialize.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The current session of parliament is scheduled to end from Thursday (today). In the agenda of the parliament meeting for November 2, which was released by the Parliament Secretariat on Wednesday evening, nothing has been mentioned about the matter related to money laundering to be discussed in the House. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Matters such as answering questions, receiving letters from the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, and submitting the annual report have been put on the agenda as the second session of the parliament draws to a close. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Even though the bill on money laundering has been amended by the parliamentary committee and sent to the full House, the matter to be discussed on the laws related to money laundering has not been placed on the agenda.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sources at the Parliament Secretariat said that the bill was not included in the agenda because political consensus could not be reached. Although the government extended the budget session with the intention to pass the Transitional Justice Bill and the Money Laundering Bill, political parties could not reach a consensus on these issues until the end. As a result, the government is preparing to prorouge the current session of the Federal Parliament on Thursday without passing both the bills.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hitraj Pandey, chief whip of the ruling CPN Maoist Center, said that although the government wanted to end the session only after passing the bill related to money laundering and TRC, it could not be fulfilled.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, even if the agenda of money laundering is tabled in the lower house meeting, it will take time to pass the bill because it needs approval from the National Assembly, the upper house of parliament.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He claimed that both bills will be moved to the next session and will be passed in the next session. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Mahesh Kumar Bartaula, the whip of the main opposition party CPN (UML), said that this legislation was not among the priorities of the government. He told New Business Age, "In view of the danger of the country falling into the gray list, this bill was quickly passed by the parliamentary committee and sent to the full House, but it did not get priority in the House."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee of the House of Representatives has already submitted the revised report on the bill to the House of Representatives.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If passed by the House of Representatives, the bill will go to the National Assembly. National Assembly members have </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">72</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> hours to amend and pass the bill and return it back to the House of Representatives.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If the National Assembly makes an amendment proposal, the House of Representatives reserves the right to accept or reject it. If it is accepted, it can be directly passed and sent to the president for authentication. But, if it is rejected, the fate of the bill will be decided by a joint meeting of both the houses of parliament.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Risk remains</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international body that regulates money laundering, has repeatedly alerted Nepal about the risk of Nepal falling in the grey list and has also given warnings. FATF has been urging Nepal to enact a strict laws related to money laundering. The Asia Pacific Group (APG) had warned in the preliminary assessment report submitted to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers in the last week of January that Nepal would be subject to international monitoring if a strong anti-money laundering law is not enacted.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">FATF has been accusing Nepal that the legal provisions are not sufficient to control organized crime, and that the Government has not paid attention to the provisions in the United Nations Convention on Financial Crimes, Terrorist Activities and Corruption.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Altogether </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">21 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">countries from Syria to the UAE are included in the grey list. Most of the countries are from Africa and the Gulf region. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If the countries in the grey list do not make any progress, they might eventually be blacklisted.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19120', 'image' => '20231102105019_1698891708.1663413681.Pratinidhi Shabha.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 10:49:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19393', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Israel-Hamas Conflict Could Lead to Oil Price Spike: World Bank', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: The war between Israel and Hamas could trigger price shocks for raw materials such as oil and agriculture products if the conflict escalates across the Middle East, the World Bank warned in a recent report.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">November 2: The war between Israel and Hamas could trigger price shocks for raw materials such as oil and agriculture products if the conflict escalates across the Middle East, the World Bank warned in a recent report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Oil has already risen six percent since the latest round of fighting, sparked when Hamas militants from Gaza stormed southern Israel and killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and seized nearly 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Israel has responded with an unrelenting bombardment of Gaza, which the Hamas-run health ministry says has killed more than 8,000 people, nearly half of them children.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The conflict between Israel and Hamas comes as Russia's war in Ukraine has already put pressure on markets, with that war being "the biggest shock to commodity markets since the 1970s," warned World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"That had disruptive effects on the global economy that persist to this day," Gill said in a statement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"Policymakers will need to be vigilant. If the conflict were to escalate, the global economy would face a dual energy shock for the first time in decades" from both the war in Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East, he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Many potential price hikes will depend on what happens to world oil prices and exports, the World Bank said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">In an optimistic scenario, oil could rise 3-13 percent, between $93 and $102 per barrel.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A median scenario envisages prices rising up to $121, while a worst-case scenario would see oil reach a peak of between $140 and $157 -- potentially exceeding all-time highs not seen since 2008. – AFP/RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19119', 'image' => '20231102105130_World.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 10:50:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19389', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Arrival of Tourists Crosses 800,000 Mark in 10 Months ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: More than 800,000 tourists arrived in Nepal in 10 months of 2023. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 2: More than 800,000 tourists arrived in Nepal in 10 months of 2023. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Nepal Tourism Board, the number of foreign tourists visiting the country between January to October stands at 890,678. A total of 117,000 tourists entered Nepal via air route in October alone. The arrival of tourists was 88,582 in the corresponding month of the previous year, 2022. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The highest number of tourists came from India in October. According to the NTB, a total of 18,480 tourists arrived in Nepal from India followed by 14,879 tourists from the USA, 8,217 from the UK, 6,880 from China, 6,075 from Australia, 5,911 from Germany, 5,271 from France, 4,292 from Bangladesh, 2,507 from Sri Lanka and 2,467 from Italy in the review month. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19118', 'image' => '20231102091003_20211211082422_Clipboard18.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 09:09:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19388', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal, UK Mark Centenary of the Signing of Friendship Treaty', 'sub_title' => 'Government of Nepal and Private Sector Urge Investors to Invest in Nepal’s Energy Sector', 'summary' => 'November 2: The Government of Nepal and the country’s private sector have urged British investors to invest in the energy sector of Nepal, highlighting the good prospects of return in this sector.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">November 2: The Government of Nepal and the country’s private sector have urged British investors to invest in the energy sector of Nepal, highlighting the good prospects of return in this sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at an investment conference in London on Tuesday, Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat assured investors in the UK that the Government of Nepal has created an investment-friendly environment in the country. He told the investors that foreign investment is essential for a country like Nepal where internal resources cannot solely address the issue.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The event was organized by the Nepali embassy at the Mansion House based in the city of London to mark the completion of a centenary of the signing of the friendship treaty between Nepal and the United Kingdom in 1923.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Minister Mahat said that the budget for the current fiscal has introduced various initiatives for reforms and to facilitate investors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Necessary legal infrastructure has been readied for capital mobilization through the international financial market," said Mahat, expressing his hope that the UK’s investment in Nepal would further grow in the days to come.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Also speaking on the occasion, Nepal's Ambassador to the UK, Gyan Chandra Acharya, said that electricity promotion in Nepal would help realize the climate change goals not only in Nepal but also in South Asia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Chandra Prasad Dhakal urged the private sector and the development partners to invest in the infrastructure development of Nepal, arguing that the country is an attractive investment destination for the foreign investors and development partners.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">City of London's Alderman and Sheriff, Bronec Masojada pledged to support Nepal in achieving sustainable development.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Director Ben Mellor said the investment through the British International Investment to various areas in Nepal has been increasing in recent years and the UK has been supporting Nepal to upgrade it to the status of a developing country from the category of least developed country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Birendra Sharma, the president of UK-Nepal Parliamentary Group in the UK Parliament talked about the historic relation of Nepal and the UK, citing abundant potential for investment in various sectors of Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">UK Expert Finance Chief Executive Officer Tim Reid announced their readiness to invest up to 1.5 billion pounds in Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The conference was focused on bringing investment into Nepal particularly in the renewable energy, information technology and education sectors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Separate panel discussions on these themes were held and Rajan Kandel, chair of the British College, presented a paper on available opportunities in Nepal in the education sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)’s Deputy Governor Bam Bahadur Mishra assured the investors that the NRB was committed to simplify the profit repatriation process of foreign companies investing in Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Joint Secretary of the Investment Board Nepal, Amrit Lamsal made a presentation on the investment opportunities in various sectors of Nepal, stressing that the Board is committed to facilitating the investors throughout the period from the approval of FDI to the implementation of the project.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Sandeep Dev talked on the energy sector in Nepal, especially in the hydroelectricity projects under implementation, the agreements on power development and trade agreement reached with India and China and the forthcoming plans of the Government of Nepal on the development of hydropower sector. He pointed out the need for huge capital for these projects and said investors have huge opportunities for investing in these areas. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Independent Power Producers' Association, Nepal (IPPAN)’s president Ganesh Karki provided information on the opportunities for investment in the hydropower and other renewable energy projects in Nepal, and called on the investors to invest in Nepal as the role of the government is positive to that end.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Managing Director of British International Investment, Colin Berkley and founder and chief executive officer of Dolma Impact Fund, Tim Gochar said that the investments they have made in Nepal are all fruitful and Nepal is an appropriate country for responsible investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking on behalf of the financial institutions investing in Nepal, Chief Executive Officer of Invest for Impact Nepal, Bibek Shrestha, made a presentation on investment of development financing organizations.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Also on the occasion, a memorandum of understanding on facilitating development finance institutions in Nepal was reached between the Government of Nepal, Ministry of Finance and six development financing institutions – the British International Investment, UK; FMO, the Netherlands; BIO, Belgium; Finnfund, Finland; Proparco, France and Saipem, Switzerland.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Minister Dr Mahat held a discussion with the chairman of Hinduja Group of Industries, GP Hinduja, on investing in Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Around 100 people, including British bankers, private investors, insurance companies, representatives of development financing institutions and trade ministries of various European countries, including Britain, the Nepali diaspora and the British companies investing in Nepal, attended the conference. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => 'UK, Nepal, friendship, treaty, investment, energy, renewable, conference', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19117', 'image' => '20231102081817_Flag-Pins-Nepal-Great-Britain_600x600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 08:16:44', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19387', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bangladesh PM's Daughter Takes WHO Top Job at the Expense of Nepal’s Candidate', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: Nepal’s hopes of electing its candidate to the post of South-East Asia director of the World Health Organisation was dented on Wednesday as the daughter of Bangladesh’s prime minister was selected for the top job by a secret ballot amid allegation of nepotism.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">November 2: Nepal’s hopes of electing its candidate to the post of South-East Asia director of the World Health Organisation was dented on Wednesday as the daughter of Bangladesh’s prime minister was selected for the top job by a secret ballot amid allegation of nepotism.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Saima Wazed, 49, daughter of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was nominated as the next WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia by the member states during a closed session of the seventy-sixth session of the WHO Regional Committee for the South-East Asia Region.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to AFP, she beat Nepal's Shambhu Acharya, 65, a professor of global health at the University of Washington with over three decades of experience working in senior WHO roles, in a secret ballot on Wednesday. Wazed secured eight votes against two garnered by Acharya.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Wazed was accused of using her mother's clout to get nominated to the position, allegations she has denied, reported AFP.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"I look forward to building a healthier South-East Asia," Wazed posted on X, formerly Twitter, after being selected for the post heading an 11-nation region home to a quarter of the world's population. Wazed's nomination, however, is subject to approval by the WHO's top board in January.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to AFP, medical journal The Lancet said in September that Wazed's candidature "raised questions over transparency and nepotism", noting that every other nation had put forward candidates who were either medical doctors or held doctorates, or both.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Wazed posts on X "under the username @drSaimaWazed, presumably on the strength of an honorary doctorate she was awarded earlier this year by a Bangladeshi university named after her grandfather," the Lancet added.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">AFP further said that Wazed accompanied her mother to several high-profile diplomatic events, including the G20 summit in New Delhi, BRICS Summit in South Africa and the United Nations General Assembly.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“Hasina -- daughter of the country's founding leader -- has been in power for 15 years and has overseen rapid economic growth but her government has been accused of corruption and human rights abuses, including a violent crackdown on opposition. Many Hasina's supporters in Bangladesh see Wazed as a potential successor to her mother, who faces general elections within three months.”</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19116', 'image' => '20231102074946_F4YBdccWIAAQdY1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 07:47:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19391', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'British Council Invites Applications for South Asia Festivals and Culture Academy Course', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 2: The British Council, in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University, has invited applications to the South Asia Festivals and Culture Academy (SAFCA) in response to the growth of independent and established arts and culture festivals.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 2: The British Council, in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University, has invited applications to the South Asia Festivals and Culture Academy (SAFCA) in response to the growth of independent and established arts and culture festivals. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a press statement on Wednesday, the British Council said this pioneering initiative bridges the gap between festival enthusiasts and industry experts, facilitating an exchange of knowledge and insights online in India and neighbouring South Asian countries. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the British Council, the South Asia Festivals Academy’s Intermediate Course starts in January 2024, with applications open until November 19, 2023.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The statement added that SAFCA features a series of short courses specifically designed to equip festival managers with the skills essential for success in the ever-evolving festival landscape. These courses cover international programming and curation, leadership and governance, financial management, operations and staffing, marketing and audience development, risk management and health and safety, equality, diversity, and inclusion, as well as environmental sustainability, added the British Council.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Shahida MacDougall, director of the British Council Nepal said, “The significance of strong festival management skills cannot be overstated. We know from the UK’s extensive and vibrant festival scene that better managed festivals and more skilled festival managers result in greater sustainability and more possibilities for growth across the arts sector. The South Asia Festival Academy presents an exceptional opportunity for artists, performers and individuals engaged in or interested in the creative industry to cultivate their business vision within an inclusive setting while benefiting from the expertise of international festival professionals.” </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The intermediate course offered by SAFCA is the culmination of three years of experience, having evolved to align with academic BA Hons courses and adapt to the unique South Asian festival and cultural context added the statement. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the British Council, the programme is taught by festival academics and experts from both the UK and South Asia. Designed for festival directors, founders, entrepreneurs, and senior managers of arts and cultural festivals across South Asia, this is a 10-week immersive, structured skills development programme.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Applications will be considered from those who can demonstrate active experience in a senior leadership role and possess 5–10 years of experience working within the festival and culture sector. The full cost per student is £750 (NPR 121,500), with the British Council providing a subsidy of £500 per student, reducing the total fee to £250 (NPR 40,500).</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-02', 'modified' => '2023-11-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19115', 'image' => '20231102104822_SAFCA_Image.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-02 10:47:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19383', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Industries Slumps to 40 Percent Even During the Festive Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: Industrialists claim that 500 big and small industries of Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor have been operating at 40 percent of their actual capacity even during the festivals when the demand is high. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 1: Industrialists claim that 500 big and small industries of Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor have been operating at 40 percent of their actual capacity even during the festivals when the demand is high. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industrialists blamed the government's inability to spend the development budget, failure to release budget to the local level on time, the decline in government's revenue and a slump in market activities as the major reasons for the decline in productivity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even the food industry could not perform business satisfactorily during Dashain. Pawan Sharda, president of Koshi Province chapter of the CNI, said that although the production of the industry has decreased due to the decrease in sales in the market, the problem has been aggravated by the government’s decision to halt the payment to the construction and other sectors.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the government should facilitate in transferring the investable funds accumulated in the banks to the market at a low interest rate. Sharda says that if a stable interest rate is guaranteed for at least five years, the demand for loans will increase. Sharda said that although the government claimed that payments and expenses will start from the first day of the fiscal year, the development and construction works have been affected because the construction businessmen have not received the dues from the government while the production of cement, rods, stones and other industries is low. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The government should pay the builders immediately. This in turn will ensure that the contractors will pay the dealer or the industry from which they procured the goods. The money will then trickle down to the workers. It drives the economic cycle,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Businessmen complain that the flour, rice, lentil, and oil mills felt some relief during the festive period, but they still could not sell like they used to do before. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Naresh Rathi, the owner of Chandrashiv Rice and Oil Mill, said that the expectations of oil and rice sales were not met. He said, “This year, Nepal's production could not be sold because oil and rice came unhindered from across the Jogbani border.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In previous years, the business had doubled during the festivals, but that did not happen this time. Businessmen say that since mustard oil costs Rs 45 per liter cheap in India and rice costs Rs 20 per kilo cheap compared to the Nepalese market, the traders have not been able to do business as expected since those goods enter the market through the backdoor. He said that unless the government tightens the customs, the Nepali businessmen will always have to bear losses.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Mahesh Jaju, former president of Morang Trade Association and owner of Asian Thai Foods, said that they were expecting production of the industries, which had fallen to 40 percent in the last five months, would improve with the onset of festivals like Dashain Tihar, but it did not happen.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Jaju, the production of industries such as biscuits, confectionery, chocolate and sweets is decreasing due to the lack of easy availability of sugar. He said, “If the government had allowed the private sector to bring sugar on time, there would not have been a situation where we would have to buy sugar at an exorbitant price.”</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19111', 'image' => '20231101021458_indus.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 14:14:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19382', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'USA Pledges Concessional Loan worth Rs 16.5 Billion to Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: Nepal is all set to get concessional loan worth over Rs 16.5 billion. The United States of America has pledged to provide the aforementioned amount of concessional loan.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">November 1: Nepal is all set to get concessional loan worth over Rs 16.5 billion. The United States of America has pledged to provide the aforementioned amount of concessional loan. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The United States has promised a loan of Rs 16.5 billion to Nepal's small and medium-sized industries. US Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken has expressed his commitment to provide loan assistance of USD 125 million (Rs 16.625 million) in a recent meeting with Foreign Minister Narayan Prakash Saud.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The American aid will be channelled to small and medium industries through banks in Nepal. Stakeholders claim that the credit disbursement through banks will make the banking sector of Nepal more active.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Foreign Minister Saud and US Secretary of State Blinken held a meeting at the US State Department on Monday night. The two reportedly discussed development partnership, trade and market access, investment and technology, agriculture and food security among other issues during the meeting.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Saud pointed out the need for more support as Nepal has made an action plan for upgrading from an underdeveloped country to a medium-income nation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Minister Saud requested the American government to assist Nepal in trade and investment, market access, agriculture and information technology development. Saud also requested to provide trade concessions for more goods produced in Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the American support under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the American Assistance Mission have helped significantly for the economic and social development of Nepal. During the talks, both sides said that they are confident that the MCC project will be completed on time.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19110', 'image' => '20231101015223_AP23303648593773.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 13:51:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19381', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Police Officer Deployed for UN Secy-General’s Security Dies of Altitude Sickness ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: A police officer who had been deployed for the security of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his visit to the Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal has died from altitude sickness.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 1: A police officer who had been deployed for the security of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his visit to the Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal has died from altitude sickness.</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"">According to the police, the deceased has been identified as Assistant Sub Inspector Tikaram Dhungana. After complaining of health problems, Dhungana was rushed to Pokhara by a rescue helicopter on Wednesday morning. Upon his admission to a hospital in Pokhara, he was declared dead at 9:40 am, said Deputy Superintendent of Police Shrawan Kumar BK. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Dhungana, who reached the Annapurna Base Camp by a helicopter, complained of respiratory problems upon returning on foot. He was posted at the police post at Ghandruk in Annapurna Rural Municipality of Kaski district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The UN Secretary-General headed to the Base Camp on Tuesday morning as part of his scheduled visit during his four-day stopover to Nepal. Teams of Nepalese Army and Nepal Police were deployed for his security. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19109', 'image' => '20231101013159_Tasbir_RSS_15_IMG-20231031-WA0011.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 13:31:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19380', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Light Rain and Snowfall Predicted in Mountainous Areas Today ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: The country is currently experiencing partial impact of the Westerly winds. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 1: The country is currently experiencing partial impact of the Westerly winds. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Weather Forecasting Division, the mountainous areas of the country, especially in the Koshi Province, will see partial changes in the weather while the remaining provinces will have general weather conditions today. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meteorologist Saroj Pudasaini shared that light rainfall with thunderstorm and lightning is likely to take place in one-two places of the mountainous belt having partial changes in the weather across the country today, November 1. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He further said that snowfall is predicted in one-two areas of high mountainous and hill areas of the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the country will see partial changes in the weather in the night, the division added. --- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19108', 'image' => '20231101124809_20190208014800_aaaa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 12:47:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19379', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Secretary-General Guterres Wraps Up his Official Visit to Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'November 1: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrapped up his four-day official visit to Nepal on Wednesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">November 1: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrapped up his four-day official visit to Nepal on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Purna Bahadur Khadka bade him farewell at the VVIP lounge of the Tribhuvan International Airport. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives of the United Nations Office in Nepal were present. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A contingent of the Nepalese Army offered guard of honour to Guterres in his farewell. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The UN secretary-general arrived here on October 28 for his official visit to Nepal at the cordial invitation of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During his stay in Nepal, the UN chief held separate meetings with President Ram Chandra Paudel and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal as well Nepali Congress (NC) President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-UML Chair and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Speaker Devraj Ghimire, National Assembly Chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, Deputy Prime Minister duo, Khadka and Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Prakash Saud. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In course of his stay in Nepal, he reached the Everest region and Annapurna Base Camp, Pokhara and Lumbini. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He also observed historically and archeologically important Patan Durbar Square in Lalitpur. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">PM Dahal had hosted a dinner reception with cultural programme in honour of the secretary-general. He also addressed the joint session of the federal parliament. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This is the first visit of Guterres after assuming the post of UN secretary-general in 2017 and his second visit to Nepal as a UN representative. During his visit, he discussed the issues related to Nepal's home-grown peace process, climate change and poverty alleviation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">His visit has been taken as a highly important diplomatic incident. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-11-01', 'modified' => '2023-11-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19107', 'image' => '20231101120506_RatnaShrestha_KTM_15_20231101103624_RATL0088(3).JPG', 'article_date' => '2023-11-01 12:04:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
