October 20: The Area Police Office, Banepa, has seized a total of 92 sacks of sugar brought by evading taxes.…
October 20: The Area Police Office, Banepa, has seized a total of 92 sacks of sugar brought by evading taxes.…
Despite the festive season of Dashain, Birgunj city is experiencing an unusual lack of hustle and bustle. Traders in the city are currently facing a challenging situation, as they eagerly await…
The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index shed 4.04 points or 0.215 and closed at 1903.84 points on the fifth trading day of the week,…
October 19: The cement industries operating in the country are at risk due to the lack of market.…
October 19: Ncell Axiata Limited has launched a festive offer for its customers, under which Ncell customers can enjoy data volume as bonuses on every…
October 19: India purchased electricity worth Rs 11.80 billion from the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in the last five months; from mid-May to mid-October.…
October 19: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to add three more aircraft to its fleet for domestic flights with its own…
October 19: Three months after Nepal wrote a letter to India seeking for supply of rice, the southern neighbor has responded positively to Nepal’s…
October 19: Beijing will inject over $100 billion of new funding into its Belt and Road initiative, President Xi Jinping said Wednesday at a summit marking the vast infrastructure project's tenth…
October 19: Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet has directed Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to ensure regular power supply during the festivals of Dashain, Tihar, Nepal Sambat, Chhath and others so that the celebrations would not be…
October 19: The government’s expenditure has exceeded revenue collection in the first three months of the current fiscal…
Karnali Province faces an annual food grain deficit of 19,116 metric tonnes, according to the data provided by the provincial…
The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index gained 43.27 points or 2.32% and closed at 1907 points on the fourth trading day of the week,…
October 18: The country’s economy, which was affected by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, is gradually starting to return to…
October 18: The Infrastructure Development Bank has been also allowed to reschedule loans for projects affected by natural disasters such as floods, landslides and…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 20: The Area Police Office, Banepa, has seized a total of 92 sacks of sugar brought by evading taxes. The police said that a truck (Na 6 Kha 6219) was impounded from Banepa Municipality-7 along with the sugar during a security check on Thursday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The sugar was reportedly being supplied by concealing it in the sacks filled with paddy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Kavre Raj Kumar Shrestha told the state-owned RSS that the market value of the sugar confiscated by the police is worth around Rs 600,000. </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"">Likewise, truck driver Raju Timalsina, 27, has also been arrested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The police said that the truck and the goods seized during the security check have been sent to the Department of Revenue Investigation at Hariharbhawan in Lalitpur for further investigations. </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"">There has been a shortage of sugar in the market during the festive season when the demand is high and the government has failed to import sugar on time. As a result, the price of sugar has been skyrocketing in the market. The price of sugar, which was Rs 95 per kg, has increased to Rs 140 per kg in the retail market.</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"">People in the Terai areas have been relying on smuggled sugar, which costs much less than the current price of sugar available in the market. (With inputs from RSS)</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-20', 'modified' => '2023-10-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19036', 'image' => '20231020101843_sugar.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-20 10:17:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sales Decline in Birgunj as Customers Choose India for Dashain Shopping', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Despite the festive season of Dashain, Birgunj city is experiencing an unusual lack of hustle and bustle. Traders in the city are currently facing a challenging situation, as they eagerly await customers.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 20: Despite the festive season of Dashain, Birgunj city is experiencing an unusual lack of hustle and bustle. Traders in the city are currently facing a challenging situation, as they eagerly await customers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The primary reason behind this downturn is the increasing number of customers crossing the border to Raxaul, a city in India, where they can find goods at lower prices.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Customers are drawn to Raxaul due to the more affordable prices, which stands in stark contrast to Birgunj where shopkeepers are burdened with customs duties that drive up the prices of goods. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This trend has raised concerns among Nepali retailers, particularly those dealing with clothing, food items, electronic, and electrical goods. Individual customers are now effortlessly importing these products from Raxaul, bypassing the higher customs costs they'd face in Birgunj.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Dipak Sharraf, a retailer, has expressed his concerns about the significant decline in transactions in Birgunj due to the high customs duties. He even cautioned that if this trend persists, many shops in Birgunj might be forced to close their doors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Pankaj Rauniyar, a clothing trader, has noted a stark difference between this Dashain and the previous one, describing the current season as rather lackluster. Transaction activity has witnessed a sharp decline, leaving traders worried.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Bikash Kumar Agrawal, another retailer, revealed that purchases of appliances like refrigerators, TVs, and washing machines have plummeted by 70% compared to the previous festival season. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">He suggested that the government should consider reforms in economic policies to revitalize the dwindling retail sector, which has been struggling.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Traders in Birgunj, a vital trade hub in the country, are calling for the government's urgent intervention to rejuvenate the economy, which has already suffered significant setbacks due to the impact of COVID-19. (RSS)</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-20', 'modified' => '2023-10-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19035', 'image' => '20231020065009_collage (17).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-20 06:48:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Sheds 4.05 Points to Settle at 1903.84', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index shed 4.04 points or 0.215 and closed at 1903.84 points on the fifth trading day of the week, Thursday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 19: The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index shed 4.04 points or 0.215 and closed at 1903.84 points on the fifth trading day of the week, Thursday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The secondary benchmark index experienced a slight decline today following a significant gain of 43.27 points yesterday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Experienced investors and analysts are confident that the market is unlikely to fall any further since it appears to be at a stable bottom. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">One investor attributed the decrease in turnover to the Dashain festival, which has momentarily subdued market momentum.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> A total of 284 scrips were traded through 25,520 transactions. As many as 3,766,153 units of shares exchanged their hands, amounting to Rs 97 crores. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Nabil Bank Promoter Share(NABILP) had the highest turnover of 5.90 crores, closing at a market price of Rs 312. Likewise, Citizens Mutual Fund 2(CMF2) gained the highest 0.42%, closing at a market price of 7.57 per share.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Upper Solu Hydro Electric Company Limited (USHEC) lost the highest 8.25%, closing at a market price of Rs 247 per share. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In terms of sector indices, nine sectors landed in the red territory, while four sectors closed in the green zone. Hydropower Index Lost the highest 0.96%, while Trading Index and Manufacturing and Processing Index each lost the least 0.00%.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sensitive Index and Sensitive Float Index experienced a gain of 0.03% and 0.02% respectively, while Float Index lost 0.24%. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19034', 'image' => '20231019033231_collage (27).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 15:30:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cement Industry on the Brink of Collapse due to Low Construction Activities', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: The cement industries operating in the country are at risk due to the lack of market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 19: The cement industries operating in the country are at risk due to the lack of market. According to industrialists, the income of majority of the 63 cement industries that are operating in the country has slumped due to the lack of market. </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"">Dhruba Thapa, president of the Nepal Cement Producers Association, said that the cement industries are now on the brink of collapse. </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"">"Due to the lack of market, industries have reached a state of collapsing. More than 20 per cent of the industries are not even running," 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"">Vice President of Nepal Cement Producers Association and Managing Director of Agni Cement Tara Prasad Pokharel said that the cement industry has been affected due to the lack of construction of physical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and irrigation in the country.</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"">"New construction works have not started, the builders have not been paid their dues, and therefore sufficient construction work has not been done. It has had a direct impact on the cement industry," 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"">Pokharel said that since Indian cement is cheaper than the cement produced in Nepal, they cannot compete with the Indian products.</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 of Nepal has given up to 8 percent cash subsidy to encourage cement export," said Pokharel, "If we want to protect the cement industry and promote exports, it is necessary to give 20 percent subsidy on export," 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"">According to the report of 10 cement companies published by various rating companies, the company's operating income of Rs 34 billion in 2020 increased by 23 percent to Rs 41.92 billion in 2021. However, compared to 2021, the income of cement industries increased by only 5 percent in 2022. Industrialist said that the income is affected due to lack of market.</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, in the year 2022, 10 cement industries, which earned an operating profit of Rs 44.28 billion, have been rated for a loan of Rs 57.14 billion. This loan is 29 percent more than their operating profit.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19033', 'image' => '20231019014714_20210116080717_Clipboard40.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 13:46:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19305', 'article_category_id' => '266', 'title' => 'Ncell Launches Festive Offer with Data Volume for Recharge', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Ncell Axiata Limited has launched a festive offer for its customers, under which Ncell customers can enjoy data volume as bonuses on every recharge.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 19: Ncell Axiata Limited has launched a festive offer for its customers, under which Ncell customers can enjoy data volume as bonuses on every recharge. The company expressed its belief that this offer will help its customers keep in touch with their friends and families during the festivals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a statement on Wednesday, Ncell said it has launched the Festive Refill Offer on the occasion of this Dashain providing data volume as bonuses to prepaid and postpaid customers upon recharge of Rs 200 and more</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">This offer has come into effect from Wednesday (October 18) and will remain in place for 15 days, added the statement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Under the refill offer, customers are entitled to get a bonus data volume ranging from 2000 MB to 8000 MB depending on the amount of balance top up. According to the company, Ccstomers recharging balance of Rs 200 to Rs 499 will get 400 MB all time data and 1600 MB data which can be used from 11 PM till 6 PM (19 hours) as bonus on recharge. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> Likewise, customers recharging their main balance with Rs 500 and more can enjoys 2400 MB all time data and 5600 MB data that can be used from 11 PM till 6 PM (19 hours) as bonus on recharge, added the company. The bonus data received under this festive offer remains valid for two days from the date of receiving such bonus. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Amount added in the main balance of customers via Ncell Saapati and balance transfer is not applicable for this offer, the statement further said. According to Ncell, customers topping up their balance through all recharge mediums (physical recharge card to digital top up) get data bonus upon recharge automatically. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Marking the occasion and sharing his excitement regarding the festive offer, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Ncell Jabbor Kayumov said, "At Ncell, our utmost focus remains on ensuring and enhancing customer experience and with Ncell's Festival Offer, we aim to make every conversation and connection of our beloved customers even more meaningful. With this festive offer, we thank our valued customers for choosing Ncell and extend our warm festival wishes. “</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Ncell said it believes that this refill offer will add great value among customers to stay connected with loved ones and share the excitement of festivals.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19032', 'image' => '20231019021705_nc.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 14:16:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Sells Electricity worth Rs 11 Billion to India in Five Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: India purchased electricity worth Rs 11.80 billion from the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in the last five months; from mid-May to mid-October. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 19: India purchased electricity worth Rs 11.80 billion from the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in the last five months; from mid-May to mid-October. The NEA has been selling surplus electricity in the rainy season to India.</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 the first three months of the current fiscal year (from mid-July to mid-October), NEA exported electricity worth Rs 9.645 billion to India. Last month alone (mid-September to mid-October), NEA sold electricity worth Rs 4.235 billion in the Indian market. </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 average rate of electricity exported to India in three months was Rs 10.27 per unit. </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, electricity worth Rs 405 million were exported in five days of May and Rs 1.75 billion in June to India. The average selling price of electricity exported to India in May and June was Rs 9.67 per unit.</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 NEA has been selling 522 megawatts of electricity through competition in the day-ahead market of IEX and about 110 megawatts of electricity to the Indian company NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN) as per the power agreement between Nepal and India. NVVN is selling the electricity purchased from NEA in the state of Haryana.</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"">Kulman Ghising, executive director of NEA, said that it is possible to export electricity worth Rs 16 billion this year. </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"">“We have submitted a proposal to the Central Electricity Authority of India seeking for permission to export about 100 megawatts of electricity, but as we did not get the approval, we sent the proposal again some time ago,” said Ghising, adding, “The festive season has already started. During this period, the factories are closed and Kathmandu is deserted. The heat has subsided in the Terai and the domestic demand for electricity will decrease. If we do not get approval to export more electricity to India, we may have to close the power plants. We are confident that we will get approval for more electricity export soon.”</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"">NEA received approval for the export of 522 MW of electricity in the competitive market and 110 MW to NVVN. Out of this, 562 MW of electricity is being exported from Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 KV international transmission line and 70 MW from Mahendranagar-Tanakpur 132 KV transmission line.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => 'NEA, electricity, Nepal, India', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19031', 'image' => '20231019012323_20230716115331_eee.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 13:22:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19302', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC to Add Three Small Aircraft with its Own Resources', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to add three more aircraft to its fleet for domestic flights with its own resources.', '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"">October 19: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to add three more aircraft to its fleet for domestic flights with its own resources. Stating that the business expansion and income of NAC have been better than in the previous year, the state-owned airline company said it is in the final stage of preparation to purchase the aircraft for domestic flights. The NAC said it will purchase the aircraft on installments basis.</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 flag carrier of Nepal had taken loans from the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) and the Citizens' Investment Trust (CIT) to purchase aircraft for international flights.</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 NAC had purchased two wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft with the loans. It paid installments of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">53</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">0</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">.9</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million to the EPF and CIT on Tuesday.</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 NAC, it has already paid installments of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3.77</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> billion to these organizations between mid-June </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2022</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> to mid-June 2023</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">NAC Spokesperson Ramesh Paudel said that the company's business expansion and income have improved compared to the previous year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, the NAC has cleared all its dues and is also managing expenses for regular and emergency maintenance of engine and aircraft on its own after improvement in cash flow.</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 said that the NAC plans to buy new aircraft to fly to remote areas (STOL) based on the current needs. </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 added that the new aircraft will serve passengers in the remote areas and it will also promote tourism and also maintain the price of airfare.</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"">Likewise, the NAC issued a notice on Wednesday and informed that it has resumed operation of aircraft that were grounded due to technical problems for a few days.</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 NAC’s aircraft were grounded for some time due to technical problems, recently. The NAC mentioned that all the aircraft are operating regular flights since Monday after necessary repairs.</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"">NAC currently has four Airbus for international flights and only one Twin Otter for domestic flights. Six NAC aircraft manufactured in China are currently grounded due to high operating cost and expensive spare parts.</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 the NAC’s presence in domestic market is weak, private companies are charging exorbitant fares taking advantage of the festive season at present.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19030', 'image' => '20231019125846_20230428123538_nac twin.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 12:58:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19301', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India to Supply 95,000 Metric Tons of Rice to Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Three months after Nepal wrote a letter to India seeking for supply of rice, the southern neighbor has responded positively to Nepal’s request.', '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"">October 19: Three months after Nepal wrote a letter to India seeking for supply of rice, the southern neighbor has responded positively to Nepal’s request.</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"">India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued a notice on Wednesday informing that the quota of rice export to Nepal has been set at </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">95</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"">000</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">metric tons.</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 notice mentions that India has agreed to supply non-Basmati rice to seven countries including Nepal. The export of rice under quota system will be carried out by the National Cooperative Export Limited of 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"">In mid-June, Nepal had written a letter to India demanding </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">100,000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons of rice, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50,000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons of sugar and </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">5,000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons of paddy.</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"">Gajendra Thakur, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, confirmed that India has agreed to supply rice nearly three months after Nepal's request. </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 rice in the domestic market had increased recently after India banned the export of rice and paddy.</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"">There was also a fear of increasing risk of food insecurity in Nepal. According to spokesperson Thakur, there is no need to worry now as the new lot of rice will arrive in Nepal soon.</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 notice, India has set a quota to export </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10</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"">34</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"">800 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">metric tons of rice to Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Malaysia, the Philippines and Seychelles along with Nepal. Among these countries, the Philippines will received the maximum </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">295</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"">000 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">tons of rice followed by Cameroon, which will get </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">190</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"">000 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">tons and then, Malaysia, which will get </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">170</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"">000 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">tons of rice.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19029', 'image' => '20231019120729_1697678163.1688637526.rice.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 12:06:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19300', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'China's Xi Announces Over $100 Billion in New Belt and Road Funding ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Beijing will inject over $100 billion of new funding into its Belt and Road initiative, President Xi Jinping said Wednesday at a summit marking the vast infrastructure project's tenth anniversary. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 19: Beijing will inject over $100 billion of new funding into its Belt and Road initiative, President Xi Jinping said Wednesday at a summit marking the vast infrastructure project's tenth anniversary. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Belt and Road is a central pillar of Xi's bid to expand China's clout overseas, with Beijing saying it has now inked over two trillion dollars in contracts around the world. </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"">Proponents hail it for bringing resources and economic growth to the Global South. But the initiative has also been slammed for saddling poor countries with enormous debt. Xi announced on Wednesday that key Belt and Road lenders the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank will now offer an additional $100 billion in loans. </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"">Both will set up financing opportunities of 350 billion yuan ($47.9 billion) for BRI projects, he said. An additional 80 billion yuan will be injected into the project's official lending institution, the Silk Road fund, Xi said. </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"">This week's forum, attended by representatives of 130 countries, is the third major summit of its kind to be hosted by Beijing since the Belt and Road's launch in 2013. </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"">Critics have long pointed to opaque pricing for BRI projects built by Chinese companies, with countries including Malaysia and Myanmar renegotiating deals to bring down costs. </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"">Beijing has been forced to hand out billions of dollars in bailout loans to BRI countries in recent years to allow the countries to extend their loans and remain solvent, according to a joint report this year by the World Bank and other institutions. </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"">And China said this month that BRI participants owe more than $300 billion to the Export-Import Bank of China. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The initiative has also drawn scrutiny for its massive carbon footprint and the environmental degradation caused by massive infrastructure projects. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The development of megaports, pipelines, railways and highways could render the Paris climate goals unreachable, researchers from China, the United States and the United Kingdom warned in 2019. – AFP/RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => 'China, Xi, Jinping, Belt, Road, Initiative, BRI', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19028', 'image' => '20231019104715_XxjpbeE007019_20231018_PEPFN1A001.JPG', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 10:46:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19299', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Energy Minister Directs NEA to Ensure Uninterrupted Power Supply During Festivals', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet has directed Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to ensure regular power supply during the festivals of Dashain, Tihar, Nepal Sambat, Chhath and others so that the celebrations would not be hampered. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 19: Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet has directed Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to ensure regular power supply during the festivals of Dashain, Tihar, Nepal Sambat, Chhath and others so that the celebrations would not be hampered. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minister called the NEA executive director Kulman Ghising, deputy executive director Manoj Silwal and chief of the NEA's load-dispatch centre Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai to his office in Singha Durbar and directed them as well as the chiefs of the NEA's distribution centres within the Kathmandu Valley to make arrangements so that the citizens will get smooth power supply, giving no room for any complaint from a single house. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Become responsible and active for 24 hours, so that there is no room for public complaint. A few minutes in disruption of power supply during the festival period spoils the good work you have been doing throughout the year," Minister Basnet said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He directed NEA to distribute maximum power to the industries and enterprises during the festival time, and also suggested to create condition that the excess power is also not wasted. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Energy Minister urged NEA to make its no-light centres more responsible, to make arrangement for receiving the phone calls from customers promptly and to manage rapid team for reaching the consumer's house within minutes in case of any problem. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Minister Basnet is also the chairperson of the NEA Board of Directors. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Energy Secretary Gopal Sigdel directed the NEA executive director and other officials to provide services keeping the consumers in the centre. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Executive Director Ghising informed that human resources have been managed and will be mobilized in the Valley and urban areas to be mobilized round-the-clock. He said that he will be out regularly monitoring and inspecting the distribution centres during the festive season, so that there will be no complaints from consumers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We have made efforts as far as possible to prevent wastage of power. Preparations have also been made to supply the excess power to the Indian market, but the final consent has not been received yet (from the Indian side)," he said. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => 'Energy, Minister, Kulman Ghising, NEA, electricity, festival, supply, Dashain, Tihar', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19027', 'image' => '20231019102336_light.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 10:22:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19298', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Expenses Exceed Revenue Collection in First Quarter', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: The government’s expenditure has exceeded revenue collection in the first three months of the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 19: The government’s expenditure has exceeded revenue collection in the first three months of the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the latest data, the government's revenue collection stood in the review period was 15.93 percent of the annual target while the expenditure stood at 16.02 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Financial Comptroller General’s Office said that out of the total expenditure in the first three months of the fiscal year (FY) 2023-24, the current expenditure stood at 18.69 percent, followed by 16.05 percent towards financial management and 5.9 percent towards capital expenditures. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government had announced a budget of Rs 1,751.31 billion for the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The total allocation towards current expenditure is Rs 1,141.78 billion for this fiscal year with expenditures amounting to Rs 213.39 billion as of October 17. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, the government has allocated Rs 302.07 billion towards capital expenditure, while the expenses under this heading stands at Rs 17.83 billion so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Under the headings of financial management, the government has allocated Rs 307.45 while the expenditure in the first quarter stands at Rs 49.34 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The revenue collection in the first quarter is Rs 234.36 billion which makes up 15.93 percent of the annual target. The government has set a target to collect revenue worth Rs 1472.48 billion in the current fiscal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the target of securing Rs 49.94 billion as foreign grant in the current fiscal, the achievement till date is 0.12 percent or Rs 61.08 million. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19026', 'image' => '20231019095653_20210105024513_20200327032654_5003_finance-ministy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 09:56:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19297', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Karnali Faces 19,116 Metric Tonnes Food Grain Deficit Annually', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Karnali Province faces an annual food grain deficit of 19,116 metric tonnes, according to the data provided by the provincial government.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 19: Karnali Province faces an annual food grain deficit of 19,116 metric tonnes, according to the data provided by the provincial government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Among its ten districts, Salyan, Rukum West, and Surkhet manage to produce enough food grain for their needs, while the remaining districts must rely on food grain imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In particular, Dailekh, Jajarkot, Humla, Kalikot, Jumla, Mugu, and Dolpa districts struggle to produce sufficient food grain to meet their yearly requirements.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Dailekh and Jumla are comparatively less reliant on food grain imports when compared to the other food-deficit districts, said Agriculture Directorate under the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture, and Cooperatives of the Karnali Province Government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Chitra Bahadur Rokaya, Director at the Directorate, emphasized that the provincial government is actively working on implementing various programs aimed at achieving food self-sufficiency in all of its districts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">To reach this objective, the province has embraced the concept of becoming an "organic province," and all relevant stakeholders play a crucial role in the success of this initiative.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A 2019 survey conducted in the hilly and mountainous areas of the province by organizations such as the World Food Programme, EPI, and FAO revealed that 28 percent of households in the province did not have access to an adequate amount of food.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> In this group, 8 percent of households faced a critical shortage of food, indicative of an extreme hunger problem in the region. (RSS) </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19025', 'image' => '20231019071414_collage (16).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 07:12:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19294', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Gains Substantial 43.27 Points to Close at 1907 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index gained 43.27 points or 2.32% and closed at 1907 points on the fourth trading day of the week, Wednesday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 18: The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index gained 43.27 points or 2.32% and closed at 1907 points on the fourth trading day of the week, Wednesday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Today's market gain can be attributed to a combination of several factors. First and foremost, the decision of many banks and financial institutions to lower their interest rates for the current month has had positive impact on the market. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, selling pressures for the Dashain festival came to an end, relieving the downward pressure on stock prices and allowed the market to rebound.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON)’s decision to reduce broker commission rates by 10% has injected positive optimism among the investors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A total of 286 scrips were traded through 31,788 transactions. Likewise, as many as 3, 772,023 units of shares exchanged their hands, amount to Rs 93 crores. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sanima GIC Insurance Limited (SGIC) had the highest turnover, reaching Rs. 4.46 crores, and closed at a market price of Rs. 434.00.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Similarly, Asha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd (ALBSL) showed the highest gain of 10%, followed by Infinity Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (ILBS) with a gain of 9.97%.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">On the flip side, BPW Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (BPW) showed the highest loss at 4.62%.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In terms of sector indices, all sectors closed in the green territory. "Non-Life Insurance" gained the highest 2.87%, while "Mutual Fund" gained the least of 0.38%.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sensitive Index experienced a gain of 2.27%, while Float Index and Sensitive Float Index gained 3.15% and 2.93% respectively.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-18', 'modified' => '2023-10-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19022', 'image' => '20231018051927_collage (15).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-18 17:17:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19292', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Economy Getting Back on Track', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 18: The country’s economy, which was affected by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, is gradually starting to return to normalcy.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 18: The country’s economy, which was affected by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, is gradually starting to return to normalcy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Economic Research Department of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) published a report on Tuesday that showed that the external sector of the economy has become stronger and the internal sector is also gradually catching up in the first two months of the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report of NRB based on data of the first two months of the current FY mentions that the indicators of the external sector including the balance of payments, foreign exchange reserves have reached a comfortable level. Similarly, as the deposits and credit flows of banks and financial institutions have been positive, it indicates that the internal economy is also starting to return back on track. Due to the increase in service income from tourism and other inflow of remittances, the foreign currency reserves have reached the highest point so far. Similarly, as the deposits and credit flow of the banks have also started to increase, there are signs that the internal economy is gradually returning to normalcy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banking expert Parshuram Kunwar Chhetri added, “Some signs of improvement are seen in the economy. Now NRB should work to ease the situation through monetary policy.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Remittances continue to grow</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data of NRB, the remittance inflow increased by 22.1 percent and reached Rs 228 billion by mid-September of the current year. In the same period of the previous year, the remittance inflow increased by 19.8 percent. Similarly, the remittance inflow in US dollars increased by 17.7 percent and reached 1.73 billion, which were 11.3 last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Post-Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a positive impact on remittances due to the increase in the number of people going to work abroad and the government's policy of encouraging remittances through formal channels. In the same way, when the remittance received formally is kept in the bank, arrangements have been made to give an additional 1 percentage point of interest.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The remittance sender is also encouraged by reservation given in the ordinary shares issued by public companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Abroad study increasing the loss of service income</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although there has been some relief in the trade deficit, as the number of Nepalis going for studies abroad is high, the travel expenses have started to increase at a high rate. In the 2nd month of the current fiscal year, travel expenses increased by 76.5 percent and reached Rs 35.6 billion. Out of this, the expenditure towards education is Rs 23.33 billion, according to the NRB report. By mid-September, the tourism income increased by 53.9 percent and reached Rs 9.34 billion, which was Rs 6.7 billion in the same period of previous year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As expenses are higher than income, the net service income is at a loss of Rs 25.34 billion as of mid-September, which was Rs 19.26 billion last year. During the same period, the total trade deficit decreased by 4.7 percent and remained at Rs 233.30 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Exchange rates and foreign exchange reserves high</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As of August of the current fiscal year, the current account remained at a surplus of Rs 53.61 billion, which was at a loss of Rs 20.81 billion last year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The total foreign exchange reserves, which stood at Rs 1539 billion till mid-July, increased by 3.9 percent and reached Rs 1598 billion in mid-September. With the increase in foreign exchange reserves, the country’s ability to meet the import of goods and services has also strengthened. Based on the data of two months of the current FY, the foreign exchange reserves of the banking sector are sufficient to support 12.6 months of import of goods and 10.3 months of import of goods and services, according to the report of NRB.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Earlier last year, NRB and the government took a policy of tightening the imports after the foreign exchange reserves fell to a low point and the imports were restricted for 6 months. In addition, to the government banning the import of luxury goods, NRB also adopted a strict policy on loans used for imports and going to non-productive sectors. As the external indicators of the economy eased, the government and NRB have become flexible. The NRB has already reviewed its tight monetary policy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the external indicators of the economy becoming comfortable, the internal situation is showing signs of returning to normalcy, deposits and loans of banks and financial institutions have started to increase, while interest rates have been decreasing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Pressure on inflation</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although the indicators of the external sector of the economy are strong, there is pressure on inflation. In the month of September, the consumer price increase is 8.19 percent. Compared to the same period last year, inflation has decreased, but it has increased compared to the previous month this year. Last year, the consumer price inflation in September was 8.64 percent. Similarly, in August of the current year, the consumer price inflation was 7.52 percent.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-18', 'modified' => '2023-10-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19021', 'image' => '20231018031459_20230815041218_1692063085.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-18 15:14:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19293', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Allows Infrastructure Development Bank to Rescheduling Loans ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 18: The Infrastructure Development Bank has been also allowed to reschedule loans for projects affected by natural disasters such as floods, landslides and earthquakes.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 18: The Infrastructure Development Bank has been also allowed to reschedule loans for projects affected by natural disasters such as floods, landslides and earthquakes. Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on Monday revised the Unified Directive allowing the loans provided by the Infrastructure Development Bank to be rescheduled. Earlier this facility was given only to commercial banks, development banks and finance companies.</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 the instructions of the central bank, the Infrastructure Development Bank can reschedule loans invested in hotels and restaurants, cement, bricks and other such industries in the construction sector. Similarly, loans given to the education, health projects affected by natural disasters like floods, landslides, earthquakes, etc can also be rescheduled upon the request of the borrowers. This can be done by taking at least 10 per cent of additional interest and after analyzing the cash flow and income of the industry/business and the decision must be based on need and justifiable.</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"">A provision has been made that banks and financial institutions can also reschedule and restructure loans up to Rs 50 million invested in hotels and restaurants, animal husbandry, the construction sector and all other sectors upon the request of the borrower after analyzing the cash flow and income of the industry/business based on need and justification. </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"">Likewise, the Infrastructure Development Bank has also been instructed to implement a 0.5 per cent 'counter-cyclical buffer'. Earlier, the NRB had issued instructions to the commercial banks to implement a counter-cyclical buffer of 0.5 per cent within the current fiscal year.</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"">Meanwhile, NRB has extended the time to publish the financial reports of the first quarter of the current fiscal year of banks and financial institutions. Banks have to publish their financial report within 7 days of the end of every quarter, but this time they have given it till November 3. NRB informed that the period for publishing the report has been extended due to the public holiday of Dashain this year.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-18', 'modified' => '2023-10-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19020', 'image' => '20231018031616_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-18 15:15:20', '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' => '19308', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Police Seize 92 Sacks of Sugar ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 20: The Area Police Office, Banepa, has seized a total of 92 sacks of sugar brought by evading taxes. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 20: The Area Police Office, Banepa, has seized a total of 92 sacks of sugar brought by evading taxes. The police said that a truck (Na 6 Kha 6219) was impounded from Banepa Municipality-7 along with the sugar during a security check on Thursday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The sugar was reportedly being supplied by concealing it in the sacks filled with paddy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Kavre Raj Kumar Shrestha told the state-owned RSS that the market value of the sugar confiscated by the police is worth around Rs 600,000. </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"">Likewise, truck driver Raju Timalsina, 27, has also been arrested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The police said that the truck and the goods seized during the security check have been sent to the Department of Revenue Investigation at Hariharbhawan in Lalitpur for further investigations. </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"">There has been a shortage of sugar in the market during the festive season when the demand is high and the government has failed to import sugar on time. As a result, the price of sugar has been skyrocketing in the market. The price of sugar, which was Rs 95 per kg, has increased to Rs 140 per kg in the retail market.</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"">People in the Terai areas have been relying on smuggled sugar, which costs much less than the current price of sugar available in the market. (With inputs from RSS)</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-20', 'modified' => '2023-10-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19036', 'image' => '20231020101843_sugar.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-20 10:17:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sales Decline in Birgunj as Customers Choose India for Dashain Shopping', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Despite the festive season of Dashain, Birgunj city is experiencing an unusual lack of hustle and bustle. Traders in the city are currently facing a challenging situation, as they eagerly await customers.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 20: Despite the festive season of Dashain, Birgunj city is experiencing an unusual lack of hustle and bustle. Traders in the city are currently facing a challenging situation, as they eagerly await customers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The primary reason behind this downturn is the increasing number of customers crossing the border to Raxaul, a city in India, where they can find goods at lower prices.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Customers are drawn to Raxaul due to the more affordable prices, which stands in stark contrast to Birgunj where shopkeepers are burdened with customs duties that drive up the prices of goods. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This trend has raised concerns among Nepali retailers, particularly those dealing with clothing, food items, electronic, and electrical goods. Individual customers are now effortlessly importing these products from Raxaul, bypassing the higher customs costs they'd face in Birgunj.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Dipak Sharraf, a retailer, has expressed his concerns about the significant decline in transactions in Birgunj due to the high customs duties. He even cautioned that if this trend persists, many shops in Birgunj might be forced to close their doors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Pankaj Rauniyar, a clothing trader, has noted a stark difference between this Dashain and the previous one, describing the current season as rather lackluster. Transaction activity has witnessed a sharp decline, leaving traders worried.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Bikash Kumar Agrawal, another retailer, revealed that purchases of appliances like refrigerators, TVs, and washing machines have plummeted by 70% compared to the previous festival season. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">He suggested that the government should consider reforms in economic policies to revitalize the dwindling retail sector, which has been struggling.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Traders in Birgunj, a vital trade hub in the country, are calling for the government's urgent intervention to rejuvenate the economy, which has already suffered significant setbacks due to the impact of COVID-19. (RSS)</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-20', 'modified' => '2023-10-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19035', 'image' => '20231020065009_collage (17).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-20 06:48:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Sheds 4.05 Points to Settle at 1903.84', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index shed 4.04 points or 0.215 and closed at 1903.84 points on the fifth trading day of the week, Thursday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 19: The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index shed 4.04 points or 0.215 and closed at 1903.84 points on the fifth trading day of the week, Thursday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The secondary benchmark index experienced a slight decline today following a significant gain of 43.27 points yesterday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Experienced investors and analysts are confident that the market is unlikely to fall any further since it appears to be at a stable bottom. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">One investor attributed the decrease in turnover to the Dashain festival, which has momentarily subdued market momentum.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> A total of 284 scrips were traded through 25,520 transactions. As many as 3,766,153 units of shares exchanged their hands, amounting to Rs 97 crores. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Nabil Bank Promoter Share(NABILP) had the highest turnover of 5.90 crores, closing at a market price of Rs 312. Likewise, Citizens Mutual Fund 2(CMF2) gained the highest 0.42%, closing at a market price of 7.57 per share.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Upper Solu Hydro Electric Company Limited (USHEC) lost the highest 8.25%, closing at a market price of Rs 247 per share. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In terms of sector indices, nine sectors landed in the red territory, while four sectors closed in the green zone. Hydropower Index Lost the highest 0.96%, while Trading Index and Manufacturing and Processing Index each lost the least 0.00%.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sensitive Index and Sensitive Float Index experienced a gain of 0.03% and 0.02% respectively, while Float Index lost 0.24%. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19034', 'image' => '20231019033231_collage (27).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 15:30:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cement Industry on the Brink of Collapse due to Low Construction Activities', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: The cement industries operating in the country are at risk due to the lack of market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 19: The cement industries operating in the country are at risk due to the lack of market. According to industrialists, the income of majority of the 63 cement industries that are operating in the country has slumped due to the lack of market. </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"">Dhruba Thapa, president of the Nepal Cement Producers Association, said that the cement industries are now on the brink of collapse. </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"">"Due to the lack of market, industries have reached a state of collapsing. More than 20 per cent of the industries are not even running," 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"">Vice President of Nepal Cement Producers Association and Managing Director of Agni Cement Tara Prasad Pokharel said that the cement industry has been affected due to the lack of construction of physical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and irrigation in the country.</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"">"New construction works have not started, the builders have not been paid their dues, and therefore sufficient construction work has not been done. It has had a direct impact on the cement industry," 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"">Pokharel said that since Indian cement is cheaper than the cement produced in Nepal, they cannot compete with the Indian products.</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 of Nepal has given up to 8 percent cash subsidy to encourage cement export," said Pokharel, "If we want to protect the cement industry and promote exports, it is necessary to give 20 percent subsidy on export," 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"">According to the report of 10 cement companies published by various rating companies, the company's operating income of Rs 34 billion in 2020 increased by 23 percent to Rs 41.92 billion in 2021. However, compared to 2021, the income of cement industries increased by only 5 percent in 2022. Industrialist said that the income is affected due to lack of market.</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, in the year 2022, 10 cement industries, which earned an operating profit of Rs 44.28 billion, have been rated for a loan of Rs 57.14 billion. This loan is 29 percent more than their operating profit.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19033', 'image' => '20231019014714_20210116080717_Clipboard40.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 13:46:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19305', 'article_category_id' => '266', 'title' => 'Ncell Launches Festive Offer with Data Volume for Recharge', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Ncell Axiata Limited has launched a festive offer for its customers, under which Ncell customers can enjoy data volume as bonuses on every recharge.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 19: Ncell Axiata Limited has launched a festive offer for its customers, under which Ncell customers can enjoy data volume as bonuses on every recharge. The company expressed its belief that this offer will help its customers keep in touch with their friends and families during the festivals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a statement on Wednesday, Ncell said it has launched the Festive Refill Offer on the occasion of this Dashain providing data volume as bonuses to prepaid and postpaid customers upon recharge of Rs 200 and more</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">This offer has come into effect from Wednesday (October 18) and will remain in place for 15 days, added the statement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Under the refill offer, customers are entitled to get a bonus data volume ranging from 2000 MB to 8000 MB depending on the amount of balance top up. According to the company, Ccstomers recharging balance of Rs 200 to Rs 499 will get 400 MB all time data and 1600 MB data which can be used from 11 PM till 6 PM (19 hours) as bonus on recharge. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> Likewise, customers recharging their main balance with Rs 500 and more can enjoys 2400 MB all time data and 5600 MB data that can be used from 11 PM till 6 PM (19 hours) as bonus on recharge, added the company. The bonus data received under this festive offer remains valid for two days from the date of receiving such bonus. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Amount added in the main balance of customers via Ncell Saapati and balance transfer is not applicable for this offer, the statement further said. According to Ncell, customers topping up their balance through all recharge mediums (physical recharge card to digital top up) get data bonus upon recharge automatically. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Marking the occasion and sharing his excitement regarding the festive offer, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Ncell Jabbor Kayumov said, "At Ncell, our utmost focus remains on ensuring and enhancing customer experience and with Ncell's Festival Offer, we aim to make every conversation and connection of our beloved customers even more meaningful. With this festive offer, we thank our valued customers for choosing Ncell and extend our warm festival wishes. “</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Ncell said it believes that this refill offer will add great value among customers to stay connected with loved ones and share the excitement of festivals.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19032', 'image' => '20231019021705_nc.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 14:16:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Sells Electricity worth Rs 11 Billion to India in Five Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: India purchased electricity worth Rs 11.80 billion from the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in the last five months; from mid-May to mid-October. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 19: India purchased electricity worth Rs 11.80 billion from the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in the last five months; from mid-May to mid-October. The NEA has been selling surplus electricity in the rainy season to India.</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 the first three months of the current fiscal year (from mid-July to mid-October), NEA exported electricity worth Rs 9.645 billion to India. Last month alone (mid-September to mid-October), NEA sold electricity worth Rs 4.235 billion in the Indian market. </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 average rate of electricity exported to India in three months was Rs 10.27 per unit. </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, electricity worth Rs 405 million were exported in five days of May and Rs 1.75 billion in June to India. The average selling price of electricity exported to India in May and June was Rs 9.67 per unit.</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 NEA has been selling 522 megawatts of electricity through competition in the day-ahead market of IEX and about 110 megawatts of electricity to the Indian company NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN) as per the power agreement between Nepal and India. NVVN is selling the electricity purchased from NEA in the state of Haryana.</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"">Kulman Ghising, executive director of NEA, said that it is possible to export electricity worth Rs 16 billion this year. </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"">“We have submitted a proposal to the Central Electricity Authority of India seeking for permission to export about 100 megawatts of electricity, but as we did not get the approval, we sent the proposal again some time ago,” said Ghising, adding, “The festive season has already started. During this period, the factories are closed and Kathmandu is deserted. The heat has subsided in the Terai and the domestic demand for electricity will decrease. If we do not get approval to export more electricity to India, we may have to close the power plants. We are confident that we will get approval for more electricity export soon.”</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"">NEA received approval for the export of 522 MW of electricity in the competitive market and 110 MW to NVVN. Out of this, 562 MW of electricity is being exported from Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 KV international transmission line and 70 MW from Mahendranagar-Tanakpur 132 KV transmission line.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => 'NEA, electricity, Nepal, India', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19031', 'image' => '20231019012323_20230716115331_eee.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 13:22:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19302', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC to Add Three Small Aircraft with its Own Resources', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to add three more aircraft to its fleet for domestic flights with its own resources.', '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"">October 19: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to add three more aircraft to its fleet for domestic flights with its own resources. Stating that the business expansion and income of NAC have been better than in the previous year, the state-owned airline company said it is in the final stage of preparation to purchase the aircraft for domestic flights. The NAC said it will purchase the aircraft on installments basis.</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 flag carrier of Nepal had taken loans from the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) and the Citizens' Investment Trust (CIT) to purchase aircraft for international flights.</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 NAC had purchased two wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft with the loans. It paid installments of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">53</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">0</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">.9</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million to the EPF and CIT on Tuesday.</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 NAC, it has already paid installments of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3.77</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> billion to these organizations between mid-June </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2022</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> to mid-June 2023</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">NAC Spokesperson Ramesh Paudel said that the company's business expansion and income have improved compared to the previous year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, the NAC has cleared all its dues and is also managing expenses for regular and emergency maintenance of engine and aircraft on its own after improvement in cash flow.</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 said that the NAC plans to buy new aircraft to fly to remote areas (STOL) based on the current needs. </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 added that the new aircraft will serve passengers in the remote areas and it will also promote tourism and also maintain the price of airfare.</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"">Likewise, the NAC issued a notice on Wednesday and informed that it has resumed operation of aircraft that were grounded due to technical problems for a few days.</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 NAC’s aircraft were grounded for some time due to technical problems, recently. The NAC mentioned that all the aircraft are operating regular flights since Monday after necessary repairs.</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"">NAC currently has four Airbus for international flights and only one Twin Otter for domestic flights. Six NAC aircraft manufactured in China are currently grounded due to high operating cost and expensive spare parts.</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 the NAC’s presence in domestic market is weak, private companies are charging exorbitant fares taking advantage of the festive season at present.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19030', 'image' => '20231019125846_20230428123538_nac twin.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 12:58:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19301', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India to Supply 95,000 Metric Tons of Rice to Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Three months after Nepal wrote a letter to India seeking for supply of rice, the southern neighbor has responded positively to Nepal’s request.', '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"">October 19: Three months after Nepal wrote a letter to India seeking for supply of rice, the southern neighbor has responded positively to Nepal’s request.</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"">India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued a notice on Wednesday informing that the quota of rice export to Nepal has been set at </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">95</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"">000</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">metric tons.</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 notice mentions that India has agreed to supply non-Basmati rice to seven countries including Nepal. The export of rice under quota system will be carried out by the National Cooperative Export Limited of 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"">In mid-June, Nepal had written a letter to India demanding </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">100,000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons of rice, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50,000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons of sugar and </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">5,000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons of paddy.</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"">Gajendra Thakur, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, confirmed that India has agreed to supply rice nearly three months after Nepal's request. </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 rice in the domestic market had increased recently after India banned the export of rice and paddy.</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"">There was also a fear of increasing risk of food insecurity in Nepal. According to spokesperson Thakur, there is no need to worry now as the new lot of rice will arrive in Nepal soon.</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 notice, India has set a quota to export </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10</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"">34</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"">800 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">metric tons of rice to Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Malaysia, the Philippines and Seychelles along with Nepal. Among these countries, the Philippines will received the maximum </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">295</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"">000 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">tons of rice followed by Cameroon, which will get </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">190</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"">000 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">tons and then, Malaysia, which will get </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">170</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"">000 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">tons of rice.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19029', 'image' => '20231019120729_1697678163.1688637526.rice.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 12:06:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19300', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'China's Xi Announces Over $100 Billion in New Belt and Road Funding ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Beijing will inject over $100 billion of new funding into its Belt and Road initiative, President Xi Jinping said Wednesday at a summit marking the vast infrastructure project's tenth anniversary. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 19: Beijing will inject over $100 billion of new funding into its Belt and Road initiative, President Xi Jinping said Wednesday at a summit marking the vast infrastructure project's tenth anniversary. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Belt and Road is a central pillar of Xi's bid to expand China's clout overseas, with Beijing saying it has now inked over two trillion dollars in contracts around the world. </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"">Proponents hail it for bringing resources and economic growth to the Global South. But the initiative has also been slammed for saddling poor countries with enormous debt. Xi announced on Wednesday that key Belt and Road lenders the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank will now offer an additional $100 billion in loans. </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"">Both will set up financing opportunities of 350 billion yuan ($47.9 billion) for BRI projects, he said. An additional 80 billion yuan will be injected into the project's official lending institution, the Silk Road fund, Xi said. </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"">This week's forum, attended by representatives of 130 countries, is the third major summit of its kind to be hosted by Beijing since the Belt and Road's launch in 2013. </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"">Critics have long pointed to opaque pricing for BRI projects built by Chinese companies, with countries including Malaysia and Myanmar renegotiating deals to bring down costs. </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"">Beijing has been forced to hand out billions of dollars in bailout loans to BRI countries in recent years to allow the countries to extend their loans and remain solvent, according to a joint report this year by the World Bank and other institutions. </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"">And China said this month that BRI participants owe more than $300 billion to the Export-Import Bank of China. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The initiative has also drawn scrutiny for its massive carbon footprint and the environmental degradation caused by massive infrastructure projects. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The development of megaports, pipelines, railways and highways could render the Paris climate goals unreachable, researchers from China, the United States and the United Kingdom warned in 2019. – AFP/RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => 'China, Xi, Jinping, Belt, Road, Initiative, BRI', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19028', 'image' => '20231019104715_XxjpbeE007019_20231018_PEPFN1A001.JPG', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 10:46:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19299', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Energy Minister Directs NEA to Ensure Uninterrupted Power Supply During Festivals', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet has directed Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to ensure regular power supply during the festivals of Dashain, Tihar, Nepal Sambat, Chhath and others so that the celebrations would not be hampered. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 19: Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet has directed Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to ensure regular power supply during the festivals of Dashain, Tihar, Nepal Sambat, Chhath and others so that the celebrations would not be hampered. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minister called the NEA executive director Kulman Ghising, deputy executive director Manoj Silwal and chief of the NEA's load-dispatch centre Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai to his office in Singha Durbar and directed them as well as the chiefs of the NEA's distribution centres within the Kathmandu Valley to make arrangements so that the citizens will get smooth power supply, giving no room for any complaint from a single house. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Become responsible and active for 24 hours, so that there is no room for public complaint. A few minutes in disruption of power supply during the festival period spoils the good work you have been doing throughout the year," Minister Basnet said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He directed NEA to distribute maximum power to the industries and enterprises during the festival time, and also suggested to create condition that the excess power is also not wasted. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Energy Minister urged NEA to make its no-light centres more responsible, to make arrangement for receiving the phone calls from customers promptly and to manage rapid team for reaching the consumer's house within minutes in case of any problem. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Minister Basnet is also the chairperson of the NEA Board of Directors. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Energy Secretary Gopal Sigdel directed the NEA executive director and other officials to provide services keeping the consumers in the centre. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Executive Director Ghising informed that human resources have been managed and will be mobilized in the Valley and urban areas to be mobilized round-the-clock. He said that he will be out regularly monitoring and inspecting the distribution centres during the festive season, so that there will be no complaints from consumers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We have made efforts as far as possible to prevent wastage of power. Preparations have also been made to supply the excess power to the Indian market, but the final consent has not been received yet (from the Indian side)," he said. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => 'Energy, Minister, Kulman Ghising, NEA, electricity, festival, supply, Dashain, Tihar', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19027', 'image' => '20231019102336_light.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 10:22:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19298', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Expenses Exceed Revenue Collection in First Quarter', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: The government’s expenditure has exceeded revenue collection in the first three months of the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 19: The government’s expenditure has exceeded revenue collection in the first three months of the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the latest data, the government's revenue collection stood in the review period was 15.93 percent of the annual target while the expenditure stood at 16.02 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Financial Comptroller General’s Office said that out of the total expenditure in the first three months of the fiscal year (FY) 2023-24, the current expenditure stood at 18.69 percent, followed by 16.05 percent towards financial management and 5.9 percent towards capital expenditures. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government had announced a budget of Rs 1,751.31 billion for the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The total allocation towards current expenditure is Rs 1,141.78 billion for this fiscal year with expenditures amounting to Rs 213.39 billion as of October 17. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, the government has allocated Rs 302.07 billion towards capital expenditure, while the expenses under this heading stands at Rs 17.83 billion so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Under the headings of financial management, the government has allocated Rs 307.45 while the expenditure in the first quarter stands at Rs 49.34 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The revenue collection in the first quarter is Rs 234.36 billion which makes up 15.93 percent of the annual target. The government has set a target to collect revenue worth Rs 1472.48 billion in the current fiscal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the target of securing Rs 49.94 billion as foreign grant in the current fiscal, the achievement till date is 0.12 percent or Rs 61.08 million. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19026', 'image' => '20231019095653_20210105024513_20200327032654_5003_finance-ministy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 09:56:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19297', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Karnali Faces 19,116 Metric Tonnes Food Grain Deficit Annually', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Karnali Province faces an annual food grain deficit of 19,116 metric tonnes, according to the data provided by the provincial government.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 19: Karnali Province faces an annual food grain deficit of 19,116 metric tonnes, according to the data provided by the provincial government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Among its ten districts, Salyan, Rukum West, and Surkhet manage to produce enough food grain for their needs, while the remaining districts must rely on food grain imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In particular, Dailekh, Jajarkot, Humla, Kalikot, Jumla, Mugu, and Dolpa districts struggle to produce sufficient food grain to meet their yearly requirements.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Dailekh and Jumla are comparatively less reliant on food grain imports when compared to the other food-deficit districts, said Agriculture Directorate under the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture, and Cooperatives of the Karnali Province Government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Chitra Bahadur Rokaya, Director at the Directorate, emphasized that the provincial government is actively working on implementing various programs aimed at achieving food self-sufficiency in all of its districts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">To reach this objective, the province has embraced the concept of becoming an "organic province," and all relevant stakeholders play a crucial role in the success of this initiative.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A 2019 survey conducted in the hilly and mountainous areas of the province by organizations such as the World Food Programme, EPI, and FAO revealed that 28 percent of households in the province did not have access to an adequate amount of food.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> In this group, 8 percent of households faced a critical shortage of food, indicative of an extreme hunger problem in the region. (RSS) </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19025', 'image' => '20231019071414_collage (16).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 07:12:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19294', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Gains Substantial 43.27 Points to Close at 1907 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index gained 43.27 points or 2.32% and closed at 1907 points on the fourth trading day of the week, Wednesday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 18: The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index gained 43.27 points or 2.32% and closed at 1907 points on the fourth trading day of the week, Wednesday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Today's market gain can be attributed to a combination of several factors. First and foremost, the decision of many banks and financial institutions to lower their interest rates for the current month has had positive impact on the market. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, selling pressures for the Dashain festival came to an end, relieving the downward pressure on stock prices and allowed the market to rebound.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON)’s decision to reduce broker commission rates by 10% has injected positive optimism among the investors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A total of 286 scrips were traded through 31,788 transactions. Likewise, as many as 3, 772,023 units of shares exchanged their hands, amount to Rs 93 crores. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sanima GIC Insurance Limited (SGIC) had the highest turnover, reaching Rs. 4.46 crores, and closed at a market price of Rs. 434.00.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Similarly, Asha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd (ALBSL) showed the highest gain of 10%, followed by Infinity Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (ILBS) with a gain of 9.97%.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">On the flip side, BPW Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (BPW) showed the highest loss at 4.62%.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In terms of sector indices, all sectors closed in the green territory. "Non-Life Insurance" gained the highest 2.87%, while "Mutual Fund" gained the least of 0.38%.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sensitive Index experienced a gain of 2.27%, while Float Index and Sensitive Float Index gained 3.15% and 2.93% respectively.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-18', 'modified' => '2023-10-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19022', 'image' => '20231018051927_collage (15).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-18 17:17:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19292', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Economy Getting Back on Track', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 18: The country’s economy, which was affected by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, is gradually starting to return to normalcy.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 18: The country’s economy, which was affected by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, is gradually starting to return to normalcy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Economic Research Department of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) published a report on Tuesday that showed that the external sector of the economy has become stronger and the internal sector is also gradually catching up in the first two months of the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report of NRB based on data of the first two months of the current FY mentions that the indicators of the external sector including the balance of payments, foreign exchange reserves have reached a comfortable level. Similarly, as the deposits and credit flows of banks and financial institutions have been positive, it indicates that the internal economy is also starting to return back on track. Due to the increase in service income from tourism and other inflow of remittances, the foreign currency reserves have reached the highest point so far. Similarly, as the deposits and credit flow of the banks have also started to increase, there are signs that the internal economy is gradually returning to normalcy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banking expert Parshuram Kunwar Chhetri added, “Some signs of improvement are seen in the economy. Now NRB should work to ease the situation through monetary policy.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Remittances continue to grow</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data of NRB, the remittance inflow increased by 22.1 percent and reached Rs 228 billion by mid-September of the current year. In the same period of the previous year, the remittance inflow increased by 19.8 percent. Similarly, the remittance inflow in US dollars increased by 17.7 percent and reached 1.73 billion, which were 11.3 last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Post-Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a positive impact on remittances due to the increase in the number of people going to work abroad and the government's policy of encouraging remittances through formal channels. In the same way, when the remittance received formally is kept in the bank, arrangements have been made to give an additional 1 percentage point of interest.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The remittance sender is also encouraged by reservation given in the ordinary shares issued by public companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Abroad study increasing the loss of service income</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although there has been some relief in the trade deficit, as the number of Nepalis going for studies abroad is high, the travel expenses have started to increase at a high rate. In the 2nd month of the current fiscal year, travel expenses increased by 76.5 percent and reached Rs 35.6 billion. Out of this, the expenditure towards education is Rs 23.33 billion, according to the NRB report. By mid-September, the tourism income increased by 53.9 percent and reached Rs 9.34 billion, which was Rs 6.7 billion in the same period of previous year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As expenses are higher than income, the net service income is at a loss of Rs 25.34 billion as of mid-September, which was Rs 19.26 billion last year. During the same period, the total trade deficit decreased by 4.7 percent and remained at Rs 233.30 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Exchange rates and foreign exchange reserves high</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As of August of the current fiscal year, the current account remained at a surplus of Rs 53.61 billion, which was at a loss of Rs 20.81 billion last year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The total foreign exchange reserves, which stood at Rs 1539 billion till mid-July, increased by 3.9 percent and reached Rs 1598 billion in mid-September. With the increase in foreign exchange reserves, the country’s ability to meet the import of goods and services has also strengthened. Based on the data of two months of the current FY, the foreign exchange reserves of the banking sector are sufficient to support 12.6 months of import of goods and 10.3 months of import of goods and services, according to the report of NRB.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Earlier last year, NRB and the government took a policy of tightening the imports after the foreign exchange reserves fell to a low point and the imports were restricted for 6 months. In addition, to the government banning the import of luxury goods, NRB also adopted a strict policy on loans used for imports and going to non-productive sectors. As the external indicators of the economy eased, the government and NRB have become flexible. The NRB has already reviewed its tight monetary policy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the external indicators of the economy becoming comfortable, the internal situation is showing signs of returning to normalcy, deposits and loans of banks and financial institutions have started to increase, while interest rates have been decreasing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Pressure on inflation</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although the indicators of the external sector of the economy are strong, there is pressure on inflation. In the month of September, the consumer price increase is 8.19 percent. Compared to the same period last year, inflation has decreased, but it has increased compared to the previous month this year. Last year, the consumer price inflation in September was 8.64 percent. Similarly, in August of the current year, the consumer price inflation was 7.52 percent.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-18', 'modified' => '2023-10-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19021', 'image' => '20231018031459_20230815041218_1692063085.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-18 15:14:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19293', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Allows Infrastructure Development Bank to Rescheduling Loans ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 18: The Infrastructure Development Bank has been also allowed to reschedule loans for projects affected by natural disasters such as floods, landslides and earthquakes.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 18: The Infrastructure Development Bank has been also allowed to reschedule loans for projects affected by natural disasters such as floods, landslides and earthquakes. Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on Monday revised the Unified Directive allowing the loans provided by the Infrastructure Development Bank to be rescheduled. Earlier this facility was given only to commercial banks, development banks and finance companies.</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 the instructions of the central bank, the Infrastructure Development Bank can reschedule loans invested in hotels and restaurants, cement, bricks and other such industries in the construction sector. Similarly, loans given to the education, health projects affected by natural disasters like floods, landslides, earthquakes, etc can also be rescheduled upon the request of the borrowers. This can be done by taking at least 10 per cent of additional interest and after analyzing the cash flow and income of the industry/business and the decision must be based on need and justifiable.</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"">A provision has been made that banks and financial institutions can also reschedule and restructure loans up to Rs 50 million invested in hotels and restaurants, animal husbandry, the construction sector and all other sectors upon the request of the borrower after analyzing the cash flow and income of the industry/business based on need and justification. </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"">Likewise, the Infrastructure Development Bank has also been instructed to implement a 0.5 per cent 'counter-cyclical buffer'. Earlier, the NRB had issued instructions to the commercial banks to implement a counter-cyclical buffer of 0.5 per cent within the current fiscal year.</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"">Meanwhile, NRB has extended the time to publish the financial reports of the first quarter of the current fiscal year of banks and financial institutions. Banks have to publish their financial report within 7 days of the end of every quarter, but this time they have given it till November 3. NRB informed that the period for publishing the report has been extended due to the public holiday of Dashain this year.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-18', 'modified' => '2023-10-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19020', 'image' => '20231018031616_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-18 15:15:20', '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' => '19308', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Police Seize 92 Sacks of Sugar ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 20: The Area Police Office, Banepa, has seized a total of 92 sacks of sugar brought by evading taxes. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 20: The Area Police Office, Banepa, has seized a total of 92 sacks of sugar brought by evading taxes. The police said that a truck (Na 6 Kha 6219) was impounded from Banepa Municipality-7 along with the sugar during a security check on Thursday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The sugar was reportedly being supplied by concealing it in the sacks filled with paddy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Kavre Raj Kumar Shrestha told the state-owned RSS that the market value of the sugar confiscated by the police is worth around Rs 600,000. </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"">Likewise, truck driver Raju Timalsina, 27, has also been arrested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The police said that the truck and the goods seized during the security check have been sent to the Department of Revenue Investigation at Hariharbhawan in Lalitpur for further investigations. </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"">There has been a shortage of sugar in the market during the festive season when the demand is high and the government has failed to import sugar on time. As a result, the price of sugar has been skyrocketing in the market. The price of sugar, which was Rs 95 per kg, has increased to Rs 140 per kg in the retail market.</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"">People in the Terai areas have been relying on smuggled sugar, which costs much less than the current price of sugar available in the market. (With inputs from RSS)</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-20', 'modified' => '2023-10-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19036', 'image' => '20231020101843_sugar.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-20 10:17:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sales Decline in Birgunj as Customers Choose India for Dashain Shopping', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Despite the festive season of Dashain, Birgunj city is experiencing an unusual lack of hustle and bustle. Traders in the city are currently facing a challenging situation, as they eagerly await customers.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 20: Despite the festive season of Dashain, Birgunj city is experiencing an unusual lack of hustle and bustle. Traders in the city are currently facing a challenging situation, as they eagerly await customers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The primary reason behind this downturn is the increasing number of customers crossing the border to Raxaul, a city in India, where they can find goods at lower prices.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Customers are drawn to Raxaul due to the more affordable prices, which stands in stark contrast to Birgunj where shopkeepers are burdened with customs duties that drive up the prices of goods. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This trend has raised concerns among Nepali retailers, particularly those dealing with clothing, food items, electronic, and electrical goods. Individual customers are now effortlessly importing these products from Raxaul, bypassing the higher customs costs they'd face in Birgunj.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Dipak Sharraf, a retailer, has expressed his concerns about the significant decline in transactions in Birgunj due to the high customs duties. He even cautioned that if this trend persists, many shops in Birgunj might be forced to close their doors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Pankaj Rauniyar, a clothing trader, has noted a stark difference between this Dashain and the previous one, describing the current season as rather lackluster. Transaction activity has witnessed a sharp decline, leaving traders worried.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Bikash Kumar Agrawal, another retailer, revealed that purchases of appliances like refrigerators, TVs, and washing machines have plummeted by 70% compared to the previous festival season. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">He suggested that the government should consider reforms in economic policies to revitalize the dwindling retail sector, which has been struggling.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Traders in Birgunj, a vital trade hub in the country, are calling for the government's urgent intervention to rejuvenate the economy, which has already suffered significant setbacks due to the impact of COVID-19. (RSS)</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-20', 'modified' => '2023-10-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19035', 'image' => '20231020065009_collage (17).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-20 06:48:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Sheds 4.05 Points to Settle at 1903.84', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index shed 4.04 points or 0.215 and closed at 1903.84 points on the fifth trading day of the week, Thursday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 19: The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index shed 4.04 points or 0.215 and closed at 1903.84 points on the fifth trading day of the week, Thursday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The secondary benchmark index experienced a slight decline today following a significant gain of 43.27 points yesterday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Experienced investors and analysts are confident that the market is unlikely to fall any further since it appears to be at a stable bottom. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">One investor attributed the decrease in turnover to the Dashain festival, which has momentarily subdued market momentum.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> A total of 284 scrips were traded through 25,520 transactions. As many as 3,766,153 units of shares exchanged their hands, amounting to Rs 97 crores. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Nabil Bank Promoter Share(NABILP) had the highest turnover of 5.90 crores, closing at a market price of Rs 312. Likewise, Citizens Mutual Fund 2(CMF2) gained the highest 0.42%, closing at a market price of 7.57 per share.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Upper Solu Hydro Electric Company Limited (USHEC) lost the highest 8.25%, closing at a market price of Rs 247 per share. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In terms of sector indices, nine sectors landed in the red territory, while four sectors closed in the green zone. Hydropower Index Lost the highest 0.96%, while Trading Index and Manufacturing and Processing Index each lost the least 0.00%.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sensitive Index and Sensitive Float Index experienced a gain of 0.03% and 0.02% respectively, while Float Index lost 0.24%. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19034', 'image' => '20231019033231_collage (27).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 15:30:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cement Industry on the Brink of Collapse due to Low Construction Activities', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: The cement industries operating in the country are at risk due to the lack of market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 19: The cement industries operating in the country are at risk due to the lack of market. According to industrialists, the income of majority of the 63 cement industries that are operating in the country has slumped due to the lack of market. </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"">Dhruba Thapa, president of the Nepal Cement Producers Association, said that the cement industries are now on the brink of collapse. </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"">"Due to the lack of market, industries have reached a state of collapsing. More than 20 per cent of the industries are not even running," 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"">Vice President of Nepal Cement Producers Association and Managing Director of Agni Cement Tara Prasad Pokharel said that the cement industry has been affected due to the lack of construction of physical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and irrigation in the country.</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"">"New construction works have not started, the builders have not been paid their dues, and therefore sufficient construction work has not been done. It has had a direct impact on the cement industry," 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"">Pokharel said that since Indian cement is cheaper than the cement produced in Nepal, they cannot compete with the Indian products.</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 of Nepal has given up to 8 percent cash subsidy to encourage cement export," said Pokharel, "If we want to protect the cement industry and promote exports, it is necessary to give 20 percent subsidy on export," 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"">According to the report of 10 cement companies published by various rating companies, the company's operating income of Rs 34 billion in 2020 increased by 23 percent to Rs 41.92 billion in 2021. However, compared to 2021, the income of cement industries increased by only 5 percent in 2022. Industrialist said that the income is affected due to lack of market.</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, in the year 2022, 10 cement industries, which earned an operating profit of Rs 44.28 billion, have been rated for a loan of Rs 57.14 billion. This loan is 29 percent more than their operating profit.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19033', 'image' => '20231019014714_20210116080717_Clipboard40.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 13:46:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19305', 'article_category_id' => '266', 'title' => 'Ncell Launches Festive Offer with Data Volume for Recharge', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Ncell Axiata Limited has launched a festive offer for its customers, under which Ncell customers can enjoy data volume as bonuses on every recharge.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 19: Ncell Axiata Limited has launched a festive offer for its customers, under which Ncell customers can enjoy data volume as bonuses on every recharge. The company expressed its belief that this offer will help its customers keep in touch with their friends and families during the festivals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a statement on Wednesday, Ncell said it has launched the Festive Refill Offer on the occasion of this Dashain providing data volume as bonuses to prepaid and postpaid customers upon recharge of Rs 200 and more</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">This offer has come into effect from Wednesday (October 18) and will remain in place for 15 days, added the statement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Under the refill offer, customers are entitled to get a bonus data volume ranging from 2000 MB to 8000 MB depending on the amount of balance top up. According to the company, Ccstomers recharging balance of Rs 200 to Rs 499 will get 400 MB all time data and 1600 MB data which can be used from 11 PM till 6 PM (19 hours) as bonus on recharge. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> Likewise, customers recharging their main balance with Rs 500 and more can enjoys 2400 MB all time data and 5600 MB data that can be used from 11 PM till 6 PM (19 hours) as bonus on recharge, added the company. The bonus data received under this festive offer remains valid for two days from the date of receiving such bonus. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Amount added in the main balance of customers via Ncell Saapati and balance transfer is not applicable for this offer, the statement further said. According to Ncell, customers topping up their balance through all recharge mediums (physical recharge card to digital top up) get data bonus upon recharge automatically. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Marking the occasion and sharing his excitement regarding the festive offer, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Ncell Jabbor Kayumov said, "At Ncell, our utmost focus remains on ensuring and enhancing customer experience and with Ncell's Festival Offer, we aim to make every conversation and connection of our beloved customers even more meaningful. With this festive offer, we thank our valued customers for choosing Ncell and extend our warm festival wishes. “</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Ncell said it believes that this refill offer will add great value among customers to stay connected with loved ones and share the excitement of festivals.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19032', 'image' => '20231019021705_nc.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 14:16:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Sells Electricity worth Rs 11 Billion to India in Five Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: India purchased electricity worth Rs 11.80 billion from the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in the last five months; from mid-May to mid-October. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 19: India purchased electricity worth Rs 11.80 billion from the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in the last five months; from mid-May to mid-October. The NEA has been selling surplus electricity in the rainy season to India.</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 the first three months of the current fiscal year (from mid-July to mid-October), NEA exported electricity worth Rs 9.645 billion to India. Last month alone (mid-September to mid-October), NEA sold electricity worth Rs 4.235 billion in the Indian market. </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 average rate of electricity exported to India in three months was Rs 10.27 per unit. </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, electricity worth Rs 405 million were exported in five days of May and Rs 1.75 billion in June to India. The average selling price of electricity exported to India in May and June was Rs 9.67 per unit.</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 NEA has been selling 522 megawatts of electricity through competition in the day-ahead market of IEX and about 110 megawatts of electricity to the Indian company NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN) as per the power agreement between Nepal and India. NVVN is selling the electricity purchased from NEA in the state of Haryana.</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"">Kulman Ghising, executive director of NEA, said that it is possible to export electricity worth Rs 16 billion this year. </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"">“We have submitted a proposal to the Central Electricity Authority of India seeking for permission to export about 100 megawatts of electricity, but as we did not get the approval, we sent the proposal again some time ago,” said Ghising, adding, “The festive season has already started. During this period, the factories are closed and Kathmandu is deserted. The heat has subsided in the Terai and the domestic demand for electricity will decrease. If we do not get approval to export more electricity to India, we may have to close the power plants. We are confident that we will get approval for more electricity export soon.”</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"">NEA received approval for the export of 522 MW of electricity in the competitive market and 110 MW to NVVN. Out of this, 562 MW of electricity is being exported from Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 KV international transmission line and 70 MW from Mahendranagar-Tanakpur 132 KV transmission line.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => 'NEA, electricity, Nepal, India', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19031', 'image' => '20231019012323_20230716115331_eee.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 13:22:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19302', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC to Add Three Small Aircraft with its Own Resources', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to add three more aircraft to its fleet for domestic flights with its own resources.', '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"">October 19: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to add three more aircraft to its fleet for domestic flights with its own resources. Stating that the business expansion and income of NAC have been better than in the previous year, the state-owned airline company said it is in the final stage of preparation to purchase the aircraft for domestic flights. The NAC said it will purchase the aircraft on installments basis.</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 flag carrier of Nepal had taken loans from the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) and the Citizens' Investment Trust (CIT) to purchase aircraft for international flights.</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 NAC had purchased two wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft with the loans. It paid installments of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">53</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">0</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">.9</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million to the EPF and CIT on Tuesday.</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 NAC, it has already paid installments of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3.77</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> billion to these organizations between mid-June </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2022</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> to mid-June 2023</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">NAC Spokesperson Ramesh Paudel said that the company's business expansion and income have improved compared to the previous year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, the NAC has cleared all its dues and is also managing expenses for regular and emergency maintenance of engine and aircraft on its own after improvement in cash flow.</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 said that the NAC plans to buy new aircraft to fly to remote areas (STOL) based on the current needs. </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 added that the new aircraft will serve passengers in the remote areas and it will also promote tourism and also maintain the price of airfare.</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"">Likewise, the NAC issued a notice on Wednesday and informed that it has resumed operation of aircraft that were grounded due to technical problems for a few days.</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 NAC’s aircraft were grounded for some time due to technical problems, recently. The NAC mentioned that all the aircraft are operating regular flights since Monday after necessary repairs.</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"">NAC currently has four Airbus for international flights and only one Twin Otter for domestic flights. Six NAC aircraft manufactured in China are currently grounded due to high operating cost and expensive spare parts.</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 the NAC’s presence in domestic market is weak, private companies are charging exorbitant fares taking advantage of the festive season at present.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19030', 'image' => '20231019125846_20230428123538_nac twin.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 12:58:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19301', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India to Supply 95,000 Metric Tons of Rice to Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Three months after Nepal wrote a letter to India seeking for supply of rice, the southern neighbor has responded positively to Nepal’s request.', '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"">October 19: Three months after Nepal wrote a letter to India seeking for supply of rice, the southern neighbor has responded positively to Nepal’s request.</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"">India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued a notice on Wednesday informing that the quota of rice export to Nepal has been set at </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">95</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"">000</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">metric tons.</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 notice mentions that India has agreed to supply non-Basmati rice to seven countries including Nepal. The export of rice under quota system will be carried out by the National Cooperative Export Limited of 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"">In mid-June, Nepal had written a letter to India demanding </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">100,000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons of rice, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50,000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons of sugar and </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">5,000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons of paddy.</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"">Gajendra Thakur, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, confirmed that India has agreed to supply rice nearly three months after Nepal's request. </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 rice in the domestic market had increased recently after India banned the export of rice and paddy.</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"">There was also a fear of increasing risk of food insecurity in Nepal. According to spokesperson Thakur, there is no need to worry now as the new lot of rice will arrive in Nepal soon.</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 notice, India has set a quota to export </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10</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"">34</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"">800 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">metric tons of rice to Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Malaysia, the Philippines and Seychelles along with Nepal. Among these countries, the Philippines will received the maximum </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">295</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"">000 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">tons of rice followed by Cameroon, which will get </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">190</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"">000 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">tons and then, Malaysia, which will get </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">170</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"">000 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">tons of rice.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19029', 'image' => '20231019120729_1697678163.1688637526.rice.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 12:06:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19300', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'China's Xi Announces Over $100 Billion in New Belt and Road Funding ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Beijing will inject over $100 billion of new funding into its Belt and Road initiative, President Xi Jinping said Wednesday at a summit marking the vast infrastructure project's tenth anniversary. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 19: Beijing will inject over $100 billion of new funding into its Belt and Road initiative, President Xi Jinping said Wednesday at a summit marking the vast infrastructure project's tenth anniversary. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Belt and Road is a central pillar of Xi's bid to expand China's clout overseas, with Beijing saying it has now inked over two trillion dollars in contracts around the world. </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"">Proponents hail it for bringing resources and economic growth to the Global South. But the initiative has also been slammed for saddling poor countries with enormous debt. Xi announced on Wednesday that key Belt and Road lenders the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank will now offer an additional $100 billion in loans. </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"">Both will set up financing opportunities of 350 billion yuan ($47.9 billion) for BRI projects, he said. An additional 80 billion yuan will be injected into the project's official lending institution, the Silk Road fund, Xi said. </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"">This week's forum, attended by representatives of 130 countries, is the third major summit of its kind to be hosted by Beijing since the Belt and Road's launch in 2013. </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"">Critics have long pointed to opaque pricing for BRI projects built by Chinese companies, with countries including Malaysia and Myanmar renegotiating deals to bring down costs. </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"">Beijing has been forced to hand out billions of dollars in bailout loans to BRI countries in recent years to allow the countries to extend their loans and remain solvent, according to a joint report this year by the World Bank and other institutions. </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"">And China said this month that BRI participants owe more than $300 billion to the Export-Import Bank of China. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The initiative has also drawn scrutiny for its massive carbon footprint and the environmental degradation caused by massive infrastructure projects. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The development of megaports, pipelines, railways and highways could render the Paris climate goals unreachable, researchers from China, the United States and the United Kingdom warned in 2019. – AFP/RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => 'China, Xi, Jinping, Belt, Road, Initiative, BRI', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19028', 'image' => '20231019104715_XxjpbeE007019_20231018_PEPFN1A001.JPG', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 10:46:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19299', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Energy Minister Directs NEA to Ensure Uninterrupted Power Supply During Festivals', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet has directed Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to ensure regular power supply during the festivals of Dashain, Tihar, Nepal Sambat, Chhath and others so that the celebrations would not be hampered. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 19: Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet has directed Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to ensure regular power supply during the festivals of Dashain, Tihar, Nepal Sambat, Chhath and others so that the celebrations would not be hampered. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minister called the NEA executive director Kulman Ghising, deputy executive director Manoj Silwal and chief of the NEA's load-dispatch centre Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai to his office in Singha Durbar and directed them as well as the chiefs of the NEA's distribution centres within the Kathmandu Valley to make arrangements so that the citizens will get smooth power supply, giving no room for any complaint from a single house. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Become responsible and active for 24 hours, so that there is no room for public complaint. A few minutes in disruption of power supply during the festival period spoils the good work you have been doing throughout the year," Minister Basnet said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He directed NEA to distribute maximum power to the industries and enterprises during the festival time, and also suggested to create condition that the excess power is also not wasted. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Energy Minister urged NEA to make its no-light centres more responsible, to make arrangement for receiving the phone calls from customers promptly and to manage rapid team for reaching the consumer's house within minutes in case of any problem. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Minister Basnet is also the chairperson of the NEA Board of Directors. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Energy Secretary Gopal Sigdel directed the NEA executive director and other officials to provide services keeping the consumers in the centre. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Executive Director Ghising informed that human resources have been managed and will be mobilized in the Valley and urban areas to be mobilized round-the-clock. He said that he will be out regularly monitoring and inspecting the distribution centres during the festive season, so that there will be no complaints from consumers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We have made efforts as far as possible to prevent wastage of power. Preparations have also been made to supply the excess power to the Indian market, but the final consent has not been received yet (from the Indian side)," he said. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => 'Energy, Minister, Kulman Ghising, NEA, electricity, festival, supply, Dashain, Tihar', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19027', 'image' => '20231019102336_light.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 10:22:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19298', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Expenses Exceed Revenue Collection in First Quarter', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: The government’s expenditure has exceeded revenue collection in the first three months of the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 19: The government’s expenditure has exceeded revenue collection in the first three months of the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the latest data, the government's revenue collection stood in the review period was 15.93 percent of the annual target while the expenditure stood at 16.02 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Financial Comptroller General’s Office said that out of the total expenditure in the first three months of the fiscal year (FY) 2023-24, the current expenditure stood at 18.69 percent, followed by 16.05 percent towards financial management and 5.9 percent towards capital expenditures. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government had announced a budget of Rs 1,751.31 billion for the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The total allocation towards current expenditure is Rs 1,141.78 billion for this fiscal year with expenditures amounting to Rs 213.39 billion as of October 17. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, the government has allocated Rs 302.07 billion towards capital expenditure, while the expenses under this heading stands at Rs 17.83 billion so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Under the headings of financial management, the government has allocated Rs 307.45 while the expenditure in the first quarter stands at Rs 49.34 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The revenue collection in the first quarter is Rs 234.36 billion which makes up 15.93 percent of the annual target. The government has set a target to collect revenue worth Rs 1472.48 billion in the current fiscal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the target of securing Rs 49.94 billion as foreign grant in the current fiscal, the achievement till date is 0.12 percent or Rs 61.08 million. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19026', 'image' => '20231019095653_20210105024513_20200327032654_5003_finance-ministy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 09:56:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19297', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Karnali Faces 19,116 Metric Tonnes Food Grain Deficit Annually', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Karnali Province faces an annual food grain deficit of 19,116 metric tonnes, according to the data provided by the provincial government.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 19: Karnali Province faces an annual food grain deficit of 19,116 metric tonnes, according to the data provided by the provincial government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Among its ten districts, Salyan, Rukum West, and Surkhet manage to produce enough food grain for their needs, while the remaining districts must rely on food grain imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In particular, Dailekh, Jajarkot, Humla, Kalikot, Jumla, Mugu, and Dolpa districts struggle to produce sufficient food grain to meet their yearly requirements.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Dailekh and Jumla are comparatively less reliant on food grain imports when compared to the other food-deficit districts, said Agriculture Directorate under the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture, and Cooperatives of the Karnali Province Government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Chitra Bahadur Rokaya, Director at the Directorate, emphasized that the provincial government is actively working on implementing various programs aimed at achieving food self-sufficiency in all of its districts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">To reach this objective, the province has embraced the concept of becoming an "organic province," and all relevant stakeholders play a crucial role in the success of this initiative.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A 2019 survey conducted in the hilly and mountainous areas of the province by organizations such as the World Food Programme, EPI, and FAO revealed that 28 percent of households in the province did not have access to an adequate amount of food.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> In this group, 8 percent of households faced a critical shortage of food, indicative of an extreme hunger problem in the region. (RSS) </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19025', 'image' => '20231019071414_collage (16).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 07:12:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19294', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Gains Substantial 43.27 Points to Close at 1907 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index gained 43.27 points or 2.32% and closed at 1907 points on the fourth trading day of the week, Wednesday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 18: The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index gained 43.27 points or 2.32% and closed at 1907 points on the fourth trading day of the week, Wednesday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Today's market gain can be attributed to a combination of several factors. First and foremost, the decision of many banks and financial institutions to lower their interest rates for the current month has had positive impact on the market. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, selling pressures for the Dashain festival came to an end, relieving the downward pressure on stock prices and allowed the market to rebound.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON)’s decision to reduce broker commission rates by 10% has injected positive optimism among the investors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A total of 286 scrips were traded through 31,788 transactions. Likewise, as many as 3, 772,023 units of shares exchanged their hands, amount to Rs 93 crores. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sanima GIC Insurance Limited (SGIC) had the highest turnover, reaching Rs. 4.46 crores, and closed at a market price of Rs. 434.00.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Similarly, Asha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd (ALBSL) showed the highest gain of 10%, followed by Infinity Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (ILBS) with a gain of 9.97%.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">On the flip side, BPW Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (BPW) showed the highest loss at 4.62%.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In terms of sector indices, all sectors closed in the green territory. "Non-Life Insurance" gained the highest 2.87%, while "Mutual Fund" gained the least of 0.38%.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sensitive Index experienced a gain of 2.27%, while Float Index and Sensitive Float Index gained 3.15% and 2.93% respectively.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-18', 'modified' => '2023-10-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19022', 'image' => '20231018051927_collage (15).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-18 17:17:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19292', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Economy Getting Back on Track', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 18: The country’s economy, which was affected by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, is gradually starting to return to normalcy.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 18: The country’s economy, which was affected by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, is gradually starting to return to normalcy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Economic Research Department of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) published a report on Tuesday that showed that the external sector of the economy has become stronger and the internal sector is also gradually catching up in the first two months of the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report of NRB based on data of the first two months of the current FY mentions that the indicators of the external sector including the balance of payments, foreign exchange reserves have reached a comfortable level. Similarly, as the deposits and credit flows of banks and financial institutions have been positive, it indicates that the internal economy is also starting to return back on track. Due to the increase in service income from tourism and other inflow of remittances, the foreign currency reserves have reached the highest point so far. Similarly, as the deposits and credit flow of the banks have also started to increase, there are signs that the internal economy is gradually returning to normalcy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banking expert Parshuram Kunwar Chhetri added, “Some signs of improvement are seen in the economy. Now NRB should work to ease the situation through monetary policy.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Remittances continue to grow</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data of NRB, the remittance inflow increased by 22.1 percent and reached Rs 228 billion by mid-September of the current year. In the same period of the previous year, the remittance inflow increased by 19.8 percent. Similarly, the remittance inflow in US dollars increased by 17.7 percent and reached 1.73 billion, which were 11.3 last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Post-Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a positive impact on remittances due to the increase in the number of people going to work abroad and the government's policy of encouraging remittances through formal channels. In the same way, when the remittance received formally is kept in the bank, arrangements have been made to give an additional 1 percentage point of interest.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The remittance sender is also encouraged by reservation given in the ordinary shares issued by public companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Abroad study increasing the loss of service income</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although there has been some relief in the trade deficit, as the number of Nepalis going for studies abroad is high, the travel expenses have started to increase at a high rate. In the 2nd month of the current fiscal year, travel expenses increased by 76.5 percent and reached Rs 35.6 billion. Out of this, the expenditure towards education is Rs 23.33 billion, according to the NRB report. By mid-September, the tourism income increased by 53.9 percent and reached Rs 9.34 billion, which was Rs 6.7 billion in the same period of previous year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As expenses are higher than income, the net service income is at a loss of Rs 25.34 billion as of mid-September, which was Rs 19.26 billion last year. During the same period, the total trade deficit decreased by 4.7 percent and remained at Rs 233.30 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Exchange rates and foreign exchange reserves high</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As of August of the current fiscal year, the current account remained at a surplus of Rs 53.61 billion, which was at a loss of Rs 20.81 billion last year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The total foreign exchange reserves, which stood at Rs 1539 billion till mid-July, increased by 3.9 percent and reached Rs 1598 billion in mid-September. With the increase in foreign exchange reserves, the country’s ability to meet the import of goods and services has also strengthened. Based on the data of two months of the current FY, the foreign exchange reserves of the banking sector are sufficient to support 12.6 months of import of goods and 10.3 months of import of goods and services, according to the report of NRB.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Earlier last year, NRB and the government took a policy of tightening the imports after the foreign exchange reserves fell to a low point and the imports were restricted for 6 months. In addition, to the government banning the import of luxury goods, NRB also adopted a strict policy on loans used for imports and going to non-productive sectors. As the external indicators of the economy eased, the government and NRB have become flexible. The NRB has already reviewed its tight monetary policy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the external indicators of the economy becoming comfortable, the internal situation is showing signs of returning to normalcy, deposits and loans of banks and financial institutions have started to increase, while interest rates have been decreasing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Pressure on inflation</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although the indicators of the external sector of the economy are strong, there is pressure on inflation. In the month of September, the consumer price increase is 8.19 percent. Compared to the same period last year, inflation has decreased, but it has increased compared to the previous month this year. Last year, the consumer price inflation in September was 8.64 percent. Similarly, in August of the current year, the consumer price inflation was 7.52 percent.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-18', 'modified' => '2023-10-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19021', 'image' => '20231018031459_20230815041218_1692063085.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-18 15:14:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19293', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Allows Infrastructure Development Bank to Rescheduling Loans ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 18: The Infrastructure Development Bank has been also allowed to reschedule loans for projects affected by natural disasters such as floods, landslides and earthquakes.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 18: The Infrastructure Development Bank has been also allowed to reschedule loans for projects affected by natural disasters such as floods, landslides and earthquakes. Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on Monday revised the Unified Directive allowing the loans provided by the Infrastructure Development Bank to be rescheduled. Earlier this facility was given only to commercial banks, development banks and finance companies.</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 the instructions of the central bank, the Infrastructure Development Bank can reschedule loans invested in hotels and restaurants, cement, bricks and other such industries in the construction sector. Similarly, loans given to the education, health projects affected by natural disasters like floods, landslides, earthquakes, etc can also be rescheduled upon the request of the borrowers. This can be done by taking at least 10 per cent of additional interest and after analyzing the cash flow and income of the industry/business and the decision must be based on need and justifiable.</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"">A provision has been made that banks and financial institutions can also reschedule and restructure loans up to Rs 50 million invested in hotels and restaurants, animal husbandry, the construction sector and all other sectors upon the request of the borrower after analyzing the cash flow and income of the industry/business based on need and justification. </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"">Likewise, the Infrastructure Development Bank has also been instructed to implement a 0.5 per cent 'counter-cyclical buffer'. Earlier, the NRB had issued instructions to the commercial banks to implement a counter-cyclical buffer of 0.5 per cent within the current fiscal year.</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"">Meanwhile, NRB has extended the time to publish the financial reports of the first quarter of the current fiscal year of banks and financial institutions. Banks have to publish their financial report within 7 days of the end of every quarter, but this time they have given it till November 3. NRB informed that the period for publishing the report has been extended due to the public holiday of Dashain this year.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-18', 'modified' => '2023-10-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19020', 'image' => '20231018031616_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-18 15:15:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 20: The Area Police Office, Banepa, has seized a total of 92 sacks of sugar brought by evading taxes. The police said that a truck (Na 6 Kha 6219) was impounded from Banepa Municipality-7 along with the sugar during a security check on Thursday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The sugar was reportedly being supplied by concealing it in the sacks filled with paddy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Kavre Raj Kumar Shrestha told the state-owned RSS that the market value of the sugar confiscated by the police is worth around Rs 600,000. </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"">Likewise, truck driver Raju Timalsina, 27, has also been arrested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The police said that the truck and the goods seized during the security check have been sent to the Department of Revenue Investigation at Hariharbhawan in Lalitpur for further investigations. </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"">There has been a shortage of sugar in the market during the festive season when the demand is high and the government has failed to import sugar on time. As a result, the price of sugar has been skyrocketing in the market. The price of sugar, which was Rs 95 per kg, has increased to Rs 140 per kg in the retail market.</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"">People in the Terai areas have been relying on smuggled sugar, which costs much less than the current price of sugar available in the market. (With inputs from RSS)</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-20', 'modified' => '2023-10-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19036', 'image' => '20231020101843_sugar.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-20 10:17:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Sales Decline in Birgunj as Customers Choose India for Dashain Shopping', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Despite the festive season of Dashain, Birgunj city is experiencing an unusual lack of hustle and bustle. Traders in the city are currently facing a challenging situation, as they eagerly await customers.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 20: Despite the festive season of Dashain, Birgunj city is experiencing an unusual lack of hustle and bustle. Traders in the city are currently facing a challenging situation, as they eagerly await customers. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The primary reason behind this downturn is the increasing number of customers crossing the border to Raxaul, a city in India, where they can find goods at lower prices.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Customers are drawn to Raxaul due to the more affordable prices, which stands in stark contrast to Birgunj where shopkeepers are burdened with customs duties that drive up the prices of goods. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This trend has raised concerns among Nepali retailers, particularly those dealing with clothing, food items, electronic, and electrical goods. Individual customers are now effortlessly importing these products from Raxaul, bypassing the higher customs costs they'd face in Birgunj.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Dipak Sharraf, a retailer, has expressed his concerns about the significant decline in transactions in Birgunj due to the high customs duties. He even cautioned that if this trend persists, many shops in Birgunj might be forced to close their doors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Pankaj Rauniyar, a clothing trader, has noted a stark difference between this Dashain and the previous one, describing the current season as rather lackluster. Transaction activity has witnessed a sharp decline, leaving traders worried.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Bikash Kumar Agrawal, another retailer, revealed that purchases of appliances like refrigerators, TVs, and washing machines have plummeted by 70% compared to the previous festival season. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">He suggested that the government should consider reforms in economic policies to revitalize the dwindling retail sector, which has been struggling.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Traders in Birgunj, a vital trade hub in the country, are calling for the government's urgent intervention to rejuvenate the economy, which has already suffered significant setbacks due to the impact of COVID-19. (RSS)</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-20', 'modified' => '2023-10-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19035', 'image' => '20231020065009_collage (17).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-20 06:48:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Sheds 4.05 Points to Settle at 1903.84', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index shed 4.04 points or 0.215 and closed at 1903.84 points on the fifth trading day of the week, Thursday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 19: The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index shed 4.04 points or 0.215 and closed at 1903.84 points on the fifth trading day of the week, Thursday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The secondary benchmark index experienced a slight decline today following a significant gain of 43.27 points yesterday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Experienced investors and analysts are confident that the market is unlikely to fall any further since it appears to be at a stable bottom. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">One investor attributed the decrease in turnover to the Dashain festival, which has momentarily subdued market momentum.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> A total of 284 scrips were traded through 25,520 transactions. As many as 3,766,153 units of shares exchanged their hands, amounting to Rs 97 crores. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Nabil Bank Promoter Share(NABILP) had the highest turnover of 5.90 crores, closing at a market price of Rs 312. Likewise, Citizens Mutual Fund 2(CMF2) gained the highest 0.42%, closing at a market price of 7.57 per share.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Upper Solu Hydro Electric Company Limited (USHEC) lost the highest 8.25%, closing at a market price of Rs 247 per share. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In terms of sector indices, nine sectors landed in the red territory, while four sectors closed in the green zone. Hydropower Index Lost the highest 0.96%, while Trading Index and Manufacturing and Processing Index each lost the least 0.00%.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sensitive Index and Sensitive Float Index experienced a gain of 0.03% and 0.02% respectively, while Float Index lost 0.24%. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19034', 'image' => '20231019033231_collage (27).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 15:30:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cement Industry on the Brink of Collapse due to Low Construction Activities', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: The cement industries operating in the country are at risk due to the lack of market. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 19: The cement industries operating in the country are at risk due to the lack of market. According to industrialists, the income of majority of the 63 cement industries that are operating in the country has slumped due to the lack of market. </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"">Dhruba Thapa, president of the Nepal Cement Producers Association, said that the cement industries are now on the brink of collapse. </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"">"Due to the lack of market, industries have reached a state of collapsing. More than 20 per cent of the industries are not even running," 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"">Vice President of Nepal Cement Producers Association and Managing Director of Agni Cement Tara Prasad Pokharel said that the cement industry has been affected due to the lack of construction of physical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and irrigation in the country.</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"">"New construction works have not started, the builders have not been paid their dues, and therefore sufficient construction work has not been done. It has had a direct impact on the cement industry," 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"">Pokharel said that since Indian cement is cheaper than the cement produced in Nepal, they cannot compete with the Indian products.</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 of Nepal has given up to 8 percent cash subsidy to encourage cement export," said Pokharel, "If we want to protect the cement industry and promote exports, it is necessary to give 20 percent subsidy on export," 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"">According to the report of 10 cement companies published by various rating companies, the company's operating income of Rs 34 billion in 2020 increased by 23 percent to Rs 41.92 billion in 2021. However, compared to 2021, the income of cement industries increased by only 5 percent in 2022. Industrialist said that the income is affected due to lack of market.</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, in the year 2022, 10 cement industries, which earned an operating profit of Rs 44.28 billion, have been rated for a loan of Rs 57.14 billion. This loan is 29 percent more than their operating profit.</span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19033', 'image' => '20231019014714_20210116080717_Clipboard40.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 13:46:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19305', 'article_category_id' => '266', 'title' => 'Ncell Launches Festive Offer with Data Volume for Recharge', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Ncell Axiata Limited has launched a festive offer for its customers, under which Ncell customers can enjoy data volume as bonuses on every recharge.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 19: Ncell Axiata Limited has launched a festive offer for its customers, under which Ncell customers can enjoy data volume as bonuses on every recharge. The company expressed its belief that this offer will help its customers keep in touch with their friends and families during the festivals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a statement on Wednesday, Ncell said it has launched the Festive Refill Offer on the occasion of this Dashain providing data volume as bonuses to prepaid and postpaid customers upon recharge of Rs 200 and more</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">This offer has come into effect from Wednesday (October 18) and will remain in place for 15 days, added the statement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Under the refill offer, customers are entitled to get a bonus data volume ranging from 2000 MB to 8000 MB depending on the amount of balance top up. According to the company, Ccstomers recharging balance of Rs 200 to Rs 499 will get 400 MB all time data and 1600 MB data which can be used from 11 PM till 6 PM (19 hours) as bonus on recharge. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> Likewise, customers recharging their main balance with Rs 500 and more can enjoys 2400 MB all time data and 5600 MB data that can be used from 11 PM till 6 PM (19 hours) as bonus on recharge, added the company. The bonus data received under this festive offer remains valid for two days from the date of receiving such bonus. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Amount added in the main balance of customers via Ncell Saapati and balance transfer is not applicable for this offer, the statement further said. According to Ncell, customers topping up their balance through all recharge mediums (physical recharge card to digital top up) get data bonus upon recharge automatically. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Marking the occasion and sharing his excitement regarding the festive offer, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Ncell Jabbor Kayumov said, "At Ncell, our utmost focus remains on ensuring and enhancing customer experience and with Ncell's Festival Offer, we aim to make every conversation and connection of our beloved customers even more meaningful. With this festive offer, we thank our valued customers for choosing Ncell and extend our warm festival wishes. “</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Ncell said it believes that this refill offer will add great value among customers to stay connected with loved ones and share the excitement of festivals.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19032', 'image' => '20231019021705_nc.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 14:16:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Sells Electricity worth Rs 11 Billion to India in Five Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: India purchased electricity worth Rs 11.80 billion from the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in the last five months; from mid-May to mid-October. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 19: India purchased electricity worth Rs 11.80 billion from the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) in the last five months; from mid-May to mid-October. The NEA has been selling surplus electricity in the rainy season to India.</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 the first three months of the current fiscal year (from mid-July to mid-October), NEA exported electricity worth Rs 9.645 billion to India. Last month alone (mid-September to mid-October), NEA sold electricity worth Rs 4.235 billion in the Indian market. </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 average rate of electricity exported to India in three months was Rs 10.27 per unit. </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, electricity worth Rs 405 million were exported in five days of May and Rs 1.75 billion in June to India. The average selling price of electricity exported to India in May and June was Rs 9.67 per unit.</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 NEA has been selling 522 megawatts of electricity through competition in the day-ahead market of IEX and about 110 megawatts of electricity to the Indian company NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN) as per the power agreement between Nepal and India. NVVN is selling the electricity purchased from NEA in the state of Haryana.</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"">Kulman Ghising, executive director of NEA, said that it is possible to export electricity worth Rs 16 billion this year. </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"">“We have submitted a proposal to the Central Electricity Authority of India seeking for permission to export about 100 megawatts of electricity, but as we did not get the approval, we sent the proposal again some time ago,” said Ghising, adding, “The festive season has already started. During this period, the factories are closed and Kathmandu is deserted. The heat has subsided in the Terai and the domestic demand for electricity will decrease. If we do not get approval to export more electricity to India, we may have to close the power plants. We are confident that we will get approval for more electricity export soon.”</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"">NEA received approval for the export of 522 MW of electricity in the competitive market and 110 MW to NVVN. Out of this, 562 MW of electricity is being exported from Dhalkebar-Muzaffarpur 400 KV international transmission line and 70 MW from Mahendranagar-Tanakpur 132 KV transmission line.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => 'NEA, electricity, Nepal, India', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19031', 'image' => '20231019012323_20230716115331_eee.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 13:22:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19302', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC to Add Three Small Aircraft with its Own Resources', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to add three more aircraft to its fleet for domestic flights with its own resources.', '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"">October 19: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is preparing to add three more aircraft to its fleet for domestic flights with its own resources. Stating that the business expansion and income of NAC have been better than in the previous year, the state-owned airline company said it is in the final stage of preparation to purchase the aircraft for domestic flights. The NAC said it will purchase the aircraft on installments basis.</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 flag carrier of Nepal had taken loans from the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) and the Citizens' Investment Trust (CIT) to purchase aircraft for international flights.</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 NAC had purchased two wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft with the loans. It paid installments of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">53</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">0</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">.9</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million to the EPF and CIT on Tuesday.</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 NAC, it has already paid installments of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3.77</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> billion to these organizations between mid-June </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2022</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> to mid-June 2023</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">NAC Spokesperson Ramesh Paudel said that the company's business expansion and income have improved compared to the previous year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, the NAC has cleared all its dues and is also managing expenses for regular and emergency maintenance of engine and aircraft on its own after improvement in cash flow.</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 said that the NAC plans to buy new aircraft to fly to remote areas (STOL) based on the current needs. </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 added that the new aircraft will serve passengers in the remote areas and it will also promote tourism and also maintain the price of airfare.</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"">Likewise, the NAC issued a notice on Wednesday and informed that it has resumed operation of aircraft that were grounded due to technical problems for a few days.</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 NAC’s aircraft were grounded for some time due to technical problems, recently. The NAC mentioned that all the aircraft are operating regular flights since Monday after necessary repairs.</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"">NAC currently has four Airbus for international flights and only one Twin Otter for domestic flights. Six NAC aircraft manufactured in China are currently grounded due to high operating cost and expensive spare parts.</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 the NAC’s presence in domestic market is weak, private companies are charging exorbitant fares taking advantage of the festive season at present.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19030', 'image' => '20231019125846_20230428123538_nac twin.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 12:58:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19301', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India to Supply 95,000 Metric Tons of Rice to Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Three months after Nepal wrote a letter to India seeking for supply of rice, the southern neighbor has responded positively to Nepal’s request.', '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"">October 19: Three months after Nepal wrote a letter to India seeking for supply of rice, the southern neighbor has responded positively to Nepal’s request.</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"">India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued a notice on Wednesday informing that the quota of rice export to Nepal has been set at </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">95</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"">000</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">metric tons.</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 notice mentions that India has agreed to supply non-Basmati rice to seven countries including Nepal. The export of rice under quota system will be carried out by the National Cooperative Export Limited of 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"">In mid-June, Nepal had written a letter to India demanding </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">100,000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons of rice, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50,000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons of sugar and </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">5,000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> metric tons of paddy.</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"">Gajendra Thakur, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, confirmed that India has agreed to supply rice nearly three months after Nepal's request. </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 rice in the domestic market had increased recently after India banned the export of rice and paddy.</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"">There was also a fear of increasing risk of food insecurity in Nepal. According to spokesperson Thakur, there is no need to worry now as the new lot of rice will arrive in Nepal soon.</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 notice, India has set a quota to export </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10</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"">34</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"">800 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">metric tons of rice to Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Malaysia, the Philippines and Seychelles along with Nepal. Among these countries, the Philippines will received the maximum </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">295</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"">000 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">tons of rice followed by Cameroon, which will get </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">190</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"">000 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">tons and then, Malaysia, which will get </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">170</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"">000 </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">tons of rice.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19029', 'image' => '20231019120729_1697678163.1688637526.rice.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 12:06:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19300', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'China's Xi Announces Over $100 Billion in New Belt and Road Funding ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Beijing will inject over $100 billion of new funding into its Belt and Road initiative, President Xi Jinping said Wednesday at a summit marking the vast infrastructure project's tenth anniversary. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 19: Beijing will inject over $100 billion of new funding into its Belt and Road initiative, President Xi Jinping said Wednesday at a summit marking the vast infrastructure project's tenth anniversary. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Belt and Road is a central pillar of Xi's bid to expand China's clout overseas, with Beijing saying it has now inked over two trillion dollars in contracts around the world. </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"">Proponents hail it for bringing resources and economic growth to the Global South. But the initiative has also been slammed for saddling poor countries with enormous debt. Xi announced on Wednesday that key Belt and Road lenders the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank will now offer an additional $100 billion in loans. </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"">Both will set up financing opportunities of 350 billion yuan ($47.9 billion) for BRI projects, he said. An additional 80 billion yuan will be injected into the project's official lending institution, the Silk Road fund, Xi said. </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"">This week's forum, attended by representatives of 130 countries, is the third major summit of its kind to be hosted by Beijing since the Belt and Road's launch in 2013. </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"">Critics have long pointed to opaque pricing for BRI projects built by Chinese companies, with countries including Malaysia and Myanmar renegotiating deals to bring down costs. </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"">Beijing has been forced to hand out billions of dollars in bailout loans to BRI countries in recent years to allow the countries to extend their loans and remain solvent, according to a joint report this year by the World Bank and other institutions. </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"">And China said this month that BRI participants owe more than $300 billion to the Export-Import Bank of China. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The initiative has also drawn scrutiny for its massive carbon footprint and the environmental degradation caused by massive infrastructure projects. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The development of megaports, pipelines, railways and highways could render the Paris climate goals unreachable, researchers from China, the United States and the United Kingdom warned in 2019. – AFP/RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => 'China, Xi, Jinping, Belt, Road, Initiative, BRI', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19028', 'image' => '20231019104715_XxjpbeE007019_20231018_PEPFN1A001.JPG', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 10:46:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19299', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Energy Minister Directs NEA to Ensure Uninterrupted Power Supply During Festivals', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet has directed Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to ensure regular power supply during the festivals of Dashain, Tihar, Nepal Sambat, Chhath and others so that the celebrations would not be hampered. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 19: Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet has directed Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) to ensure regular power supply during the festivals of Dashain, Tihar, Nepal Sambat, Chhath and others so that the celebrations would not be hampered. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minister called the NEA executive director Kulman Ghising, deputy executive director Manoj Silwal and chief of the NEA's load-dispatch centre Suresh Bahadur Bhattarai to his office in Singha Durbar and directed them as well as the chiefs of the NEA's distribution centres within the Kathmandu Valley to make arrangements so that the citizens will get smooth power supply, giving no room for any complaint from a single house. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Become responsible and active for 24 hours, so that there is no room for public complaint. A few minutes in disruption of power supply during the festival period spoils the good work you have been doing throughout the year," Minister Basnet said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He directed NEA to distribute maximum power to the industries and enterprises during the festival time, and also suggested to create condition that the excess power is also not wasted. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Energy Minister urged NEA to make its no-light centres more responsible, to make arrangement for receiving the phone calls from customers promptly and to manage rapid team for reaching the consumer's house within minutes in case of any problem. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Minister Basnet is also the chairperson of the NEA Board of Directors. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Energy Secretary Gopal Sigdel directed the NEA executive director and other officials to provide services keeping the consumers in the centre. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Executive Director Ghising informed that human resources have been managed and will be mobilized in the Valley and urban areas to be mobilized round-the-clock. He said that he will be out regularly monitoring and inspecting the distribution centres during the festive season, so that there will be no complaints from consumers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We have made efforts as far as possible to prevent wastage of power. Preparations have also been made to supply the excess power to the Indian market, but the final consent has not been received yet (from the Indian side)," he said. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => 'Energy, Minister, Kulman Ghising, NEA, electricity, festival, supply, Dashain, Tihar', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19027', 'image' => '20231019102336_light.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 10:22:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19298', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Expenses Exceed Revenue Collection in First Quarter', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 19: The government’s expenditure has exceeded revenue collection in the first three months of the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 19: The government’s expenditure has exceeded revenue collection in the first three months of the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the latest data, the government's revenue collection stood in the review period was 15.93 percent of the annual target while the expenditure stood at 16.02 percent.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Financial Comptroller General’s Office said that out of the total expenditure in the first three months of the fiscal year (FY) 2023-24, the current expenditure stood at 18.69 percent, followed by 16.05 percent towards financial management and 5.9 percent towards capital expenditures. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The government had announced a budget of Rs 1,751.31 billion for the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The total allocation towards current expenditure is Rs 1,141.78 billion for this fiscal year with expenditures amounting to Rs 213.39 billion as of October 17. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Likewise, the government has allocated Rs 302.07 billion towards capital expenditure, while the expenses under this heading stands at Rs 17.83 billion so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Under the headings of financial management, the government has allocated Rs 307.45 while the expenditure in the first quarter stands at Rs 49.34 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The revenue collection in the first quarter is Rs 234.36 billion which makes up 15.93 percent of the annual target. The government has set a target to collect revenue worth Rs 1472.48 billion in the current fiscal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite the target of securing Rs 49.94 billion as foreign grant in the current fiscal, the achievement till date is 0.12 percent or Rs 61.08 million. -- RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19026', 'image' => '20231019095653_20210105024513_20200327032654_5003_finance-ministy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 09:56:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19297', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Karnali Faces 19,116 Metric Tonnes Food Grain Deficit Annually', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Karnali Province faces an annual food grain deficit of 19,116 metric tonnes, according to the data provided by the provincial government.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 19: Karnali Province faces an annual food grain deficit of 19,116 metric tonnes, according to the data provided by the provincial government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Among its ten districts, Salyan, Rukum West, and Surkhet manage to produce enough food grain for their needs, while the remaining districts must rely on food grain imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In particular, Dailekh, Jajarkot, Humla, Kalikot, Jumla, Mugu, and Dolpa districts struggle to produce sufficient food grain to meet their yearly requirements.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Dailekh and Jumla are comparatively less reliant on food grain imports when compared to the other food-deficit districts, said Agriculture Directorate under the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture, and Cooperatives of the Karnali Province Government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Chitra Bahadur Rokaya, Director at the Directorate, emphasized that the provincial government is actively working on implementing various programs aimed at achieving food self-sufficiency in all of its districts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">To reach this objective, the province has embraced the concept of becoming an "organic province," and all relevant stakeholders play a crucial role in the success of this initiative.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A 2019 survey conducted in the hilly and mountainous areas of the province by organizations such as the World Food Programme, EPI, and FAO revealed that 28 percent of households in the province did not have access to an adequate amount of food.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> In this group, 8 percent of households faced a critical shortage of food, indicative of an extreme hunger problem in the region. (RSS) </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-19', 'modified' => '2023-10-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19025', 'image' => '20231019071414_collage (16).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-19 07:12:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19294', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEPSE Gains Substantial 43.27 Points to Close at 1907 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index gained 43.27 points or 2.32% and closed at 1907 points on the fourth trading day of the week, Wednesday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 18: The Nepal Stock Exchange(NEPSE) Index gained 43.27 points or 2.32% and closed at 1907 points on the fourth trading day of the week, Wednesday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Today's market gain can be attributed to a combination of several factors. First and foremost, the decision of many banks and financial institutions to lower their interest rates for the current month has had positive impact on the market. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, selling pressures for the Dashain festival came to an end, relieving the downward pressure on stock prices and allowed the market to rebound.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON)’s decision to reduce broker commission rates by 10% has injected positive optimism among the investors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A total of 286 scrips were traded through 31,788 transactions. Likewise, as many as 3, 772,023 units of shares exchanged their hands, amount to Rs 93 crores. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sanima GIC Insurance Limited (SGIC) had the highest turnover, reaching Rs. 4.46 crores, and closed at a market price of Rs. 434.00.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Similarly, Asha Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Ltd (ALBSL) showed the highest gain of 10%, followed by Infinity Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (ILBS) with a gain of 9.97%.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">On the flip side, BPW Laghubitta Bittiya Sanstha Limited (BPW) showed the highest loss at 4.62%.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">In terms of sector indices, all sectors closed in the green territory. "Non-Life Insurance" gained the highest 2.87%, while "Mutual Fund" gained the least of 0.38%.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sensitive Index experienced a gain of 2.27%, while Float Index and Sensitive Float Index gained 3.15% and 2.93% respectively.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-18', 'modified' => '2023-10-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19022', 'image' => '20231018051927_collage (15).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-18 17:17:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19292', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Economy Getting Back on Track', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 18: The country’s economy, which was affected by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, is gradually starting to return to normalcy.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 18: The country’s economy, which was affected by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, is gradually starting to return to normalcy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Economic Research Department of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) published a report on Tuesday that showed that the external sector of the economy has become stronger and the internal sector is also gradually catching up in the first two months of the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report of NRB based on data of the first two months of the current FY mentions that the indicators of the external sector including the balance of payments, foreign exchange reserves have reached a comfortable level. Similarly, as the deposits and credit flows of banks and financial institutions have been positive, it indicates that the internal economy is also starting to return back on track. Due to the increase in service income from tourism and other inflow of remittances, the foreign currency reserves have reached the highest point so far. Similarly, as the deposits and credit flow of the banks have also started to increase, there are signs that the internal economy is gradually returning to normalcy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banking expert Parshuram Kunwar Chhetri added, “Some signs of improvement are seen in the economy. Now NRB should work to ease the situation through monetary policy.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Remittances continue to grow</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data of NRB, the remittance inflow increased by 22.1 percent and reached Rs 228 billion by mid-September of the current year. In the same period of the previous year, the remittance inflow increased by 19.8 percent. Similarly, the remittance inflow in US dollars increased by 17.7 percent and reached 1.73 billion, which were 11.3 last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Post-Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a positive impact on remittances due to the increase in the number of people going to work abroad and the government's policy of encouraging remittances through formal channels. In the same way, when the remittance received formally is kept in the bank, arrangements have been made to give an additional 1 percentage point of interest.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The remittance sender is also encouraged by reservation given in the ordinary shares issued by public companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Abroad study increasing the loss of service income</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although there has been some relief in the trade deficit, as the number of Nepalis going for studies abroad is high, the travel expenses have started to increase at a high rate. In the 2nd month of the current fiscal year, travel expenses increased by 76.5 percent and reached Rs 35.6 billion. Out of this, the expenditure towards education is Rs 23.33 billion, according to the NRB report. By mid-September, the tourism income increased by 53.9 percent and reached Rs 9.34 billion, which was Rs 6.7 billion in the same period of previous year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As expenses are higher than income, the net service income is at a loss of Rs 25.34 billion as of mid-September, which was Rs 19.26 billion last year. During the same period, the total trade deficit decreased by 4.7 percent and remained at Rs 233.30 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Exchange rates and foreign exchange reserves high</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As of August of the current fiscal year, the current account remained at a surplus of Rs 53.61 billion, which was at a loss of Rs 20.81 billion last year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The total foreign exchange reserves, which stood at Rs 1539 billion till mid-July, increased by 3.9 percent and reached Rs 1598 billion in mid-September. With the increase in foreign exchange reserves, the country’s ability to meet the import of goods and services has also strengthened. Based on the data of two months of the current FY, the foreign exchange reserves of the banking sector are sufficient to support 12.6 months of import of goods and 10.3 months of import of goods and services, according to the report of NRB.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Earlier last year, NRB and the government took a policy of tightening the imports after the foreign exchange reserves fell to a low point and the imports were restricted for 6 months. In addition, to the government banning the import of luxury goods, NRB also adopted a strict policy on loans used for imports and going to non-productive sectors. As the external indicators of the economy eased, the government and NRB have become flexible. The NRB has already reviewed its tight monetary policy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the external indicators of the economy becoming comfortable, the internal situation is showing signs of returning to normalcy, deposits and loans of banks and financial institutions have started to increase, while interest rates have been decreasing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Pressure on inflation</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although the indicators of the external sector of the economy are strong, there is pressure on inflation. In the month of September, the consumer price increase is 8.19 percent. Compared to the same period last year, inflation has decreased, but it has increased compared to the previous month this year. Last year, the consumer price inflation in September was 8.64 percent. Similarly, in August of the current year, the consumer price inflation was 7.52 percent.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-18', 'modified' => '2023-10-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19021', 'image' => '20231018031459_20230815041218_1692063085.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-18 15:14:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19293', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NRB Allows Infrastructure Development Bank to Rescheduling Loans ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 18: The Infrastructure Development Bank has been also allowed to reschedule loans for projects affected by natural disasters such as floods, landslides and earthquakes.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 18: The Infrastructure Development Bank has been also allowed to reschedule loans for projects affected by natural disasters such as floods, landslides and earthquakes. Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on Monday revised the Unified Directive allowing the loans provided by the Infrastructure Development Bank to be rescheduled. Earlier this facility was given only to commercial banks, development banks and finance companies.</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 the instructions of the central bank, the Infrastructure Development Bank can reschedule loans invested in hotels and restaurants, cement, bricks and other such industries in the construction sector. Similarly, loans given to the education, health projects affected by natural disasters like floods, landslides, earthquakes, etc can also be rescheduled upon the request of the borrowers. This can be done by taking at least 10 per cent of additional interest and after analyzing the cash flow and income of the industry/business and the decision must be based on need and justifiable.</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"">A provision has been made that banks and financial institutions can also reschedule and restructure loans up to Rs 50 million invested in hotels and restaurants, animal husbandry, the construction sector and all other sectors upon the request of the borrower after analyzing the cash flow and income of the industry/business based on need and justification. </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"">Likewise, the Infrastructure Development Bank has also been instructed to implement a 0.5 per cent 'counter-cyclical buffer'. Earlier, the NRB had issued instructions to the commercial banks to implement a counter-cyclical buffer of 0.5 per cent within the current fiscal year.</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"">Meanwhile, NRB has extended the time to publish the financial reports of the first quarter of the current fiscal year of banks and financial institutions. Banks have to publish their financial report within 7 days of the end of every quarter, but this time they have given it till November 3. NRB informed that the period for publishing the report has been extended due to the public holiday of Dashain this year.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-10-18', 'modified' => '2023-10-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '19020', 'image' => '20231018031616_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-10-18 15:15:20', '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
