September 17: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Pokhara Metropolitan City have agreed to forge cooperation on urban infrastructure development and improved livelihood project.…
September 17: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Pokhara Metropolitan City have agreed to forge cooperation on urban infrastructure development and improved livelihood project.…
September 17: The government has formed a high-level committee to study the prospects of reforming the existing tax system.…
September 17: Vice-Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha, has said the 16th five-year plan is being prepared in a way it would bring back the Nepalis who are currently in overseas…
September 17: Four people including three from the same family were found murdered at Gairigaon, Tinkune in the Kathmandu Valley on Friday night.…
Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said the Chinese government is positive for the construction of the Tokha-Chhahare tunnel…
September 15: This week marks a very important milestone for the Middle East and North Africa: three years since the signing of the Abraham Accordsbetween Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, under the auspices of the US…
September 5: The Ministry of Forests and Environment has agreed to proceed with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Tokha-Chhare tunnel project connecting Kathmandu with Rasuwagadhi, a vital trade route with China.…
September 15: All the medical services except emergency and pharmacy at various hospitals and health institutions of Makwanpur have been shut down to protest against the manhandling of…
September 15: As the final verdict regarding the Social Security Fund (SSF) is pending in the court, a large number of employees working in banks and financial institutions (BFI's) are sceptical to join the…
September 15: It has been five years since Arvind Udyog Pvt Limited of Birgunj stopped its…
September 15: A team of trekkers including two foreign nationals has started trekking along the Great Himalayan Trail (GHT), one of the popular trails of…
September 15: Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Balendra Shah has been listed as one of the 2023 TIME100 Next emerging leaders of the…
September 15: Police have restricted night-time vehicular movement along the Kaligandaki corridor in Nawalparasi…
The Pokhara Metropolitan City and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) entered into an agreement to implement a project focused on creating employment opportunities through Recycle Upcycle (RU)…
Cement production at the Hetauda Cement Industry has come to a standstill due to a machine breakdown, specifically in the coal…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 17: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Pokhara Metropolitan City have agreed to forge cooperation on urban infrastructure development and improved livelihood project. Another area of cooperation between the ADB and Pokhara metropolis is exploring potentials for sustainable tourism development of the city. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The areas of cooperation were discussed during a meeting between Mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan City Dhanraj Acharya and Executive Director of ADB Wan Farisan bin Wan Sulaiman. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The two sides also discussed about upgrading the road security measures along with road and drainage system of the city under the Regional Urban Development Project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the officials, the ADB is to provide economic assistance to different projects in Pokhara for the projects have already been selected. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">One of them is upgrading the road section from Sahid Chowk to Pokhara International Airport for which the project cost is estimated to be around USD 5.34 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, 13 kms road would be blacktopped from Damdate to Bhanjyang under the Panchase Ecosystem Development and Access Project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, upgrading the road from Bhanjyang to Panchase area, establishment of service points, integrated promotion of homestay and preservation of Gurung Museum would also be carried out. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Furthermore, 85 kms long cycle track would be constructed by linking the 18 wards of the metropolitan city. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Settlement management, water spring protection, setting up information board and direction board and construction of toilets, water fountain, cycle parking and cycle stand with service point would be carried out under the Phewa Lake Improvement Project. Pokhara Metropolitan City has said USD 3.05 million would be spent on this project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, there is a plan for connecting Damsite and Raniban with glassbridge and developing an eco-trail from Raniban connecting the Peace Stupa and the Phewa Lake rim in an integrated way under the Raniban Eco-trail and Phewa Lake Improvement Project. The eco-route would incorporate public amenities including construction of resting places, toilets, taps, installation of information board and temple renovation. It will cost USD 5.63 million. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18738', 'image' => '20230917033521_1694876327.pkr.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 15:34:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19008', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Forms Committee to Reform the Tax System', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 17: The government has formed a high-level committee to study the prospects of reforming the existing tax system. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">September 17: The government has formed a high-level committee to study the prospects of reforming the existing tax system. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Friday decided to form the committee under the chairmanship of former minister Bidyadhar Mallik.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The Ministry of Finance said that the high-level committee has been mandated to submit its report by next January. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The committee was formed in line with the announcement made by the government in the budget of the current fiscal year. In the budget, it was mentioned that a high-level committee would be formed to study the existing tax system and suggest improvements for the reform of the tax system. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">According to the ministry, the budget for the next fiscal year will be prepared based on the suggestions given by the committee.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18737', 'image' => '20230917022932_1694918419.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 14:28:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19007', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '16th Five-Year Plan to Focus on Bringing Back Migrant Workers: NPC Vice Chair', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 17: Vice-Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha, has said the 16th five-year plan is being prepared in a way it would bring back the Nepalis who are currently in overseas employment.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 17: Vice-Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha, has said the 16th five-year plan is being prepared in a way it would bring back the Nepalis who are currently in overseas employment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He shared this at an interaction on 'Existing economic challenges and roadmap of entrepreneurship' organized as part of the third Nepal Youth Entrepreneurship Summit jointly organized by the National Youth Council and Nepal Business Institute on Saturday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Stating that the concessional loans provided to the youths has now been stopped as it could not bring any productive results, Vice-Chair Shrestha mentioned, "We provided concessional loans to youths. But it could not increase employment and did not bring any productive results."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Madhu Kumar Marasini, admitted that issues of youths were not resolved due to problems in policy implementation. He expressed the view that many problems of youths could be resolved if discussion would be held with the youths.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Likewise, Chairperson of Nepal Bankers' Association, Sunil KC, stressed that there should be guarantee of return of investment. Stating that they were willing to invest in the youth sector, he shared that some banks are afraid to invest in industries as there is risk of return of investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Former President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Bhawani Rana, pointed out the need to seek new destinations for youth entrepreneurship. Rana laid emphasis on making youths entrepreneurs by amending the existing policies and regulations.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18736', 'image' => '20230917112353_066A7246.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 11:23:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19006', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Murders over Petty Disputes on the Rise in Kathmandu Valley', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 17: Four people including three from the same family were found murdered at Gairigaon, Tinkune in the Kathmandu Valley on Friday night. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 17: Four people including three from the same family were found murdered at Gairigaon, Tinkune in the Kathmandu Valley on Friday night. The bodies of four people had marks of injuries caused by sharp weapons.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The exact reason behind the murders is yet to be ascertained. Trained police persons and dogs have been mobilized to investigate the incident from all possible angles, according to Additional Inspector General (AIG) Deepak Thapa, chief of the Kathmandu Valley Police Office.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, another shocking murder occurred at Kapan, Kathmandu on April 20 earlier this year. A 35-year-old woman, who was running a gift shop, was murdered in her own shop. There was no involvement of a big gang. The incident was related to robbery, according to SSP Dinesh Acharya of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police. Police arrested the alleged murderer on the 11th day of the incident and proceeded with a murder case against him at the court.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, a 90-year-old man from Tarkeshwar Municipality-6 of Kathmandu district was found murdered on December 6 last year. The dead body of the elderly was located in a stream inside a community forest of ward no 3 in the municipality.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A local youth was arrested and charged with the case of murder of the elderly.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">These are just representative cases of murder emanating out of petty issues involving disputes in monetary dealings, robbery and personal vengeance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the last fiscal year (FY 2022/23), out of 500 murder cases reported to the police, 38 were from the Kathmandu Valley alone. Similarly, of the total 982 attempted murder cases, 136 were reported from Kathmandu alone.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, in the FY 2021/22, the country witnessed 590 murders. Among them, 50 took place in Kathmandu. Out of 1,079 attempted murder cases recorded all over the country, 136 occurred in the Kathmandu Valley alone.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Additional Inspector General Kuber Kadayat, who is also the spokesperson for the Nepal Police, said that many of such murders recorded in the Kathmandu Valley were due to personal vengeance as well as inability to put up with general matters. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to AIG Kadayat, preliminary investigation has suggested that the recent murder at Tinkune might have been caused due to personal vengeance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, SSP Mainali said, "People have become intolerant lately. They do not seem to tolerate any minor issue/incident. People are affected by many factors. Foreign employment is ever increasing, so they have nuclear families. Economic and educational issues are among others taking a toll on people."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Exposure to the outer world through social networking sites is also causing stress, he analyzed, adding that people easily tend to accept the negative side while neglecting the good ones.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"The society is deteriorating due to activities conducted out of impulse," he assessed, emphasizing that moral education is an urgent need of the hour. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => 'murder, police, rise, increase, intolerant, social, Kathmandu, petty, dispute', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18735', 'image' => '20230917110421_20220831034508_Kathmandu Valley.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 11:02:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19005', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'China Positive on Construction of Tokha-Chhahare Tunnel Way: Finance Minister Mahat', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said the Chinese government is positive for the construction of the Tokha-Chhahare tunnel way.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">September 17: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said the Chinese government is positive for the construction of the Tokha-Chhahare tunnel way.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mahat said so while addressing a programme organized by Likhu Women Entrepreneurs and Social Organisation to exchange best wishes on the eve of the Teej festival. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Finance Minister said the government has set aside Rs 1 billion in the current fiscal year's budget for the construction of the tunnel way. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">He added that a proposal had been presented before the Chinese government for additional investments and it has responded positively to that.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"Letters have been exchanged between the two sides to bring Chinese investment in this project, which means the project will move ahead," he said. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mahat added that the Chinese government has given a letter indicating its intention of keeping this project in top priority in course of the Prime Minister's upcoming visit to China.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Stating that the pre-feasibility study on this project had already been conducted, Finance Minister Dr Mahat said the construction process will move ahead after studying the detailed project report (DPR).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure will carry out the construction of the tunnel way, the Ministry of Finance will mobilize resources for the same and the Ministry of Forests and Environment will carry out the environmental-related works, he said and stressed on the need of coordination among all the government bodies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Similarly, the road network in Nuwakot will be upgraded and expanded not only up to the district headquarters, Bidur, but also up to the border transit point in Rasuwa.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">According to the Finance Minister, this roadway would assist in managing traffic along the Prithvi Highway and it would be the shortest route for international trade. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Minister also stated that the Dhikure and Simla irrigation projects were also in the government's priority. (RSS)</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18734', 'image' => '20230917060137_collage (16).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 05:59:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19004', 'article_category_id' => '251', 'title' => 'The Abraham Accords: Celebrating Three Years of Regional Cooperation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: This week marks a very important milestone for the Middle East and North Africa: three years since the signing of the Abraham Accordsbetween Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, under the auspices of the US government.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hanan Goder</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 15: This week marks a very important milestone for the Middle East and North Africa: three years since the signing of the Abraham Accordsbetween Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, under the auspices of the US government.Three months later, in December 2020, Morocco joined the process, signing a normalization agreement with Israel.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The catalyst that enabled thesehistoric accords was the conscious decision taken by the parties to promote a stable and prosperous future for the Middle East.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The agreements have ushered in a new era of normalization and peace that not only connects governments butalso bringspeople together, despite differences in language, religious beliefs, cultures and more. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">So far, the Abraham Accords have offered a mere glimpse into the full potential of regional cooperation. Even so, the scope of trade between Israel and other Middle Eastern countries increased 74% between 2021 and 2022. Another example is tourism, mostly non-existent in the past, which has skyrocketed. In 2021, visits from Israel to the UAE increased by 172%. Meanwhile, the number of Israelis flying to Bahrain since the establishment of direct flights has increased exponentially. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The accords have also had a significant influence on reinforcing Israel's relations with neighboring countries, thereby enhancing regional stability. For example, the Prosperity Green & Blue agreement between Israel, the UAE, and Jordan determined that asolar field tosupply 600 megawatts of green electricity to Israel will be established in Jordan, whilein return,a desalination plant in Israel will deliver 200 million cubic meters of water to Jordan.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In a region where 65% of the population is under 30, providing the younger generation with opportunities is a key factor in preventing instability. To that end, youth delegations have been initiated, encouraging bonds between tomorrow's leaders and laying thefoundation for cooperation in the decades to come.Delegationsin which young influencers experience eachother's cultures and visitimportant religious and historic sites while focusing on community building are an effective tool in strengthening ties. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importantly, the youth of the relevant countries have subscribed wholeheartedly to the principles of acceptance, cooperation and peace highlighted in the accords, communicating to the region that these ideals are the building blocks of the future. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Abraham Accords encourage collaboration and education. In the summer of 2022, Ben-Gurion University welcomed students from Morocco. Additionally, a number of Emirati students have enrolled in Israeli universities. Bahrain has also embraced the prospects for shared educational activities and signed a number of agreements with Israel to advance student and professor exchanges.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In anotable example of how these initiatives can foster mutual understanding, after Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, the UAE incorporated Holocaust education into its school curriculum as a mandatory subject, attestation to the ability of the Abraham Accords to fostercoexistence and religious tolerance.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Abraham Accords have shown unity's power to inspire and provide opportunity.Theyoffer a window into a potential future of the region and demonstrate that when both leaders and ordinary citizensprioritize peace and cooperation, a far better future for the Middle East is possible.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Israel hopes that many more countries will join this endeavor, creatingabrighter tomorrow for the sake of all our children.</span></span></span></p> <p><em><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">(The author is the Ambassador of Israel to Nepal)</span></span></span></em></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18733', 'image' => '20230915081359_accord.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 20:13:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19003', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ministry of Forests Gives the Go Ahead for EIA and DPR of Tokha-Chahare Tunnel', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 5: The Ministry of Forests and Environment has agreed to proceed with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Tokha-Chhare tunnel project connecting Kathmandu with Rasuwagadhi, a vital trade route with China. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 5: The Ministry of Forests and Environment has agreed to proceed with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Tokha-Chhare tunnel project connecting Kathmandu with Rasuwagadhi, a vital trade route with China. This project falls within the Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park area, and is approved while subjecting to various conditions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">With the consent of the Ministry of Forest, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport initiated the process of informing the Chinese side to proceed with the study of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) along with the EIA. The Ministry of Forest agreed to proceed with the EIA process of this project under eight conditions. This has paved the way to proceed with DPR and EIA of this tunnel which has already completed a feasibility study. Similarly, the source said, "The consent of the Ministry of Forest has been obtained. Since the conditions set by the Ministry will be implemented when the EIA and DPR are advanced, the Chinese side will be informed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to proceed with further studies."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The pre-feasibility study of this project was completed with the help of the Chinese government. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">During the construction and operation of the proposed project, the Ministry of Forest has put a condition that the negative impact of the tunnel on rare and endangered wildlife and their habitat, biological diversity and ecological system should be studied. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the Wildlife Friendly Infrastructure Construction Guidelines - 2078, detailed studies on these issues should be carried out and measures to minimize negative impacts should be included in the report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, while studying the feasibility of the project, it has been mentioned that various options should also be studied. Based on the facts and data, it has been asked to select and study the options that will have the least negative impact on the biodiversity and the overall environment and use the least amount of forest in the park areas and its immediate neighbourhood.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the study report, the ministry has set conditions demanding inclusion of alternative designs and to opt for the design that will cause less environmental damage and the minimum use of the forest area of the park and the intermediate areas. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">When the Chinese President visited Nepal in October 2019, it was agreed to proceed with the study of this tunnel. A plan has been put forward to connect the Rasuwagadhi road with a short distance from Kathmandu and advance this tunnel to make the road access closer to the north.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18732', 'image' => '20230915043518_1694740054.1571187722.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 16:34:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19002', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'All Medical Services Except Emergency Shut Down to Protest Manhandling of Doctors ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: All the medical services except emergency and pharmacy at various hospitals and health institutions of Makwanpur have been shut down to protest against the manhandling of doctors. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 15: All the medical services except emergency and pharmacy at various hospitals and health institutions of Makwanpur have been shut down to protest against the manhandling of doctors. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The medical services have been shut down to protest the manhandling of Dr Bikas Thapa and Prashant Bidari of Sancho Hospital at Hetauda sub-metropolis-1 on Wednesday. Relatives of Rakesh Pradhan entered the hospital premises on Wednesday and manhandled the doctors, saying Pradhan died due to the negligence of doctors during treatment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Forty-one-year old Pradhan of Hetauda-12 was suffering from dengue and had died one month ago in course of treatment at Sancho Hospital. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Medical Superintendent at Hetauda Hospital, Dr Ram Chandra Sapkota, said all the health services except emergency and pharmacy have been closed after doctors and health workers launched agitation, citing insecurity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He shared that Hetauda Hospital has also shut down all services except emergency and pharmacy to protest the incident. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, other hospitals and health institutions in the district have also closed all medical services except emergency. Seventy-eight health workers including doctors of Hetauda Hospital have resigned en masse, citing insecurity, mentioned Sapkota. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18731', 'image' => '20230915033905_health sector.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 15:38:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19001', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFI's Employees Skeptical to Join SSF, as Court is yet to make a Final Decision ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: As the final verdict regarding the Social Security Fund (SSF) is pending in the court, a large number of employees working in banks and financial institutions (BFI's) are sceptical to join the SSF.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 15: As the final verdict regarding the Social Security Fund (SSF) is pending in the court, a large number of employees working in banks and financial institutions (BFI's) are sceptical to join the SSF.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The employee unions of banks and financial institutions started protesting in the past stating that the fund ignored the issues raised by them and put unnatural pressure on them.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The union of employees of banks and financial institutions, which has been refusing to participate in the Social Security Fund, had filed a case against the Social Security Fund in more than two years ago.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In July 2021, a division bench of justices Tej Bahadur KC and Bam Kumar Shrestha presided over a hearing on the case. As the opinions of the two justices differed, it was decided to present the filed by the bank employees against the fund to the full bench of the Supreme Court.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">So far, the full bench has yet to issue the final verdict in the case.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Many times, the court failed to hear the case due to time constraints.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As the final verdict of the case has not been issued, a large number of employees working in BFI's are out of the scheme operated by the SSF.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the petition, the bank employees have argued that BFIs are governed by the Banks and Financial Institutions Act, which was in force before the implementation of the Labor Act of 2074.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Regulations regarding the appointment, terms and conditions of the service and benefits of bank employees, are done after taking approval from Nepal Rastra Bank. BFI staff have mentioned that the management of various post-retirement facilities has been made as per the Act, and ave requested the SSF that their participation in the scheme should be made voluntary. BFI employees are doubtful that the returns they will get after the contribution made to the fund will be of much value.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the pension scheme of SSF, the total sum of 20 per cent of the amount accumulated in the name of the contributor every month and the total amount, including the interest earned on the sum divided by 160 has been arranged to be received by the contributor as a monthly pension after retirement. An employee who deposits Rs 72,000 annually at the rate of Rs 6,000 per month will accumulate Rs 21.6 million after working for 30 years.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If the employee retires, his/her lifetime savings will be divided by 160 and will be entitled to receive only Rs 13,500 a month. The bank employees have been saying that this amount will be only 7.55 per cent of the amount they have deposited annually.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">It is also mentioned in the petition that it is complicated to get back the money deposited by oneself and the return is less than the interest of fixed deposits. However, this matter is yet to be decided by the court.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the deputy executive director of the fund, Bivek Panthi, there is no situation to wait until the court's decision. He said that the fund desires to end the case quickly and to cover the employees of banks and financial institutions. "The fund is ready to address the demands raised by them to the extent," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">SSF started collecting contributions from 1 Ashar 2076 after it was formally launched by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli on Poush 11, 2075.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The fund, which initially involved workers and employees of the formal and informal sectors voluntarily, aims to cover all sectors. However, since most of the employees of banks and financial institutions are not participating in the fund, questions are being raised about its justification.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As of Shrawan 26, a total of 443,000 formal sector workers have joined the Social Security Fund. Workers who have gone abroad for employment are also joining the fund.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18730', 'image' => '20230915024247_SSF (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 14:41:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19000', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Counterfeit Products Rampant in Market Years after Closure of Industry that Produces Genuine Product', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: It has been five years since Arvind Udyog Pvt Limited of Birgunj stopped its production.', '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"">September 15: It has been five years since Arvind Udyog Pvt Limited of Birgunj stopped its production. However, the products of this industry are still easily available in the market. But those products are not manufactured by Arvind industry. Counterfeit products imported illegally from India have taken over the market in the name of Arvind Udyog. Taking advantage of the closure of Arvind industry, Indian industries have been sending fake products that look the same like the ones manufactured earlier in Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Department of Industries has registered the trade mark of `’Tinku Supari’, a tobacco-free aromatic betel nut (sweet supari), in the name of Arvind Udyog. The Indian sweet betel nut that looks like the betel nut of Aravind Udyog seems to be produced under the name of KM Marketing in Delhi, 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"">The domestic industry has been shut down due to the government policy, while fake products are being imported from India illegally. Industrialists complain that the domestic market is occupied by such products imported from India through smuggling.</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"">Arvind Udyog’s operator Niranjan Agarwal says that the production was stopped because the industry could not compete with foreign products due to the government's revenue policy. He said that even though the production was stopped five years ago, the industry has been renewing its company registration and trademark consistently. </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"">“I am renewing the registration by spending Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">00,000 every year,” said Agrawal, adding that he did not stop renewing it in the hope that one day the policy will be improved and he will be able to do business again.</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"">Fake products are being smuggled from India rampantly. However, the customs offices do not have data on the illegal import of such products. Ramchandra Dhakal, Information Officer of Birgunj Customs, says that there is no official data of sweet betel nut being imported into the country.</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 Department of Customs, only eight kilograms of sweet betel nuts were imported in the last fiscal year</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"">However, the local businessmen estimates that around </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2,000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> tons of sweet betel nuts are consumed in the domestic market every 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"">The government levies an excise duty of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">365</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg and a health tax of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">40</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg on domestic products. A customs duty of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">100</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">per kilo is levied on betel nuts used as raw material.</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 government has been increasing the excise duty since FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2069/70</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, which started at Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg. Altogether, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">17</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> industries have stopped production due to high costs as a result of hefty taxes imposed by the government. They argue that readymade products from India is cheaper than their products. </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 industrialist said that the retail price of domestic sweet betel nuts is Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">145</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per packet. They say that fake products manufactured in India are available at a retail price of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">48</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.</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"">Similarly, eight of the industries have canceled their industry registration. Others are renewing it every 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"">Due to the high revenue to be paid to the customs, such products are imported through illegal means. Government revenue is also lost due to this. Industrialists say that due to the high rate of revenue, both the investment of the domestic industry and the government revenue have gone down the drains.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18729', 'image' => '20230915012948_download.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 13:28:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18999', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Trekkers' Team Embarks on Great Himalayan Trail ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: A team of trekkers including two foreign nationals has started trekking along the Great Himalayan Trail (GHT), one of the popular trails of Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 15: A team of trekkers including two foreign nationals has started trekking along the Great Himalayan Trail (GHT), one of the popular trails of Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The four-member team of trekkers is led by Maria Andre from Slovenia.The team started the trekking from Taplejung district for Ghunsa, said the locals. The Great Himalayan Trail is a trekking route that goes through various mountainous areas within Nepal covering a distance of around 1,700 kilometres and passes through eight mountains. It is becoming one of the best, ambitious and challenging treks for tourists at home and abroad. It traverses from Taplejung district in the east to Darchula district in the west. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> Andre has already scaled eight mountains including Mount Everest. Andre, who in 1991 successfully climbed Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world, is currently in Nepal for the GHT. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They plan to complete the trekking within 115 to 120 days, said Ensuhang Rai from Solukhumbu district who is a guide to the team of trekkers. It costs an estimated amount of Rs 5 million to Rs 6 million for a four-member team of trekkers to complete the trail, he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The team will go from Lumbasubba mountain to the Makalu Base Camp of Sankhuwasabha district through the Kanchenjunga Base Camp to Olanchung Gola as part of the GHT, said tourism entrepreneur Tenzing Nupu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It takes around 150 days to complete this trek under the GHT, said a guide Santosh Tamang. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A week ago, the locals also bade farewell to another team of trekkers including three foreign tourists who embarked on the GHT trek. The team of trekkers includes two Germany nationals and one Australian. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Amir Maden, mayor of Phunglin Municipality, bade farewell to the team and wished for a successful trip amid a function. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This trekking trail used to be the only one route used by tourists heading to Kanchenjunga before the construction of a road network. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The approximately 4,500 km long GHT spans from Kanchenjunga of Taplejung in the east to Darchula in the west. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">High mobility of tourists in Taplejung lately has encouraged tourism, hotel and transport entrepreneurs, said a hotel entrepreneur Bimal Bhandari. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18728', 'image' => '20230915124506_aOazpH29O-Everest.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 12:44:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18998', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mayor Shah Listed as Emerging Leader in 2023 TIME100 Next ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Balendra Shah has been listed as one of the 2023 TIME100 Next emerging leaders of the world. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 15: Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Balendra Shah has been listed as one of the 2023 TIME100 Next emerging leaders of the world. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Shah, who emerged into power as KMC's mayor after winning 2079 local elections, is one of 100 emerging people on the 2023 TIME100 Next, published by the USA-based Time Magazine. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 33-year-old, who has a master's degree in structural engineering, ran as an independent and used TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram to harness voter anger over the status quo, sparking a "Balen effect" that saw as many as 385 independent candidates triumph over veteran politicians in last spring's local election, read the magazine. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It further adds that in a city still reeling from the deadly 2015 earthquake, Shah's campaign promises were simple but offered desperately needed fixes: better waste disposal and sanitation, safe drinking water, clean roads, and the preservation of cultural heritage alongside urban development. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">His efforts to make good on these promises have been met with scrutiny, including in regard to their impact on the city's poor and their reliance on demolishing buildings deemed illegal. Since coming into power, Shah has also signed agreements with officials to utilise landfill sites and announced plans to segregate bio-degradable of non-degradable waste. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18727', 'image' => '20230915104158_Balendra-Shah.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 10:41:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18997', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Night-Time Vehicular Movement Restricted along Kaligandaki Corridor', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: Police have restricted night-time vehicular movement along the Kaligandaki corridor in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta-East). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 15: Police have restricted night-time vehicular movement along the Kaligandaki corridor in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta-East). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The restriction has been imposed due to the ongoing construction in the corridor. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) at the District Police Office, Nawalpur, Bed Bahadur Poudel, night-time vehicular movement has been restricted taking into consideration the high risk of accident in the corridor construction areas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Kaligandaki corridor is around 87 kilometer long in Nawalpur. DSP Poudel said ban on vehicular movement has been imposed to minimize risks. As mobile network connectivity has been a big problem in almost half of the corridor section, it has been difficult to carry out rescue works in case of accident, he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The corridor is under construction. It has increased the risk of accidents. Rescue has been a big issue in the night time here," he further shared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">DSP Poudel said coordination was being made with the Nepal Telecom in regard to the installation of a mobile towers in the areas having less access to communications. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Vehicular movement will be allowed after establishing access to communications and completing the construction of the corridor, he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Almost 80 percent of the under-construction Nawalpur section of the Kaligandaki corridor has been completed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Small vehicles ply along the Kaligandaki corridor from Nawalpur to the mountainous districts. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18726', 'image' => '20230915102527_kaligandaki_ukSMCmqpMl.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 10:24:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18996', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pokhara Metropolitan City and KOICA Sign Agreement for GVZ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Pokhara Metropolitan City and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) entered into an agreement to implement a project focused on creating employment opportunities through Recycle Upcycle (RU) enterprises.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">September 15: The Pokhara Metropolitan City and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) entered into an agreement to implement a project focused on creating employment opportunities through Recycle Upcycle (RU) enterprises.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The signing ceremony took place in Pokhara, with Mayor Dhan Raj Acharya representing Pokhara Metropolitan City and Deputy Chief Young-Hyun Lee representing KOICA. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Prior to this formal signing, both parties had previously agreed on the project's initial draft.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The primary objective of this project is to promote the creation of "green" jobs in Pokhara Metropolitan City by emphasizing recycling and upcycling activities. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The agreement aims to establish RU enterprises and generate environmentally sustainable employment opportunities within the city. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The project also includes capacity-building initiatives for Metropolitan City officials, government stakeholders, and RU enterprises, fostering skill development and green employment prospects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, the project plans to establish a Green Venture Zone (GVZ) and provide business support to the newly established RU enterprises. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These project activities are expected to induce a change in community behavior, encouraging residents to practice waste segregation at the household level. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This, in turn, will reduce the strain on Pokhara's waste disposal sites.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As part of its commitment to the project, Pokhara Metropolitan City has allocated a 5,090 square meter area at Basundhara Park in Pokhara for the establishment of the Green Venture Zone (GVZ).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mayor Dhan Raj Acharya emphasized the significance of waste management and highlighted the GVZ's role in transforming waste into valuable assets. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Acharya also noted that the project would connect young people to employment opportunities and turn waste into a source of income for the community. (RSS) </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18725', 'image' => '20230915060938_collage (15).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 06:07:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18995', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cement Production Halted at Hetauda Cement Industry', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Cement production at the Hetauda Cement Industry has come to a standstill due to a machine breakdown, specifically in the coal mill.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">September 14: Cement production at the Hetauda Cement Industry has come to a standstill due to a machine breakdown, specifically in the coal mill. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The equipment failure has forced a temporary suspension of cement production. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The machine will be repaired within the next three to four days, and the industry will soon resume its cement production, according to Nabin Kumar Karna, the Deputy General Manager of the industry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Fortunately, the industry has already stockpiled an ample supply of both coal and limestone, ensuring that production can swiftly resume once the equipment is fixed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Hetauda Cement Industry produces 10,000 sacks of cement every day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It's worth noting that this is not the first interruption the industry has faced recently.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Previously, the industry was closed for approximately two months due to a shortage of coal, said Shatru Aryal, an officer within the industry's administration division. (RSS) </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-14', 'modified' => '2023-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18724', 'image' => '20230914041300_collage (2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-14 16:11:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19009', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'ADB Team Discusses Urban Infrastructure Development Projects with Pokhara Metropolitan City ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 17: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Pokhara Metropolitan City have agreed to forge cooperation on urban infrastructure development and improved livelihood project. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 17: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Pokhara Metropolitan City have agreed to forge cooperation on urban infrastructure development and improved livelihood project. Another area of cooperation between the ADB and Pokhara metropolis is exploring potentials for sustainable tourism development of the city. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The areas of cooperation were discussed during a meeting between Mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan City Dhanraj Acharya and Executive Director of ADB Wan Farisan bin Wan Sulaiman. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The two sides also discussed about upgrading the road security measures along with road and drainage system of the city under the Regional Urban Development Project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the officials, the ADB is to provide economic assistance to different projects in Pokhara for the projects have already been selected. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">One of them is upgrading the road section from Sahid Chowk to Pokhara International Airport for which the project cost is estimated to be around USD 5.34 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, 13 kms road would be blacktopped from Damdate to Bhanjyang under the Panchase Ecosystem Development and Access Project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, upgrading the road from Bhanjyang to Panchase area, establishment of service points, integrated promotion of homestay and preservation of Gurung Museum would also be carried out. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Furthermore, 85 kms long cycle track would be constructed by linking the 18 wards of the metropolitan city. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Settlement management, water spring protection, setting up information board and direction board and construction of toilets, water fountain, cycle parking and cycle stand with service point would be carried out under the Phewa Lake Improvement Project. Pokhara Metropolitan City has said USD 3.05 million would be spent on this project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, there is a plan for connecting Damsite and Raniban with glassbridge and developing an eco-trail from Raniban connecting the Peace Stupa and the Phewa Lake rim in an integrated way under the Raniban Eco-trail and Phewa Lake Improvement Project. The eco-route would incorporate public amenities including construction of resting places, toilets, taps, installation of information board and temple renovation. It will cost USD 5.63 million. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18738', 'image' => '20230917033521_1694876327.pkr.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 15:34:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19008', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Forms Committee to Reform the Tax System', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 17: The government has formed a high-level committee to study the prospects of reforming the existing tax system. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">September 17: The government has formed a high-level committee to study the prospects of reforming the existing tax system. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Friday decided to form the committee under the chairmanship of former minister Bidyadhar Mallik.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The Ministry of Finance said that the high-level committee has been mandated to submit its report by next January. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The committee was formed in line with the announcement made by the government in the budget of the current fiscal year. In the budget, it was mentioned that a high-level committee would be formed to study the existing tax system and suggest improvements for the reform of the tax system. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">According to the ministry, the budget for the next fiscal year will be prepared based on the suggestions given by the committee.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18737', 'image' => '20230917022932_1694918419.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 14:28:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19007', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '16th Five-Year Plan to Focus on Bringing Back Migrant Workers: NPC Vice Chair', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 17: Vice-Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha, has said the 16th five-year plan is being prepared in a way it would bring back the Nepalis who are currently in overseas employment.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 17: Vice-Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha, has said the 16th five-year plan is being prepared in a way it would bring back the Nepalis who are currently in overseas employment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He shared this at an interaction on 'Existing economic challenges and roadmap of entrepreneurship' organized as part of the third Nepal Youth Entrepreneurship Summit jointly organized by the National Youth Council and Nepal Business Institute on Saturday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Stating that the concessional loans provided to the youths has now been stopped as it could not bring any productive results, Vice-Chair Shrestha mentioned, "We provided concessional loans to youths. But it could not increase employment and did not bring any productive results."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Madhu Kumar Marasini, admitted that issues of youths were not resolved due to problems in policy implementation. He expressed the view that many problems of youths could be resolved if discussion would be held with the youths.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Likewise, Chairperson of Nepal Bankers' Association, Sunil KC, stressed that there should be guarantee of return of investment. Stating that they were willing to invest in the youth sector, he shared that some banks are afraid to invest in industries as there is risk of return of investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Former President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Bhawani Rana, pointed out the need to seek new destinations for youth entrepreneurship. Rana laid emphasis on making youths entrepreneurs by amending the existing policies and regulations.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18736', 'image' => '20230917112353_066A7246.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 11:23:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19006', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Murders over Petty Disputes on the Rise in Kathmandu Valley', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 17: Four people including three from the same family were found murdered at Gairigaon, Tinkune in the Kathmandu Valley on Friday night. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 17: Four people including three from the same family were found murdered at Gairigaon, Tinkune in the Kathmandu Valley on Friday night. The bodies of four people had marks of injuries caused by sharp weapons.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The exact reason behind the murders is yet to be ascertained. Trained police persons and dogs have been mobilized to investigate the incident from all possible angles, according to Additional Inspector General (AIG) Deepak Thapa, chief of the Kathmandu Valley Police Office.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, another shocking murder occurred at Kapan, Kathmandu on April 20 earlier this year. A 35-year-old woman, who was running a gift shop, was murdered in her own shop. There was no involvement of a big gang. The incident was related to robbery, according to SSP Dinesh Acharya of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police. Police arrested the alleged murderer on the 11th day of the incident and proceeded with a murder case against him at the court.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, a 90-year-old man from Tarkeshwar Municipality-6 of Kathmandu district was found murdered on December 6 last year. The dead body of the elderly was located in a stream inside a community forest of ward no 3 in the municipality.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A local youth was arrested and charged with the case of murder of the elderly.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">These are just representative cases of murder emanating out of petty issues involving disputes in monetary dealings, robbery and personal vengeance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the last fiscal year (FY 2022/23), out of 500 murder cases reported to the police, 38 were from the Kathmandu Valley alone. Similarly, of the total 982 attempted murder cases, 136 were reported from Kathmandu alone.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, in the FY 2021/22, the country witnessed 590 murders. Among them, 50 took place in Kathmandu. Out of 1,079 attempted murder cases recorded all over the country, 136 occurred in the Kathmandu Valley alone.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Additional Inspector General Kuber Kadayat, who is also the spokesperson for the Nepal Police, said that many of such murders recorded in the Kathmandu Valley were due to personal vengeance as well as inability to put up with general matters. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to AIG Kadayat, preliminary investigation has suggested that the recent murder at Tinkune might have been caused due to personal vengeance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, SSP Mainali said, "People have become intolerant lately. They do not seem to tolerate any minor issue/incident. People are affected by many factors. Foreign employment is ever increasing, so they have nuclear families. Economic and educational issues are among others taking a toll on people."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Exposure to the outer world through social networking sites is also causing stress, he analyzed, adding that people easily tend to accept the negative side while neglecting the good ones.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"The society is deteriorating due to activities conducted out of impulse," he assessed, emphasizing that moral education is an urgent need of the hour. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => 'murder, police, rise, increase, intolerant, social, Kathmandu, petty, dispute', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18735', 'image' => '20230917110421_20220831034508_Kathmandu Valley.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 11:02:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19005', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'China Positive on Construction of Tokha-Chhahare Tunnel Way: Finance Minister Mahat', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said the Chinese government is positive for the construction of the Tokha-Chhahare tunnel way.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">September 17: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said the Chinese government is positive for the construction of the Tokha-Chhahare tunnel way.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mahat said so while addressing a programme organized by Likhu Women Entrepreneurs and Social Organisation to exchange best wishes on the eve of the Teej festival. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Finance Minister said the government has set aside Rs 1 billion in the current fiscal year's budget for the construction of the tunnel way. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">He added that a proposal had been presented before the Chinese government for additional investments and it has responded positively to that.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"Letters have been exchanged between the two sides to bring Chinese investment in this project, which means the project will move ahead," he said. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mahat added that the Chinese government has given a letter indicating its intention of keeping this project in top priority in course of the Prime Minister's upcoming visit to China.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Stating that the pre-feasibility study on this project had already been conducted, Finance Minister Dr Mahat said the construction process will move ahead after studying the detailed project report (DPR).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure will carry out the construction of the tunnel way, the Ministry of Finance will mobilize resources for the same and the Ministry of Forests and Environment will carry out the environmental-related works, he said and stressed on the need of coordination among all the government bodies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Similarly, the road network in Nuwakot will be upgraded and expanded not only up to the district headquarters, Bidur, but also up to the border transit point in Rasuwa.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">According to the Finance Minister, this roadway would assist in managing traffic along the Prithvi Highway and it would be the shortest route for international trade. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Minister also stated that the Dhikure and Simla irrigation projects were also in the government's priority. (RSS)</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18734', 'image' => '20230917060137_collage (16).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 05:59:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19004', 'article_category_id' => '251', 'title' => 'The Abraham Accords: Celebrating Three Years of Regional Cooperation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: This week marks a very important milestone for the Middle East and North Africa: three years since the signing of the Abraham Accordsbetween Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, under the auspices of the US government.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hanan Goder</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 15: This week marks a very important milestone for the Middle East and North Africa: three years since the signing of the Abraham Accordsbetween Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, under the auspices of the US government.Three months later, in December 2020, Morocco joined the process, signing a normalization agreement with Israel.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The catalyst that enabled thesehistoric accords was the conscious decision taken by the parties to promote a stable and prosperous future for the Middle East.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The agreements have ushered in a new era of normalization and peace that not only connects governments butalso bringspeople together, despite differences in language, religious beliefs, cultures and more. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">So far, the Abraham Accords have offered a mere glimpse into the full potential of regional cooperation. Even so, the scope of trade between Israel and other Middle Eastern countries increased 74% between 2021 and 2022. Another example is tourism, mostly non-existent in the past, which has skyrocketed. In 2021, visits from Israel to the UAE increased by 172%. Meanwhile, the number of Israelis flying to Bahrain since the establishment of direct flights has increased exponentially. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The accords have also had a significant influence on reinforcing Israel's relations with neighboring countries, thereby enhancing regional stability. For example, the Prosperity Green & Blue agreement between Israel, the UAE, and Jordan determined that asolar field tosupply 600 megawatts of green electricity to Israel will be established in Jordan, whilein return,a desalination plant in Israel will deliver 200 million cubic meters of water to Jordan.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In a region where 65% of the population is under 30, providing the younger generation with opportunities is a key factor in preventing instability. To that end, youth delegations have been initiated, encouraging bonds between tomorrow's leaders and laying thefoundation for cooperation in the decades to come.Delegationsin which young influencers experience eachother's cultures and visitimportant religious and historic sites while focusing on community building are an effective tool in strengthening ties. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importantly, the youth of the relevant countries have subscribed wholeheartedly to the principles of acceptance, cooperation and peace highlighted in the accords, communicating to the region that these ideals are the building blocks of the future. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Abraham Accords encourage collaboration and education. In the summer of 2022, Ben-Gurion University welcomed students from Morocco. Additionally, a number of Emirati students have enrolled in Israeli universities. Bahrain has also embraced the prospects for shared educational activities and signed a number of agreements with Israel to advance student and professor exchanges.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In anotable example of how these initiatives can foster mutual understanding, after Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, the UAE incorporated Holocaust education into its school curriculum as a mandatory subject, attestation to the ability of the Abraham Accords to fostercoexistence and religious tolerance.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Abraham Accords have shown unity's power to inspire and provide opportunity.Theyoffer a window into a potential future of the region and demonstrate that when both leaders and ordinary citizensprioritize peace and cooperation, a far better future for the Middle East is possible.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Israel hopes that many more countries will join this endeavor, creatingabrighter tomorrow for the sake of all our children.</span></span></span></p> <p><em><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">(The author is the Ambassador of Israel to Nepal)</span></span></span></em></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18733', 'image' => '20230915081359_accord.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 20:13:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19003', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ministry of Forests Gives the Go Ahead for EIA and DPR of Tokha-Chahare Tunnel', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 5: The Ministry of Forests and Environment has agreed to proceed with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Tokha-Chhare tunnel project connecting Kathmandu with Rasuwagadhi, a vital trade route with China. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 5: The Ministry of Forests and Environment has agreed to proceed with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Tokha-Chhare tunnel project connecting Kathmandu with Rasuwagadhi, a vital trade route with China. This project falls within the Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park area, and is approved while subjecting to various conditions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">With the consent of the Ministry of Forest, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport initiated the process of informing the Chinese side to proceed with the study of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) along with the EIA. The Ministry of Forest agreed to proceed with the EIA process of this project under eight conditions. This has paved the way to proceed with DPR and EIA of this tunnel which has already completed a feasibility study. Similarly, the source said, "The consent of the Ministry of Forest has been obtained. Since the conditions set by the Ministry will be implemented when the EIA and DPR are advanced, the Chinese side will be informed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to proceed with further studies."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The pre-feasibility study of this project was completed with the help of the Chinese government. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">During the construction and operation of the proposed project, the Ministry of Forest has put a condition that the negative impact of the tunnel on rare and endangered wildlife and their habitat, biological diversity and ecological system should be studied. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the Wildlife Friendly Infrastructure Construction Guidelines - 2078, detailed studies on these issues should be carried out and measures to minimize negative impacts should be included in the report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, while studying the feasibility of the project, it has been mentioned that various options should also be studied. Based on the facts and data, it has been asked to select and study the options that will have the least negative impact on the biodiversity and the overall environment and use the least amount of forest in the park areas and its immediate neighbourhood.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the study report, the ministry has set conditions demanding inclusion of alternative designs and to opt for the design that will cause less environmental damage and the minimum use of the forest area of the park and the intermediate areas. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">When the Chinese President visited Nepal in October 2019, it was agreed to proceed with the study of this tunnel. A plan has been put forward to connect the Rasuwagadhi road with a short distance from Kathmandu and advance this tunnel to make the road access closer to the north.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18732', 'image' => '20230915043518_1694740054.1571187722.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 16:34:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19002', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'All Medical Services Except Emergency Shut Down to Protest Manhandling of Doctors ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: All the medical services except emergency and pharmacy at various hospitals and health institutions of Makwanpur have been shut down to protest against the manhandling of doctors. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 15: All the medical services except emergency and pharmacy at various hospitals and health institutions of Makwanpur have been shut down to protest against the manhandling of doctors. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The medical services have been shut down to protest the manhandling of Dr Bikas Thapa and Prashant Bidari of Sancho Hospital at Hetauda sub-metropolis-1 on Wednesday. Relatives of Rakesh Pradhan entered the hospital premises on Wednesday and manhandled the doctors, saying Pradhan died due to the negligence of doctors during treatment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Forty-one-year old Pradhan of Hetauda-12 was suffering from dengue and had died one month ago in course of treatment at Sancho Hospital. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Medical Superintendent at Hetauda Hospital, Dr Ram Chandra Sapkota, said all the health services except emergency and pharmacy have been closed after doctors and health workers launched agitation, citing insecurity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He shared that Hetauda Hospital has also shut down all services except emergency and pharmacy to protest the incident. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, other hospitals and health institutions in the district have also closed all medical services except emergency. Seventy-eight health workers including doctors of Hetauda Hospital have resigned en masse, citing insecurity, mentioned Sapkota. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18731', 'image' => '20230915033905_health sector.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 15:38:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19001', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFI's Employees Skeptical to Join SSF, as Court is yet to make a Final Decision ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: As the final verdict regarding the Social Security Fund (SSF) is pending in the court, a large number of employees working in banks and financial institutions (BFI's) are sceptical to join the SSF.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 15: As the final verdict regarding the Social Security Fund (SSF) is pending in the court, a large number of employees working in banks and financial institutions (BFI's) are sceptical to join the SSF.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The employee unions of banks and financial institutions started protesting in the past stating that the fund ignored the issues raised by them and put unnatural pressure on them.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The union of employees of banks and financial institutions, which has been refusing to participate in the Social Security Fund, had filed a case against the Social Security Fund in more than two years ago.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In July 2021, a division bench of justices Tej Bahadur KC and Bam Kumar Shrestha presided over a hearing on the case. As the opinions of the two justices differed, it was decided to present the filed by the bank employees against the fund to the full bench of the Supreme Court.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">So far, the full bench has yet to issue the final verdict in the case.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Many times, the court failed to hear the case due to time constraints.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As the final verdict of the case has not been issued, a large number of employees working in BFI's are out of the scheme operated by the SSF.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the petition, the bank employees have argued that BFIs are governed by the Banks and Financial Institutions Act, which was in force before the implementation of the Labor Act of 2074.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Regulations regarding the appointment, terms and conditions of the service and benefits of bank employees, are done after taking approval from Nepal Rastra Bank. BFI staff have mentioned that the management of various post-retirement facilities has been made as per the Act, and ave requested the SSF that their participation in the scheme should be made voluntary. BFI employees are doubtful that the returns they will get after the contribution made to the fund will be of much value.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the pension scheme of SSF, the total sum of 20 per cent of the amount accumulated in the name of the contributor every month and the total amount, including the interest earned on the sum divided by 160 has been arranged to be received by the contributor as a monthly pension after retirement. An employee who deposits Rs 72,000 annually at the rate of Rs 6,000 per month will accumulate Rs 21.6 million after working for 30 years.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If the employee retires, his/her lifetime savings will be divided by 160 and will be entitled to receive only Rs 13,500 a month. The bank employees have been saying that this amount will be only 7.55 per cent of the amount they have deposited annually.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">It is also mentioned in the petition that it is complicated to get back the money deposited by oneself and the return is less than the interest of fixed deposits. However, this matter is yet to be decided by the court.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the deputy executive director of the fund, Bivek Panthi, there is no situation to wait until the court's decision. He said that the fund desires to end the case quickly and to cover the employees of banks and financial institutions. "The fund is ready to address the demands raised by them to the extent," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">SSF started collecting contributions from 1 Ashar 2076 after it was formally launched by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli on Poush 11, 2075.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The fund, which initially involved workers and employees of the formal and informal sectors voluntarily, aims to cover all sectors. However, since most of the employees of banks and financial institutions are not participating in the fund, questions are being raised about its justification.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As of Shrawan 26, a total of 443,000 formal sector workers have joined the Social Security Fund. Workers who have gone abroad for employment are also joining the fund.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18730', 'image' => '20230915024247_SSF (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 14:41:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19000', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Counterfeit Products Rampant in Market Years after Closure of Industry that Produces Genuine Product', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: It has been five years since Arvind Udyog Pvt Limited of Birgunj stopped its production.', '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"">September 15: It has been five years since Arvind Udyog Pvt Limited of Birgunj stopped its production. However, the products of this industry are still easily available in the market. But those products are not manufactured by Arvind industry. Counterfeit products imported illegally from India have taken over the market in the name of Arvind Udyog. Taking advantage of the closure of Arvind industry, Indian industries have been sending fake products that look the same like the ones manufactured earlier in Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Department of Industries has registered the trade mark of `’Tinku Supari’, a tobacco-free aromatic betel nut (sweet supari), in the name of Arvind Udyog. The Indian sweet betel nut that looks like the betel nut of Aravind Udyog seems to be produced under the name of KM Marketing in Delhi, 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"">The domestic industry has been shut down due to the government policy, while fake products are being imported from India illegally. Industrialists complain that the domestic market is occupied by such products imported from India through smuggling.</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"">Arvind Udyog’s operator Niranjan Agarwal says that the production was stopped because the industry could not compete with foreign products due to the government's revenue policy. He said that even though the production was stopped five years ago, the industry has been renewing its company registration and trademark consistently. </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"">“I am renewing the registration by spending Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">00,000 every year,” said Agrawal, adding that he did not stop renewing it in the hope that one day the policy will be improved and he will be able to do business again.</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"">Fake products are being smuggled from India rampantly. However, the customs offices do not have data on the illegal import of such products. Ramchandra Dhakal, Information Officer of Birgunj Customs, says that there is no official data of sweet betel nut being imported into the country.</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 Department of Customs, only eight kilograms of sweet betel nuts were imported in the last fiscal year</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"">However, the local businessmen estimates that around </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2,000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> tons of sweet betel nuts are consumed in the domestic market every 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"">The government levies an excise duty of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">365</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg and a health tax of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">40</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg on domestic products. A customs duty of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">100</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">per kilo is levied on betel nuts used as raw material.</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 government has been increasing the excise duty since FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2069/70</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, which started at Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg. Altogether, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">17</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> industries have stopped production due to high costs as a result of hefty taxes imposed by the government. They argue that readymade products from India is cheaper than their products. </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 industrialist said that the retail price of domestic sweet betel nuts is Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">145</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per packet. They say that fake products manufactured in India are available at a retail price of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">48</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.</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"">Similarly, eight of the industries have canceled their industry registration. Others are renewing it every 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"">Due to the high revenue to be paid to the customs, such products are imported through illegal means. Government revenue is also lost due to this. Industrialists say that due to the high rate of revenue, both the investment of the domestic industry and the government revenue have gone down the drains.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18729', 'image' => '20230915012948_download.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 13:28:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18999', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Trekkers' Team Embarks on Great Himalayan Trail ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: A team of trekkers including two foreign nationals has started trekking along the Great Himalayan Trail (GHT), one of the popular trails of Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 15: A team of trekkers including two foreign nationals has started trekking along the Great Himalayan Trail (GHT), one of the popular trails of Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The four-member team of trekkers is led by Maria Andre from Slovenia.The team started the trekking from Taplejung district for Ghunsa, said the locals. The Great Himalayan Trail is a trekking route that goes through various mountainous areas within Nepal covering a distance of around 1,700 kilometres and passes through eight mountains. It is becoming one of the best, ambitious and challenging treks for tourists at home and abroad. It traverses from Taplejung district in the east to Darchula district in the west. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> Andre has already scaled eight mountains including Mount Everest. Andre, who in 1991 successfully climbed Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world, is currently in Nepal for the GHT. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They plan to complete the trekking within 115 to 120 days, said Ensuhang Rai from Solukhumbu district who is a guide to the team of trekkers. It costs an estimated amount of Rs 5 million to Rs 6 million for a four-member team of trekkers to complete the trail, he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The team will go from Lumbasubba mountain to the Makalu Base Camp of Sankhuwasabha district through the Kanchenjunga Base Camp to Olanchung Gola as part of the GHT, said tourism entrepreneur Tenzing Nupu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It takes around 150 days to complete this trek under the GHT, said a guide Santosh Tamang. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A week ago, the locals also bade farewell to another team of trekkers including three foreign tourists who embarked on the GHT trek. The team of trekkers includes two Germany nationals and one Australian. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Amir Maden, mayor of Phunglin Municipality, bade farewell to the team and wished for a successful trip amid a function. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This trekking trail used to be the only one route used by tourists heading to Kanchenjunga before the construction of a road network. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The approximately 4,500 km long GHT spans from Kanchenjunga of Taplejung in the east to Darchula in the west. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">High mobility of tourists in Taplejung lately has encouraged tourism, hotel and transport entrepreneurs, said a hotel entrepreneur Bimal Bhandari. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18728', 'image' => '20230915124506_aOazpH29O-Everest.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 12:44:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18998', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mayor Shah Listed as Emerging Leader in 2023 TIME100 Next ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Balendra Shah has been listed as one of the 2023 TIME100 Next emerging leaders of the world. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 15: Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Balendra Shah has been listed as one of the 2023 TIME100 Next emerging leaders of the world. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Shah, who emerged into power as KMC's mayor after winning 2079 local elections, is one of 100 emerging people on the 2023 TIME100 Next, published by the USA-based Time Magazine. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 33-year-old, who has a master's degree in structural engineering, ran as an independent and used TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram to harness voter anger over the status quo, sparking a "Balen effect" that saw as many as 385 independent candidates triumph over veteran politicians in last spring's local election, read the magazine. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It further adds that in a city still reeling from the deadly 2015 earthquake, Shah's campaign promises were simple but offered desperately needed fixes: better waste disposal and sanitation, safe drinking water, clean roads, and the preservation of cultural heritage alongside urban development. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">His efforts to make good on these promises have been met with scrutiny, including in regard to their impact on the city's poor and their reliance on demolishing buildings deemed illegal. Since coming into power, Shah has also signed agreements with officials to utilise landfill sites and announced plans to segregate bio-degradable of non-degradable waste. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18727', 'image' => '20230915104158_Balendra-Shah.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 10:41:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18997', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Night-Time Vehicular Movement Restricted along Kaligandaki Corridor', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: Police have restricted night-time vehicular movement along the Kaligandaki corridor in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta-East). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 15: Police have restricted night-time vehicular movement along the Kaligandaki corridor in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta-East). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The restriction has been imposed due to the ongoing construction in the corridor. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) at the District Police Office, Nawalpur, Bed Bahadur Poudel, night-time vehicular movement has been restricted taking into consideration the high risk of accident in the corridor construction areas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Kaligandaki corridor is around 87 kilometer long in Nawalpur. DSP Poudel said ban on vehicular movement has been imposed to minimize risks. As mobile network connectivity has been a big problem in almost half of the corridor section, it has been difficult to carry out rescue works in case of accident, he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The corridor is under construction. It has increased the risk of accidents. Rescue has been a big issue in the night time here," he further shared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">DSP Poudel said coordination was being made with the Nepal Telecom in regard to the installation of a mobile towers in the areas having less access to communications. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Vehicular movement will be allowed after establishing access to communications and completing the construction of the corridor, he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Almost 80 percent of the under-construction Nawalpur section of the Kaligandaki corridor has been completed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Small vehicles ply along the Kaligandaki corridor from Nawalpur to the mountainous districts. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18726', 'image' => '20230915102527_kaligandaki_ukSMCmqpMl.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 10:24:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18996', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pokhara Metropolitan City and KOICA Sign Agreement for GVZ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Pokhara Metropolitan City and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) entered into an agreement to implement a project focused on creating employment opportunities through Recycle Upcycle (RU) enterprises.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">September 15: The Pokhara Metropolitan City and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) entered into an agreement to implement a project focused on creating employment opportunities through Recycle Upcycle (RU) enterprises.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The signing ceremony took place in Pokhara, with Mayor Dhan Raj Acharya representing Pokhara Metropolitan City and Deputy Chief Young-Hyun Lee representing KOICA. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Prior to this formal signing, both parties had previously agreed on the project's initial draft.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The primary objective of this project is to promote the creation of "green" jobs in Pokhara Metropolitan City by emphasizing recycling and upcycling activities. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The agreement aims to establish RU enterprises and generate environmentally sustainable employment opportunities within the city. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The project also includes capacity-building initiatives for Metropolitan City officials, government stakeholders, and RU enterprises, fostering skill development and green employment prospects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, the project plans to establish a Green Venture Zone (GVZ) and provide business support to the newly established RU enterprises. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These project activities are expected to induce a change in community behavior, encouraging residents to practice waste segregation at the household level. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This, in turn, will reduce the strain on Pokhara's waste disposal sites.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As part of its commitment to the project, Pokhara Metropolitan City has allocated a 5,090 square meter area at Basundhara Park in Pokhara for the establishment of the Green Venture Zone (GVZ).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mayor Dhan Raj Acharya emphasized the significance of waste management and highlighted the GVZ's role in transforming waste into valuable assets. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Acharya also noted that the project would connect young people to employment opportunities and turn waste into a source of income for the community. (RSS) </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18725', 'image' => '20230915060938_collage (15).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 06:07:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18995', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cement Production Halted at Hetauda Cement Industry', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Cement production at the Hetauda Cement Industry has come to a standstill due to a machine breakdown, specifically in the coal mill.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">September 14: Cement production at the Hetauda Cement Industry has come to a standstill due to a machine breakdown, specifically in the coal mill. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The equipment failure has forced a temporary suspension of cement production. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The machine will be repaired within the next three to four days, and the industry will soon resume its cement production, according to Nabin Kumar Karna, the Deputy General Manager of the industry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Fortunately, the industry has already stockpiled an ample supply of both coal and limestone, ensuring that production can swiftly resume once the equipment is fixed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Hetauda Cement Industry produces 10,000 sacks of cement every day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It's worth noting that this is not the first interruption the industry has faced recently.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Previously, the industry was closed for approximately two months due to a shortage of coal, said Shatru Aryal, an officer within the industry's administration division. (RSS) </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-14', 'modified' => '2023-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18724', 'image' => '20230914041300_collage (2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-14 16:11:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 17: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Pokhara Metropolitan City have agreed to forge cooperation on urban infrastructure development and improved livelihood project. Another area of cooperation between the ADB and Pokhara metropolis is exploring potentials for sustainable tourism development of the city. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The areas of cooperation were discussed during a meeting between Mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan City Dhanraj Acharya and Executive Director of ADB Wan Farisan bin Wan Sulaiman. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The two sides also discussed about upgrading the road security measures along with road and drainage system of the city under the Regional Urban Development Project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the officials, the ADB is to provide economic assistance to different projects in Pokhara for the projects have already been selected. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">One of them is upgrading the road section from Sahid Chowk to Pokhara International Airport for which the project cost is estimated to be around USD 5.34 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, 13 kms road would be blacktopped from Damdate to Bhanjyang under the Panchase Ecosystem Development and Access Project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, upgrading the road from Bhanjyang to Panchase area, establishment of service points, integrated promotion of homestay and preservation of Gurung Museum would also be carried out. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Furthermore, 85 kms long cycle track would be constructed by linking the 18 wards of the metropolitan city. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Settlement management, water spring protection, setting up information board and direction board and construction of toilets, water fountain, cycle parking and cycle stand with service point would be carried out under the Phewa Lake Improvement Project. Pokhara Metropolitan City has said USD 3.05 million would be spent on this project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, there is a plan for connecting Damsite and Raniban with glassbridge and developing an eco-trail from Raniban connecting the Peace Stupa and the Phewa Lake rim in an integrated way under the Raniban Eco-trail and Phewa Lake Improvement Project. The eco-route would incorporate public amenities including construction of resting places, toilets, taps, installation of information board and temple renovation. It will cost USD 5.63 million. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18738', 'image' => '20230917033521_1694876327.pkr.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 15:34:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19008', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Forms Committee to Reform the Tax System', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 17: The government has formed a high-level committee to study the prospects of reforming the existing tax system. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">September 17: The government has formed a high-level committee to study the prospects of reforming the existing tax system. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Friday decided to form the committee under the chairmanship of former minister Bidyadhar Mallik.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The Ministry of Finance said that the high-level committee has been mandated to submit its report by next January. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The committee was formed in line with the announcement made by the government in the budget of the current fiscal year. In the budget, it was mentioned that a high-level committee would be formed to study the existing tax system and suggest improvements for the reform of the tax system. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">According to the ministry, the budget for the next fiscal year will be prepared based on the suggestions given by the committee.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18737', 'image' => '20230917022932_1694918419.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 14:28:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19007', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '16th Five-Year Plan to Focus on Bringing Back Migrant Workers: NPC Vice Chair', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 17: Vice-Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha, has said the 16th five-year plan is being prepared in a way it would bring back the Nepalis who are currently in overseas employment.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 17: Vice-Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha, has said the 16th five-year plan is being prepared in a way it would bring back the Nepalis who are currently in overseas employment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He shared this at an interaction on 'Existing economic challenges and roadmap of entrepreneurship' organized as part of the third Nepal Youth Entrepreneurship Summit jointly organized by the National Youth Council and Nepal Business Institute on Saturday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Stating that the concessional loans provided to the youths has now been stopped as it could not bring any productive results, Vice-Chair Shrestha mentioned, "We provided concessional loans to youths. But it could not increase employment and did not bring any productive results."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Madhu Kumar Marasini, admitted that issues of youths were not resolved due to problems in policy implementation. He expressed the view that many problems of youths could be resolved if discussion would be held with the youths.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Likewise, Chairperson of Nepal Bankers' Association, Sunil KC, stressed that there should be guarantee of return of investment. Stating that they were willing to invest in the youth sector, he shared that some banks are afraid to invest in industries as there is risk of return of investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Former President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Bhawani Rana, pointed out the need to seek new destinations for youth entrepreneurship. Rana laid emphasis on making youths entrepreneurs by amending the existing policies and regulations.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18736', 'image' => '20230917112353_066A7246.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 11:23:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19006', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Murders over Petty Disputes on the Rise in Kathmandu Valley', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 17: Four people including three from the same family were found murdered at Gairigaon, Tinkune in the Kathmandu Valley on Friday night. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 17: Four people including three from the same family were found murdered at Gairigaon, Tinkune in the Kathmandu Valley on Friday night. The bodies of four people had marks of injuries caused by sharp weapons.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The exact reason behind the murders is yet to be ascertained. Trained police persons and dogs have been mobilized to investigate the incident from all possible angles, according to Additional Inspector General (AIG) Deepak Thapa, chief of the Kathmandu Valley Police Office.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, another shocking murder occurred at Kapan, Kathmandu on April 20 earlier this year. A 35-year-old woman, who was running a gift shop, was murdered in her own shop. There was no involvement of a big gang. The incident was related to robbery, according to SSP Dinesh Acharya of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police. Police arrested the alleged murderer on the 11th day of the incident and proceeded with a murder case against him at the court.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, a 90-year-old man from Tarkeshwar Municipality-6 of Kathmandu district was found murdered on December 6 last year. The dead body of the elderly was located in a stream inside a community forest of ward no 3 in the municipality.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A local youth was arrested and charged with the case of murder of the elderly.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">These are just representative cases of murder emanating out of petty issues involving disputes in monetary dealings, robbery and personal vengeance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the last fiscal year (FY 2022/23), out of 500 murder cases reported to the police, 38 were from the Kathmandu Valley alone. Similarly, of the total 982 attempted murder cases, 136 were reported from Kathmandu alone.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, in the FY 2021/22, the country witnessed 590 murders. Among them, 50 took place in Kathmandu. Out of 1,079 attempted murder cases recorded all over the country, 136 occurred in the Kathmandu Valley alone.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Additional Inspector General Kuber Kadayat, who is also the spokesperson for the Nepal Police, said that many of such murders recorded in the Kathmandu Valley were due to personal vengeance as well as inability to put up with general matters. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to AIG Kadayat, preliminary investigation has suggested that the recent murder at Tinkune might have been caused due to personal vengeance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, SSP Mainali said, "People have become intolerant lately. They do not seem to tolerate any minor issue/incident. People are affected by many factors. Foreign employment is ever increasing, so they have nuclear families. Economic and educational issues are among others taking a toll on people."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Exposure to the outer world through social networking sites is also causing stress, he analyzed, adding that people easily tend to accept the negative side while neglecting the good ones.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"The society is deteriorating due to activities conducted out of impulse," he assessed, emphasizing that moral education is an urgent need of the hour. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => 'murder, police, rise, increase, intolerant, social, Kathmandu, petty, dispute', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18735', 'image' => '20230917110421_20220831034508_Kathmandu Valley.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 11:02:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19005', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'China Positive on Construction of Tokha-Chhahare Tunnel Way: Finance Minister Mahat', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said the Chinese government is positive for the construction of the Tokha-Chhahare tunnel way.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">September 17: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said the Chinese government is positive for the construction of the Tokha-Chhahare tunnel way.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mahat said so while addressing a programme organized by Likhu Women Entrepreneurs and Social Organisation to exchange best wishes on the eve of the Teej festival. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Finance Minister said the government has set aside Rs 1 billion in the current fiscal year's budget for the construction of the tunnel way. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">He added that a proposal had been presented before the Chinese government for additional investments and it has responded positively to that.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"Letters have been exchanged between the two sides to bring Chinese investment in this project, which means the project will move ahead," he said. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mahat added that the Chinese government has given a letter indicating its intention of keeping this project in top priority in course of the Prime Minister's upcoming visit to China.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Stating that the pre-feasibility study on this project had already been conducted, Finance Minister Dr Mahat said the construction process will move ahead after studying the detailed project report (DPR).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure will carry out the construction of the tunnel way, the Ministry of Finance will mobilize resources for the same and the Ministry of Forests and Environment will carry out the environmental-related works, he said and stressed on the need of coordination among all the government bodies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Similarly, the road network in Nuwakot will be upgraded and expanded not only up to the district headquarters, Bidur, but also up to the border transit point in Rasuwa.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">According to the Finance Minister, this roadway would assist in managing traffic along the Prithvi Highway and it would be the shortest route for international trade. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Minister also stated that the Dhikure and Simla irrigation projects were also in the government's priority. (RSS)</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18734', 'image' => '20230917060137_collage (16).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 05:59:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19004', 'article_category_id' => '251', 'title' => 'The Abraham Accords: Celebrating Three Years of Regional Cooperation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: This week marks a very important milestone for the Middle East and North Africa: three years since the signing of the Abraham Accordsbetween Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, under the auspices of the US government.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hanan Goder</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 15: This week marks a very important milestone for the Middle East and North Africa: three years since the signing of the Abraham Accordsbetween Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, under the auspices of the US government.Three months later, in December 2020, Morocco joined the process, signing a normalization agreement with Israel.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The catalyst that enabled thesehistoric accords was the conscious decision taken by the parties to promote a stable and prosperous future for the Middle East.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The agreements have ushered in a new era of normalization and peace that not only connects governments butalso bringspeople together, despite differences in language, religious beliefs, cultures and more. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">So far, the Abraham Accords have offered a mere glimpse into the full potential of regional cooperation. Even so, the scope of trade between Israel and other Middle Eastern countries increased 74% between 2021 and 2022. Another example is tourism, mostly non-existent in the past, which has skyrocketed. In 2021, visits from Israel to the UAE increased by 172%. Meanwhile, the number of Israelis flying to Bahrain since the establishment of direct flights has increased exponentially. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The accords have also had a significant influence on reinforcing Israel's relations with neighboring countries, thereby enhancing regional stability. For example, the Prosperity Green & Blue agreement between Israel, the UAE, and Jordan determined that asolar field tosupply 600 megawatts of green electricity to Israel will be established in Jordan, whilein return,a desalination plant in Israel will deliver 200 million cubic meters of water to Jordan.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In a region where 65% of the population is under 30, providing the younger generation with opportunities is a key factor in preventing instability. To that end, youth delegations have been initiated, encouraging bonds between tomorrow's leaders and laying thefoundation for cooperation in the decades to come.Delegationsin which young influencers experience eachother's cultures and visitimportant religious and historic sites while focusing on community building are an effective tool in strengthening ties. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importantly, the youth of the relevant countries have subscribed wholeheartedly to the principles of acceptance, cooperation and peace highlighted in the accords, communicating to the region that these ideals are the building blocks of the future. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Abraham Accords encourage collaboration and education. In the summer of 2022, Ben-Gurion University welcomed students from Morocco. Additionally, a number of Emirati students have enrolled in Israeli universities. Bahrain has also embraced the prospects for shared educational activities and signed a number of agreements with Israel to advance student and professor exchanges.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In anotable example of how these initiatives can foster mutual understanding, after Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, the UAE incorporated Holocaust education into its school curriculum as a mandatory subject, attestation to the ability of the Abraham Accords to fostercoexistence and religious tolerance.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Abraham Accords have shown unity's power to inspire and provide opportunity.Theyoffer a window into a potential future of the region and demonstrate that when both leaders and ordinary citizensprioritize peace and cooperation, a far better future for the Middle East is possible.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Israel hopes that many more countries will join this endeavor, creatingabrighter tomorrow for the sake of all our children.</span></span></span></p> <p><em><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">(The author is the Ambassador of Israel to Nepal)</span></span></span></em></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18733', 'image' => '20230915081359_accord.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 20:13:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19003', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ministry of Forests Gives the Go Ahead for EIA and DPR of Tokha-Chahare Tunnel', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 5: The Ministry of Forests and Environment has agreed to proceed with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Tokha-Chhare tunnel project connecting Kathmandu with Rasuwagadhi, a vital trade route with China. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 5: The Ministry of Forests and Environment has agreed to proceed with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Tokha-Chhare tunnel project connecting Kathmandu with Rasuwagadhi, a vital trade route with China. This project falls within the Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park area, and is approved while subjecting to various conditions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">With the consent of the Ministry of Forest, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport initiated the process of informing the Chinese side to proceed with the study of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) along with the EIA. The Ministry of Forest agreed to proceed with the EIA process of this project under eight conditions. This has paved the way to proceed with DPR and EIA of this tunnel which has already completed a feasibility study. Similarly, the source said, "The consent of the Ministry of Forest has been obtained. Since the conditions set by the Ministry will be implemented when the EIA and DPR are advanced, the Chinese side will be informed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to proceed with further studies."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The pre-feasibility study of this project was completed with the help of the Chinese government. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">During the construction and operation of the proposed project, the Ministry of Forest has put a condition that the negative impact of the tunnel on rare and endangered wildlife and their habitat, biological diversity and ecological system should be studied. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the Wildlife Friendly Infrastructure Construction Guidelines - 2078, detailed studies on these issues should be carried out and measures to minimize negative impacts should be included in the report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, while studying the feasibility of the project, it has been mentioned that various options should also be studied. Based on the facts and data, it has been asked to select and study the options that will have the least negative impact on the biodiversity and the overall environment and use the least amount of forest in the park areas and its immediate neighbourhood.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the study report, the ministry has set conditions demanding inclusion of alternative designs and to opt for the design that will cause less environmental damage and the minimum use of the forest area of the park and the intermediate areas. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">When the Chinese President visited Nepal in October 2019, it was agreed to proceed with the study of this tunnel. A plan has been put forward to connect the Rasuwagadhi road with a short distance from Kathmandu and advance this tunnel to make the road access closer to the north.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18732', 'image' => '20230915043518_1694740054.1571187722.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 16:34:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19002', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'All Medical Services Except Emergency Shut Down to Protest Manhandling of Doctors ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: All the medical services except emergency and pharmacy at various hospitals and health institutions of Makwanpur have been shut down to protest against the manhandling of doctors. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 15: All the medical services except emergency and pharmacy at various hospitals and health institutions of Makwanpur have been shut down to protest against the manhandling of doctors. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The medical services have been shut down to protest the manhandling of Dr Bikas Thapa and Prashant Bidari of Sancho Hospital at Hetauda sub-metropolis-1 on Wednesday. Relatives of Rakesh Pradhan entered the hospital premises on Wednesday and manhandled the doctors, saying Pradhan died due to the negligence of doctors during treatment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Forty-one-year old Pradhan of Hetauda-12 was suffering from dengue and had died one month ago in course of treatment at Sancho Hospital. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Medical Superintendent at Hetauda Hospital, Dr Ram Chandra Sapkota, said all the health services except emergency and pharmacy have been closed after doctors and health workers launched agitation, citing insecurity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He shared that Hetauda Hospital has also shut down all services except emergency and pharmacy to protest the incident. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, other hospitals and health institutions in the district have also closed all medical services except emergency. Seventy-eight health workers including doctors of Hetauda Hospital have resigned en masse, citing insecurity, mentioned Sapkota. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18731', 'image' => '20230915033905_health sector.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 15:38:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19001', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFI's Employees Skeptical to Join SSF, as Court is yet to make a Final Decision ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: As the final verdict regarding the Social Security Fund (SSF) is pending in the court, a large number of employees working in banks and financial institutions (BFI's) are sceptical to join the SSF.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 15: As the final verdict regarding the Social Security Fund (SSF) is pending in the court, a large number of employees working in banks and financial institutions (BFI's) are sceptical to join the SSF.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The employee unions of banks and financial institutions started protesting in the past stating that the fund ignored the issues raised by them and put unnatural pressure on them.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The union of employees of banks and financial institutions, which has been refusing to participate in the Social Security Fund, had filed a case against the Social Security Fund in more than two years ago.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In July 2021, a division bench of justices Tej Bahadur KC and Bam Kumar Shrestha presided over a hearing on the case. As the opinions of the two justices differed, it was decided to present the filed by the bank employees against the fund to the full bench of the Supreme Court.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">So far, the full bench has yet to issue the final verdict in the case.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Many times, the court failed to hear the case due to time constraints.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As the final verdict of the case has not been issued, a large number of employees working in BFI's are out of the scheme operated by the SSF.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the petition, the bank employees have argued that BFIs are governed by the Banks and Financial Institutions Act, which was in force before the implementation of the Labor Act of 2074.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Regulations regarding the appointment, terms and conditions of the service and benefits of bank employees, are done after taking approval from Nepal Rastra Bank. BFI staff have mentioned that the management of various post-retirement facilities has been made as per the Act, and ave requested the SSF that their participation in the scheme should be made voluntary. BFI employees are doubtful that the returns they will get after the contribution made to the fund will be of much value.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the pension scheme of SSF, the total sum of 20 per cent of the amount accumulated in the name of the contributor every month and the total amount, including the interest earned on the sum divided by 160 has been arranged to be received by the contributor as a monthly pension after retirement. An employee who deposits Rs 72,000 annually at the rate of Rs 6,000 per month will accumulate Rs 21.6 million after working for 30 years.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If the employee retires, his/her lifetime savings will be divided by 160 and will be entitled to receive only Rs 13,500 a month. The bank employees have been saying that this amount will be only 7.55 per cent of the amount they have deposited annually.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">It is also mentioned in the petition that it is complicated to get back the money deposited by oneself and the return is less than the interest of fixed deposits. However, this matter is yet to be decided by the court.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the deputy executive director of the fund, Bivek Panthi, there is no situation to wait until the court's decision. He said that the fund desires to end the case quickly and to cover the employees of banks and financial institutions. "The fund is ready to address the demands raised by them to the extent," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">SSF started collecting contributions from 1 Ashar 2076 after it was formally launched by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli on Poush 11, 2075.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The fund, which initially involved workers and employees of the formal and informal sectors voluntarily, aims to cover all sectors. However, since most of the employees of banks and financial institutions are not participating in the fund, questions are being raised about its justification.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As of Shrawan 26, a total of 443,000 formal sector workers have joined the Social Security Fund. Workers who have gone abroad for employment are also joining the fund.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18730', 'image' => '20230915024247_SSF (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 14:41:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19000', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Counterfeit Products Rampant in Market Years after Closure of Industry that Produces Genuine Product', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: It has been five years since Arvind Udyog Pvt Limited of Birgunj stopped its production.', '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"">September 15: It has been five years since Arvind Udyog Pvt Limited of Birgunj stopped its production. However, the products of this industry are still easily available in the market. But those products are not manufactured by Arvind industry. Counterfeit products imported illegally from India have taken over the market in the name of Arvind Udyog. Taking advantage of the closure of Arvind industry, Indian industries have been sending fake products that look the same like the ones manufactured earlier in Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Department of Industries has registered the trade mark of `’Tinku Supari’, a tobacco-free aromatic betel nut (sweet supari), in the name of Arvind Udyog. The Indian sweet betel nut that looks like the betel nut of Aravind Udyog seems to be produced under the name of KM Marketing in Delhi, 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"">The domestic industry has been shut down due to the government policy, while fake products are being imported from India illegally. Industrialists complain that the domestic market is occupied by such products imported from India through smuggling.</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"">Arvind Udyog’s operator Niranjan Agarwal says that the production was stopped because the industry could not compete with foreign products due to the government's revenue policy. He said that even though the production was stopped five years ago, the industry has been renewing its company registration and trademark consistently. </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"">“I am renewing the registration by spending Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">00,000 every year,” said Agrawal, adding that he did not stop renewing it in the hope that one day the policy will be improved and he will be able to do business again.</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"">Fake products are being smuggled from India rampantly. However, the customs offices do not have data on the illegal import of such products. Ramchandra Dhakal, Information Officer of Birgunj Customs, says that there is no official data of sweet betel nut being imported into the country.</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 Department of Customs, only eight kilograms of sweet betel nuts were imported in the last fiscal year</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"">However, the local businessmen estimates that around </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2,000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> tons of sweet betel nuts are consumed in the domestic market every 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"">The government levies an excise duty of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">365</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg and a health tax of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">40</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg on domestic products. A customs duty of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">100</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">per kilo is levied on betel nuts used as raw material.</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 government has been increasing the excise duty since FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2069/70</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, which started at Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg. Altogether, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">17</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> industries have stopped production due to high costs as a result of hefty taxes imposed by the government. They argue that readymade products from India is cheaper than their products. </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 industrialist said that the retail price of domestic sweet betel nuts is Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">145</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per packet. They say that fake products manufactured in India are available at a retail price of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">48</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.</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"">Similarly, eight of the industries have canceled their industry registration. Others are renewing it every 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"">Due to the high revenue to be paid to the customs, such products are imported through illegal means. Government revenue is also lost due to this. Industrialists say that due to the high rate of revenue, both the investment of the domestic industry and the government revenue have gone down the drains.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18729', 'image' => '20230915012948_download.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 13:28:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18999', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Trekkers' Team Embarks on Great Himalayan Trail ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: A team of trekkers including two foreign nationals has started trekking along the Great Himalayan Trail (GHT), one of the popular trails of Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 15: A team of trekkers including two foreign nationals has started trekking along the Great Himalayan Trail (GHT), one of the popular trails of Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The four-member team of trekkers is led by Maria Andre from Slovenia.The team started the trekking from Taplejung district for Ghunsa, said the locals. The Great Himalayan Trail is a trekking route that goes through various mountainous areas within Nepal covering a distance of around 1,700 kilometres and passes through eight mountains. It is becoming one of the best, ambitious and challenging treks for tourists at home and abroad. It traverses from Taplejung district in the east to Darchula district in the west. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> Andre has already scaled eight mountains including Mount Everest. Andre, who in 1991 successfully climbed Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world, is currently in Nepal for the GHT. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They plan to complete the trekking within 115 to 120 days, said Ensuhang Rai from Solukhumbu district who is a guide to the team of trekkers. It costs an estimated amount of Rs 5 million to Rs 6 million for a four-member team of trekkers to complete the trail, he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The team will go from Lumbasubba mountain to the Makalu Base Camp of Sankhuwasabha district through the Kanchenjunga Base Camp to Olanchung Gola as part of the GHT, said tourism entrepreneur Tenzing Nupu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It takes around 150 days to complete this trek under the GHT, said a guide Santosh Tamang. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A week ago, the locals also bade farewell to another team of trekkers including three foreign tourists who embarked on the GHT trek. The team of trekkers includes two Germany nationals and one Australian. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Amir Maden, mayor of Phunglin Municipality, bade farewell to the team and wished for a successful trip amid a function. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This trekking trail used to be the only one route used by tourists heading to Kanchenjunga before the construction of a road network. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The approximately 4,500 km long GHT spans from Kanchenjunga of Taplejung in the east to Darchula in the west. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">High mobility of tourists in Taplejung lately has encouraged tourism, hotel and transport entrepreneurs, said a hotel entrepreneur Bimal Bhandari. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18728', 'image' => '20230915124506_aOazpH29O-Everest.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 12:44:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18998', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mayor Shah Listed as Emerging Leader in 2023 TIME100 Next ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Balendra Shah has been listed as one of the 2023 TIME100 Next emerging leaders of the world. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 15: Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Balendra Shah has been listed as one of the 2023 TIME100 Next emerging leaders of the world. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Shah, who emerged into power as KMC's mayor after winning 2079 local elections, is one of 100 emerging people on the 2023 TIME100 Next, published by the USA-based Time Magazine. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 33-year-old, who has a master's degree in structural engineering, ran as an independent and used TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram to harness voter anger over the status quo, sparking a "Balen effect" that saw as many as 385 independent candidates triumph over veteran politicians in last spring's local election, read the magazine. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It further adds that in a city still reeling from the deadly 2015 earthquake, Shah's campaign promises were simple but offered desperately needed fixes: better waste disposal and sanitation, safe drinking water, clean roads, and the preservation of cultural heritage alongside urban development. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">His efforts to make good on these promises have been met with scrutiny, including in regard to their impact on the city's poor and their reliance on demolishing buildings deemed illegal. Since coming into power, Shah has also signed agreements with officials to utilise landfill sites and announced plans to segregate bio-degradable of non-degradable waste. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18727', 'image' => '20230915104158_Balendra-Shah.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 10:41:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18997', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Night-Time Vehicular Movement Restricted along Kaligandaki Corridor', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: Police have restricted night-time vehicular movement along the Kaligandaki corridor in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta-East). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 15: Police have restricted night-time vehicular movement along the Kaligandaki corridor in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta-East). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The restriction has been imposed due to the ongoing construction in the corridor. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) at the District Police Office, Nawalpur, Bed Bahadur Poudel, night-time vehicular movement has been restricted taking into consideration the high risk of accident in the corridor construction areas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Kaligandaki corridor is around 87 kilometer long in Nawalpur. DSP Poudel said ban on vehicular movement has been imposed to minimize risks. As mobile network connectivity has been a big problem in almost half of the corridor section, it has been difficult to carry out rescue works in case of accident, he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The corridor is under construction. It has increased the risk of accidents. Rescue has been a big issue in the night time here," he further shared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">DSP Poudel said coordination was being made with the Nepal Telecom in regard to the installation of a mobile towers in the areas having less access to communications. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Vehicular movement will be allowed after establishing access to communications and completing the construction of the corridor, he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Almost 80 percent of the under-construction Nawalpur section of the Kaligandaki corridor has been completed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Small vehicles ply along the Kaligandaki corridor from Nawalpur to the mountainous districts. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18726', 'image' => '20230915102527_kaligandaki_ukSMCmqpMl.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 10:24:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18996', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pokhara Metropolitan City and KOICA Sign Agreement for GVZ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Pokhara Metropolitan City and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) entered into an agreement to implement a project focused on creating employment opportunities through Recycle Upcycle (RU) enterprises.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">September 15: The Pokhara Metropolitan City and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) entered into an agreement to implement a project focused on creating employment opportunities through Recycle Upcycle (RU) enterprises.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The signing ceremony took place in Pokhara, with Mayor Dhan Raj Acharya representing Pokhara Metropolitan City and Deputy Chief Young-Hyun Lee representing KOICA. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Prior to this formal signing, both parties had previously agreed on the project's initial draft.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The primary objective of this project is to promote the creation of "green" jobs in Pokhara Metropolitan City by emphasizing recycling and upcycling activities. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The agreement aims to establish RU enterprises and generate environmentally sustainable employment opportunities within the city. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The project also includes capacity-building initiatives for Metropolitan City officials, government stakeholders, and RU enterprises, fostering skill development and green employment prospects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, the project plans to establish a Green Venture Zone (GVZ) and provide business support to the newly established RU enterprises. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These project activities are expected to induce a change in community behavior, encouraging residents to practice waste segregation at the household level. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This, in turn, will reduce the strain on Pokhara's waste disposal sites.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As part of its commitment to the project, Pokhara Metropolitan City has allocated a 5,090 square meter area at Basundhara Park in Pokhara for the establishment of the Green Venture Zone (GVZ).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mayor Dhan Raj Acharya emphasized the significance of waste management and highlighted the GVZ's role in transforming waste into valuable assets. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Acharya also noted that the project would connect young people to employment opportunities and turn waste into a source of income for the community. (RSS) </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18725', 'image' => '20230915060938_collage (15).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 06:07:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18995', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cement Production Halted at Hetauda Cement Industry', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Cement production at the Hetauda Cement Industry has come to a standstill due to a machine breakdown, specifically in the coal mill.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">September 14: Cement production at the Hetauda Cement Industry has come to a standstill due to a machine breakdown, specifically in the coal mill. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The equipment failure has forced a temporary suspension of cement production. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The machine will be repaired within the next three to four days, and the industry will soon resume its cement production, according to Nabin Kumar Karna, the Deputy General Manager of the industry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Fortunately, the industry has already stockpiled an ample supply of both coal and limestone, ensuring that production can swiftly resume once the equipment is fixed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Hetauda Cement Industry produces 10,000 sacks of cement every day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It's worth noting that this is not the first interruption the industry has faced recently.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Previously, the industry was closed for approximately two months due to a shortage of coal, said Shatru Aryal, an officer within the industry's administration division. (RSS) </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-14', 'modified' => '2023-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18724', 'image' => '20230914041300_collage (2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-14 16:11:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 17: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Pokhara Metropolitan City have agreed to forge cooperation on urban infrastructure development and improved livelihood project. Another area of cooperation between the ADB and Pokhara metropolis is exploring potentials for sustainable tourism development of the city. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The areas of cooperation were discussed during a meeting between Mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan City Dhanraj Acharya and Executive Director of ADB Wan Farisan bin Wan Sulaiman. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The two sides also discussed about upgrading the road security measures along with road and drainage system of the city under the Regional Urban Development Project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the officials, the ADB is to provide economic assistance to different projects in Pokhara for the projects have already been selected. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">One of them is upgrading the road section from Sahid Chowk to Pokhara International Airport for which the project cost is estimated to be around USD 5.34 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, 13 kms road would be blacktopped from Damdate to Bhanjyang under the Panchase Ecosystem Development and Access Project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, upgrading the road from Bhanjyang to Panchase area, establishment of service points, integrated promotion of homestay and preservation of Gurung Museum would also be carried out. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Furthermore, 85 kms long cycle track would be constructed by linking the 18 wards of the metropolitan city. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Settlement management, water spring protection, setting up information board and direction board and construction of toilets, water fountain, cycle parking and cycle stand with service point would be carried out under the Phewa Lake Improvement Project. Pokhara Metropolitan City has said USD 3.05 million would be spent on this project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, there is a plan for connecting Damsite and Raniban with glassbridge and developing an eco-trail from Raniban connecting the Peace Stupa and the Phewa Lake rim in an integrated way under the Raniban Eco-trail and Phewa Lake Improvement Project. The eco-route would incorporate public amenities including construction of resting places, toilets, taps, installation of information board and temple renovation. It will cost USD 5.63 million. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18738', 'image' => '20230917033521_1694876327.pkr.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 15:34:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19008', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Forms Committee to Reform the Tax System', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 17: The government has formed a high-level committee to study the prospects of reforming the existing tax system. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">September 17: The government has formed a high-level committee to study the prospects of reforming the existing tax system. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Friday decided to form the committee under the chairmanship of former minister Bidyadhar Mallik.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The Ministry of Finance said that the high-level committee has been mandated to submit its report by next January. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The committee was formed in line with the announcement made by the government in the budget of the current fiscal year. In the budget, it was mentioned that a high-level committee would be formed to study the existing tax system and suggest improvements for the reform of the tax system. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">According to the ministry, the budget for the next fiscal year will be prepared based on the suggestions given by the committee.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18737', 'image' => '20230917022932_1694918419.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 14:28:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19007', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '16th Five-Year Plan to Focus on Bringing Back Migrant Workers: NPC Vice Chair', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 17: Vice-Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha, has said the 16th five-year plan is being prepared in a way it would bring back the Nepalis who are currently in overseas employment.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 17: Vice-Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha, has said the 16th five-year plan is being prepared in a way it would bring back the Nepalis who are currently in overseas employment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He shared this at an interaction on 'Existing economic challenges and roadmap of entrepreneurship' organized as part of the third Nepal Youth Entrepreneurship Summit jointly organized by the National Youth Council and Nepal Business Institute on Saturday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Stating that the concessional loans provided to the youths has now been stopped as it could not bring any productive results, Vice-Chair Shrestha mentioned, "We provided concessional loans to youths. But it could not increase employment and did not bring any productive results."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Madhu Kumar Marasini, admitted that issues of youths were not resolved due to problems in policy implementation. He expressed the view that many problems of youths could be resolved if discussion would be held with the youths.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Likewise, Chairperson of Nepal Bankers' Association, Sunil KC, stressed that there should be guarantee of return of investment. Stating that they were willing to invest in the youth sector, he shared that some banks are afraid to invest in industries as there is risk of return of investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Former President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Bhawani Rana, pointed out the need to seek new destinations for youth entrepreneurship. Rana laid emphasis on making youths entrepreneurs by amending the existing policies and regulations.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18736', 'image' => '20230917112353_066A7246.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 11:23:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19006', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Murders over Petty Disputes on the Rise in Kathmandu Valley', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 17: Four people including three from the same family were found murdered at Gairigaon, Tinkune in the Kathmandu Valley on Friday night. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 17: Four people including three from the same family were found murdered at Gairigaon, Tinkune in the Kathmandu Valley on Friday night. The bodies of four people had marks of injuries caused by sharp weapons.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The exact reason behind the murders is yet to be ascertained. Trained police persons and dogs have been mobilized to investigate the incident from all possible angles, according to Additional Inspector General (AIG) Deepak Thapa, chief of the Kathmandu Valley Police Office.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, another shocking murder occurred at Kapan, Kathmandu on April 20 earlier this year. A 35-year-old woman, who was running a gift shop, was murdered in her own shop. There was no involvement of a big gang. The incident was related to robbery, according to SSP Dinesh Acharya of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police. Police arrested the alleged murderer on the 11th day of the incident and proceeded with a murder case against him at the court.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, a 90-year-old man from Tarkeshwar Municipality-6 of Kathmandu district was found murdered on December 6 last year. The dead body of the elderly was located in a stream inside a community forest of ward no 3 in the municipality.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A local youth was arrested and charged with the case of murder of the elderly.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">These are just representative cases of murder emanating out of petty issues involving disputes in monetary dealings, robbery and personal vengeance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the last fiscal year (FY 2022/23), out of 500 murder cases reported to the police, 38 were from the Kathmandu Valley alone. Similarly, of the total 982 attempted murder cases, 136 were reported from Kathmandu alone.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, in the FY 2021/22, the country witnessed 590 murders. Among them, 50 took place in Kathmandu. Out of 1,079 attempted murder cases recorded all over the country, 136 occurred in the Kathmandu Valley alone.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Additional Inspector General Kuber Kadayat, who is also the spokesperson for the Nepal Police, said that many of such murders recorded in the Kathmandu Valley were due to personal vengeance as well as inability to put up with general matters. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to AIG Kadayat, preliminary investigation has suggested that the recent murder at Tinkune might have been caused due to personal vengeance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, SSP Mainali said, "People have become intolerant lately. They do not seem to tolerate any minor issue/incident. People are affected by many factors. Foreign employment is ever increasing, so they have nuclear families. Economic and educational issues are among others taking a toll on people."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Exposure to the outer world through social networking sites is also causing stress, he analyzed, adding that people easily tend to accept the negative side while neglecting the good ones.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"The society is deteriorating due to activities conducted out of impulse," he assessed, emphasizing that moral education is an urgent need of the hour. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => 'murder, police, rise, increase, intolerant, social, Kathmandu, petty, dispute', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18735', 'image' => '20230917110421_20220831034508_Kathmandu Valley.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 11:02:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19005', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'China Positive on Construction of Tokha-Chhahare Tunnel Way: Finance Minister Mahat', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said the Chinese government is positive for the construction of the Tokha-Chhahare tunnel way.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">September 17: Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat has said the Chinese government is positive for the construction of the Tokha-Chhahare tunnel way.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mahat said so while addressing a programme organized by Likhu Women Entrepreneurs and Social Organisation to exchange best wishes on the eve of the Teej festival. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Finance Minister said the government has set aside Rs 1 billion in the current fiscal year's budget for the construction of the tunnel way. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">He added that a proposal had been presented before the Chinese government for additional investments and it has responded positively to that.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"Letters have been exchanged between the two sides to bring Chinese investment in this project, which means the project will move ahead," he said. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mahat added that the Chinese government has given a letter indicating its intention of keeping this project in top priority in course of the Prime Minister's upcoming visit to China.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Stating that the pre-feasibility study on this project had already been conducted, Finance Minister Dr Mahat said the construction process will move ahead after studying the detailed project report (DPR).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure will carry out the construction of the tunnel way, the Ministry of Finance will mobilize resources for the same and the Ministry of Forests and Environment will carry out the environmental-related works, he said and stressed on the need of coordination among all the government bodies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Similarly, the road network in Nuwakot will be upgraded and expanded not only up to the district headquarters, Bidur, but also up to the border transit point in Rasuwa.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">According to the Finance Minister, this roadway would assist in managing traffic along the Prithvi Highway and it would be the shortest route for international trade. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Minister also stated that the Dhikure and Simla irrigation projects were also in the government's priority. (RSS)</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-17', 'modified' => '2023-09-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18734', 'image' => '20230917060137_collage (16).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-17 05:59:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19004', 'article_category_id' => '251', 'title' => 'The Abraham Accords: Celebrating Three Years of Regional Cooperation', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: This week marks a very important milestone for the Middle East and North Africa: three years since the signing of the Abraham Accordsbetween Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, under the auspices of the US government.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hanan Goder</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 15: This week marks a very important milestone for the Middle East and North Africa: three years since the signing of the Abraham Accordsbetween Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, under the auspices of the US government.Three months later, in December 2020, Morocco joined the process, signing a normalization agreement with Israel.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The catalyst that enabled thesehistoric accords was the conscious decision taken by the parties to promote a stable and prosperous future for the Middle East.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The agreements have ushered in a new era of normalization and peace that not only connects governments butalso bringspeople together, despite differences in language, religious beliefs, cultures and more. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">So far, the Abraham Accords have offered a mere glimpse into the full potential of regional cooperation. Even so, the scope of trade between Israel and other Middle Eastern countries increased 74% between 2021 and 2022. Another example is tourism, mostly non-existent in the past, which has skyrocketed. In 2021, visits from Israel to the UAE increased by 172%. Meanwhile, the number of Israelis flying to Bahrain since the establishment of direct flights has increased exponentially. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The accords have also had a significant influence on reinforcing Israel's relations with neighboring countries, thereby enhancing regional stability. For example, the Prosperity Green & Blue agreement between Israel, the UAE, and Jordan determined that asolar field tosupply 600 megawatts of green electricity to Israel will be established in Jordan, whilein return,a desalination plant in Israel will deliver 200 million cubic meters of water to Jordan.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In a region where 65% of the population is under 30, providing the younger generation with opportunities is a key factor in preventing instability. To that end, youth delegations have been initiated, encouraging bonds between tomorrow's leaders and laying thefoundation for cooperation in the decades to come.Delegationsin which young influencers experience eachother's cultures and visitimportant religious and historic sites while focusing on community building are an effective tool in strengthening ties. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importantly, the youth of the relevant countries have subscribed wholeheartedly to the principles of acceptance, cooperation and peace highlighted in the accords, communicating to the region that these ideals are the building blocks of the future. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Abraham Accords encourage collaboration and education. In the summer of 2022, Ben-Gurion University welcomed students from Morocco. Additionally, a number of Emirati students have enrolled in Israeli universities. Bahrain has also embraced the prospects for shared educational activities and signed a number of agreements with Israel to advance student and professor exchanges.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In anotable example of how these initiatives can foster mutual understanding, after Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, the UAE incorporated Holocaust education into its school curriculum as a mandatory subject, attestation to the ability of the Abraham Accords to fostercoexistence and religious tolerance.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Abraham Accords have shown unity's power to inspire and provide opportunity.Theyoffer a window into a potential future of the region and demonstrate that when both leaders and ordinary citizensprioritize peace and cooperation, a far better future for the Middle East is possible.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Israel hopes that many more countries will join this endeavor, creatingabrighter tomorrow for the sake of all our children.</span></span></span></p> <p><em><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">(The author is the Ambassador of Israel to Nepal)</span></span></span></em></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18733', 'image' => '20230915081359_accord.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 20:13:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19003', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Ministry of Forests Gives the Go Ahead for EIA and DPR of Tokha-Chahare Tunnel', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 5: The Ministry of Forests and Environment has agreed to proceed with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Tokha-Chhare tunnel project connecting Kathmandu with Rasuwagadhi, a vital trade route with China. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 5: The Ministry of Forests and Environment has agreed to proceed with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Tokha-Chhare tunnel project connecting Kathmandu with Rasuwagadhi, a vital trade route with China. This project falls within the Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park area, and is approved while subjecting to various conditions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">With the consent of the Ministry of Forest, the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport initiated the process of informing the Chinese side to proceed with the study of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) along with the EIA. The Ministry of Forest agreed to proceed with the EIA process of this project under eight conditions. This has paved the way to proceed with DPR and EIA of this tunnel which has already completed a feasibility study. Similarly, the source said, "The consent of the Ministry of Forest has been obtained. Since the conditions set by the Ministry will be implemented when the EIA and DPR are advanced, the Chinese side will be informed through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to proceed with further studies."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The pre-feasibility study of this project was completed with the help of the Chinese government. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">During the construction and operation of the proposed project, the Ministry of Forest has put a condition that the negative impact of the tunnel on rare and endangered wildlife and their habitat, biological diversity and ecological system should be studied. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the Wildlife Friendly Infrastructure Construction Guidelines - 2078, detailed studies on these issues should be carried out and measures to minimize negative impacts should be included in the report.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, while studying the feasibility of the project, it has been mentioned that various options should also be studied. Based on the facts and data, it has been asked to select and study the options that will have the least negative impact on the biodiversity and the overall environment and use the least amount of forest in the park areas and its immediate neighbourhood.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the study report, the ministry has set conditions demanding inclusion of alternative designs and to opt for the design that will cause less environmental damage and the minimum use of the forest area of the park and the intermediate areas. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">When the Chinese President visited Nepal in October 2019, it was agreed to proceed with the study of this tunnel. A plan has been put forward to connect the Rasuwagadhi road with a short distance from Kathmandu and advance this tunnel to make the road access closer to the north.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18732', 'image' => '20230915043518_1694740054.1571187722.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 16:34:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19002', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'All Medical Services Except Emergency Shut Down to Protest Manhandling of Doctors ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: All the medical services except emergency and pharmacy at various hospitals and health institutions of Makwanpur have been shut down to protest against the manhandling of doctors. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 15: All the medical services except emergency and pharmacy at various hospitals and health institutions of Makwanpur have been shut down to protest against the manhandling of doctors. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The medical services have been shut down to protest the manhandling of Dr Bikas Thapa and Prashant Bidari of Sancho Hospital at Hetauda sub-metropolis-1 on Wednesday. Relatives of Rakesh Pradhan entered the hospital premises on Wednesday and manhandled the doctors, saying Pradhan died due to the negligence of doctors during treatment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Forty-one-year old Pradhan of Hetauda-12 was suffering from dengue and had died one month ago in course of treatment at Sancho Hospital. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Medical Superintendent at Hetauda Hospital, Dr Ram Chandra Sapkota, said all the health services except emergency and pharmacy have been closed after doctors and health workers launched agitation, citing insecurity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He shared that Hetauda Hospital has also shut down all services except emergency and pharmacy to protest the incident. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, other hospitals and health institutions in the district have also closed all medical services except emergency. Seventy-eight health workers including doctors of Hetauda Hospital have resigned en masse, citing insecurity, mentioned Sapkota. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18731', 'image' => '20230915033905_health sector.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 15:38:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19001', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFI's Employees Skeptical to Join SSF, as Court is yet to make a Final Decision ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: As the final verdict regarding the Social Security Fund (SSF) is pending in the court, a large number of employees working in banks and financial institutions (BFI's) are sceptical to join the SSF.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 15: As the final verdict regarding the Social Security Fund (SSF) is pending in the court, a large number of employees working in banks and financial institutions (BFI's) are sceptical to join the SSF.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The employee unions of banks and financial institutions started protesting in the past stating that the fund ignored the issues raised by them and put unnatural pressure on them.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The union of employees of banks and financial institutions, which has been refusing to participate in the Social Security Fund, had filed a case against the Social Security Fund in more than two years ago.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In July 2021, a division bench of justices Tej Bahadur KC and Bam Kumar Shrestha presided over a hearing on the case. As the opinions of the two justices differed, it was decided to present the filed by the bank employees against the fund to the full bench of the Supreme Court.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">So far, the full bench has yet to issue the final verdict in the case.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Many times, the court failed to hear the case due to time constraints.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As the final verdict of the case has not been issued, a large number of employees working in BFI's are out of the scheme operated by the SSF.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the petition, the bank employees have argued that BFIs are governed by the Banks and Financial Institutions Act, which was in force before the implementation of the Labor Act of 2074.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Regulations regarding the appointment, terms and conditions of the service and benefits of bank employees, are done after taking approval from Nepal Rastra Bank. BFI staff have mentioned that the management of various post-retirement facilities has been made as per the Act, and ave requested the SSF that their participation in the scheme should be made voluntary. BFI employees are doubtful that the returns they will get after the contribution made to the fund will be of much value.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the pension scheme of SSF, the total sum of 20 per cent of the amount accumulated in the name of the contributor every month and the total amount, including the interest earned on the sum divided by 160 has been arranged to be received by the contributor as a monthly pension after retirement. An employee who deposits Rs 72,000 annually at the rate of Rs 6,000 per month will accumulate Rs 21.6 million after working for 30 years.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">If the employee retires, his/her lifetime savings will be divided by 160 and will be entitled to receive only Rs 13,500 a month. The bank employees have been saying that this amount will be only 7.55 per cent of the amount they have deposited annually.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">It is also mentioned in the petition that it is complicated to get back the money deposited by oneself and the return is less than the interest of fixed deposits. However, this matter is yet to be decided by the court.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the deputy executive director of the fund, Bivek Panthi, there is no situation to wait until the court's decision. He said that the fund desires to end the case quickly and to cover the employees of banks and financial institutions. "The fund is ready to address the demands raised by them to the extent," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">SSF started collecting contributions from 1 Ashar 2076 after it was formally launched by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli on Poush 11, 2075.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The fund, which initially involved workers and employees of the formal and informal sectors voluntarily, aims to cover all sectors. However, since most of the employees of banks and financial institutions are not participating in the fund, questions are being raised about its justification.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As of Shrawan 26, a total of 443,000 formal sector workers have joined the Social Security Fund. Workers who have gone abroad for employment are also joining the fund.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18730', 'image' => '20230915024247_SSF (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 14:41:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '19000', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Counterfeit Products Rampant in Market Years after Closure of Industry that Produces Genuine Product', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: It has been five years since Arvind Udyog Pvt Limited of Birgunj stopped its production.', '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"">September 15: It has been five years since Arvind Udyog Pvt Limited of Birgunj stopped its production. However, the products of this industry are still easily available in the market. But those products are not manufactured by Arvind industry. Counterfeit products imported illegally from India have taken over the market in the name of Arvind Udyog. Taking advantage of the closure of Arvind industry, Indian industries have been sending fake products that look the same like the ones manufactured earlier in Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Department of Industries has registered the trade mark of `’Tinku Supari’, a tobacco-free aromatic betel nut (sweet supari), in the name of Arvind Udyog. The Indian sweet betel nut that looks like the betel nut of Aravind Udyog seems to be produced under the name of KM Marketing in Delhi, 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"">The domestic industry has been shut down due to the government policy, while fake products are being imported from India illegally. Industrialists complain that the domestic market is occupied by such products imported from India through smuggling.</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"">Arvind Udyog’s operator Niranjan Agarwal says that the production was stopped because the industry could not compete with foreign products due to the government's revenue policy. He said that even though the production was stopped five years ago, the industry has been renewing its company registration and trademark consistently. </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"">“I am renewing the registration by spending Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">00,000 every year,” said Agrawal, adding that he did not stop renewing it in the hope that one day the policy will be improved and he will be able to do business again.</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"">Fake products are being smuggled from India rampantly. However, the customs offices do not have data on the illegal import of such products. Ramchandra Dhakal, Information Officer of Birgunj Customs, says that there is no official data of sweet betel nut being imported into the country.</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 Department of Customs, only eight kilograms of sweet betel nuts were imported in the last fiscal year</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"">However, the local businessmen estimates that around </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2,000</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> tons of sweet betel nuts are consumed in the domestic market every 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"">The government levies an excise duty of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">365</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg and a health tax of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">40</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg on domestic products. A customs duty of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">100</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">per kilo is levied on betel nuts used as raw material.</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 government has been increasing the excise duty since FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2069/70</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, which started at Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">50</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per kg. Altogether, </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">17</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> industries have stopped production due to high costs as a result of hefty taxes imposed by the government. They argue that readymade products from India is cheaper than their products. </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 industrialist said that the retail price of domestic sweet betel nuts is Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">145</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> per packet. They say that fake products manufactured in India are available at a retail price of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">48</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.</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"">Similarly, eight of the industries have canceled their industry registration. Others are renewing it every 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"">Due to the high revenue to be paid to the customs, such products are imported through illegal means. Government revenue is also lost due to this. Industrialists say that due to the high rate of revenue, both the investment of the domestic industry and the government revenue have gone down the drains.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18729', 'image' => '20230915012948_download.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 13:28:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18999', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Trekkers' Team Embarks on Great Himalayan Trail ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: A team of trekkers including two foreign nationals has started trekking along the Great Himalayan Trail (GHT), one of the popular trails of Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 15: A team of trekkers including two foreign nationals has started trekking along the Great Himalayan Trail (GHT), one of the popular trails of Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The four-member team of trekkers is led by Maria Andre from Slovenia.The team started the trekking from Taplejung district for Ghunsa, said the locals. The Great Himalayan Trail is a trekking route that goes through various mountainous areas within Nepal covering a distance of around 1,700 kilometres and passes through eight mountains. It is becoming one of the best, ambitious and challenging treks for tourists at home and abroad. It traverses from Taplejung district in the east to Darchula district in the west. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> Andre has already scaled eight mountains including Mount Everest. Andre, who in 1991 successfully climbed Kanchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world, is currently in Nepal for the GHT. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They plan to complete the trekking within 115 to 120 days, said Ensuhang Rai from Solukhumbu district who is a guide to the team of trekkers. It costs an estimated amount of Rs 5 million to Rs 6 million for a four-member team of trekkers to complete the trail, he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The team will go from Lumbasubba mountain to the Makalu Base Camp of Sankhuwasabha district through the Kanchenjunga Base Camp to Olanchung Gola as part of the GHT, said tourism entrepreneur Tenzing Nupu. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It takes around 150 days to complete this trek under the GHT, said a guide Santosh Tamang. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A week ago, the locals also bade farewell to another team of trekkers including three foreign tourists who embarked on the GHT trek. The team of trekkers includes two Germany nationals and one Australian. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Amir Maden, mayor of Phunglin Municipality, bade farewell to the team and wished for a successful trip amid a function. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">This trekking trail used to be the only one route used by tourists heading to Kanchenjunga before the construction of a road network. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The approximately 4,500 km long GHT spans from Kanchenjunga of Taplejung in the east to Darchula in the west. </span><br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">High mobility of tourists in Taplejung lately has encouraged tourism, hotel and transport entrepreneurs, said a hotel entrepreneur Bimal Bhandari. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18728', 'image' => '20230915124506_aOazpH29O-Everest.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 12:44:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18998', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Mayor Shah Listed as Emerging Leader in 2023 TIME100 Next ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Balendra Shah has been listed as one of the 2023 TIME100 Next emerging leaders of the world. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 15: Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) Balendra Shah has been listed as one of the 2023 TIME100 Next emerging leaders of the world. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Shah, who emerged into power as KMC's mayor after winning 2079 local elections, is one of 100 emerging people on the 2023 TIME100 Next, published by the USA-based Time Magazine. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 33-year-old, who has a master's degree in structural engineering, ran as an independent and used TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram to harness voter anger over the status quo, sparking a "Balen effect" that saw as many as 385 independent candidates triumph over veteran politicians in last spring's local election, read the magazine. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It further adds that in a city still reeling from the deadly 2015 earthquake, Shah's campaign promises were simple but offered desperately needed fixes: better waste disposal and sanitation, safe drinking water, clean roads, and the preservation of cultural heritage alongside urban development. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">His efforts to make good on these promises have been met with scrutiny, including in regard to their impact on the city's poor and their reliance on demolishing buildings deemed illegal. Since coming into power, Shah has also signed agreements with officials to utilise landfill sites and announced plans to segregate bio-degradable of non-degradable waste. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18727', 'image' => '20230915104158_Balendra-Shah.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 10:41:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18997', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Night-Time Vehicular Movement Restricted along Kaligandaki Corridor', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 15: Police have restricted night-time vehicular movement along the Kaligandaki corridor in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta-East). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 15: Police have restricted night-time vehicular movement along the Kaligandaki corridor in Nawalparasi (Bardaghat-Susta-East). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The restriction has been imposed due to the ongoing construction in the corridor. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) at the District Police Office, Nawalpur, Bed Bahadur Poudel, night-time vehicular movement has been restricted taking into consideration the high risk of accident in the corridor construction areas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Kaligandaki corridor is around 87 kilometer long in Nawalpur. DSP Poudel said ban on vehicular movement has been imposed to minimize risks. As mobile network connectivity has been a big problem in almost half of the corridor section, it has been difficult to carry out rescue works in case of accident, he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The corridor is under construction. It has increased the risk of accidents. Rescue has been a big issue in the night time here," he further shared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">DSP Poudel said coordination was being made with the Nepal Telecom in regard to the installation of a mobile towers in the areas having less access to communications. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Vehicular movement will be allowed after establishing access to communications and completing the construction of the corridor, he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Almost 80 percent of the under-construction Nawalpur section of the Kaligandaki corridor has been completed. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Small vehicles ply along the Kaligandaki corridor from Nawalpur to the mountainous districts. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18726', 'image' => '20230915102527_kaligandaki_ukSMCmqpMl.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 10:24:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18996', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pokhara Metropolitan City and KOICA Sign Agreement for GVZ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Pokhara Metropolitan City and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) entered into an agreement to implement a project focused on creating employment opportunities through Recycle Upcycle (RU) enterprises.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">September 15: The Pokhara Metropolitan City and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) entered into an agreement to implement a project focused on creating employment opportunities through Recycle Upcycle (RU) enterprises.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The signing ceremony took place in Pokhara, with Mayor Dhan Raj Acharya representing Pokhara Metropolitan City and Deputy Chief Young-Hyun Lee representing KOICA. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Prior to this formal signing, both parties had previously agreed on the project's initial draft.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The primary objective of this project is to promote the creation of "green" jobs in Pokhara Metropolitan City by emphasizing recycling and upcycling activities. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The agreement aims to establish RU enterprises and generate environmentally sustainable employment opportunities within the city. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The project also includes capacity-building initiatives for Metropolitan City officials, government stakeholders, and RU enterprises, fostering skill development and green employment prospects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, the project plans to establish a Green Venture Zone (GVZ) and provide business support to the newly established RU enterprises. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">These project activities are expected to induce a change in community behavior, encouraging residents to practice waste segregation at the household level. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">This, in turn, will reduce the strain on Pokhara's waste disposal sites.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">As part of its commitment to the project, Pokhara Metropolitan City has allocated a 5,090 square meter area at Basundhara Park in Pokhara for the establishment of the Green Venture Zone (GVZ).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Mayor Dhan Raj Acharya emphasized the significance of waste management and highlighted the GVZ's role in transforming waste into valuable assets. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Acharya also noted that the project would connect young people to employment opportunities and turn waste into a source of income for the community. (RSS) </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-15', 'modified' => '2023-09-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18725', 'image' => '20230915060938_collage (15).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-15 06:07:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18995', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cement Production Halted at Hetauda Cement Industry', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Cement production at the Hetauda Cement Industry has come to a standstill due to a machine breakdown, specifically in the coal mill.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">September 14: Cement production at the Hetauda Cement Industry has come to a standstill due to a machine breakdown, specifically in the coal mill. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The equipment failure has forced a temporary suspension of cement production. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The machine will be repaired within the next three to four days, and the industry will soon resume its cement production, according to Nabin Kumar Karna, the Deputy General Manager of the industry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Fortunately, the industry has already stockpiled an ample supply of both coal and limestone, ensuring that production can swiftly resume once the equipment is fixed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Hetauda Cement Industry produces 10,000 sacks of cement every day.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">It's worth noting that this is not the first interruption the industry has faced recently.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Previously, the industry was closed for approximately two months due to a shortage of coal, said Shatru Aryal, an officer within the industry's administration division. (RSS) </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-09-14', 'modified' => '2023-09-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18724', 'image' => '20230914041300_collage (2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-09-14 16:11:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
