August 30: Projects under the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will be fully implemented from today (August…
August 30: Projects under the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will be fully implemented from today (August…
Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, pledged to revitalize the Hydroelectricity Investment and Development Company Limited (HIDCL) to enhance its role in the energy sector's…
August 29: Air pollution is more dangerous to the health of the average person on Earth than smoking or alcohol, a study has…
August 29: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has started operating flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa starting from today (August…
August 29: India has imposed a 40 percent tariff on onion exports from August 19 to curb possible price hike in its domestic market which is reeling under shortage of…
August 29: The Government of Nepal announced a programme to encourage MICE tourism in the year 2011.…
August 29: The for-hire electric scooters that have become ubiquitous in Paris and other cities worldwide will be banned in the French capital on September…
August 29: The government has given top priority to the construction of transmission lines for better transmission and distribution of…
August 29: A visiting delegation of industrialists from South Korea including ambassador to Nepal, Park Taeyoung, called on Minister for Physical Infrastructures and Transport, Prakash Jwala, and sought a proposal for the investment in infrastructures sector in…
The NADA Automobiles Association of Nepalis organizing the 15th edition of the 'NADA Auto Show 2023'. The event will be held in Kathmandu from Bhadra 26 to Bhadra…
August 28: A team of specialist doctors has reached Gosainkunda for providing emergency medical treatment to the pilgrims visiting Gosainkunda during the Janai Purnima festival.…
August 28: India, which has been imposing taxes on the export of food items one after the other, has imposed a 20 percent export tax even on parboiled rice as the festival of Dashain approaches.…
August 28: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has increased the working capital loan limit for the productive…
August 28: At a time when the budget and programmes brought by the government are being criticized for being more ambitious than implementation oriented, it has been found that the government has always set ambitious targets for foreign loans as…
August 27: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the government to prioritize export of Nepali products via Nepali embassies…
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), (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' => '18868', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'MCC to Enter Full Implementation Phase from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 30: Projects under the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will be fully implemented from today (August 30).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">August 30: Projects under the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will be fully implemented from today (August 30).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Millennium Challenge Account-Nepal (MCA Nepal), which has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the US grant projects worth $500 million, is all set to announce the official commencement of the MCC today with the Entry into Force (EIF) coming into effect from August 30.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As per the agreement with the US government, the MCC projects need to be completed within five years after the commencement of the EIF.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The initial agreement for the project was signed between the Finance Ministry and the US government representatives on September 14, 2017.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">However, the MCC was delayed due to widespread protest by a section of the society on the pretext that the grant agreement was allegedly a part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the US government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After much debate and deliberations, the House of Representatives finally ratified the MCC grant agreement on February 27, 2022 with a 12-point explanatory note clarifying that the project should not be associated with any military alliance and that the grant agreement must abide by the Constitution of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Noting that the MCC had received explanatory declaration last year, the US embassy said they have accepted the explanatory note as part of the compact. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Kathmandu-based US Embassy has expressed its commitment to collaborate with MCA-Nepal to ensure successful implementation of the compact.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“All concerned parties are working to attain the goals of the MCC compact on time," the state-owned RSS quoted the embassy officials as saying. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Cameron Alford, vice president of the US Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact Operations Department, arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday for the implementation of the MCC. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal has met five out of six pre-conditions to implement the MCC.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Of the six prerequisites, land acquisition for the implementation of the pact has been awaited. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the initial agreement, the United States was supposed to provide US$ 500 million to Nepal for construction of cross-border transmission line and upgrading of roads while Nepal would have to contribute US$ 130 million for the project, expecting the total cost of the MCC project to remain at US$ 630 million. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">But the 'supplemental agreement' over the MCC that was signed last year, demands the government to bear additional cost of US$ 67 million, seeking its total contribution of US$ 197 million for the enforcement of the agreement. In the beginning, Nepal was supposed to take up 20.63 per cent financial responsibility for the MCC project and now it has increased to 28.26 percent. The increased responsibility amount is equivalent to Rs 900 million. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-30', 'modified' => '2023-08-30', 'keywords' => 'MCC, USA, Nepal, grant, assistance, implementation, cross, border, transmission, phase, protest, ratify', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18597', 'image' => '20230830105937_1693279080.1692757131.1691983136.1690248678.1681795913[1].jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-30 10:58:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18867', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'HIDCL Must Be Revitalized for Energy Sector’s Development: Minister Basnet', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, pledged to revitalize the Hydroelectricity Investment and Development Company Limited (HIDCL) to enhance its role in the energy sector's growth.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">August 29: Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, pledged to revitalize the Hydroelectricity Investment and Development Company Limited (HIDCL) to enhance its role in the energy sector's growth.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Established as a public investment firm, HIDCL focuses on raising funds for hydroelectric projects in the country. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">During a discussion held at his office on Tuesday, Minister Basnet emphasized the need to transform it into a robust financial institution that encourages increased investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Minister Basnet emphasized HIDCL's potential collaboration with bilateral and multilateral donor agencies to attract additional investments into the country's energy sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The company has already invested more than Rs 27 billion, deploying over Rs 6 billion in capital across 12 projects with a cumulative capacity of 902 megawatts. Furthermore, it has invested Rs 21 billion in 19 projects with a combined power capacity of 1,467 megawatts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Dinesh Kumar Ghimire, Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, as well as the Chairperson of HIDCL, echoed the importance of revitalizing the company with fresh plans and vision.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The company recently signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with four different projects, securing a loan investment of Rs 13 billion. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, the company has been entrusted with arranging funds for the 1,063-megawatt Upper Arun project through domestic resources.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Nepal Rastra Bank recently urged HIDCL to undergo structural reforms to align with the Banking and Financial Institutions Act. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While HIDCL had the provision for loan investments in projects, it faced challenges due to the absence of legal provisions for raising loans.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Arjun Kumar Gautam, Chairperson of HIDCL, acknowledged the company's urgent need for diversification and expansion for investment resources. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-30', 'modified' => '2023-08-30', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18596', 'image' => '20230830060517_collage (3).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-30 06:02:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18866', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Air Pollution is Greatest Global Threat to Human Health: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: Air pollution is more dangerous to the health of the average person on Earth than smoking or alcohol, a study has revealed.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">August 29: Air pollution is more dangerous to the health of the average person on Earth than smoking or alcohol, a study has revealed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the AFP, the threat is worsening in its global epicenter South Asia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Yet the level of funding set aside to confront the challenge is a fraction of the amount earmarked for fighting infectious diseases, the news report says citing the research from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Its annual Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report showed that fine particulate air pollution -- which comes from vehicle and industrial emissions, wildfires and more -- remains the "greatest external threat to public health."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">If the world were to permanently reduce these pollutants to meet the World Health Organization's (WHO) guideline limit, the average person would add 2.3 years onto his or her life expectancy, according to the data, which has a 2021 cutoff, added AFP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Fine particulate matter is linked to lung disease, heart disease, strokes and cancer.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Tobacco use, by comparison, reduces global life expectancy by 2.2 years while child and maternal malnutrition is responsible for a reduction of 1.6 years.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Asia and Africa bear the greatest brunt yet have some of the weakest infrastructure to deliver citizens timely, accurate data. They also receive tiny slices of an already small global philanthropic pie, says the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">For example, the entire continent of Africa receives less than $300,000 to tackle air pollution.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">While there is an international financing partnership called the Global Fund that disburses $4 billion annually on HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, there is no equivalent for air pollution.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Yet, air pollution shaves off more years from the average person's life in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Cameroon than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other health threats," the report said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Globally, South Asia is the worst impacted region. Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan are in order the top four most polluted countries in terms of annualized, population-weighted averages of fine particulate matter, which are detected by satellites and defined as particles with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5). Air pollution concentrations are then fed into the AQLI metric which calculates their impact on life expectancy, based on peer-reviewed methods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to AFP, residents of Bangladesh, where average PM2.5 levels were 74 micrograms per cubic meter, would gain 6.8 years of life if this were brought to WHO guidelines of 5 micrograms per cubic meter.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">India's capital Delhi meanwhile is the "most polluted megacity in the world" with annual average particulate pollution of 126.5 micrograms per cubic meter.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">China, on the other hand, "has had remarkable progress in terms of its war on air pollution" which began in 2014, said Hasenkopf. Its air pollution dropped 42.3 percent between 2013 and 2021. If the improvements are sustained, the average Chinese citizen will be able to live 2.2 years longer. -- AFP/RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => 'air, pollution, health, human, threat, HIV, malaria, Nepal, world, earth, global, concern, Asia, Bangladesh, India ', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18595', 'image' => '20230829085714_20230512023718_Clipboard09(31).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 20:56:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18865', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC starts Flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa-based GBIA ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has started operating flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa starting from today (August 29). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 29: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has started operating flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa starting from today (August 29). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Both flights, Bhairahawa-New Delhi and Bhairahawa-Hong Kong, remained without passengers. The NAC had recently announced to operate flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa via Kathmandu transit once a week. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">General Manager of Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport, Hansa Raj Pandey, said confirmed that NAC operated flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa via Kathmandu transit after the respective aircraft arrived from Malaysia.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, he mentioned that no passengers boarded the plane from Gautam Buddha International Airport during today's flights. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Passengers heading towards Hong Kong are sent to the destination via Kathmandu while passengers heading towards Delhi are sent to the destination from connecting flights at Tribhuvan International Airport. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NAC had opened ticket bookings for both the routes from August 27. The NAC had started Malaysia-Bhairahawa flights from June 13 and has made 12 flights so far. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18594', 'image' => '20230829040800_naccccc.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 16:07:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18864', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Failure of Mission Onion leads to Nepal’s Dependence on Import', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: India has imposed a 40 percent tariff on onion exports from August 19 to curb possible price hike in its domestic market which is reeling under shortage of onions.', '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"">August 29: India has imposed a 40 percent tariff on onion exports from August 19 to curb possible price hike in its domestic market which is reeling under shortage of onions.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">India’s decision to protect its consumers has caused a ripple effect in Nepal, sending the price of onion skyrocketing.</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"">Nepal largely depends on India for onion as the domestic production is not sufficient to meet the market demand. The main reason for this short supply is the failure of the ‘Mission Onion’ programme launched by the government about 16 years ago.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">With the aim of making the country self-sufficient in onions, the government had launched the Mission Onion programme in Jhapa, Siraha, Saptari, Dhanusha, Bara, Parsa, Rupandehi and other districts with an investment of Rs 500 million in fiscal year 2064/65. </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"">However, the program was not successful due to irregularities in the purchase and distribution of production materials. Despite the failure, the government decided to give continuity to the plan to run potato and onion missions for the next four years (until FY 2076/77). But the plan was limited to paper works. Stakeholders say that Nepal had to suffer after the plan has failed many times.</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"">Dr Govinda Prasad Sharma, secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, admitted that big programmes announced by the government for the production and promotion of onions were not implemented and therefore the country have had to suffer the consequences. According to him, despite the high potential of onion cultivation in Nepal, the Mission Onion failed due to some technical complications.</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 first thing is that we could not produce the seeds we needed. Secondly, we did not have cold storage for storing the onions produced by the farmers," he said told New Business Age, adding, "Onion storage technology is different compared to other vegetables and fruits. Therefore, due to the lack of technology, even a storage house could not be built. Due to this, our mission could not be implemented.”</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"">When India increased the customs duty on onion export, not only did onions become more expensive in Nepal, traders also started black-marketing to take undue advantage. </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 Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee removed onion from its daily price list after traders did not sell onions in the Kalimati market for two days saying that they were out of stock and did not import from India due to high tax. At present, the price of onion in the retail market is up to Rs 130 per kg.</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"">Sandeep Subedi, an official of the National Potato, Vegetable and Spice Crop Development Center, said that the consumers had to suffer because the government could not implement big programmes related to onion production and promotion. According to him, one of the reasons why Nepali consumers have to depend on India for onions is the government's inability to implement big programmes, and another reason is the inability of farmers to produce quality seeds.</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"">Onion is a crop that can be produced in abundance in Nepal. Looking at the data of the last three years, the area of onion production also seems to be decreasing.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the data provided by the center, onion cultivation was done on 20,900 hectares of land in the year 2075/76. In the years since then, the area of onion cultivation seems to be gradually decreasing. In FY 2076/77 and FY 2077/78, onion cultivation was done on only 20,400 hectares of land, according to government data.</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"">Director General of the Department of Agriculture, Dr Hari Bahadur KC, said that the government has not given much attention to onion production, which has great potential in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18593', 'image' => '20230829032102_1692625925.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 15:20:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18863', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘No Budget for MICE Tourism’ ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: The Government of Nepal announced a programme to encourage MICE tourism in the year 2011. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">August 29: The Government of Nepal announced a programme to encourage MICE tourism in the year 2011. At that time, the government had announced a concession of up to Rs 500,000 for the tours and travel companies that bring 100 tourists at a time.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Under the concept of MICE tourism, tourists have to come from a destination country to hold meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE). For example, on August 19, a total of 700 employees of a Bangladeshi company visited Nepal on a sponsored trip.</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 company sent them to visit Nepal as an incentive. This is an example of MICE tourism. The government had given concessions in the year 2011 to bring in similar tourists. Earlier, similar tourists also came from China.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Tek Narayan Paudel, joint spokesperson of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, said that there is no new program targeting MICE tourism. However, he said that the ministry is working to promote tourism.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Even the Nepal Tourism Board, an organization that works for tourism promotion and publicity, has not done much work in this regard. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Mani Raj Lamichhane, director of the board, said that no program and budget has been allocated for MICE tourism.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"Currently, if tourists come from any country in this way, the authorities welcome them at the Tribhuvan International Airport with gifts, and organise dinner for them. That’s all," said Lamichhane.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He added that 5 to 7 companies got concession given by the government in 2011.</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 him, apart from Bangladesh, Indian tourists also come in this way.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Deepakraj Joshi, the former Chief Executive Officer of the board, said that there is a lot of potential for MICE tourism in Nepal and emphasized that work should be done on infrastructure development. He said that MICE tourism has increased in 2023 after COVID-19.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">President of the Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) Binayak Shah said that businessmen will be excited when the government brings incentive programs. Shah informed that they are going to organize a program targeting MICE tourism before Dashain. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CN Pandey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Samrat Tours and Travels Pvt Ltd, which brought 700 tourists from Bangladesh in collaboration with Dhaka's Mountain Club Tour, said that the company plans to bring all its Bangladeshi employees to Nepal within the next five years. The company has 20000 employees. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pradeep Pariyar, joint secretary and spokesperson of the Ministry of Urban Development said that they are going to make a commercial plan for proper utilization of large conference centres that are currently in operation. He informed me that they are preparing to make guidelines and procedures to regulate and operate such centres in the country.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18592', 'image' => '20230829014026_1693278253.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 13:39:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18862', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Boon or Blight? E-Scooters Around the World ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: The for-hire electric scooters that have become ubiquitous in Paris and other cities worldwide will be banned in the French capital on September 1. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 29: The for-hire electric scooters that have become ubiquitous in Paris and other cities worldwide will be banned in the French capital on September 1. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It is the biggest metropolis to remove the app-based devices that first zoomed onto streets in 2018, but many other cities have taken action on the vehicles that can inspire love or loathing. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">While users hail them as eco-friendly ways to avoid gridlock, detractors consider them as an unsightly menace with the power to maim and kill. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Here is a look at the state of play in other cities worldwide: </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Paris: the pioneer</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The French capital was an early adopter of e-scooters in 2018, when the pavements were soon strewn with discarded rental devices from the first operator, Lime. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">After an uproar over the anarchy and a number of fatal accidents, the city clamped down, reducing the number of operators to three (Dott, Lime and Tier) and the number of scooters to 15,000. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">For privately owned scooters, the minimum age for riders is 12 (the government wants to raise that to 14), but the Paris rental operators said last November they would step up enforcement of a minimum age of 18 -- after city officials warned their licenses were in jeopardy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They also must be parked in designated spots and riders are not allowed to go over 10 kilometres per hour in most parts of Paris -- but many do anyway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In April, residents voted in a referendum to ban rental scooters, a move that will not impact privately owned devices. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Barcelona and Montreal: outright bans</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A few cities before Paris have taken the same drastic measures with an outright ban. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Barcelona outlawed rental scooters on public roads in 2018. When the German firm Wind launched an electric scooter sharing programme in the city that year, within hours police removed the vehicles from the streets. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Two years later Montreal outlawed all electric scooters, rental and private, from circulating on any public roads and cycle paths, complaining that four times out of five they were discarded on the street instead of being parked in designated spots. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">But recently the city has allowed Bird Canada to deploy 200 of the vehicles in a park, as part of a new experiment with strict rules of use. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Copenhagen: banned then unbanned</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Copenhagen also banned rental e-scooters in 2020 but brought them back a year later, albeit under strict conditions including an outright ban on parking in the city centre and the requirement for users to wear helmets. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">London: treading carefully</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Across the Channel, London has shown greater caution with regard to devices the city's police chief called "death traps". </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Only rental e-scooters with specific safety features are allowed in the capital. Privately owned devices are illegal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Riders must be 18 or over and have a full or provisional driving licence. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The scooters have a speed limit of 12.5 miles per hour (20 kph) and their lights remain on while in use. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rome: clamping down</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">After a number of crashes and near-misses involving the two-wheelers, including one notorious attempt by two US tourists to ride down the famed Spanish Steps, Rome vowed to impose order on its booming e-scooter rental market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On September 1 the city will introduce new rules to curb usage, notably in the historic centre where speed will be limited to 6 kph in pedestrian areas and no parking on pavements. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Singapore: stiff penalties </span></strong><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Singapore has some of the toughest penalties for reckless scooter riders, with those caught careening along sidewalks facing up to three months in jail and a fine of 2,000 Singapore dollars ($1,500). – AFP/RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18591', 'image' => '20230829124719_MR_Paris_scooter_Jan23.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 12:46:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18861', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA adds 3100 Kilometers of Transmission Lines in 9 Years', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: The government has given top priority to the construction of transmission lines for better transmission and distribution of electricity.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">August 29: The government has given top priority to the construction of transmission lines for better transmission and distribution of electricity. The return on the investment made by the government in the construction of the transmission network has gradually started to be seen.</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 Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has said that the construction of the transmission line has been expedited with high priority. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), which is the implementing agency, has also given priority to the construction of transmission lines.</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 authority, 3,118 kilometres of circuit transmission lines have been added to the electricity transmission system of Nepal in the last nine 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"">Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet has directed the authorities and concerned agencies to proceed with the construction of the transmission lines at a fast pace and to be effective in solving the problems encountered in it.</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 NEA is working with high priority of electrification and reliable supply of electricity to the consumers. It has widely advanced the expansion and improvement of infrastructure for transmission and distribution system.</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 authority is constructing transmission lines and substation projects through the Directorate of Transmission and Project Management. Transmission and distribution lines and substations are required to deliver the electricity produced from the power plant to the customer's home.</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 last nine years, the capacity of the grid substation has reached 8,867 MVA. Nine years ago, i.e. in the fiscal year 2071/72, the capacity of the substation was only 2,132 MVA, but in the year 2079/80, the capacity of the substation increased by 6,735 MVA.</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 year 2071/72, electricity was transmitted only from 66 and 132 kV, but now 66, 132, 220 and 400 kV lines are operating. In the year 2071/72, there were 2,624 circuit kilometres of transmission line, and now 3,118 circuit kilometres have been added to make it 5,742 circuit kilometres in the year 2079/80.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Kulman Ghising, Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority, said that the improvement and strengthening of the system's infrastructure has been carried out in a planned manner since last year to address the consumer's complaints regarding abrupt power outage from time to time.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ghising said that the NEA is facing problems in the construction of the transmission lines mainly due to the obstruction created by the locals. In addition, land acquisition and use of forest area land and tree cutting are also some other significant problems.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"On the one hand, it takes a long time for approval of land use and tree felling in the forest area, and on the other hand, a large amount of money has to be paid as compensation to another agency of the government. Due to this, the duration of the project is not only getting longer, but the price of our produced electricity is becoming more expensive," said Ghising.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"There is an urgent need to declare the next ten years as the country's development decade and to comprehensively amend or replace the current laws and regulations, to facilitate land use in the forest area. The programs announced through the current year's budget should be implemented quickly," he said further.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Mentioning that the master plan of transmission and substation structure has been prepared by dividing the major cities of the country including Kathmandu into 11 'clusters' to meet the electricity demand until 2050 AD, Ghising said that the construction will be gradually carried forward by ensuring resources for these projects.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18590', 'image' => '20230829115740_Transmission.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 11:56:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18860', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'South Korean Industrialists Seek Proposal for Investment in Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: A visiting delegation of industrialists from South Korea including ambassador to Nepal, Park Taeyoung, called on Minister for Physical Infrastructures and Transport, Prakash Jwala, and sought a proposal for the investment in infrastructures sector in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 29: A visiting delegation of industrialists from South Korea including ambassador to Nepal, Park Taeyoung, called on Minister for Physical Infrastructures and Transport, Prakash Jwala, and sought a proposal for the investment in infrastructures sector in Nepal. During the meeting held at Minister Saud's office in Singh Durbar on Monday, the delegation reminded that they have invested in Nepal's hydropower, and are now ready for investing in the infrastructures sector as well. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Ambassador Park said South Korea was ready to invest in roadway and railway in Nepal. He made it clear that they want to hold discussion on any concrete project in this regard. He also recalled that although Nepal and South Korea were ready for Korean investment in infrastructure sector in 2018, the two countries could not sign an agreement due to the change in government. </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"">The establishment of diplomatic ties between Nepal and South Korea will reach 50 years very soon. South Korea is interested to utilize the occasion for investment in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In response, Minister Jwala said he would make utmost initiative to prepare a proposal for the investment. He thanked Korean government for providing training to Nepali engineers at different time. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18589', 'image' => '20230829111127_Flag-Pins-Nepal-South-Korea_600x600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 11:10:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18859', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '15th Edition of NADA Auto Show 2023 to Be Held from September 12-17', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The NADA Automobiles Association of Nepalis organizing the 15th edition of the 'NADA Auto Show 2023'. The event will be held in Kathmandu from Bhadra 26 to Bhadra 31.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">August 29: The NADA Automobiles Association of Nepal</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">is organizing the 15th edition of the 'NADA Auto Show 2023'. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The event will be held in Kathmandu from Bhadra 26 to Bhadra 31. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The exhibition will showcase a grand display of vehicles, spare parts, financial services, and other related products and services from various automotive-related organizations and companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Despite economic slowdown, the auto show is expected to contribute significantly to the economic activities in the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> Anup Kumar Baral, the Chairman of the NADA Auto Show 2023 Committee, highlighted, "The economic slowdown has had a negative impact on the automobile business, affecting both vehicle buyers and their financial plans. The auto show 2023 will be instrumental to increase economic activities”. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Every year, the NADA Auto Show witnesses increased participation from organizations and observers, reflecting their belief in the exhibition's role in not only portraying vehicles as luxuries but also as essential means of livelihood for the general public.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">According to the organizers, the exhibition will have around 120 stalls and blocks of varying sizes. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The event will include participation from internationally renowned vehicle brands, lubricant and tire manufacturers, parts suppliers, and service providers, along with national auto material producers and suppliers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The exhibition will feature 16 four-wheeler brands, 22 two-wheeler brands, 7 light commercial vehicle brands, 9 financial institutions, and 30 lubricant, tire, battery, parts, and garage equipment companies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The show will also host stalls and information desks focusing on informative, service-oriented, and customer-centric aspects, including traffic rules and road safety information.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">To facilitate easy access to the exhibition venue, shuttle bus services will be operated from public parking areas like Kathmandu Mall, Army Welfare Building, Bus Park View Tower, etc., in support of urban transportation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Tickets for the exhibition can be purchased through the Khalti app. An estimated 75,000 attendees are expected to visit the NADA Auto Show 2023 over the course of around 6 days. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The 'NADA Auto Show 2023' is sponsored by Tata Motors Genuine Oil. The show's co-sponsor is Shikhar Insurance Company Limited. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Global Exposition and Management Services is managing the auto exhibition. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18588', 'image' => '20230829061234_collage (2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 06:10:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18858', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Specialist Doctors' Team Reaches Gosainkunda to Provide Healthcare to Pilgrims ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: A team of specialist doctors has reached Gosainkunda for providing emergency medical treatment to the pilgrims visiting Gosainkunda during the Janai Purnima festival. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 28: A team of specialist doctors has reached Gosainkunda for providing emergency medical treatment to the pilgrims visiting Gosainkunda during the Janai Purnima festival. A big religious fair takes place at Gosainkunda, a pilgrimage site located in the northern region of Rasuwa district, on the occasion of the Janai Purnima festival every year. The festival falls on August 31 this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The team comprising seven doctors has reached Gosainkunda under the aegis of the Bagmati Province Ministry of Tourism and Cooperatives, and the Himalayan Rescue Association, Kathmandu. The team will treat the pilgrims for high-altitude sickness and other health issues in case of need. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The association's chief executive officer Govinda Basyal informed that seven physicians of the Mountain Medicine Society have reached Gosainkunda. The team is coordinated by Dr Nishanta Joshi who has the experience of working at the Pheriche Health Post in Solukhumbu run by the association. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The medical team will provide health services for 10 days at Gosainkunda. "The team will also provide medical care to the pilgrims on the way to Gosainkunda as well. It will carry out health examination of pilgrims from Monday to Thursday at Gosainkunda," CEO Basyal said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The association has been providing health services to the pilgrims by sending doctors' group to the holy place since 1997, said the association’s president Dambar Parajuli. He said the association will provide health treatment and medicine to the pilgrims free of cost. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A mobile phone tower has also been recently installed at Gosainkunda which is at an altitude of 4,380 metres from the sea level. The mobile tower is set up at the initiation of Mohan Acharya, an elected member of the House of Representatives from Rasuwa district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Before this, it was difficult for the pilgrims to call home from Gosainkunda. Hundreds of pilgrims from within the country and abroad converge at this pilgrimage site to offer homage and perform religious rituals on the full moon day in the Nepali month of Shrawn. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18587', 'image' => '20230828055850_20220726031810_image_processing20220416-4-1helmts.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 17:58:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18857', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Imposes Export Tax on Parboiled Rice', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: India, which has been imposing taxes on the export of food items one after the other, has imposed a 20 percent export tax even on parboiled rice as the festival of Dashain approaches. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">August 28: India, which has been imposing taxes on the export of food items one after the other, has imposed a 20 percent export tax even on parboiled rice as the festival of Dashain approaches. It is doing so to discourage exports due to the increase in the price of rice in the country’s domestic market.</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 Ministry of Finance of India issued a notice saying that the government decided to impose export tax on all types of parboiled rice till October 16. India has already banned exports of all types of non-Basmati rice, fearing that the production may decrease due to low rainfall in the country's major rice producing areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Just a few days ago, India increased the duty on onion export to 40 percent, saying that the price may increase in the domestic market. Due to this, the price of onion in the Nepalese market has skyrocketed. After India tightened rice export, the food supply chain deteriorated worldwide and it is estimated that it can affect the countries that import rice from India including Nepal as India is one of the major exporters of rice in the world.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Kumud Kumar Dugad, president of Association of Nepalese Rice, Oil, Pulses Industry (ANROPI), said that there are signs that India's decision will not affect Nepalese market immediately, but there are signs that it may affect it in the long run. According to him, there is a possibility of resuming the supply of paddy and non-basmati rice through diplomatic initiative to open the export.</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 India opens up exports, there will be no impact, if it does not, there will be a big impact on the Nepali market. If Indian rice does not come, the market will have to bear the impact by Dashain,” he told New Business Age. He said that the demand for rice in the market at present is also low, due to which the price of a sack of rice has decreased by Rs 50.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Just a few weeks ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) asked India to remove the ban, stating that it would increase global inflation and increase the fluctuation of food prices in the rest of the world. However, India does not seem to pay much attention to such things.</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 official of the government-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited, there is only 9084 metric tons of rice in stock at the moment. Besides, 595 metric tons of paddy is being processed by the company.</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 government has written to India through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to export more than 1.5 million tons of food items, assessing that the supply of food items such as paddy, rice and sugar in the market may be affected due to India's export ban. The letter has requested India to supply 100,000 tons of rice, 50,000 tons of sugar and 5,000 tons of paddy to Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Domestically produced rice is not enough to meet the demand in Nepal. About 5.5 million metric tons of paddy is produced in Nepal annually, yielding about 3.5 million metric tons of rice. Officials say that Nepal need about 4 million metric tons of rice throughout the year. According to this calculation, about 500,000 tons of rice should be imported to meet Nepal's rice demand. Even though paddy and rice are imported from more than a dozen countries in Nepal, government data shows that 99 percent is imported from India.</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 Department of Customs, Nepal imported 22,546 tons of rice and 555,869 tons of paddy in the last fiscal year 2079/80. Other countries that Nepal imports paddy and rice from include China, Bhutan, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Canada, America, Oman, and Thailand.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18586', 'image' => '20230828043758_41RLYdZ6L4L.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 16:37:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18856', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Rastra Bank Revises Working Capital Loan Guidelines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has increased the working capital loan limit for the productive sector.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">August 28: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has increased the working capital loan limit for the productive sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The central bank has amended the Working Capital Loan Guidelines, 2079, allowing banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to extend loans up to Rs 30 million for the manufacturing industries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a notice on Monday, the NRB confirmed that it amended the guidelines and instructed all stakeholders to comply with the new provisions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Earlier, the central bank had fixed a ceiling of Rs 10 million as working capital. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The central bank had capped the limit on working capital loan to 20 percent in case of a company whose annual transaction was less than Rs 20 million. However, they could avail up to 40 percent loan under special circumstances. In case of a company whose annual transaction was over Rs 20 million, they could avail 25 percent loan. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank had introduced the guidelines on October 18, 2022 to prevent the misuse of loans taken by businessmen under the heading of current capital. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari had defended the central bank’s move to amend the Working Capital Loan Guidelines arguing that the new guidelines were introduced to control “over financing.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After the industrialists protested against it, the guidelines were revised in January.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Working capital loan is provided to the firms, organizations and companies to cover their short-term operational needs.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18585', 'image' => '20230828025805_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 14:57:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18855', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Fails to Meet Foreign Debt Collection Target', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: At a time when the budget and programmes brought by the government are being criticized for being more ambitious than implementation oriented, it has been found that the government has always set ambitious targets for foreign loans as well.', '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"">August 28: At a time when the budget and programmes brought by the government are being criticized for being more ambitious than implementation oriented, it has been found that the government has always set ambitious targets for foreign loans as well.</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"">Looking at the goals set by the government and the status of achievement in recent years, the goals have been proven to be ambitious. When comparing the foreign loan target taken in the budget of the last five years with the actual realization, it seems that the government has not been able to meet the target even in a single fiscal 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"">Compared to the target set by the budget in the last five fiscal years, only </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">51.63</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of foreign loans have been received on an average. In the last fiscal year (FY) </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2079/80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, the government had set a target of taking foreign loans of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">242</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.26 billion. However, the government only received foreign loans of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">0</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.12 billion last year. This is just </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">42.15</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the target.</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 Public Debt Management Office, looking at the situation from FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2071/72</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> to FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2079/80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, Nepal’s foreign loan target was the lowest in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2073/74</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">. It seems that only </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">29.64</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the target met in the review 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"">Similarly, in the fiscal year </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2072/73</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, the country received the maximum loan in proportion to the target. In that particular year, Nepal received foreign loans equivalent to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">74.68</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the target. The foreign loan target realization was the lowest in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2079/80</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">after FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2075/76.</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"">It seems that the government is more reliant on bilateral relations while seeking grants while it relies more on multilateral donors (international banks and organizations) for loans.</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 did not receive loans as per the target even in the last fiscal 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"">Meanwhile, the government has set a target of raising foreign aid equal to Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">262</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> billion in the current fiscal year </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2080/81. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government intends to acquire Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">49.94</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> billion grants and Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">212</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">billion loans from more than two dozen donors. Since such a target was not achieved in the previous years, it is clear that the government will not be able to collect the debt as stated this year too.</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 latest report of the Public Debt Management Office has mentioned the underutilization of foreign loans and the inability to objectively determine the targets as the prime reasons for the government’s failure to acquire loans and grants as per the target.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18584', 'image' => '20230828120821_20230806125143_2308 - editorial_11zon.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 12:07:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18854', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CNI Urges Government to Prioritize Economic Diplomacy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the government to prioritize export of Nepali products via Nepali embassies abroad. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 27: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the government to prioritize export of Nepali products via Nepali embassies abroad. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During a discussion held with Foreign Minister NP Saud on Sunday, the CNI team led by Rajesh Kumar Agrawal requested the minister to prioritize economic diplomacy to promote tourism, export of Nepali products and bring in foreign investment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">CNI President Agrawal stressed that government needs to create investment friendly atmosphere for attracting foreign direct investment. Policy stability is equally important for it, he underlined. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to him, expansion of business relations with foreign investors is imperative for drawing foreign direct investment. The CNI also suggested the government that Nepali embassies abroad should facilitate regular visits and interactions with foreign business representatives. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The delegation also demanded the government to give continuity to the cargo railway service presently operative from India to Biratnagar. The CNI also reminded the government to sign a 'motor vehicle agreement' with India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Foreign Minister Saud assured that the government would prioritize the issues raised by CNI. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18583', 'image' => '20230828114446_CNIIII.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 11:43:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum 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style="font-size:14.0pt">August 30: Projects under the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will be fully implemented from today (August 30).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Millennium Challenge Account-Nepal (MCA Nepal), which has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the US grant projects worth $500 million, is all set to announce the official commencement of the MCC today with the Entry into Force (EIF) coming into effect from August 30.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As per the agreement with the US government, the MCC projects need to be completed within five years after the commencement of the EIF.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The initial agreement for the project was signed between the Finance Ministry and the US government representatives on September 14, 2017.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">However, the MCC was delayed due to widespread protest by a section of the society on the pretext that the grant agreement was allegedly a part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the US government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After much debate and deliberations, the House of Representatives finally ratified the MCC grant agreement on February 27, 2022 with a 12-point explanatory note clarifying that the project should not be associated with any military alliance and that the grant agreement must abide by the Constitution of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Noting that the MCC had received explanatory declaration last year, the US embassy said they have accepted the explanatory note as part of the compact. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Kathmandu-based US Embassy has expressed its commitment to collaborate with MCA-Nepal to ensure successful implementation of the compact.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“All concerned parties are working to attain the goals of the MCC compact on time," the state-owned RSS quoted the embassy officials as saying. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Cameron Alford, vice president of the US Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact Operations Department, arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday for the implementation of the MCC. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal has met five out of six pre-conditions to implement the MCC.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Of the six prerequisites, land acquisition for the implementation of the pact has been awaited. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the initial agreement, the United States was supposed to provide US$ 500 million to Nepal for construction of cross-border transmission line and upgrading of roads while Nepal would have to contribute US$ 130 million for the project, expecting the total cost of the MCC project to remain at US$ 630 million. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">But the 'supplemental agreement' over the MCC that was signed last year, demands the government to bear additional cost of US$ 67 million, seeking its total contribution of US$ 197 million for the enforcement of the agreement. In the beginning, Nepal was supposed to take up 20.63 per cent financial responsibility for the MCC project and now it has increased to 28.26 percent. The increased responsibility amount is equivalent to Rs 900 million. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-30', 'modified' => '2023-08-30', 'keywords' => 'MCC, USA, Nepal, grant, assistance, implementation, cross, border, transmission, phase, protest, ratify', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18597', 'image' => '20230830105937_1693279080.1692757131.1691983136.1690248678.1681795913[1].jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-30 10:58:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18867', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'HIDCL Must Be Revitalized for Energy Sector’s Development: Minister Basnet', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, pledged to revitalize the Hydroelectricity Investment and Development Company Limited (HIDCL) to enhance its role in the energy sector's growth.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">August 29: Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, pledged to revitalize the Hydroelectricity Investment and Development Company Limited (HIDCL) to enhance its role in the energy sector's growth.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Established as a public investment firm, HIDCL focuses on raising funds for hydroelectric projects in the country. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">During a discussion held at his office on Tuesday, Minister Basnet emphasized the need to transform it into a robust financial institution that encourages increased investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Minister Basnet emphasized HIDCL's potential collaboration with bilateral and multilateral donor agencies to attract additional investments into the country's energy sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The company has already invested more than Rs 27 billion, deploying over Rs 6 billion in capital across 12 projects with a cumulative capacity of 902 megawatts. Furthermore, it has invested Rs 21 billion in 19 projects with a combined power capacity of 1,467 megawatts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Dinesh Kumar Ghimire, Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, as well as the Chairperson of HIDCL, echoed the importance of revitalizing the company with fresh plans and vision.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The company recently signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with four different projects, securing a loan investment of Rs 13 billion. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, the company has been entrusted with arranging funds for the 1,063-megawatt Upper Arun project through domestic resources.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Nepal Rastra Bank recently urged HIDCL to undergo structural reforms to align with the Banking and Financial Institutions Act. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While HIDCL had the provision for loan investments in projects, it faced challenges due to the absence of legal provisions for raising loans.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Arjun Kumar Gautam, Chairperson of HIDCL, acknowledged the company's urgent need for diversification and expansion for investment resources. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-30', 'modified' => '2023-08-30', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18596', 'image' => '20230830060517_collage (3).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-30 06:02:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18866', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Air Pollution is Greatest Global Threat to Human Health: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: Air pollution is more dangerous to the health of the average person on Earth than smoking or alcohol, a study has revealed.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">August 29: Air pollution is more dangerous to the health of the average person on Earth than smoking or alcohol, a study has revealed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the AFP, the threat is worsening in its global epicenter South Asia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Yet the level of funding set aside to confront the challenge is a fraction of the amount earmarked for fighting infectious diseases, the news report says citing the research from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Its annual Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report showed that fine particulate air pollution -- which comes from vehicle and industrial emissions, wildfires and more -- remains the "greatest external threat to public health."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">If the world were to permanently reduce these pollutants to meet the World Health Organization's (WHO) guideline limit, the average person would add 2.3 years onto his or her life expectancy, according to the data, which has a 2021 cutoff, added AFP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Fine particulate matter is linked to lung disease, heart disease, strokes and cancer.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Tobacco use, by comparison, reduces global life expectancy by 2.2 years while child and maternal malnutrition is responsible for a reduction of 1.6 years.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Asia and Africa bear the greatest brunt yet have some of the weakest infrastructure to deliver citizens timely, accurate data. They also receive tiny slices of an already small global philanthropic pie, says the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">For example, the entire continent of Africa receives less than $300,000 to tackle air pollution.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">While there is an international financing partnership called the Global Fund that disburses $4 billion annually on HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, there is no equivalent for air pollution.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Yet, air pollution shaves off more years from the average person's life in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Cameroon than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other health threats," the report said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Globally, South Asia is the worst impacted region. Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan are in order the top four most polluted countries in terms of annualized, population-weighted averages of fine particulate matter, which are detected by satellites and defined as particles with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5). Air pollution concentrations are then fed into the AQLI metric which calculates their impact on life expectancy, based on peer-reviewed methods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to AFP, residents of Bangladesh, where average PM2.5 levels were 74 micrograms per cubic meter, would gain 6.8 years of life if this were brought to WHO guidelines of 5 micrograms per cubic meter.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">India's capital Delhi meanwhile is the "most polluted megacity in the world" with annual average particulate pollution of 126.5 micrograms per cubic meter.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">China, on the other hand, "has had remarkable progress in terms of its war on air pollution" which began in 2014, said Hasenkopf. Its air pollution dropped 42.3 percent between 2013 and 2021. If the improvements are sustained, the average Chinese citizen will be able to live 2.2 years longer. -- AFP/RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => 'air, pollution, health, human, threat, HIV, malaria, Nepal, world, earth, global, concern, Asia, Bangladesh, India ', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18595', 'image' => '20230829085714_20230512023718_Clipboard09(31).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 20:56:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18865', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC starts Flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa-based GBIA ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has started operating flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa starting from today (August 29). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 29: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has started operating flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa starting from today (August 29). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Both flights, Bhairahawa-New Delhi and Bhairahawa-Hong Kong, remained without passengers. The NAC had recently announced to operate flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa via Kathmandu transit once a week. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">General Manager of Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport, Hansa Raj Pandey, said confirmed that NAC operated flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa via Kathmandu transit after the respective aircraft arrived from Malaysia.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, he mentioned that no passengers boarded the plane from Gautam Buddha International Airport during today's flights. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Passengers heading towards Hong Kong are sent to the destination via Kathmandu while passengers heading towards Delhi are sent to the destination from connecting flights at Tribhuvan International Airport. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NAC had opened ticket bookings for both the routes from August 27. The NAC had started Malaysia-Bhairahawa flights from June 13 and has made 12 flights so far. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18594', 'image' => '20230829040800_naccccc.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 16:07:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18864', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Failure of Mission Onion leads to Nepal’s Dependence on Import', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: India has imposed a 40 percent tariff on onion exports from August 19 to curb possible price hike in its domestic market which is reeling under shortage of onions.', '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"">August 29: India has imposed a 40 percent tariff on onion exports from August 19 to curb possible price hike in its domestic market which is reeling under shortage of onions.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">India’s decision to protect its consumers has caused a ripple effect in Nepal, sending the price of onion skyrocketing.</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"">Nepal largely depends on India for onion as the domestic production is not sufficient to meet the market demand. The main reason for this short supply is the failure of the ‘Mission Onion’ programme launched by the government about 16 years ago.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">With the aim of making the country self-sufficient in onions, the government had launched the Mission Onion programme in Jhapa, Siraha, Saptari, Dhanusha, Bara, Parsa, Rupandehi and other districts with an investment of Rs 500 million in fiscal year 2064/65. </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"">However, the program was not successful due to irregularities in the purchase and distribution of production materials. Despite the failure, the government decided to give continuity to the plan to run potato and onion missions for the next four years (until FY 2076/77). But the plan was limited to paper works. Stakeholders say that Nepal had to suffer after the plan has failed many times.</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"">Dr Govinda Prasad Sharma, secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, admitted that big programmes announced by the government for the production and promotion of onions were not implemented and therefore the country have had to suffer the consequences. According to him, despite the high potential of onion cultivation in Nepal, the Mission Onion failed due to some technical complications.</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 first thing is that we could not produce the seeds we needed. Secondly, we did not have cold storage for storing the onions produced by the farmers," he said told New Business Age, adding, "Onion storage technology is different compared to other vegetables and fruits. Therefore, due to the lack of technology, even a storage house could not be built. Due to this, our mission could not be implemented.”</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"">When India increased the customs duty on onion export, not only did onions become more expensive in Nepal, traders also started black-marketing to take undue advantage. </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 Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee removed onion from its daily price list after traders did not sell onions in the Kalimati market for two days saying that they were out of stock and did not import from India due to high tax. At present, the price of onion in the retail market is up to Rs 130 per kg.</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"">Sandeep Subedi, an official of the National Potato, Vegetable and Spice Crop Development Center, said that the consumers had to suffer because the government could not implement big programmes related to onion production and promotion. According to him, one of the reasons why Nepali consumers have to depend on India for onions is the government's inability to implement big programmes, and another reason is the inability of farmers to produce quality seeds.</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"">Onion is a crop that can be produced in abundance in Nepal. Looking at the data of the last three years, the area of onion production also seems to be decreasing.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the data provided by the center, onion cultivation was done on 20,900 hectares of land in the year 2075/76. In the years since then, the area of onion cultivation seems to be gradually decreasing. In FY 2076/77 and FY 2077/78, onion cultivation was done on only 20,400 hectares of land, according to government data.</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"">Director General of the Department of Agriculture, Dr Hari Bahadur KC, said that the government has not given much attention to onion production, which has great potential in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18593', 'image' => '20230829032102_1692625925.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 15:20:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18863', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘No Budget for MICE Tourism’ ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: The Government of Nepal announced a programme to encourage MICE tourism in the year 2011. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">August 29: The Government of Nepal announced a programme to encourage MICE tourism in the year 2011. At that time, the government had announced a concession of up to Rs 500,000 for the tours and travel companies that bring 100 tourists at a time.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Under the concept of MICE tourism, tourists have to come from a destination country to hold meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE). For example, on August 19, a total of 700 employees of a Bangladeshi company visited Nepal on a sponsored trip.</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 company sent them to visit Nepal as an incentive. This is an example of MICE tourism. The government had given concessions in the year 2011 to bring in similar tourists. Earlier, similar tourists also came from China.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Tek Narayan Paudel, joint spokesperson of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, said that there is no new program targeting MICE tourism. However, he said that the ministry is working to promote tourism.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Even the Nepal Tourism Board, an organization that works for tourism promotion and publicity, has not done much work in this regard. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Mani Raj Lamichhane, director of the board, said that no program and budget has been allocated for MICE tourism.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"Currently, if tourists come from any country in this way, the authorities welcome them at the Tribhuvan International Airport with gifts, and organise dinner for them. That’s all," said Lamichhane.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He added that 5 to 7 companies got concession given by the government in 2011.</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 him, apart from Bangladesh, Indian tourists also come in this way.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Deepakraj Joshi, the former Chief Executive Officer of the board, said that there is a lot of potential for MICE tourism in Nepal and emphasized that work should be done on infrastructure development. He said that MICE tourism has increased in 2023 after COVID-19.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">President of the Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) Binayak Shah said that businessmen will be excited when the government brings incentive programs. Shah informed that they are going to organize a program targeting MICE tourism before Dashain. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CN Pandey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Samrat Tours and Travels Pvt Ltd, which brought 700 tourists from Bangladesh in collaboration with Dhaka's Mountain Club Tour, said that the company plans to bring all its Bangladeshi employees to Nepal within the next five years. The company has 20000 employees. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pradeep Pariyar, joint secretary and spokesperson of the Ministry of Urban Development said that they are going to make a commercial plan for proper utilization of large conference centres that are currently in operation. He informed me that they are preparing to make guidelines and procedures to regulate and operate such centres in the country.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18592', 'image' => '20230829014026_1693278253.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 13:39:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18862', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Boon or Blight? E-Scooters Around the World ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: The for-hire electric scooters that have become ubiquitous in Paris and other cities worldwide will be banned in the French capital on September 1. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 29: The for-hire electric scooters that have become ubiquitous in Paris and other cities worldwide will be banned in the French capital on September 1. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It is the biggest metropolis to remove the app-based devices that first zoomed onto streets in 2018, but many other cities have taken action on the vehicles that can inspire love or loathing. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">While users hail them as eco-friendly ways to avoid gridlock, detractors consider them as an unsightly menace with the power to maim and kill. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Here is a look at the state of play in other cities worldwide: </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Paris: the pioneer</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The French capital was an early adopter of e-scooters in 2018, when the pavements were soon strewn with discarded rental devices from the first operator, Lime. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">After an uproar over the anarchy and a number of fatal accidents, the city clamped down, reducing the number of operators to three (Dott, Lime and Tier) and the number of scooters to 15,000. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">For privately owned scooters, the minimum age for riders is 12 (the government wants to raise that to 14), but the Paris rental operators said last November they would step up enforcement of a minimum age of 18 -- after city officials warned their licenses were in jeopardy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They also must be parked in designated spots and riders are not allowed to go over 10 kilometres per hour in most parts of Paris -- but many do anyway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In April, residents voted in a referendum to ban rental scooters, a move that will not impact privately owned devices. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Barcelona and Montreal: outright bans</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A few cities before Paris have taken the same drastic measures with an outright ban. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Barcelona outlawed rental scooters on public roads in 2018. When the German firm Wind launched an electric scooter sharing programme in the city that year, within hours police removed the vehicles from the streets. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Two years later Montreal outlawed all electric scooters, rental and private, from circulating on any public roads and cycle paths, complaining that four times out of five they were discarded on the street instead of being parked in designated spots. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">But recently the city has allowed Bird Canada to deploy 200 of the vehicles in a park, as part of a new experiment with strict rules of use. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Copenhagen: banned then unbanned</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Copenhagen also banned rental e-scooters in 2020 but brought them back a year later, albeit under strict conditions including an outright ban on parking in the city centre and the requirement for users to wear helmets. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">London: treading carefully</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Across the Channel, London has shown greater caution with regard to devices the city's police chief called "death traps". </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Only rental e-scooters with specific safety features are allowed in the capital. Privately owned devices are illegal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Riders must be 18 or over and have a full or provisional driving licence. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The scooters have a speed limit of 12.5 miles per hour (20 kph) and their lights remain on while in use. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rome: clamping down</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">After a number of crashes and near-misses involving the two-wheelers, including one notorious attempt by two US tourists to ride down the famed Spanish Steps, Rome vowed to impose order on its booming e-scooter rental market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On September 1 the city will introduce new rules to curb usage, notably in the historic centre where speed will be limited to 6 kph in pedestrian areas and no parking on pavements. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Singapore: stiff penalties </span></strong><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Singapore has some of the toughest penalties for reckless scooter riders, with those caught careening along sidewalks facing up to three months in jail and a fine of 2,000 Singapore dollars ($1,500). – AFP/RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18591', 'image' => '20230829124719_MR_Paris_scooter_Jan23.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 12:46:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18861', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA adds 3100 Kilometers of Transmission Lines in 9 Years', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: The government has given top priority to the construction of transmission lines for better transmission and distribution of electricity.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">August 29: The government has given top priority to the construction of transmission lines for better transmission and distribution of electricity. The return on the investment made by the government in the construction of the transmission network has gradually started to be seen.</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 Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has said that the construction of the transmission line has been expedited with high priority. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), which is the implementing agency, has also given priority to the construction of transmission lines.</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 authority, 3,118 kilometres of circuit transmission lines have been added to the electricity transmission system of Nepal in the last nine 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"">Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet has directed the authorities and concerned agencies to proceed with the construction of the transmission lines at a fast pace and to be effective in solving the problems encountered in it.</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 NEA is working with high priority of electrification and reliable supply of electricity to the consumers. It has widely advanced the expansion and improvement of infrastructure for transmission and distribution system.</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 authority is constructing transmission lines and substation projects through the Directorate of Transmission and Project Management. Transmission and distribution lines and substations are required to deliver the electricity produced from the power plant to the customer's home.</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 last nine years, the capacity of the grid substation has reached 8,867 MVA. Nine years ago, i.e. in the fiscal year 2071/72, the capacity of the substation was only 2,132 MVA, but in the year 2079/80, the capacity of the substation increased by 6,735 MVA.</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 year 2071/72, electricity was transmitted only from 66 and 132 kV, but now 66, 132, 220 and 400 kV lines are operating. In the year 2071/72, there were 2,624 circuit kilometres of transmission line, and now 3,118 circuit kilometres have been added to make it 5,742 circuit kilometres in the year 2079/80.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Kulman Ghising, Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority, said that the improvement and strengthening of the system's infrastructure has been carried out in a planned manner since last year to address the consumer's complaints regarding abrupt power outage from time to time.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ghising said that the NEA is facing problems in the construction of the transmission lines mainly due to the obstruction created by the locals. In addition, land acquisition and use of forest area land and tree cutting are also some other significant problems.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"On the one hand, it takes a long time for approval of land use and tree felling in the forest area, and on the other hand, a large amount of money has to be paid as compensation to another agency of the government. Due to this, the duration of the project is not only getting longer, but the price of our produced electricity is becoming more expensive," said Ghising.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"There is an urgent need to declare the next ten years as the country's development decade and to comprehensively amend or replace the current laws and regulations, to facilitate land use in the forest area. The programs announced through the current year's budget should be implemented quickly," he said further.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Mentioning that the master plan of transmission and substation structure has been prepared by dividing the major cities of the country including Kathmandu into 11 'clusters' to meet the electricity demand until 2050 AD, Ghising said that the construction will be gradually carried forward by ensuring resources for these projects.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18590', 'image' => '20230829115740_Transmission.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 11:56:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18860', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'South Korean Industrialists Seek Proposal for Investment in Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: A visiting delegation of industrialists from South Korea including ambassador to Nepal, Park Taeyoung, called on Minister for Physical Infrastructures and Transport, Prakash Jwala, and sought a proposal for the investment in infrastructures sector in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 29: A visiting delegation of industrialists from South Korea including ambassador to Nepal, Park Taeyoung, called on Minister for Physical Infrastructures and Transport, Prakash Jwala, and sought a proposal for the investment in infrastructures sector in Nepal. During the meeting held at Minister Saud's office in Singh Durbar on Monday, the delegation reminded that they have invested in Nepal's hydropower, and are now ready for investing in the infrastructures sector as well. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Ambassador Park said South Korea was ready to invest in roadway and railway in Nepal. He made it clear that they want to hold discussion on any concrete project in this regard. He also recalled that although Nepal and South Korea were ready for Korean investment in infrastructure sector in 2018, the two countries could not sign an agreement due to the change in government. </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"">The establishment of diplomatic ties between Nepal and South Korea will reach 50 years very soon. South Korea is interested to utilize the occasion for investment in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In response, Minister Jwala said he would make utmost initiative to prepare a proposal for the investment. He thanked Korean government for providing training to Nepali engineers at different time. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18589', 'image' => '20230829111127_Flag-Pins-Nepal-South-Korea_600x600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 11:10:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18859', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '15th Edition of NADA Auto Show 2023 to Be Held from September 12-17', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The NADA Automobiles Association of Nepalis organizing the 15th edition of the 'NADA Auto Show 2023'. The event will be held in Kathmandu from Bhadra 26 to Bhadra 31.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">August 29: The NADA Automobiles Association of Nepal</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">is organizing the 15th edition of the 'NADA Auto Show 2023'. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The event will be held in Kathmandu from Bhadra 26 to Bhadra 31. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The exhibition will showcase a grand display of vehicles, spare parts, financial services, and other related products and services from various automotive-related organizations and companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Despite economic slowdown, the auto show is expected to contribute significantly to the economic activities in the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> Anup Kumar Baral, the Chairman of the NADA Auto Show 2023 Committee, highlighted, "The economic slowdown has had a negative impact on the automobile business, affecting both vehicle buyers and their financial plans. The auto show 2023 will be instrumental to increase economic activities”. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Every year, the NADA Auto Show witnesses increased participation from organizations and observers, reflecting their belief in the exhibition's role in not only portraying vehicles as luxuries but also as essential means of livelihood for the general public.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">According to the organizers, the exhibition will have around 120 stalls and blocks of varying sizes. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The event will include participation from internationally renowned vehicle brands, lubricant and tire manufacturers, parts suppliers, and service providers, along with national auto material producers and suppliers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The exhibition will feature 16 four-wheeler brands, 22 two-wheeler brands, 7 light commercial vehicle brands, 9 financial institutions, and 30 lubricant, tire, battery, parts, and garage equipment companies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The show will also host stalls and information desks focusing on informative, service-oriented, and customer-centric aspects, including traffic rules and road safety information.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">To facilitate easy access to the exhibition venue, shuttle bus services will be operated from public parking areas like Kathmandu Mall, Army Welfare Building, Bus Park View Tower, etc., in support of urban transportation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Tickets for the exhibition can be purchased through the Khalti app. An estimated 75,000 attendees are expected to visit the NADA Auto Show 2023 over the course of around 6 days. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The 'NADA Auto Show 2023' is sponsored by Tata Motors Genuine Oil. The show's co-sponsor is Shikhar Insurance Company Limited. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Global Exposition and Management Services is managing the auto exhibition. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18588', 'image' => '20230829061234_collage (2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 06:10:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18858', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Specialist Doctors' Team Reaches Gosainkunda to Provide Healthcare to Pilgrims ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: A team of specialist doctors has reached Gosainkunda for providing emergency medical treatment to the pilgrims visiting Gosainkunda during the Janai Purnima festival. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 28: A team of specialist doctors has reached Gosainkunda for providing emergency medical treatment to the pilgrims visiting Gosainkunda during the Janai Purnima festival. A big religious fair takes place at Gosainkunda, a pilgrimage site located in the northern region of Rasuwa district, on the occasion of the Janai Purnima festival every year. The festival falls on August 31 this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The team comprising seven doctors has reached Gosainkunda under the aegis of the Bagmati Province Ministry of Tourism and Cooperatives, and the Himalayan Rescue Association, Kathmandu. The team will treat the pilgrims for high-altitude sickness and other health issues in case of need. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The association's chief executive officer Govinda Basyal informed that seven physicians of the Mountain Medicine Society have reached Gosainkunda. The team is coordinated by Dr Nishanta Joshi who has the experience of working at the Pheriche Health Post in Solukhumbu run by the association. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The medical team will provide health services for 10 days at Gosainkunda. "The team will also provide medical care to the pilgrims on the way to Gosainkunda as well. It will carry out health examination of pilgrims from Monday to Thursday at Gosainkunda," CEO Basyal said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The association has been providing health services to the pilgrims by sending doctors' group to the holy place since 1997, said the association’s president Dambar Parajuli. He said the association will provide health treatment and medicine to the pilgrims free of cost. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A mobile phone tower has also been recently installed at Gosainkunda which is at an altitude of 4,380 metres from the sea level. The mobile tower is set up at the initiation of Mohan Acharya, an elected member of the House of Representatives from Rasuwa district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Before this, it was difficult for the pilgrims to call home from Gosainkunda. Hundreds of pilgrims from within the country and abroad converge at this pilgrimage site to offer homage and perform religious rituals on the full moon day in the Nepali month of Shrawn. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18587', 'image' => '20230828055850_20220726031810_image_processing20220416-4-1helmts.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 17:58:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18857', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Imposes Export Tax on Parboiled Rice', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: India, which has been imposing taxes on the export of food items one after the other, has imposed a 20 percent export tax even on parboiled rice as the festival of Dashain approaches. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">August 28: India, which has been imposing taxes on the export of food items one after the other, has imposed a 20 percent export tax even on parboiled rice as the festival of Dashain approaches. It is doing so to discourage exports due to the increase in the price of rice in the country’s domestic market.</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 Ministry of Finance of India issued a notice saying that the government decided to impose export tax on all types of parboiled rice till October 16. India has already banned exports of all types of non-Basmati rice, fearing that the production may decrease due to low rainfall in the country's major rice producing areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Just a few days ago, India increased the duty on onion export to 40 percent, saying that the price may increase in the domestic market. Due to this, the price of onion in the Nepalese market has skyrocketed. After India tightened rice export, the food supply chain deteriorated worldwide and it is estimated that it can affect the countries that import rice from India including Nepal as India is one of the major exporters of rice in the world.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Kumud Kumar Dugad, president of Association of Nepalese Rice, Oil, Pulses Industry (ANROPI), said that there are signs that India's decision will not affect Nepalese market immediately, but there are signs that it may affect it in the long run. According to him, there is a possibility of resuming the supply of paddy and non-basmati rice through diplomatic initiative to open the export.</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 India opens up exports, there will be no impact, if it does not, there will be a big impact on the Nepali market. If Indian rice does not come, the market will have to bear the impact by Dashain,” he told New Business Age. He said that the demand for rice in the market at present is also low, due to which the price of a sack of rice has decreased by Rs 50.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Just a few weeks ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) asked India to remove the ban, stating that it would increase global inflation and increase the fluctuation of food prices in the rest of the world. However, India does not seem to pay much attention to such things.</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 official of the government-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited, there is only 9084 metric tons of rice in stock at the moment. Besides, 595 metric tons of paddy is being processed by the company.</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 government has written to India through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to export more than 1.5 million tons of food items, assessing that the supply of food items such as paddy, rice and sugar in the market may be affected due to India's export ban. The letter has requested India to supply 100,000 tons of rice, 50,000 tons of sugar and 5,000 tons of paddy to Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Domestically produced rice is not enough to meet the demand in Nepal. About 5.5 million metric tons of paddy is produced in Nepal annually, yielding about 3.5 million metric tons of rice. Officials say that Nepal need about 4 million metric tons of rice throughout the year. According to this calculation, about 500,000 tons of rice should be imported to meet Nepal's rice demand. Even though paddy and rice are imported from more than a dozen countries in Nepal, government data shows that 99 percent is imported from India.</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 Department of Customs, Nepal imported 22,546 tons of rice and 555,869 tons of paddy in the last fiscal year 2079/80. Other countries that Nepal imports paddy and rice from include China, Bhutan, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Canada, America, Oman, and Thailand.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18586', 'image' => '20230828043758_41RLYdZ6L4L.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 16:37:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18856', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Rastra Bank Revises Working Capital Loan Guidelines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has increased the working capital loan limit for the productive sector.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">August 28: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has increased the working capital loan limit for the productive sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The central bank has amended the Working Capital Loan Guidelines, 2079, allowing banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to extend loans up to Rs 30 million for the manufacturing industries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a notice on Monday, the NRB confirmed that it amended the guidelines and instructed all stakeholders to comply with the new provisions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Earlier, the central bank had fixed a ceiling of Rs 10 million as working capital. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The central bank had capped the limit on working capital loan to 20 percent in case of a company whose annual transaction was less than Rs 20 million. However, they could avail up to 40 percent loan under special circumstances. In case of a company whose annual transaction was over Rs 20 million, they could avail 25 percent loan. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank had introduced the guidelines on October 18, 2022 to prevent the misuse of loans taken by businessmen under the heading of current capital. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari had defended the central bank’s move to amend the Working Capital Loan Guidelines arguing that the new guidelines were introduced to control “over financing.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After the industrialists protested against it, the guidelines were revised in January.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Working capital loan is provided to the firms, organizations and companies to cover their short-term operational needs.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18585', 'image' => '20230828025805_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 14:57:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18855', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Fails to Meet Foreign Debt Collection Target', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: At a time when the budget and programmes brought by the government are being criticized for being more ambitious than implementation oriented, it has been found that the government has always set ambitious targets for foreign loans as well.', '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"">August 28: At a time when the budget and programmes brought by the government are being criticized for being more ambitious than implementation oriented, it has been found that the government has always set ambitious targets for foreign loans as well.</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"">Looking at the goals set by the government and the status of achievement in recent years, the goals have been proven to be ambitious. When comparing the foreign loan target taken in the budget of the last five years with the actual realization, it seems that the government has not been able to meet the target even in a single fiscal 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"">Compared to the target set by the budget in the last five fiscal years, only </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">51.63</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of foreign loans have been received on an average. In the last fiscal year (FY) </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2079/80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, the government had set a target of taking foreign loans of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">242</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.26 billion. However, the government only received foreign loans of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">0</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.12 billion last year. This is just </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">42.15</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the target.</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 Public Debt Management Office, looking at the situation from FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2071/72</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> to FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2079/80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, Nepal’s foreign loan target was the lowest in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2073/74</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">. It seems that only </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">29.64</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the target met in the review 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"">Similarly, in the fiscal year </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2072/73</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, the country received the maximum loan in proportion to the target. In that particular year, Nepal received foreign loans equivalent to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">74.68</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the target. The foreign loan target realization was the lowest in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2079/80</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">after FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2075/76.</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"">It seems that the government is more reliant on bilateral relations while seeking grants while it relies more on multilateral donors (international banks and organizations) for loans.</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 did not receive loans as per the target even in the last fiscal 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"">Meanwhile, the government has set a target of raising foreign aid equal to Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">262</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> billion in the current fiscal year </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2080/81. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government intends to acquire Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">49.94</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> billion grants and Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">212</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">billion loans from more than two dozen donors. Since such a target was not achieved in the previous years, it is clear that the government will not be able to collect the debt as stated this year too.</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 latest report of the Public Debt Management Office has mentioned the underutilization of foreign loans and the inability to objectively determine the targets as the prime reasons for the government’s failure to acquire loans and grants as per the target.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18584', 'image' => '20230828120821_20230806125143_2308 - editorial_11zon.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 12:07:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18854', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CNI Urges Government to Prioritize Economic Diplomacy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the government to prioritize export of Nepali products via Nepali embassies abroad. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 27: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the government to prioritize export of Nepali products via Nepali embassies abroad. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During a discussion held with Foreign Minister NP Saud on Sunday, the CNI team led by Rajesh Kumar Agrawal requested the minister to prioritize economic diplomacy to promote tourism, export of Nepali products and bring in foreign investment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">CNI President Agrawal stressed that government needs to create investment friendly atmosphere for attracting foreign direct investment. Policy stability is equally important for it, he underlined. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to him, expansion of business relations with foreign investors is imperative for drawing foreign direct investment. The CNI also suggested the government that Nepali embassies abroad should facilitate regular visits and interactions with foreign business representatives. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The delegation also demanded the government to give continuity to the cargo railway service presently operative from India to Biratnagar. The CNI also reminded the government to sign a 'motor vehicle agreement' with India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Foreign Minister Saud assured that the government would prioritize the issues raised by CNI. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18583', 'image' => '20230828114446_CNIIII.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 11:43:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18868', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'MCC to Enter Full Implementation Phase from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 30: Projects under the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will be fully implemented from today (August 30).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">August 30: Projects under the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will be fully implemented from today (August 30).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Millennium Challenge Account-Nepal (MCA Nepal), which has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the US grant projects worth $500 million, is all set to announce the official commencement of the MCC today with the Entry into Force (EIF) coming into effect from August 30.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As per the agreement with the US government, the MCC projects need to be completed within five years after the commencement of the EIF.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The initial agreement for the project was signed between the Finance Ministry and the US government representatives on September 14, 2017.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">However, the MCC was delayed due to widespread protest by a section of the society on the pretext that the grant agreement was allegedly a part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the US government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After much debate and deliberations, the House of Representatives finally ratified the MCC grant agreement on February 27, 2022 with a 12-point explanatory note clarifying that the project should not be associated with any military alliance and that the grant agreement must abide by the Constitution of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Noting that the MCC had received explanatory declaration last year, the US embassy said they have accepted the explanatory note as part of the compact. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Kathmandu-based US Embassy has expressed its commitment to collaborate with MCA-Nepal to ensure successful implementation of the compact.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“All concerned parties are working to attain the goals of the MCC compact on time," the state-owned RSS quoted the embassy officials as saying. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Cameron Alford, vice president of the US Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact Operations Department, arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday for the implementation of the MCC. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal has met five out of six pre-conditions to implement the MCC.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Of the six prerequisites, land acquisition for the implementation of the pact has been awaited. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the initial agreement, the United States was supposed to provide US$ 500 million to Nepal for construction of cross-border transmission line and upgrading of roads while Nepal would have to contribute US$ 130 million for the project, expecting the total cost of the MCC project to remain at US$ 630 million. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">But the 'supplemental agreement' over the MCC that was signed last year, demands the government to bear additional cost of US$ 67 million, seeking its total contribution of US$ 197 million for the enforcement of the agreement. In the beginning, Nepal was supposed to take up 20.63 per cent financial responsibility for the MCC project and now it has increased to 28.26 percent. The increased responsibility amount is equivalent to Rs 900 million. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-30', 'modified' => '2023-08-30', 'keywords' => 'MCC, USA, Nepal, grant, assistance, implementation, cross, border, transmission, phase, protest, ratify', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18597', 'image' => '20230830105937_1693279080.1692757131.1691983136.1690248678.1681795913[1].jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-30 10:58:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18867', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'HIDCL Must Be Revitalized for Energy Sector’s Development: Minister Basnet', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, pledged to revitalize the Hydroelectricity Investment and Development Company Limited (HIDCL) to enhance its role in the energy sector's growth.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">August 29: Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, pledged to revitalize the Hydroelectricity Investment and Development Company Limited (HIDCL) to enhance its role in the energy sector's growth.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Established as a public investment firm, HIDCL focuses on raising funds for hydroelectric projects in the country. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">During a discussion held at his office on Tuesday, Minister Basnet emphasized the need to transform it into a robust financial institution that encourages increased investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Minister Basnet emphasized HIDCL's potential collaboration with bilateral and multilateral donor agencies to attract additional investments into the country's energy sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The company has already invested more than Rs 27 billion, deploying over Rs 6 billion in capital across 12 projects with a cumulative capacity of 902 megawatts. Furthermore, it has invested Rs 21 billion in 19 projects with a combined power capacity of 1,467 megawatts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Dinesh Kumar Ghimire, Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, as well as the Chairperson of HIDCL, echoed the importance of revitalizing the company with fresh plans and vision.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The company recently signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with four different projects, securing a loan investment of Rs 13 billion. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, the company has been entrusted with arranging funds for the 1,063-megawatt Upper Arun project through domestic resources.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Nepal Rastra Bank recently urged HIDCL to undergo structural reforms to align with the Banking and Financial Institutions Act. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While HIDCL had the provision for loan investments in projects, it faced challenges due to the absence of legal provisions for raising loans.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Arjun Kumar Gautam, Chairperson of HIDCL, acknowledged the company's urgent need for diversification and expansion for investment resources. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-30', 'modified' => '2023-08-30', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18596', 'image' => '20230830060517_collage (3).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-30 06:02:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18866', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Air Pollution is Greatest Global Threat to Human Health: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: Air pollution is more dangerous to the health of the average person on Earth than smoking or alcohol, a study has revealed.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">August 29: Air pollution is more dangerous to the health of the average person on Earth than smoking or alcohol, a study has revealed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the AFP, the threat is worsening in its global epicenter South Asia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Yet the level of funding set aside to confront the challenge is a fraction of the amount earmarked for fighting infectious diseases, the news report says citing the research from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Its annual Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report showed that fine particulate air pollution -- which comes from vehicle and industrial emissions, wildfires and more -- remains the "greatest external threat to public health."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">If the world were to permanently reduce these pollutants to meet the World Health Organization's (WHO) guideline limit, the average person would add 2.3 years onto his or her life expectancy, according to the data, which has a 2021 cutoff, added AFP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Fine particulate matter is linked to lung disease, heart disease, strokes and cancer.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Tobacco use, by comparison, reduces global life expectancy by 2.2 years while child and maternal malnutrition is responsible for a reduction of 1.6 years.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Asia and Africa bear the greatest brunt yet have some of the weakest infrastructure to deliver citizens timely, accurate data. They also receive tiny slices of an already small global philanthropic pie, says the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">For example, the entire continent of Africa receives less than $300,000 to tackle air pollution.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">While there is an international financing partnership called the Global Fund that disburses $4 billion annually on HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, there is no equivalent for air pollution.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Yet, air pollution shaves off more years from the average person's life in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Cameroon than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other health threats," the report said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Globally, South Asia is the worst impacted region. Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan are in order the top four most polluted countries in terms of annualized, population-weighted averages of fine particulate matter, which are detected by satellites and defined as particles with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5). Air pollution concentrations are then fed into the AQLI metric which calculates their impact on life expectancy, based on peer-reviewed methods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to AFP, residents of Bangladesh, where average PM2.5 levels were 74 micrograms per cubic meter, would gain 6.8 years of life if this were brought to WHO guidelines of 5 micrograms per cubic meter.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">India's capital Delhi meanwhile is the "most polluted megacity in the world" with annual average particulate pollution of 126.5 micrograms per cubic meter.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">China, on the other hand, "has had remarkable progress in terms of its war on air pollution" which began in 2014, said Hasenkopf. Its air pollution dropped 42.3 percent between 2013 and 2021. If the improvements are sustained, the average Chinese citizen will be able to live 2.2 years longer. -- AFP/RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => 'air, pollution, health, human, threat, HIV, malaria, Nepal, world, earth, global, concern, Asia, Bangladesh, India ', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18595', 'image' => '20230829085714_20230512023718_Clipboard09(31).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 20:56:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18865', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC starts Flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa-based GBIA ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has started operating flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa starting from today (August 29). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 29: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has started operating flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa starting from today (August 29). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Both flights, Bhairahawa-New Delhi and Bhairahawa-Hong Kong, remained without passengers. The NAC had recently announced to operate flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa via Kathmandu transit once a week. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">General Manager of Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport, Hansa Raj Pandey, said confirmed that NAC operated flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa via Kathmandu transit after the respective aircraft arrived from Malaysia.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, he mentioned that no passengers boarded the plane from Gautam Buddha International Airport during today's flights. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Passengers heading towards Hong Kong are sent to the destination via Kathmandu while passengers heading towards Delhi are sent to the destination from connecting flights at Tribhuvan International Airport. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NAC had opened ticket bookings for both the routes from August 27. The NAC had started Malaysia-Bhairahawa flights from June 13 and has made 12 flights so far. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18594', 'image' => '20230829040800_naccccc.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 16:07:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18864', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Failure of Mission Onion leads to Nepal’s Dependence on Import', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: India has imposed a 40 percent tariff on onion exports from August 19 to curb possible price hike in its domestic market which is reeling under shortage of onions.', '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"">August 29: India has imposed a 40 percent tariff on onion exports from August 19 to curb possible price hike in its domestic market which is reeling under shortage of onions.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">India’s decision to protect its consumers has caused a ripple effect in Nepal, sending the price of onion skyrocketing.</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"">Nepal largely depends on India for onion as the domestic production is not sufficient to meet the market demand. The main reason for this short supply is the failure of the ‘Mission Onion’ programme launched by the government about 16 years ago.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">With the aim of making the country self-sufficient in onions, the government had launched the Mission Onion programme in Jhapa, Siraha, Saptari, Dhanusha, Bara, Parsa, Rupandehi and other districts with an investment of Rs 500 million in fiscal year 2064/65. </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"">However, the program was not successful due to irregularities in the purchase and distribution of production materials. Despite the failure, the government decided to give continuity to the plan to run potato and onion missions for the next four years (until FY 2076/77). But the plan was limited to paper works. Stakeholders say that Nepal had to suffer after the plan has failed many times.</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"">Dr Govinda Prasad Sharma, secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, admitted that big programmes announced by the government for the production and promotion of onions were not implemented and therefore the country have had to suffer the consequences. According to him, despite the high potential of onion cultivation in Nepal, the Mission Onion failed due to some technical complications.</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 first thing is that we could not produce the seeds we needed. Secondly, we did not have cold storage for storing the onions produced by the farmers," he said told New Business Age, adding, "Onion storage technology is different compared to other vegetables and fruits. Therefore, due to the lack of technology, even a storage house could not be built. Due to this, our mission could not be implemented.”</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"">When India increased the customs duty on onion export, not only did onions become more expensive in Nepal, traders also started black-marketing to take undue advantage. </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 Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee removed onion from its daily price list after traders did not sell onions in the Kalimati market for two days saying that they were out of stock and did not import from India due to high tax. At present, the price of onion in the retail market is up to Rs 130 per kg.</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"">Sandeep Subedi, an official of the National Potato, Vegetable and Spice Crop Development Center, said that the consumers had to suffer because the government could not implement big programmes related to onion production and promotion. According to him, one of the reasons why Nepali consumers have to depend on India for onions is the government's inability to implement big programmes, and another reason is the inability of farmers to produce quality seeds.</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"">Onion is a crop that can be produced in abundance in Nepal. Looking at the data of the last three years, the area of onion production also seems to be decreasing.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the data provided by the center, onion cultivation was done on 20,900 hectares of land in the year 2075/76. In the years since then, the area of onion cultivation seems to be gradually decreasing. In FY 2076/77 and FY 2077/78, onion cultivation was done on only 20,400 hectares of land, according to government data.</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"">Director General of the Department of Agriculture, Dr Hari Bahadur KC, said that the government has not given much attention to onion production, which has great potential in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18593', 'image' => '20230829032102_1692625925.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 15:20:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18863', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘No Budget for MICE Tourism’ ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: The Government of Nepal announced a programme to encourage MICE tourism in the year 2011. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">August 29: The Government of Nepal announced a programme to encourage MICE tourism in the year 2011. At that time, the government had announced a concession of up to Rs 500,000 for the tours and travel companies that bring 100 tourists at a time.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Under the concept of MICE tourism, tourists have to come from a destination country to hold meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE). For example, on August 19, a total of 700 employees of a Bangladeshi company visited Nepal on a sponsored trip.</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 company sent them to visit Nepal as an incentive. This is an example of MICE tourism. The government had given concessions in the year 2011 to bring in similar tourists. Earlier, similar tourists also came from China.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Tek Narayan Paudel, joint spokesperson of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, said that there is no new program targeting MICE tourism. However, he said that the ministry is working to promote tourism.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Even the Nepal Tourism Board, an organization that works for tourism promotion and publicity, has not done much work in this regard. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Mani Raj Lamichhane, director of the board, said that no program and budget has been allocated for MICE tourism.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"Currently, if tourists come from any country in this way, the authorities welcome them at the Tribhuvan International Airport with gifts, and organise dinner for them. That’s all," said Lamichhane.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He added that 5 to 7 companies got concession given by the government in 2011.</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 him, apart from Bangladesh, Indian tourists also come in this way.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Deepakraj Joshi, the former Chief Executive Officer of the board, said that there is a lot of potential for MICE tourism in Nepal and emphasized that work should be done on infrastructure development. He said that MICE tourism has increased in 2023 after COVID-19.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">President of the Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) Binayak Shah said that businessmen will be excited when the government brings incentive programs. Shah informed that they are going to organize a program targeting MICE tourism before Dashain. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CN Pandey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Samrat Tours and Travels Pvt Ltd, which brought 700 tourists from Bangladesh in collaboration with Dhaka's Mountain Club Tour, said that the company plans to bring all its Bangladeshi employees to Nepal within the next five years. The company has 20000 employees. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pradeep Pariyar, joint secretary and spokesperson of the Ministry of Urban Development said that they are going to make a commercial plan for proper utilization of large conference centres that are currently in operation. He informed me that they are preparing to make guidelines and procedures to regulate and operate such centres in the country.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18592', 'image' => '20230829014026_1693278253.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 13:39:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18862', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Boon or Blight? E-Scooters Around the World ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: The for-hire electric scooters that have become ubiquitous in Paris and other cities worldwide will be banned in the French capital on September 1. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 29: The for-hire electric scooters that have become ubiquitous in Paris and other cities worldwide will be banned in the French capital on September 1. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It is the biggest metropolis to remove the app-based devices that first zoomed onto streets in 2018, but many other cities have taken action on the vehicles that can inspire love or loathing. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">While users hail them as eco-friendly ways to avoid gridlock, detractors consider them as an unsightly menace with the power to maim and kill. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Here is a look at the state of play in other cities worldwide: </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Paris: the pioneer</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The French capital was an early adopter of e-scooters in 2018, when the pavements were soon strewn with discarded rental devices from the first operator, Lime. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">After an uproar over the anarchy and a number of fatal accidents, the city clamped down, reducing the number of operators to three (Dott, Lime and Tier) and the number of scooters to 15,000. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">For privately owned scooters, the minimum age for riders is 12 (the government wants to raise that to 14), but the Paris rental operators said last November they would step up enforcement of a minimum age of 18 -- after city officials warned their licenses were in jeopardy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They also must be parked in designated spots and riders are not allowed to go over 10 kilometres per hour in most parts of Paris -- but many do anyway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In April, residents voted in a referendum to ban rental scooters, a move that will not impact privately owned devices. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Barcelona and Montreal: outright bans</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A few cities before Paris have taken the same drastic measures with an outright ban. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Barcelona outlawed rental scooters on public roads in 2018. When the German firm Wind launched an electric scooter sharing programme in the city that year, within hours police removed the vehicles from the streets. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Two years later Montreal outlawed all electric scooters, rental and private, from circulating on any public roads and cycle paths, complaining that four times out of five they were discarded on the street instead of being parked in designated spots. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">But recently the city has allowed Bird Canada to deploy 200 of the vehicles in a park, as part of a new experiment with strict rules of use. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Copenhagen: banned then unbanned</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Copenhagen also banned rental e-scooters in 2020 but brought them back a year later, albeit under strict conditions including an outright ban on parking in the city centre and the requirement for users to wear helmets. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">London: treading carefully</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Across the Channel, London has shown greater caution with regard to devices the city's police chief called "death traps". </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Only rental e-scooters with specific safety features are allowed in the capital. Privately owned devices are illegal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Riders must be 18 or over and have a full or provisional driving licence. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The scooters have a speed limit of 12.5 miles per hour (20 kph) and their lights remain on while in use. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rome: clamping down</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">After a number of crashes and near-misses involving the two-wheelers, including one notorious attempt by two US tourists to ride down the famed Spanish Steps, Rome vowed to impose order on its booming e-scooter rental market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On September 1 the city will introduce new rules to curb usage, notably in the historic centre where speed will be limited to 6 kph in pedestrian areas and no parking on pavements. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Singapore: stiff penalties </span></strong><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Singapore has some of the toughest penalties for reckless scooter riders, with those caught careening along sidewalks facing up to three months in jail and a fine of 2,000 Singapore dollars ($1,500). – AFP/RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18591', 'image' => '20230829124719_MR_Paris_scooter_Jan23.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 12:46:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18861', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA adds 3100 Kilometers of Transmission Lines in 9 Years', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: The government has given top priority to the construction of transmission lines for better transmission and distribution of electricity.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">August 29: The government has given top priority to the construction of transmission lines for better transmission and distribution of electricity. The return on the investment made by the government in the construction of the transmission network has gradually started to be seen.</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 Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has said that the construction of the transmission line has been expedited with high priority. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), which is the implementing agency, has also given priority to the construction of transmission lines.</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 authority, 3,118 kilometres of circuit transmission lines have been added to the electricity transmission system of Nepal in the last nine 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"">Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet has directed the authorities and concerned agencies to proceed with the construction of the transmission lines at a fast pace and to be effective in solving the problems encountered in it.</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 NEA is working with high priority of electrification and reliable supply of electricity to the consumers. It has widely advanced the expansion and improvement of infrastructure for transmission and distribution system.</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 authority is constructing transmission lines and substation projects through the Directorate of Transmission and Project Management. Transmission and distribution lines and substations are required to deliver the electricity produced from the power plant to the customer's home.</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 last nine years, the capacity of the grid substation has reached 8,867 MVA. Nine years ago, i.e. in the fiscal year 2071/72, the capacity of the substation was only 2,132 MVA, but in the year 2079/80, the capacity of the substation increased by 6,735 MVA.</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 year 2071/72, electricity was transmitted only from 66 and 132 kV, but now 66, 132, 220 and 400 kV lines are operating. In the year 2071/72, there were 2,624 circuit kilometres of transmission line, and now 3,118 circuit kilometres have been added to make it 5,742 circuit kilometres in the year 2079/80.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Kulman Ghising, Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority, said that the improvement and strengthening of the system's infrastructure has been carried out in a planned manner since last year to address the consumer's complaints regarding abrupt power outage from time to time.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ghising said that the NEA is facing problems in the construction of the transmission lines mainly due to the obstruction created by the locals. In addition, land acquisition and use of forest area land and tree cutting are also some other significant problems.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"On the one hand, it takes a long time for approval of land use and tree felling in the forest area, and on the other hand, a large amount of money has to be paid as compensation to another agency of the government. Due to this, the duration of the project is not only getting longer, but the price of our produced electricity is becoming more expensive," said Ghising.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"There is an urgent need to declare the next ten years as the country's development decade and to comprehensively amend or replace the current laws and regulations, to facilitate land use in the forest area. The programs announced through the current year's budget should be implemented quickly," he said further.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Mentioning that the master plan of transmission and substation structure has been prepared by dividing the major cities of the country including Kathmandu into 11 'clusters' to meet the electricity demand until 2050 AD, Ghising said that the construction will be gradually carried forward by ensuring resources for these projects.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18590', 'image' => '20230829115740_Transmission.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 11:56:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18860', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'South Korean Industrialists Seek Proposal for Investment in Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: A visiting delegation of industrialists from South Korea including ambassador to Nepal, Park Taeyoung, called on Minister for Physical Infrastructures and Transport, Prakash Jwala, and sought a proposal for the investment in infrastructures sector in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 29: A visiting delegation of industrialists from South Korea including ambassador to Nepal, Park Taeyoung, called on Minister for Physical Infrastructures and Transport, Prakash Jwala, and sought a proposal for the investment in infrastructures sector in Nepal. During the meeting held at Minister Saud's office in Singh Durbar on Monday, the delegation reminded that they have invested in Nepal's hydropower, and are now ready for investing in the infrastructures sector as well. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Ambassador Park said South Korea was ready to invest in roadway and railway in Nepal. He made it clear that they want to hold discussion on any concrete project in this regard. He also recalled that although Nepal and South Korea were ready for Korean investment in infrastructure sector in 2018, the two countries could not sign an agreement due to the change in government. </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"">The establishment of diplomatic ties between Nepal and South Korea will reach 50 years very soon. South Korea is interested to utilize the occasion for investment in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In response, Minister Jwala said he would make utmost initiative to prepare a proposal for the investment. He thanked Korean government for providing training to Nepali engineers at different time. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18589', 'image' => '20230829111127_Flag-Pins-Nepal-South-Korea_600x600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 11:10:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18859', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '15th Edition of NADA Auto Show 2023 to Be Held from September 12-17', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The NADA Automobiles Association of Nepalis organizing the 15th edition of the 'NADA Auto Show 2023'. The event will be held in Kathmandu from Bhadra 26 to Bhadra 31.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">August 29: The NADA Automobiles Association of Nepal</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">is organizing the 15th edition of the 'NADA Auto Show 2023'. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The event will be held in Kathmandu from Bhadra 26 to Bhadra 31. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The exhibition will showcase a grand display of vehicles, spare parts, financial services, and other related products and services from various automotive-related organizations and companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Despite economic slowdown, the auto show is expected to contribute significantly to the economic activities in the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> Anup Kumar Baral, the Chairman of the NADA Auto Show 2023 Committee, highlighted, "The economic slowdown has had a negative impact on the automobile business, affecting both vehicle buyers and their financial plans. The auto show 2023 will be instrumental to increase economic activities”. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Every year, the NADA Auto Show witnesses increased participation from organizations and observers, reflecting their belief in the exhibition's role in not only portraying vehicles as luxuries but also as essential means of livelihood for the general public.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">According to the organizers, the exhibition will have around 120 stalls and blocks of varying sizes. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The event will include participation from internationally renowned vehicle brands, lubricant and tire manufacturers, parts suppliers, and service providers, along with national auto material producers and suppliers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The exhibition will feature 16 four-wheeler brands, 22 two-wheeler brands, 7 light commercial vehicle brands, 9 financial institutions, and 30 lubricant, tire, battery, parts, and garage equipment companies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The show will also host stalls and information desks focusing on informative, service-oriented, and customer-centric aspects, including traffic rules and road safety information.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">To facilitate easy access to the exhibition venue, shuttle bus services will be operated from public parking areas like Kathmandu Mall, Army Welfare Building, Bus Park View Tower, etc., in support of urban transportation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Tickets for the exhibition can be purchased through the Khalti app. An estimated 75,000 attendees are expected to visit the NADA Auto Show 2023 over the course of around 6 days. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The 'NADA Auto Show 2023' is sponsored by Tata Motors Genuine Oil. The show's co-sponsor is Shikhar Insurance Company Limited. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Global Exposition and Management Services is managing the auto exhibition. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18588', 'image' => '20230829061234_collage (2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 06:10:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18858', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Specialist Doctors' Team Reaches Gosainkunda to Provide Healthcare to Pilgrims ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: A team of specialist doctors has reached Gosainkunda for providing emergency medical treatment to the pilgrims visiting Gosainkunda during the Janai Purnima festival. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 28: A team of specialist doctors has reached Gosainkunda for providing emergency medical treatment to the pilgrims visiting Gosainkunda during the Janai Purnima festival. A big religious fair takes place at Gosainkunda, a pilgrimage site located in the northern region of Rasuwa district, on the occasion of the Janai Purnima festival every year. The festival falls on August 31 this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The team comprising seven doctors has reached Gosainkunda under the aegis of the Bagmati Province Ministry of Tourism and Cooperatives, and the Himalayan Rescue Association, Kathmandu. The team will treat the pilgrims for high-altitude sickness and other health issues in case of need. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The association's chief executive officer Govinda Basyal informed that seven physicians of the Mountain Medicine Society have reached Gosainkunda. The team is coordinated by Dr Nishanta Joshi who has the experience of working at the Pheriche Health Post in Solukhumbu run by the association. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The medical team will provide health services for 10 days at Gosainkunda. "The team will also provide medical care to the pilgrims on the way to Gosainkunda as well. It will carry out health examination of pilgrims from Monday to Thursday at Gosainkunda," CEO Basyal said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The association has been providing health services to the pilgrims by sending doctors' group to the holy place since 1997, said the association’s president Dambar Parajuli. He said the association will provide health treatment and medicine to the pilgrims free of cost. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A mobile phone tower has also been recently installed at Gosainkunda which is at an altitude of 4,380 metres from the sea level. The mobile tower is set up at the initiation of Mohan Acharya, an elected member of the House of Representatives from Rasuwa district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Before this, it was difficult for the pilgrims to call home from Gosainkunda. Hundreds of pilgrims from within the country and abroad converge at this pilgrimage site to offer homage and perform religious rituals on the full moon day in the Nepali month of Shrawn. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18587', 'image' => '20230828055850_20220726031810_image_processing20220416-4-1helmts.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 17:58:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18857', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Imposes Export Tax on Parboiled Rice', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: India, which has been imposing taxes on the export of food items one after the other, has imposed a 20 percent export tax even on parboiled rice as the festival of Dashain approaches. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">August 28: India, which has been imposing taxes on the export of food items one after the other, has imposed a 20 percent export tax even on parboiled rice as the festival of Dashain approaches. It is doing so to discourage exports due to the increase in the price of rice in the country’s domestic market.</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 Ministry of Finance of India issued a notice saying that the government decided to impose export tax on all types of parboiled rice till October 16. India has already banned exports of all types of non-Basmati rice, fearing that the production may decrease due to low rainfall in the country's major rice producing areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Just a few days ago, India increased the duty on onion export to 40 percent, saying that the price may increase in the domestic market. Due to this, the price of onion in the Nepalese market has skyrocketed. After India tightened rice export, the food supply chain deteriorated worldwide and it is estimated that it can affect the countries that import rice from India including Nepal as India is one of the major exporters of rice in the world.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Kumud Kumar Dugad, president of Association of Nepalese Rice, Oil, Pulses Industry (ANROPI), said that there are signs that India's decision will not affect Nepalese market immediately, but there are signs that it may affect it in the long run. According to him, there is a possibility of resuming the supply of paddy and non-basmati rice through diplomatic initiative to open the export.</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 India opens up exports, there will be no impact, if it does not, there will be a big impact on the Nepali market. If Indian rice does not come, the market will have to bear the impact by Dashain,” he told New Business Age. He said that the demand for rice in the market at present is also low, due to which the price of a sack of rice has decreased by Rs 50.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Just a few weeks ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) asked India to remove the ban, stating that it would increase global inflation and increase the fluctuation of food prices in the rest of the world. However, India does not seem to pay much attention to such things.</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 official of the government-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited, there is only 9084 metric tons of rice in stock at the moment. Besides, 595 metric tons of paddy is being processed by the company.</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 government has written to India through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to export more than 1.5 million tons of food items, assessing that the supply of food items such as paddy, rice and sugar in the market may be affected due to India's export ban. The letter has requested India to supply 100,000 tons of rice, 50,000 tons of sugar and 5,000 tons of paddy to Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Domestically produced rice is not enough to meet the demand in Nepal. About 5.5 million metric tons of paddy is produced in Nepal annually, yielding about 3.5 million metric tons of rice. Officials say that Nepal need about 4 million metric tons of rice throughout the year. According to this calculation, about 500,000 tons of rice should be imported to meet Nepal's rice demand. Even though paddy and rice are imported from more than a dozen countries in Nepal, government data shows that 99 percent is imported from India.</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 Department of Customs, Nepal imported 22,546 tons of rice and 555,869 tons of paddy in the last fiscal year 2079/80. Other countries that Nepal imports paddy and rice from include China, Bhutan, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Canada, America, Oman, and Thailand.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18586', 'image' => '20230828043758_41RLYdZ6L4L.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 16:37:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18856', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Rastra Bank Revises Working Capital Loan Guidelines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has increased the working capital loan limit for the productive sector.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">August 28: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has increased the working capital loan limit for the productive sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The central bank has amended the Working Capital Loan Guidelines, 2079, allowing banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to extend loans up to Rs 30 million for the manufacturing industries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a notice on Monday, the NRB confirmed that it amended the guidelines and instructed all stakeholders to comply with the new provisions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Earlier, the central bank had fixed a ceiling of Rs 10 million as working capital. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The central bank had capped the limit on working capital loan to 20 percent in case of a company whose annual transaction was less than Rs 20 million. However, they could avail up to 40 percent loan under special circumstances. In case of a company whose annual transaction was over Rs 20 million, they could avail 25 percent loan. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank had introduced the guidelines on October 18, 2022 to prevent the misuse of loans taken by businessmen under the heading of current capital. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari had defended the central bank’s move to amend the Working Capital Loan Guidelines arguing that the new guidelines were introduced to control “over financing.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After the industrialists protested against it, the guidelines were revised in January.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Working capital loan is provided to the firms, organizations and companies to cover their short-term operational needs.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18585', 'image' => '20230828025805_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 14:57:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18855', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Fails to Meet Foreign Debt Collection Target', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: At a time when the budget and programmes brought by the government are being criticized for being more ambitious than implementation oriented, it has been found that the government has always set ambitious targets for foreign loans as well.', '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"">August 28: At a time when the budget and programmes brought by the government are being criticized for being more ambitious than implementation oriented, it has been found that the government has always set ambitious targets for foreign loans as well.</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"">Looking at the goals set by the government and the status of achievement in recent years, the goals have been proven to be ambitious. When comparing the foreign loan target taken in the budget of the last five years with the actual realization, it seems that the government has not been able to meet the target even in a single fiscal 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"">Compared to the target set by the budget in the last five fiscal years, only </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">51.63</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of foreign loans have been received on an average. In the last fiscal year (FY) </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2079/80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, the government had set a target of taking foreign loans of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">242</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.26 billion. However, the government only received foreign loans of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">0</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.12 billion last year. This is just </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">42.15</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the target.</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 Public Debt Management Office, looking at the situation from FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2071/72</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> to FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2079/80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, Nepal’s foreign loan target was the lowest in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2073/74</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">. It seems that only </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">29.64</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the target met in the review 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"">Similarly, in the fiscal year </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2072/73</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, the country received the maximum loan in proportion to the target. In that particular year, Nepal received foreign loans equivalent to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">74.68</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the target. The foreign loan target realization was the lowest in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2079/80</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">after FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2075/76.</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"">It seems that the government is more reliant on bilateral relations while seeking grants while it relies more on multilateral donors (international banks and organizations) for loans.</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 did not receive loans as per the target even in the last fiscal 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"">Meanwhile, the government has set a target of raising foreign aid equal to Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">262</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> billion in the current fiscal year </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2080/81. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government intends to acquire Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">49.94</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> billion grants and Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">212</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">billion loans from more than two dozen donors. Since such a target was not achieved in the previous years, it is clear that the government will not be able to collect the debt as stated this year too.</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 latest report of the Public Debt Management Office has mentioned the underutilization of foreign loans and the inability to objectively determine the targets as the prime reasons for the government’s failure to acquire loans and grants as per the target.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18584', 'image' => '20230828120821_20230806125143_2308 - editorial_11zon.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 12:07:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18854', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CNI Urges Government to Prioritize Economic Diplomacy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the government to prioritize export of Nepali products via Nepali embassies abroad. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 27: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the government to prioritize export of Nepali products via Nepali embassies abroad. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During a discussion held with Foreign Minister NP Saud on Sunday, the CNI team led by Rajesh Kumar Agrawal requested the minister to prioritize economic diplomacy to promote tourism, export of Nepali products and bring in foreign investment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">CNI President Agrawal stressed that government needs to create investment friendly atmosphere for attracting foreign direct investment. Policy stability is equally important for it, he underlined. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to him, expansion of business relations with foreign investors is imperative for drawing foreign direct investment. The CNI also suggested the government that Nepali embassies abroad should facilitate regular visits and interactions with foreign business representatives. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The delegation also demanded the government to give continuity to the cargo railway service presently operative from India to Biratnagar. The CNI also reminded the government to sign a 'motor vehicle agreement' with India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Foreign Minister Saud assured that the government would prioritize the issues raised by CNI. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18583', 'image' => '20230828114446_CNIIII.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 11:43:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18868', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'MCC to Enter Full Implementation Phase from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 30: Projects under the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will be fully implemented from today (August 30).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">August 30: Projects under the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) will be fully implemented from today (August 30).</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Millennium Challenge Account-Nepal (MCA Nepal), which has been entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the US grant projects worth $500 million, is all set to announce the official commencement of the MCC today with the Entry into Force (EIF) coming into effect from August 30.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As per the agreement with the US government, the MCC projects need to be completed within five years after the commencement of the EIF.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The initial agreement for the project was signed between the Finance Ministry and the US government representatives on September 14, 2017.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">However, the MCC was delayed due to widespread protest by a section of the society on the pretext that the grant agreement was allegedly a part of the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the US government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">After much debate and deliberations, the House of Representatives finally ratified the MCC grant agreement on February 27, 2022 with a 12-point explanatory note clarifying that the project should not be associated with any military alliance and that the grant agreement must abide by the Constitution of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Noting that the MCC had received explanatory declaration last year, the US embassy said they have accepted the explanatory note as part of the compact. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Kathmandu-based US Embassy has expressed its commitment to collaborate with MCA-Nepal to ensure successful implementation of the compact.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“All concerned parties are working to attain the goals of the MCC compact on time," the state-owned RSS quoted the embassy officials as saying. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Cameron Alford, vice president of the US Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact Operations Department, arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday for the implementation of the MCC. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Nepal has met five out of six pre-conditions to implement the MCC.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Of the six prerequisites, land acquisition for the implementation of the pact has been awaited. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the initial agreement, the United States was supposed to provide US$ 500 million to Nepal for construction of cross-border transmission line and upgrading of roads while Nepal would have to contribute US$ 130 million for the project, expecting the total cost of the MCC project to remain at US$ 630 million. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">But the 'supplemental agreement' over the MCC that was signed last year, demands the government to bear additional cost of US$ 67 million, seeking its total contribution of US$ 197 million for the enforcement of the agreement. In the beginning, Nepal was supposed to take up 20.63 per cent financial responsibility for the MCC project and now it has increased to 28.26 percent. The increased responsibility amount is equivalent to Rs 900 million. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-30', 'modified' => '2023-08-30', 'keywords' => 'MCC, USA, Nepal, grant, assistance, implementation, cross, border, transmission, phase, protest, ratify', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18597', 'image' => '20230830105937_1693279080.1692757131.1691983136.1690248678.1681795913[1].jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-30 10:58:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18867', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'HIDCL Must Be Revitalized for Energy Sector’s Development: Minister Basnet', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, pledged to revitalize the Hydroelectricity Investment and Development Company Limited (HIDCL) to enhance its role in the energy sector's growth.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">August 29: Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, pledged to revitalize the Hydroelectricity Investment and Development Company Limited (HIDCL) to enhance its role in the energy sector's growth.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Established as a public investment firm, HIDCL focuses on raising funds for hydroelectric projects in the country. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">During a discussion held at his office on Tuesday, Minister Basnet emphasized the need to transform it into a robust financial institution that encourages increased investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Minister Basnet emphasized HIDCL's potential collaboration with bilateral and multilateral donor agencies to attract additional investments into the country's energy sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The company has already invested more than Rs 27 billion, deploying over Rs 6 billion in capital across 12 projects with a cumulative capacity of 902 megawatts. Furthermore, it has invested Rs 21 billion in 19 projects with a combined power capacity of 1,467 megawatts.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Dinesh Kumar Ghimire, Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, as well as the Chairperson of HIDCL, echoed the importance of revitalizing the company with fresh plans and vision.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The company recently signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with four different projects, securing a loan investment of Rs 13 billion. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, the company has been entrusted with arranging funds for the 1,063-megawatt Upper Arun project through domestic resources.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Nepal Rastra Bank recently urged HIDCL to undergo structural reforms to align with the Banking and Financial Institutions Act. </span></span><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">While HIDCL had the provision for loan investments in projects, it faced challenges due to the absence of legal provisions for raising loans.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Arjun Kumar Gautam, Chairperson of HIDCL, acknowledged the company's urgent need for diversification and expansion for investment resources. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-30', 'modified' => '2023-08-30', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18596', 'image' => '20230830060517_collage (3).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-30 06:02:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18866', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Air Pollution is Greatest Global Threat to Human Health: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: Air pollution is more dangerous to the health of the average person on Earth than smoking or alcohol, a study has revealed.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">August 29: Air pollution is more dangerous to the health of the average person on Earth than smoking or alcohol, a study has revealed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the AFP, the threat is worsening in its global epicenter South Asia.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Yet the level of funding set aside to confront the challenge is a fraction of the amount earmarked for fighting infectious diseases, the news report says citing the research from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Its annual Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report showed that fine particulate air pollution -- which comes from vehicle and industrial emissions, wildfires and more -- remains the "greatest external threat to public health."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">If the world were to permanently reduce these pollutants to meet the World Health Organization's (WHO) guideline limit, the average person would add 2.3 years onto his or her life expectancy, according to the data, which has a 2021 cutoff, added AFP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Fine particulate matter is linked to lung disease, heart disease, strokes and cancer.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Tobacco use, by comparison, reduces global life expectancy by 2.2 years while child and maternal malnutrition is responsible for a reduction of 1.6 years.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Asia and Africa bear the greatest brunt yet have some of the weakest infrastructure to deliver citizens timely, accurate data. They also receive tiny slices of an already small global philanthropic pie, says the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">For example, the entire continent of Africa receives less than $300,000 to tackle air pollution.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">While there is an international financing partnership called the Global Fund that disburses $4 billion annually on HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, there is no equivalent for air pollution.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Yet, air pollution shaves off more years from the average person's life in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Cameroon than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other health threats," the report said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Globally, South Asia is the worst impacted region. Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan are in order the top four most polluted countries in terms of annualized, population-weighted averages of fine particulate matter, which are detected by satellites and defined as particles with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5). Air pollution concentrations are then fed into the AQLI metric which calculates their impact on life expectancy, based on peer-reviewed methods.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to AFP, residents of Bangladesh, where average PM2.5 levels were 74 micrograms per cubic meter, would gain 6.8 years of life if this were brought to WHO guidelines of 5 micrograms per cubic meter.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">India's capital Delhi meanwhile is the "most polluted megacity in the world" with annual average particulate pollution of 126.5 micrograms per cubic meter.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">China, on the other hand, "has had remarkable progress in terms of its war on air pollution" which began in 2014, said Hasenkopf. Its air pollution dropped 42.3 percent between 2013 and 2021. If the improvements are sustained, the average Chinese citizen will be able to live 2.2 years longer. -- AFP/RSS</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => 'air, pollution, health, human, threat, HIV, malaria, Nepal, world, earth, global, concern, Asia, Bangladesh, India ', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18595', 'image' => '20230829085714_20230512023718_Clipboard09(31).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 20:56:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18865', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC starts Flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa-based GBIA ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has started operating flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa starting from today (August 29). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 29: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has started operating flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa starting from today (August 29). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Both flights, Bhairahawa-New Delhi and Bhairahawa-Hong Kong, remained without passengers. The NAC had recently announced to operate flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa via Kathmandu transit once a week. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">General Manager of Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport, Hansa Raj Pandey, said confirmed that NAC operated flights to New Delhi and Hong Kong from Bhairahawa via Kathmandu transit after the respective aircraft arrived from Malaysia.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, he mentioned that no passengers boarded the plane from Gautam Buddha International Airport during today's flights. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Passengers heading towards Hong Kong are sent to the destination via Kathmandu while passengers heading towards Delhi are sent to the destination from connecting flights at Tribhuvan International Airport. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NAC had opened ticket bookings for both the routes from August 27. The NAC had started Malaysia-Bhairahawa flights from June 13 and has made 12 flights so far. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18594', 'image' => '20230829040800_naccccc.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 16:07:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18864', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Failure of Mission Onion leads to Nepal’s Dependence on Import', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: India has imposed a 40 percent tariff on onion exports from August 19 to curb possible price hike in its domestic market which is reeling under shortage of onions.', '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"">August 29: India has imposed a 40 percent tariff on onion exports from August 19 to curb possible price hike in its domestic market which is reeling under shortage of onions.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">India’s decision to protect its consumers has caused a ripple effect in Nepal, sending the price of onion skyrocketing.</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"">Nepal largely depends on India for onion as the domestic production is not sufficient to meet the market demand. The main reason for this short supply is the failure of the ‘Mission Onion’ programme launched by the government about 16 years ago.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">With the aim of making the country self-sufficient in onions, the government had launched the Mission Onion programme in Jhapa, Siraha, Saptari, Dhanusha, Bara, Parsa, Rupandehi and other districts with an investment of Rs 500 million in fiscal year 2064/65. </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"">However, the program was not successful due to irregularities in the purchase and distribution of production materials. Despite the failure, the government decided to give continuity to the plan to run potato and onion missions for the next four years (until FY 2076/77). But the plan was limited to paper works. Stakeholders say that Nepal had to suffer after the plan has failed many times.</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"">Dr Govinda Prasad Sharma, secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, admitted that big programmes announced by the government for the production and promotion of onions were not implemented and therefore the country have had to suffer the consequences. According to him, despite the high potential of onion cultivation in Nepal, the Mission Onion failed due to some technical complications.</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 first thing is that we could not produce the seeds we needed. Secondly, we did not have cold storage for storing the onions produced by the farmers," he said told New Business Age, adding, "Onion storage technology is different compared to other vegetables and fruits. Therefore, due to the lack of technology, even a storage house could not be built. Due to this, our mission could not be implemented.”</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"">When India increased the customs duty on onion export, not only did onions become more expensive in Nepal, traders also started black-marketing to take undue advantage. </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 Kalimati Fruit and Vegetable Market Development Committee removed onion from its daily price list after traders did not sell onions in the Kalimati market for two days saying that they were out of stock and did not import from India due to high tax. At present, the price of onion in the retail market is up to Rs 130 per kg.</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"">Sandeep Subedi, an official of the National Potato, Vegetable and Spice Crop Development Center, said that the consumers had to suffer because the government could not implement big programmes related to onion production and promotion. According to him, one of the reasons why Nepali consumers have to depend on India for onions is the government's inability to implement big programmes, and another reason is the inability of farmers to produce quality seeds.</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"">Onion is a crop that can be produced in abundance in Nepal. Looking at the data of the last three years, the area of onion production also seems to be decreasing.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the data provided by the center, onion cultivation was done on 20,900 hectares of land in the year 2075/76. In the years since then, the area of onion cultivation seems to be gradually decreasing. In FY 2076/77 and FY 2077/78, onion cultivation was done on only 20,400 hectares of land, according to government data.</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"">Director General of the Department of Agriculture, Dr Hari Bahadur KC, said that the government has not given much attention to onion production, which has great potential in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18593', 'image' => '20230829032102_1692625925.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 15:20:26', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18863', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘No Budget for MICE Tourism’ ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: The Government of Nepal announced a programme to encourage MICE tourism in the year 2011. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">August 29: The Government of Nepal announced a programme to encourage MICE tourism in the year 2011. At that time, the government had announced a concession of up to Rs 500,000 for the tours and travel companies that bring 100 tourists at a time.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Under the concept of MICE tourism, tourists have to come from a destination country to hold meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE). For example, on August 19, a total of 700 employees of a Bangladeshi company visited Nepal on a sponsored trip.</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 company sent them to visit Nepal as an incentive. This is an example of MICE tourism. The government had given concessions in the year 2011 to bring in similar tourists. Earlier, similar tourists also came from China.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Tek Narayan Paudel, joint spokesperson of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, said that there is no new program targeting MICE tourism. However, he said that the ministry is working to promote tourism.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Even the Nepal Tourism Board, an organization that works for tourism promotion and publicity, has not done much work in this regard. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Mani Raj Lamichhane, director of the board, said that no program and budget has been allocated for MICE tourism.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"Currently, if tourists come from any country in this way, the authorities welcome them at the Tribhuvan International Airport with gifts, and organise dinner for them. That’s all," said Lamichhane.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He added that 5 to 7 companies got concession given by the government in 2011.</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 him, apart from Bangladesh, Indian tourists also come in this way.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Deepakraj Joshi, the former Chief Executive Officer of the board, said that there is a lot of potential for MICE tourism in Nepal and emphasized that work should be done on infrastructure development. He said that MICE tourism has increased in 2023 after COVID-19.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">President of the Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) Binayak Shah said that businessmen will be excited when the government brings incentive programs. Shah informed that they are going to organize a program targeting MICE tourism before Dashain. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CN Pandey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Samrat Tours and Travels Pvt Ltd, which brought 700 tourists from Bangladesh in collaboration with Dhaka's Mountain Club Tour, said that the company plans to bring all its Bangladeshi employees to Nepal within the next five years. The company has 20000 employees. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pradeep Pariyar, joint secretary and spokesperson of the Ministry of Urban Development said that they are going to make a commercial plan for proper utilization of large conference centres that are currently in operation. He informed me that they are preparing to make guidelines and procedures to regulate and operate such centres in the country.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18592', 'image' => '20230829014026_1693278253.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 13:39:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18862', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Boon or Blight? E-Scooters Around the World ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: The for-hire electric scooters that have become ubiquitous in Paris and other cities worldwide will be banned in the French capital on September 1. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 29: The for-hire electric scooters that have become ubiquitous in Paris and other cities worldwide will be banned in the French capital on September 1. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It is the biggest metropolis to remove the app-based devices that first zoomed onto streets in 2018, but many other cities have taken action on the vehicles that can inspire love or loathing. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">While users hail them as eco-friendly ways to avoid gridlock, detractors consider them as an unsightly menace with the power to maim and kill. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Here is a look at the state of play in other cities worldwide: </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Paris: the pioneer</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The French capital was an early adopter of e-scooters in 2018, when the pavements were soon strewn with discarded rental devices from the first operator, Lime. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">After an uproar over the anarchy and a number of fatal accidents, the city clamped down, reducing the number of operators to three (Dott, Lime and Tier) and the number of scooters to 15,000. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">For privately owned scooters, the minimum age for riders is 12 (the government wants to raise that to 14), but the Paris rental operators said last November they would step up enforcement of a minimum age of 18 -- after city officials warned their licenses were in jeopardy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They also must be parked in designated spots and riders are not allowed to go over 10 kilometres per hour in most parts of Paris -- but many do anyway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In April, residents voted in a referendum to ban rental scooters, a move that will not impact privately owned devices. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Barcelona and Montreal: outright bans</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A few cities before Paris have taken the same drastic measures with an outright ban. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Barcelona outlawed rental scooters on public roads in 2018. When the German firm Wind launched an electric scooter sharing programme in the city that year, within hours police removed the vehicles from the streets. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Two years later Montreal outlawed all electric scooters, rental and private, from circulating on any public roads and cycle paths, complaining that four times out of five they were discarded on the street instead of being parked in designated spots. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">But recently the city has allowed Bird Canada to deploy 200 of the vehicles in a park, as part of a new experiment with strict rules of use. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Copenhagen: banned then unbanned</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Copenhagen also banned rental e-scooters in 2020 but brought them back a year later, albeit under strict conditions including an outright ban on parking in the city centre and the requirement for users to wear helmets. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">London: treading carefully</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Across the Channel, London has shown greater caution with regard to devices the city's police chief called "death traps". </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Only rental e-scooters with specific safety features are allowed in the capital. Privately owned devices are illegal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Riders must be 18 or over and have a full or provisional driving licence. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The scooters have a speed limit of 12.5 miles per hour (20 kph) and their lights remain on while in use. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Rome: clamping down</span></strong> <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">After a number of crashes and near-misses involving the two-wheelers, including one notorious attempt by two US tourists to ride down the famed Spanish Steps, Rome vowed to impose order on its booming e-scooter rental market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On September 1 the city will introduce new rules to curb usage, notably in the historic centre where speed will be limited to 6 kph in pedestrian areas and no parking on pavements. </span><br /> <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Singapore: stiff penalties </span></strong><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Singapore has some of the toughest penalties for reckless scooter riders, with those caught careening along sidewalks facing up to three months in jail and a fine of 2,000 Singapore dollars ($1,500). – AFP/RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18591', 'image' => '20230829124719_MR_Paris_scooter_Jan23.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 12:46:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18861', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA adds 3100 Kilometers of Transmission Lines in 9 Years', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: The government has given top priority to the construction of transmission lines for better transmission and distribution of electricity.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">August 29: The government has given top priority to the construction of transmission lines for better transmission and distribution of electricity. The return on the investment made by the government in the construction of the transmission network has gradually started to be seen.</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 Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation has said that the construction of the transmission line has been expedited with high priority. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), which is the implementing agency, has also given priority to the construction of transmission lines.</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 authority, 3,118 kilometres of circuit transmission lines have been added to the electricity transmission system of Nepal in the last nine 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"">Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Shakti Bahadur Basnet has directed the authorities and concerned agencies to proceed with the construction of the transmission lines at a fast pace and to be effective in solving the problems encountered in it.</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 NEA is working with high priority of electrification and reliable supply of electricity to the consumers. It has widely advanced the expansion and improvement of infrastructure for transmission and distribution system.</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 authority is constructing transmission lines and substation projects through the Directorate of Transmission and Project Management. Transmission and distribution lines and substations are required to deliver the electricity produced from the power plant to the customer's home.</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 last nine years, the capacity of the grid substation has reached 8,867 MVA. Nine years ago, i.e. in the fiscal year 2071/72, the capacity of the substation was only 2,132 MVA, but in the year 2079/80, the capacity of the substation increased by 6,735 MVA.</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 year 2071/72, electricity was transmitted only from 66 and 132 kV, but now 66, 132, 220 and 400 kV lines are operating. In the year 2071/72, there were 2,624 circuit kilometres of transmission line, and now 3,118 circuit kilometres have been added to make it 5,742 circuit kilometres in the year 2079/80.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Kulman Ghising, Executive Director of Nepal Electricity Authority, said that the improvement and strengthening of the system's infrastructure has been carried out in a planned manner since last year to address the consumer's complaints regarding abrupt power outage from time to time.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ghising said that the NEA is facing problems in the construction of the transmission lines mainly due to the obstruction created by the locals. In addition, land acquisition and use of forest area land and tree cutting are also some other significant problems.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"On the one hand, it takes a long time for approval of land use and tree felling in the forest area, and on the other hand, a large amount of money has to be paid as compensation to another agency of the government. Due to this, the duration of the project is not only getting longer, but the price of our produced electricity is becoming more expensive," said Ghising.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"There is an urgent need to declare the next ten years as the country's development decade and to comprehensively amend or replace the current laws and regulations, to facilitate land use in the forest area. The programs announced through the current year's budget should be implemented quickly," he said further.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Mentioning that the master plan of transmission and substation structure has been prepared by dividing the major cities of the country including Kathmandu into 11 'clusters' to meet the electricity demand until 2050 AD, Ghising said that the construction will be gradually carried forward by ensuring resources for these projects.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18590', 'image' => '20230829115740_Transmission.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 11:56:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18860', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'South Korean Industrialists Seek Proposal for Investment in Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 29: A visiting delegation of industrialists from South Korea including ambassador to Nepal, Park Taeyoung, called on Minister for Physical Infrastructures and Transport, Prakash Jwala, and sought a proposal for the investment in infrastructures sector in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 29: A visiting delegation of industrialists from South Korea including ambassador to Nepal, Park Taeyoung, called on Minister for Physical Infrastructures and Transport, Prakash Jwala, and sought a proposal for the investment in infrastructures sector in Nepal. During the meeting held at Minister Saud's office in Singh Durbar on Monday, the delegation reminded that they have invested in Nepal's hydropower, and are now ready for investing in the infrastructures sector as well. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Ambassador Park said South Korea was ready to invest in roadway and railway in Nepal. He made it clear that they want to hold discussion on any concrete project in this regard. He also recalled that although Nepal and South Korea were ready for Korean investment in infrastructure sector in 2018, the two countries could not sign an agreement due to the change in government. </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"">The establishment of diplomatic ties between Nepal and South Korea will reach 50 years very soon. South Korea is interested to utilize the occasion for investment in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In response, Minister Jwala said he would make utmost initiative to prepare a proposal for the investment. He thanked Korean government for providing training to Nepali engineers at different time. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18589', 'image' => '20230829111127_Flag-Pins-Nepal-South-Korea_600x600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 11:10:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18859', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '15th Edition of NADA Auto Show 2023 to Be Held from September 12-17', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The NADA Automobiles Association of Nepalis organizing the 15th edition of the 'NADA Auto Show 2023'. The event will be held in Kathmandu from Bhadra 26 to Bhadra 31.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">August 29: The NADA Automobiles Association of Nepal</span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">is organizing the 15th edition of the 'NADA Auto Show 2023'. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The event will be held in Kathmandu from Bhadra 26 to Bhadra 31. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The exhibition will showcase a grand display of vehicles, spare parts, financial services, and other related products and services from various automotive-related organizations and companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Despite economic slowdown, the auto show is expected to contribute significantly to the economic activities in the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> Anup Kumar Baral, the Chairman of the NADA Auto Show 2023 Committee, highlighted, "The economic slowdown has had a negative impact on the automobile business, affecting both vehicle buyers and their financial plans. The auto show 2023 will be instrumental to increase economic activities”. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Every year, the NADA Auto Show witnesses increased participation from organizations and observers, reflecting their belief in the exhibition's role in not only portraying vehicles as luxuries but also as essential means of livelihood for the general public.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">According to the organizers, the exhibition will have around 120 stalls and blocks of varying sizes. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The event will include participation from internationally renowned vehicle brands, lubricant and tire manufacturers, parts suppliers, and service providers, along with national auto material producers and suppliers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The exhibition will feature 16 four-wheeler brands, 22 two-wheeler brands, 7 light commercial vehicle brands, 9 financial institutions, and 30 lubricant, tire, battery, parts, and garage equipment companies. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The show will also host stalls and information desks focusing on informative, service-oriented, and customer-centric aspects, including traffic rules and road safety information.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">To facilitate easy access to the exhibition venue, shuttle bus services will be operated from public parking areas like Kathmandu Mall, Army Welfare Building, Bus Park View Tower, etc., in support of urban transportation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Tickets for the exhibition can be purchased through the Khalti app. An estimated 75,000 attendees are expected to visit the NADA Auto Show 2023 over the course of around 6 days. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The 'NADA Auto Show 2023' is sponsored by Tata Motors Genuine Oil. The show's co-sponsor is Shikhar Insurance Company Limited. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Global Exposition and Management Services is managing the auto exhibition. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-29', 'modified' => '2023-08-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18588', 'image' => '20230829061234_collage (2).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-29 06:10:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18858', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Specialist Doctors' Team Reaches Gosainkunda to Provide Healthcare to Pilgrims ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: A team of specialist doctors has reached Gosainkunda for providing emergency medical treatment to the pilgrims visiting Gosainkunda during the Janai Purnima festival. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 28: A team of specialist doctors has reached Gosainkunda for providing emergency medical treatment to the pilgrims visiting Gosainkunda during the Janai Purnima festival. A big religious fair takes place at Gosainkunda, a pilgrimage site located in the northern region of Rasuwa district, on the occasion of the Janai Purnima festival every year. The festival falls on August 31 this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The team comprising seven doctors has reached Gosainkunda under the aegis of the Bagmati Province Ministry of Tourism and Cooperatives, and the Himalayan Rescue Association, Kathmandu. The team will treat the pilgrims for high-altitude sickness and other health issues in case of need. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The association's chief executive officer Govinda Basyal informed that seven physicians of the Mountain Medicine Society have reached Gosainkunda. The team is coordinated by Dr Nishanta Joshi who has the experience of working at the Pheriche Health Post in Solukhumbu run by the association. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The medical team will provide health services for 10 days at Gosainkunda. "The team will also provide medical care to the pilgrims on the way to Gosainkunda as well. It will carry out health examination of pilgrims from Monday to Thursday at Gosainkunda," CEO Basyal said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The association has been providing health services to the pilgrims by sending doctors' group to the holy place since 1997, said the association’s president Dambar Parajuli. He said the association will provide health treatment and medicine to the pilgrims free of cost. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A mobile phone tower has also been recently installed at Gosainkunda which is at an altitude of 4,380 metres from the sea level. The mobile tower is set up at the initiation of Mohan Acharya, an elected member of the House of Representatives from Rasuwa district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Before this, it was difficult for the pilgrims to call home from Gosainkunda. Hundreds of pilgrims from within the country and abroad converge at this pilgrimage site to offer homage and perform religious rituals on the full moon day in the Nepali month of Shrawn. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18587', 'image' => '20230828055850_20220726031810_image_processing20220416-4-1helmts.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 17:58:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18857', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Imposes Export Tax on Parboiled Rice', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: India, which has been imposing taxes on the export of food items one after the other, has imposed a 20 percent export tax even on parboiled rice as the festival of Dashain approaches. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">August 28: India, which has been imposing taxes on the export of food items one after the other, has imposed a 20 percent export tax even on parboiled rice as the festival of Dashain approaches. It is doing so to discourage exports due to the increase in the price of rice in the country’s domestic market.</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 Ministry of Finance of India issued a notice saying that the government decided to impose export tax on all types of parboiled rice till October 16. India has already banned exports of all types of non-Basmati rice, fearing that the production may decrease due to low rainfall in the country's major rice producing areas.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Just a few days ago, India increased the duty on onion export to 40 percent, saying that the price may increase in the domestic market. Due to this, the price of onion in the Nepalese market has skyrocketed. After India tightened rice export, the food supply chain deteriorated worldwide and it is estimated that it can affect the countries that import rice from India including Nepal as India is one of the major exporters of rice in the world.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Kumud Kumar Dugad, president of Association of Nepalese Rice, Oil, Pulses Industry (ANROPI), said that there are signs that India's decision will not affect Nepalese market immediately, but there are signs that it may affect it in the long run. According to him, there is a possibility of resuming the supply of paddy and non-basmati rice through diplomatic initiative to open the export.</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 India opens up exports, there will be no impact, if it does not, there will be a big impact on the Nepali market. If Indian rice does not come, the market will have to bear the impact by Dashain,” he told New Business Age. He said that the demand for rice in the market at present is also low, due to which the price of a sack of rice has decreased by Rs 50.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Just a few weeks ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) asked India to remove the ban, stating that it would increase global inflation and increase the fluctuation of food prices in the rest of the world. However, India does not seem to pay much attention to such things.</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 official of the government-owned Food Management and Trading Company Limited, there is only 9084 metric tons of rice in stock at the moment. Besides, 595 metric tons of paddy is being processed by the company.</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 government has written to India through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to export more than 1.5 million tons of food items, assessing that the supply of food items such as paddy, rice and sugar in the market may be affected due to India's export ban. The letter has requested India to supply 100,000 tons of rice, 50,000 tons of sugar and 5,000 tons of paddy to Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Domestically produced rice is not enough to meet the demand in Nepal. About 5.5 million metric tons of paddy is produced in Nepal annually, yielding about 3.5 million metric tons of rice. Officials say that Nepal need about 4 million metric tons of rice throughout the year. According to this calculation, about 500,000 tons of rice should be imported to meet Nepal's rice demand. Even though paddy and rice are imported from more than a dozen countries in Nepal, government data shows that 99 percent is imported from India.</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 Department of Customs, Nepal imported 22,546 tons of rice and 555,869 tons of paddy in the last fiscal year 2079/80. Other countries that Nepal imports paddy and rice from include China, Bhutan, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Canada, America, Oman, and Thailand.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18586', 'image' => '20230828043758_41RLYdZ6L4L.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 16:37:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18856', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Rastra Bank Revises Working Capital Loan Guidelines', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has increased the working capital loan limit for the productive sector.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">August 28: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has increased the working capital loan limit for the productive sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The central bank has amended the Working Capital Loan Guidelines, 2079, allowing banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to extend loans up to Rs 30 million for the manufacturing industries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a notice on Monday, the NRB confirmed that it amended the guidelines and instructed all stakeholders to comply with the new provisions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Earlier, the central bank had fixed a ceiling of Rs 10 million as working capital. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The central bank had capped the limit on working capital loan to 20 percent in case of a company whose annual transaction was less than Rs 20 million. However, they could avail up to 40 percent loan under special circumstances. In case of a company whose annual transaction was over Rs 20 million, they could avail 25 percent loan. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank had introduced the guidelines on October 18, 2022 to prevent the misuse of loans taken by businessmen under the heading of current capital. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari had defended the central bank’s move to amend the Working Capital Loan Guidelines arguing that the new guidelines were introduced to control “over financing.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After the industrialists protested against it, the guidelines were revised in January.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Working capital loan is provided to the firms, organizations and companies to cover their short-term operational needs.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18585', 'image' => '20230828025805_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 14:57:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18855', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Fails to Meet Foreign Debt Collection Target', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 28: At a time when the budget and programmes brought by the government are being criticized for being more ambitious than implementation oriented, it has been found that the government has always set ambitious targets for foreign loans as well.', '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"">August 28: At a time when the budget and programmes brought by the government are being criticized for being more ambitious than implementation oriented, it has been found that the government has always set ambitious targets for foreign loans as well.</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"">Looking at the goals set by the government and the status of achievement in recent years, the goals have been proven to be ambitious. When comparing the foreign loan target taken in the budget of the last five years with the actual realization, it seems that the government has not been able to meet the target even in a single fiscal 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"">Compared to the target set by the budget in the last five fiscal years, only </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">51.63</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of foreign loans have been received on an average. In the last fiscal year (FY) </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2079/80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, the government had set a target of taking foreign loans of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">242</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.26 billion. However, the government only received foreign loans of Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">1</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">0</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.12 billion last year. This is just </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">42.15</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the target.</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 Public Debt Management Office, looking at the situation from FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2071/72</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> to FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2079/80</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, Nepal’s foreign loan target was the lowest in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2073/74</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">. It seems that only </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">29.64</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the target met in the review 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"">Similarly, in the fiscal year </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2072/73</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">, the country received the maximum loan in proportion to the target. In that particular year, Nepal received foreign loans equivalent to </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">74.68</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent of the target. The foreign loan target realization was the lowest in FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2079/80</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">after FY </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2075/76.</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"">It seems that the government is more reliant on bilateral relations while seeking grants while it relies more on multilateral donors (international banks and organizations) for loans.</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 did not receive loans as per the target even in the last fiscal 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"">Meanwhile, the government has set a target of raising foreign aid equal to Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">262</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> billion in the current fiscal year </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2080/81. </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government intends to acquire Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">49.94</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> billion grants and Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">212</span></span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">billion loans from more than two dozen donors. Since such a target was not achieved in the previous years, it is clear that the government will not be able to collect the debt as stated this year too.</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 latest report of the Public Debt Management Office has mentioned the underutilization of foreign loans and the inability to objectively determine the targets as the prime reasons for the government’s failure to acquire loans and grants as per the target.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18584', 'image' => '20230828120821_20230806125143_2308 - editorial_11zon.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 12:07:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18854', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CNI Urges Government to Prioritize Economic Diplomacy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'August 27: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the government to prioritize export of Nepali products via Nepali embassies abroad. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">August 27: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has urged the government to prioritize export of Nepali products via Nepali embassies abroad. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During a discussion held with Foreign Minister NP Saud on Sunday, the CNI team led by Rajesh Kumar Agrawal requested the minister to prioritize economic diplomacy to promote tourism, export of Nepali products and bring in foreign investment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">CNI President Agrawal stressed that government needs to create investment friendly atmosphere for attracting foreign direct investment. Policy stability is equally important for it, he underlined. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to him, expansion of business relations with foreign investors is imperative for drawing foreign direct investment. The CNI also suggested the government that Nepali embassies abroad should facilitate regular visits and interactions with foreign business representatives. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The delegation also demanded the government to give continuity to the cargo railway service presently operative from India to Biratnagar. The CNI also reminded the government to sign a 'motor vehicle agreement' with India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Foreign Minister Saud assured that the government would prioritize the issues raised by CNI. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-08-28', 'modified' => '2023-08-28', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '18583', 'image' => '20230828114446_CNIIII.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-08-28 11:43:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
