June 2: Nepal and India have signed an agreement related to inter-state electronic payment between the two…
June 2: Nepal and India have signed an agreement related to inter-state electronic payment between the two…
June 2: The price of gold, which has been setting new records every day since Wednesday, reached an all-time high on…
June 2: The Adventure Tourism Photo Exhibition organized by National Photojournalist Group, Nepal (NFPJ) is currently underway in the tourist city of Pokhara.…
June 2: Over 55,000 foreign tourists arrived in Nepal in January 2023 followed by 77,255 in…
June 2: Three people including the then Joint Secretary Chudamani Sharma of the Tax Clearance Commission have been convicted of corruption in tax evasion…
June 2: Stakeholders have joined hands to conduct a marathon around the Rara Lake in Mugu district to promote…
Nabil Bank Limited has opened 38 new branches simultaneously. The bank, which has completed 38 years of successful operation, inaugurated 38 new branches across the country through a special program at the central office on…
June 2: India has granted clearance for operation of Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the Gautam Buddha international Airport in…
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda's visit to India has paved the way for easy sales of domestically produced electricity in Indian market as India has agreed to purchase 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal in the next 10…
June 1: Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, a hydropower generating company of India, is to construct the Lower Arun Hydropower Project in eastern Nepal.…
June 1: The construction of the New Butwal-Gorakhapur Cross-border Transmission Line, which is considered as a vital power trade project between Nepal and India, has been formally…
June 1: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the railway from Bathnaha (India) to Budhnagar (Nepal) on…
June 1: The department of cooperatives has instructed cooperatives to make public the real situation of the organization through a white…
June 1: Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) has expressed concerns over the government’s decision to impose 13 percent value added tax (VAT) on air-travel tickets for foreign visits and has demanded its…
June 1: A 20-year master plan aiming to promote the civilisation of the Bagmati river system and its tributaries is likely by April next…
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NPCI is the organisation established by Central Bank of India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The agreement will facilitate the transactions of Nepali citizens visiting India for study and treatment. The agreement has paved ways for easy transaction and payment between the financial institutions of the two countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NCHL CEO Pradhan said a significant agreement was signed to facilitate the electronic payment. He shared that the citizens of Nepal and India could be benefitted immensely from it. Following the agreement, the payment can be made by scanning QR code, which largely relives the problems of Nepalis visiting India from various purposes. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17793', 'image' => '20230602023711_PRO_KTM-066A4195(1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 14:36:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18059', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Gold Price Sets New Record', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: The price of gold, which has been setting new records every day since Wednesday, reached an all-time high on Friday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">June 2: The price of gold, which has been setting new records every day since Wednesday, reached an all-time high on Friday (June 2).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association, the price of gold has increased by Rs 800 per tola (11.66 grams) on Friday and is being traded at Rs 113,300. This is the highest price of gold ever recorded in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Prior to this, the price of gold broke the record on Thursday when it reached Rs 112,500 rupees per tola. The previous day, on Wednesday, the price of gold had set a record. According to the Federation, the price of gold was fixed at Rs 112,000 on that particular day.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Before that, the price of gold was the highest on May 4. On that day, gold was traded at Rs 111,800 per tola, according to the Federation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">As the price of gold set a record, the price of silver also increased. Compared to Thursday, the price of silver has increased by Rs 25 per tola to Rs 1,435. The price of silver was fixed at Rs 1,410 per tola on Thursday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17790', 'image' => '20230602012933_gold newwww.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 13:28:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18058', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NFPJ Photo Exhibition Underway in Pokhara', 'sub_title' => 'Maldivian Minister of Tourism Inaugurates National Photojournalist Group’s photo exhibition', 'summary' => 'June 2: The Adventure Tourism Photo Exhibition organized by National Photojournalist Group, Nepal (NFPJ) is currently underway in the tourist city of Pokhara. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">June 2: The Adventure Tourism Photo Exhibition organized by National Forum of Photojournalists, Nepal (NFPJ) is currently underway in the tourist city of Pokhara. The exhibition was jointly inaugurated by Tourism Minister of the Maldives Abdulla Mausoom and Nepal Tourism Board’s Chief Executive Officer Dhananjay Regmi at Hotel Grandi in Pokhara earlier this week.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Inaugurating the exhibition, the Maldives’ Tourism Minister Mausoom said that he was very happy to see the excellent photos taken by the photojournalists. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">"While I am here, I feel as if I have reached all parts of Nepal," he said. NFPJ also presented a photo book to Minister Mausoom as a token of love.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Along with the Minister of Tourism of Maldives, various dignitaries from South Asia visited the exhibition. The four-day exhibition which is being held I n collaboration with PATA will conclude on Friday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Minister Mausoom along with 250 people, including 160 guests as well as buyers and sellers from different countries arrived in Pokhara to participate in the Adventure Travel Mart and Annual Summit of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the umbrella organization of travel associations in the Asia Pacific region, which are being organized alongside the photo exhibition. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Renowned speakers from the national and international travel industry participating in the conference discussed issues related to sustainable tourism, crisis management, air safety, social media, adventure and mountain tourism.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Since the summit is being attended by tourism professionals from different countries, experiences will be exchanged about tourism possibilities and opportunities between representatives of the participating countries. This is the third time that Nepal is hosting the Adventure Mart and the Pata Annual Summit for the first time. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The best photos related to tourism and adventure taken in different places of the country have been put up for display at the exhibition, said Sunil Sharma, central member and program coordinator of NFPJ, the organizer. More than 60 photos taken by about 30 photojournalists have are being displayed in the exhibition.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17789', 'image' => '20230602010552_343776165_575766774707094_2646834107555835551_n_1685444767.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 13:04:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18057', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 400,000 Tourists Visit Nepal in Five Months of 2023', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: Over 55,000 foreign tourists arrived in Nepal in January 2023 followed by 77,255 in February.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">June 2: Over 55,000 foreign tourists arrived in Nepal in January 2023 followed by 77,255 in February. The arrival of tourists reached to as high as 99,426 in March, according to the data made public by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After that, the tourism board's statistics show drop in the number of foreign visitors. According to the NTB, a total of 98,773 tourists arrived in April while the figure dropped to 77,730 in May. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A total of 404,257 foreign visitors arrived in Nepal in the first five months of 2023. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In May 2023, the highest number of foreign visitors came from Nepal’s southern neighbor - India. A total of 36,575 Indian tourists entered Nepal in the review month followed by 8,545 American tourists and 4,667 Chinese tourists.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the number of tourists arriving in Nepal from the UK during the review month stood at 2927 and that from was 2,184. Likewise, 2,164 tourists arrived here from Bangladesh, 1,321 from Malaysia, 1,165 from Germany, 1,097 from France and 1,039 from South Korea.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The tourism sector, which has slowed down due to Covid, is picking up pace recently. The rise in arrival of tourists in Nepal can be attributed to the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions and tourism promotion activities. The government had recently lifted the mandatory provision of requiring negative PCR test reports and COVID-19 vaccination certificate for foreign tourists to visit Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It may be noted that around 1.2 million tourists had arrived here in 2019. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of tourist visiting Nepal in 2020 and 2021 dropped significantly to 230,000 and 151,000 respectively.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">But there has been a remarkable improvement in arrival of tourists since last year (2022) when an encouraging number of 614,869 tourists visited Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Looking at the data till now, NTB officials are expecting more tourists to arrive in Nepal this year. CNN Travel has listed Nepal’s Mustang district as one of the must-visit destinations in 2023. This is also expected to boost tourism in 2023.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17788', 'image' => '20230602115230_Tourist Arrival (1).jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 11:50:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18056', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Special Court Finds Chudamani Sharma Guilty of Corruption', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: Three people including the then Joint Secretary Chudamani Sharma of the Tax Clearance Commission have been convicted of corruption in tax evasion case.', '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:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">June 2: Three people including the then Joint Secretary Chudamani Sharma of the Tax Clearance Commission have been convicted of corruption in tax evasion case. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">A joint bench of Special Court judges Shrikant Poudel, Shaligram Koirala and Yamuna Bhattarai on Thursday convicted Joint Secretary Sharma, chairman Lumbhadwaj Mahat and member Umesh Dhakal of corruption in capacity of the office bearers of the Tax Clearance Commission.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Special court spokesman Dipendranath Yogi informed that the punishment will be determined on June 8. The special court however acquitted Joint Secretary Sharma in a case of amassing wealth illegally.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a case against the three officials including Sharma at the Special Court on June 23, 2021 on charges of corruption by giving tax exemptions to businessmen while they were in charge of the Tax Clearance Commission. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The anti-graft body had filed the case demanding the recovery of over Rs 1 billion from them. The CIAA had also demanded a fine of the same amount as per Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 2059 and along with imprisonment as per Sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Act.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17787', 'image' => '20230602105029_court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 10:49:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18055', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Marathon in Rara to Promote Tourism ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: Stakeholders have joined hands to conduct a marathon around the Rara Lake in Mugu district to promote tourism.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 2: Stakeholders have joined hands to conduct a marathon around the Rara Lake in Mugu district 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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The organisers said that the marathon is all set to be held in the Rara Lake area this Saturday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The event is being jointly organized by the Shreebax Company of the Nepalese Army, Rara Hutu and Chhayanath Rara Municipality. According to the organisers, this is the third series of the Rara Marathon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Shreebax Company Dolraj Shrestha told the state-owned RSS that the event is expected to promote tourism in Rara lake and produce province-level and national-level athletes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The runners in the marathon competition will run around the Rara lake, the largest lake in the country, added RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The winner of the competition will receive Rs 40,000 in cash and the first runner-up and second runner up will get Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17786', 'image' => '20230602102913_og-for-Rara-Lake-Trek.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 10:28:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18054', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nabil Bank Opens 38 New Branches In A Single Day', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nabil Bank Limited has opened 38 new branches simultaneously. The bank, which has completed 38 years of successful operation, inaugurated 38 new branches across the country through a special program at the central office on Thursday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 2: Nabil Bank Limited has opened 38 new branches simultaneously. The bank, which has completed 38 years of successful operation, inaugurated 38 new branches across the country through a special program at the central office on Thursday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">With the slogan "Nabil Bank is now even closer to you”, the bank has opened 38 new branches to deliver its services in simple and convenient manner. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Out of the 38 new branches, Bagmati Province has expanded the highest number with 13 branches in operation. Similarly, one branch has been added Koshi Province1, three in Gandaki Province, ten in Lumbini Province, eight in Madhes Province, one in Karnali Province, and two in Sudurpaschim Province.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Nabil Bank's Chairman Upendra Prasad Poudyal and Board member Nirvan Chaudhary inaugurated eight branches each. Similarly, Bank's Board member Aasha Rana inaugurated eight branches, while bank's other Board members Ananta Poudyal and Pravin Tibadewala inaugurated seven branches each.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The digital inauguration program was attended by members of the Board of Directors, senior officials, and bank staff. With the addition of the 38 new branches, the total number of the bank's branch offices has reached 255. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Nabil Bank has requested customers and service seekers to contact the nearest branch office to avail themselves of the simple and convenient banking services. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17785', 'image' => '20230602101724_collage (5).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 10:15:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18053', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India gives Clearance for ILS at Gautam Buddha International Airport ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: India has granted clearance for operation of Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the Gautam Buddha international Airport in Bhairahawa. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 2: India has granted clearance for operation of Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the Gautam Buddha international Airport in Bhairahawa. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is currently on a four-day official to India, shared the information at a press conference held after a meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the latter's office in New Delhi on Thursday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"I appreciate the Government of India for giving clearance for the operation of ILS at Gautam Buddha International Airport. This would help the country operate safer flights with full capacity," PM Dahal said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He added that Nepal is hopeful of operating flights to different cities of India from the newly-constructed Bhairahawa and Pokhara-based international airports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, PM Dahal further shared that India was positive to provide additional air entry points. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We have requested Indian government to permit for air entry point from Mahendranagar". </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Though ILS was installed at Guatam Buddha international airport, it has not come into operation since a long time. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">General Manager of the Airport Hamsha Raj Pandey said aircraft can land in any weather condition based on instrument landing system from now onwards. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, the aircraft used to cancel their flights in hazy and foggy weather condition when the ILS was not permitted by Indian side due to the airport’s close proximity with Nepal-India border. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In normal condition it requires 1,500 meter visibility for the aircraft to land. But, with the new system in place, aircraft can land with visibility of 800-meter. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Gautam Buddha International Airport has come into operation since last year. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17784', 'image' => '20230602092732_GB airporttt.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 09:26:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18052', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Long-Term Electricity Trade Agreement Ensures 10,000 Megawatt Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda's visit to India has paved the way for easy sales of domestically produced electricity in Indian market as India has agreed to purchase 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal in the next 10 years. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">June 1: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda's visit to India has paved the way for easy sales of domestically produced electricity in Indian market.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Previously, electricity trade was conducted under short-term agreements, but now it will be carried out through long-term power trade agreements. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">This will also provide relief to energy entrepreneurs. India has agreed to purchase 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal in the next 10 years. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">In addition, India will also purchase the electricity generated from projects such as the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">During a joint press conference following the meeting between the Prime Ministers of India and Nepal, Prime Minister Prachanda and Indian Prime Minister Narnedra Modi informed that India and Nepal had reached a long-term electricity trade agreement for the sale of power to India from Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Similarly, directions have been given to relevant government officials to reach an agreement within the next three months on the detailed project report (DPR) of the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Hydropower Project. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">This has increased confidence that the Pancheshwar project, which has been stagnant for a long time, will now move forward.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The long-term power trade includes the construction of the New Butwal-Gorakhpur Cross-Border Transmission Line and the implementation of the Pancheshwar and Lower Arun Hydropower Projects. This has paved the way for Nepal to explore the international market for electricity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The agreement on long-term electricity trade has instilled confidence in expanding Indian investment in Nepal's energy sector. It is believed that it will help reduce the trade deficit, increase employment opportunities, and earn foreign currency.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> Previously, the Nepal Electricity Authority(NEA) used to export electricity to the open market through a competitive bidding process every 15 minutes. The long-term agreement will provide significant relief to entrepreneurs as well.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">In the past year, the Nepal Electricity Authority exported up to 452 megawatts of electricity to the open market. With the determination of rates every 15 minutes and the provision of an increase in rates, the Authority had to sell electricity at a cheaper price.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> The long-term agreement has made Nepal's energy market more accessible and convenient for private entrepreneurs as well. Indian Prime Minister Modi also mentioned that long-term electricity trade agreement would contribute largely to Nepal’s power trade.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17783', 'image' => '20230601063820_collage (5).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 18:33:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18051', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India’s Satluj Company to Construct Lower Arun Hydropower Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, a hydropower generating company of India, is to construct the Lower Arun Hydropower Project in eastern Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">June 1: Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, a hydropower generating company of India, is to construct the Lower Arun Hydropower Project in eastern Nepal. A bilateral agreement was reached in this regard on Thursday during Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s official visit to India. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The company has also been undertaking the construction of the Arun-III Hydropower Project.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A project development agreement (PDA) was signed between Nepal and India in the presence of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi amidst a function in New Delhi.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Board, Nepal (IBN) Sushil Bhatta, and Chairman of Satluj Company, Nanda Lal Sharma, signed the PDA on behalf of their respective sides. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The 54th meeting of the Investment Board on May 28 chaired by Prime Minister Dahal had taken a decision on necessary homework on the PDA. The meeting approved the draft of PDA to be signed with the developer company and forwarded it to the Council of Ministers for approval. The Cabinet meeting later endorsed the PDA.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The entire power produced from the project will be exported, which is believed to contribute to the economic development of the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Investment Board had approved an investment of Rs 92.68 billion for the 669-MW capacity project. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17782', 'image' => '20230601043926_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 16:38:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18050', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'New Butwal-Gorakhpur Transmission Line Formally Launched during PM’s India Visit ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: The construction of the New Butwal-Gorakhapur Cross-border Transmission Line, which is considered as a vital power trade project between Nepal and India, has been formally launched.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 1: The construction of the New Butwal-Gorakhapur Cross-border Transmission Line, which is considered as a vital power trade project between Nepal and India, has been formally launched. Visiting Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Thursday virtually participated in the launch of the project amidst a ceremony at Hyderabad House, New Delhi. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the agreement reached during a meeting of Nepal-India energy Joint Steering Committee (JSC) in the past, Nepal and India will have an equal share of 50/50 percent in the 400 KV transmission line. This is the second high-capacity cross-border power project between the two close neighbours. The project will be implemented under a company model. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government of Nepal has already granted permission to the Nepal Electricity Authority to make investments in the joint company. This development during the prime minister's India visit paves the way for the NEA to undertake the project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Indian side has already endorsed foreign investment for the project. </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"">NEA Managing Director Kulman Ghising that the process for the construction of the transmission line has been already initiated with a target to complete the work within the next three years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NEA and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) are jointly working on the project. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17781', 'image' => '20230601035452_butwal lumbini line.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 15:53:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18049', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Dahal, his Indian Counterpart Modi Jointly Inaugurate Bathnaha-Budhnagar Railway ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the railway from Bathnaha (India) to Budhnagar (Nepal) on Thursday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 1: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the railway from Bathnaha (India) to Budhnagar (Nepal) on Thursday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They inaugurated the railway from Indian PM Modi's Office, Hyderabad House, by raising green flags. Following the joint inauguration by the two prime ministers, the Indian side saw off a cargo rail from Bathnaha, as government officials of Nepal prepared to welcome it at Budhnagar. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The cargo rail to reach the Integrated Customs Check Post, Biratnagar carries raw materials for some industries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The entrepreneurs and industrialists in Koshi Province were demanding the government to facilitate the cargo transportation up to the Integrated Customs Check Post, Biratnagar from Bathnaha. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 8-km railway was ready a long time ago. It was tested for operation on October 25, 2018 and again tested on Wednesday for the operation. With the inauguration, the railway will operate regularly. Similarly, efforts are underway for the operation of passenger trains too. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17780', 'image' => '20230601033824_PRO_KTM-6F8A8825.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 15:37:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18048', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cooperatives Instructed to Issue White Paper', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: The department of cooperatives has instructed cooperatives to make public the real situation of the organization through a white paper.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">June 1: The department of cooperatives has instructed cooperatives to make public the real situation of the organization through a white paper. Stating that the general public has developed a negative outlook towards cooperatives in general due to the inability of some organizations to return their savings, the department asked them to publish a white paper to take the people in confidence.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department’s Registrar Namraj Ghimire said at a press conference on Friday that cooperatives have invested in real estate, shares as well as subsidiary companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The the reality should be informed through a white paper. After that, if they make a commitment to return the depositors money with a deadline, we will also facilitate it,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The cooperative operators submitted a memorandum to the government through the National Cooperative Federation (NCF) and demanded the implementation of credit information center, debt recovery tribunal, cooperative promotion fund, savings and loan protection fund as well as Rs 10 billion concessional loan from the cooperative bank to solve the problem. After they protested that their demands were not met, the department held a press conference and announced its views.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “The department will not hesitate to take any action from freezing the assets of the co-operative operators who have committed fraud to bringing them under the ambit of the law to taking any legal action for the return of the depositors’ savings. The department is always alert to implement the provisions of other prevailing laws including the Cooperative Act, 2074, Cooperative Regulations, 2075 for guaranteeing the safety and return of savers' savings and shares,” Ghimire said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department concluded that after problems arose due to the weakness of institutional governance in some cooperatives, news and perceptions that the savings in the cooperatives are not safe came out and created an atmosphere of mistrust among the general public. In the current situation, the directors should increase contact with their members and build an atmosphere of trust.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the provisions of the constitution, the authority from co-operative registration to regulation has been given to the local level and the state government. Since the provincial and local levels are unable to regulate cooperatives, the management of cooperatives has become chaotic. The government does not even have the statistics of the business of cooperatives in recent times.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Taking advantage of the weak regulation, cooperatives that invested in real estate, private companies and shares against the law are in crisis as they are unable to return their savings due to the reduction in business due to the covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, the government's crackdown on real estate auctions, as well as the tight monetary policy. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17779', 'image' => '20230601023225_cooperative-new.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 14:31:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18047', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt’s Decision to Impose 13 Percent VAT on Air Tickets Riles NATTA ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) has expressed concerns over the government’s decision to impose 13 percent value added tax (VAT) on air-travel tickets for foreign visits and has demanded its withdrawal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 1: Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) has expressed concerns over the government’s decision to impose 13 percent value added tax (VAT) on air-travel tickets for foreign visits and has demanded its withdrawal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government in the budget for the upcoming fiscal (FY) 2023-24 announced to levy 13 percent VAT on air tickets for foreign visits. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NATTA, as a representative body of tour and travel agents, believes the imposition of VAT on air tickets for international travel would negatively impact the tourism sector. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The provision of charging 13 percent additional tax on air tickets for foreign visits makes it challenging to afford international trips when the international travel fair is already expensive. It is likely to affect the travel and tour business," NATTA Chair Ramesh Thapa said in a press statement on Thursday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He said that the decision to impose additional 13 percent VAT on air tickets for foreign visits is applicable only when the ticketing is done from Nepal and it is not charged while proceeding for tickets from abroad. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The domestic tour and travel business is certain to get affected by the decision when it is struggling to make through the post-COVID-19 situation. The decision hampers recovery efforts after the pandemic," added the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Thapa further said that the government’s decision to impose additional two percent luxury tax on services of high-end hotels and restaurants was not expected at all. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, NATTA welcomed the government decision to observe the period from 2023-2032 as the Visit Nepal Decade. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The priorities for the construction of the Nijgadh Airport, other airports, revival of cultural heritages, identification on new tourist destinations and acceleration of infrastructure development are other positive aspects of the budget, reads the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The decision to allocate an additional budget of over Rs 2.5 billion to the tourism sector compared to the current fiscal year has encouraged the tourism and hospitality community, NATTA said. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17778', 'image' => '20230601013415_og.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 13:33:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18046', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '20-Year Master Plan of Bagmati Civilisation likely by April Next Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: A 20-year master plan aiming to promote the civilisation of the Bagmati river system and its tributaries is likely by April next year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 1: A 20-year master plan aiming to promote the civilisation of the Bagmati river system and its tributaries is likely by April next year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of the Bagmati Civilisation, the draft of the plan with the aim of constructing a corridor incorporating the Bagmati River and its tributaries and to restore the beauty of the historic river by 2043 has been prepared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Discussions with various bodies concerned are underway in course of finalizing the draft. The committee’s engineer Kamal Acharya said that the draft will likely be finalised by mid-April next year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The plan is all about the restoration of the Bagmati River, fixation of a sewage system on its two sides, construction of a corridor and cleaning its tributaries, said Acharya. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“Not only solid wastes but also the liquid wastes pose a challenge for cleaning the rivers and it needs to be managed,” he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The committee is currently carrying out waste management works targeting the Bagmati and 11 other rivulets in the Kathmandu Valley. The rivulets are Bishnumati, Manohara, Dhobhikhola, Tukucha, Balkhu, Machchhekhola, Mahadev Khola, Manamati, Nakhhu, Karmanasha and Hanumante. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">All these rivulets will have a sewage system on both sides, the committee officials said. Similarly, religious shrines on the banks of these rivulets will be rebuilt in course of implementing the plan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government in 2066 BS had come up with a five-year Bagmati Action Plan while the 20-year master plan is the revised form of the same plan. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17777', 'image' => '20230601125547_0105g120009hegjb048FE.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 12:54:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18062', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Sign Inter-State Electronic Payment Agreement', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: Nepal and India have signed an agreement related to inter-state electronic payment between the two countries.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 2: Nepal and India have signed an agreement related to inter-state electronic payment between the two countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The agreement was signed in New Delhi on Thursday between Nepal Clearing House Limited and NPCI of India during the ongoing India visit of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Clearing House, Nileshman Pradhan, and Chief Executive Officer of NPCI, Ritesh Shukla, signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU). NPCI is the organisation established by Central Bank of India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The agreement will facilitate the transactions of Nepali citizens visiting India for study and treatment. The agreement has paved ways for easy transaction and payment between the financial institutions of the two countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NCHL CEO Pradhan said a significant agreement was signed to facilitate the electronic payment. He shared that the citizens of Nepal and India could be benefitted immensely from it. Following the agreement, the payment can be made by scanning QR code, which largely relives the problems of Nepalis visiting India from various purposes. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17793', 'image' => '20230602023711_PRO_KTM-066A4195(1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 14:36:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18059', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Gold Price Sets New Record', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: The price of gold, which has been setting new records every day since Wednesday, reached an all-time high on Friday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">June 2: The price of gold, which has been setting new records every day since Wednesday, reached an all-time high on Friday (June 2).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association, the price of gold has increased by Rs 800 per tola (11.66 grams) on Friday and is being traded at Rs 113,300. This is the highest price of gold ever recorded in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Prior to this, the price of gold broke the record on Thursday when it reached Rs 112,500 rupees per tola. The previous day, on Wednesday, the price of gold had set a record. According to the Federation, the price of gold was fixed at Rs 112,000 on that particular day.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Before that, the price of gold was the highest on May 4. On that day, gold was traded at Rs 111,800 per tola, according to the Federation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">As the price of gold set a record, the price of silver also increased. Compared to Thursday, the price of silver has increased by Rs 25 per tola to Rs 1,435. The price of silver was fixed at Rs 1,410 per tola on Thursday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17790', 'image' => '20230602012933_gold newwww.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 13:28:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18058', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NFPJ Photo Exhibition Underway in Pokhara', 'sub_title' => 'Maldivian Minister of Tourism Inaugurates National Photojournalist Group’s photo exhibition', 'summary' => 'June 2: The Adventure Tourism Photo Exhibition organized by National Photojournalist Group, Nepal (NFPJ) is currently underway in the tourist city of Pokhara. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">June 2: The Adventure Tourism Photo Exhibition organized by National Forum of Photojournalists, Nepal (NFPJ) is currently underway in the tourist city of Pokhara. The exhibition was jointly inaugurated by Tourism Minister of the Maldives Abdulla Mausoom and Nepal Tourism Board’s Chief Executive Officer Dhananjay Regmi at Hotel Grandi in Pokhara earlier this week.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Inaugurating the exhibition, the Maldives’ Tourism Minister Mausoom said that he was very happy to see the excellent photos taken by the photojournalists. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">"While I am here, I feel as if I have reached all parts of Nepal," he said. NFPJ also presented a photo book to Minister Mausoom as a token of love.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Along with the Minister of Tourism of Maldives, various dignitaries from South Asia visited the exhibition. The four-day exhibition which is being held I n collaboration with PATA will conclude on Friday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Minister Mausoom along with 250 people, including 160 guests as well as buyers and sellers from different countries arrived in Pokhara to participate in the Adventure Travel Mart and Annual Summit of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the umbrella organization of travel associations in the Asia Pacific region, which are being organized alongside the photo exhibition. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Renowned speakers from the national and international travel industry participating in the conference discussed issues related to sustainable tourism, crisis management, air safety, social media, adventure and mountain tourism.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Since the summit is being attended by tourism professionals from different countries, experiences will be exchanged about tourism possibilities and opportunities between representatives of the participating countries. This is the third time that Nepal is hosting the Adventure Mart and the Pata Annual Summit for the first time. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The best photos related to tourism and adventure taken in different places of the country have been put up for display at the exhibition, said Sunil Sharma, central member and program coordinator of NFPJ, the organizer. More than 60 photos taken by about 30 photojournalists have are being displayed in the exhibition.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17789', 'image' => '20230602010552_343776165_575766774707094_2646834107555835551_n_1685444767.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 13:04:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18057', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 400,000 Tourists Visit Nepal in Five Months of 2023', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: Over 55,000 foreign tourists arrived in Nepal in January 2023 followed by 77,255 in February.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">June 2: Over 55,000 foreign tourists arrived in Nepal in January 2023 followed by 77,255 in February. The arrival of tourists reached to as high as 99,426 in March, according to the data made public by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After that, the tourism board's statistics show drop in the number of foreign visitors. According to the NTB, a total of 98,773 tourists arrived in April while the figure dropped to 77,730 in May. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A total of 404,257 foreign visitors arrived in Nepal in the first five months of 2023. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In May 2023, the highest number of foreign visitors came from Nepal’s southern neighbor - India. A total of 36,575 Indian tourists entered Nepal in the review month followed by 8,545 American tourists and 4,667 Chinese tourists.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the number of tourists arriving in Nepal from the UK during the review month stood at 2927 and that from was 2,184. Likewise, 2,164 tourists arrived here from Bangladesh, 1,321 from Malaysia, 1,165 from Germany, 1,097 from France and 1,039 from South Korea.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The tourism sector, which has slowed down due to Covid, is picking up pace recently. The rise in arrival of tourists in Nepal can be attributed to the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions and tourism promotion activities. The government had recently lifted the mandatory provision of requiring negative PCR test reports and COVID-19 vaccination certificate for foreign tourists to visit Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It may be noted that around 1.2 million tourists had arrived here in 2019. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of tourist visiting Nepal in 2020 and 2021 dropped significantly to 230,000 and 151,000 respectively.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">But there has been a remarkable improvement in arrival of tourists since last year (2022) when an encouraging number of 614,869 tourists visited Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Looking at the data till now, NTB officials are expecting more tourists to arrive in Nepal this year. CNN Travel has listed Nepal’s Mustang district as one of the must-visit destinations in 2023. This is also expected to boost tourism in 2023.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17788', 'image' => '20230602115230_Tourist Arrival (1).jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 11:50:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18056', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Special Court Finds Chudamani Sharma Guilty of Corruption', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: Three people including the then Joint Secretary Chudamani Sharma of the Tax Clearance Commission have been convicted of corruption in tax evasion case.', '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:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">June 2: Three people including the then Joint Secretary Chudamani Sharma of the Tax Clearance Commission have been convicted of corruption in tax evasion case. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">A joint bench of Special Court judges Shrikant Poudel, Shaligram Koirala and Yamuna Bhattarai on Thursday convicted Joint Secretary Sharma, chairman Lumbhadwaj Mahat and member Umesh Dhakal of corruption in capacity of the office bearers of the Tax Clearance Commission.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Special court spokesman Dipendranath Yogi informed that the punishment will be determined on June 8. The special court however acquitted Joint Secretary Sharma in a case of amassing wealth illegally.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a case against the three officials including Sharma at the Special Court on June 23, 2021 on charges of corruption by giving tax exemptions to businessmen while they were in charge of the Tax Clearance Commission. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The anti-graft body had filed the case demanding the recovery of over Rs 1 billion from them. The CIAA had also demanded a fine of the same amount as per Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 2059 and along with imprisonment as per Sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Act.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17787', 'image' => '20230602105029_court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 10:49:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18055', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Marathon in Rara to Promote Tourism ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: Stakeholders have joined hands to conduct a marathon around the Rara Lake in Mugu district to promote tourism.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 2: Stakeholders have joined hands to conduct a marathon around the Rara Lake in Mugu district 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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The organisers said that the marathon is all set to be held in the Rara Lake area this Saturday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The event is being jointly organized by the Shreebax Company of the Nepalese Army, Rara Hutu and Chhayanath Rara Municipality. According to the organisers, this is the third series of the Rara Marathon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Shreebax Company Dolraj Shrestha told the state-owned RSS that the event is expected to promote tourism in Rara lake and produce province-level and national-level athletes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The runners in the marathon competition will run around the Rara lake, the largest lake in the country, added RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The winner of the competition will receive Rs 40,000 in cash and the first runner-up and second runner up will get Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17786', 'image' => '20230602102913_og-for-Rara-Lake-Trek.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 10:28:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18054', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nabil Bank Opens 38 New Branches In A Single Day', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nabil Bank Limited has opened 38 new branches simultaneously. The bank, which has completed 38 years of successful operation, inaugurated 38 new branches across the country through a special program at the central office on Thursday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 2: Nabil Bank Limited has opened 38 new branches simultaneously. The bank, which has completed 38 years of successful operation, inaugurated 38 new branches across the country through a special program at the central office on Thursday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">With the slogan "Nabil Bank is now even closer to you”, the bank has opened 38 new branches to deliver its services in simple and convenient manner. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Out of the 38 new branches, Bagmati Province has expanded the highest number with 13 branches in operation. Similarly, one branch has been added Koshi Province1, three in Gandaki Province, ten in Lumbini Province, eight in Madhes Province, one in Karnali Province, and two in Sudurpaschim Province.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Nabil Bank's Chairman Upendra Prasad Poudyal and Board member Nirvan Chaudhary inaugurated eight branches each. Similarly, Bank's Board member Aasha Rana inaugurated eight branches, while bank's other Board members Ananta Poudyal and Pravin Tibadewala inaugurated seven branches each.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The digital inauguration program was attended by members of the Board of Directors, senior officials, and bank staff. With the addition of the 38 new branches, the total number of the bank's branch offices has reached 255. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Nabil Bank has requested customers and service seekers to contact the nearest branch office to avail themselves of the simple and convenient banking services. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17785', 'image' => '20230602101724_collage (5).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 10:15:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18053', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India gives Clearance for ILS at Gautam Buddha International Airport ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: India has granted clearance for operation of Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the Gautam Buddha international Airport in Bhairahawa. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 2: India has granted clearance for operation of Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the Gautam Buddha international Airport in Bhairahawa. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is currently on a four-day official to India, shared the information at a press conference held after a meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the latter's office in New Delhi on Thursday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"I appreciate the Government of India for giving clearance for the operation of ILS at Gautam Buddha International Airport. This would help the country operate safer flights with full capacity," PM Dahal said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He added that Nepal is hopeful of operating flights to different cities of India from the newly-constructed Bhairahawa and Pokhara-based international airports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, PM Dahal further shared that India was positive to provide additional air entry points. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We have requested Indian government to permit for air entry point from Mahendranagar". </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Though ILS was installed at Guatam Buddha international airport, it has not come into operation since a long time. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">General Manager of the Airport Hamsha Raj Pandey said aircraft can land in any weather condition based on instrument landing system from now onwards. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, the aircraft used to cancel their flights in hazy and foggy weather condition when the ILS was not permitted by Indian side due to the airport’s close proximity with Nepal-India border. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In normal condition it requires 1,500 meter visibility for the aircraft to land. But, with the new system in place, aircraft can land with visibility of 800-meter. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Gautam Buddha International Airport has come into operation since last year. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17784', 'image' => '20230602092732_GB airporttt.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 09:26:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18052', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Long-Term Electricity Trade Agreement Ensures 10,000 Megawatt Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda's visit to India has paved the way for easy sales of domestically produced electricity in Indian market as India has agreed to purchase 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal in the next 10 years. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">June 1: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda's visit to India has paved the way for easy sales of domestically produced electricity in Indian market.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Previously, electricity trade was conducted under short-term agreements, but now it will be carried out through long-term power trade agreements. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">This will also provide relief to energy entrepreneurs. India has agreed to purchase 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal in the next 10 years. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">In addition, India will also purchase the electricity generated from projects such as the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">During a joint press conference following the meeting between the Prime Ministers of India and Nepal, Prime Minister Prachanda and Indian Prime Minister Narnedra Modi informed that India and Nepal had reached a long-term electricity trade agreement for the sale of power to India from Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Similarly, directions have been given to relevant government officials to reach an agreement within the next three months on the detailed project report (DPR) of the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Hydropower Project. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">This has increased confidence that the Pancheshwar project, which has been stagnant for a long time, will now move forward.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The long-term power trade includes the construction of the New Butwal-Gorakhpur Cross-Border Transmission Line and the implementation of the Pancheshwar and Lower Arun Hydropower Projects. This has paved the way for Nepal to explore the international market for electricity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The agreement on long-term electricity trade has instilled confidence in expanding Indian investment in Nepal's energy sector. It is believed that it will help reduce the trade deficit, increase employment opportunities, and earn foreign currency.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> Previously, the Nepal Electricity Authority(NEA) used to export electricity to the open market through a competitive bidding process every 15 minutes. The long-term agreement will provide significant relief to entrepreneurs as well.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">In the past year, the Nepal Electricity Authority exported up to 452 megawatts of electricity to the open market. With the determination of rates every 15 minutes and the provision of an increase in rates, the Authority had to sell electricity at a cheaper price.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> The long-term agreement has made Nepal's energy market more accessible and convenient for private entrepreneurs as well. Indian Prime Minister Modi also mentioned that long-term electricity trade agreement would contribute largely to Nepal’s power trade.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17783', 'image' => '20230601063820_collage (5).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 18:33:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18051', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India’s Satluj Company to Construct Lower Arun Hydropower Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, a hydropower generating company of India, is to construct the Lower Arun Hydropower Project in eastern Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">June 1: Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, a hydropower generating company of India, is to construct the Lower Arun Hydropower Project in eastern Nepal. A bilateral agreement was reached in this regard on Thursday during Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s official visit to India. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The company has also been undertaking the construction of the Arun-III Hydropower Project.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A project development agreement (PDA) was signed between Nepal and India in the presence of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi amidst a function in New Delhi.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Board, Nepal (IBN) Sushil Bhatta, and Chairman of Satluj Company, Nanda Lal Sharma, signed the PDA on behalf of their respective sides. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The 54th meeting of the Investment Board on May 28 chaired by Prime Minister Dahal had taken a decision on necessary homework on the PDA. The meeting approved the draft of PDA to be signed with the developer company and forwarded it to the Council of Ministers for approval. The Cabinet meeting later endorsed the PDA.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The entire power produced from the project will be exported, which is believed to contribute to the economic development of the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Investment Board had approved an investment of Rs 92.68 billion for the 669-MW capacity project. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17782', 'image' => '20230601043926_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 16:38:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18050', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'New Butwal-Gorakhpur Transmission Line Formally Launched during PM’s India Visit ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: The construction of the New Butwal-Gorakhapur Cross-border Transmission Line, which is considered as a vital power trade project between Nepal and India, has been formally launched.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 1: The construction of the New Butwal-Gorakhapur Cross-border Transmission Line, which is considered as a vital power trade project between Nepal and India, has been formally launched. Visiting Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Thursday virtually participated in the launch of the project amidst a ceremony at Hyderabad House, New Delhi. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the agreement reached during a meeting of Nepal-India energy Joint Steering Committee (JSC) in the past, Nepal and India will have an equal share of 50/50 percent in the 400 KV transmission line. This is the second high-capacity cross-border power project between the two close neighbours. The project will be implemented under a company model. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government of Nepal has already granted permission to the Nepal Electricity Authority to make investments in the joint company. This development during the prime minister's India visit paves the way for the NEA to undertake the project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Indian side has already endorsed foreign investment for the project. </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"">NEA Managing Director Kulman Ghising that the process for the construction of the transmission line has been already initiated with a target to complete the work within the next three years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NEA and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) are jointly working on the project. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17781', 'image' => '20230601035452_butwal lumbini line.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 15:53:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18049', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Dahal, his Indian Counterpart Modi Jointly Inaugurate Bathnaha-Budhnagar Railway ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the railway from Bathnaha (India) to Budhnagar (Nepal) on Thursday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 1: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the railway from Bathnaha (India) to Budhnagar (Nepal) on Thursday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They inaugurated the railway from Indian PM Modi's Office, Hyderabad House, by raising green flags. Following the joint inauguration by the two prime ministers, the Indian side saw off a cargo rail from Bathnaha, as government officials of Nepal prepared to welcome it at Budhnagar. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The cargo rail to reach the Integrated Customs Check Post, Biratnagar carries raw materials for some industries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The entrepreneurs and industrialists in Koshi Province were demanding the government to facilitate the cargo transportation up to the Integrated Customs Check Post, Biratnagar from Bathnaha. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 8-km railway was ready a long time ago. It was tested for operation on October 25, 2018 and again tested on Wednesday for the operation. With the inauguration, the railway will operate regularly. Similarly, efforts are underway for the operation of passenger trains too. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17780', 'image' => '20230601033824_PRO_KTM-6F8A8825.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 15:37:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18048', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cooperatives Instructed to Issue White Paper', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: The department of cooperatives has instructed cooperatives to make public the real situation of the organization through a white paper.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">June 1: The department of cooperatives has instructed cooperatives to make public the real situation of the organization through a white paper. Stating that the general public has developed a negative outlook towards cooperatives in general due to the inability of some organizations to return their savings, the department asked them to publish a white paper to take the people in confidence.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department’s Registrar Namraj Ghimire said at a press conference on Friday that cooperatives have invested in real estate, shares as well as subsidiary companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The the reality should be informed through a white paper. After that, if they make a commitment to return the depositors money with a deadline, we will also facilitate it,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The cooperative operators submitted a memorandum to the government through the National Cooperative Federation (NCF) and demanded the implementation of credit information center, debt recovery tribunal, cooperative promotion fund, savings and loan protection fund as well as Rs 10 billion concessional loan from the cooperative bank to solve the problem. After they protested that their demands were not met, the department held a press conference and announced its views.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “The department will not hesitate to take any action from freezing the assets of the co-operative operators who have committed fraud to bringing them under the ambit of the law to taking any legal action for the return of the depositors’ savings. The department is always alert to implement the provisions of other prevailing laws including the Cooperative Act, 2074, Cooperative Regulations, 2075 for guaranteeing the safety and return of savers' savings and shares,” Ghimire said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department concluded that after problems arose due to the weakness of institutional governance in some cooperatives, news and perceptions that the savings in the cooperatives are not safe came out and created an atmosphere of mistrust among the general public. In the current situation, the directors should increase contact with their members and build an atmosphere of trust.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the provisions of the constitution, the authority from co-operative registration to regulation has been given to the local level and the state government. Since the provincial and local levels are unable to regulate cooperatives, the management of cooperatives has become chaotic. The government does not even have the statistics of the business of cooperatives in recent times.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Taking advantage of the weak regulation, cooperatives that invested in real estate, private companies and shares against the law are in crisis as they are unable to return their savings due to the reduction in business due to the covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, the government's crackdown on real estate auctions, as well as the tight monetary policy. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17779', 'image' => '20230601023225_cooperative-new.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 14:31:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18047', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt’s Decision to Impose 13 Percent VAT on Air Tickets Riles NATTA ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) has expressed concerns over the government’s decision to impose 13 percent value added tax (VAT) on air-travel tickets for foreign visits and has demanded its withdrawal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 1: Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) has expressed concerns over the government’s decision to impose 13 percent value added tax (VAT) on air-travel tickets for foreign visits and has demanded its withdrawal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government in the budget for the upcoming fiscal (FY) 2023-24 announced to levy 13 percent VAT on air tickets for foreign visits. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NATTA, as a representative body of tour and travel agents, believes the imposition of VAT on air tickets for international travel would negatively impact the tourism sector. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The provision of charging 13 percent additional tax on air tickets for foreign visits makes it challenging to afford international trips when the international travel fair is already expensive. It is likely to affect the travel and tour business," NATTA Chair Ramesh Thapa said in a press statement on Thursday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He said that the decision to impose additional 13 percent VAT on air tickets for foreign visits is applicable only when the ticketing is done from Nepal and it is not charged while proceeding for tickets from abroad. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The domestic tour and travel business is certain to get affected by the decision when it is struggling to make through the post-COVID-19 situation. The decision hampers recovery efforts after the pandemic," added the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Thapa further said that the government’s decision to impose additional two percent luxury tax on services of high-end hotels and restaurants was not expected at all. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, NATTA welcomed the government decision to observe the period from 2023-2032 as the Visit Nepal Decade. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The priorities for the construction of the Nijgadh Airport, other airports, revival of cultural heritages, identification on new tourist destinations and acceleration of infrastructure development are other positive aspects of the budget, reads the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The decision to allocate an additional budget of over Rs 2.5 billion to the tourism sector compared to the current fiscal year has encouraged the tourism and hospitality community, NATTA said. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17778', 'image' => '20230601013415_og.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 13:33:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18046', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '20-Year Master Plan of Bagmati Civilisation likely by April Next Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: A 20-year master plan aiming to promote the civilisation of the Bagmati river system and its tributaries is likely by April next year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 1: A 20-year master plan aiming to promote the civilisation of the Bagmati river system and its tributaries is likely by April next year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of the Bagmati Civilisation, the draft of the plan with the aim of constructing a corridor incorporating the Bagmati River and its tributaries and to restore the beauty of the historic river by 2043 has been prepared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Discussions with various bodies concerned are underway in course of finalizing the draft. The committee’s engineer Kamal Acharya said that the draft will likely be finalised by mid-April next year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The plan is all about the restoration of the Bagmati River, fixation of a sewage system on its two sides, construction of a corridor and cleaning its tributaries, said Acharya. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“Not only solid wastes but also the liquid wastes pose a challenge for cleaning the rivers and it needs to be managed,” he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The committee is currently carrying out waste management works targeting the Bagmati and 11 other rivulets in the Kathmandu Valley. The rivulets are Bishnumati, Manohara, Dhobhikhola, Tukucha, Balkhu, Machchhekhola, Mahadev Khola, Manamati, Nakhhu, Karmanasha and Hanumante. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">All these rivulets will have a sewage system on both sides, the committee officials said. Similarly, religious shrines on the banks of these rivulets will be rebuilt in course of implementing the plan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government in 2066 BS had come up with a five-year Bagmati Action Plan while the 20-year master plan is the revised form of the same plan. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17777', 'image' => '20230601125547_0105g120009hegjb048FE.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 12:54:50', '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' => '18062', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Sign Inter-State Electronic Payment Agreement', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: Nepal and India have signed an agreement related to inter-state electronic payment between the two countries.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 2: Nepal and India have signed an agreement related to inter-state electronic payment between the two countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The agreement was signed in New Delhi on Thursday between Nepal Clearing House Limited and NPCI of India during the ongoing India visit of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Clearing House, Nileshman Pradhan, and Chief Executive Officer of NPCI, Ritesh Shukla, signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU). NPCI is the organisation established by Central Bank of India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The agreement will facilitate the transactions of Nepali citizens visiting India for study and treatment. The agreement has paved ways for easy transaction and payment between the financial institutions of the two countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NCHL CEO Pradhan said a significant agreement was signed to facilitate the electronic payment. He shared that the citizens of Nepal and India could be benefitted immensely from it. Following the agreement, the payment can be made by scanning QR code, which largely relives the problems of Nepalis visiting India from various purposes. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17793', 'image' => '20230602023711_PRO_KTM-066A4195(1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 14:36:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18059', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Gold Price Sets New Record', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: The price of gold, which has been setting new records every day since Wednesday, reached an all-time high on Friday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">June 2: The price of gold, which has been setting new records every day since Wednesday, reached an all-time high on Friday (June 2).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association, the price of gold has increased by Rs 800 per tola (11.66 grams) on Friday and is being traded at Rs 113,300. This is the highest price of gold ever recorded in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Prior to this, the price of gold broke the record on Thursday when it reached Rs 112,500 rupees per tola. The previous day, on Wednesday, the price of gold had set a record. According to the Federation, the price of gold was fixed at Rs 112,000 on that particular day.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Before that, the price of gold was the highest on May 4. On that day, gold was traded at Rs 111,800 per tola, according to the Federation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">As the price of gold set a record, the price of silver also increased. Compared to Thursday, the price of silver has increased by Rs 25 per tola to Rs 1,435. The price of silver was fixed at Rs 1,410 per tola on Thursday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17790', 'image' => '20230602012933_gold newwww.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 13:28:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18058', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NFPJ Photo Exhibition Underway in Pokhara', 'sub_title' => 'Maldivian Minister of Tourism Inaugurates National Photojournalist Group’s photo exhibition', 'summary' => 'June 2: The Adventure Tourism Photo Exhibition organized by National Photojournalist Group, Nepal (NFPJ) is currently underway in the tourist city of Pokhara. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">June 2: The Adventure Tourism Photo Exhibition organized by National Forum of Photojournalists, Nepal (NFPJ) is currently underway in the tourist city of Pokhara. The exhibition was jointly inaugurated by Tourism Minister of the Maldives Abdulla Mausoom and Nepal Tourism Board’s Chief Executive Officer Dhananjay Regmi at Hotel Grandi in Pokhara earlier this week.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Inaugurating the exhibition, the Maldives’ Tourism Minister Mausoom said that he was very happy to see the excellent photos taken by the photojournalists. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">"While I am here, I feel as if I have reached all parts of Nepal," he said. NFPJ also presented a photo book to Minister Mausoom as a token of love.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Along with the Minister of Tourism of Maldives, various dignitaries from South Asia visited the exhibition. The four-day exhibition which is being held I n collaboration with PATA will conclude on Friday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Minister Mausoom along with 250 people, including 160 guests as well as buyers and sellers from different countries arrived in Pokhara to participate in the Adventure Travel Mart and Annual Summit of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the umbrella organization of travel associations in the Asia Pacific region, which are being organized alongside the photo exhibition. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Renowned speakers from the national and international travel industry participating in the conference discussed issues related to sustainable tourism, crisis management, air safety, social media, adventure and mountain tourism.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Since the summit is being attended by tourism professionals from different countries, experiences will be exchanged about tourism possibilities and opportunities between representatives of the participating countries. This is the third time that Nepal is hosting the Adventure Mart and the Pata Annual Summit for the first time. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The best photos related to tourism and adventure taken in different places of the country have been put up for display at the exhibition, said Sunil Sharma, central member and program coordinator of NFPJ, the organizer. More than 60 photos taken by about 30 photojournalists have are being displayed in the exhibition.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17789', 'image' => '20230602010552_343776165_575766774707094_2646834107555835551_n_1685444767.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 13:04:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18057', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 400,000 Tourists Visit Nepal in Five Months of 2023', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: Over 55,000 foreign tourists arrived in Nepal in January 2023 followed by 77,255 in February.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">June 2: Over 55,000 foreign tourists arrived in Nepal in January 2023 followed by 77,255 in February. The arrival of tourists reached to as high as 99,426 in March, according to the data made public by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After that, the tourism board's statistics show drop in the number of foreign visitors. According to the NTB, a total of 98,773 tourists arrived in April while the figure dropped to 77,730 in May. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A total of 404,257 foreign visitors arrived in Nepal in the first five months of 2023. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In May 2023, the highest number of foreign visitors came from Nepal’s southern neighbor - India. A total of 36,575 Indian tourists entered Nepal in the review month followed by 8,545 American tourists and 4,667 Chinese tourists.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the number of tourists arriving in Nepal from the UK during the review month stood at 2927 and that from was 2,184. Likewise, 2,164 tourists arrived here from Bangladesh, 1,321 from Malaysia, 1,165 from Germany, 1,097 from France and 1,039 from South Korea.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The tourism sector, which has slowed down due to Covid, is picking up pace recently. The rise in arrival of tourists in Nepal can be attributed to the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions and tourism promotion activities. The government had recently lifted the mandatory provision of requiring negative PCR test reports and COVID-19 vaccination certificate for foreign tourists to visit Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It may be noted that around 1.2 million tourists had arrived here in 2019. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of tourist visiting Nepal in 2020 and 2021 dropped significantly to 230,000 and 151,000 respectively.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">But there has been a remarkable improvement in arrival of tourists since last year (2022) when an encouraging number of 614,869 tourists visited Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Looking at the data till now, NTB officials are expecting more tourists to arrive in Nepal this year. CNN Travel has listed Nepal’s Mustang district as one of the must-visit destinations in 2023. This is also expected to boost tourism in 2023.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17788', 'image' => '20230602115230_Tourist Arrival (1).jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 11:50:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18056', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Special Court Finds Chudamani Sharma Guilty of Corruption', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: Three people including the then Joint Secretary Chudamani Sharma of the Tax Clearance Commission have been convicted of corruption in tax evasion case.', '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:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">June 2: Three people including the then Joint Secretary Chudamani Sharma of the Tax Clearance Commission have been convicted of corruption in tax evasion case. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">A joint bench of Special Court judges Shrikant Poudel, Shaligram Koirala and Yamuna Bhattarai on Thursday convicted Joint Secretary Sharma, chairman Lumbhadwaj Mahat and member Umesh Dhakal of corruption in capacity of the office bearers of the Tax Clearance Commission.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Special court spokesman Dipendranath Yogi informed that the punishment will be determined on June 8. The special court however acquitted Joint Secretary Sharma in a case of amassing wealth illegally.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a case against the three officials including Sharma at the Special Court on June 23, 2021 on charges of corruption by giving tax exemptions to businessmen while they were in charge of the Tax Clearance Commission. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The anti-graft body had filed the case demanding the recovery of over Rs 1 billion from them. The CIAA had also demanded a fine of the same amount as per Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 2059 and along with imprisonment as per Sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Act.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17787', 'image' => '20230602105029_court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 10:49:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18055', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Marathon in Rara to Promote Tourism ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: Stakeholders have joined hands to conduct a marathon around the Rara Lake in Mugu district to promote tourism.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 2: Stakeholders have joined hands to conduct a marathon around the Rara Lake in Mugu district 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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The organisers said that the marathon is all set to be held in the Rara Lake area this Saturday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The event is being jointly organized by the Shreebax Company of the Nepalese Army, Rara Hutu and Chhayanath Rara Municipality. According to the organisers, this is the third series of the Rara Marathon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Shreebax Company Dolraj Shrestha told the state-owned RSS that the event is expected to promote tourism in Rara lake and produce province-level and national-level athletes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The runners in the marathon competition will run around the Rara lake, the largest lake in the country, added RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The winner of the competition will receive Rs 40,000 in cash and the first runner-up and second runner up will get Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17786', 'image' => '20230602102913_og-for-Rara-Lake-Trek.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 10:28:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18054', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nabil Bank Opens 38 New Branches In A Single Day', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nabil Bank Limited has opened 38 new branches simultaneously. The bank, which has completed 38 years of successful operation, inaugurated 38 new branches across the country through a special program at the central office on Thursday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 2: Nabil Bank Limited has opened 38 new branches simultaneously. The bank, which has completed 38 years of successful operation, inaugurated 38 new branches across the country through a special program at the central office on Thursday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">With the slogan "Nabil Bank is now even closer to you”, the bank has opened 38 new branches to deliver its services in simple and convenient manner. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Out of the 38 new branches, Bagmati Province has expanded the highest number with 13 branches in operation. Similarly, one branch has been added Koshi Province1, three in Gandaki Province, ten in Lumbini Province, eight in Madhes Province, one in Karnali Province, and two in Sudurpaschim Province.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Nabil Bank's Chairman Upendra Prasad Poudyal and Board member Nirvan Chaudhary inaugurated eight branches each. Similarly, Bank's Board member Aasha Rana inaugurated eight branches, while bank's other Board members Ananta Poudyal and Pravin Tibadewala inaugurated seven branches each.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The digital inauguration program was attended by members of the Board of Directors, senior officials, and bank staff. With the addition of the 38 new branches, the total number of the bank's branch offices has reached 255. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Nabil Bank has requested customers and service seekers to contact the nearest branch office to avail themselves of the simple and convenient banking services. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17785', 'image' => '20230602101724_collage (5).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 10:15:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18053', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India gives Clearance for ILS at Gautam Buddha International Airport ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: India has granted clearance for operation of Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the Gautam Buddha international Airport in Bhairahawa. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 2: India has granted clearance for operation of Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the Gautam Buddha international Airport in Bhairahawa. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is currently on a four-day official to India, shared the information at a press conference held after a meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the latter's office in New Delhi on Thursday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"I appreciate the Government of India for giving clearance for the operation of ILS at Gautam Buddha International Airport. This would help the country operate safer flights with full capacity," PM Dahal said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He added that Nepal is hopeful of operating flights to different cities of India from the newly-constructed Bhairahawa and Pokhara-based international airports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, PM Dahal further shared that India was positive to provide additional air entry points. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We have requested Indian government to permit for air entry point from Mahendranagar". </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Though ILS was installed at Guatam Buddha international airport, it has not come into operation since a long time. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">General Manager of the Airport Hamsha Raj Pandey said aircraft can land in any weather condition based on instrument landing system from now onwards. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, the aircraft used to cancel their flights in hazy and foggy weather condition when the ILS was not permitted by Indian side due to the airport’s close proximity with Nepal-India border. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In normal condition it requires 1,500 meter visibility for the aircraft to land. But, with the new system in place, aircraft can land with visibility of 800-meter. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Gautam Buddha International Airport has come into operation since last year. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17784', 'image' => '20230602092732_GB airporttt.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 09:26:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18052', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Long-Term Electricity Trade Agreement Ensures 10,000 Megawatt Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda's visit to India has paved the way for easy sales of domestically produced electricity in Indian market as India has agreed to purchase 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal in the next 10 years. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">June 1: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda's visit to India has paved the way for easy sales of domestically produced electricity in Indian market.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Previously, electricity trade was conducted under short-term agreements, but now it will be carried out through long-term power trade agreements. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">This will also provide relief to energy entrepreneurs. India has agreed to purchase 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal in the next 10 years. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">In addition, India will also purchase the electricity generated from projects such as the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">During a joint press conference following the meeting between the Prime Ministers of India and Nepal, Prime Minister Prachanda and Indian Prime Minister Narnedra Modi informed that India and Nepal had reached a long-term electricity trade agreement for the sale of power to India from Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Similarly, directions have been given to relevant government officials to reach an agreement within the next three months on the detailed project report (DPR) of the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Hydropower Project. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">This has increased confidence that the Pancheshwar project, which has been stagnant for a long time, will now move forward.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The long-term power trade includes the construction of the New Butwal-Gorakhpur Cross-Border Transmission Line and the implementation of the Pancheshwar and Lower Arun Hydropower Projects. This has paved the way for Nepal to explore the international market for electricity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The agreement on long-term electricity trade has instilled confidence in expanding Indian investment in Nepal's energy sector. It is believed that it will help reduce the trade deficit, increase employment opportunities, and earn foreign currency.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> Previously, the Nepal Electricity Authority(NEA) used to export electricity to the open market through a competitive bidding process every 15 minutes. The long-term agreement will provide significant relief to entrepreneurs as well.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">In the past year, the Nepal Electricity Authority exported up to 452 megawatts of electricity to the open market. With the determination of rates every 15 minutes and the provision of an increase in rates, the Authority had to sell electricity at a cheaper price.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> The long-term agreement has made Nepal's energy market more accessible and convenient for private entrepreneurs as well. Indian Prime Minister Modi also mentioned that long-term electricity trade agreement would contribute largely to Nepal’s power trade.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17783', 'image' => '20230601063820_collage (5).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 18:33:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18051', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India’s Satluj Company to Construct Lower Arun Hydropower Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, a hydropower generating company of India, is to construct the Lower Arun Hydropower Project in eastern Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">June 1: Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, a hydropower generating company of India, is to construct the Lower Arun Hydropower Project in eastern Nepal. A bilateral agreement was reached in this regard on Thursday during Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s official visit to India. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The company has also been undertaking the construction of the Arun-III Hydropower Project.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A project development agreement (PDA) was signed between Nepal and India in the presence of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi amidst a function in New Delhi.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Board, Nepal (IBN) Sushil Bhatta, and Chairman of Satluj Company, Nanda Lal Sharma, signed the PDA on behalf of their respective sides. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The 54th meeting of the Investment Board on May 28 chaired by Prime Minister Dahal had taken a decision on necessary homework on the PDA. The meeting approved the draft of PDA to be signed with the developer company and forwarded it to the Council of Ministers for approval. The Cabinet meeting later endorsed the PDA.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The entire power produced from the project will be exported, which is believed to contribute to the economic development of the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Investment Board had approved an investment of Rs 92.68 billion for the 669-MW capacity project. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17782', 'image' => '20230601043926_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 16:38:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18050', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'New Butwal-Gorakhpur Transmission Line Formally Launched during PM’s India Visit ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: The construction of the New Butwal-Gorakhapur Cross-border Transmission Line, which is considered as a vital power trade project between Nepal and India, has been formally launched.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 1: The construction of the New Butwal-Gorakhapur Cross-border Transmission Line, which is considered as a vital power trade project between Nepal and India, has been formally launched. Visiting Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Thursday virtually participated in the launch of the project amidst a ceremony at Hyderabad House, New Delhi. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the agreement reached during a meeting of Nepal-India energy Joint Steering Committee (JSC) in the past, Nepal and India will have an equal share of 50/50 percent in the 400 KV transmission line. This is the second high-capacity cross-border power project between the two close neighbours. The project will be implemented under a company model. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government of Nepal has already granted permission to the Nepal Electricity Authority to make investments in the joint company. This development during the prime minister's India visit paves the way for the NEA to undertake the project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Indian side has already endorsed foreign investment for the project. </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"">NEA Managing Director Kulman Ghising that the process for the construction of the transmission line has been already initiated with a target to complete the work within the next three years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NEA and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) are jointly working on the project. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17781', 'image' => '20230601035452_butwal lumbini line.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 15:53:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18049', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Dahal, his Indian Counterpart Modi Jointly Inaugurate Bathnaha-Budhnagar Railway ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the railway from Bathnaha (India) to Budhnagar (Nepal) on Thursday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 1: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the railway from Bathnaha (India) to Budhnagar (Nepal) on Thursday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They inaugurated the railway from Indian PM Modi's Office, Hyderabad House, by raising green flags. Following the joint inauguration by the two prime ministers, the Indian side saw off a cargo rail from Bathnaha, as government officials of Nepal prepared to welcome it at Budhnagar. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The cargo rail to reach the Integrated Customs Check Post, Biratnagar carries raw materials for some industries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The entrepreneurs and industrialists in Koshi Province were demanding the government to facilitate the cargo transportation up to the Integrated Customs Check Post, Biratnagar from Bathnaha. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 8-km railway was ready a long time ago. It was tested for operation on October 25, 2018 and again tested on Wednesday for the operation. With the inauguration, the railway will operate regularly. Similarly, efforts are underway for the operation of passenger trains too. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17780', 'image' => '20230601033824_PRO_KTM-6F8A8825.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 15:37:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18048', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cooperatives Instructed to Issue White Paper', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: The department of cooperatives has instructed cooperatives to make public the real situation of the organization through a white paper.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">June 1: The department of cooperatives has instructed cooperatives to make public the real situation of the organization through a white paper. Stating that the general public has developed a negative outlook towards cooperatives in general due to the inability of some organizations to return their savings, the department asked them to publish a white paper to take the people in confidence.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department’s Registrar Namraj Ghimire said at a press conference on Friday that cooperatives have invested in real estate, shares as well as subsidiary companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The the reality should be informed through a white paper. After that, if they make a commitment to return the depositors money with a deadline, we will also facilitate it,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The cooperative operators submitted a memorandum to the government through the National Cooperative Federation (NCF) and demanded the implementation of credit information center, debt recovery tribunal, cooperative promotion fund, savings and loan protection fund as well as Rs 10 billion concessional loan from the cooperative bank to solve the problem. After they protested that their demands were not met, the department held a press conference and announced its views.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “The department will not hesitate to take any action from freezing the assets of the co-operative operators who have committed fraud to bringing them under the ambit of the law to taking any legal action for the return of the depositors’ savings. The department is always alert to implement the provisions of other prevailing laws including the Cooperative Act, 2074, Cooperative Regulations, 2075 for guaranteeing the safety and return of savers' savings and shares,” Ghimire said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department concluded that after problems arose due to the weakness of institutional governance in some cooperatives, news and perceptions that the savings in the cooperatives are not safe came out and created an atmosphere of mistrust among the general public. In the current situation, the directors should increase contact with their members and build an atmosphere of trust.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the provisions of the constitution, the authority from co-operative registration to regulation has been given to the local level and the state government. Since the provincial and local levels are unable to regulate cooperatives, the management of cooperatives has become chaotic. The government does not even have the statistics of the business of cooperatives in recent times.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Taking advantage of the weak regulation, cooperatives that invested in real estate, private companies and shares against the law are in crisis as they are unable to return their savings due to the reduction in business due to the covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, the government's crackdown on real estate auctions, as well as the tight monetary policy. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17779', 'image' => '20230601023225_cooperative-new.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 14:31:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18047', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt’s Decision to Impose 13 Percent VAT on Air Tickets Riles NATTA ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) has expressed concerns over the government’s decision to impose 13 percent value added tax (VAT) on air-travel tickets for foreign visits and has demanded its withdrawal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 1: Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) has expressed concerns over the government’s decision to impose 13 percent value added tax (VAT) on air-travel tickets for foreign visits and has demanded its withdrawal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government in the budget for the upcoming fiscal (FY) 2023-24 announced to levy 13 percent VAT on air tickets for foreign visits. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NATTA, as a representative body of tour and travel agents, believes the imposition of VAT on air tickets for international travel would negatively impact the tourism sector. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The provision of charging 13 percent additional tax on air tickets for foreign visits makes it challenging to afford international trips when the international travel fair is already expensive. It is likely to affect the travel and tour business," NATTA Chair Ramesh Thapa said in a press statement on Thursday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He said that the decision to impose additional 13 percent VAT on air tickets for foreign visits is applicable only when the ticketing is done from Nepal and it is not charged while proceeding for tickets from abroad. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The domestic tour and travel business is certain to get affected by the decision when it is struggling to make through the post-COVID-19 situation. The decision hampers recovery efforts after the pandemic," added the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Thapa further said that the government’s decision to impose additional two percent luxury tax on services of high-end hotels and restaurants was not expected at all. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, NATTA welcomed the government decision to observe the period from 2023-2032 as the Visit Nepal Decade. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The priorities for the construction of the Nijgadh Airport, other airports, revival of cultural heritages, identification on new tourist destinations and acceleration of infrastructure development are other positive aspects of the budget, reads the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The decision to allocate an additional budget of over Rs 2.5 billion to the tourism sector compared to the current fiscal year has encouraged the tourism and hospitality community, NATTA said. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17778', 'image' => '20230601013415_og.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 13:33:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18046', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '20-Year Master Plan of Bagmati Civilisation likely by April Next Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: A 20-year master plan aiming to promote the civilisation of the Bagmati river system and its tributaries is likely by April next year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 1: A 20-year master plan aiming to promote the civilisation of the Bagmati river system and its tributaries is likely by April next year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of the Bagmati Civilisation, the draft of the plan with the aim of constructing a corridor incorporating the Bagmati River and its tributaries and to restore the beauty of the historic river by 2043 has been prepared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Discussions with various bodies concerned are underway in course of finalizing the draft. The committee’s engineer Kamal Acharya said that the draft will likely be finalised by mid-April next year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The plan is all about the restoration of the Bagmati River, fixation of a sewage system on its two sides, construction of a corridor and cleaning its tributaries, said Acharya. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“Not only solid wastes but also the liquid wastes pose a challenge for cleaning the rivers and it needs to be managed,” he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The committee is currently carrying out waste management works targeting the Bagmati and 11 other rivulets in the Kathmandu Valley. The rivulets are Bishnumati, Manohara, Dhobhikhola, Tukucha, Balkhu, Machchhekhola, Mahadev Khola, Manamati, Nakhhu, Karmanasha and Hanumante. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">All these rivulets will have a sewage system on both sides, the committee officials said. Similarly, religious shrines on the banks of these rivulets will be rebuilt in course of implementing the plan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government in 2066 BS had come up with a five-year Bagmati Action Plan while the 20-year master plan is the revised form of the same plan. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17777', 'image' => '20230601125547_0105g120009hegjb048FE.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 12:54:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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NPCI is the organisation established by Central Bank of India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The agreement will facilitate the transactions of Nepali citizens visiting India for study and treatment. The agreement has paved ways for easy transaction and payment between the financial institutions of the two countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NCHL CEO Pradhan said a significant agreement was signed to facilitate the electronic payment. He shared that the citizens of Nepal and India could be benefitted immensely from it. Following the agreement, the payment can be made by scanning QR code, which largely relives the problems of Nepalis visiting India from various purposes. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17793', 'image' => '20230602023711_PRO_KTM-066A4195(1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 14:36:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18059', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Gold Price Sets New Record', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: The price of gold, which has been setting new records every day since Wednesday, reached an all-time high on Friday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">June 2: The price of gold, which has been setting new records every day since Wednesday, reached an all-time high on Friday (June 2).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association, the price of gold has increased by Rs 800 per tola (11.66 grams) on Friday and is being traded at Rs 113,300. This is the highest price of gold ever recorded in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Prior to this, the price of gold broke the record on Thursday when it reached Rs 112,500 rupees per tola. The previous day, on Wednesday, the price of gold had set a record. According to the Federation, the price of gold was fixed at Rs 112,000 on that particular day.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Before that, the price of gold was the highest on May 4. On that day, gold was traded at Rs 111,800 per tola, according to the Federation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">As the price of gold set a record, the price of silver also increased. Compared to Thursday, the price of silver has increased by Rs 25 per tola to Rs 1,435. The price of silver was fixed at Rs 1,410 per tola on Thursday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17790', 'image' => '20230602012933_gold newwww.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 13:28:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18058', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NFPJ Photo Exhibition Underway in Pokhara', 'sub_title' => 'Maldivian Minister of Tourism Inaugurates National Photojournalist Group’s photo exhibition', 'summary' => 'June 2: The Adventure Tourism Photo Exhibition organized by National Photojournalist Group, Nepal (NFPJ) is currently underway in the tourist city of Pokhara. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">June 2: The Adventure Tourism Photo Exhibition organized by National Forum of Photojournalists, Nepal (NFPJ) is currently underway in the tourist city of Pokhara. The exhibition was jointly inaugurated by Tourism Minister of the Maldives Abdulla Mausoom and Nepal Tourism Board’s Chief Executive Officer Dhananjay Regmi at Hotel Grandi in Pokhara earlier this week.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Inaugurating the exhibition, the Maldives’ Tourism Minister Mausoom said that he was very happy to see the excellent photos taken by the photojournalists. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">"While I am here, I feel as if I have reached all parts of Nepal," he said. NFPJ also presented a photo book to Minister Mausoom as a token of love.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Along with the Minister of Tourism of Maldives, various dignitaries from South Asia visited the exhibition. The four-day exhibition which is being held I n collaboration with PATA will conclude on Friday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Minister Mausoom along with 250 people, including 160 guests as well as buyers and sellers from different countries arrived in Pokhara to participate in the Adventure Travel Mart and Annual Summit of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the umbrella organization of travel associations in the Asia Pacific region, which are being organized alongside the photo exhibition. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Renowned speakers from the national and international travel industry participating in the conference discussed issues related to sustainable tourism, crisis management, air safety, social media, adventure and mountain tourism.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Since the summit is being attended by tourism professionals from different countries, experiences will be exchanged about tourism possibilities and opportunities between representatives of the participating countries. This is the third time that Nepal is hosting the Adventure Mart and the Pata Annual Summit for the first time. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The best photos related to tourism and adventure taken in different places of the country have been put up for display at the exhibition, said Sunil Sharma, central member and program coordinator of NFPJ, the organizer. More than 60 photos taken by about 30 photojournalists have are being displayed in the exhibition.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-05', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17789', 'image' => '20230602010552_343776165_575766774707094_2646834107555835551_n_1685444767.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 13:04:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18057', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 400,000 Tourists Visit Nepal in Five Months of 2023', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: Over 55,000 foreign tourists arrived in Nepal in January 2023 followed by 77,255 in February.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">June 2: Over 55,000 foreign tourists arrived in Nepal in January 2023 followed by 77,255 in February. The arrival of tourists reached to as high as 99,426 in March, according to the data made public by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">After that, the tourism board's statistics show drop in the number of foreign visitors. According to the NTB, a total of 98,773 tourists arrived in April while the figure dropped to 77,730 in May. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A total of 404,257 foreign visitors arrived in Nepal in the first five months of 2023. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In May 2023, the highest number of foreign visitors came from Nepal’s southern neighbor - India. A total of 36,575 Indian tourists entered Nepal in the review month followed by 8,545 American tourists and 4,667 Chinese tourists.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the number of tourists arriving in Nepal from the UK during the review month stood at 2927 and that from was 2,184. Likewise, 2,164 tourists arrived here from Bangladesh, 1,321 from Malaysia, 1,165 from Germany, 1,097 from France and 1,039 from South Korea.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The tourism sector, which has slowed down due to Covid, is picking up pace recently. The rise in arrival of tourists in Nepal can be attributed to the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions and tourism promotion activities. The government had recently lifted the mandatory provision of requiring negative PCR test reports and COVID-19 vaccination certificate for foreign tourists to visit Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It may be noted that around 1.2 million tourists had arrived here in 2019. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of tourist visiting Nepal in 2020 and 2021 dropped significantly to 230,000 and 151,000 respectively.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">But there has been a remarkable improvement in arrival of tourists since last year (2022) when an encouraging number of 614,869 tourists visited Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Looking at the data till now, NTB officials are expecting more tourists to arrive in Nepal this year. CNN Travel has listed Nepal’s Mustang district as one of the must-visit destinations in 2023. This is also expected to boost tourism in 2023.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17788', 'image' => '20230602115230_Tourist Arrival (1).jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 11:50:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18056', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Special Court Finds Chudamani Sharma Guilty of Corruption', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: Three people including the then Joint Secretary Chudamani Sharma of the Tax Clearance Commission have been convicted of corruption in tax evasion case.', '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:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">June 2: Three people including the then Joint Secretary Chudamani Sharma of the Tax Clearance Commission have been convicted of corruption in tax evasion case. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">A joint bench of Special Court judges Shrikant Poudel, Shaligram Koirala and Yamuna Bhattarai on Thursday convicted Joint Secretary Sharma, chairman Lumbhadwaj Mahat and member Umesh Dhakal of corruption in capacity of the office bearers of the Tax Clearance Commission.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">Special court spokesman Dipendranath Yogi informed that the punishment will be determined on June 8. The special court however acquitted Joint Secretary Sharma in a case of amassing wealth illegally.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had filed a case against the three officials including Sharma at the Special Court on June 23, 2021 on charges of corruption by giving tax exemptions to businessmen while they were in charge of the Tax Clearance Commission. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">The anti-graft body had filed the case demanding the recovery of over Rs 1 billion from them. The CIAA had also demanded a fine of the same amount as per Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 2059 and along with imprisonment as per Sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Act.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17787', 'image' => '20230602105029_court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 10:49:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18055', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Marathon in Rara to Promote Tourism ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: Stakeholders have joined hands to conduct a marathon around the Rara Lake in Mugu district to promote tourism.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 2: Stakeholders have joined hands to conduct a marathon around the Rara Lake in Mugu district 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 Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The organisers said that the marathon is all set to be held in the Rara Lake area this Saturday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The event is being jointly organized by the Shreebax Company of the Nepalese Army, Rara Hutu and Chhayanath Rara Municipality. According to the organisers, this is the third series of the Rara Marathon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief of Shreebax Company Dolraj Shrestha told the state-owned RSS that the event is expected to promote tourism in Rara lake and produce province-level and national-level athletes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The runners in the marathon competition will run around the Rara lake, the largest lake in the country, added RSS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The winner of the competition will receive Rs 40,000 in cash and the first runner-up and second runner up will get Rs 30,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17786', 'image' => '20230602102913_og-for-Rara-Lake-Trek.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 10:28:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18054', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nabil Bank Opens 38 New Branches In A Single Day', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Nabil Bank Limited has opened 38 new branches simultaneously. The bank, which has completed 38 years of successful operation, inaugurated 38 new branches across the country through a special program at the central office on Thursday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 2: Nabil Bank Limited has opened 38 new branches simultaneously. The bank, which has completed 38 years of successful operation, inaugurated 38 new branches across the country through a special program at the central office on Thursday. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">With the slogan "Nabil Bank is now even closer to you”, the bank has opened 38 new branches to deliver its services in simple and convenient manner. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Out of the 38 new branches, Bagmati Province has expanded the highest number with 13 branches in operation. Similarly, one branch has been added Koshi Province1, three in Gandaki Province, ten in Lumbini Province, eight in Madhes Province, one in Karnali Province, and two in Sudurpaschim Province.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Nabil Bank's Chairman Upendra Prasad Poudyal and Board member Nirvan Chaudhary inaugurated eight branches each. Similarly, Bank's Board member Aasha Rana inaugurated eight branches, while bank's other Board members Ananta Poudyal and Pravin Tibadewala inaugurated seven branches each.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The digital inauguration program was attended by members of the Board of Directors, senior officials, and bank staff. With the addition of the 38 new branches, the total number of the bank's branch offices has reached 255. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Nabil Bank has requested customers and service seekers to contact the nearest branch office to avail themselves of the simple and convenient banking services. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17785', 'image' => '20230602101724_collage (5).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 10:15:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18053', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India gives Clearance for ILS at Gautam Buddha International Airport ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 2: India has granted clearance for operation of Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the Gautam Buddha international Airport in Bhairahawa. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 2: India has granted clearance for operation of Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the Gautam Buddha international Airport in Bhairahawa. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is currently on a four-day official to India, shared the information at a press conference held after a meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the latter's office in New Delhi on Thursday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"I appreciate the Government of India for giving clearance for the operation of ILS at Gautam Buddha International Airport. This would help the country operate safer flights with full capacity," PM Dahal said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He added that Nepal is hopeful of operating flights to different cities of India from the newly-constructed Bhairahawa and Pokhara-based international airports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, PM Dahal further shared that India was positive to provide additional air entry points. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We have requested Indian government to permit for air entry point from Mahendranagar". </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Though ILS was installed at Guatam Buddha international airport, it has not come into operation since a long time. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">General Manager of the Airport Hamsha Raj Pandey said aircraft can land in any weather condition based on instrument landing system from now onwards. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, the aircraft used to cancel their flights in hazy and foggy weather condition when the ILS was not permitted by Indian side due to the airport’s close proximity with Nepal-India border. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In normal condition it requires 1,500 meter visibility for the aircraft to land. But, with the new system in place, aircraft can land with visibility of 800-meter. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Gautam Buddha International Airport has come into operation since last year. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-02', 'modified' => '2023-06-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17784', 'image' => '20230602092732_GB airporttt.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-02 09:26:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18052', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal-India Long-Term Electricity Trade Agreement Ensures 10,000 Megawatt Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda's visit to India has paved the way for easy sales of domestically produced electricity in Indian market as India has agreed to purchase 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal in the next 10 years. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">June 1: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda's visit to India has paved the way for easy sales of domestically produced electricity in Indian market.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Previously, electricity trade was conducted under short-term agreements, but now it will be carried out through long-term power trade agreements. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">This will also provide relief to energy entrepreneurs. India has agreed to purchase 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal in the next 10 years. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">In addition, India will also purchase the electricity generated from projects such as the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">During a joint press conference following the meeting between the Prime Ministers of India and Nepal, Prime Minister Prachanda and Indian Prime Minister Narnedra Modi informed that India and Nepal had reached a long-term electricity trade agreement for the sale of power to India from Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">Similarly, directions have been given to relevant government officials to reach an agreement within the next three months on the detailed project report (DPR) of the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Hydropower Project. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">This has increased confidence that the Pancheshwar project, which has been stagnant for a long time, will now move forward.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The long-term power trade includes the construction of the New Butwal-Gorakhpur Cross-Border Transmission Line and the implementation of the Pancheshwar and Lower Arun Hydropower Projects. This has paved the way for Nepal to explore the international market for electricity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">The agreement on long-term electricity trade has instilled confidence in expanding Indian investment in Nepal's energy sector. It is believed that it will help reduce the trade deficit, increase employment opportunities, and earn foreign currency.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> Previously, the Nepal Electricity Authority(NEA) used to export electricity to the open market through a competitive bidding process every 15 minutes. The long-term agreement will provide significant relief to entrepreneurs as well.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt">In the past year, the Nepal Electricity Authority exported up to 452 megawatts of electricity to the open market. With the determination of rates every 15 minutes and the provision of an increase in rates, the Authority had to sell electricity at a cheaper price.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"> The long-term agreement has made Nepal's energy market more accessible and convenient for private entrepreneurs as well. Indian Prime Minister Modi also mentioned that long-term electricity trade agreement would contribute largely to Nepal’s power trade.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17783', 'image' => '20230601063820_collage (5).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 18:33:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18051', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India’s Satluj Company to Construct Lower Arun Hydropower Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, a hydropower generating company of India, is to construct the Lower Arun Hydropower Project in eastern Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">June 1: Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, a hydropower generating company of India, is to construct the Lower Arun Hydropower Project in eastern Nepal. A bilateral agreement was reached in this regard on Thursday during Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s official visit to India. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The company has also been undertaking the construction of the Arun-III Hydropower Project.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A project development agreement (PDA) was signed between Nepal and India in the presence of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi amidst a function in New Delhi.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Board, Nepal (IBN) Sushil Bhatta, and Chairman of Satluj Company, Nanda Lal Sharma, signed the PDA on behalf of their respective sides. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The 54th meeting of the Investment Board on May 28 chaired by Prime Minister Dahal had taken a decision on necessary homework on the PDA. The meeting approved the draft of PDA to be signed with the developer company and forwarded it to the Council of Ministers for approval. The Cabinet meeting later endorsed the PDA.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The entire power produced from the project will be exported, which is believed to contribute to the economic development of the country.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Investment Board had approved an investment of Rs 92.68 billion for the 669-MW capacity project. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17782', 'image' => '20230601043926_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 16:38:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18050', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'New Butwal-Gorakhpur Transmission Line Formally Launched during PM’s India Visit ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: The construction of the New Butwal-Gorakhapur Cross-border Transmission Line, which is considered as a vital power trade project between Nepal and India, has been formally launched.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 1: The construction of the New Butwal-Gorakhapur Cross-border Transmission Line, which is considered as a vital power trade project between Nepal and India, has been formally launched. Visiting Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Thursday virtually participated in the launch of the project amidst a ceremony at Hyderabad House, New Delhi. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the agreement reached during a meeting of Nepal-India energy Joint Steering Committee (JSC) in the past, Nepal and India will have an equal share of 50/50 percent in the 400 KV transmission line. This is the second high-capacity cross-border power project between the two close neighbours. The project will be implemented under a company model. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government of Nepal has already granted permission to the Nepal Electricity Authority to make investments in the joint company. This development during the prime minister's India visit paves the way for the NEA to undertake the project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Indian side has already endorsed foreign investment for the project. </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"">NEA Managing Director Kulman Ghising that the process for the construction of the transmission line has been already initiated with a target to complete the work within the next three years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NEA and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) are jointly working on the project. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17781', 'image' => '20230601035452_butwal lumbini line.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 15:53:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18049', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Dahal, his Indian Counterpart Modi Jointly Inaugurate Bathnaha-Budhnagar Railway ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the railway from Bathnaha (India) to Budhnagar (Nepal) on Thursday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 1: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi jointly inaugurated the railway from Bathnaha (India) to Budhnagar (Nepal) on Thursday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They inaugurated the railway from Indian PM Modi's Office, Hyderabad House, by raising green flags. Following the joint inauguration by the two prime ministers, the Indian side saw off a cargo rail from Bathnaha, as government officials of Nepal prepared to welcome it at Budhnagar. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The cargo rail to reach the Integrated Customs Check Post, Biratnagar carries raw materials for some industries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The entrepreneurs and industrialists in Koshi Province were demanding the government to facilitate the cargo transportation up to the Integrated Customs Check Post, Biratnagar from Bathnaha. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The 8-km railway was ready a long time ago. It was tested for operation on October 25, 2018 and again tested on Wednesday for the operation. With the inauguration, the railway will operate regularly. Similarly, efforts are underway for the operation of passenger trains too. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17780', 'image' => '20230601033824_PRO_KTM-6F8A8825.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 15:37:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18048', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cooperatives Instructed to Issue White Paper', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: The department of cooperatives has instructed cooperatives to make public the real situation of the organization through a white paper.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">June 1: The department of cooperatives has instructed cooperatives to make public the real situation of the organization through a white paper. Stating that the general public has developed a negative outlook towards cooperatives in general due to the inability of some organizations to return their savings, the department asked them to publish a white paper to take the people in confidence.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department’s Registrar Namraj Ghimire said at a press conference on Friday that cooperatives have invested in real estate, shares as well as subsidiary companies.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The the reality should be informed through a white paper. After that, if they make a commitment to return the depositors money with a deadline, we will also facilitate it,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The cooperative operators submitted a memorandum to the government through the National Cooperative Federation (NCF) and demanded the implementation of credit information center, debt recovery tribunal, cooperative promotion fund, savings and loan protection fund as well as Rs 10 billion concessional loan from the cooperative bank to solve the problem. After they protested that their demands were not met, the department held a press conference and announced its views.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “The department will not hesitate to take any action from freezing the assets of the co-operative operators who have committed fraud to bringing them under the ambit of the law to taking any legal action for the return of the depositors’ savings. The department is always alert to implement the provisions of other prevailing laws including the Cooperative Act, 2074, Cooperative Regulations, 2075 for guaranteeing the safety and return of savers' savings and shares,” Ghimire said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department concluded that after problems arose due to the weakness of institutional governance in some cooperatives, news and perceptions that the savings in the cooperatives are not safe came out and created an atmosphere of mistrust among the general public. In the current situation, the directors should increase contact with their members and build an atmosphere of trust.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the provisions of the constitution, the authority from co-operative registration to regulation has been given to the local level and the state government. Since the provincial and local levels are unable to regulate cooperatives, the management of cooperatives has become chaotic. The government does not even have the statistics of the business of cooperatives in recent times.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Taking advantage of the weak regulation, cooperatives that invested in real estate, private companies and shares against the law are in crisis as they are unable to return their savings due to the reduction in business due to the covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, the government's crackdown on real estate auctions, as well as the tight monetary policy. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17779', 'image' => '20230601023225_cooperative-new.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 14:31:06', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18047', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt’s Decision to Impose 13 Percent VAT on Air Tickets Riles NATTA ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) has expressed concerns over the government’s decision to impose 13 percent value added tax (VAT) on air-travel tickets for foreign visits and has demanded its withdrawal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 1: Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA) has expressed concerns over the government’s decision to impose 13 percent value added tax (VAT) on air-travel tickets for foreign visits and has demanded its withdrawal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government in the budget for the upcoming fiscal (FY) 2023-24 announced to levy 13 percent VAT on air tickets for foreign visits. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">NATTA, as a representative body of tour and travel agents, believes the imposition of VAT on air tickets for international travel would negatively impact the tourism sector. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The provision of charging 13 percent additional tax on air tickets for foreign visits makes it challenging to afford international trips when the international travel fair is already expensive. It is likely to affect the travel and tour business," NATTA Chair Ramesh Thapa said in a press statement on Thursday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He said that the decision to impose additional 13 percent VAT on air tickets for foreign visits is applicable only when the ticketing is done from Nepal and it is not charged while proceeding for tickets from abroad. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The domestic tour and travel business is certain to get affected by the decision when it is struggling to make through the post-COVID-19 situation. The decision hampers recovery efforts after the pandemic," added the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Thapa further said that the government’s decision to impose additional two percent luxury tax on services of high-end hotels and restaurants was not expected at all. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, NATTA welcomed the government decision to observe the period from 2023-2032 as the Visit Nepal Decade. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The priorities for the construction of the Nijgadh Airport, other airports, revival of cultural heritages, identification on new tourist destinations and acceleration of infrastructure development are other positive aspects of the budget, reads the statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The decision to allocate an additional budget of over Rs 2.5 billion to the tourism sector compared to the current fiscal year has encouraged the tourism and hospitality community, NATTA said. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17778', 'image' => '20230601013415_og.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 13:33:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '18046', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '20-Year Master Plan of Bagmati Civilisation likely by April Next Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 1: A 20-year master plan aiming to promote the civilisation of the Bagmati river system and its tributaries is likely by April next year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 1: A 20-year master plan aiming to promote the civilisation of the Bagmati river system and its tributaries is likely by April next year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the High Powered Committee for Integrated Development of the Bagmati Civilisation, the draft of the plan with the aim of constructing a corridor incorporating the Bagmati River and its tributaries and to restore the beauty of the historic river by 2043 has been prepared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Discussions with various bodies concerned are underway in course of finalizing the draft. The committee’s engineer Kamal Acharya said that the draft will likely be finalised by mid-April next year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The plan is all about the restoration of the Bagmati River, fixation of a sewage system on its two sides, construction of a corridor and cleaning its tributaries, said Acharya. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“Not only solid wastes but also the liquid wastes pose a challenge for cleaning the rivers and it needs to be managed,” he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The committee is currently carrying out waste management works targeting the Bagmati and 11 other rivulets in the Kathmandu Valley. The rivulets are Bishnumati, Manohara, Dhobhikhola, Tukucha, Balkhu, Machchhekhola, Mahadev Khola, Manamati, Nakhhu, Karmanasha and Hanumante. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">All these rivulets will have a sewage system on both sides, the committee officials said. Similarly, religious shrines on the banks of these rivulets will be rebuilt in course of implementing the plan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government in 2066 BS had come up with a five-year Bagmati Action Plan while the 20-year master plan is the revised form of the same plan. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-06-01', 'modified' => '2023-06-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17777', 'image' => '20230601125547_0105g120009hegjb048FE.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-06-01 12:54:50', '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
