May 15: Nepal-Bangladesh Energy Meeting is all set to be held from Monday.…
May 15: Nepal-Bangladesh Energy Meeting is all set to be held from Monday.…
May 15: Nepal witnessed a general influence of the Westerly wind and local wind on Sunday.…
May 15: The District Court, Kathmandu on Sunday extended the custody of 12 individuals accused of being involved in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam by four more days for the police to investigate the…
May 15: Nepali migrants who have spent at least six months in a foreign job are allowed to bring back two mobile phones along with them upon their return…
Former Deputy Prime Minister and suspended secretary of the Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist), Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, was arrested. He had been on the run for 12 days before being…
May 14: Some parts of the country including the Kathmandu Valley on Sunday experienced light rainfall due to the influence of the Westerly and the local…
May 14: An arrest warrant has been issued against Prateek Thapa, the son of former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, for his alleged role in a fraud case…
May 14: Chandra Prasad Dhakal, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), has said that the attempts to bring the private sector under the jurisdiction of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) will not be accepted at any…
May 14: The import of alcohol has immensely increased after the government lifted the ban on the import of luxury goods.…
May 14: Two people have reached the top of Mt Everest in this spring season.…
May 14: Generally, the onset of spring season is a time cardamom flowers and…
May 14: Cyclone Mocha developing in the Bay of Bengal will not have any significant impact on Nepal, according to the Weather Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and…
May 14: The Federation of Small and Cottage Industries has welcomed the third quarterly review of monetary policy unveiled recently by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). It stressed the objective implementation of the monetary…
Minister for Finance Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat said that the government is not able to present expansive and big size…
May 13: Nepal has witnessed an encouraging arrival of 326,527 foreign tourists in the first four months of 2023.…
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]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' => '17865', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Energy Meeting between Nepal and Bangladesh from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 15: Nepal-Bangladesh Energy Meeting is all set to be held from Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 15: Nepal-Bangladesh Energy Meeting is all set to be held from Monday. According to sources, the meeting to be held in Bangladesh will discuss how to prepare the necessary environment for electricity trade between the two countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire is leading the Nepali delegation in the meeting and Energy Secretary Habibur Rahman will lead it the Bangladesh side.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In a conversation with New Business Age, Kulman Ghising, the executive director of Nepal Electricity Authority, who arrived in Bangladesh to attend the energy meeting, said that a joint working group meeting will be held on the first day of the meeting, followed by a meeting of the Energy Secretary-level joint directorate committee of Nepal and Bangladesh on the second day based on the prime theme of electricity transmission and trade.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials of the Ministry of Energy have said that it will be a significant achievement if they can start electricity trade with Bangladesh even if it is only symbolic and will open the way for Nepal-Bangladesh electricity trade.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal proposed to sell electricity from Likhu-4 hydropower project to Bangladesh. However, India's consent is mandatory for electricity trade with Bangladesh. The Ministry of Energy plans to start electricity trade with Bangladesh before the onset of the rainy season, after India gave permission to use its transmission line.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sunkoshi-3 hydropower project will also be discussed in the meeting, which has already been agreed to be jointly invested by Nepal and Bangladesh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the agreement, Nepal has provided a feasibility study report and an environmental impact assessment report to Bangladesh. As the private sector of Bangladesh is also willing to invest in Nepal's hydropower, the officials said that how to bring that investment will be discussed in the meeting.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17595', 'image' => '20230515022832_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 14:27:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17863', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ''No Noticeable Effects of Cyclone Mocha in Nepal' ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 15: Nepal witnessed a general influence of the Westerly wind and local wind on Sunday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 15: Nepal witnessng a general influence of the Westerly wind and local wind. The powerful cyclone 'Mocha' that originated in the Bay of Bengal has had no noticeable effects in Nepal on Sunday, said the Weather Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the division, the cyclone has already entered the territory of Bangladesh and Myanmar and is gradually losing its intensity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Partial to general changes in weather are taking place in Koshi, Karnali and Sudurapschim provinces now, but the weather is generally clear in remaining provinces on Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the weather forecasting bulletin published by the division, brief or light rain with thunderstorms and lightning is likely to occur in some areas of mountainous belt of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces with partial to general changes in weather in the mountainous region of the country. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17594', 'image' => '20230515122821_weatherrrr.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 12:27:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17862', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Court Extends Custody of 12 Individuals Arrested in Fake Bhutanese Refugee Scam', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 15: The District Court, Kathmandu on Sunday extended the custody of 12 individuals accused of being involved in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam by four more days for the police to investigate the case.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 15: The District Court, Kathmandu on Sunday extended the custody of 12 individuals accused of being involved in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam by four more days for the police to investigate the case.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The court granted permission for the extension of custody following an appeal by the District Police Range, Kathmandu to the court stating that the investigation could not be concluded within the previously given deadline, said SP Sitaram Rijal </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police have so far arrested 13 people, including suspended UML Secretary Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, for allegedly promising to send people to the United States identifying them as Bhutanese refugees. The accused include some high-profile individuals including former Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand, former Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey and MP Indrajit Rai, security advisor to former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police have the authority to launch investigation into organized crimes by keeping the alleged people in custody for 60 days. It's been 50 days since the police made the first round of arrests involving conmen and launched the investigation. Based on the statements given by the conmen, police later made some high-profile arrests that has rocked the political circle of the country.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">SP Rijal added that they were preparing to submit a report to the Office of the District Public Prosecutor in 8 to 9 days. The office will thereafter register prosecution based on that report. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police have so far received 20 complaints from 106 individuals in connection with the scam. The victims have complained that the fraudsters fleeced over Rs 230 million from them promising to send them to the USA. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17593', 'image' => '20230515113335_court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 11:32:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17861', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Migrant Workers can Bring Home Two Mobile Phones ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 15: Nepali migrants who have spent at least six months in a foreign job are allowed to bring back two mobile phones along with them upon their return home. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 15: Nepali migrants who have spent at least six months in a foreign job are allowed to bring back two mobile phones along with them upon their return home. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Only those who have gone for a foreign job after taking labour permits and have completed six months on the job can carry home two mobiles (a used one and another brand new or both used ones) with them, according to a notice issued by the Department of Customs on Sunday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, those Nepalis who have gone to foreign countries to pursue education or for other purposes can bring in only one phone, said the department’s director Punya Bikram Khadka. "Those who have brought home two phones should go through the customs process," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on May 9 took a decision to this effect. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17592', 'image' => '20230515110313_20161218091617_sppp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 11:02:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17860', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Suspended UML Secretary Arrested in Fake Bhutanese Refugee Scam ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Former Deputy Prime Minister and suspended secretary of the Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist), Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, was arrested. He had been on the run for 12 days before being caught.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">May 15: Former Deputy Prime Minister and suspended secretary of the Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist), Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, was arrested. He had been on the run for 12 days before being caught.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">He was held from the Budhanilkantha area of Kathmandu for his alleged role in a fraud of millions of rupees by duping Nepali citizens with the promises of sending them to the United States in the cover of Bhutanese refugees on Sunday evening, according to sources from the Home Ministry. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">An arrest warrant was issued against Rayamajhi by the Kathmandu District Court on May 3 in connection with the case. He had been absconding since then.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist) had suspended him from all party responsibilities shortly after his disappearance. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Rayamajhi's arrest marks yet another high-profile development in the ongoing investigation into the scam. Earlier, Indrajit Rai, the advisor to former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, was arrested on charges of his involvement in the scam. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The investigation is being closely monitored by the authorities, and the police have already made 13 arrests over their alleged connections to the scam.</span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17591', 'image' => '20230515055822_collage (20).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 05:55:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17859', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Westerly Wind Causes Light Rainfall in Some Places including Kathmandu Valley ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Some parts of the country including the Kathmandu Valley on Sunday experienced light rainfall due to the influence of the Westerly and the local winds. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: Some parts of the country including the Kathmandu Valley on Sunday experienced light rainfall due to the influence of the Westerly and the local winds. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Meteorological Forecasting Division, the weather is cloudy in Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki provinces and isolated rain is likely in the hill regions of Koshi, Bagamati and Gandaki provinces. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Kathmandu Valley witnessed brief rainfall on Sunday, said the division's meteorologist Sameer Shrestha. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">No impact of Cyclone Mocha </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Division made it clear that there will be no impact of Cyclone Mocha developing in the Bay of Bengal. The cyclone is moving towards the east and Nepal is not likely to see its impact. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It will have major impacts on Bhutan, Bangladesh, Thailand and Myanmar, according to Shrestha. Cyclone Mocha is moving towards the coastal areas of Bangladesh and Myanmar. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17590', 'image' => '20230515120601_rainfallll.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 19:16:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17858', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Arrest Warrant Issued against Former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa’s Son', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: An arrest warrant has been issued against Prateek Thapa, the son of former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, for his alleged role in a fraud case .', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: An arrest warrant has been issued against Prateek Thapa, the son of former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, for his alleged role in a fraud case amounting to millions of rupees by duping people with the promises of sending them to the United States as Bhutanese refugees. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the District Police Range Kathmandu, the District Court Kathmandu has issued the arrest warrant against the son of the former home minister. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, Indrajit Rai, the advisor to former Home Minister Thapa, was arrested on the charge of his involvement in the scam. Police said they found 'evidence' of Prateek's association with the nexus during the investigation against Rai. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police have already made high-profile arrests over their alleged connections to the scam by taking into custody former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand and government secretary Tek Narayan Pandey. So far 12 people have been arrested over the scam while two others accused including former Deputy Prime Minister and CPN (UML) secretary Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and Neeraj Rai, the son of Indrajit Rai, have been on the run since the warrants were issued against them. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The UML has already suspended Rayamajhi after he was accused of being involved in the scam. – RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17589', 'image' => '20230514054302_nepal police.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 17:42:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17857', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Attempt to Bring Private Sector under CIAA’s Jurisdiction is Unacceptable: FNCCI President', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Chandra Prasad Dhakal, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), has said that the attempts to bring the private sector under the jurisdiction of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) will not be accepted at any cost.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 14: Chandra Prasad Dhakal, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), has said that the attempts to bring the private sector under the jurisdiction of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) will not be accepted at any cost.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">FNCCI President Dhakal made such a statement during an interaction organized by the Birgunj chapter of FNCCI recently. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There are talks of bringing the private sector under the CIAA's jurisdiction. It seems that this disaster will discourage the private sector even more. We are not in favor of it,” said Dhakal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The FNCCI president said that the industries and businesses are facing problems due to lack of liquidity and high interest rates. He made it clear that the private sector is ready to cooperate in this issue if the government comes up with a blueprint for its long-term solution. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the main problems in the economy are easing restrictions, decline in market demand, and lack of revenue collection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Ashok Kumar Temani, president of Madhes Province chapter of the FNCCI, said that the relationship between the state level and the central FNCCI should be defined in a new way.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17588', 'image' => '20230514035758_1684050182.344291018_766552064960837_8877345925174622149_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 15:56:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17855', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import of Liquor Increase after Government Lifts Ban', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: The import of alcohol has immensely increased after the government lifted the ban on the import of luxury goods. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 14: The import of alcohol has immensely increased after the government lifted the ban on the import of luxury goods. The Department of Customs informed that 468,626 liters of alcohol worth Rs 791 million was imported in four months after the ban was lifted.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Last year, the government published a notice in the Nepal Gazette on April 26 and banned the import of 10 luxury items including alcohol due to the decline in foreign exchange reserves. Now that the reserves are restoring back to normalcy, the government lifted the import ban from mid-December.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the ban was lifted, 40,343 liters of alcohol worth Rs 83.24 million from mid-December to mid-January, 121,908 liters worth Rs 284.6 million from mid-January to mid-February, 85,151 liters worth Rs 142.3 million from mid-February to mid-March and 221,143 million liters worth Rs 281.6 million from mid-March to mid-April.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Many people have been surprised by the fact that a large amount of alcohol is imported from abroad in a short period of time when enough alcohol is produced within the country. Besides, the question surfaced as to why Nepali people use so much foreign liquor instead of domestic liquor.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ravi KC, the producer of domestic Vodka brand 8848 said, “Since there is no significant difference in the price of domestic and foreign liquor, customers may prefer foreign brand. It is difficult to produce the raw materials needed for alcohol in Nepal due to legal complications. On top of that, the government has increased the rate of excise duty on the import of raw materials. In this case, the price of domestic and foreign alcohol is almost similar.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to KC, the reason for importing large quantities of liquor is the ban that has been in place for a long time. He said that the importers may have stocked a large amount of liquor due to the suspicion that the ban may be imposed again. However, government officials say that quality and brand play an important role in increasing the import of foreign liquor. Officials argue that the market for foreign liquor will increase as domestic liquor cannot compete with foreign liquor in terms of quality and the brand is not established.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Urmila KC, joint-spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies says that businessmen have not discussed the issue of legal complications in the production of raw materials required for alcohol with the ministry. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Industrialists and businessmen need to submit an application to the ministry about the problems faced by them. The industrialists also need to explain what caused the problem, what is expected from the government and how the solution can be done,” she said, adding, “After the industrialists put their point clearly, the ministry will consider the matter in a thorough manner.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She also said that ultimately the industrialists should work harder for the production and market expansion of raw materials and alcohol.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17586', 'image' => '20230514024107_alco.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 14:39:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17854', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Two Climbers Scale Mt Everest ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Two people have reached the top of Mt Everest in this spring season. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: Two people have reached the top of Mt Everest in this spring season. Nepal's Pasang Temba Sherpa and Naila Kaini from Pakistan successfully scaled the world's highest peak at 8:02 am on Sunday. Their expedition was facilitated by Imagine Nepal Trek and Expedition Company. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They climbed the peak just a day after a team of icefall doctors concluded the rope-fixing along the climbing route. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The company’s executive director Dawa Gyalje Sherpa said, Kaini reached the summit of Mt Everest this morning and she is the first international climber to climb the world's highest peak in the year 2023. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Some of the climbers have reached the Hillary step and many are in and around the South Col. Many are expected to reach the summit by Sunday evening. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The expedition for the spring season began on Saturday. According to the Department of Tourism, 467 of 44 expedition teams have taken permission for mountain climbing this spring season. </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">-- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17585', 'image' => '20230514014039_20220516042550_expedition-in-nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 13:39:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17853', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Drought Hits Cardamom Plantation in Taplejung ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Generally, the onset of spring season is a time cardamom flowers and buds.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: Generally, the onset of spring season is a time cardamom flowers and buds. But, this year, cardamom plants have wilted. Even the trees that provide shade and help to keep soil damp for cardamom are getting dry. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The plantation areas are vulnerable to blaze. This is the story about the cardamom estate of Siddhadanda at Phungling Municipality in Taplegung. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">With the parched cash crop, farmers here are worried much about the income. There is neither rainfall nor irrigation facility to water the dried crop. It is not possible to fetch water and irrigate the estate. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"I've been planting cardamom for 40 years. I harvested as much as 1600 kgs of cardamom, but for some years, the harvest has been dented much with disease and drought. Now, the absence of rain this year has hit hard the cultivation," farmer Krishna Gurung shared the plight. "What is left to grow as the plant is dried before flowering,” he expressed his grief. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Another farmer Bir Bahadur Phembule from the same locality shared a similar story. He expressed sadness over the imminent loss of income with drying cardamom. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the previous years, there used to be rainfall in early January while the Himalayan region witnessed snowfall during that time. But this year, there was no snowfall. It resulted in diminished sources of water, according to Principal Raju Hellok at Parbati Basic School from Phaktanglung Rural Municipality-5. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Farmers are cheerless this time as the cash crop has dried for lack of rainfall," he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Moreover, Ran Bahadur Baboko, a farmer from Mangmakhe of Sirijungha Rural Municipality-6, said they will most certainly bear huge loss in cardamom plantation this time. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Cardamom has been planted in 4,200 hectares of land in the district this year, which is 50 hectares less than last year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, in the nine months of the current fiscal year, cardamom worth Rs 6.35 billion has been exported from Nepal, according to the Department of Customs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The farmers here are desperately waiting for relief from concerned authorities citing the impact of drought on cardamom estate. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17584', 'image' => '20230514122740_cardamon_18736222.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 12:26:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17852', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'No Impact of Cyclone in Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Cyclone Mocha developing in the Bay of Bengal will not have any significant impact on Nepal, according to the Weather Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">May 14: Cyclone Mocha developing in the Bay of Bengal will not have any significant impact on Nepal, according to the Weather Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The cyclone is currently moving towards the northeast direction and is rising up in the coastal areas of Bangladesh and Myanmar, according to RSS, the state-owned national news agency of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the CNN reported that aid agencies in Bangladesh and Myanmar are bracing for disaster and have launched a massive emergency plan as the powerful cyclone barrels towards millions of vulnerable people.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The cyclone is expected to make landfall on Sunday afternoon, likely across Rakhine state of Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh’s Cox Bazar, host to the world’s largest refugee camp, added CNN</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from the coasts of Myanmar and Bangladesh as Cyclone Mocha- the region's most powerful cyclone for over a decade- is set to hit the coastal region, reported the Hindustan Times.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The 'Super Cyclone' packed with winds of up to 240 kilometres per hour will be equivalent to a category 4 hurricane, reported Indian media.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The buildup of the cyclone is of particular concern for Nepal as the country gears up for spring expedition of mountain peaks.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">It is noteworthy to recall that during the autumn climbing season nine years, Cyclone Hudhud in eastern India had caused a sudden changes in weather and caused avalanches and blizzard in Dhaulagiri and Annapurna regions of Nepal on October 14, 2014 killing dozens of people.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17583', 'image' => '20230514113236_MochaCyclone_1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 11:31:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17851', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ''Third Quarterly Review of Monetary Policy Positive' ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: The Federation of Small and Cottage Industries has welcomed the third quarterly review of monetary policy unveiled recently by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). It stressed the objective implementation of the monetary policy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: The Federation of Small and Cottage Industries has welcomed the third quarterly review of monetary policy unveiled recently by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). It stressed the objective implementation of the monetary policy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The federation drew NRB's attention towards the provision that commercial banks need to invest 11 percent of total loan in small, cottage and mid-scale industries. Although some sectors had witnessed positive indicators for investment, the small and cottage industries were still complaining of not getting loan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the wake of complaints that small entrepreneurs were not provided concessional loan, a total of 147,807 persons were provided concessional loan as of mid-April. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The federation welcomed the provision of restructuring and re-tabulation of loan within mid-July 2023 by analysing cash flow and income of industries and enterprises against the loan up to Rs 20 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The federation has also appreciated the continuation of refinancing scheme for recovery of the productive sectors such as agriculture, and small and cottage industries which were impacted badly by the COVID crisis.-- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17582', 'image' => '20230514105953_1683614421.1643946593.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 10:58:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17849', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Dr Mahat Rules Out Possibility of Expansive and Big Budget', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Minister for Finance Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat said that the government is not able to present expansive and big size budget.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">May 14: Minister for Finance Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat said that the government is not able to present expansive and big size budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">At a programme organized by the Centre for Economic Development and Administration and the National Economic Concern Society Nepal in Kathmandu on Saturday, Finance Minister Mahat made it clear that the government was unable to roll out an extensive and big size budget due to limited resources and decreased revenue collection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"We are currently facing a significant challenge in terms of revenue shortfall. There are limitations in presenting an expansive and large-scale budget," Mahat said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Finance Minister expressed his commitment to making maximum efforts for economic reform and improvement. "After coming to the Finance Ministry, I have observed many problems. There are more problems than what meets the eye. But, I cannot claim to solve all of them. But, honest efforts will be made from my side for reform," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Finance Minister Mahat has stated that responsibility of principal and interest of the public debt had increased. “The responsibility to repay the loans taken for earthquake reconstruction will increase from next year onwards,” he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Furthermore, he has emphasized the need for the government to maintain efficiency and implementation in budget management and execution. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"We require substantial improvements to our organizational structure and must amplify the impact of our budget. The current issue is that there is a lack of capital flow in the market without investments, and there is also no flow of funds through the banking system," the Minister stated. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, the Minister emphasized the need to improve the tendency to spend capital towards the end of the fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">During the event, National Planning Commission's Vice-Chairperson Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha pledged to take suggestions solicited from various sectors into consideration while allocating the budget and formulating policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year. He further added that any issues missed out in the upcoming budget would be incorporated into the 16th periodic plan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Former Chief Secretary Leelamani Poudyal expressed concern regarding the government's inability to build capital and create employment from investments made in the social security sector. He viewed the current problems in the national economy as a result of consistently having bad policies for nearly three decades.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Professor Dr Shivaraj Adhikari commented that economic growth was dismal compared to investment, while jobs were not created compared to the economic growth rate. He viewed the economic problems as being a result of increased public debt and investment without any corresponding economic growth.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17580', 'image' => '20230514062755_collage (17).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 06:24:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17848', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Tourism Rebounding with Over 132 Percent Increase in Arrival of Foreign Tourists in 4 Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 13: Nepal has witnessed an encouraging arrival of 326,527 foreign tourists in the first four months of 2023. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 13</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">: </span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal has witnessed an encouraging arrival of 326,527 foreign tourists in the first four months of 2023. The figure is 132.67 percent increment as compared to the same period in the previous year, 2022. A total of 140,336 foreign tourists visited the country during the same period in 2022.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The global COVID-19 pandemic hit the tourism sector of the country resulting in a sharp drop in the influx of foreign tourists in the past few years. Just before the pandemic, a total of 420,446 foreign tourists had visited the country in the first four months of the year 2019. In the following years after outbreak of the virus, there was a sharp drop in the inflow of tourists. A total of 220,682 tourists arrived in Nepal in 2020. The figure further dropped to 55,447 in 2021.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Factors like a surge in the inflow of tourists and recovering occupancy of hotels have indicated the revival of the tourism sector from the infection. Director of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) Maniraj Lamichhane said tourism has almost been on track. “Factors like the inflow of foreign tourists, encouraging number of people taking the permit to climb mountains and increasing mobility of tourists at tourism destinations have indicated the revival of the tourism sector. Tourism will soon keep its track by prioritizing one-stop destinations and expediting aggressive marketing,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The influx of foreign tourists in the first four months of the year 2023 has almost kept up with the figure during the same period in 2019 before the pandemic, which is a positive sign, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is a need for the rebranding and repositioning of the destination marketing so as to make the tourism sector more dynamic, he suggested.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Projection of the World Tourism Organisation</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The World Tourism Organisation has projected the revival of Nepal’s tourism sector until 2023. The organization had projected global tourism including Nepal’s to recover by up to 95 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Factors like the latest tendency of people visiting accessible and nearest destinations, and China remaining open to tourists have added, it said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The number of foreign mountaineers taking the permit to scale mountains has also been encouraging. Spring this year has witnessed a record highest number of mountaineers who have taken the permit to climb Sagarmatha (Mt Everest), according to the Department of Tourism. During the season, a total of 467 climbers from 44 groups (98 women and 369 men) took permits to climb mountains as of May 9, said Bigyan Koirala, section officer at the mountaineering section of the Department of Tourism, adding that the number could increase. The number of people who have taken the permit to climb mountains this season was a record high in the 70-year history of the ascent of Mt Everest, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">People from 65 countries including from Nepal took the permit. Over Rs 660 million was collected in revenue by issuing the permit to scale Mt Everest.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of them have reached the base camp of the world’s highest peak, and they are reported to be waiting for good weather conditions, it has been said. Icefall doctors’ team has cleared the route to Camp 4 or the South Col. The expedition team could not push their way ahead due to bad weather conditions above 7,500 meters on Mt Everest, it has been said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Flights recovering</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Around 300 roundtrip domestic flights have taken place, said Teknath Sitaula, spokesperson for the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). Nine airlines and 11 helicopter companies are operating domestic flights. Similarly, 27 airlines companies including three Nepali companies are operating international flights. Of the total 54 airports including three international ones in the country, 36 are operational.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite getting into approximately Rs 48 billion debts, the Nepal Airlines Corporation, the national flag-carrier of the country, is planning to add three more aircraft. Currently, it has two wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft for international flights. Similarly, it has two Twin Otter planes for domestic flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In view of the marketing of tourism, the Tourism Board has a plan on the table to expand the market across India, Bangladesh and China. Europe and the United States have recovered in terms of tourism following the infection. Asian countries are on track to achieve tourism revival.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lately, Chinese tourists have visited Nepal in hordes.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Before the pandemic, around 170,000 Chinese tourists had arrived in Nepal. Lately after the virus subsided, the influx of Chinese tourists has been encouraging, said Tourism Board’s Director Lamichhane.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, the country saw the arrival of around 1,800 Chinese tourists in February, 2023. The number encouragingly surged 30 percent to 2,600 in March, and 81 percent to 4,770 in April. Flights from China to Nepal have also added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Proper marketing has resulted in a significant surge in the influx of tourists from India and Bangladesh as well, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Now, the arrival of Chinese tourists would increase as the Nepal-China transit points have reopened, and flights are operating, he expressed the hope.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">General Secretary of the Nepal Mountaineering Association Mohan Lamsal expressed his hope that enthusiasm for climbing Mt Everest this season, and activities in the run-up to the 70th Anniversary of the first successful ascent of Mt Everest would make the country’s tourism more dynamic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hotels and hospitality centers in the country have capacity of accommodating around 3.5 million tourists. There are around 10,000 hotels ranging from five stars to tourist standard hotels in the country.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At present, there are 18 five star hotels including a deluxe one in the country, according to the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN). Around 20 five star hotels will be added in one and a half years. Over two dozen chain hotels are also ready for operation. HAN President Binayak Shah said the affected tourism sector of the country has gradually come back on track.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, there is still a setback for hotels. There is only 30 percent hotel occupancy as of now, said hotel entrepreneurs. It requires at least 38 percent occupancy to cover daily operational expenses of a hotel, they said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Now we can bring packages to attract tourists. Hotels have been hit hard due to a lack of tourists for the past three years after the outbreak of the pandemic. As a result, hotel entrepreneurs have faced such a situation that they are finding it hard to pay off bank loans and interests. Until the previous fiscal year, the government had tried to address our problems through monetary policy. But, this is not the case in the current FY. So, we have put forward our problems with the government,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Returns on investment?</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to data, Rs 1,700 to Rs 1,800 billion have been invested in the hotel sector. The influx of tourists in recent years has not been enough to get hotels surviving the dire situation at present.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In such a situation, to save the hotel sector, the government should take steps like fully operating Pokhara and Bhairahawa international airports, said Shah.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“It will be meaningless to only construct airports without their operation. We are unable to operate other aircraft except for the ones of the NAC. We cannot bring in 3.5 million tourists when airports cannot operate fully. There is a doubt that the government cannot do the marketing substantially. For this, the government should cooperate with the private sector,” he suggested.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President of the Thamel Tourism Development Council, Bhabishwar Sharma backed Lamichhane. The country’s tourism is gradually recovering, and this has encouraged tourism entrepreneurs, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Encouraged by the gradual revival of the tourism sector, tourism entrepreneurs are working with positive vibes. There has been around 80 percent hotel occupancy in the Thamel area. Chinese tourists are increasing,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He stressed the need for a partnership between the government and the private sector to revitalize the industry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, President of the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal, Nilhari Bastola stressed the need for policy improvements, destination expansion and marketing so as to make the tourism sector dynamic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Also, President of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents Ramesh Thapa emphasized putting forward planned programmes for accelerating the revival of tourism.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> -- </span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">RSS</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-13', 'modified' => '2023-05-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17579', 'image' => '20230513065358_Tourist Arrival (1).jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-13 18:52:46', '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' => '17865', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Energy Meeting between Nepal and Bangladesh from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 15: Nepal-Bangladesh Energy Meeting is all set to be held from Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 15: Nepal-Bangladesh Energy Meeting is all set to be held from Monday. According to sources, the meeting to be held in Bangladesh will discuss how to prepare the necessary environment for electricity trade between the two countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire is leading the Nepali delegation in the meeting and Energy Secretary Habibur Rahman will lead it the Bangladesh side.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In a conversation with New Business Age, Kulman Ghising, the executive director of Nepal Electricity Authority, who arrived in Bangladesh to attend the energy meeting, said that a joint working group meeting will be held on the first day of the meeting, followed by a meeting of the Energy Secretary-level joint directorate committee of Nepal and Bangladesh on the second day based on the prime theme of electricity transmission and trade.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials of the Ministry of Energy have said that it will be a significant achievement if they can start electricity trade with Bangladesh even if it is only symbolic and will open the way for Nepal-Bangladesh electricity trade.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal proposed to sell electricity from Likhu-4 hydropower project to Bangladesh. However, India's consent is mandatory for electricity trade with Bangladesh. The Ministry of Energy plans to start electricity trade with Bangladesh before the onset of the rainy season, after India gave permission to use its transmission line.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sunkoshi-3 hydropower project will also be discussed in the meeting, which has already been agreed to be jointly invested by Nepal and Bangladesh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the agreement, Nepal has provided a feasibility study report and an environmental impact assessment report to Bangladesh. As the private sector of Bangladesh is also willing to invest in Nepal's hydropower, the officials said that how to bring that investment will be discussed in the meeting.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17595', 'image' => '20230515022832_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 14:27:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17863', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ''No Noticeable Effects of Cyclone Mocha in Nepal' ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 15: Nepal witnessed a general influence of the Westerly wind and local wind on Sunday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 15: Nepal witnessng a general influence of the Westerly wind and local wind. The powerful cyclone 'Mocha' that originated in the Bay of Bengal has had no noticeable effects in Nepal on Sunday, said the Weather Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the division, the cyclone has already entered the territory of Bangladesh and Myanmar and is gradually losing its intensity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Partial to general changes in weather are taking place in Koshi, Karnali and Sudurapschim provinces now, but the weather is generally clear in remaining provinces on Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the weather forecasting bulletin published by the division, brief or light rain with thunderstorms and lightning is likely to occur in some areas of mountainous belt of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces with partial to general changes in weather in the mountainous region of the country. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17594', 'image' => '20230515122821_weatherrrr.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 12:27:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17862', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Court Extends Custody of 12 Individuals Arrested in Fake Bhutanese Refugee Scam', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 15: The District Court, Kathmandu on Sunday extended the custody of 12 individuals accused of being involved in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam by four more days for the police to investigate the case.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 15: The District Court, Kathmandu on Sunday extended the custody of 12 individuals accused of being involved in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam by four more days for the police to investigate the case.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The court granted permission for the extension of custody following an appeal by the District Police Range, Kathmandu to the court stating that the investigation could not be concluded within the previously given deadline, said SP Sitaram Rijal </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police have so far arrested 13 people, including suspended UML Secretary Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, for allegedly promising to send people to the United States identifying them as Bhutanese refugees. The accused include some high-profile individuals including former Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand, former Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey and MP Indrajit Rai, security advisor to former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police have the authority to launch investigation into organized crimes by keeping the alleged people in custody for 60 days. It's been 50 days since the police made the first round of arrests involving conmen and launched the investigation. Based on the statements given by the conmen, police later made some high-profile arrests that has rocked the political circle of the country.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">SP Rijal added that they were preparing to submit a report to the Office of the District Public Prosecutor in 8 to 9 days. The office will thereafter register prosecution based on that report. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police have so far received 20 complaints from 106 individuals in connection with the scam. The victims have complained that the fraudsters fleeced over Rs 230 million from them promising to send them to the USA. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17593', 'image' => '20230515113335_court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 11:32:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17861', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Migrant Workers can Bring Home Two Mobile Phones ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 15: Nepali migrants who have spent at least six months in a foreign job are allowed to bring back two mobile phones along with them upon their return home. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 15: Nepali migrants who have spent at least six months in a foreign job are allowed to bring back two mobile phones along with them upon their return home. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Only those who have gone for a foreign job after taking labour permits and have completed six months on the job can carry home two mobiles (a used one and another brand new or both used ones) with them, according to a notice issued by the Department of Customs on Sunday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, those Nepalis who have gone to foreign countries to pursue education or for other purposes can bring in only one phone, said the department’s director Punya Bikram Khadka. "Those who have brought home two phones should go through the customs process," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on May 9 took a decision to this effect. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17592', 'image' => '20230515110313_20161218091617_sppp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 11:02:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17860', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Suspended UML Secretary Arrested in Fake Bhutanese Refugee Scam ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Former Deputy Prime Minister and suspended secretary of the Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist), Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, was arrested. He had been on the run for 12 days before being caught.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">May 15: Former Deputy Prime Minister and suspended secretary of the Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist), Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, was arrested. He had been on the run for 12 days before being caught.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">He was held from the Budhanilkantha area of Kathmandu for his alleged role in a fraud of millions of rupees by duping Nepali citizens with the promises of sending them to the United States in the cover of Bhutanese refugees on Sunday evening, according to sources from the Home Ministry. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">An arrest warrant was issued against Rayamajhi by the Kathmandu District Court on May 3 in connection with the case. He had been absconding since then.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist) had suspended him from all party responsibilities shortly after his disappearance. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Rayamajhi's arrest marks yet another high-profile development in the ongoing investigation into the scam. Earlier, Indrajit Rai, the advisor to former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, was arrested on charges of his involvement in the scam. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The investigation is being closely monitored by the authorities, and the police have already made 13 arrests over their alleged connections to the scam.</span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17591', 'image' => '20230515055822_collage (20).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 05:55:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17859', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Westerly Wind Causes Light Rainfall in Some Places including Kathmandu Valley ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Some parts of the country including the Kathmandu Valley on Sunday experienced light rainfall due to the influence of the Westerly and the local winds. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: Some parts of the country including the Kathmandu Valley on Sunday experienced light rainfall due to the influence of the Westerly and the local winds. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Meteorological Forecasting Division, the weather is cloudy in Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki provinces and isolated rain is likely in the hill regions of Koshi, Bagamati and Gandaki provinces. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Kathmandu Valley witnessed brief rainfall on Sunday, said the division's meteorologist Sameer Shrestha. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">No impact of Cyclone Mocha </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Division made it clear that there will be no impact of Cyclone Mocha developing in the Bay of Bengal. The cyclone is moving towards the east and Nepal is not likely to see its impact. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It will have major impacts on Bhutan, Bangladesh, Thailand and Myanmar, according to Shrestha. Cyclone Mocha is moving towards the coastal areas of Bangladesh and Myanmar. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17590', 'image' => '20230515120601_rainfallll.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 19:16:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17858', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Arrest Warrant Issued against Former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa’s Son', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: An arrest warrant has been issued against Prateek Thapa, the son of former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, for his alleged role in a fraud case .', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: An arrest warrant has been issued against Prateek Thapa, the son of former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, for his alleged role in a fraud case amounting to millions of rupees by duping people with the promises of sending them to the United States as Bhutanese refugees. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the District Police Range Kathmandu, the District Court Kathmandu has issued the arrest warrant against the son of the former home minister. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, Indrajit Rai, the advisor to former Home Minister Thapa, was arrested on the charge of his involvement in the scam. Police said they found 'evidence' of Prateek's association with the nexus during the investigation against Rai. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police have already made high-profile arrests over their alleged connections to the scam by taking into custody former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand and government secretary Tek Narayan Pandey. So far 12 people have been arrested over the scam while two others accused including former Deputy Prime Minister and CPN (UML) secretary Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and Neeraj Rai, the son of Indrajit Rai, have been on the run since the warrants were issued against them. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The UML has already suspended Rayamajhi after he was accused of being involved in the scam. – RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17589', 'image' => '20230514054302_nepal police.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 17:42:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17857', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Attempt to Bring Private Sector under CIAA’s Jurisdiction is Unacceptable: FNCCI President', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Chandra Prasad Dhakal, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), has said that the attempts to bring the private sector under the jurisdiction of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) will not be accepted at any cost.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 14: Chandra Prasad Dhakal, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), has said that the attempts to bring the private sector under the jurisdiction of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) will not be accepted at any cost.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">FNCCI President Dhakal made such a statement during an interaction organized by the Birgunj chapter of FNCCI recently. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There are talks of bringing the private sector under the CIAA's jurisdiction. It seems that this disaster will discourage the private sector even more. We are not in favor of it,” said Dhakal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The FNCCI president said that the industries and businesses are facing problems due to lack of liquidity and high interest rates. He made it clear that the private sector is ready to cooperate in this issue if the government comes up with a blueprint for its long-term solution. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the main problems in the economy are easing restrictions, decline in market demand, and lack of revenue collection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Ashok Kumar Temani, president of Madhes Province chapter of the FNCCI, said that the relationship between the state level and the central FNCCI should be defined in a new way.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17588', 'image' => '20230514035758_1684050182.344291018_766552064960837_8877345925174622149_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 15:56:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17855', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import of Liquor Increase after Government Lifts Ban', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: The import of alcohol has immensely increased after the government lifted the ban on the import of luxury goods. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 14: The import of alcohol has immensely increased after the government lifted the ban on the import of luxury goods. The Department of Customs informed that 468,626 liters of alcohol worth Rs 791 million was imported in four months after the ban was lifted.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Last year, the government published a notice in the Nepal Gazette on April 26 and banned the import of 10 luxury items including alcohol due to the decline in foreign exchange reserves. Now that the reserves are restoring back to normalcy, the government lifted the import ban from mid-December.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the ban was lifted, 40,343 liters of alcohol worth Rs 83.24 million from mid-December to mid-January, 121,908 liters worth Rs 284.6 million from mid-January to mid-February, 85,151 liters worth Rs 142.3 million from mid-February to mid-March and 221,143 million liters worth Rs 281.6 million from mid-March to mid-April.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Many people have been surprised by the fact that a large amount of alcohol is imported from abroad in a short period of time when enough alcohol is produced within the country. Besides, the question surfaced as to why Nepali people use so much foreign liquor instead of domestic liquor.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ravi KC, the producer of domestic Vodka brand 8848 said, “Since there is no significant difference in the price of domestic and foreign liquor, customers may prefer foreign brand. It is difficult to produce the raw materials needed for alcohol in Nepal due to legal complications. On top of that, the government has increased the rate of excise duty on the import of raw materials. In this case, the price of domestic and foreign alcohol is almost similar.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to KC, the reason for importing large quantities of liquor is the ban that has been in place for a long time. He said that the importers may have stocked a large amount of liquor due to the suspicion that the ban may be imposed again. However, government officials say that quality and brand play an important role in increasing the import of foreign liquor. Officials argue that the market for foreign liquor will increase as domestic liquor cannot compete with foreign liquor in terms of quality and the brand is not established.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Urmila KC, joint-spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies says that businessmen have not discussed the issue of legal complications in the production of raw materials required for alcohol with the ministry. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Industrialists and businessmen need to submit an application to the ministry about the problems faced by them. The industrialists also need to explain what caused the problem, what is expected from the government and how the solution can be done,” she said, adding, “After the industrialists put their point clearly, the ministry will consider the matter in a thorough manner.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She also said that ultimately the industrialists should work harder for the production and market expansion of raw materials and alcohol.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17586', 'image' => '20230514024107_alco.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 14:39:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17854', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Two Climbers Scale Mt Everest ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Two people have reached the top of Mt Everest in this spring season. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: Two people have reached the top of Mt Everest in this spring season. Nepal's Pasang Temba Sherpa and Naila Kaini from Pakistan successfully scaled the world's highest peak at 8:02 am on Sunday. Their expedition was facilitated by Imagine Nepal Trek and Expedition Company. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They climbed the peak just a day after a team of icefall doctors concluded the rope-fixing along the climbing route. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The company’s executive director Dawa Gyalje Sherpa said, Kaini reached the summit of Mt Everest this morning and she is the first international climber to climb the world's highest peak in the year 2023. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Some of the climbers have reached the Hillary step and many are in and around the South Col. Many are expected to reach the summit by Sunday evening. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The expedition for the spring season began on Saturday. According to the Department of Tourism, 467 of 44 expedition teams have taken permission for mountain climbing this spring season. </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">-- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17585', 'image' => '20230514014039_20220516042550_expedition-in-nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 13:39:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17853', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Drought Hits Cardamom Plantation in Taplejung ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Generally, the onset of spring season is a time cardamom flowers and buds.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: Generally, the onset of spring season is a time cardamom flowers and buds. But, this year, cardamom plants have wilted. Even the trees that provide shade and help to keep soil damp for cardamom are getting dry. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The plantation areas are vulnerable to blaze. This is the story about the cardamom estate of Siddhadanda at Phungling Municipality in Taplegung. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">With the parched cash crop, farmers here are worried much about the income. There is neither rainfall nor irrigation facility to water the dried crop. It is not possible to fetch water and irrigate the estate. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"I've been planting cardamom for 40 years. I harvested as much as 1600 kgs of cardamom, but for some years, the harvest has been dented much with disease and drought. Now, the absence of rain this year has hit hard the cultivation," farmer Krishna Gurung shared the plight. "What is left to grow as the plant is dried before flowering,” he expressed his grief. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Another farmer Bir Bahadur Phembule from the same locality shared a similar story. He expressed sadness over the imminent loss of income with drying cardamom. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the previous years, there used to be rainfall in early January while the Himalayan region witnessed snowfall during that time. But this year, there was no snowfall. It resulted in diminished sources of water, according to Principal Raju Hellok at Parbati Basic School from Phaktanglung Rural Municipality-5. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Farmers are cheerless this time as the cash crop has dried for lack of rainfall," he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Moreover, Ran Bahadur Baboko, a farmer from Mangmakhe of Sirijungha Rural Municipality-6, said they will most certainly bear huge loss in cardamom plantation this time. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Cardamom has been planted in 4,200 hectares of land in the district this year, which is 50 hectares less than last year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, in the nine months of the current fiscal year, cardamom worth Rs 6.35 billion has been exported from Nepal, according to the Department of Customs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The farmers here are desperately waiting for relief from concerned authorities citing the impact of drought on cardamom estate. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17584', 'image' => '20230514122740_cardamon_18736222.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 12:26:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17852', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'No Impact of Cyclone in Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Cyclone Mocha developing in the Bay of Bengal will not have any significant impact on Nepal, according to the Weather Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">May 14: Cyclone Mocha developing in the Bay of Bengal will not have any significant impact on Nepal, according to the Weather Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The cyclone is currently moving towards the northeast direction and is rising up in the coastal areas of Bangladesh and Myanmar, according to RSS, the state-owned national news agency of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the CNN reported that aid agencies in Bangladesh and Myanmar are bracing for disaster and have launched a massive emergency plan as the powerful cyclone barrels towards millions of vulnerable people.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The cyclone is expected to make landfall on Sunday afternoon, likely across Rakhine state of Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh’s Cox Bazar, host to the world’s largest refugee camp, added CNN</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from the coasts of Myanmar and Bangladesh as Cyclone Mocha- the region's most powerful cyclone for over a decade- is set to hit the coastal region, reported the Hindustan Times.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The 'Super Cyclone' packed with winds of up to 240 kilometres per hour will be equivalent to a category 4 hurricane, reported Indian media.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The buildup of the cyclone is of particular concern for Nepal as the country gears up for spring expedition of mountain peaks.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">It is noteworthy to recall that during the autumn climbing season nine years, Cyclone Hudhud in eastern India had caused a sudden changes in weather and caused avalanches and blizzard in Dhaulagiri and Annapurna regions of Nepal on October 14, 2014 killing dozens of people.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17583', 'image' => '20230514113236_MochaCyclone_1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 11:31:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17851', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ''Third Quarterly Review of Monetary Policy Positive' ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: The Federation of Small and Cottage Industries has welcomed the third quarterly review of monetary policy unveiled recently by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). It stressed the objective implementation of the monetary policy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: The Federation of Small and Cottage Industries has welcomed the third quarterly review of monetary policy unveiled recently by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). It stressed the objective implementation of the monetary policy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The federation drew NRB's attention towards the provision that commercial banks need to invest 11 percent of total loan in small, cottage and mid-scale industries. Although some sectors had witnessed positive indicators for investment, the small and cottage industries were still complaining of not getting loan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the wake of complaints that small entrepreneurs were not provided concessional loan, a total of 147,807 persons were provided concessional loan as of mid-April. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The federation welcomed the provision of restructuring and re-tabulation of loan within mid-July 2023 by analysing cash flow and income of industries and enterprises against the loan up to Rs 20 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The federation has also appreciated the continuation of refinancing scheme for recovery of the productive sectors such as agriculture, and small and cottage industries which were impacted badly by the COVID crisis.-- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17582', 'image' => '20230514105953_1683614421.1643946593.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 10:58:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17849', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Dr Mahat Rules Out Possibility of Expansive and Big Budget', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Minister for Finance Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat said that the government is not able to present expansive and big size budget.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">May 14: Minister for Finance Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat said that the government is not able to present expansive and big size budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">At a programme organized by the Centre for Economic Development and Administration and the National Economic Concern Society Nepal in Kathmandu on Saturday, Finance Minister Mahat made it clear that the government was unable to roll out an extensive and big size budget due to limited resources and decreased revenue collection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"We are currently facing a significant challenge in terms of revenue shortfall. There are limitations in presenting an expansive and large-scale budget," Mahat said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Finance Minister expressed his commitment to making maximum efforts for economic reform and improvement. "After coming to the Finance Ministry, I have observed many problems. There are more problems than what meets the eye. But, I cannot claim to solve all of them. But, honest efforts will be made from my side for reform," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Finance Minister Mahat has stated that responsibility of principal and interest of the public debt had increased. “The responsibility to repay the loans taken for earthquake reconstruction will increase from next year onwards,” he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Furthermore, he has emphasized the need for the government to maintain efficiency and implementation in budget management and execution. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"We require substantial improvements to our organizational structure and must amplify the impact of our budget. The current issue is that there is a lack of capital flow in the market without investments, and there is also no flow of funds through the banking system," the Minister stated. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, the Minister emphasized the need to improve the tendency to spend capital towards the end of the fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">During the event, National Planning Commission's Vice-Chairperson Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha pledged to take suggestions solicited from various sectors into consideration while allocating the budget and formulating policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year. He further added that any issues missed out in the upcoming budget would be incorporated into the 16th periodic plan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Former Chief Secretary Leelamani Poudyal expressed concern regarding the government's inability to build capital and create employment from investments made in the social security sector. He viewed the current problems in the national economy as a result of consistently having bad policies for nearly three decades.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Professor Dr Shivaraj Adhikari commented that economic growth was dismal compared to investment, while jobs were not created compared to the economic growth rate. He viewed the economic problems as being a result of increased public debt and investment without any corresponding economic growth.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17580', 'image' => '20230514062755_collage (17).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 06:24:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17848', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Tourism Rebounding with Over 132 Percent Increase in Arrival of Foreign Tourists in 4 Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 13: Nepal has witnessed an encouraging arrival of 326,527 foreign tourists in the first four months of 2023. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 13</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">: </span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal has witnessed an encouraging arrival of 326,527 foreign tourists in the first four months of 2023. The figure is 132.67 percent increment as compared to the same period in the previous year, 2022. A total of 140,336 foreign tourists visited the country during the same period in 2022.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The global COVID-19 pandemic hit the tourism sector of the country resulting in a sharp drop in the influx of foreign tourists in the past few years. Just before the pandemic, a total of 420,446 foreign tourists had visited the country in the first four months of the year 2019. In the following years after outbreak of the virus, there was a sharp drop in the inflow of tourists. A total of 220,682 tourists arrived in Nepal in 2020. The figure further dropped to 55,447 in 2021.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Factors like a surge in the inflow of tourists and recovering occupancy of hotels have indicated the revival of the tourism sector from the infection. Director of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) Maniraj Lamichhane said tourism has almost been on track. “Factors like the inflow of foreign tourists, encouraging number of people taking the permit to climb mountains and increasing mobility of tourists at tourism destinations have indicated the revival of the tourism sector. Tourism will soon keep its track by prioritizing one-stop destinations and expediting aggressive marketing,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The influx of foreign tourists in the first four months of the year 2023 has almost kept up with the figure during the same period in 2019 before the pandemic, which is a positive sign, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is a need for the rebranding and repositioning of the destination marketing so as to make the tourism sector more dynamic, he suggested.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Projection of the World Tourism Organisation</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The World Tourism Organisation has projected the revival of Nepal’s tourism sector until 2023. The organization had projected global tourism including Nepal’s to recover by up to 95 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Factors like the latest tendency of people visiting accessible and nearest destinations, and China remaining open to tourists have added, it said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The number of foreign mountaineers taking the permit to scale mountains has also been encouraging. Spring this year has witnessed a record highest number of mountaineers who have taken the permit to climb Sagarmatha (Mt Everest), according to the Department of Tourism. During the season, a total of 467 climbers from 44 groups (98 women and 369 men) took permits to climb mountains as of May 9, said Bigyan Koirala, section officer at the mountaineering section of the Department of Tourism, adding that the number could increase. The number of people who have taken the permit to climb mountains this season was a record high in the 70-year history of the ascent of Mt Everest, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">People from 65 countries including from Nepal took the permit. Over Rs 660 million was collected in revenue by issuing the permit to scale Mt Everest.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of them have reached the base camp of the world’s highest peak, and they are reported to be waiting for good weather conditions, it has been said. Icefall doctors’ team has cleared the route to Camp 4 or the South Col. The expedition team could not push their way ahead due to bad weather conditions above 7,500 meters on Mt Everest, it has been said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Flights recovering</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Around 300 roundtrip domestic flights have taken place, said Teknath Sitaula, spokesperson for the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). Nine airlines and 11 helicopter companies are operating domestic flights. Similarly, 27 airlines companies including three Nepali companies are operating international flights. Of the total 54 airports including three international ones in the country, 36 are operational.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite getting into approximately Rs 48 billion debts, the Nepal Airlines Corporation, the national flag-carrier of the country, is planning to add three more aircraft. Currently, it has two wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft for international flights. Similarly, it has two Twin Otter planes for domestic flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In view of the marketing of tourism, the Tourism Board has a plan on the table to expand the market across India, Bangladesh and China. Europe and the United States have recovered in terms of tourism following the infection. Asian countries are on track to achieve tourism revival.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lately, Chinese tourists have visited Nepal in hordes.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Before the pandemic, around 170,000 Chinese tourists had arrived in Nepal. Lately after the virus subsided, the influx of Chinese tourists has been encouraging, said Tourism Board’s Director Lamichhane.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, the country saw the arrival of around 1,800 Chinese tourists in February, 2023. The number encouragingly surged 30 percent to 2,600 in March, and 81 percent to 4,770 in April. Flights from China to Nepal have also added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Proper marketing has resulted in a significant surge in the influx of tourists from India and Bangladesh as well, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Now, the arrival of Chinese tourists would increase as the Nepal-China transit points have reopened, and flights are operating, he expressed the hope.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">General Secretary of the Nepal Mountaineering Association Mohan Lamsal expressed his hope that enthusiasm for climbing Mt Everest this season, and activities in the run-up to the 70th Anniversary of the first successful ascent of Mt Everest would make the country’s tourism more dynamic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hotels and hospitality centers in the country have capacity of accommodating around 3.5 million tourists. There are around 10,000 hotels ranging from five stars to tourist standard hotels in the country.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At present, there are 18 five star hotels including a deluxe one in the country, according to the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN). Around 20 five star hotels will be added in one and a half years. Over two dozen chain hotels are also ready for operation. HAN President Binayak Shah said the affected tourism sector of the country has gradually come back on track.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, there is still a setback for hotels. There is only 30 percent hotel occupancy as of now, said hotel entrepreneurs. It requires at least 38 percent occupancy to cover daily operational expenses of a hotel, they said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Now we can bring packages to attract tourists. Hotels have been hit hard due to a lack of tourists for the past three years after the outbreak of the pandemic. As a result, hotel entrepreneurs have faced such a situation that they are finding it hard to pay off bank loans and interests. Until the previous fiscal year, the government had tried to address our problems through monetary policy. But, this is not the case in the current FY. So, we have put forward our problems with the government,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Returns on investment?</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to data, Rs 1,700 to Rs 1,800 billion have been invested in the hotel sector. The influx of tourists in recent years has not been enough to get hotels surviving the dire situation at present.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In such a situation, to save the hotel sector, the government should take steps like fully operating Pokhara and Bhairahawa international airports, said Shah.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“It will be meaningless to only construct airports without their operation. We are unable to operate other aircraft except for the ones of the NAC. We cannot bring in 3.5 million tourists when airports cannot operate fully. There is a doubt that the government cannot do the marketing substantially. For this, the government should cooperate with the private sector,” he suggested.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President of the Thamel Tourism Development Council, Bhabishwar Sharma backed Lamichhane. The country’s tourism is gradually recovering, and this has encouraged tourism entrepreneurs, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Encouraged by the gradual revival of the tourism sector, tourism entrepreneurs are working with positive vibes. There has been around 80 percent hotel occupancy in the Thamel area. Chinese tourists are increasing,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He stressed the need for a partnership between the government and the private sector to revitalize the industry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, President of the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal, Nilhari Bastola stressed the need for policy improvements, destination expansion and marketing so as to make the tourism sector dynamic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Also, President of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents Ramesh Thapa emphasized putting forward planned programmes for accelerating the revival of tourism.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> -- </span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">RSS</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-13', 'modified' => '2023-05-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17579', 'image' => '20230513065358_Tourist Arrival (1).jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-13 18:52:46', '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' => '17865', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Energy Meeting between Nepal and Bangladesh from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 15: Nepal-Bangladesh Energy Meeting is all set to be held from Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 15: Nepal-Bangladesh Energy Meeting is all set to be held from Monday. According to sources, the meeting to be held in Bangladesh will discuss how to prepare the necessary environment for electricity trade between the two countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire is leading the Nepali delegation in the meeting and Energy Secretary Habibur Rahman will lead it the Bangladesh side.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In a conversation with New Business Age, Kulman Ghising, the executive director of Nepal Electricity Authority, who arrived in Bangladesh to attend the energy meeting, said that a joint working group meeting will be held on the first day of the meeting, followed by a meeting of the Energy Secretary-level joint directorate committee of Nepal and Bangladesh on the second day based on the prime theme of electricity transmission and trade.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials of the Ministry of Energy have said that it will be a significant achievement if they can start electricity trade with Bangladesh even if it is only symbolic and will open the way for Nepal-Bangladesh electricity trade.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal proposed to sell electricity from Likhu-4 hydropower project to Bangladesh. However, India's consent is mandatory for electricity trade with Bangladesh. The Ministry of Energy plans to start electricity trade with Bangladesh before the onset of the rainy season, after India gave permission to use its transmission line.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sunkoshi-3 hydropower project will also be discussed in the meeting, which has already been agreed to be jointly invested by Nepal and Bangladesh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the agreement, Nepal has provided a feasibility study report and an environmental impact assessment report to Bangladesh. As the private sector of Bangladesh is also willing to invest in Nepal's hydropower, the officials said that how to bring that investment will be discussed in the meeting.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17595', 'image' => '20230515022832_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 14:27:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17863', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ''No Noticeable Effects of Cyclone Mocha in Nepal' ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 15: Nepal witnessed a general influence of the Westerly wind and local wind on Sunday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 15: Nepal witnessng a general influence of the Westerly wind and local wind. The powerful cyclone 'Mocha' that originated in the Bay of Bengal has had no noticeable effects in Nepal on Sunday, said the Weather Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the division, the cyclone has already entered the territory of Bangladesh and Myanmar and is gradually losing its intensity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Partial to general changes in weather are taking place in Koshi, Karnali and Sudurapschim provinces now, but the weather is generally clear in remaining provinces on Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the weather forecasting bulletin published by the division, brief or light rain with thunderstorms and lightning is likely to occur in some areas of mountainous belt of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces with partial to general changes in weather in the mountainous region of the country. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17594', 'image' => '20230515122821_weatherrrr.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 12:27:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17862', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Court Extends Custody of 12 Individuals Arrested in Fake Bhutanese Refugee Scam', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 15: The District Court, Kathmandu on Sunday extended the custody of 12 individuals accused of being involved in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam by four more days for the police to investigate the case.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 15: The District Court, Kathmandu on Sunday extended the custody of 12 individuals accused of being involved in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam by four more days for the police to investigate the case.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The court granted permission for the extension of custody following an appeal by the District Police Range, Kathmandu to the court stating that the investigation could not be concluded within the previously given deadline, said SP Sitaram Rijal </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police have so far arrested 13 people, including suspended UML Secretary Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, for allegedly promising to send people to the United States identifying them as Bhutanese refugees. The accused include some high-profile individuals including former Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand, former Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey and MP Indrajit Rai, security advisor to former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police have the authority to launch investigation into organized crimes by keeping the alleged people in custody for 60 days. It's been 50 days since the police made the first round of arrests involving conmen and launched the investigation. Based on the statements given by the conmen, police later made some high-profile arrests that has rocked the political circle of the country.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">SP Rijal added that they were preparing to submit a report to the Office of the District Public Prosecutor in 8 to 9 days. The office will thereafter register prosecution based on that report. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police have so far received 20 complaints from 106 individuals in connection with the scam. The victims have complained that the fraudsters fleeced over Rs 230 million from them promising to send them to the USA. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17593', 'image' => '20230515113335_court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 11:32:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17861', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Migrant Workers can Bring Home Two Mobile Phones ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 15: Nepali migrants who have spent at least six months in a foreign job are allowed to bring back two mobile phones along with them upon their return home. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 15: Nepali migrants who have spent at least six months in a foreign job are allowed to bring back two mobile phones along with them upon their return home. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Only those who have gone for a foreign job after taking labour permits and have completed six months on the job can carry home two mobiles (a used one and another brand new or both used ones) with them, according to a notice issued by the Department of Customs on Sunday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, those Nepalis who have gone to foreign countries to pursue education or for other purposes can bring in only one phone, said the department’s director Punya Bikram Khadka. "Those who have brought home two phones should go through the customs process," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on May 9 took a decision to this effect. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17592', 'image' => '20230515110313_20161218091617_sppp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 11:02:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17860', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Suspended UML Secretary Arrested in Fake Bhutanese Refugee Scam ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Former Deputy Prime Minister and suspended secretary of the Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist), Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, was arrested. He had been on the run for 12 days before being caught.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">May 15: Former Deputy Prime Minister and suspended secretary of the Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist), Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, was arrested. He had been on the run for 12 days before being caught.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">He was held from the Budhanilkantha area of Kathmandu for his alleged role in a fraud of millions of rupees by duping Nepali citizens with the promises of sending them to the United States in the cover of Bhutanese refugees on Sunday evening, according to sources from the Home Ministry. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">An arrest warrant was issued against Rayamajhi by the Kathmandu District Court on May 3 in connection with the case. He had been absconding since then.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist) had suspended him from all party responsibilities shortly after his disappearance. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Rayamajhi's arrest marks yet another high-profile development in the ongoing investigation into the scam. Earlier, Indrajit Rai, the advisor to former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, was arrested on charges of his involvement in the scam. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The investigation is being closely monitored by the authorities, and the police have already made 13 arrests over their alleged connections to the scam.</span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17591', 'image' => '20230515055822_collage (20).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 05:55:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17859', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Westerly Wind Causes Light Rainfall in Some Places including Kathmandu Valley ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Some parts of the country including the Kathmandu Valley on Sunday experienced light rainfall due to the influence of the Westerly and the local winds. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: Some parts of the country including the Kathmandu Valley on Sunday experienced light rainfall due to the influence of the Westerly and the local winds. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Meteorological Forecasting Division, the weather is cloudy in Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki provinces and isolated rain is likely in the hill regions of Koshi, Bagamati and Gandaki provinces. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Kathmandu Valley witnessed brief rainfall on Sunday, said the division's meteorologist Sameer Shrestha. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">No impact of Cyclone Mocha </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Division made it clear that there will be no impact of Cyclone Mocha developing in the Bay of Bengal. The cyclone is moving towards the east and Nepal is not likely to see its impact. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It will have major impacts on Bhutan, Bangladesh, Thailand and Myanmar, according to Shrestha. Cyclone Mocha is moving towards the coastal areas of Bangladesh and Myanmar. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17590', 'image' => '20230515120601_rainfallll.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 19:16:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17858', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Arrest Warrant Issued against Former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa’s Son', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: An arrest warrant has been issued against Prateek Thapa, the son of former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, for his alleged role in a fraud case .', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: An arrest warrant has been issued against Prateek Thapa, the son of former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, for his alleged role in a fraud case amounting to millions of rupees by duping people with the promises of sending them to the United States as Bhutanese refugees. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the District Police Range Kathmandu, the District Court Kathmandu has issued the arrest warrant against the son of the former home minister. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, Indrajit Rai, the advisor to former Home Minister Thapa, was arrested on the charge of his involvement in the scam. Police said they found 'evidence' of Prateek's association with the nexus during the investigation against Rai. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police have already made high-profile arrests over their alleged connections to the scam by taking into custody former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand and government secretary Tek Narayan Pandey. So far 12 people have been arrested over the scam while two others accused including former Deputy Prime Minister and CPN (UML) secretary Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and Neeraj Rai, the son of Indrajit Rai, have been on the run since the warrants were issued against them. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The UML has already suspended Rayamajhi after he was accused of being involved in the scam. – RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17589', 'image' => '20230514054302_nepal police.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 17:42:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17857', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Attempt to Bring Private Sector under CIAA’s Jurisdiction is Unacceptable: FNCCI President', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Chandra Prasad Dhakal, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), has said that the attempts to bring the private sector under the jurisdiction of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) will not be accepted at any cost.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 14: Chandra Prasad Dhakal, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), has said that the attempts to bring the private sector under the jurisdiction of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) will not be accepted at any cost.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">FNCCI President Dhakal made such a statement during an interaction organized by the Birgunj chapter of FNCCI recently. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There are talks of bringing the private sector under the CIAA's jurisdiction. It seems that this disaster will discourage the private sector even more. We are not in favor of it,” said Dhakal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The FNCCI president said that the industries and businesses are facing problems due to lack of liquidity and high interest rates. He made it clear that the private sector is ready to cooperate in this issue if the government comes up with a blueprint for its long-term solution. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the main problems in the economy are easing restrictions, decline in market demand, and lack of revenue collection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Ashok Kumar Temani, president of Madhes Province chapter of the FNCCI, said that the relationship between the state level and the central FNCCI should be defined in a new way.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17588', 'image' => '20230514035758_1684050182.344291018_766552064960837_8877345925174622149_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 15:56:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17855', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import of Liquor Increase after Government Lifts Ban', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: The import of alcohol has immensely increased after the government lifted the ban on the import of luxury goods. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 14: The import of alcohol has immensely increased after the government lifted the ban on the import of luxury goods. The Department of Customs informed that 468,626 liters of alcohol worth Rs 791 million was imported in four months after the ban was lifted.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Last year, the government published a notice in the Nepal Gazette on April 26 and banned the import of 10 luxury items including alcohol due to the decline in foreign exchange reserves. Now that the reserves are restoring back to normalcy, the government lifted the import ban from mid-December.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the ban was lifted, 40,343 liters of alcohol worth Rs 83.24 million from mid-December to mid-January, 121,908 liters worth Rs 284.6 million from mid-January to mid-February, 85,151 liters worth Rs 142.3 million from mid-February to mid-March and 221,143 million liters worth Rs 281.6 million from mid-March to mid-April.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Many people have been surprised by the fact that a large amount of alcohol is imported from abroad in a short period of time when enough alcohol is produced within the country. Besides, the question surfaced as to why Nepali people use so much foreign liquor instead of domestic liquor.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ravi KC, the producer of domestic Vodka brand 8848 said, “Since there is no significant difference in the price of domestic and foreign liquor, customers may prefer foreign brand. It is difficult to produce the raw materials needed for alcohol in Nepal due to legal complications. On top of that, the government has increased the rate of excise duty on the import of raw materials. In this case, the price of domestic and foreign alcohol is almost similar.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to KC, the reason for importing large quantities of liquor is the ban that has been in place for a long time. He said that the importers may have stocked a large amount of liquor due to the suspicion that the ban may be imposed again. However, government officials say that quality and brand play an important role in increasing the import of foreign liquor. Officials argue that the market for foreign liquor will increase as domestic liquor cannot compete with foreign liquor in terms of quality and the brand is not established.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Urmila KC, joint-spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies says that businessmen have not discussed the issue of legal complications in the production of raw materials required for alcohol with the ministry. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Industrialists and businessmen need to submit an application to the ministry about the problems faced by them. The industrialists also need to explain what caused the problem, what is expected from the government and how the solution can be done,” she said, adding, “After the industrialists put their point clearly, the ministry will consider the matter in a thorough manner.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She also said that ultimately the industrialists should work harder for the production and market expansion of raw materials and alcohol.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17586', 'image' => '20230514024107_alco.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 14:39:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17854', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Two Climbers Scale Mt Everest ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Two people have reached the top of Mt Everest in this spring season. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: Two people have reached the top of Mt Everest in this spring season. Nepal's Pasang Temba Sherpa and Naila Kaini from Pakistan successfully scaled the world's highest peak at 8:02 am on Sunday. Their expedition was facilitated by Imagine Nepal Trek and Expedition Company. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They climbed the peak just a day after a team of icefall doctors concluded the rope-fixing along the climbing route. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The company’s executive director Dawa Gyalje Sherpa said, Kaini reached the summit of Mt Everest this morning and she is the first international climber to climb the world's highest peak in the year 2023. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Some of the climbers have reached the Hillary step and many are in and around the South Col. Many are expected to reach the summit by Sunday evening. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The expedition for the spring season began on Saturday. According to the Department of Tourism, 467 of 44 expedition teams have taken permission for mountain climbing this spring season. </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">-- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17585', 'image' => '20230514014039_20220516042550_expedition-in-nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 13:39:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17853', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Drought Hits Cardamom Plantation in Taplejung ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Generally, the onset of spring season is a time cardamom flowers and buds.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: Generally, the onset of spring season is a time cardamom flowers and buds. But, this year, cardamom plants have wilted. Even the trees that provide shade and help to keep soil damp for cardamom are getting dry. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The plantation areas are vulnerable to blaze. This is the story about the cardamom estate of Siddhadanda at Phungling Municipality in Taplegung. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">With the parched cash crop, farmers here are worried much about the income. There is neither rainfall nor irrigation facility to water the dried crop. It is not possible to fetch water and irrigate the estate. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"I've been planting cardamom for 40 years. I harvested as much as 1600 kgs of cardamom, but for some years, the harvest has been dented much with disease and drought. Now, the absence of rain this year has hit hard the cultivation," farmer Krishna Gurung shared the plight. "What is left to grow as the plant is dried before flowering,” he expressed his grief. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Another farmer Bir Bahadur Phembule from the same locality shared a similar story. He expressed sadness over the imminent loss of income with drying cardamom. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the previous years, there used to be rainfall in early January while the Himalayan region witnessed snowfall during that time. But this year, there was no snowfall. It resulted in diminished sources of water, according to Principal Raju Hellok at Parbati Basic School from Phaktanglung Rural Municipality-5. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Farmers are cheerless this time as the cash crop has dried for lack of rainfall," he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Moreover, Ran Bahadur Baboko, a farmer from Mangmakhe of Sirijungha Rural Municipality-6, said they will most certainly bear huge loss in cardamom plantation this time. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Cardamom has been planted in 4,200 hectares of land in the district this year, which is 50 hectares less than last year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, in the nine months of the current fiscal year, cardamom worth Rs 6.35 billion has been exported from Nepal, according to the Department of Customs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The farmers here are desperately waiting for relief from concerned authorities citing the impact of drought on cardamom estate. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17584', 'image' => '20230514122740_cardamon_18736222.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 12:26:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17852', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'No Impact of Cyclone in Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Cyclone Mocha developing in the Bay of Bengal will not have any significant impact on Nepal, according to the Weather Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">May 14: Cyclone Mocha developing in the Bay of Bengal will not have any significant impact on Nepal, according to the Weather Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The cyclone is currently moving towards the northeast direction and is rising up in the coastal areas of Bangladesh and Myanmar, according to RSS, the state-owned national news agency of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the CNN reported that aid agencies in Bangladesh and Myanmar are bracing for disaster and have launched a massive emergency plan as the powerful cyclone barrels towards millions of vulnerable people.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The cyclone is expected to make landfall on Sunday afternoon, likely across Rakhine state of Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh’s Cox Bazar, host to the world’s largest refugee camp, added CNN</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from the coasts of Myanmar and Bangladesh as Cyclone Mocha- the region's most powerful cyclone for over a decade- is set to hit the coastal region, reported the Hindustan Times.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The 'Super Cyclone' packed with winds of up to 240 kilometres per hour will be equivalent to a category 4 hurricane, reported Indian media.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The buildup of the cyclone is of particular concern for Nepal as the country gears up for spring expedition of mountain peaks.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">It is noteworthy to recall that during the autumn climbing season nine years, Cyclone Hudhud in eastern India had caused a sudden changes in weather and caused avalanches and blizzard in Dhaulagiri and Annapurna regions of Nepal on October 14, 2014 killing dozens of people.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17583', 'image' => '20230514113236_MochaCyclone_1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 11:31:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17851', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ''Third Quarterly Review of Monetary Policy Positive' ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: The Federation of Small and Cottage Industries has welcomed the third quarterly review of monetary policy unveiled recently by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). It stressed the objective implementation of the monetary policy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: The Federation of Small and Cottage Industries has welcomed the third quarterly review of monetary policy unveiled recently by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). It stressed the objective implementation of the monetary policy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The federation drew NRB's attention towards the provision that commercial banks need to invest 11 percent of total loan in small, cottage and mid-scale industries. Although some sectors had witnessed positive indicators for investment, the small and cottage industries were still complaining of not getting loan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the wake of complaints that small entrepreneurs were not provided concessional loan, a total of 147,807 persons were provided concessional loan as of mid-April. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The federation welcomed the provision of restructuring and re-tabulation of loan within mid-July 2023 by analysing cash flow and income of industries and enterprises against the loan up to Rs 20 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The federation has also appreciated the continuation of refinancing scheme for recovery of the productive sectors such as agriculture, and small and cottage industries which were impacted badly by the COVID crisis.-- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17582', 'image' => '20230514105953_1683614421.1643946593.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 10:58:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17849', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Dr Mahat Rules Out Possibility of Expansive and Big Budget', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Minister for Finance Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat said that the government is not able to present expansive and big size budget.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">May 14: Minister for Finance Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat said that the government is not able to present expansive and big size budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">At a programme organized by the Centre for Economic Development and Administration and the National Economic Concern Society Nepal in Kathmandu on Saturday, Finance Minister Mahat made it clear that the government was unable to roll out an extensive and big size budget due to limited resources and decreased revenue collection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"We are currently facing a significant challenge in terms of revenue shortfall. There are limitations in presenting an expansive and large-scale budget," Mahat said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Finance Minister expressed his commitment to making maximum efforts for economic reform and improvement. "After coming to the Finance Ministry, I have observed many problems. There are more problems than what meets the eye. But, I cannot claim to solve all of them. But, honest efforts will be made from my side for reform," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Finance Minister Mahat has stated that responsibility of principal and interest of the public debt had increased. “The responsibility to repay the loans taken for earthquake reconstruction will increase from next year onwards,” he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Furthermore, he has emphasized the need for the government to maintain efficiency and implementation in budget management and execution. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"We require substantial improvements to our organizational structure and must amplify the impact of our budget. The current issue is that there is a lack of capital flow in the market without investments, and there is also no flow of funds through the banking system," the Minister stated. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, the Minister emphasized the need to improve the tendency to spend capital towards the end of the fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">During the event, National Planning Commission's Vice-Chairperson Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha pledged to take suggestions solicited from various sectors into consideration while allocating the budget and formulating policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year. He further added that any issues missed out in the upcoming budget would be incorporated into the 16th periodic plan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Former Chief Secretary Leelamani Poudyal expressed concern regarding the government's inability to build capital and create employment from investments made in the social security sector. He viewed the current problems in the national economy as a result of consistently having bad policies for nearly three decades.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Professor Dr Shivaraj Adhikari commented that economic growth was dismal compared to investment, while jobs were not created compared to the economic growth rate. He viewed the economic problems as being a result of increased public debt and investment without any corresponding economic growth.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17580', 'image' => '20230514062755_collage (17).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 06:24:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17848', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Tourism Rebounding with Over 132 Percent Increase in Arrival of Foreign Tourists in 4 Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 13: Nepal has witnessed an encouraging arrival of 326,527 foreign tourists in the first four months of 2023. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 13</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">: </span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal has witnessed an encouraging arrival of 326,527 foreign tourists in the first four months of 2023. The figure is 132.67 percent increment as compared to the same period in the previous year, 2022. A total of 140,336 foreign tourists visited the country during the same period in 2022.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The global COVID-19 pandemic hit the tourism sector of the country resulting in a sharp drop in the influx of foreign tourists in the past few years. Just before the pandemic, a total of 420,446 foreign tourists had visited the country in the first four months of the year 2019. In the following years after outbreak of the virus, there was a sharp drop in the inflow of tourists. A total of 220,682 tourists arrived in Nepal in 2020. The figure further dropped to 55,447 in 2021.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Factors like a surge in the inflow of tourists and recovering occupancy of hotels have indicated the revival of the tourism sector from the infection. Director of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) Maniraj Lamichhane said tourism has almost been on track. “Factors like the inflow of foreign tourists, encouraging number of people taking the permit to climb mountains and increasing mobility of tourists at tourism destinations have indicated the revival of the tourism sector. Tourism will soon keep its track by prioritizing one-stop destinations and expediting aggressive marketing,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The influx of foreign tourists in the first four months of the year 2023 has almost kept up with the figure during the same period in 2019 before the pandemic, which is a positive sign, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is a need for the rebranding and repositioning of the destination marketing so as to make the tourism sector more dynamic, he suggested.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Projection of the World Tourism Organisation</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The World Tourism Organisation has projected the revival of Nepal’s tourism sector until 2023. The organization had projected global tourism including Nepal’s to recover by up to 95 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Factors like the latest tendency of people visiting accessible and nearest destinations, and China remaining open to tourists have added, it said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The number of foreign mountaineers taking the permit to scale mountains has also been encouraging. Spring this year has witnessed a record highest number of mountaineers who have taken the permit to climb Sagarmatha (Mt Everest), according to the Department of Tourism. During the season, a total of 467 climbers from 44 groups (98 women and 369 men) took permits to climb mountains as of May 9, said Bigyan Koirala, section officer at the mountaineering section of the Department of Tourism, adding that the number could increase. The number of people who have taken the permit to climb mountains this season was a record high in the 70-year history of the ascent of Mt Everest, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">People from 65 countries including from Nepal took the permit. Over Rs 660 million was collected in revenue by issuing the permit to scale Mt Everest.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of them have reached the base camp of the world’s highest peak, and they are reported to be waiting for good weather conditions, it has been said. Icefall doctors’ team has cleared the route to Camp 4 or the South Col. The expedition team could not push their way ahead due to bad weather conditions above 7,500 meters on Mt Everest, it has been said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Flights recovering</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Around 300 roundtrip domestic flights have taken place, said Teknath Sitaula, spokesperson for the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). Nine airlines and 11 helicopter companies are operating domestic flights. Similarly, 27 airlines companies including three Nepali companies are operating international flights. Of the total 54 airports including three international ones in the country, 36 are operational.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite getting into approximately Rs 48 billion debts, the Nepal Airlines Corporation, the national flag-carrier of the country, is planning to add three more aircraft. Currently, it has two wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft for international flights. Similarly, it has two Twin Otter planes for domestic flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In view of the marketing of tourism, the Tourism Board has a plan on the table to expand the market across India, Bangladesh and China. Europe and the United States have recovered in terms of tourism following the infection. Asian countries are on track to achieve tourism revival.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lately, Chinese tourists have visited Nepal in hordes.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Before the pandemic, around 170,000 Chinese tourists had arrived in Nepal. Lately after the virus subsided, the influx of Chinese tourists has been encouraging, said Tourism Board’s Director Lamichhane.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, the country saw the arrival of around 1,800 Chinese tourists in February, 2023. The number encouragingly surged 30 percent to 2,600 in March, and 81 percent to 4,770 in April. Flights from China to Nepal have also added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Proper marketing has resulted in a significant surge in the influx of tourists from India and Bangladesh as well, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Now, the arrival of Chinese tourists would increase as the Nepal-China transit points have reopened, and flights are operating, he expressed the hope.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">General Secretary of the Nepal Mountaineering Association Mohan Lamsal expressed his hope that enthusiasm for climbing Mt Everest this season, and activities in the run-up to the 70th Anniversary of the first successful ascent of Mt Everest would make the country’s tourism more dynamic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hotels and hospitality centers in the country have capacity of accommodating around 3.5 million tourists. There are around 10,000 hotels ranging from five stars to tourist standard hotels in the country.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At present, there are 18 five star hotels including a deluxe one in the country, according to the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN). Around 20 five star hotels will be added in one and a half years. Over two dozen chain hotels are also ready for operation. HAN President Binayak Shah said the affected tourism sector of the country has gradually come back on track.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, there is still a setback for hotels. There is only 30 percent hotel occupancy as of now, said hotel entrepreneurs. It requires at least 38 percent occupancy to cover daily operational expenses of a hotel, they said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Now we can bring packages to attract tourists. Hotels have been hit hard due to a lack of tourists for the past three years after the outbreak of the pandemic. As a result, hotel entrepreneurs have faced such a situation that they are finding it hard to pay off bank loans and interests. Until the previous fiscal year, the government had tried to address our problems through monetary policy. But, this is not the case in the current FY. So, we have put forward our problems with the government,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Returns on investment?</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to data, Rs 1,700 to Rs 1,800 billion have been invested in the hotel sector. The influx of tourists in recent years has not been enough to get hotels surviving the dire situation at present.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In such a situation, to save the hotel sector, the government should take steps like fully operating Pokhara and Bhairahawa international airports, said Shah.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“It will be meaningless to only construct airports without their operation. We are unable to operate other aircraft except for the ones of the NAC. We cannot bring in 3.5 million tourists when airports cannot operate fully. There is a doubt that the government cannot do the marketing substantially. For this, the government should cooperate with the private sector,” he suggested.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President of the Thamel Tourism Development Council, Bhabishwar Sharma backed Lamichhane. The country’s tourism is gradually recovering, and this has encouraged tourism entrepreneurs, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Encouraged by the gradual revival of the tourism sector, tourism entrepreneurs are working with positive vibes. There has been around 80 percent hotel occupancy in the Thamel area. Chinese tourists are increasing,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He stressed the need for a partnership between the government and the private sector to revitalize the industry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, President of the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal, Nilhari Bastola stressed the need for policy improvements, destination expansion and marketing so as to make the tourism sector dynamic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Also, President of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents Ramesh Thapa emphasized putting forward planned programmes for accelerating the revival of tourism.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> -- </span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">RSS</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-13', 'modified' => '2023-05-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17579', 'image' => '20230513065358_Tourist Arrival (1).jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-13 18:52:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17865', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Energy Meeting between Nepal and Bangladesh from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 15: Nepal-Bangladesh Energy Meeting is all set to be held from Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 15: Nepal-Bangladesh Energy Meeting is all set to be held from Monday. According to sources, the meeting to be held in Bangladesh will discuss how to prepare the necessary environment for electricity trade between the two countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Secretary Dinesh Kumar Ghimire is leading the Nepali delegation in the meeting and Energy Secretary Habibur Rahman will lead it the Bangladesh side.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In a conversation with New Business Age, Kulman Ghising, the executive director of Nepal Electricity Authority, who arrived in Bangladesh to attend the energy meeting, said that a joint working group meeting will be held on the first day of the meeting, followed by a meeting of the Energy Secretary-level joint directorate committee of Nepal and Bangladesh on the second day based on the prime theme of electricity transmission and trade.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials of the Ministry of Energy have said that it will be a significant achievement if they can start electricity trade with Bangladesh even if it is only symbolic and will open the way for Nepal-Bangladesh electricity trade.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal proposed to sell electricity from Likhu-4 hydropower project to Bangladesh. However, India's consent is mandatory for electricity trade with Bangladesh. The Ministry of Energy plans to start electricity trade with Bangladesh before the onset of the rainy season, after India gave permission to use its transmission line.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sunkoshi-3 hydropower project will also be discussed in the meeting, which has already been agreed to be jointly invested by Nepal and Bangladesh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the agreement, Nepal has provided a feasibility study report and an environmental impact assessment report to Bangladesh. As the private sector of Bangladesh is also willing to invest in Nepal's hydropower, the officials said that how to bring that investment will be discussed in the meeting.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17595', 'image' => '20230515022832_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 14:27:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17863', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ''No Noticeable Effects of Cyclone Mocha in Nepal' ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 15: Nepal witnessed a general influence of the Westerly wind and local wind on Sunday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 15: Nepal witnessng a general influence of the Westerly wind and local wind. The powerful cyclone 'Mocha' that originated in the Bay of Bengal has had no noticeable effects in Nepal on Sunday, said the Weather Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the division, the cyclone has already entered the territory of Bangladesh and Myanmar and is gradually losing its intensity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Partial to general changes in weather are taking place in Koshi, Karnali and Sudurapschim provinces now, but the weather is generally clear in remaining provinces on Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the weather forecasting bulletin published by the division, brief or light rain with thunderstorms and lightning is likely to occur in some areas of mountainous belt of Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces with partial to general changes in weather in the mountainous region of the country. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17594', 'image' => '20230515122821_weatherrrr.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 12:27:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17862', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Court Extends Custody of 12 Individuals Arrested in Fake Bhutanese Refugee Scam', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 15: The District Court, Kathmandu on Sunday extended the custody of 12 individuals accused of being involved in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam by four more days for the police to investigate the case.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 15: The District Court, Kathmandu on Sunday extended the custody of 12 individuals accused of being involved in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam by four more days for the police to investigate the case.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The court granted permission for the extension of custody following an appeal by the District Police Range, Kathmandu to the court stating that the investigation could not be concluded within the previously given deadline, said SP Sitaram Rijal </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police have so far arrested 13 people, including suspended UML Secretary Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, for allegedly promising to send people to the United States identifying them as Bhutanese refugees. The accused include some high-profile individuals including former Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand, former Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey and MP Indrajit Rai, security advisor to former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police have the authority to launch investigation into organized crimes by keeping the alleged people in custody for 60 days. It's been 50 days since the police made the first round of arrests involving conmen and launched the investigation. Based on the statements given by the conmen, police later made some high-profile arrests that has rocked the political circle of the country.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">SP Rijal added that they were preparing to submit a report to the Office of the District Public Prosecutor in 8 to 9 days. The office will thereafter register prosecution based on that report. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police have so far received 20 complaints from 106 individuals in connection with the scam. The victims have complained that the fraudsters fleeced over Rs 230 million from them promising to send them to the USA. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17593', 'image' => '20230515113335_court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 11:32:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17861', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepali Migrant Workers can Bring Home Two Mobile Phones ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 15: Nepali migrants who have spent at least six months in a foreign job are allowed to bring back two mobile phones along with them upon their return home. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 15: Nepali migrants who have spent at least six months in a foreign job are allowed to bring back two mobile phones along with them upon their return home. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Only those who have gone for a foreign job after taking labour permits and have completed six months on the job can carry home two mobiles (a used one and another brand new or both used ones) with them, according to a notice issued by the Department of Customs on Sunday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, those Nepalis who have gone to foreign countries to pursue education or for other purposes can bring in only one phone, said the department’s director Punya Bikram Khadka. "Those who have brought home two phones should go through the customs process," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on May 9 took a decision to this effect. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17592', 'image' => '20230515110313_20161218091617_sppp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 11:02:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17860', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Suspended UML Secretary Arrested in Fake Bhutanese Refugee Scam ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Former Deputy Prime Minister and suspended secretary of the Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist), Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, was arrested. He had been on the run for 12 days before being caught.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">May 15: Former Deputy Prime Minister and suspended secretary of the Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist), Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, was arrested. He had been on the run for 12 days before being caught.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">He was held from the Budhanilkantha area of Kathmandu for his alleged role in a fraud of millions of rupees by duping Nepali citizens with the promises of sending them to the United States in the cover of Bhutanese refugees on Sunday evening, according to sources from the Home Ministry. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">An arrest warrant was issued against Rayamajhi by the Kathmandu District Court on May 3 in connection with the case. He had been absconding since then.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist) had suspended him from all party responsibilities shortly after his disappearance. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Rayamajhi's arrest marks yet another high-profile development in the ongoing investigation into the scam. Earlier, Indrajit Rai, the advisor to former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, was arrested on charges of his involvement in the scam. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The investigation is being closely monitored by the authorities, and the police have already made 13 arrests over their alleged connections to the scam.</span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-15', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17591', 'image' => '20230515055822_collage (20).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-15 05:55:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17859', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Westerly Wind Causes Light Rainfall in Some Places including Kathmandu Valley ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Some parts of the country including the Kathmandu Valley on Sunday experienced light rainfall due to the influence of the Westerly and the local winds. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: Some parts of the country including the Kathmandu Valley on Sunday experienced light rainfall due to the influence of the Westerly and the local winds. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Meteorological Forecasting Division, the weather is cloudy in Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki provinces and isolated rain is likely in the hill regions of Koshi, Bagamati and Gandaki provinces. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Kathmandu Valley witnessed brief rainfall on Sunday, said the division's meteorologist Sameer Shrestha. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">No impact of Cyclone Mocha </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Division made it clear that there will be no impact of Cyclone Mocha developing in the Bay of Bengal. The cyclone is moving towards the east and Nepal is not likely to see its impact. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It will have major impacts on Bhutan, Bangladesh, Thailand and Myanmar, according to Shrestha. Cyclone Mocha is moving towards the coastal areas of Bangladesh and Myanmar. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17590', 'image' => '20230515120601_rainfallll.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 19:16:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17858', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Arrest Warrant Issued against Former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa’s Son', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: An arrest warrant has been issued against Prateek Thapa, the son of former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, for his alleged role in a fraud case .', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: An arrest warrant has been issued against Prateek Thapa, the son of former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, for his alleged role in a fraud case amounting to millions of rupees by duping people with the promises of sending them to the United States as Bhutanese refugees. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the District Police Range Kathmandu, the District Court Kathmandu has issued the arrest warrant against the son of the former home minister. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, Indrajit Rai, the advisor to former Home Minister Thapa, was arrested on the charge of his involvement in the scam. Police said they found 'evidence' of Prateek's association with the nexus during the investigation against Rai. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Police have already made high-profile arrests over their alleged connections to the scam by taking into custody former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand and government secretary Tek Narayan Pandey. So far 12 people have been arrested over the scam while two others accused including former Deputy Prime Minister and CPN (UML) secretary Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and Neeraj Rai, the son of Indrajit Rai, have been on the run since the warrants were issued against them. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The UML has already suspended Rayamajhi after he was accused of being involved in the scam. – RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17589', 'image' => '20230514054302_nepal police.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 17:42:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17857', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Attempt to Bring Private Sector under CIAA’s Jurisdiction is Unacceptable: FNCCI President', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Chandra Prasad Dhakal, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), has said that the attempts to bring the private sector under the jurisdiction of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) will not be accepted at any cost.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 14: Chandra Prasad Dhakal, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), has said that the attempts to bring the private sector under the jurisdiction of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) will not be accepted at any cost.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">FNCCI President Dhakal made such a statement during an interaction organized by the Birgunj chapter of FNCCI recently. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There are talks of bringing the private sector under the CIAA's jurisdiction. It seems that this disaster will discourage the private sector even more. We are not in favor of it,” said Dhakal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The FNCCI president said that the industries and businesses are facing problems due to lack of liquidity and high interest rates. He made it clear that the private sector is ready to cooperate in this issue if the government comes up with a blueprint for its long-term solution. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that the main problems in the economy are easing restrictions, decline in market demand, and lack of revenue collection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">On the occasion, Ashok Kumar Temani, president of Madhes Province chapter of the FNCCI, said that the relationship between the state level and the central FNCCI should be defined in a new way.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17588', 'image' => '20230514035758_1684050182.344291018_766552064960837_8877345925174622149_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 15:56:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17855', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import of Liquor Increase after Government Lifts Ban', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: The import of alcohol has immensely increased after the government lifted the ban on the import of luxury goods. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 14: The import of alcohol has immensely increased after the government lifted the ban on the import of luxury goods. The Department of Customs informed that 468,626 liters of alcohol worth Rs 791 million was imported in four months after the ban was lifted.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Last year, the government published a notice in the Nepal Gazette on April 26 and banned the import of 10 luxury items including alcohol due to the decline in foreign exchange reserves. Now that the reserves are restoring back to normalcy, the government lifted the import ban from mid-December.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the ban was lifted, 40,343 liters of alcohol worth Rs 83.24 million from mid-December to mid-January, 121,908 liters worth Rs 284.6 million from mid-January to mid-February, 85,151 liters worth Rs 142.3 million from mid-February to mid-March and 221,143 million liters worth Rs 281.6 million from mid-March to mid-April.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Many people have been surprised by the fact that a large amount of alcohol is imported from abroad in a short period of time when enough alcohol is produced within the country. Besides, the question surfaced as to why Nepali people use so much foreign liquor instead of domestic liquor.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ravi KC, the producer of domestic Vodka brand 8848 said, “Since there is no significant difference in the price of domestic and foreign liquor, customers may prefer foreign brand. It is difficult to produce the raw materials needed for alcohol in Nepal due to legal complications. On top of that, the government has increased the rate of excise duty on the import of raw materials. In this case, the price of domestic and foreign alcohol is almost similar.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to KC, the reason for importing large quantities of liquor is the ban that has been in place for a long time. He said that the importers may have stocked a large amount of liquor due to the suspicion that the ban may be imposed again. However, government officials say that quality and brand play an important role in increasing the import of foreign liquor. Officials argue that the market for foreign liquor will increase as domestic liquor cannot compete with foreign liquor in terms of quality and the brand is not established.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Urmila KC, joint-spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies says that businessmen have not discussed the issue of legal complications in the production of raw materials required for alcohol with the ministry. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Industrialists and businessmen need to submit an application to the ministry about the problems faced by them. The industrialists also need to explain what caused the problem, what is expected from the government and how the solution can be done,” she said, adding, “After the industrialists put their point clearly, the ministry will consider the matter in a thorough manner.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She also said that ultimately the industrialists should work harder for the production and market expansion of raw materials and alcohol.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17586', 'image' => '20230514024107_alco.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 14:39:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17854', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Two Climbers Scale Mt Everest ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Two people have reached the top of Mt Everest in this spring season. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: Two people have reached the top of Mt Everest in this spring season. Nepal's Pasang Temba Sherpa and Naila Kaini from Pakistan successfully scaled the world's highest peak at 8:02 am on Sunday. Their expedition was facilitated by Imagine Nepal Trek and Expedition Company. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They climbed the peak just a day after a team of icefall doctors concluded the rope-fixing along the climbing route. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The company’s executive director Dawa Gyalje Sherpa said, Kaini reached the summit of Mt Everest this morning and she is the first international climber to climb the world's highest peak in the year 2023. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Some of the climbers have reached the Hillary step and many are in and around the South Col. Many are expected to reach the summit by Sunday evening. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The expedition for the spring season began on Saturday. According to the Department of Tourism, 467 of 44 expedition teams have taken permission for mountain climbing this spring season. </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">-- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17585', 'image' => '20230514014039_20220516042550_expedition-in-nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 13:39:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17853', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Drought Hits Cardamom Plantation in Taplejung ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Generally, the onset of spring season is a time cardamom flowers and buds.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: Generally, the onset of spring season is a time cardamom flowers and buds. But, this year, cardamom plants have wilted. Even the trees that provide shade and help to keep soil damp for cardamom are getting dry. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The plantation areas are vulnerable to blaze. This is the story about the cardamom estate of Siddhadanda at Phungling Municipality in Taplegung. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">With the parched cash crop, farmers here are worried much about the income. There is neither rainfall nor irrigation facility to water the dried crop. It is not possible to fetch water and irrigate the estate. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"I've been planting cardamom for 40 years. I harvested as much as 1600 kgs of cardamom, but for some years, the harvest has been dented much with disease and drought. Now, the absence of rain this year has hit hard the cultivation," farmer Krishna Gurung shared the plight. "What is left to grow as the plant is dried before flowering,” he expressed his grief. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Another farmer Bir Bahadur Phembule from the same locality shared a similar story. He expressed sadness over the imminent loss of income with drying cardamom. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the previous years, there used to be rainfall in early January while the Himalayan region witnessed snowfall during that time. But this year, there was no snowfall. It resulted in diminished sources of water, according to Principal Raju Hellok at Parbati Basic School from Phaktanglung Rural Municipality-5. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"Farmers are cheerless this time as the cash crop has dried for lack of rainfall," he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Moreover, Ran Bahadur Baboko, a farmer from Mangmakhe of Sirijungha Rural Municipality-6, said they will most certainly bear huge loss in cardamom plantation this time. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Cardamom has been planted in 4,200 hectares of land in the district this year, which is 50 hectares less than last year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, in the nine months of the current fiscal year, cardamom worth Rs 6.35 billion has been exported from Nepal, according to the Department of Customs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The farmers here are desperately waiting for relief from concerned authorities citing the impact of drought on cardamom estate. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17584', 'image' => '20230514122740_cardamon_18736222.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 12:26:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17852', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'No Impact of Cyclone in Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: Cyclone Mocha developing in the Bay of Bengal will not have any significant impact on Nepal, according to the Weather Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">May 14: Cyclone Mocha developing in the Bay of Bengal will not have any significant impact on Nepal, according to the Weather Forecasting Division of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The cyclone is currently moving towards the northeast direction and is rising up in the coastal areas of Bangladesh and Myanmar, according to RSS, the state-owned national news agency of Nepal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the CNN reported that aid agencies in Bangladesh and Myanmar are bracing for disaster and have launched a massive emergency plan as the powerful cyclone barrels towards millions of vulnerable people.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The cyclone is expected to make landfall on Sunday afternoon, likely across Rakhine state of Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh’s Cox Bazar, host to the world’s largest refugee camp, added CNN</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from the coasts of Myanmar and Bangladesh as Cyclone Mocha- the region's most powerful cyclone for over a decade- is set to hit the coastal region, reported the Hindustan Times.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The 'Super Cyclone' packed with winds of up to 240 kilometres per hour will be equivalent to a category 4 hurricane, reported Indian media.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The buildup of the cyclone is of particular concern for Nepal as the country gears up for spring expedition of mountain peaks.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">It is noteworthy to recall that during the autumn climbing season nine years, Cyclone Hudhud in eastern India had caused a sudden changes in weather and caused avalanches and blizzard in Dhaulagiri and Annapurna regions of Nepal on October 14, 2014 killing dozens of people.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17583', 'image' => '20230514113236_MochaCyclone_1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 11:31:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17851', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ''Third Quarterly Review of Monetary Policy Positive' ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 14: The Federation of Small and Cottage Industries has welcomed the third quarterly review of monetary policy unveiled recently by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). It stressed the objective implementation of the monetary policy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 14: The Federation of Small and Cottage Industries has welcomed the third quarterly review of monetary policy unveiled recently by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). It stressed the objective implementation of the monetary policy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The federation drew NRB's attention towards the provision that commercial banks need to invest 11 percent of total loan in small, cottage and mid-scale industries. Although some sectors had witnessed positive indicators for investment, the small and cottage industries were still complaining of not getting loan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the wake of complaints that small entrepreneurs were not provided concessional loan, a total of 147,807 persons were provided concessional loan as of mid-April. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The federation welcomed the provision of restructuring and re-tabulation of loan within mid-July 2023 by analysing cash flow and income of industries and enterprises against the loan up to Rs 20 million. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The federation has also appreciated the continuation of refinancing scheme for recovery of the productive sectors such as agriculture, and small and cottage industries which were impacted badly by the COVID crisis.-- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17582', 'image' => '20230514105953_1683614421.1643946593.Clipboard02.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 10:58:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17849', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Dr Mahat Rules Out Possibility of Expansive and Big Budget', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Minister for Finance Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat said that the government is not able to present expansive and big size budget.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">May 14: Minister for Finance Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat said that the government is not able to present expansive and big size budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">At a programme organized by the Centre for Economic Development and Administration and the National Economic Concern Society Nepal in Kathmandu on Saturday, Finance Minister Mahat made it clear that the government was unable to roll out an extensive and big size budget due to limited resources and decreased revenue collection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"We are currently facing a significant challenge in terms of revenue shortfall. There are limitations in presenting an expansive and large-scale budget," Mahat said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Finance Minister expressed his commitment to making maximum efforts for economic reform and improvement. "After coming to the Finance Ministry, I have observed many problems. There are more problems than what meets the eye. But, I cannot claim to solve all of them. But, honest efforts will be made from my side for reform," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The Finance Minister Mahat has stated that responsibility of principal and interest of the public debt had increased. “The responsibility to repay the loans taken for earthquake reconstruction will increase from next year onwards,” he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Furthermore, he has emphasized the need for the government to maintain efficiency and implementation in budget management and execution. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">"We require substantial improvements to our organizational structure and must amplify the impact of our budget. The current issue is that there is a lack of capital flow in the market without investments, and there is also no flow of funds through the banking system," the Minister stated. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Additionally, the Minister emphasized the need to improve the tendency to spend capital towards the end of the fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">During the event, National Planning Commission's Vice-Chairperson Dr Min Bahadur Shrestha pledged to take suggestions solicited from various sectors into consideration while allocating the budget and formulating policies and programs for the upcoming fiscal year. He further added that any issues missed out in the upcoming budget would be incorporated into the 16th periodic plan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Former Chief Secretary Leelamani Poudyal expressed concern regarding the government's inability to build capital and create employment from investments made in the social security sector. He viewed the current problems in the national economy as a result of consistently having bad policies for nearly three decades.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Professor Dr Shivaraj Adhikari commented that economic growth was dismal compared to investment, while jobs were not created compared to the economic growth rate. He viewed the economic problems as being a result of increased public debt and investment without any corresponding economic growth.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-14', 'modified' => '2023-05-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17580', 'image' => '20230514062755_collage (17).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-14 06:24:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17848', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Tourism Rebounding with Over 132 Percent Increase in Arrival of Foreign Tourists in 4 Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 13: Nepal has witnessed an encouraging arrival of 326,527 foreign tourists in the first four months of 2023. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 13</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">: </span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal has witnessed an encouraging arrival of 326,527 foreign tourists in the first four months of 2023. The figure is 132.67 percent increment as compared to the same period in the previous year, 2022. A total of 140,336 foreign tourists visited the country during the same period in 2022.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The global COVID-19 pandemic hit the tourism sector of the country resulting in a sharp drop in the influx of foreign tourists in the past few years. Just before the pandemic, a total of 420,446 foreign tourists had visited the country in the first four months of the year 2019. In the following years after outbreak of the virus, there was a sharp drop in the inflow of tourists. A total of 220,682 tourists arrived in Nepal in 2020. The figure further dropped to 55,447 in 2021.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Factors like a surge in the inflow of tourists and recovering occupancy of hotels have indicated the revival of the tourism sector from the infection. Director of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) Maniraj Lamichhane said tourism has almost been on track. “Factors like the inflow of foreign tourists, encouraging number of people taking the permit to climb mountains and increasing mobility of tourists at tourism destinations have indicated the revival of the tourism sector. Tourism will soon keep its track by prioritizing one-stop destinations and expediting aggressive marketing,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The influx of foreign tourists in the first four months of the year 2023 has almost kept up with the figure during the same period in 2019 before the pandemic, which is a positive sign, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is a need for the rebranding and repositioning of the destination marketing so as to make the tourism sector more dynamic, he suggested.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Projection of the World Tourism Organisation</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The World Tourism Organisation has projected the revival of Nepal’s tourism sector until 2023. The organization had projected global tourism including Nepal’s to recover by up to 95 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Factors like the latest tendency of people visiting accessible and nearest destinations, and China remaining open to tourists have added, it said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The number of foreign mountaineers taking the permit to scale mountains has also been encouraging. Spring this year has witnessed a record highest number of mountaineers who have taken the permit to climb Sagarmatha (Mt Everest), according to the Department of Tourism. During the season, a total of 467 climbers from 44 groups (98 women and 369 men) took permits to climb mountains as of May 9, said Bigyan Koirala, section officer at the mountaineering section of the Department of Tourism, adding that the number could increase. The number of people who have taken the permit to climb mountains this season was a record high in the 70-year history of the ascent of Mt Everest, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">People from 65 countries including from Nepal took the permit. Over Rs 660 million was collected in revenue by issuing the permit to scale Mt Everest.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of them have reached the base camp of the world’s highest peak, and they are reported to be waiting for good weather conditions, it has been said. Icefall doctors’ team has cleared the route to Camp 4 or the South Col. The expedition team could not push their way ahead due to bad weather conditions above 7,500 meters on Mt Everest, it has been said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Flights recovering</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Around 300 roundtrip domestic flights have taken place, said Teknath Sitaula, spokesperson for the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). Nine airlines and 11 helicopter companies are operating domestic flights. Similarly, 27 airlines companies including three Nepali companies are operating international flights. Of the total 54 airports including three international ones in the country, 36 are operational.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Despite getting into approximately Rs 48 billion debts, the Nepal Airlines Corporation, the national flag-carrier of the country, is planning to add three more aircraft. Currently, it has two wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft for international flights. Similarly, it has two Twin Otter planes for domestic flights.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In view of the marketing of tourism, the Tourism Board has a plan on the table to expand the market across India, Bangladesh and China. Europe and the United States have recovered in terms of tourism following the infection. Asian countries are on track to achieve tourism revival.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Lately, Chinese tourists have visited Nepal in hordes.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Before the pandemic, around 170,000 Chinese tourists had arrived in Nepal. Lately after the virus subsided, the influx of Chinese tourists has been encouraging, said Tourism Board’s Director Lamichhane.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, the country saw the arrival of around 1,800 Chinese tourists in February, 2023. The number encouragingly surged 30 percent to 2,600 in March, and 81 percent to 4,770 in April. Flights from China to Nepal have also added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Proper marketing has resulted in a significant surge in the influx of tourists from India and Bangladesh as well, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Now, the arrival of Chinese tourists would increase as the Nepal-China transit points have reopened, and flights are operating, he expressed the hope.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">General Secretary of the Nepal Mountaineering Association Mohan Lamsal expressed his hope that enthusiasm for climbing Mt Everest this season, and activities in the run-up to the 70th Anniversary of the first successful ascent of Mt Everest would make the country’s tourism more dynamic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Hotels and hospitality centers in the country have capacity of accommodating around 3.5 million tourists. There are around 10,000 hotels ranging from five stars to tourist standard hotels in the country.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At present, there are 18 five star hotels including a deluxe one in the country, according to the Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN). Around 20 five star hotels will be added in one and a half years. Over two dozen chain hotels are also ready for operation. HAN President Binayak Shah said the affected tourism sector of the country has gradually come back on track.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, there is still a setback for hotels. There is only 30 percent hotel occupancy as of now, said hotel entrepreneurs. It requires at least 38 percent occupancy to cover daily operational expenses of a hotel, they said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Now we can bring packages to attract tourists. Hotels have been hit hard due to a lack of tourists for the past three years after the outbreak of the pandemic. As a result, hotel entrepreneurs have faced such a situation that they are finding it hard to pay off bank loans and interests. Until the previous fiscal year, the government had tried to address our problems through monetary policy. But, this is not the case in the current FY. So, we have put forward our problems with the government,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Returns on investment?</span></span></strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to data, Rs 1,700 to Rs 1,800 billion have been invested in the hotel sector. The influx of tourists in recent years has not been enough to get hotels surviving the dire situation at present.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In such a situation, to save the hotel sector, the government should take steps like fully operating Pokhara and Bhairahawa international airports, said Shah.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“It will be meaningless to only construct airports without their operation. We are unable to operate other aircraft except for the ones of the NAC. We cannot bring in 3.5 million tourists when airports cannot operate fully. There is a doubt that the government cannot do the marketing substantially. For this, the government should cooperate with the private sector,” he suggested.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President of the Thamel Tourism Development Council, Bhabishwar Sharma backed Lamichhane. The country’s tourism is gradually recovering, and this has encouraged tourism entrepreneurs, he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Encouraged by the gradual revival of the tourism sector, tourism entrepreneurs are working with positive vibes. There has been around 80 percent hotel occupancy in the Thamel area. Chinese tourists are increasing,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He stressed the need for a partnership between the government and the private sector to revitalize the industry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, President of the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal, Nilhari Bastola stressed the need for policy improvements, destination expansion and marketing so as to make the tourism sector dynamic.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Also, President of the Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents Ramesh Thapa emphasized putting forward planned programmes for accelerating the revival of tourism.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> -- </span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">RSS</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-05-13', 'modified' => '2023-05-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17579', 'image' => '20230513065358_Tourist Arrival (1).jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-05-13 18:52:46', '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
