March 21: The social security scheme of Nepal will cover Nepali migrant workers and self-employed Nepalis in foreign…
March 21: The social security scheme of Nepal will cover Nepali migrant workers and self-employed Nepalis in foreign…
Rastriya Banijya Bank Limited has started a 14-day Pre Service Training for newly-appointed 117 administrative assistants in Kathmandu from March…
Continental Trading Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., the authorized distributor of Kia vehicles for Nepal, has rolled out the new Kia Carens MPV in Nepali market. The new edition of the car is the perfect combination of safety, space, and style that makes it an ideal car for modern…
March 21: The Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), which earns an international recognition for adventure trekking, is seeing a lesser number of trekkers these days, thanks to the consequences brought about by unmanaged…
March 21: Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has said that the hotel industry has reached a situation where it cannot afford the operating expenses.…
March 21: Projects worth Rs 7900 billion have been listed in the National Project…
March 21: Production of electric vehicles is likely to start in Koshi Province within a year.…
March 21: An unprecedented wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries facing food security risk was extended just before its expiration date this…
March 21: The government has decided to accept a grant aid of 50 million euros from the European Union for the school education sector…
March 21: The Department of Passports will remain open for service seekers today, despite a public holiday on the occasion of Ghodejatra festival in the Kathmandu…
The Credit to Deposit(CD) ratio of banks and financial institutions(BFIs) has gone up. Continuous fall of deposits from the banking system has caused the CD ratio to…
March 20: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has received the vote of confidence from the House of Representatives (HoR), Speaker Devraj Ghimire announced at the HoR meeting on…
IME General Insurance Limited and Prudential Insurance Company Limited have signed the final agreement for merger. The two non-life insurance companies inked the final merger agreement on March…
The government has decided not to implement the decision of a thematic committee under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to cut subsidy on chemical…
March 20: In a one month period between mid-February to mid-March, the government collected less than half of the capital gains tax from investors in the secondary market compared to a month ago (mid-January to mid-February).…
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' => '17338', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Social Security Scheme to Cover Nepali Migrant Workers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: The social security scheme of Nepal will cover Nepali migrant workers and self-employed Nepalis in foreign lands.', '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"">March 21: The social security scheme of Nepal will cover Nepali migrant workers and self-employed Nepalis in foreign lands. The Social Security Fund is preparing to unveil the new scheme to cover Nepali migrant workers and those self-employed in foreign lands amid a function on Wednesday in the presence of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.</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"">As part of the expansion of the contribution-based scheme, this is expected to benefit around 2.2 million Nepali migrant workers, said the fund's spokesperson Bibek Panthi.</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 fund has already endorsed the procedure for covering Nepali workers in the informal sector, foreign employment and self-employment in foreign lands under the scheme in a bid to bring all Nepali workers including migrants under the umbrella of social security, according to Panthi.</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"">Various trade unions have been demanding the inclusion of workers in the informal sector and self-employed under the scheme. The Non-Resident Nepali Association has also been lobbying for the coverage of Nepali migrant workers by the SSF.</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"">Launched three years ago, the scheme has until now covered only Nepali workers in the formal sector.</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"">For this, aspiring Nepali migrant workers seeking a new labor permit have to be registered with the fund. Around 2,000 aspiring migrant workers have been taking labor permits on a daily basis.</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"">As per the endorsed work procedures, a Nepali migrant worker in foreign employment and self-employed in a foreign land can be eligible for the facilities provided by the fund by contributing 21.33 percent of their basic remuneration or a minimum Rs 2,000 monthly and three fold of it at maximum.</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 government has set Rs 15,000 as the minimum remuneration: Rs 9,385 basic remuneration and a dearness allowance of Rs 5,615 for a worker. Of the 21.33 percent amount contributed under the scheme, 7. 48 percent goes for the accident insurance and for the disability and dependent family protection scheme and 13.85 for pension.</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"">Any migrant worker registered with the Social Security Fund shall be entitled for the three kinds of facilities mentioned above. </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 at foreign jobs shall be eligible to draw Rs 100,000 as accident insurance, 60 percent for pension in case of disability, Rs 25,000 as bereavement expenditures, and there is a provision of 40 percent lifelong pension to dependent spouses. Any aspiring Nepali migrant shall compulsorily obtain a registration number online from the fund.</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, the regular contributors to the fund are entitled to various facilities under different headings such as accidental and disability protection scheme, medical and safe maternity scheme, dependent protection scheme and pension and old-age protection scheme.</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"">So far, 399,566 contributors have been contributing to the fund. The contribution-based amount in the fund has reached Rs 30.87 billion and it has paid Rs 3.81 billion to the contributors. The SSF has been implemented since November 27, 2018. -- RSS</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17073', 'image' => '20230321091011_20200415015116_1586905496.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 21:08:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17337', 'article_category_id' => '218', 'title' => 'RBB Imparts Pre Service Training To New Employees ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Rastriya Banijya Bank Limited has started a 14-day Pre Service Training for newly-appointed 117 administrative assistants in Kathmandu from March 19.', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">March 21: Rastriya Banijya Bank Limited has started a 14-day Pre Service Training for newly-appointed 117 administrative assistants in Kathmandu from March 19.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">At the inauguration ceremony of the training programme, RBB’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kiran Kumar Shrestha asked the freshly-recruited young employees to provide quality banking services for the bank’s growth of productivity.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">On the occasion, RBB’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer Devendraraman Khanal had briefed the new-recruits about their duties and responsibilities in their workplace.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Likewise, the head of the Human Resource Department of the RBB Bhim Prasad Ghimire had administered the oath of office and secrecy to fresh staffers. </span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17072', 'image' => '20230321050633_collage - 2023-03-21T170708.448.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 17:04:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17336', 'article_category_id' => '266', 'title' => 'Kia Rolls Out Carens in Nepali Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' Continental Trading Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., the authorized distributor of Kia vehicles for Nepal, has rolled out the new Kia Carens MPV in Nepali market. The new edition of the car is the perfect combination of safety, space, and style that makes it an ideal car for modern families. ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 21: Continental Trading Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., the authorized distributor of Kia vehicles for Nepal, has rolled out the new Kia Carens MPV in Nepali market. </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The new edition of the car is the perfect combination of safety, space, and style that makes it an ideal car for modern families. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the press statement issued by the company, Kia Carens has received the prestigious Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) award for 2023.The MPV was announced as the winner at the 18th edition of ICOTY awards that concluded recently.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Kia Carens has various features of 10 Robust Hi-Safety Packages which includes, 6 Airbags, ESC (Electronic Stability Control), VSM (Vehicle Stability Management), BAS(Brake Assist), HAC (Hill- start Assist Control), DBC (Downhill Brake Control), ABC (Anti-lock Brake System), All Wheel Disc Brakes, Highline Tyre Pressure Monitoring System, Rear Parking Sensors, according to the company. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The new Kia Carens MPV comes in two petrol engine variants, a 1.5-liter unit with 115bhp and 144 Nm of torque and a 1.4-liter turbo petrol with 140bhp and 242 Nm of torque. Carens also comes in manual and automatic transmission variants. The Luxury Plus trim also gets steering –mounted paddle shifters with 7-speed DCT of the 6-speed automatic.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The three-row MPV boasts a long list of comfort and convenience features in addition to generous dimensions. Features include a 10.25-inch infotainment display, digital instrumentation, sunroof, roof-mounted air convents with adjustable airspeed for the 2nd and the 3rd row, seat back mounted tray table with cup holder with tablet and smartphone notch. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The car also boasts of ventilated front seats, 64-colour ambient lighting, air-purifier, Bose Audio system, one-touch 2nd-row tumble to name a few. </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It comes in 7-seater configurations, a large boot space with 216 litres of luggage space, expandable to a massive 645 litres with the third row folded. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The price of Carens Premium is set at Rs 48, 90,000 and the price of Carens Prestige is set at Rs 52, 90,000 in the Nepali market. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17071', 'image' => '20230321040801_collage - 2023-03-21T160148.066.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 16:03:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17335', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Trekking Culture Suffers Consequences of Unmanaged Motorways in Annapurna ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: The Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), which earns an international recognition for adventure trekking, is seeing a lesser number of trekkers these days, thanks to the consequences brought about by unmanaged motorways. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 21: The Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), which earns an international recognition for adventure trekking, is seeing a lesser number of trekkers these days, thanks to the consequences brought about by unmanaged motorways. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The locals complained that the increase in traffic movement has led to sound and dust pollution, posing the risk of further damage to the natural beauty of the area. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Almost all settlements in the region have now access to motorways. Though the development activities have made it easier for tourists to travel and access the area, it is not cost free in terms of environmental aspect, natural beauty of the area and the public health. It has also brought negative consequences to the trekking business, say tourism entrepreneurs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People who used to feel the inhalation of fresh air while walking are now compelled to wear facemasks to avoid dust pollution. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The construction of motor roads rampantly from Lamjung to Manang and from Myagdi to Muktinath has put the trekking route at risk of extinction, said visiting tourists. Human encroachment on the natural beauty of the region is also another matter of concern. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Former President of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN) western region chapter Deepak Raj Adhikari said motor roads have been constructed by damaging structures of the trekking route. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Short and long trekking trails in Ghodepani, Poon Hill, Nagi and Khopa in Myagdi, Jomsom, Upper Mustang, Annapurna Base Camp, Mardi Peak, and Ghandruk have been 'largely destroyed' due to the construction of motorways. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Trekking is one of the major attractions of Nepal's tourism industry. But entrepreneurs are worried to see trekking route getting damaged and losing its charms with the availability of unplanned and unmanaged transport facilities. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Subarna KC who runs a hotel at Dana said trekking tourists were shortening their trip citing trekking experiences were no more entertaining as in the past. Rampant construction of roadways causes encroachment on the existing trekking routes. But, no substantive efforts have been made so far to protect the trekking routes, said the locals. </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"">Trees were cut down during the extension of roadways, causing the degradation of natural beauty of the area. According to tourism entrepreneurs, 80 percent trekking tourists have started shortening their trip comparatively to the past. They expect the Nepal Tourism Board and the TAAN to work together to restore trekking business, and its charm and essence in the Annapurna area. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17070', 'image' => '20230321035704_10-UTL-Landing-Pg-2400x1600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 15:56:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17334', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Hoteliers Struggling to Manage Operating Expenses: HAN', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has said that the hotel industry has reached a situation where it cannot afford the operating expenses. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">March 21: Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has said that the hotel industry has reached a situation where it cannot afford the operating expenses. HAN claimed that the hotel industry is on the verge of collapse due to inflation, lack of liquidity, lack of environment for tourists and customers, and financial institutions putting pressure on them for payment of interest.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">HAN, the umbrella organization of big hotels, made such an announcement at a press conference in Kathmandu on Monday. During the event, Shreejana Rana, president of HAN, said that most of the hoteliers are worried about how to run their business in this situation. She said that restructuring or rescheduling of loans as well as extension of time period for the payment of loan and interest is absolutely necessary to revive this sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">HAN has also demanded the authorities concerned to reduce the interest rate to a single digit. Binayak Shah, senior vice president of HAN, said that the hotel industry, which was badly affected by Covid-19 pandemic for almost three years, has not been prioritized in the state's policies and regulations. "The fact that only half of the tourists came in 2022 compared to 2019 has given a positive message," he said. "However, every businessperson is not able to take benefits compared to the past."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">HAN said that although the responsibility of paying the principal and interest of the loan is on the borrowers, the government should facilitate them during the current situation. Shah said that the business has dropped to zero due to the government's control-oriented policies such as health protocols and lockdowns during the Covid-19 period. According to Shah, the hotel industry has been deprived of the facilities provided to other industries. According to him, even though the hotels are running now, they are at a loss because they are not able to generate income to meet the operating expenses. He also said that due to the entry of many new hotels in the market, the competition has increased and there has been a pressure to reduce the price. HAN also complained that it is very regrettable that the government has not recognized the hotel sector of Nepal as an industry even though they have already invested more than the annual budget of the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17069', 'image' => '20230321034337_Hotel.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 15:42:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17332', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Projects worth Rs 7900 Billion Listed in Project Bank', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: Projects worth Rs 7900 billion have been listed in the National Project Bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 21: Projects worth Rs 7900 billion have been listed in the National Project Bank. The federal government had formed the project bank to identify and prepare a list of investable projects. So far, 7,219 projects have been registered in the list.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials say that the estimated cost of the projects registered in the Project Bank under the National Planning Commission is more than Rs 7900 billion and it will take at least 26 years to complete them based on the current budget system.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Among such projects registered with the National Planning Commission, there are projects including roads, drinking water, bridges, river embankments and airports. In the past, leaders and parliamentarians used to rush to the Ministry of Finance to include the projects in the red book while preparing the budget. The then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli started the National Project Bank in the year 2076 after the government found it difficult to sustain such schemes without securing source of funding for the projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Ram Kumar Phuyal, a member of the commission, the concept of project bank was put forward for the development and practice of a system for identifying, selecting, evaluating and prioritizing projects based on facts and standards. According to him, it is believed that this will help to make project management more effective and achieve efficiency in implementation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It seems challenging for the government to complete these projects from allocating resources to spending the allocated budget. In the past, the government had introduced the concept of national pride projects to prioritize the projects. The government classified 17 projects as projects of national pride for the first time in the fiscal year 2068/69. So far, 24 projects have been listed in the National Pride Project.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ten years after the government’s announcement of the pride projects, only the 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project and the Gautam Buddha International Airport have been completed and put into operation while other projects are yet to be completed. Due to delays in construction, the cost of large projects has increased to billions of rupees. The completion of other national pride projects is undertain.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Phuyal said that the concept of National Project Bank was introduced to remove such uncertainty in project implementation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, the commission has taken initiative to put all the projects at the provincial and local levels in the project bank. He stated, “The work of entering all the projects in the bank is moving ahead.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the progresses of both big and small projects were not satisfactory, the government repeatedly conducted studies to find the reason. The report of the expenditure review commission led by Dilliraj Khanal recently pointed out that due to mistakes made from project selection to design, the projects are being delayed and the cost has also increased. According to Khanal, until the dilly-dallying in project selection, design, costing system, working style is not improved, the project cost will continue to increase.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even now, the government has not been able to spend the development budget allocated in the annual budget. In the current fiscal year, the government has allocated Rs 300 billion for development works, but only Rs 87 billion has been spent as of March 19. In the same period last year, Rs 80 billion had been spent.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17067', 'image' => '20230321012640_1679359870.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 13:25:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17331', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Electric Buses in Koshi Province within a Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: Production of electric vehicles is likely to start in Koshi Province within a year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 21: Production of electric vehicles is likely to start in Koshi Province within a year. Nepali and Korean investors have jointly invested Rs 3 billion in the industry with the objective of producing electric school buses within a year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The process of finding land for setting up the industry and obtaining approval from the Ministry of Industry is currently under progress. Koshi NK Motors Pvt Ltd had signed an agreement with SDK Motors of Korea in Seoul, Korea, on February 24 to establish an electric vehicle industry in Nepal. The agreement was signed by Tikaram Puri, president of NK Motors, and Daiki Jung, executive chairman of the Korean company.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Puri of Koshi NK Motors Pvt. Ltd., informed us that they are preparing to produce a 22-seater state-of-the-art school bus in the first phase. Based on the demand, the target is to produce about 500 electric school buses initially, he said. Puri said that the company will also produce school buses, public buses, microbuses and electric cars.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, the electric vehicle produced by the company will be 30 per cent cheaper than diesel and petrol-powered vehicles. Likewise, it is estimated that the operating expenses of electric vehicles produced by the company will be lower compared to other EVs.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NK Motors Managing Director TR Dhakal said that according to the agreement, electric vehicles based on Korean technology will be produced with a joint investment of about Rs 3 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"For that, we are working to find land to set up a plant in one of the districts among Sunsari and Morang," Dhakal said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Puri said that the aim is to sell the vehicles produced in Nepal in India, Bangladesh and Bhutan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that billions are being spent abroad on fuel imports from Nepal while the country is becoming self-sufficient in electricity. In this context, electric vehicles that are cheap and environment-friendly can help in consuming domestic electricity. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Puri informed that the technicians of the Korean company will come to Nepal within March to select the location of the industry, and then other processes will proceed ahead. He said that since it is a plan that Koshi province can be proud of, he expects the support of the state government and the federal government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">An agreement has been signed to bring the chassis, battery and motor from Korea and build the body structure here. Puri said, "Made in Nepal" will be written on the vehicle even if goods are brought from Korea.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17066', 'image' => '20230321125557_electric-bus.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 12:55:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17330', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'UN Confirms Extension of Black Sea Grain Deal ', 'sub_title' => 'Russia, Ukraine Extend Grain Deal to Aid World's Poor ', 'summary' => 'March 21: An unprecedented wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries facing food security risk was extended just before its expiration date this weekend.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 21: An unprecedented wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries facing food security risk was extended just before its expiration date this weekend.</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 United Nations confirmed the extension of the deal allowing exports of grain, related foodstuffs and fertilizers from designated Ukrainian seaports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The Black Sea Grain Initiative, signed in Istanbul on 22 July 2022, has been extended," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in a statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On July 22, 2022, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Turkey and the United Nations on grain and fertilizer exports from Ukraine and Russia to ensure supplies to global markets amid the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict, the Xinhua news agency reported. The deal, initially in effect for 120 days, was extended in mid-November 2022 for another 120 days till March 18. </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"">According to the Associated Press, the United Nations and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan both announced the extension, but neither confirmed how long it would last. </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"">Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian news agency Tass that Moscow "agreed to extend the deal for 60 days.” </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products that developing nations depend on, AP reported. </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"">Two ships carrying more than 96,000 metric tons of corn left Ukrainian ports on Saturday bound for China and Tunisia, according to U.N. data. </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"">During the first two terms of the initiative, some 25 million metric tons of grain and foodstuffs have been moved to 45 countries, helping to bring down global food prices and stabilizing the markets, Xinhua quoted Dujarric as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, AP reported that food prices have fallen for 11 straight months. But food was already expensive before the war because of droughts from the Americas to the Middle East — most devastating in the Horn of Africa, with thousands dying in Somalia. Poorer nations that depend on imported food priced in dollars are spending more as their currencies weaken. </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"">Figures from financial data provider Refinitiv showed that Russian wheat exports more than doubled to 3.8 million tons in January from the same month a year ago, before the invasion. Russian wheat shipments were at or near record highs in November, December and January, increasing 24% over the same three months a year earlier, according to Refinitiv. It estimated Russia would export 44 million tons of wheat in 2022-2023. </span></span></span><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17065', 'image' => '20230321115036_wheatttttt.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 11:49:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17328', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Accept Grant worth 50 Million Euros ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: The government has decided to accept a grant aid of 50 million euros from the European Union for the school education sector program. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 21: The government has decided to accept a grant aid of 50 million euros from the European Union for the school education sector program. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday also decided not to implement the decision to reduce the rate of subsidy provided on chemical fertilizers to the farmers through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the government has approved the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on "Sharing of Real Time Hydro-meteorological Data" between Nepal and Bangladesh. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the government has decided to promote Basant Bahadur Kunwar, Tek Prasad Rai, Deepak Thapa, Shyamalal Gyawali and Kiran Bajracharya to the vacant posts of additional inspector general of Nepal Police. A decision was also taken to provide relief support to the verified ineligible combatants of the armed conflict period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has decided to appoint Man Bahadur Khadka as the Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Forest Corporation Limited. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17063', 'image' => '20230321110111_Logo_of_Nepal_(2020).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 11:00:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17327', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Department of Passports and Banks to open Today ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: The Department of Passports will remain open for service seekers today, despite a public holiday on the occasion of Ghodejatra festival in the Kathmandu valley. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 21: The Department of Passports will remain open for service seekers today, despite a public holiday on the occasion of Ghodejatra festival in the Kathmandu valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The department will remain open and provide its regular services from 10 am to 2:30 pm on Tuesday, said information officer of the Department, Khimananda Bhusal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the Nepal Rastra Bank has instructed banks and financial institutions to continue with their service today. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a notice on Monday, the central bank has instructed the BFIs to make arrangements for regular banking services during Ghodejatra. NRFB has also urged BFIs to consider giving continuity to such services outside the valley. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17062', 'image' => '20230321103023_FX4LeBP27B7bDzDMRWV0nd2dzNzhWB-metaZG9wLmpwZw==-.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 10:29:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17326', 'article_category_id' => '218', 'title' => 'Credit to Deposit(CD) Ratio Goes Up ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Credit to Deposit(CD) ratio of banks and financial institutions(BFIs) has gone up. Continuous fall of deposits from the banking system has caused the CD ratio to surge. ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">March 21: The Credit to Deposit(CD) ratio of banks and financial institutions(BFIs) has gone up. Continuous fall of deposits from the banking system has caused the CD ratio to surge. The average CD ratio of the banks and financial institutions reached 85.71 percent on March 18, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The CD ratio of the banks which stood at 85.60 per cent on March 14 increased to 85.69 percent on March 15.<br /> As per the Nepal Rastra Bank directives, banks and financial institutions need to maintain CD ratio threshold below 90 percent. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Deposits are continuously falling from the banking system since last week. Deposits had fallen by Rs 11 billion on March 15 compared to March 14. Banks and financial institutions had deposit of Rs 5413 billion on March 14 while the deposits fell to Rs 5402 billion the next day. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">While commercial banks had deposits of Rs 4764 billion on March 17, the deposits fell by one billion on March 18. The total deposits of commercial banks was Rs 4761 billion on March 15. Development banks and finance companies had a total deposits of Rs 641 billion on March 18. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Similarly, total lending of the banks and finance companies was Rs 4813 billion on March 18. Total lending of Rs 4817 billion as of March 14 had dropped to Rs 4812 billion on March 15. The total loan disbursement reached Rs 4813 billion on March 17. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The interbank interest rate dropped from 7.1 per cent to 7 percent from March 17 to march 18, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. </span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17061', 'image' => '20230321073259_collage (30).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 07:30:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17325', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Dahal Wins Vote of Confidence in Parliament', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 20: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has received the vote of confidence from the House of Representatives (HoR), Speaker Devraj Ghimire announced at the HoR meeting on Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 20: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has received the vote of confidence from the House of Representatives (HoR), Speaker Devraj Ghimire announced at the HoR meeting on Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the motion tabled before the HoR, Prime Minister Dahal got support from 172 HoR members. A total of 262 lawmakers were present in the HoR meeting. Altogether 89 votes were cast against the proposal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, taking part in the deliberations on a proposal put forth by the prime minister in the HoR seeking a vote of confidence, all the political parties except the CPN (UML), Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party had announced their support for the Dahal-led government. In the voting process, Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party remained neutral while 89 MPs of UML and RPP cast their votes against the motion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The PM took the vote of confidence from the HoR for the second time after his appointment to the post on December 25, 2022. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the constitutional provision, the PM should take the vote of confidence within 30 days after political parties supporting the government withdraw their support. In this regard, the incumbent prime minister had to take the vote of confidence within March 26. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the first time, Dahal had secured over 99 percent votes from the parliament on January 10. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-20', 'modified' => '2023-03-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17060', 'image' => '20230320061247_CK-KTM-PMDAHAL.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-20 18:12:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17324', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' IME General and Prudential Insurance Sign Final Merger Agreement ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'IME General Insurance Limited and Prudential Insurance Company Limited have signed the final agreement for merger. The two non-life insurance companies inked the final merger agreement on March 19. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"> <br /> March 20: IME General Insurance Limited and Prudential Insurance Company Limited have signed the final agreement for merger. The two non-life insurance companies inked the final merger agreement on March 19. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">With the final merger agreement, two companies will hold their Special General Meetings (SGMs) and approve the merger proposal and start preparations for the joint transactions.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Both companies have finished their Due Diligence Audit (DDA) and agreed to merge with a swap ration of 1:1 in line with previous understanding. IME General Insurance has the total paid up capital of Rs 1.70 billion. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Prudential Insurance Company has a paid up capital of Rs 1.18 billion. The company has announced to provide bonus share of 3.325 to the shareholders. Following the bonus adjustment, the paid-up capital of the insuarnce will reach Rs 1.22 billion.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-20', 'modified' => '2023-03-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17059', 'image' => '20230320051945_collage - 2023-03-20T163739.570.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-20 17:17:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17323', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Decides to Retain Subsidy On Chemical Fertilizers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The government has decided not to implement the decision of a thematic committee under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to cut subsidy on chemical fertilizers. ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">March 20: The government has decided not to implement the decision of a thematic committee under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to cut subsidy on chemical fertilizers. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">A Cabinet meeting held on Monday at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers agreed to halt the Ministry's decision to cut the subsidy and keep it unchanged. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">As a result, prices of chemical fertilizers remain unchanged. The meeting felt the need for a detailed study on the issue before taking any decision further about the reduction of subsidy, according to Government Spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The government will take measures to further systematizing the subsidy entitled to farmers for the purchase of chemical fertilizers, said government spokesperson Sharma. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Earlier, the Fertilizer Supplies and Distribution Management Committee under the Ministery had decided to cut the subsidy on chemical fertilizers provided to farmers for the purchase of chemical fertilizers. ---RSS </span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-20', 'modified' => '2023-03-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17058', 'image' => '20230320040803_collage - 2023-03-20T160856.521.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-20 16:05:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17322', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Capital Gains Tax Falls by more than Half', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 20: In a one month period between mid-February to mid-March, the government collected less than half of the capital gains tax from investors in the secondary market compared to a month ago (mid-January to mid-February). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">March 20: In a one month period between mid-February to mid-March, the government collected less than half of the capital gains tax from investors in the secondary market compared to a month ago (mid-January to mid-February). In mid-February to mid-March, the government has collected more than Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">17</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">1.5 million under the heading of capital gains tax. The government collected this tax from investors who traded securities at a profit in the review month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Secondary market investors have to pay a maximum of </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent capital gains tax to the government when they sell securities at a profit. Institutional investors have to pay </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent and individual investors have to pay </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">7.5</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent for short-term transactions and </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">5</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent for long-term capital gains tax.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The income of both the investors and the government has decreased due to the decrease in securities trading in the secondary market. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In mid-January to mid-February, the government collected more than Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">346</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">4</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million capital gains tax from the secondary market. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The data of NEPSE shows that the total market capitalization of the secondary market decreased by Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">238</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.28 billion in mid-February to mid-March. The total market capitalization which was Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3061</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.96 billion in mid-January fell to Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2823</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.67 billion in mid-February.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CDS & Clearing Limited’s spokesperson Suresh Neupane said that the government collected more capital gains tax from long-term investors in the review month. Neupane added that more tax was collected from short-term investors in the last few months, but more tax was collected from long-term investors in mid-February to mid-March. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, the contribution of long-term investors is more than Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">90</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.13 million out of the total CGT of Rs 171.5 million collected in the review month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Neupane said that more than Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">82</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million was collected from short-term investors.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In recent weeks, the general investors have become worried due to the continuous fall in the share market. They have urged market regulators to work for market reforms. Investors argue that when the securities market increases, the income of the government will increase along with the investors’ participation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Investors have emphasized that the government should pay special attention to improve the current situation of the securities market, which is considered as a mirror of the economy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-20', 'modified' => '2023-03-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17057', 'image' => '20230320014508_1679273224.Clipboard03.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-20 13:44:22', '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' => '17338', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Social Security Scheme to Cover Nepali Migrant Workers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: The social security scheme of Nepal will cover Nepali migrant workers and self-employed Nepalis in foreign lands.', '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"">March 21: The social security scheme of Nepal will cover Nepali migrant workers and self-employed Nepalis in foreign lands. The Social Security Fund is preparing to unveil the new scheme to cover Nepali migrant workers and those self-employed in foreign lands amid a function on Wednesday in the presence of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.</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"">As part of the expansion of the contribution-based scheme, this is expected to benefit around 2.2 million Nepali migrant workers, said the fund's spokesperson Bibek Panthi.</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 fund has already endorsed the procedure for covering Nepali workers in the informal sector, foreign employment and self-employment in foreign lands under the scheme in a bid to bring all Nepali workers including migrants under the umbrella of social security, according to Panthi.</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"">Various trade unions have been demanding the inclusion of workers in the informal sector and self-employed under the scheme. The Non-Resident Nepali Association has also been lobbying for the coverage of Nepali migrant workers by the SSF.</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"">Launched three years ago, the scheme has until now covered only Nepali workers in the formal sector.</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"">For this, aspiring Nepali migrant workers seeking a new labor permit have to be registered with the fund. Around 2,000 aspiring migrant workers have been taking labor permits on a daily basis.</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"">As per the endorsed work procedures, a Nepali migrant worker in foreign employment and self-employed in a foreign land can be eligible for the facilities provided by the fund by contributing 21.33 percent of their basic remuneration or a minimum Rs 2,000 monthly and three fold of it at maximum.</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 government has set Rs 15,000 as the minimum remuneration: Rs 9,385 basic remuneration and a dearness allowance of Rs 5,615 for a worker. Of the 21.33 percent amount contributed under the scheme, 7. 48 percent goes for the accident insurance and for the disability and dependent family protection scheme and 13.85 for pension.</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"">Any migrant worker registered with the Social Security Fund shall be entitled for the three kinds of facilities mentioned above. </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 at foreign jobs shall be eligible to draw Rs 100,000 as accident insurance, 60 percent for pension in case of disability, Rs 25,000 as bereavement expenditures, and there is a provision of 40 percent lifelong pension to dependent spouses. Any aspiring Nepali migrant shall compulsorily obtain a registration number online from the fund.</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, the regular contributors to the fund are entitled to various facilities under different headings such as accidental and disability protection scheme, medical and safe maternity scheme, dependent protection scheme and pension and old-age protection scheme.</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"">So far, 399,566 contributors have been contributing to the fund. The contribution-based amount in the fund has reached Rs 30.87 billion and it has paid Rs 3.81 billion to the contributors. The SSF has been implemented since November 27, 2018. -- RSS</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17073', 'image' => '20230321091011_20200415015116_1586905496.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 21:08:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17337', 'article_category_id' => '218', 'title' => 'RBB Imparts Pre Service Training To New Employees ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Rastriya Banijya Bank Limited has started a 14-day Pre Service Training for newly-appointed 117 administrative assistants in Kathmandu from March 19.', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">March 21: Rastriya Banijya Bank Limited has started a 14-day Pre Service Training for newly-appointed 117 administrative assistants in Kathmandu from March 19.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">At the inauguration ceremony of the training programme, RBB’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kiran Kumar Shrestha asked the freshly-recruited young employees to provide quality banking services for the bank’s growth of productivity.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">On the occasion, RBB’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer Devendraraman Khanal had briefed the new-recruits about their duties and responsibilities in their workplace.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Likewise, the head of the Human Resource Department of the RBB Bhim Prasad Ghimire had administered the oath of office and secrecy to fresh staffers. </span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17072', 'image' => '20230321050633_collage - 2023-03-21T170708.448.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 17:04:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17336', 'article_category_id' => '266', 'title' => 'Kia Rolls Out Carens in Nepali Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' Continental Trading Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., the authorized distributor of Kia vehicles for Nepal, has rolled out the new Kia Carens MPV in Nepali market. The new edition of the car is the perfect combination of safety, space, and style that makes it an ideal car for modern families. ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 21: Continental Trading Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., the authorized distributor of Kia vehicles for Nepal, has rolled out the new Kia Carens MPV in Nepali market. </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The new edition of the car is the perfect combination of safety, space, and style that makes it an ideal car for modern families. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the press statement issued by the company, Kia Carens has received the prestigious Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) award for 2023.The MPV was announced as the winner at the 18th edition of ICOTY awards that concluded recently.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Kia Carens has various features of 10 Robust Hi-Safety Packages which includes, 6 Airbags, ESC (Electronic Stability Control), VSM (Vehicle Stability Management), BAS(Brake Assist), HAC (Hill- start Assist Control), DBC (Downhill Brake Control), ABC (Anti-lock Brake System), All Wheel Disc Brakes, Highline Tyre Pressure Monitoring System, Rear Parking Sensors, according to the company. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The new Kia Carens MPV comes in two petrol engine variants, a 1.5-liter unit with 115bhp and 144 Nm of torque and a 1.4-liter turbo petrol with 140bhp and 242 Nm of torque. Carens also comes in manual and automatic transmission variants. The Luxury Plus trim also gets steering –mounted paddle shifters with 7-speed DCT of the 6-speed automatic.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The three-row MPV boasts a long list of comfort and convenience features in addition to generous dimensions. Features include a 10.25-inch infotainment display, digital instrumentation, sunroof, roof-mounted air convents with adjustable airspeed for the 2nd and the 3rd row, seat back mounted tray table with cup holder with tablet and smartphone notch. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The car also boasts of ventilated front seats, 64-colour ambient lighting, air-purifier, Bose Audio system, one-touch 2nd-row tumble to name a few. </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It comes in 7-seater configurations, a large boot space with 216 litres of luggage space, expandable to a massive 645 litres with the third row folded. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The price of Carens Premium is set at Rs 48, 90,000 and the price of Carens Prestige is set at Rs 52, 90,000 in the Nepali market. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17071', 'image' => '20230321040801_collage - 2023-03-21T160148.066.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 16:03:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17335', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Trekking Culture Suffers Consequences of Unmanaged Motorways in Annapurna ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: The Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), which earns an international recognition for adventure trekking, is seeing a lesser number of trekkers these days, thanks to the consequences brought about by unmanaged motorways. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 21: The Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), which earns an international recognition for adventure trekking, is seeing a lesser number of trekkers these days, thanks to the consequences brought about by unmanaged motorways. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The locals complained that the increase in traffic movement has led to sound and dust pollution, posing the risk of further damage to the natural beauty of the area. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Almost all settlements in the region have now access to motorways. Though the development activities have made it easier for tourists to travel and access the area, it is not cost free in terms of environmental aspect, natural beauty of the area and the public health. It has also brought negative consequences to the trekking business, say tourism entrepreneurs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People who used to feel the inhalation of fresh air while walking are now compelled to wear facemasks to avoid dust pollution. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The construction of motor roads rampantly from Lamjung to Manang and from Myagdi to Muktinath has put the trekking route at risk of extinction, said visiting tourists. Human encroachment on the natural beauty of the region is also another matter of concern. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Former President of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN) western region chapter Deepak Raj Adhikari said motor roads have been constructed by damaging structures of the trekking route. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Short and long trekking trails in Ghodepani, Poon Hill, Nagi and Khopa in Myagdi, Jomsom, Upper Mustang, Annapurna Base Camp, Mardi Peak, and Ghandruk have been 'largely destroyed' due to the construction of motorways. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Trekking is one of the major attractions of Nepal's tourism industry. But entrepreneurs are worried to see trekking route getting damaged and losing its charms with the availability of unplanned and unmanaged transport facilities. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Subarna KC who runs a hotel at Dana said trekking tourists were shortening their trip citing trekking experiences were no more entertaining as in the past. Rampant construction of roadways causes encroachment on the existing trekking routes. But, no substantive efforts have been made so far to protect the trekking routes, said the locals. </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"">Trees were cut down during the extension of roadways, causing the degradation of natural beauty of the area. According to tourism entrepreneurs, 80 percent trekking tourists have started shortening their trip comparatively to the past. They expect the Nepal Tourism Board and the TAAN to work together to restore trekking business, and its charm and essence in the Annapurna area. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17070', 'image' => '20230321035704_10-UTL-Landing-Pg-2400x1600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 15:56:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17334', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Hoteliers Struggling to Manage Operating Expenses: HAN', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has said that the hotel industry has reached a situation where it cannot afford the operating expenses. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">March 21: Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has said that the hotel industry has reached a situation where it cannot afford the operating expenses. HAN claimed that the hotel industry is on the verge of collapse due to inflation, lack of liquidity, lack of environment for tourists and customers, and financial institutions putting pressure on them for payment of interest.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">HAN, the umbrella organization of big hotels, made such an announcement at a press conference in Kathmandu on Monday. During the event, Shreejana Rana, president of HAN, said that most of the hoteliers are worried about how to run their business in this situation. She said that restructuring or rescheduling of loans as well as extension of time period for the payment of loan and interest is absolutely necessary to revive this sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">HAN has also demanded the authorities concerned to reduce the interest rate to a single digit. Binayak Shah, senior vice president of HAN, said that the hotel industry, which was badly affected by Covid-19 pandemic for almost three years, has not been prioritized in the state's policies and regulations. "The fact that only half of the tourists came in 2022 compared to 2019 has given a positive message," he said. "However, every businessperson is not able to take benefits compared to the past."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">HAN said that although the responsibility of paying the principal and interest of the loan is on the borrowers, the government should facilitate them during the current situation. Shah said that the business has dropped to zero due to the government's control-oriented policies such as health protocols and lockdowns during the Covid-19 period. According to Shah, the hotel industry has been deprived of the facilities provided to other industries. According to him, even though the hotels are running now, they are at a loss because they are not able to generate income to meet the operating expenses. He also said that due to the entry of many new hotels in the market, the competition has increased and there has been a pressure to reduce the price. HAN also complained that it is very regrettable that the government has not recognized the hotel sector of Nepal as an industry even though they have already invested more than the annual budget of the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17069', 'image' => '20230321034337_Hotel.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 15:42:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17332', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Projects worth Rs 7900 Billion Listed in Project Bank', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: Projects worth Rs 7900 billion have been listed in the National Project Bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 21: Projects worth Rs 7900 billion have been listed in the National Project Bank. The federal government had formed the project bank to identify and prepare a list of investable projects. So far, 7,219 projects have been registered in the list.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials say that the estimated cost of the projects registered in the Project Bank under the National Planning Commission is more than Rs 7900 billion and it will take at least 26 years to complete them based on the current budget system.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Among such projects registered with the National Planning Commission, there are projects including roads, drinking water, bridges, river embankments and airports. In the past, leaders and parliamentarians used to rush to the Ministry of Finance to include the projects in the red book while preparing the budget. The then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli started the National Project Bank in the year 2076 after the government found it difficult to sustain such schemes without securing source of funding for the projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Ram Kumar Phuyal, a member of the commission, the concept of project bank was put forward for the development and practice of a system for identifying, selecting, evaluating and prioritizing projects based on facts and standards. According to him, it is believed that this will help to make project management more effective and achieve efficiency in implementation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It seems challenging for the government to complete these projects from allocating resources to spending the allocated budget. In the past, the government had introduced the concept of national pride projects to prioritize the projects. The government classified 17 projects as projects of national pride for the first time in the fiscal year 2068/69. So far, 24 projects have been listed in the National Pride Project.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ten years after the government’s announcement of the pride projects, only the 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project and the Gautam Buddha International Airport have been completed and put into operation while other projects are yet to be completed. Due to delays in construction, the cost of large projects has increased to billions of rupees. The completion of other national pride projects is undertain.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Phuyal said that the concept of National Project Bank was introduced to remove such uncertainty in project implementation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, the commission has taken initiative to put all the projects at the provincial and local levels in the project bank. He stated, “The work of entering all the projects in the bank is moving ahead.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the progresses of both big and small projects were not satisfactory, the government repeatedly conducted studies to find the reason. The report of the expenditure review commission led by Dilliraj Khanal recently pointed out that due to mistakes made from project selection to design, the projects are being delayed and the cost has also increased. According to Khanal, until the dilly-dallying in project selection, design, costing system, working style is not improved, the project cost will continue to increase.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even now, the government has not been able to spend the development budget allocated in the annual budget. In the current fiscal year, the government has allocated Rs 300 billion for development works, but only Rs 87 billion has been spent as of March 19. In the same period last year, Rs 80 billion had been spent.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17067', 'image' => '20230321012640_1679359870.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 13:25:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17331', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Electric Buses in Koshi Province within a Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: Production of electric vehicles is likely to start in Koshi Province within a year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 21: Production of electric vehicles is likely to start in Koshi Province within a year. Nepali and Korean investors have jointly invested Rs 3 billion in the industry with the objective of producing electric school buses within a year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The process of finding land for setting up the industry and obtaining approval from the Ministry of Industry is currently under progress. Koshi NK Motors Pvt Ltd had signed an agreement with SDK Motors of Korea in Seoul, Korea, on February 24 to establish an electric vehicle industry in Nepal. The agreement was signed by Tikaram Puri, president of NK Motors, and Daiki Jung, executive chairman of the Korean company.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Puri of Koshi NK Motors Pvt. Ltd., informed us that they are preparing to produce a 22-seater state-of-the-art school bus in the first phase. Based on the demand, the target is to produce about 500 electric school buses initially, he said. Puri said that the company will also produce school buses, public buses, microbuses and electric cars.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, the electric vehicle produced by the company will be 30 per cent cheaper than diesel and petrol-powered vehicles. Likewise, it is estimated that the operating expenses of electric vehicles produced by the company will be lower compared to other EVs.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NK Motors Managing Director TR Dhakal said that according to the agreement, electric vehicles based on Korean technology will be produced with a joint investment of about Rs 3 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"For that, we are working to find land to set up a plant in one of the districts among Sunsari and Morang," Dhakal said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Puri said that the aim is to sell the vehicles produced in Nepal in India, Bangladesh and Bhutan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that billions are being spent abroad on fuel imports from Nepal while the country is becoming self-sufficient in electricity. In this context, electric vehicles that are cheap and environment-friendly can help in consuming domestic electricity. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Puri informed that the technicians of the Korean company will come to Nepal within March to select the location of the industry, and then other processes will proceed ahead. He said that since it is a plan that Koshi province can be proud of, he expects the support of the state government and the federal government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">An agreement has been signed to bring the chassis, battery and motor from Korea and build the body structure here. Puri said, "Made in Nepal" will be written on the vehicle even if goods are brought from Korea.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17066', 'image' => '20230321125557_electric-bus.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 12:55:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17330', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'UN Confirms Extension of Black Sea Grain Deal ', 'sub_title' => 'Russia, Ukraine Extend Grain Deal to Aid World's Poor ', 'summary' => 'March 21: An unprecedented wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries facing food security risk was extended just before its expiration date this weekend.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 21: An unprecedented wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries facing food security risk was extended just before its expiration date this weekend.</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 United Nations confirmed the extension of the deal allowing exports of grain, related foodstuffs and fertilizers from designated Ukrainian seaports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The Black Sea Grain Initiative, signed in Istanbul on 22 July 2022, has been extended," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in a statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On July 22, 2022, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Turkey and the United Nations on grain and fertilizer exports from Ukraine and Russia to ensure supplies to global markets amid the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict, the Xinhua news agency reported. The deal, initially in effect for 120 days, was extended in mid-November 2022 for another 120 days till March 18. </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"">According to the Associated Press, the United Nations and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan both announced the extension, but neither confirmed how long it would last. </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"">Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian news agency Tass that Moscow "agreed to extend the deal for 60 days.” </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products that developing nations depend on, AP reported. </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"">Two ships carrying more than 96,000 metric tons of corn left Ukrainian ports on Saturday bound for China and Tunisia, according to U.N. data. </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"">During the first two terms of the initiative, some 25 million metric tons of grain and foodstuffs have been moved to 45 countries, helping to bring down global food prices and stabilizing the markets, Xinhua quoted Dujarric as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, AP reported that food prices have fallen for 11 straight months. But food was already expensive before the war because of droughts from the Americas to the Middle East — most devastating in the Horn of Africa, with thousands dying in Somalia. Poorer nations that depend on imported food priced in dollars are spending more as their currencies weaken. </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"">Figures from financial data provider Refinitiv showed that Russian wheat exports more than doubled to 3.8 million tons in January from the same month a year ago, before the invasion. Russian wheat shipments were at or near record highs in November, December and January, increasing 24% over the same three months a year earlier, according to Refinitiv. It estimated Russia would export 44 million tons of wheat in 2022-2023. </span></span></span><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17065', 'image' => '20230321115036_wheatttttt.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 11:49:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17328', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Accept Grant worth 50 Million Euros ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: The government has decided to accept a grant aid of 50 million euros from the European Union for the school education sector program. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 21: The government has decided to accept a grant aid of 50 million euros from the European Union for the school education sector program. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday also decided not to implement the decision to reduce the rate of subsidy provided on chemical fertilizers to the farmers through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the government has approved the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on "Sharing of Real Time Hydro-meteorological Data" between Nepal and Bangladesh. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the government has decided to promote Basant Bahadur Kunwar, Tek Prasad Rai, Deepak Thapa, Shyamalal Gyawali and Kiran Bajracharya to the vacant posts of additional inspector general of Nepal Police. A decision was also taken to provide relief support to the verified ineligible combatants of the armed conflict period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has decided to appoint Man Bahadur Khadka as the Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Forest Corporation Limited. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17063', 'image' => '20230321110111_Logo_of_Nepal_(2020).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 11:00:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17327', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Department of Passports and Banks to open Today ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: The Department of Passports will remain open for service seekers today, despite a public holiday on the occasion of Ghodejatra festival in the Kathmandu valley. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 21: The Department of Passports will remain open for service seekers today, despite a public holiday on the occasion of Ghodejatra festival in the Kathmandu valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The department will remain open and provide its regular services from 10 am to 2:30 pm on Tuesday, said information officer of the Department, Khimananda Bhusal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the Nepal Rastra Bank has instructed banks and financial institutions to continue with their service today. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a notice on Monday, the central bank has instructed the BFIs to make arrangements for regular banking services during Ghodejatra. NRFB has also urged BFIs to consider giving continuity to such services outside the valley. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17062', 'image' => '20230321103023_FX4LeBP27B7bDzDMRWV0nd2dzNzhWB-metaZG9wLmpwZw==-.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 10:29:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17326', 'article_category_id' => '218', 'title' => 'Credit to Deposit(CD) Ratio Goes Up ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Credit to Deposit(CD) ratio of banks and financial institutions(BFIs) has gone up. Continuous fall of deposits from the banking system has caused the CD ratio to surge. ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">March 21: The Credit to Deposit(CD) ratio of banks and financial institutions(BFIs) has gone up. Continuous fall of deposits from the banking system has caused the CD ratio to surge. The average CD ratio of the banks and financial institutions reached 85.71 percent on March 18, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The CD ratio of the banks which stood at 85.60 per cent on March 14 increased to 85.69 percent on March 15.<br /> As per the Nepal Rastra Bank directives, banks and financial institutions need to maintain CD ratio threshold below 90 percent. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Deposits are continuously falling from the banking system since last week. Deposits had fallen by Rs 11 billion on March 15 compared to March 14. Banks and financial institutions had deposit of Rs 5413 billion on March 14 while the deposits fell to Rs 5402 billion the next day. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">While commercial banks had deposits of Rs 4764 billion on March 17, the deposits fell by one billion on March 18. The total deposits of commercial banks was Rs 4761 billion on March 15. Development banks and finance companies had a total deposits of Rs 641 billion on March 18. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Similarly, total lending of the banks and finance companies was Rs 4813 billion on March 18. Total lending of Rs 4817 billion as of March 14 had dropped to Rs 4812 billion on March 15. The total loan disbursement reached Rs 4813 billion on March 17. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The interbank interest rate dropped from 7.1 per cent to 7 percent from March 17 to march 18, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. </span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17061', 'image' => '20230321073259_collage (30).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 07:30:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17325', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Dahal Wins Vote of Confidence in Parliament', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 20: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has received the vote of confidence from the House of Representatives (HoR), Speaker Devraj Ghimire announced at the HoR meeting on Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 20: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has received the vote of confidence from the House of Representatives (HoR), Speaker Devraj Ghimire announced at the HoR meeting on Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the motion tabled before the HoR, Prime Minister Dahal got support from 172 HoR members. A total of 262 lawmakers were present in the HoR meeting. Altogether 89 votes were cast against the proposal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, taking part in the deliberations on a proposal put forth by the prime minister in the HoR seeking a vote of confidence, all the political parties except the CPN (UML), Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party had announced their support for the Dahal-led government. In the voting process, Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party remained neutral while 89 MPs of UML and RPP cast their votes against the motion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The PM took the vote of confidence from the HoR for the second time after his appointment to the post on December 25, 2022. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the constitutional provision, the PM should take the vote of confidence within 30 days after political parties supporting the government withdraw their support. In this regard, the incumbent prime minister had to take the vote of confidence within March 26. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the first time, Dahal had secured over 99 percent votes from the parliament on January 10. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-20', 'modified' => '2023-03-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17060', 'image' => '20230320061247_CK-KTM-PMDAHAL.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-20 18:12:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17324', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' IME General and Prudential Insurance Sign Final Merger Agreement ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'IME General Insurance Limited and Prudential Insurance Company Limited have signed the final agreement for merger. The two non-life insurance companies inked the final merger agreement on March 19. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"> <br /> March 20: IME General Insurance Limited and Prudential Insurance Company Limited have signed the final agreement for merger. The two non-life insurance companies inked the final merger agreement on March 19. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">With the final merger agreement, two companies will hold their Special General Meetings (SGMs) and approve the merger proposal and start preparations for the joint transactions.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Both companies have finished their Due Diligence Audit (DDA) and agreed to merge with a swap ration of 1:1 in line with previous understanding. IME General Insurance has the total paid up capital of Rs 1.70 billion. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Prudential Insurance Company has a paid up capital of Rs 1.18 billion. The company has announced to provide bonus share of 3.325 to the shareholders. Following the bonus adjustment, the paid-up capital of the insuarnce will reach Rs 1.22 billion.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-20', 'modified' => '2023-03-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17059', 'image' => '20230320051945_collage - 2023-03-20T163739.570.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-20 17:17:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17323', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Decides to Retain Subsidy On Chemical Fertilizers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The government has decided not to implement the decision of a thematic committee under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to cut subsidy on chemical fertilizers. ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">March 20: The government has decided not to implement the decision of a thematic committee under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to cut subsidy on chemical fertilizers. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">A Cabinet meeting held on Monday at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers agreed to halt the Ministry's decision to cut the subsidy and keep it unchanged. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">As a result, prices of chemical fertilizers remain unchanged. The meeting felt the need for a detailed study on the issue before taking any decision further about the reduction of subsidy, according to Government Spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The government will take measures to further systematizing the subsidy entitled to farmers for the purchase of chemical fertilizers, said government spokesperson Sharma. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Earlier, the Fertilizer Supplies and Distribution Management Committee under the Ministery had decided to cut the subsidy on chemical fertilizers provided to farmers for the purchase of chemical fertilizers. ---RSS </span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-20', 'modified' => '2023-03-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17058', 'image' => '20230320040803_collage - 2023-03-20T160856.521.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-20 16:05:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17322', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Capital Gains Tax Falls by more than Half', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 20: In a one month period between mid-February to mid-March, the government collected less than half of the capital gains tax from investors in the secondary market compared to a month ago (mid-January to mid-February). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">March 20: In a one month period between mid-February to mid-March, the government collected less than half of the capital gains tax from investors in the secondary market compared to a month ago (mid-January to mid-February). In mid-February to mid-March, the government has collected more than Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">17</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">1.5 million under the heading of capital gains tax. The government collected this tax from investors who traded securities at a profit in the review month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Secondary market investors have to pay a maximum of </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent capital gains tax to the government when they sell securities at a profit. Institutional investors have to pay </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent and individual investors have to pay </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">7.5</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent for short-term transactions and </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">5</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent for long-term capital gains tax.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The income of both the investors and the government has decreased due to the decrease in securities trading in the secondary market. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In mid-January to mid-February, the government collected more than Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">346</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">4</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million capital gains tax from the secondary market. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The data of NEPSE shows that the total market capitalization of the secondary market decreased by Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">238</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.28 billion in mid-February to mid-March. The total market capitalization which was Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3061</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.96 billion in mid-January fell to Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2823</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.67 billion in mid-February.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CDS & Clearing Limited’s spokesperson Suresh Neupane said that the government collected more capital gains tax from long-term investors in the review month. Neupane added that more tax was collected from short-term investors in the last few months, but more tax was collected from long-term investors in mid-February to mid-March. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, the contribution of long-term investors is more than Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">90</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.13 million out of the total CGT of Rs 171.5 million collected in the review month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Neupane said that more than Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">82</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million was collected from short-term investors.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In recent weeks, the general investors have become worried due to the continuous fall in the share market. They have urged market regulators to work for market reforms. Investors argue that when the securities market increases, the income of the government will increase along with the investors’ participation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Investors have emphasized that the government should pay special attention to improve the current situation of the securities market, which is considered as a mirror of the economy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-20', 'modified' => '2023-03-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17057', 'image' => '20230320014508_1679273224.Clipboard03.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-20 13:44:22', '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' => '17338', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Social Security Scheme to Cover Nepali Migrant Workers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: The social security scheme of Nepal will cover Nepali migrant workers and self-employed Nepalis in foreign lands.', '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"">March 21: The social security scheme of Nepal will cover Nepali migrant workers and self-employed Nepalis in foreign lands. The Social Security Fund is preparing to unveil the new scheme to cover Nepali migrant workers and those self-employed in foreign lands amid a function on Wednesday in the presence of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.</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"">As part of the expansion of the contribution-based scheme, this is expected to benefit around 2.2 million Nepali migrant workers, said the fund's spokesperson Bibek Panthi.</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 fund has already endorsed the procedure for covering Nepali workers in the informal sector, foreign employment and self-employment in foreign lands under the scheme in a bid to bring all Nepali workers including migrants under the umbrella of social security, according to Panthi.</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"">Various trade unions have been demanding the inclusion of workers in the informal sector and self-employed under the scheme. The Non-Resident Nepali Association has also been lobbying for the coverage of Nepali migrant workers by the SSF.</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"">Launched three years ago, the scheme has until now covered only Nepali workers in the formal sector.</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"">For this, aspiring Nepali migrant workers seeking a new labor permit have to be registered with the fund. Around 2,000 aspiring migrant workers have been taking labor permits on a daily basis.</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"">As per the endorsed work procedures, a Nepali migrant worker in foreign employment and self-employed in a foreign land can be eligible for the facilities provided by the fund by contributing 21.33 percent of their basic remuneration or a minimum Rs 2,000 monthly and three fold of it at maximum.</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 government has set Rs 15,000 as the minimum remuneration: Rs 9,385 basic remuneration and a dearness allowance of Rs 5,615 for a worker. Of the 21.33 percent amount contributed under the scheme, 7. 48 percent goes for the accident insurance and for the disability and dependent family protection scheme and 13.85 for pension.</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"">Any migrant worker registered with the Social Security Fund shall be entitled for the three kinds of facilities mentioned above. </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 at foreign jobs shall be eligible to draw Rs 100,000 as accident insurance, 60 percent for pension in case of disability, Rs 25,000 as bereavement expenditures, and there is a provision of 40 percent lifelong pension to dependent spouses. Any aspiring Nepali migrant shall compulsorily obtain a registration number online from the fund.</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, the regular contributors to the fund are entitled to various facilities under different headings such as accidental and disability protection scheme, medical and safe maternity scheme, dependent protection scheme and pension and old-age protection scheme.</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"">So far, 399,566 contributors have been contributing to the fund. The contribution-based amount in the fund has reached Rs 30.87 billion and it has paid Rs 3.81 billion to the contributors. The SSF has been implemented since November 27, 2018. -- RSS</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17073', 'image' => '20230321091011_20200415015116_1586905496.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 21:08:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17337', 'article_category_id' => '218', 'title' => 'RBB Imparts Pre Service Training To New Employees ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Rastriya Banijya Bank Limited has started a 14-day Pre Service Training for newly-appointed 117 administrative assistants in Kathmandu from March 19.', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">March 21: Rastriya Banijya Bank Limited has started a 14-day Pre Service Training for newly-appointed 117 administrative assistants in Kathmandu from March 19.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">At the inauguration ceremony of the training programme, RBB’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kiran Kumar Shrestha asked the freshly-recruited young employees to provide quality banking services for the bank’s growth of productivity.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">On the occasion, RBB’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer Devendraraman Khanal had briefed the new-recruits about their duties and responsibilities in their workplace.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Likewise, the head of the Human Resource Department of the RBB Bhim Prasad Ghimire had administered the oath of office and secrecy to fresh staffers. </span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17072', 'image' => '20230321050633_collage - 2023-03-21T170708.448.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 17:04:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17336', 'article_category_id' => '266', 'title' => 'Kia Rolls Out Carens in Nepali Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' Continental Trading Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., the authorized distributor of Kia vehicles for Nepal, has rolled out the new Kia Carens MPV in Nepali market. The new edition of the car is the perfect combination of safety, space, and style that makes it an ideal car for modern families. ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 21: Continental Trading Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., the authorized distributor of Kia vehicles for Nepal, has rolled out the new Kia Carens MPV in Nepali market. </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The new edition of the car is the perfect combination of safety, space, and style that makes it an ideal car for modern families. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the press statement issued by the company, Kia Carens has received the prestigious Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) award for 2023.The MPV was announced as the winner at the 18th edition of ICOTY awards that concluded recently.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Kia Carens has various features of 10 Robust Hi-Safety Packages which includes, 6 Airbags, ESC (Electronic Stability Control), VSM (Vehicle Stability Management), BAS(Brake Assist), HAC (Hill- start Assist Control), DBC (Downhill Brake Control), ABC (Anti-lock Brake System), All Wheel Disc Brakes, Highline Tyre Pressure Monitoring System, Rear Parking Sensors, according to the company. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The new Kia Carens MPV comes in two petrol engine variants, a 1.5-liter unit with 115bhp and 144 Nm of torque and a 1.4-liter turbo petrol with 140bhp and 242 Nm of torque. Carens also comes in manual and automatic transmission variants. The Luxury Plus trim also gets steering –mounted paddle shifters with 7-speed DCT of the 6-speed automatic.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The three-row MPV boasts a long list of comfort and convenience features in addition to generous dimensions. Features include a 10.25-inch infotainment display, digital instrumentation, sunroof, roof-mounted air convents with adjustable airspeed for the 2nd and the 3rd row, seat back mounted tray table with cup holder with tablet and smartphone notch. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The car also boasts of ventilated front seats, 64-colour ambient lighting, air-purifier, Bose Audio system, one-touch 2nd-row tumble to name a few. </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It comes in 7-seater configurations, a large boot space with 216 litres of luggage space, expandable to a massive 645 litres with the third row folded. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The price of Carens Premium is set at Rs 48, 90,000 and the price of Carens Prestige is set at Rs 52, 90,000 in the Nepali market. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17071', 'image' => '20230321040801_collage - 2023-03-21T160148.066.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 16:03:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17335', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Trekking Culture Suffers Consequences of Unmanaged Motorways in Annapurna ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: The Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), which earns an international recognition for adventure trekking, is seeing a lesser number of trekkers these days, thanks to the consequences brought about by unmanaged motorways. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 21: The Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), which earns an international recognition for adventure trekking, is seeing a lesser number of trekkers these days, thanks to the consequences brought about by unmanaged motorways. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The locals complained that the increase in traffic movement has led to sound and dust pollution, posing the risk of further damage to the natural beauty of the area. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Almost all settlements in the region have now access to motorways. Though the development activities have made it easier for tourists to travel and access the area, it is not cost free in terms of environmental aspect, natural beauty of the area and the public health. It has also brought negative consequences to the trekking business, say tourism entrepreneurs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People who used to feel the inhalation of fresh air while walking are now compelled to wear facemasks to avoid dust pollution. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The construction of motor roads rampantly from Lamjung to Manang and from Myagdi to Muktinath has put the trekking route at risk of extinction, said visiting tourists. Human encroachment on the natural beauty of the region is also another matter of concern. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Former President of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN) western region chapter Deepak Raj Adhikari said motor roads have been constructed by damaging structures of the trekking route. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Short and long trekking trails in Ghodepani, Poon Hill, Nagi and Khopa in Myagdi, Jomsom, Upper Mustang, Annapurna Base Camp, Mardi Peak, and Ghandruk have been 'largely destroyed' due to the construction of motorways. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Trekking is one of the major attractions of Nepal's tourism industry. But entrepreneurs are worried to see trekking route getting damaged and losing its charms with the availability of unplanned and unmanaged transport facilities. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Subarna KC who runs a hotel at Dana said trekking tourists were shortening their trip citing trekking experiences were no more entertaining as in the past. Rampant construction of roadways causes encroachment on the existing trekking routes. But, no substantive efforts have been made so far to protect the trekking routes, said the locals. </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"">Trees were cut down during the extension of roadways, causing the degradation of natural beauty of the area. According to tourism entrepreneurs, 80 percent trekking tourists have started shortening their trip comparatively to the past. They expect the Nepal Tourism Board and the TAAN to work together to restore trekking business, and its charm and essence in the Annapurna area. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17070', 'image' => '20230321035704_10-UTL-Landing-Pg-2400x1600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 15:56:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17334', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Hoteliers Struggling to Manage Operating Expenses: HAN', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has said that the hotel industry has reached a situation where it cannot afford the operating expenses. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">March 21: Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has said that the hotel industry has reached a situation where it cannot afford the operating expenses. HAN claimed that the hotel industry is on the verge of collapse due to inflation, lack of liquidity, lack of environment for tourists and customers, and financial institutions putting pressure on them for payment of interest.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">HAN, the umbrella organization of big hotels, made such an announcement at a press conference in Kathmandu on Monday. During the event, Shreejana Rana, president of HAN, said that most of the hoteliers are worried about how to run their business in this situation. She said that restructuring or rescheduling of loans as well as extension of time period for the payment of loan and interest is absolutely necessary to revive this sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">HAN has also demanded the authorities concerned to reduce the interest rate to a single digit. Binayak Shah, senior vice president of HAN, said that the hotel industry, which was badly affected by Covid-19 pandemic for almost three years, has not been prioritized in the state's policies and regulations. "The fact that only half of the tourists came in 2022 compared to 2019 has given a positive message," he said. "However, every businessperson is not able to take benefits compared to the past."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">HAN said that although the responsibility of paying the principal and interest of the loan is on the borrowers, the government should facilitate them during the current situation. Shah said that the business has dropped to zero due to the government's control-oriented policies such as health protocols and lockdowns during the Covid-19 period. According to Shah, the hotel industry has been deprived of the facilities provided to other industries. According to him, even though the hotels are running now, they are at a loss because they are not able to generate income to meet the operating expenses. He also said that due to the entry of many new hotels in the market, the competition has increased and there has been a pressure to reduce the price. HAN also complained that it is very regrettable that the government has not recognized the hotel sector of Nepal as an industry even though they have already invested more than the annual budget of the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17069', 'image' => '20230321034337_Hotel.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 15:42:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17332', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Projects worth Rs 7900 Billion Listed in Project Bank', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: Projects worth Rs 7900 billion have been listed in the National Project Bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 21: Projects worth Rs 7900 billion have been listed in the National Project Bank. The federal government had formed the project bank to identify and prepare a list of investable projects. So far, 7,219 projects have been registered in the list.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials say that the estimated cost of the projects registered in the Project Bank under the National Planning Commission is more than Rs 7900 billion and it will take at least 26 years to complete them based on the current budget system.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Among such projects registered with the National Planning Commission, there are projects including roads, drinking water, bridges, river embankments and airports. In the past, leaders and parliamentarians used to rush to the Ministry of Finance to include the projects in the red book while preparing the budget. The then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli started the National Project Bank in the year 2076 after the government found it difficult to sustain such schemes without securing source of funding for the projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Ram Kumar Phuyal, a member of the commission, the concept of project bank was put forward for the development and practice of a system for identifying, selecting, evaluating and prioritizing projects based on facts and standards. According to him, it is believed that this will help to make project management more effective and achieve efficiency in implementation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It seems challenging for the government to complete these projects from allocating resources to spending the allocated budget. In the past, the government had introduced the concept of national pride projects to prioritize the projects. The government classified 17 projects as projects of national pride for the first time in the fiscal year 2068/69. So far, 24 projects have been listed in the National Pride Project.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ten years after the government’s announcement of the pride projects, only the 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project and the Gautam Buddha International Airport have been completed and put into operation while other projects are yet to be completed. Due to delays in construction, the cost of large projects has increased to billions of rupees. The completion of other national pride projects is undertain.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Phuyal said that the concept of National Project Bank was introduced to remove such uncertainty in project implementation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, the commission has taken initiative to put all the projects at the provincial and local levels in the project bank. He stated, “The work of entering all the projects in the bank is moving ahead.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the progresses of both big and small projects were not satisfactory, the government repeatedly conducted studies to find the reason. The report of the expenditure review commission led by Dilliraj Khanal recently pointed out that due to mistakes made from project selection to design, the projects are being delayed and the cost has also increased. According to Khanal, until the dilly-dallying in project selection, design, costing system, working style is not improved, the project cost will continue to increase.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even now, the government has not been able to spend the development budget allocated in the annual budget. In the current fiscal year, the government has allocated Rs 300 billion for development works, but only Rs 87 billion has been spent as of March 19. In the same period last year, Rs 80 billion had been spent.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17067', 'image' => '20230321012640_1679359870.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 13:25:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17331', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Electric Buses in Koshi Province within a Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: Production of electric vehicles is likely to start in Koshi Province within a year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 21: Production of electric vehicles is likely to start in Koshi Province within a year. Nepali and Korean investors have jointly invested Rs 3 billion in the industry with the objective of producing electric school buses within a year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The process of finding land for setting up the industry and obtaining approval from the Ministry of Industry is currently under progress. Koshi NK Motors Pvt Ltd had signed an agreement with SDK Motors of Korea in Seoul, Korea, on February 24 to establish an electric vehicle industry in Nepal. The agreement was signed by Tikaram Puri, president of NK Motors, and Daiki Jung, executive chairman of the Korean company.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Puri of Koshi NK Motors Pvt. Ltd., informed us that they are preparing to produce a 22-seater state-of-the-art school bus in the first phase. Based on the demand, the target is to produce about 500 electric school buses initially, he said. Puri said that the company will also produce school buses, public buses, microbuses and electric cars.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, the electric vehicle produced by the company will be 30 per cent cheaper than diesel and petrol-powered vehicles. Likewise, it is estimated that the operating expenses of electric vehicles produced by the company will be lower compared to other EVs.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NK Motors Managing Director TR Dhakal said that according to the agreement, electric vehicles based on Korean technology will be produced with a joint investment of about Rs 3 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"For that, we are working to find land to set up a plant in one of the districts among Sunsari and Morang," Dhakal said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Puri said that the aim is to sell the vehicles produced in Nepal in India, Bangladesh and Bhutan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that billions are being spent abroad on fuel imports from Nepal while the country is becoming self-sufficient in electricity. In this context, electric vehicles that are cheap and environment-friendly can help in consuming domestic electricity. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Puri informed that the technicians of the Korean company will come to Nepal within March to select the location of the industry, and then other processes will proceed ahead. He said that since it is a plan that Koshi province can be proud of, he expects the support of the state government and the federal government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">An agreement has been signed to bring the chassis, battery and motor from Korea and build the body structure here. Puri said, "Made in Nepal" will be written on the vehicle even if goods are brought from Korea.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17066', 'image' => '20230321125557_electric-bus.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 12:55:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17330', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'UN Confirms Extension of Black Sea Grain Deal ', 'sub_title' => 'Russia, Ukraine Extend Grain Deal to Aid World's Poor ', 'summary' => 'March 21: An unprecedented wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries facing food security risk was extended just before its expiration date this weekend.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 21: An unprecedented wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries facing food security risk was extended just before its expiration date this weekend.</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 United Nations confirmed the extension of the deal allowing exports of grain, related foodstuffs and fertilizers from designated Ukrainian seaports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The Black Sea Grain Initiative, signed in Istanbul on 22 July 2022, has been extended," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in a statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On July 22, 2022, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Turkey and the United Nations on grain and fertilizer exports from Ukraine and Russia to ensure supplies to global markets amid the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict, the Xinhua news agency reported. The deal, initially in effect for 120 days, was extended in mid-November 2022 for another 120 days till March 18. </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"">According to the Associated Press, the United Nations and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan both announced the extension, but neither confirmed how long it would last. </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"">Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian news agency Tass that Moscow "agreed to extend the deal for 60 days.” </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products that developing nations depend on, AP reported. </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"">Two ships carrying more than 96,000 metric tons of corn left Ukrainian ports on Saturday bound for China and Tunisia, according to U.N. data. </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"">During the first two terms of the initiative, some 25 million metric tons of grain and foodstuffs have been moved to 45 countries, helping to bring down global food prices and stabilizing the markets, Xinhua quoted Dujarric as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, AP reported that food prices have fallen for 11 straight months. But food was already expensive before the war because of droughts from the Americas to the Middle East — most devastating in the Horn of Africa, with thousands dying in Somalia. Poorer nations that depend on imported food priced in dollars are spending more as their currencies weaken. </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"">Figures from financial data provider Refinitiv showed that Russian wheat exports more than doubled to 3.8 million tons in January from the same month a year ago, before the invasion. Russian wheat shipments were at or near record highs in November, December and January, increasing 24% over the same three months a year earlier, according to Refinitiv. It estimated Russia would export 44 million tons of wheat in 2022-2023. </span></span></span><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17065', 'image' => '20230321115036_wheatttttt.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 11:49:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17328', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Accept Grant worth 50 Million Euros ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: The government has decided to accept a grant aid of 50 million euros from the European Union for the school education sector program. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 21: The government has decided to accept a grant aid of 50 million euros from the European Union for the school education sector program. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday also decided not to implement the decision to reduce the rate of subsidy provided on chemical fertilizers to the farmers through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the government has approved the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on "Sharing of Real Time Hydro-meteorological Data" between Nepal and Bangladesh. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the government has decided to promote Basant Bahadur Kunwar, Tek Prasad Rai, Deepak Thapa, Shyamalal Gyawali and Kiran Bajracharya to the vacant posts of additional inspector general of Nepal Police. A decision was also taken to provide relief support to the verified ineligible combatants of the armed conflict period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has decided to appoint Man Bahadur Khadka as the Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Forest Corporation Limited. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17063', 'image' => '20230321110111_Logo_of_Nepal_(2020).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 11:00:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17327', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Department of Passports and Banks to open Today ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: The Department of Passports will remain open for service seekers today, despite a public holiday on the occasion of Ghodejatra festival in the Kathmandu valley. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 21: The Department of Passports will remain open for service seekers today, despite a public holiday on the occasion of Ghodejatra festival in the Kathmandu valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The department will remain open and provide its regular services from 10 am to 2:30 pm on Tuesday, said information officer of the Department, Khimananda Bhusal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the Nepal Rastra Bank has instructed banks and financial institutions to continue with their service today. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a notice on Monday, the central bank has instructed the BFIs to make arrangements for regular banking services during Ghodejatra. NRFB has also urged BFIs to consider giving continuity to such services outside the valley. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17062', 'image' => '20230321103023_FX4LeBP27B7bDzDMRWV0nd2dzNzhWB-metaZG9wLmpwZw==-.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 10:29:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17326', 'article_category_id' => '218', 'title' => 'Credit to Deposit(CD) Ratio Goes Up ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Credit to Deposit(CD) ratio of banks and financial institutions(BFIs) has gone up. Continuous fall of deposits from the banking system has caused the CD ratio to surge. ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">March 21: The Credit to Deposit(CD) ratio of banks and financial institutions(BFIs) has gone up. Continuous fall of deposits from the banking system has caused the CD ratio to surge. The average CD ratio of the banks and financial institutions reached 85.71 percent on March 18, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The CD ratio of the banks which stood at 85.60 per cent on March 14 increased to 85.69 percent on March 15.<br /> As per the Nepal Rastra Bank directives, banks and financial institutions need to maintain CD ratio threshold below 90 percent. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Deposits are continuously falling from the banking system since last week. Deposits had fallen by Rs 11 billion on March 15 compared to March 14. Banks and financial institutions had deposit of Rs 5413 billion on March 14 while the deposits fell to Rs 5402 billion the next day. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">While commercial banks had deposits of Rs 4764 billion on March 17, the deposits fell by one billion on March 18. The total deposits of commercial banks was Rs 4761 billion on March 15. Development banks and finance companies had a total deposits of Rs 641 billion on March 18. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Similarly, total lending of the banks and finance companies was Rs 4813 billion on March 18. Total lending of Rs 4817 billion as of March 14 had dropped to Rs 4812 billion on March 15. The total loan disbursement reached Rs 4813 billion on March 17. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The interbank interest rate dropped from 7.1 per cent to 7 percent from March 17 to march 18, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. </span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17061', 'image' => '20230321073259_collage (30).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 07:30:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17325', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Dahal Wins Vote of Confidence in Parliament', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 20: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has received the vote of confidence from the House of Representatives (HoR), Speaker Devraj Ghimire announced at the HoR meeting on Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 20: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has received the vote of confidence from the House of Representatives (HoR), Speaker Devraj Ghimire announced at the HoR meeting on Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the motion tabled before the HoR, Prime Minister Dahal got support from 172 HoR members. A total of 262 lawmakers were present in the HoR meeting. Altogether 89 votes were cast against the proposal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, taking part in the deliberations on a proposal put forth by the prime minister in the HoR seeking a vote of confidence, all the political parties except the CPN (UML), Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party had announced their support for the Dahal-led government. In the voting process, Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party remained neutral while 89 MPs of UML and RPP cast their votes against the motion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The PM took the vote of confidence from the HoR for the second time after his appointment to the post on December 25, 2022. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the constitutional provision, the PM should take the vote of confidence within 30 days after political parties supporting the government withdraw their support. In this regard, the incumbent prime minister had to take the vote of confidence within March 26. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the first time, Dahal had secured over 99 percent votes from the parliament on January 10. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-20', 'modified' => '2023-03-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17060', 'image' => '20230320061247_CK-KTM-PMDAHAL.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-20 18:12:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17324', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' IME General and Prudential Insurance Sign Final Merger Agreement ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'IME General Insurance Limited and Prudential Insurance Company Limited have signed the final agreement for merger. The two non-life insurance companies inked the final merger agreement on March 19. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"> <br /> March 20: IME General Insurance Limited and Prudential Insurance Company Limited have signed the final agreement for merger. The two non-life insurance companies inked the final merger agreement on March 19. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">With the final merger agreement, two companies will hold their Special General Meetings (SGMs) and approve the merger proposal and start preparations for the joint transactions.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Both companies have finished their Due Diligence Audit (DDA) and agreed to merge with a swap ration of 1:1 in line with previous understanding. IME General Insurance has the total paid up capital of Rs 1.70 billion. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Prudential Insurance Company has a paid up capital of Rs 1.18 billion. The company has announced to provide bonus share of 3.325 to the shareholders. Following the bonus adjustment, the paid-up capital of the insuarnce will reach Rs 1.22 billion.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-20', 'modified' => '2023-03-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17059', 'image' => '20230320051945_collage - 2023-03-20T163739.570.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-20 17:17:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17323', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Decides to Retain Subsidy On Chemical Fertilizers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The government has decided not to implement the decision of a thematic committee under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to cut subsidy on chemical fertilizers. ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">March 20: The government has decided not to implement the decision of a thematic committee under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to cut subsidy on chemical fertilizers. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">A Cabinet meeting held on Monday at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers agreed to halt the Ministry's decision to cut the subsidy and keep it unchanged. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">As a result, prices of chemical fertilizers remain unchanged. The meeting felt the need for a detailed study on the issue before taking any decision further about the reduction of subsidy, according to Government Spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The government will take measures to further systematizing the subsidy entitled to farmers for the purchase of chemical fertilizers, said government spokesperson Sharma. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Earlier, the Fertilizer Supplies and Distribution Management Committee under the Ministery had decided to cut the subsidy on chemical fertilizers provided to farmers for the purchase of chemical fertilizers. ---RSS </span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-20', 'modified' => '2023-03-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17058', 'image' => '20230320040803_collage - 2023-03-20T160856.521.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-20 16:05:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17322', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Capital Gains Tax Falls by more than Half', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 20: In a one month period between mid-February to mid-March, the government collected less than half of the capital gains tax from investors in the secondary market compared to a month ago (mid-January to mid-February). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">March 20: In a one month period between mid-February to mid-March, the government collected less than half of the capital gains tax from investors in the secondary market compared to a month ago (mid-January to mid-February). In mid-February to mid-March, the government has collected more than Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">17</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">1.5 million under the heading of capital gains tax. The government collected this tax from investors who traded securities at a profit in the review month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Secondary market investors have to pay a maximum of </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent capital gains tax to the government when they sell securities at a profit. Institutional investors have to pay </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent and individual investors have to pay </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">7.5</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent for short-term transactions and </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">5</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent for long-term capital gains tax.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The income of both the investors and the government has decreased due to the decrease in securities trading in the secondary market. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In mid-January to mid-February, the government collected more than Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">346</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">4</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million capital gains tax from the secondary market. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The data of NEPSE shows that the total market capitalization of the secondary market decreased by Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">238</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.28 billion in mid-February to mid-March. The total market capitalization which was Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3061</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.96 billion in mid-January fell to Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2823</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.67 billion in mid-February.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CDS & Clearing Limited’s spokesperson Suresh Neupane said that the government collected more capital gains tax from long-term investors in the review month. Neupane added that more tax was collected from short-term investors in the last few months, but more tax was collected from long-term investors in mid-February to mid-March. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, the contribution of long-term investors is more than Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">90</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.13 million out of the total CGT of Rs 171.5 million collected in the review month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Neupane said that more than Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">82</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million was collected from short-term investors.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In recent weeks, the general investors have become worried due to the continuous fall in the share market. They have urged market regulators to work for market reforms. Investors argue that when the securities market increases, the income of the government will increase along with the investors’ participation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Investors have emphasized that the government should pay special attention to improve the current situation of the securities market, which is considered as a mirror of the economy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-20', 'modified' => '2023-03-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17057', 'image' => '20230320014508_1679273224.Clipboard03.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-20 13:44:22', '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' => '17338', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Social Security Scheme to Cover Nepali Migrant Workers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: The social security scheme of Nepal will cover Nepali migrant workers and self-employed Nepalis in foreign lands.', '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"">March 21: The social security scheme of Nepal will cover Nepali migrant workers and self-employed Nepalis in foreign lands. The Social Security Fund is preparing to unveil the new scheme to cover Nepali migrant workers and those self-employed in foreign lands amid a function on Wednesday in the presence of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.</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"">As part of the expansion of the contribution-based scheme, this is expected to benefit around 2.2 million Nepali migrant workers, said the fund's spokesperson Bibek Panthi.</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 fund has already endorsed the procedure for covering Nepali workers in the informal sector, foreign employment and self-employment in foreign lands under the scheme in a bid to bring all Nepali workers including migrants under the umbrella of social security, according to Panthi.</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"">Various trade unions have been demanding the inclusion of workers in the informal sector and self-employed under the scheme. The Non-Resident Nepali Association has also been lobbying for the coverage of Nepali migrant workers by the SSF.</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"">Launched three years ago, the scheme has until now covered only Nepali workers in the formal sector.</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"">For this, aspiring Nepali migrant workers seeking a new labor permit have to be registered with the fund. Around 2,000 aspiring migrant workers have been taking labor permits on a daily basis.</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"">As per the endorsed work procedures, a Nepali migrant worker in foreign employment and self-employed in a foreign land can be eligible for the facilities provided by the fund by contributing 21.33 percent of their basic remuneration or a minimum Rs 2,000 monthly and three fold of it at maximum.</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 government has set Rs 15,000 as the minimum remuneration: Rs 9,385 basic remuneration and a dearness allowance of Rs 5,615 for a worker. Of the 21.33 percent amount contributed under the scheme, 7. 48 percent goes for the accident insurance and for the disability and dependent family protection scheme and 13.85 for pension.</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"">Any migrant worker registered with the Social Security Fund shall be entitled for the three kinds of facilities mentioned above. </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 at foreign jobs shall be eligible to draw Rs 100,000 as accident insurance, 60 percent for pension in case of disability, Rs 25,000 as bereavement expenditures, and there is a provision of 40 percent lifelong pension to dependent spouses. Any aspiring Nepali migrant shall compulsorily obtain a registration number online from the fund.</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, the regular contributors to the fund are entitled to various facilities under different headings such as accidental and disability protection scheme, medical and safe maternity scheme, dependent protection scheme and pension and old-age protection scheme.</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"">So far, 399,566 contributors have been contributing to the fund. The contribution-based amount in the fund has reached Rs 30.87 billion and it has paid Rs 3.81 billion to the contributors. The SSF has been implemented since November 27, 2018. -- RSS</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17073', 'image' => '20230321091011_20200415015116_1586905496.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 21:08:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17337', 'article_category_id' => '218', 'title' => 'RBB Imparts Pre Service Training To New Employees ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Rastriya Banijya Bank Limited has started a 14-day Pre Service Training for newly-appointed 117 administrative assistants in Kathmandu from March 19.', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">March 21: Rastriya Banijya Bank Limited has started a 14-day Pre Service Training for newly-appointed 117 administrative assistants in Kathmandu from March 19.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">At the inauguration ceremony of the training programme, RBB’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kiran Kumar Shrestha asked the freshly-recruited young employees to provide quality banking services for the bank’s growth of productivity.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">On the occasion, RBB’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer Devendraraman Khanal had briefed the new-recruits about their duties and responsibilities in their workplace.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Likewise, the head of the Human Resource Department of the RBB Bhim Prasad Ghimire had administered the oath of office and secrecy to fresh staffers. </span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17072', 'image' => '20230321050633_collage - 2023-03-21T170708.448.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 17:04:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17336', 'article_category_id' => '266', 'title' => 'Kia Rolls Out Carens in Nepali Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' Continental Trading Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., the authorized distributor of Kia vehicles for Nepal, has rolled out the new Kia Carens MPV in Nepali market. The new edition of the car is the perfect combination of safety, space, and style that makes it an ideal car for modern families. ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">March 21: Continental Trading Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., the authorized distributor of Kia vehicles for Nepal, has rolled out the new Kia Carens MPV in Nepali market. </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The new edition of the car is the perfect combination of safety, space, and style that makes it an ideal car for modern families. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the press statement issued by the company, Kia Carens has received the prestigious Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) award for 2023.The MPV was announced as the winner at the 18th edition of ICOTY awards that concluded recently.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Kia Carens has various features of 10 Robust Hi-Safety Packages which includes, 6 Airbags, ESC (Electronic Stability Control), VSM (Vehicle Stability Management), BAS(Brake Assist), HAC (Hill- start Assist Control), DBC (Downhill Brake Control), ABC (Anti-lock Brake System), All Wheel Disc Brakes, Highline Tyre Pressure Monitoring System, Rear Parking Sensors, according to the company. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The new Kia Carens MPV comes in two petrol engine variants, a 1.5-liter unit with 115bhp and 144 Nm of torque and a 1.4-liter turbo petrol with 140bhp and 242 Nm of torque. Carens also comes in manual and automatic transmission variants. The Luxury Plus trim also gets steering –mounted paddle shifters with 7-speed DCT of the 6-speed automatic.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The three-row MPV boasts a long list of comfort and convenience features in addition to generous dimensions. Features include a 10.25-inch infotainment display, digital instrumentation, sunroof, roof-mounted air convents with adjustable airspeed for the 2nd and the 3rd row, seat back mounted tray table with cup holder with tablet and smartphone notch. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The car also boasts of ventilated front seats, 64-colour ambient lighting, air-purifier, Bose Audio system, one-touch 2nd-row tumble to name a few. </span></span><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It comes in 7-seater configurations, a large boot space with 216 litres of luggage space, expandable to a massive 645 litres with the third row folded. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The price of Carens Premium is set at Rs 48, 90,000 and the price of Carens Prestige is set at Rs 52, 90,000 in the Nepali market. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17071', 'image' => '20230321040801_collage - 2023-03-21T160148.066.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 16:03:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17335', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Trekking Culture Suffers Consequences of Unmanaged Motorways in Annapurna ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: The Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), which earns an international recognition for adventure trekking, is seeing a lesser number of trekkers these days, thanks to the consequences brought about by unmanaged motorways. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 21: The Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), which earns an international recognition for adventure trekking, is seeing a lesser number of trekkers these days, thanks to the consequences brought about by unmanaged motorways. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The locals complained that the increase in traffic movement has led to sound and dust pollution, posing the risk of further damage to the natural beauty of the area. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Almost all settlements in the region have now access to motorways. Though the development activities have made it easier for tourists to travel and access the area, it is not cost free in terms of environmental aspect, natural beauty of the area and the public health. It has also brought negative consequences to the trekking business, say tourism entrepreneurs. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People who used to feel the inhalation of fresh air while walking are now compelled to wear facemasks to avoid dust pollution. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The construction of motor roads rampantly from Lamjung to Manang and from Myagdi to Muktinath has put the trekking route at risk of extinction, said visiting tourists. Human encroachment on the natural beauty of the region is also another matter of concern. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Former President of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN) western region chapter Deepak Raj Adhikari said motor roads have been constructed by damaging structures of the trekking route. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Short and long trekking trails in Ghodepani, Poon Hill, Nagi and Khopa in Myagdi, Jomsom, Upper Mustang, Annapurna Base Camp, Mardi Peak, and Ghandruk have been 'largely destroyed' due to the construction of motorways. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Trekking is one of the major attractions of Nepal's tourism industry. But entrepreneurs are worried to see trekking route getting damaged and losing its charms with the availability of unplanned and unmanaged transport facilities. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Subarna KC who runs a hotel at Dana said trekking tourists were shortening their trip citing trekking experiences were no more entertaining as in the past. Rampant construction of roadways causes encroachment on the existing trekking routes. But, no substantive efforts have been made so far to protect the trekking routes, said the locals. </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"">Trees were cut down during the extension of roadways, causing the degradation of natural beauty of the area. According to tourism entrepreneurs, 80 percent trekking tourists have started shortening their trip comparatively to the past. They expect the Nepal Tourism Board and the TAAN to work together to restore trekking business, and its charm and essence in the Annapurna area. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17070', 'image' => '20230321035704_10-UTL-Landing-Pg-2400x1600.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 15:56:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17334', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Hoteliers Struggling to Manage Operating Expenses: HAN', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has said that the hotel industry has reached a situation where it cannot afford the operating expenses. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">March 21: Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) has said that the hotel industry has reached a situation where it cannot afford the operating expenses. HAN claimed that the hotel industry is on the verge of collapse due to inflation, lack of liquidity, lack of environment for tourists and customers, and financial institutions putting pressure on them for payment of interest.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">HAN, the umbrella organization of big hotels, made such an announcement at a press conference in Kathmandu on Monday. During the event, Shreejana Rana, president of HAN, said that most of the hoteliers are worried about how to run their business in this situation. She said that restructuring or rescheduling of loans as well as extension of time period for the payment of loan and interest is absolutely necessary to revive this sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">HAN has also demanded the authorities concerned to reduce the interest rate to a single digit. Binayak Shah, senior vice president of HAN, said that the hotel industry, which was badly affected by Covid-19 pandemic for almost three years, has not been prioritized in the state's policies and regulations. "The fact that only half of the tourists came in 2022 compared to 2019 has given a positive message," he said. "However, every businessperson is not able to take benefits compared to the past."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">HAN said that although the responsibility of paying the principal and interest of the loan is on the borrowers, the government should facilitate them during the current situation. Shah said that the business has dropped to zero due to the government's control-oriented policies such as health protocols and lockdowns during the Covid-19 period. According to Shah, the hotel industry has been deprived of the facilities provided to other industries. According to him, even though the hotels are running now, they are at a loss because they are not able to generate income to meet the operating expenses. He also said that due to the entry of many new hotels in the market, the competition has increased and there has been a pressure to reduce the price. HAN also complained that it is very regrettable that the government has not recognized the hotel sector of Nepal as an industry even though they have already invested more than the annual budget of the country. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17069', 'image' => '20230321034337_Hotel.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 15:42:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17332', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Projects worth Rs 7900 Billion Listed in Project Bank', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: Projects worth Rs 7900 billion have been listed in the National Project Bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 21: Projects worth Rs 7900 billion have been listed in the National Project Bank. The federal government had formed the project bank to identify and prepare a list of investable projects. So far, 7,219 projects have been registered in the list.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials say that the estimated cost of the projects registered in the Project Bank under the National Planning Commission is more than Rs 7900 billion and it will take at least 26 years to complete them based on the current budget system.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Among such projects registered with the National Planning Commission, there are projects including roads, drinking water, bridges, river embankments and airports. In the past, leaders and parliamentarians used to rush to the Ministry of Finance to include the projects in the red book while preparing the budget. The then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli started the National Project Bank in the year 2076 after the government found it difficult to sustain such schemes without securing source of funding for the projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Ram Kumar Phuyal, a member of the commission, the concept of project bank was put forward for the development and practice of a system for identifying, selecting, evaluating and prioritizing projects based on facts and standards. According to him, it is believed that this will help to make project management more effective and achieve efficiency in implementation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It seems challenging for the government to complete these projects from allocating resources to spending the allocated budget. In the past, the government had introduced the concept of national pride projects to prioritize the projects. The government classified 17 projects as projects of national pride for the first time in the fiscal year 2068/69. So far, 24 projects have been listed in the National Pride Project.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ten years after the government’s announcement of the pride projects, only the 456 MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project and the Gautam Buddha International Airport have been completed and put into operation while other projects are yet to be completed. Due to delays in construction, the cost of large projects has increased to billions of rupees. The completion of other national pride projects is undertain.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Phuyal said that the concept of National Project Bank was introduced to remove such uncertainty in project implementation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, the commission has taken initiative to put all the projects at the provincial and local levels in the project bank. He stated, “The work of entering all the projects in the bank is moving ahead.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After the progresses of both big and small projects were not satisfactory, the government repeatedly conducted studies to find the reason. The report of the expenditure review commission led by Dilliraj Khanal recently pointed out that due to mistakes made from project selection to design, the projects are being delayed and the cost has also increased. According to Khanal, until the dilly-dallying in project selection, design, costing system, working style is not improved, the project cost will continue to increase.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even now, the government has not been able to spend the development budget allocated in the annual budget. In the current fiscal year, the government has allocated Rs 300 billion for development works, but only Rs 87 billion has been spent as of March 19. In the same period last year, Rs 80 billion had been spent.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17067', 'image' => '20230321012640_1679359870.Clipboard08.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 13:25:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17331', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Electric Buses in Koshi Province within a Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: Production of electric vehicles is likely to start in Koshi Province within a year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">March 21: Production of electric vehicles is likely to start in Koshi Province within a year. Nepali and Korean investors have jointly invested Rs 3 billion in the industry with the objective of producing electric school buses within a year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The process of finding land for setting up the industry and obtaining approval from the Ministry of Industry is currently under progress. Koshi NK Motors Pvt Ltd had signed an agreement with SDK Motors of Korea in Seoul, Korea, on February 24 to establish an electric vehicle industry in Nepal. The agreement was signed by Tikaram Puri, president of NK Motors, and Daiki Jung, executive chairman of the Korean company.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Puri of Koshi NK Motors Pvt. Ltd., informed us that they are preparing to produce a 22-seater state-of-the-art school bus in the first phase. Based on the demand, the target is to produce about 500 electric school buses initially, he said. Puri said that the company will also produce school buses, public buses, microbuses and electric cars.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to him, the electric vehicle produced by the company will be 30 per cent cheaper than diesel and petrol-powered vehicles. Likewise, it is estimated that the operating expenses of electric vehicles produced by the company will be lower compared to other EVs.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NK Motors Managing Director TR Dhakal said that according to the agreement, electric vehicles based on Korean technology will be produced with a joint investment of about Rs 3 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"For that, we are working to find land to set up a plant in one of the districts among Sunsari and Morang," Dhakal said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Puri said that the aim is to sell the vehicles produced in Nepal in India, Bangladesh and Bhutan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that billions are being spent abroad on fuel imports from Nepal while the country is becoming self-sufficient in electricity. In this context, electric vehicles that are cheap and environment-friendly can help in consuming domestic electricity. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Puri informed that the technicians of the Korean company will come to Nepal within March to select the location of the industry, and then other processes will proceed ahead. He said that since it is a plan that Koshi province can be proud of, he expects the support of the state government and the federal government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">An agreement has been signed to bring the chassis, battery and motor from Korea and build the body structure here. Puri said, "Made in Nepal" will be written on the vehicle even if goods are brought from Korea.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17066', 'image' => '20230321125557_electric-bus.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 12:55:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17330', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'UN Confirms Extension of Black Sea Grain Deal ', 'sub_title' => 'Russia, Ukraine Extend Grain Deal to Aid World's Poor ', 'summary' => 'March 21: An unprecedented wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries facing food security risk was extended just before its expiration date this weekend.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 21: An unprecedented wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries facing food security risk was extended just before its expiration date this weekend.</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 United Nations confirmed the extension of the deal allowing exports of grain, related foodstuffs and fertilizers from designated Ukrainian seaports. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The Black Sea Grain Initiative, signed in Istanbul on 22 July 2022, has been extended," Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in a statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On July 22, 2022, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Turkey and the United Nations on grain and fertilizer exports from Ukraine and Russia to ensure supplies to global markets amid the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict, the Xinhua news agency reported. The deal, initially in effect for 120 days, was extended in mid-November 2022 for another 120 days till March 18. </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"">According to the Associated Press, the United Nations and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan both announced the extension, but neither confirmed how long it would last. </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"">Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian news agency Tass that Moscow "agreed to extend the deal for 60 days.” </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products that developing nations depend on, AP reported. </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"">Two ships carrying more than 96,000 metric tons of corn left Ukrainian ports on Saturday bound for China and Tunisia, according to U.N. data. </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"">During the first two terms of the initiative, some 25 million metric tons of grain and foodstuffs have been moved to 45 countries, helping to bring down global food prices and stabilizing the markets, Xinhua quoted Dujarric as saying. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, AP reported that food prices have fallen for 11 straight months. But food was already expensive before the war because of droughts from the Americas to the Middle East — most devastating in the Horn of Africa, with thousands dying in Somalia. Poorer nations that depend on imported food priced in dollars are spending more as their currencies weaken. </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"">Figures from financial data provider Refinitiv showed that Russian wheat exports more than doubled to 3.8 million tons in January from the same month a year ago, before the invasion. Russian wheat shipments were at or near record highs in November, December and January, increasing 24% over the same three months a year earlier, according to Refinitiv. It estimated Russia would export 44 million tons of wheat in 2022-2023. </span></span></span><br /> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17065', 'image' => '20230321115036_wheatttttt.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 11:49:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17328', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government to Accept Grant worth 50 Million Euros ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: The government has decided to accept a grant aid of 50 million euros from the European Union for the school education sector program. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 21: The government has decided to accept a grant aid of 50 million euros from the European Union for the school education sector program. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday also decided not to implement the decision to reduce the rate of subsidy provided on chemical fertilizers to the farmers through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the government has approved the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on "Sharing of Real Time Hydro-meteorological Data" between Nepal and Bangladesh. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the government has decided to promote Basant Bahadur Kunwar, Tek Prasad Rai, Deepak Thapa, Shyamalal Gyawali and Kiran Bajracharya to the vacant posts of additional inspector general of Nepal Police. A decision was also taken to provide relief support to the verified ineligible combatants of the armed conflict period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government has decided to appoint Man Bahadur Khadka as the Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Forest Corporation Limited. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17063', 'image' => '20230321110111_Logo_of_Nepal_(2020).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 11:00:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17327', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Department of Passports and Banks to open Today ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 21: The Department of Passports will remain open for service seekers today, despite a public holiday on the occasion of Ghodejatra festival in the Kathmandu valley. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 21: The Department of Passports will remain open for service seekers today, despite a public holiday on the occasion of Ghodejatra festival in the Kathmandu valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The department will remain open and provide its regular services from 10 am to 2:30 pm on Tuesday, said information officer of the Department, Khimananda Bhusal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the Nepal Rastra Bank has instructed banks and financial institutions to continue with their service today. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a notice on Monday, the central bank has instructed the BFIs to make arrangements for regular banking services during Ghodejatra. NRFB has also urged BFIs to consider giving continuity to such services outside the valley. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17062', 'image' => '20230321103023_FX4LeBP27B7bDzDMRWV0nd2dzNzhWB-metaZG9wLmpwZw==-.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 10:29:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17326', 'article_category_id' => '218', 'title' => 'Credit to Deposit(CD) Ratio Goes Up ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The Credit to Deposit(CD) ratio of banks and financial institutions(BFIs) has gone up. Continuous fall of deposits from the banking system has caused the CD ratio to surge. ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">March 21: The Credit to Deposit(CD) ratio of banks and financial institutions(BFIs) has gone up. Continuous fall of deposits from the banking system has caused the CD ratio to surge. The average CD ratio of the banks and financial institutions reached 85.71 percent on March 18, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The CD ratio of the banks which stood at 85.60 per cent on March 14 increased to 85.69 percent on March 15.<br /> As per the Nepal Rastra Bank directives, banks and financial institutions need to maintain CD ratio threshold below 90 percent. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Deposits are continuously falling from the banking system since last week. Deposits had fallen by Rs 11 billion on March 15 compared to March 14. Banks and financial institutions had deposit of Rs 5413 billion on March 14 while the deposits fell to Rs 5402 billion the next day. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">While commercial banks had deposits of Rs 4764 billion on March 17, the deposits fell by one billion on March 18. The total deposits of commercial banks was Rs 4761 billion on March 15. Development banks and finance companies had a total deposits of Rs 641 billion on March 18. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Similarly, total lending of the banks and finance companies was Rs 4813 billion on March 18. Total lending of Rs 4817 billion as of March 14 had dropped to Rs 4812 billion on March 15. The total loan disbursement reached Rs 4813 billion on March 17. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The interbank interest rate dropped from 7.1 per cent to 7 percent from March 17 to march 18, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. </span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-21', 'modified' => '2023-03-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17061', 'image' => '20230321073259_collage (30).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-21 07:30:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17325', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Dahal Wins Vote of Confidence in Parliament', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 20: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has received the vote of confidence from the House of Representatives (HoR), Speaker Devraj Ghimire announced at the HoR meeting on Monday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">March 20: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has received the vote of confidence from the House of Representatives (HoR), Speaker Devraj Ghimire announced at the HoR meeting on Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the motion tabled before the HoR, Prime Minister Dahal got support from 172 HoR members. A total of 262 lawmakers were present in the HoR meeting. Altogether 89 votes were cast against the proposal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, taking part in the deliberations on a proposal put forth by the prime minister in the HoR seeking a vote of confidence, all the political parties except the CPN (UML), Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party had announced their support for the Dahal-led government. In the voting process, Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party remained neutral while 89 MPs of UML and RPP cast their votes against the motion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The PM took the vote of confidence from the HoR for the second time after his appointment to the post on December 25, 2022. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the constitutional provision, the PM should take the vote of confidence within 30 days after political parties supporting the government withdraw their support. In this regard, the incumbent prime minister had to take the vote of confidence within March 26. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the first time, Dahal had secured over 99 percent votes from the parliament on January 10. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-20', 'modified' => '2023-03-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17060', 'image' => '20230320061247_CK-KTM-PMDAHAL.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-20 18:12:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17324', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => ' IME General and Prudential Insurance Sign Final Merger Agreement ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'IME General Insurance Limited and Prudential Insurance Company Limited have signed the final agreement for merger. The two non-life insurance companies inked the final merger agreement on March 19. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"> <br /> March 20: IME General Insurance Limited and Prudential Insurance Company Limited have signed the final agreement for merger. The two non-life insurance companies inked the final merger agreement on March 19. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">With the final merger agreement, two companies will hold their Special General Meetings (SGMs) and approve the merger proposal and start preparations for the joint transactions.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Both companies have finished their Due Diligence Audit (DDA) and agreed to merge with a swap ration of 1:1 in line with previous understanding. IME General Insurance has the total paid up capital of Rs 1.70 billion. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Prudential Insurance Company has a paid up capital of Rs 1.18 billion. The company has announced to provide bonus share of 3.325 to the shareholders. Following the bonus adjustment, the paid-up capital of the insuarnce will reach Rs 1.22 billion.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-20', 'modified' => '2023-03-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17059', 'image' => '20230320051945_collage - 2023-03-20T163739.570.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-20 17:17:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17323', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Decides to Retain Subsidy On Chemical Fertilizers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The government has decided not to implement the decision of a thematic committee under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to cut subsidy on chemical fertilizers. ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">March 20: The government has decided not to implement the decision of a thematic committee under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to cut subsidy on chemical fertilizers. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">A Cabinet meeting held on Monday at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers agreed to halt the Ministry's decision to cut the subsidy and keep it unchanged. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">As a result, prices of chemical fertilizers remain unchanged. The meeting felt the need for a detailed study on the issue before taking any decision further about the reduction of subsidy, according to Government Spokesperson and Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The government will take measures to further systematizing the subsidy entitled to farmers for the purchase of chemical fertilizers, said government spokesperson Sharma. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Earlier, the Fertilizer Supplies and Distribution Management Committee under the Ministery had decided to cut the subsidy on chemical fertilizers provided to farmers for the purchase of chemical fertilizers. ---RSS </span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-20', 'modified' => '2023-03-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17058', 'image' => '20230320040803_collage - 2023-03-20T160856.521.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-20 16:05:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '17322', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Capital Gains Tax Falls by more than Half', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'March 20: In a one month period between mid-February to mid-March, the government collected less than half of the capital gains tax from investors in the secondary market compared to a month ago (mid-January to mid-February). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">March 20: In a one month period between mid-February to mid-March, the government collected less than half of the capital gains tax from investors in the secondary market compared to a month ago (mid-January to mid-February). In mid-February to mid-March, the government has collected more than Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">17</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">1.5 million under the heading of capital gains tax. The government collected this tax from investors who traded securities at a profit in the review month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Secondary market investors have to pay a maximum of </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent capital gains tax to the government when they sell securities at a profit. Institutional investors have to pay </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">10</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent and individual investors have to pay </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">7.5</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent for short-term transactions and </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">5</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> percent for long-term capital gains tax.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The income of both the investors and the government has decreased due to the decrease in securities trading in the secondary market. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In mid-January to mid-February, the government collected more than Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">346</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">4</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million capital gains tax from the secondary market. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The data of NEPSE shows that the total market capitalization of the secondary market decreased by Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">238</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.28 billion in mid-February to mid-March. The total market capitalization which was Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">3061</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.96 billion in mid-January fell to Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">2823</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.67 billion in mid-February.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CDS & Clearing Limited’s spokesperson Suresh Neupane said that the government collected more capital gains tax from long-term investors in the review month. Neupane added that more tax was collected from short-term investors in the last few months, but more tax was collected from long-term investors in mid-February to mid-March. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, the contribution of long-term investors is more than Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">90</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.13 million out of the total CGT of Rs 171.5 million collected in the review month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Neupane said that more than Rs </span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">82</span></span><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> million was collected from short-term investors.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In recent weeks, the general investors have become worried due to the continuous fall in the share market. They have urged market regulators to work for market reforms. Investors argue that when the securities market increases, the income of the government will increase along with the investors’ participation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Investors have emphasized that the government should pay special attention to improve the current situation of the securities market, which is considered as a mirror of the economy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-03-20', 'modified' => '2023-03-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '17057', 'image' => '20230320014508_1679273224.Clipboard03.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-03-20 13:44:22', '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
