January 16: The government’s revenue collection has suffered a setback in the first six month of the current fiscal…
January 16: The government’s revenue collection has suffered a setback in the first six month of the current fiscal…
January 16: The implementation of the Prime Minister's Employment Programme (PMEP) is found to be rather ineffective.…
Banks and financial institutions have provided a lending of more than Rs 100 billion to industries in Madhes Province in the fiscal year…
January 16: Although the area of millet cultivation is shrinking in Nepal, it has been found that the production of the crop is…
January 16: It has been more than three years since the construction of Nagadhunga Tunnel started with the target of completing the project within 42 months.…
January 16: A total of 15,900 foreign tourists enjoyed trekking in the Annapurna circuit in the year 2022. The figure includes 10,364 men and 5,536…
January 16: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected global economic growth to remain unchanged in 2023.…
January 16: The Yeti Airlines' plane crash in Pokhara on Sunday is the biggest air disaster in the domestic sector in terms of human…
Following the tragic plane crash in Pokhara, Yeti Airlines has cancelled all regular flights scheduled for…
January 15: After receiving mounting complaints of a number of cooperatives committing financial irregularities, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has decided to regularly monitor the cooperatives under its…
…
January 15: A total of 68 bodies have been retrieved from the site where the ATR-72 plane belonging to Yeti Airlines crashed in Pokhara of Kaski this morning. …
The government has formed a five-member probe commission to investigate Yeti Airlines plane crash in…
January 15: Nepal’s Balance of Payments (BoP) remained at a surplus of Rs 45.87 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year.…
January 15: Nepal’s imports decreased 20.7 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal year against an increase of 59.5 percent during the corresponding period of last fiscal…
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According to the Ministry of Finance, the country collected Rs 490.4 billion revenue against the target of Rs 651.61 billion as of mid-January this year. This is 75.2 per cent of the half-yearly revenue collection target. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the review period, the revenue from customs suffered the most. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the data of the ministry, customs revenue collection is just 53 per cent of the target estimated for the first six months of current fiscal year. The government had planned to collect Rs 161.82 billion from the customs revenue during this period but the collection is just Rs 85.78 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the collection of VAT and excise duty is also only 72 per cent of the target. The government had planned to collect Rs 180.24 billion from VAT in the review period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the government had planned to collect Rs 97.51 billion from excise duty but only Rs 70.51 billion was collected during this period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry said that a total of Rs 116.79 billion in income tax was collected in this period, which is just 74.3 per cent of the government’s target. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, the tax under the education service has been collected as per the government estimates during the review period. Of the target of Rs 734.8 million, the government collected Rs 736.7 million in education service tax. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry shared that the revenue collection in the first six months of the current fiscal year has dropped by 15.32 per cent against the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry stated that revenue collection has been marred due to government measures taken to discourage imports. Likewise, slow business of real estate and bearish trend in the share market also affected the collection of capital gains tax during the review period. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16500', 'image' => '20230116094432_20220117021230_20210308113657_20200911125203_1599773733.Clipboard04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 21:44:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16758', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Employment Programme becoming Ineffective', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: The implementation of the Prime Minister's Employment Programme (PMEP) is found to be rather ineffective. ', 'content' => '<p>January 16: The implementation of the Prime Minister's Employment Programme (PMEP) is found to be rather ineffective. The PM's Employment Program launched by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli with the aim of reducing the unemployment rate failed in effective execution even in the current fiscal year.</p> <p>Only less than 5 percent of the budget allocated for this programme has been spent as of mid-January of the current fiscal year. Although the government allocated a budget of Rs 7.13 billion for the employment programme in the current year, only Rs 309.5 million has been spent. PM's Employment Programme Secretariat informed that although the government implemented the programme with the goal of providing at least 100 days of employment to 200,000 people who have been registered as unemployed this year, only 2,759 people are working in construction projects under the programme.</p> <p>While the local levels are not showing interest in conducting the employment programme on time, the number of unemployed people who are listed is increasing. This year, registered unemployed citizens have increased by 100,000 compared to last year. A total of 708,245 people were listed in PM's Employment Program in the last fiscal year, which has reached 841,477 in the current FY.</p> <p>Most of the academically-sound unemployed youth are not interested in registering their name in this list because they get work only for a few weeks in the construction project. However, as the registered people remain unemployed, the money that the local levels can spend is still unspent. This programme does not seem to be able to play a role in job creation.</p> <p>The local levels show various reasons for not implementing this programme. The spokesperson of the programme, Loknath Bhusal says that many projects under the programme are not started due to the election. He said, “Since the projects have started, now the listed unemployed people have started getting jobs. We will provide employment to 200,000 people.”</p> <p>A recent study by the National Planning Commission showed that the government took a loan of Rs 14 billion from the World Bank to run this programme, but its utilization is not effective.</p> <p>The study suggested the government to take into account the overall aspect while determining the minimum wage rate, stating that the loan amount is overdue. After the formation of the new government under the leadership of Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, PM's Employment Program is given more priority.</p> <p>It is clear from the fact that Dahal wants to continue this program effectively in the future as well since it is included as a priority in the minimum common program of the government. In the government's minimum program, it was announced to provide 300,000 jobs per year through the PM's Employment Program. However, the lack of improvement in the implementation even in the current fiscal year has raised doubts about its credibility.</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16499', 'image' => '20230116071248_20230116040124_PMEP.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 19:12:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16757', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banks Provide Rs 100 billion Credit to Industries in Madhes Province ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' Banks and financial institutions have provided a lending of more than Rs 100 billion to industries in Madhes Province in the fiscal year 2078-79. ', 'content' => '<p><br /> <span style="font-size:16px">January 16: Banks and financial institutions have provided a lending of more than Rs 100 billion to industries in Madhes Province in the fiscal year 2078-79. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">A report prepared by the Nepal Rastra Bank’s Madhes Province Office on economic activities shows that banks and financial institutions have given a total credit of over Rs 102.13 billion to the industries in Madhes Province in the fiscal year of 2078-79. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">In the previous fiscal year, a total credit flow to industries stood at Rs 105.23 billion in the province. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Banks have issued highest lending to industries in Parsa. Out of the total industrial credit, 56.05 percent of the loan has been provided to the industries in Parsa. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Many industries have opened along Birgunj-Pathlaiya Industrial Corridor due to proximity to Birgunj Customs Office. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Chairman of the Madhes Chapter of Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) Ganesh Prasad Lath says that credit flow is high to the industries in the corridor due to the presence of a large number of industries there.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Out of total lending in the province, industries in Saptari have received the least amount of loan. Industries located in Saptari have been issued only 2.51 per cent of the total lending. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Of the total credit flow, industries manufacturing non-food items have received the highest amount of loan. The non-food manufacturing industries have received 52.39 percent of loan while 30.57 per cent of the credit has flown to industries manufacturing products related to agriculture, forest and drinking items. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Likewise, 7.62 percent credit has gone to industries manufacturing goods related to metals, machinery and electronics while construction industries account for 7.27 per cent of the credit flow. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Credit flow to the mine industries and electricity, gas and water industries stands at 1.66 and 0.48 per cent respectively.<br /> The average production growth rate of industries has gone down during the review period in the province. Production growth rate of 30 sampled industries during the review period is 5.23 per cent.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Average production growth rate, nonetheless, was 12.10 per cent in the previous year. In the review period, the production of leather and leather-related goods increased while plastic manufacturing industries’ production had slumped. </span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16498', 'image' => '20230116050902_collage (59).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 17:03:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16755', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Millet Farming Area Declines but Production is Rising', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: Although the area of millet cultivation is shrinking in Nepal, it has been found that the production of the crop is increasing.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 16: Although the area of millet cultivation is shrinking in Nepal, it has been found that the production of the crop is increasing. According to the last ten years’ data prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the area of millet farming in Nepal decreased by around 12,500 hectares.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data provided by the Ministry, 315,067 metric tons of millet was produced in 278,030 hectares of land in the fiscal year (FY) 2068/69. In the last 10 years, the area of millet production decreased by 12,629 hectares to 265,401 hectares. Meanwhile, the production volume increased by 11,376 metric tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Head of the Centre for Crop Development and Agro Biodiversity Conservation Dr. Ram Krishna Shrestha informed that farmers are using Kavre 1, Kavre 2, Okhale, Dalle and other advanced varieties of millet seeds with the help of the center, increasing the productivity as compared to the past. According to him, productivity was 1.13 metric tons per hectare 10 years ago and now it is 1.22 tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Since the farmers' attraction towards millet farming was decreasing, the government of Nepal started celebrating the International Millet Crop Year from this year to promote these crops internationally. The United Nations is preparing to celebrate the English year 2023 as the Year of Millet upon India's proposal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal is also going to participate in the promotion and value addition of millet variety. The ministry informed that a concept paper is being prepared on how to celebrate the millet crop year. For the past three years, the government has been giving subsidies in collaboration with the local level to promote millet farming and increase production. According to Shrestha, subsidies worth Rs 26 million have been given to the farmers in 133 rural municipalities so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16496', 'image' => '20230116032506_120238810_2409742145996788_1009834206072561128_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 15:24:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16754', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nagadhunga Tunnel to Come into Operation by Next Dashain', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: It has been more than three years since the construction of Nagadhunga Tunnel started with the target of completing the project within 42 months. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 16: It has been more than three years since the construction of Nagadhunga Tunnel started with the target of completing the project within 42 months. With less than half of the budget spent, the Department of Roads claims that about 27 per cent of the construction work of the project is remaining. The department has started preparations for its operational management. According to the department, 73.30 per cent of the construction of the tunnel has been completed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The department is planning to entrust the operation of the tunnel for a year to the Japanese construction company Hamza/Ando Corporation, which was awarded the contract to build the tunnel with grant assistance from the Government of Japan. The department said that they will hand over the management to a Japanese company for a year to prepare the necessary manpower for the operation of the tunnel. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Arjun Jung Thapa, director general of the department, said that after the construction of the tunnel accelerated, the department discussed the operational issues with representatives of Hazma Ando.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Once the tunnel is ready, they will operate it, and they will provide training to the Nepalese during the initial period," Thapa said, "After the tunnel comes into operation, it will require human resources in three shifts.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">For this, 54 people will take training within a year. There will be two control rooms in the under-construction tunnel. The control rooms will be located at Tutepakha in Nagadhunga on the east side of the tunnel and Sisnekhola in Dhading on the west side.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A dedicated team is needed to watch ambulances, fire brigade, and CCTV.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Thapa said that up to 18 personnel including watchmen will be needed in the tunnel on both sides in one shift and they will be trained by the Japanese team for a year. According to him, the Japanese team will provide training on surveillance and security issues through CCTV during this period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The department will prepare the Nepali group required for the tunnel operation. According to him, the Japanese company has proposed to keep manpower in three shifts, including traffic police, equipment operators, and ambulance drivers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Out of the estimated budget of Rs 22 billion for the tunnel, the project has so far spent Rs 10 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The compensation for the locals affected by the project has not been released yet. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"In the current fiscal year, the Ministry of Finance did not release the budget for compensation," said Thapa, "For compensation towards Balambu, we need Rs 25 million, and the rest is about Rs 30 million for Sisnekhola."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He informed New Business Age that the project has not yet received compensation from the Ministry of Finance. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The foundation stone of the tunnel was laid by the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in October, 2019. As per the initial agreement, the project was supposed to be completed by April 2023. However, the extended deadline of the project is mid-August 2023 due to the delay in the work due to covid-19 and land acquisition.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Thapa, it will take more than two months to build a flyover, install security equipment and arrange lights inside the tunnel. "The tunnel will be operational by next Dashain," said Thapa.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">An agreement was reached between the Government of Nepal and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2016 to construct the tunnel. The total cost of the tunnel is estimated to be around Rs 22 billion, of which JICA will bear Rs 16 billion and the Government of Nepal will bear Rs 6 billion. The total length of the tunnel is projected to be 5.7 km.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16495', 'image' => '20230116020351_nagdhunga tunnel.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 14:03:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16753', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Around 16,000 Tourists Visited Annapurna Circuit in 2022 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: A total of 15,900 foreign tourists enjoyed trekking in the Annapurna circuit in the year 2022. The figure includes 10,364 men and 5,536 women. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 16: A total of 15,900 foreign tourists enjoyed trekking in the Annapurna circuit in the year 2022. The figure includes 10,364 men and 5,536 women. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) Tourist Check Point at Dharapani, the highest number of tourists was from France, at 2,012. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the number of tourists visiting the region in 2022 was more than in 2021 by 13,627. In 2021, only 2,273 tourists had arrived in Annapurna for trekking on one of the famous trekking routes of the country, said tourism assistant of the center Chettra Bahadur Gurung. The number of tourists was 1,976 in 2020, 36,647 in 2019, 29,484 in 2018, and 21,068 in 2017. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The entrance to Annapurna circuit is Lamjung in Besisahar Municipality-7. Five districts namely Lamjung, Manang, Kaski, Mustang and Myagdi are connected by this trekking route. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16494', 'image' => '20230116124954_Annapurna-Circuit-6-1600x1067.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 12:49:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16752', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank and IMF Forecast Conflicting Growth Projections', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected global economic growth to remain unchanged in 2023. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 16: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected global economic growth to remain unchanged in 2023. Meanwhile, the World Bank (WB) has reduced the growth forecast for the same period. In 2023, the world economy is expected to grow by 2.7 percent, said Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of IMF. She said that the increase in oil prices is unchanged, the labor market is still strong, and the growth projection of the fund will be kept unchanged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She says that this year will be difficult for the world economy as the prices are still at a high level. However, she suggested not to expect one cut after another like last year. At a press conference held at IMF's headquarters in Washington DC, Georgieva said that the growth rate will remain slow in 2023 and the positive part of the economic picture now is a robust labor market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As long as people are employed, even if the price is high, they will spend and that will support the economic activities, said Georgieva. She also emphasized that the fund does not expect any significant reduction in the world economic growth rate this year. “This is good news, isn't it?” She said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She expressed the hope that the world's economic growth rate will reach its peak and start rising gradually towards the end of 2023 or 2024. Georgieva has shown great hope about China's economy, which was very disappointing last year. However, from the middle of this year, it is said that it will start contributing to the economic growth rate again, which will only happen if China sticks to its plan of not reversing to the zero Covid-19 policy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The world's largest economy, the United States, is estimated to land safely the next year. Georgieva says that there are uncertainties such as a major cyber attack, the threat due to Russia's attack on Ukraine escalating, such as the use of nuclear weapons, etc.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It is uncertain what the impact of growing social unrest and tight economic conditions will be in Brazil, Peru and other countries. She said, “Even last year, unexpected things happened twice. Now we are in a shock state. It will not be surprising if such shocks are seen this year as well.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A few days ago, WB on the other hand said that the world economy would grow by only 1.7 percent this year. This growth will be the weakest in three decades. This is 1.3 percentage points less than WB's estimate earlier. It is said that many central banks of the world are tightening monetary policy to control inflation and the possibility of growth is still uncertain as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">WB said that due to high inflation, aggressive interest rate hikes to control inflation, and the spread of the Covid-19 virus in many countries including China, Japan, the world economy will be pushed into recession. WB said that within three years of coming out of the recession caused by the pandemic, the global economic growth rate is very close to falling into a recession again.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16493', 'image' => '20230116120225_global.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 12:01:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16751', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pokhara Plane Crash is the Biggest Domestic Air Disaster in Nepal: CAAN', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: The Yeti Airlines' plane crash in Pokhara on Sunday is the biggest air disaster in the domestic sector in terms of human casualties. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">January 16: The Yeti Airlines' plane crash in Pokhara on Sunday is the biggest air disaster in the domestic sector in terms of human casualties. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The aircraft with 72 people onboard including 68 passengers and four crew members had crashed into the Seti River gorge near Pokhara’s old airport on Sunday morning while making a final approach to land.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Although government authorities have confirmed 69 dead and three people missing, it is feared that all the 72 people on board the ill-fated aircraft have been killed. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“The aircraft accident in Pokhara is the biggest one in the domestic sector so far,” the state-owned national news agency RSS quoted Jagannath Niraula, spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), as saying. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Hundreds of people have lost their lives in various incidences of air crash that have taken place in Nepal before this. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">But this is the first time such a large number of people have been killed in a single incident in domestic flight involving an ATR aircraft, which is considered relatively safe and reliable. The ATR aircraft is acclaimed as a safe passenger plane worldwide.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">An emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers has decided to form a five-member probe committee to investigate the crash. The committee led by former secretary Nagendra Ghimire has been mandated to identify the cause of the plane crash and make recommendations to prevent such accidents from happening in the future.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The members of the committee include aviation expert and retired captain Deepak Prakash Bastola of the Nepalese Army, retired captain Sunil Thapa, and aircraft maintenance engineer Ekraj Jung Thapa. Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation is the member secretary of the committee.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The cabinet meeting has also decided to observe a one-day national mourning on Monday to mourn the deaths of the passengers and crew members onboard the ill-fated aircraft.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16492', 'image' => '20230116111806_FkGFz7BaEAEmLVY.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 11:17:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16750', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Yeti Airlines Cancels All Regular Flights Scheduled for Monday ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Following the tragic plane crash in Pokhara, Yeti Airlines has cancelled all regular flights scheduled for Monday. ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">January 16: Following the tragic plane crash in Pokhara, Yeti Airlines has cancelled all regular flights scheduled for Monday. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">Issuing a press statement on Sunday, the airlines said that it had cancelled all regular flights to mourn the deaths of passengers, who lost their lives in the crash in Pokhara.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">Emergency and rescue flights, however, will operate smoothly.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">ATR-72 plane belonging to Yeti Airlines carrying 72 people including 68 passengers and four crew members had crashed in Pokhara on Sunday morning. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">The plane that took off from Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 am had crashed and caught fire in an attempt to land in Pokhara.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">Meanwhile, the government has decided to give a public holiday on Monday to observe national day of mourning for victims of the tragic air disaster in the tourist town of Pokhara. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">The national flag will be hoisted on half-mast to mourn the loss of lives. </span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16491', 'image' => '20230116060959_collage (32).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 05:57:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16749', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'KMC to Monitor Cooperatives', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 15: After receiving mounting complaints of a number of cooperatives committing financial irregularities, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has decided to regularly monitor the cooperatives under its jurisdiction.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 15: After receiving mounting complaints of a number of cooperatives committing financial irregularities, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has decided to regularly monitor the cooperatives under its jurisdiction.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Considering that the cooperatives that have been accused of not returning the money taken from the depositors on time, the Department of Cooperatives under the KMC is going to monitor the cooperatives in all 32 wards of the metropolis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Devendra Pokharel, head of cooperatives department of the metropolis, informed that there are many complaints about a number of cooperatives cheating the common people.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “In the first stage, cooperatives operating against the rules and refusing to return the money of the depositors will be monitored. In the second phase, other cooperatives will be monitored and instructions will be given as per the need.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">If the instructions given during the monitoring are not followed, KMC will readily take actions according to the Cooperatives Act. All the cooperatives are required to operate in accordance with the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Cooperatives Act, 2074.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even though there has been a drop in the number of people complaining about money fraud in the last 20 days, there have been a lot of fraud complaints this year compared to previous years. Due to this, KMC is about to start monitoring. A month ago, up to 15 complaints were received daily in Kathmandu. As per the information of KMC, now three to four complaints are received daily. Preparations are being made to form a team to start the monitoring work immediately.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Complaints against 118 cooperatives</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The depositors have filed complaints against 118 cooperatives operating within KMC area for not returning their money. The number of complaints is for the current financial year only, which was 60 in the last fiscal year. Pokharel, the head of the department, informed that in the six months of the current fiscal year, there have been twice as many complaints as in the previous year. According to him, most of the complaints received were from down-town areas of KMC where the number of cooperatives is high.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">KMC tried to contact 47 of the 118 cooperatives several times. Some of them are yet to come in contact while some who came into contact, have not returned the money of the depositors yet. KMC has handed over the operators of such cooperatives to the police while discussion with the remaining 71 cooperatives is underway to return the money of the depositors. Among the 1,955 cooperatives in KMC, savings and loan cooperatives are the largest in number. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16490', 'image' => '20230115065213_20220802015543_cooperative problematic.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 18:51:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16748', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banks and Financial Institutions Slash Interest on Deposits', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"> <br /> January 15: Banks and financial institutions have slashed the interest rates on deposits for mid-January to mid-February (Magh).</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Interest rate notices published by most of the commercial banks for Magh have reduced interest rates to 11 per cent on deposits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Commercial banks that were providing interest rate of 12.13 per cent on individual fixed deposits last month (Poush) will give a maximum of 11 per cent interest on such deposit for Magh. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Nepal Bankers’ Association had decided to cut the interest on deposit on Wednesday. In line with the same decision, commercial banks have revised the interest on deposits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">In a notice published on Saturday, Global IME Bank has trimmed the interest rate on deposit. As per the revised interest rates, the bank will provide interest from 6.42 to 8.42 per cent on saving accounts. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Likewise, Nepal Investment Mega Bank will provide a maximum 11 percent interest on individual fixed deposit and 9 per cent on institutional deposits. Similarly, the bank will give 12 per cent interest on remittance account.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Similarly, development banks and finance companies have also lowered interest rates on deposit for Magh.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Development banks will provide a maximum of 12 per interest on individual fixed deposits. Finance companies have also decreased interest rates on deposits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Banks and financial institutions can revise interest on deposits on a monthly basis, while they can review interest on lending/credit only after each quarter. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Easing of the liquidity and pressure from all quarters to slash the interest rate had forced the banks to trim the interest on deposits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Liquidity has been easing in the banking system for the past one month, causing the central bank to signal the interest rate drop on deposits. </span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16489', 'image' => '20230115064453_collage (58).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 18:39:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16747', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '68 Bodies Retrieved from Pokhara Plane Crash Site', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 15: A total of 68 bodies have been retrieved from the site where the ATR-72 plane belonging to Yeti Airlines crashed in Pokhara of Kaski this morning. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 15: A total of 68 bodies have been retrieved from the site where the ATR-72 plane belonging to Yeti Airlines crashed in Pokhara of Kaski this morning. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> According to Kaski’s Assistant Chief District Officer Anil Shahi, the rescuers are using crane to undertake rescue efforts as the plane fell deep down into the Seti River gorge. Thirty-one bodies have been already taken to the Pokhara-based Gandaki Hospital for post-mortem. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A total of 72 people including 68 passengers and four crew members were onboard the ill-fated plane that took off from Tribhuvan International Airport to Pokhara at 10:33 am today. Among the deceased, 53 are Nepalis, five Indians, four Russians, one Irish, one Argentinian, two Koreans and one French national. The crew members are Captain Kamal KC and Anju Khatiwada, and airhostess Srijana Hongchun and Osin Alemagar. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16488', 'image' => '20230115051237_31534744547_53f0fff7b5_b.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 17:12:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16746', 'article_category_id' => '228', 'title' => 'Government Forms Five-member Probe Commission to Investigate Yeti Airline Plane Crash ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The government has formed a five-member probe commission to investigate Yeti Airlines plane crash in Pokhara. ', 'content' => '<p><br /> <span style="font-size:18px">January 15: The government has formed a five-member probe commission to investigate Yeti Airlines plane crash in Pokhara. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">An emergency Cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister’s residence in Baluawatr took the decision to this effect.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The commission has been assigned the responsibilities to figure out the causes behind the crash and recommend suggestions to prevent similar crashes in the future.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The probe commission headed by former Secretary Nagendra Ghimire comprises aviation experts Dipak Prakash Bastola and Sunil Thapa, and aeronautical engineer, Ekraj Jung Thapa as members. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Joint Secretary Buddhisagar Lamichhane of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation is the member-secretary of the commission. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The commission has been given 45 days to submit the report. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Poudel said that the government will implement the suggestions as soon as the commission submits its report to it.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">A Yeti Airlines plane carrying 68 passengers had crashed in Pokhara on Sunday morning.<br /> The ATR-72 plane, which left for Pokhara from Kathmandu at 10.33 am in the morning, reportedly crashed in the Seti River gorge while making a final approach for landing.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">According to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, there were 68 passengers on board the plane including 60 Nepali nationals, and eight foreigners and four crew members including Captain Kamal KC and Anju Khatiwada.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16487', 'image' => '20230115043129_collage (56).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 16:20:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16745', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Balance of Payments in Surplus', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 15: Nepal’s Balance of Payments (BoP) remained at a surplus of Rs 45.87 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 15: Nepal’s Balance of Payments (BoP) remained at a surplus of Rs 45.87 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year. According to Nepal Rastra Bank, the BoP was in a deficit of Rs 195.01 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the US Dollar terms, the BOP remained at a surplus of 346.8 million in the review period against a deficit of 1.64 billion in the same period of the previous year, revealed the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report of Nepal Rastra Bank published on Friday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the current account remained at a deficit of Rs 37.91 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of Rs 298.51 billion in the same period of the previous year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the US Dollar terms, the current account registered a deficit of 297.2 million in the review period compared to deficit of 2.51 billion in the same period last year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the review period, capital transfer decreased 25.3 percent to Rs 3.47 billion and net foreign direct investment (FDI) remained Rs 604.9 million. In the same period of the previous year, capital transfer and net FDI amounted to Rs 4.64 billion and Rs 7.07 billion respectively. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16486', 'image' => '20230115032604_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 15:25:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16744', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import, Export Drop Resulting in a Decline in Trade Deficit', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 15: Nepal’s imports decreased 20.7 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal year against an increase of 59.5 percent during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 15: Nepal’s imports decreased 20.7 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal year against an increase of 59.5 percent during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report of Nepal Rastra Bank, imports from India, China and other countries decreased 20.0 percent, 22.6 percent, and 21.4 percent respectively. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Imports of petroleum products, sponge iron, gold, chemical fertilizer, aircraft spare parts, among others, increased whereas imports of transport equipment and parts, MS billet, silver, medicine, crude soybean oil, among others, decreased in the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the five months of FY 2022/23, merchandise exports decreased 34.6 percent to Rs 67.30 billion against an increase of 105.6 percent in the same period of the previous year, added the NRB report. Destination-wise, exports to India and China decreased 43.7 percent and 35.9 percent respectively whereas exports to other countries increased 7.1 percent. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Exports of zinc sheet, particle board, woolen carpets, cardamom, tea, among others, increased whereas exports of soybean oil, palm oil, oil cakes, textiles, silverware and jewelries, among others, decreased in the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Based on customs points, exports from Dry Port, Jaleshwar, Kailali, Krishnanagar, Mechi and Tribhuwan Airport Customs offices increased whereas exports from all the other major customs points decreased in the review period. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the import side, imports from all the major customs points decreased in the review period. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The country’s total trade deficit decreased 18.8 percent to Rs 597.44 billion during the five months of 2022/23. Such a deficit had increased 54.7 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The export-import ratio decreased to 10.1 percent in the review period from 12.3 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the Broad Economic Categories (BEC), the intermediate and final consumption goods accounted for 53.4 percent and 46.5 percent of the total exports respectively, whereas the ratio of capital goods in total exports remained negligible at 0.05 percent in the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the same period of the previous year, the ratio of intermediate, capital and final consumption goods remained 47.1 percent, 0.02 percent and 52.9 percent of total exports respectively. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the imports side, the share of intermediate goods remained 53.1 percent, capital goods 9.0 percent and final consumption goods remained 38.0 percent in the review period. Such ratios were 53.8 percent, 10.9 percent and 35.4 percent respectively in the same period of the previous year.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16485', 'image' => '20230115025117_Trade.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 14:50:40', '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' => '16759', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Revenue Collection Suffers Setback ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: The government’s revenue collection has suffered a setback in the first six month of the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 16: The government’s revenue collection has suffered a setback in the first six month of the current fiscal year. According to the Ministry of Finance, the country collected Rs 490.4 billion revenue against the target of Rs 651.61 billion as of mid-January this year. This is 75.2 per cent of the half-yearly revenue collection target. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the review period, the revenue from customs suffered the most. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the data of the ministry, customs revenue collection is just 53 per cent of the target estimated for the first six months of current fiscal year. The government had planned to collect Rs 161.82 billion from the customs revenue during this period but the collection is just Rs 85.78 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the collection of VAT and excise duty is also only 72 per cent of the target. The government had planned to collect Rs 180.24 billion from VAT in the review period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the government had planned to collect Rs 97.51 billion from excise duty but only Rs 70.51 billion was collected during this period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry said that a total of Rs 116.79 billion in income tax was collected in this period, which is just 74.3 per cent of the government’s target. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, the tax under the education service has been collected as per the government estimates during the review period. Of the target of Rs 734.8 million, the government collected Rs 736.7 million in education service tax. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry shared that the revenue collection in the first six months of the current fiscal year has dropped by 15.32 per cent against the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry stated that revenue collection has been marred due to government measures taken to discourage imports. Likewise, slow business of real estate and bearish trend in the share market also affected the collection of capital gains tax during the review period. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16500', 'image' => '20230116094432_20220117021230_20210308113657_20200911125203_1599773733.Clipboard04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 21:44:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16758', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Employment Programme becoming Ineffective', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: The implementation of the Prime Minister's Employment Programme (PMEP) is found to be rather ineffective. ', 'content' => '<p>January 16: The implementation of the Prime Minister's Employment Programme (PMEP) is found to be rather ineffective. The PM's Employment Program launched by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli with the aim of reducing the unemployment rate failed in effective execution even in the current fiscal year.</p> <p>Only less than 5 percent of the budget allocated for this programme has been spent as of mid-January of the current fiscal year. Although the government allocated a budget of Rs 7.13 billion for the employment programme in the current year, only Rs 309.5 million has been spent. PM's Employment Programme Secretariat informed that although the government implemented the programme with the goal of providing at least 100 days of employment to 200,000 people who have been registered as unemployed this year, only 2,759 people are working in construction projects under the programme.</p> <p>While the local levels are not showing interest in conducting the employment programme on time, the number of unemployed people who are listed is increasing. This year, registered unemployed citizens have increased by 100,000 compared to last year. A total of 708,245 people were listed in PM's Employment Program in the last fiscal year, which has reached 841,477 in the current FY.</p> <p>Most of the academically-sound unemployed youth are not interested in registering their name in this list because they get work only for a few weeks in the construction project. However, as the registered people remain unemployed, the money that the local levels can spend is still unspent. This programme does not seem to be able to play a role in job creation.</p> <p>The local levels show various reasons for not implementing this programme. The spokesperson of the programme, Loknath Bhusal says that many projects under the programme are not started due to the election. He said, “Since the projects have started, now the listed unemployed people have started getting jobs. We will provide employment to 200,000 people.”</p> <p>A recent study by the National Planning Commission showed that the government took a loan of Rs 14 billion from the World Bank to run this programme, but its utilization is not effective.</p> <p>The study suggested the government to take into account the overall aspect while determining the minimum wage rate, stating that the loan amount is overdue. After the formation of the new government under the leadership of Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, PM's Employment Program is given more priority.</p> <p>It is clear from the fact that Dahal wants to continue this program effectively in the future as well since it is included as a priority in the minimum common program of the government. In the government's minimum program, it was announced to provide 300,000 jobs per year through the PM's Employment Program. However, the lack of improvement in the implementation even in the current fiscal year has raised doubts about its credibility.</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16499', 'image' => '20230116071248_20230116040124_PMEP.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 19:12:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16757', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banks Provide Rs 100 billion Credit to Industries in Madhes Province ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' Banks and financial institutions have provided a lending of more than Rs 100 billion to industries in Madhes Province in the fiscal year 2078-79. ', 'content' => '<p><br /> <span style="font-size:16px">January 16: Banks and financial institutions have provided a lending of more than Rs 100 billion to industries in Madhes Province in the fiscal year 2078-79. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">A report prepared by the Nepal Rastra Bank’s Madhes Province Office on economic activities shows that banks and financial institutions have given a total credit of over Rs 102.13 billion to the industries in Madhes Province in the fiscal year of 2078-79. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">In the previous fiscal year, a total credit flow to industries stood at Rs 105.23 billion in the province. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Banks have issued highest lending to industries in Parsa. Out of the total industrial credit, 56.05 percent of the loan has been provided to the industries in Parsa. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Many industries have opened along Birgunj-Pathlaiya Industrial Corridor due to proximity to Birgunj Customs Office. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Chairman of the Madhes Chapter of Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) Ganesh Prasad Lath says that credit flow is high to the industries in the corridor due to the presence of a large number of industries there.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Out of total lending in the province, industries in Saptari have received the least amount of loan. Industries located in Saptari have been issued only 2.51 per cent of the total lending. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Of the total credit flow, industries manufacturing non-food items have received the highest amount of loan. The non-food manufacturing industries have received 52.39 percent of loan while 30.57 per cent of the credit has flown to industries manufacturing products related to agriculture, forest and drinking items. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Likewise, 7.62 percent credit has gone to industries manufacturing goods related to metals, machinery and electronics while construction industries account for 7.27 per cent of the credit flow. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Credit flow to the mine industries and electricity, gas and water industries stands at 1.66 and 0.48 per cent respectively.<br /> The average production growth rate of industries has gone down during the review period in the province. Production growth rate of 30 sampled industries during the review period is 5.23 per cent.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Average production growth rate, nonetheless, was 12.10 per cent in the previous year. In the review period, the production of leather and leather-related goods increased while plastic manufacturing industries’ production had slumped. </span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16498', 'image' => '20230116050902_collage (59).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 17:03:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16755', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Millet Farming Area Declines but Production is Rising', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: Although the area of millet cultivation is shrinking in Nepal, it has been found that the production of the crop is increasing.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 16: Although the area of millet cultivation is shrinking in Nepal, it has been found that the production of the crop is increasing. According to the last ten years’ data prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the area of millet farming in Nepal decreased by around 12,500 hectares.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data provided by the Ministry, 315,067 metric tons of millet was produced in 278,030 hectares of land in the fiscal year (FY) 2068/69. In the last 10 years, the area of millet production decreased by 12,629 hectares to 265,401 hectares. Meanwhile, the production volume increased by 11,376 metric tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Head of the Centre for Crop Development and Agro Biodiversity Conservation Dr. Ram Krishna Shrestha informed that farmers are using Kavre 1, Kavre 2, Okhale, Dalle and other advanced varieties of millet seeds with the help of the center, increasing the productivity as compared to the past. According to him, productivity was 1.13 metric tons per hectare 10 years ago and now it is 1.22 tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Since the farmers' attraction towards millet farming was decreasing, the government of Nepal started celebrating the International Millet Crop Year from this year to promote these crops internationally. The United Nations is preparing to celebrate the English year 2023 as the Year of Millet upon India's proposal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal is also going to participate in the promotion and value addition of millet variety. The ministry informed that a concept paper is being prepared on how to celebrate the millet crop year. For the past three years, the government has been giving subsidies in collaboration with the local level to promote millet farming and increase production. According to Shrestha, subsidies worth Rs 26 million have been given to the farmers in 133 rural municipalities so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16496', 'image' => '20230116032506_120238810_2409742145996788_1009834206072561128_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 15:24:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16754', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nagadhunga Tunnel to Come into Operation by Next Dashain', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: It has been more than three years since the construction of Nagadhunga Tunnel started with the target of completing the project within 42 months. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 16: It has been more than three years since the construction of Nagadhunga Tunnel started with the target of completing the project within 42 months. With less than half of the budget spent, the Department of Roads claims that about 27 per cent of the construction work of the project is remaining. The department has started preparations for its operational management. According to the department, 73.30 per cent of the construction of the tunnel has been completed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The department is planning to entrust the operation of the tunnel for a year to the Japanese construction company Hamza/Ando Corporation, which was awarded the contract to build the tunnel with grant assistance from the Government of Japan. The department said that they will hand over the management to a Japanese company for a year to prepare the necessary manpower for the operation of the tunnel. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Arjun Jung Thapa, director general of the department, said that after the construction of the tunnel accelerated, the department discussed the operational issues with representatives of Hazma Ando.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Once the tunnel is ready, they will operate it, and they will provide training to the Nepalese during the initial period," Thapa said, "After the tunnel comes into operation, it will require human resources in three shifts.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">For this, 54 people will take training within a year. There will be two control rooms in the under-construction tunnel. The control rooms will be located at Tutepakha in Nagadhunga on the east side of the tunnel and Sisnekhola in Dhading on the west side.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A dedicated team is needed to watch ambulances, fire brigade, and CCTV.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Thapa said that up to 18 personnel including watchmen will be needed in the tunnel on both sides in one shift and they will be trained by the Japanese team for a year. According to him, the Japanese team will provide training on surveillance and security issues through CCTV during this period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The department will prepare the Nepali group required for the tunnel operation. According to him, the Japanese company has proposed to keep manpower in three shifts, including traffic police, equipment operators, and ambulance drivers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Out of the estimated budget of Rs 22 billion for the tunnel, the project has so far spent Rs 10 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The compensation for the locals affected by the project has not been released yet. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"In the current fiscal year, the Ministry of Finance did not release the budget for compensation," said Thapa, "For compensation towards Balambu, we need Rs 25 million, and the rest is about Rs 30 million for Sisnekhola."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He informed New Business Age that the project has not yet received compensation from the Ministry of Finance. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The foundation stone of the tunnel was laid by the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in October, 2019. As per the initial agreement, the project was supposed to be completed by April 2023. However, the extended deadline of the project is mid-August 2023 due to the delay in the work due to covid-19 and land acquisition.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Thapa, it will take more than two months to build a flyover, install security equipment and arrange lights inside the tunnel. "The tunnel will be operational by next Dashain," said Thapa.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">An agreement was reached between the Government of Nepal and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2016 to construct the tunnel. The total cost of the tunnel is estimated to be around Rs 22 billion, of which JICA will bear Rs 16 billion and the Government of Nepal will bear Rs 6 billion. The total length of the tunnel is projected to be 5.7 km.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16495', 'image' => '20230116020351_nagdhunga tunnel.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 14:03:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16753', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Around 16,000 Tourists Visited Annapurna Circuit in 2022 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: A total of 15,900 foreign tourists enjoyed trekking in the Annapurna circuit in the year 2022. The figure includes 10,364 men and 5,536 women. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 16: A total of 15,900 foreign tourists enjoyed trekking in the Annapurna circuit in the year 2022. The figure includes 10,364 men and 5,536 women. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) Tourist Check Point at Dharapani, the highest number of tourists was from France, at 2,012. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the number of tourists visiting the region in 2022 was more than in 2021 by 13,627. In 2021, only 2,273 tourists had arrived in Annapurna for trekking on one of the famous trekking routes of the country, said tourism assistant of the center Chettra Bahadur Gurung. The number of tourists was 1,976 in 2020, 36,647 in 2019, 29,484 in 2018, and 21,068 in 2017. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The entrance to Annapurna circuit is Lamjung in Besisahar Municipality-7. Five districts namely Lamjung, Manang, Kaski, Mustang and Myagdi are connected by this trekking route. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16494', 'image' => '20230116124954_Annapurna-Circuit-6-1600x1067.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 12:49:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16752', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank and IMF Forecast Conflicting Growth Projections', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected global economic growth to remain unchanged in 2023. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 16: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected global economic growth to remain unchanged in 2023. Meanwhile, the World Bank (WB) has reduced the growth forecast for the same period. In 2023, the world economy is expected to grow by 2.7 percent, said Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of IMF. She said that the increase in oil prices is unchanged, the labor market is still strong, and the growth projection of the fund will be kept unchanged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She says that this year will be difficult for the world economy as the prices are still at a high level. However, she suggested not to expect one cut after another like last year. At a press conference held at IMF's headquarters in Washington DC, Georgieva said that the growth rate will remain slow in 2023 and the positive part of the economic picture now is a robust labor market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As long as people are employed, even if the price is high, they will spend and that will support the economic activities, said Georgieva. She also emphasized that the fund does not expect any significant reduction in the world economic growth rate this year. “This is good news, isn't it?” She said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She expressed the hope that the world's economic growth rate will reach its peak and start rising gradually towards the end of 2023 or 2024. Georgieva has shown great hope about China's economy, which was very disappointing last year. However, from the middle of this year, it is said that it will start contributing to the economic growth rate again, which will only happen if China sticks to its plan of not reversing to the zero Covid-19 policy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The world's largest economy, the United States, is estimated to land safely the next year. Georgieva says that there are uncertainties such as a major cyber attack, the threat due to Russia's attack on Ukraine escalating, such as the use of nuclear weapons, etc.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It is uncertain what the impact of growing social unrest and tight economic conditions will be in Brazil, Peru and other countries. She said, “Even last year, unexpected things happened twice. Now we are in a shock state. It will not be surprising if such shocks are seen this year as well.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A few days ago, WB on the other hand said that the world economy would grow by only 1.7 percent this year. This growth will be the weakest in three decades. This is 1.3 percentage points less than WB's estimate earlier. It is said that many central banks of the world are tightening monetary policy to control inflation and the possibility of growth is still uncertain as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">WB said that due to high inflation, aggressive interest rate hikes to control inflation, and the spread of the Covid-19 virus in many countries including China, Japan, the world economy will be pushed into recession. WB said that within three years of coming out of the recession caused by the pandemic, the global economic growth rate is very close to falling into a recession again.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16493', 'image' => '20230116120225_global.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 12:01:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16751', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pokhara Plane Crash is the Biggest Domestic Air Disaster in Nepal: CAAN', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: The Yeti Airlines' plane crash in Pokhara on Sunday is the biggest air disaster in the domestic sector in terms of human casualties. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">January 16: The Yeti Airlines' plane crash in Pokhara on Sunday is the biggest air disaster in the domestic sector in terms of human casualties. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The aircraft with 72 people onboard including 68 passengers and four crew members had crashed into the Seti River gorge near Pokhara’s old airport on Sunday morning while making a final approach to land.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Although government authorities have confirmed 69 dead and three people missing, it is feared that all the 72 people on board the ill-fated aircraft have been killed. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“The aircraft accident in Pokhara is the biggest one in the domestic sector so far,” the state-owned national news agency RSS quoted Jagannath Niraula, spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), as saying. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Hundreds of people have lost their lives in various incidences of air crash that have taken place in Nepal before this. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">But this is the first time such a large number of people have been killed in a single incident in domestic flight involving an ATR aircraft, which is considered relatively safe and reliable. The ATR aircraft is acclaimed as a safe passenger plane worldwide.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">An emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers has decided to form a five-member probe committee to investigate the crash. The committee led by former secretary Nagendra Ghimire has been mandated to identify the cause of the plane crash and make recommendations to prevent such accidents from happening in the future.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The members of the committee include aviation expert and retired captain Deepak Prakash Bastola of the Nepalese Army, retired captain Sunil Thapa, and aircraft maintenance engineer Ekraj Jung Thapa. Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation is the member secretary of the committee.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The cabinet meeting has also decided to observe a one-day national mourning on Monday to mourn the deaths of the passengers and crew members onboard the ill-fated aircraft.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16492', 'image' => '20230116111806_FkGFz7BaEAEmLVY.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 11:17:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16750', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Yeti Airlines Cancels All Regular Flights Scheduled for Monday ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Following the tragic plane crash in Pokhara, Yeti Airlines has cancelled all regular flights scheduled for Monday. ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">January 16: Following the tragic plane crash in Pokhara, Yeti Airlines has cancelled all regular flights scheduled for Monday. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">Issuing a press statement on Sunday, the airlines said that it had cancelled all regular flights to mourn the deaths of passengers, who lost their lives in the crash in Pokhara.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">Emergency and rescue flights, however, will operate smoothly.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">ATR-72 plane belonging to Yeti Airlines carrying 72 people including 68 passengers and four crew members had crashed in Pokhara on Sunday morning. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">The plane that took off from Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 am had crashed and caught fire in an attempt to land in Pokhara.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">Meanwhile, the government has decided to give a public holiday on Monday to observe national day of mourning for victims of the tragic air disaster in the tourist town of Pokhara. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">The national flag will be hoisted on half-mast to mourn the loss of lives. </span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16491', 'image' => '20230116060959_collage (32).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 05:57:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16749', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'KMC to Monitor Cooperatives', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 15: After receiving mounting complaints of a number of cooperatives committing financial irregularities, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has decided to regularly monitor the cooperatives under its jurisdiction.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 15: After receiving mounting complaints of a number of cooperatives committing financial irregularities, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has decided to regularly monitor the cooperatives under its jurisdiction.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Considering that the cooperatives that have been accused of not returning the money taken from the depositors on time, the Department of Cooperatives under the KMC is going to monitor the cooperatives in all 32 wards of the metropolis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Devendra Pokharel, head of cooperatives department of the metropolis, informed that there are many complaints about a number of cooperatives cheating the common people.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “In the first stage, cooperatives operating against the rules and refusing to return the money of the depositors will be monitored. In the second phase, other cooperatives will be monitored and instructions will be given as per the need.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">If the instructions given during the monitoring are not followed, KMC will readily take actions according to the Cooperatives Act. All the cooperatives are required to operate in accordance with the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Cooperatives Act, 2074.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even though there has been a drop in the number of people complaining about money fraud in the last 20 days, there have been a lot of fraud complaints this year compared to previous years. Due to this, KMC is about to start monitoring. A month ago, up to 15 complaints were received daily in Kathmandu. As per the information of KMC, now three to four complaints are received daily. Preparations are being made to form a team to start the monitoring work immediately.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Complaints against 118 cooperatives</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The depositors have filed complaints against 118 cooperatives operating within KMC area for not returning their money. The number of complaints is for the current financial year only, which was 60 in the last fiscal year. Pokharel, the head of the department, informed that in the six months of the current fiscal year, there have been twice as many complaints as in the previous year. According to him, most of the complaints received were from down-town areas of KMC where the number of cooperatives is high.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">KMC tried to contact 47 of the 118 cooperatives several times. Some of them are yet to come in contact while some who came into contact, have not returned the money of the depositors yet. KMC has handed over the operators of such cooperatives to the police while discussion with the remaining 71 cooperatives is underway to return the money of the depositors. Among the 1,955 cooperatives in KMC, savings and loan cooperatives are the largest in number. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16490', 'image' => '20230115065213_20220802015543_cooperative problematic.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 18:51:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16748', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banks and Financial Institutions Slash Interest on Deposits', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"> <br /> January 15: Banks and financial institutions have slashed the interest rates on deposits for mid-January to mid-February (Magh).</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Interest rate notices published by most of the commercial banks for Magh have reduced interest rates to 11 per cent on deposits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Commercial banks that were providing interest rate of 12.13 per cent on individual fixed deposits last month (Poush) will give a maximum of 11 per cent interest on such deposit for Magh. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Nepal Bankers’ Association had decided to cut the interest on deposit on Wednesday. In line with the same decision, commercial banks have revised the interest on deposits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">In a notice published on Saturday, Global IME Bank has trimmed the interest rate on deposit. As per the revised interest rates, the bank will provide interest from 6.42 to 8.42 per cent on saving accounts. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Likewise, Nepal Investment Mega Bank will provide a maximum 11 percent interest on individual fixed deposit and 9 per cent on institutional deposits. Similarly, the bank will give 12 per cent interest on remittance account.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Similarly, development banks and finance companies have also lowered interest rates on deposit for Magh.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Development banks will provide a maximum of 12 per interest on individual fixed deposits. Finance companies have also decreased interest rates on deposits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Banks and financial institutions can revise interest on deposits on a monthly basis, while they can review interest on lending/credit only after each quarter. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Easing of the liquidity and pressure from all quarters to slash the interest rate had forced the banks to trim the interest on deposits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Liquidity has been easing in the banking system for the past one month, causing the central bank to signal the interest rate drop on deposits. </span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16489', 'image' => '20230115064453_collage (58).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 18:39:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16747', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '68 Bodies Retrieved from Pokhara Plane Crash Site', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 15: A total of 68 bodies have been retrieved from the site where the ATR-72 plane belonging to Yeti Airlines crashed in Pokhara of Kaski this morning. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 15: A total of 68 bodies have been retrieved from the site where the ATR-72 plane belonging to Yeti Airlines crashed in Pokhara of Kaski this morning. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> According to Kaski’s Assistant Chief District Officer Anil Shahi, the rescuers are using crane to undertake rescue efforts as the plane fell deep down into the Seti River gorge. Thirty-one bodies have been already taken to the Pokhara-based Gandaki Hospital for post-mortem. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A total of 72 people including 68 passengers and four crew members were onboard the ill-fated plane that took off from Tribhuvan International Airport to Pokhara at 10:33 am today. Among the deceased, 53 are Nepalis, five Indians, four Russians, one Irish, one Argentinian, two Koreans and one French national. The crew members are Captain Kamal KC and Anju Khatiwada, and airhostess Srijana Hongchun and Osin Alemagar. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16488', 'image' => '20230115051237_31534744547_53f0fff7b5_b.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 17:12:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16746', 'article_category_id' => '228', 'title' => 'Government Forms Five-member Probe Commission to Investigate Yeti Airline Plane Crash ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The government has formed a five-member probe commission to investigate Yeti Airlines plane crash in Pokhara. ', 'content' => '<p><br /> <span style="font-size:18px">January 15: The government has formed a five-member probe commission to investigate Yeti Airlines plane crash in Pokhara. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">An emergency Cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister’s residence in Baluawatr took the decision to this effect.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The commission has been assigned the responsibilities to figure out the causes behind the crash and recommend suggestions to prevent similar crashes in the future.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The probe commission headed by former Secretary Nagendra Ghimire comprises aviation experts Dipak Prakash Bastola and Sunil Thapa, and aeronautical engineer, Ekraj Jung Thapa as members. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Joint Secretary Buddhisagar Lamichhane of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation is the member-secretary of the commission. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The commission has been given 45 days to submit the report. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Poudel said that the government will implement the suggestions as soon as the commission submits its report to it.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">A Yeti Airlines plane carrying 68 passengers had crashed in Pokhara on Sunday morning.<br /> The ATR-72 plane, which left for Pokhara from Kathmandu at 10.33 am in the morning, reportedly crashed in the Seti River gorge while making a final approach for landing.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">According to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, there were 68 passengers on board the plane including 60 Nepali nationals, and eight foreigners and four crew members including Captain Kamal KC and Anju Khatiwada.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16487', 'image' => '20230115043129_collage (56).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 16:20:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16745', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Balance of Payments in Surplus', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 15: Nepal’s Balance of Payments (BoP) remained at a surplus of Rs 45.87 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 15: Nepal’s Balance of Payments (BoP) remained at a surplus of Rs 45.87 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year. According to Nepal Rastra Bank, the BoP was in a deficit of Rs 195.01 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the US Dollar terms, the BOP remained at a surplus of 346.8 million in the review period against a deficit of 1.64 billion in the same period of the previous year, revealed the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report of Nepal Rastra Bank published on Friday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the current account remained at a deficit of Rs 37.91 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of Rs 298.51 billion in the same period of the previous year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the US Dollar terms, the current account registered a deficit of 297.2 million in the review period compared to deficit of 2.51 billion in the same period last year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the review period, capital transfer decreased 25.3 percent to Rs 3.47 billion and net foreign direct investment (FDI) remained Rs 604.9 million. In the same period of the previous year, capital transfer and net FDI amounted to Rs 4.64 billion and Rs 7.07 billion respectively. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16486', 'image' => '20230115032604_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 15:25:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16744', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import, Export Drop Resulting in a Decline in Trade Deficit', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 15: Nepal’s imports decreased 20.7 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal year against an increase of 59.5 percent during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 15: Nepal’s imports decreased 20.7 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal year against an increase of 59.5 percent during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report of Nepal Rastra Bank, imports from India, China and other countries decreased 20.0 percent, 22.6 percent, and 21.4 percent respectively. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Imports of petroleum products, sponge iron, gold, chemical fertilizer, aircraft spare parts, among others, increased whereas imports of transport equipment and parts, MS billet, silver, medicine, crude soybean oil, among others, decreased in the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the five months of FY 2022/23, merchandise exports decreased 34.6 percent to Rs 67.30 billion against an increase of 105.6 percent in the same period of the previous year, added the NRB report. Destination-wise, exports to India and China decreased 43.7 percent and 35.9 percent respectively whereas exports to other countries increased 7.1 percent. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Exports of zinc sheet, particle board, woolen carpets, cardamom, tea, among others, increased whereas exports of soybean oil, palm oil, oil cakes, textiles, silverware and jewelries, among others, decreased in the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Based on customs points, exports from Dry Port, Jaleshwar, Kailali, Krishnanagar, Mechi and Tribhuwan Airport Customs offices increased whereas exports from all the other major customs points decreased in the review period. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the import side, imports from all the major customs points decreased in the review period. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The country’s total trade deficit decreased 18.8 percent to Rs 597.44 billion during the five months of 2022/23. Such a deficit had increased 54.7 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The export-import ratio decreased to 10.1 percent in the review period from 12.3 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the Broad Economic Categories (BEC), the intermediate and final consumption goods accounted for 53.4 percent and 46.5 percent of the total exports respectively, whereas the ratio of capital goods in total exports remained negligible at 0.05 percent in the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the same period of the previous year, the ratio of intermediate, capital and final consumption goods remained 47.1 percent, 0.02 percent and 52.9 percent of total exports respectively. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the imports side, the share of intermediate goods remained 53.1 percent, capital goods 9.0 percent and final consumption goods remained 38.0 percent in the review period. Such ratios were 53.8 percent, 10.9 percent and 35.4 percent respectively in the same period of the previous year.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16485', 'image' => '20230115025117_Trade.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 14:50:40', '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
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According to the Ministry of Finance, the country collected Rs 490.4 billion revenue against the target of Rs 651.61 billion as of mid-January this year. This is 75.2 per cent of the half-yearly revenue collection target. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the review period, the revenue from customs suffered the most. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the data of the ministry, customs revenue collection is just 53 per cent of the target estimated for the first six months of current fiscal year. The government had planned to collect Rs 161.82 billion from the customs revenue during this period but the collection is just Rs 85.78 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the collection of VAT and excise duty is also only 72 per cent of the target. The government had planned to collect Rs 180.24 billion from VAT in the review period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the government had planned to collect Rs 97.51 billion from excise duty but only Rs 70.51 billion was collected during this period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry said that a total of Rs 116.79 billion in income tax was collected in this period, which is just 74.3 per cent of the government’s target. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, the tax under the education service has been collected as per the government estimates during the review period. Of the target of Rs 734.8 million, the government collected Rs 736.7 million in education service tax. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry shared that the revenue collection in the first six months of the current fiscal year has dropped by 15.32 per cent against the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry stated that revenue collection has been marred due to government measures taken to discourage imports. Likewise, slow business of real estate and bearish trend in the share market also affected the collection of capital gains tax during the review period. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16500', 'image' => '20230116094432_20220117021230_20210308113657_20200911125203_1599773733.Clipboard04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 21:44:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16758', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Employment Programme becoming Ineffective', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: The implementation of the Prime Minister's Employment Programme (PMEP) is found to be rather ineffective. ', 'content' => '<p>January 16: The implementation of the Prime Minister's Employment Programme (PMEP) is found to be rather ineffective. The PM's Employment Program launched by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli with the aim of reducing the unemployment rate failed in effective execution even in the current fiscal year.</p> <p>Only less than 5 percent of the budget allocated for this programme has been spent as of mid-January of the current fiscal year. Although the government allocated a budget of Rs 7.13 billion for the employment programme in the current year, only Rs 309.5 million has been spent. PM's Employment Programme Secretariat informed that although the government implemented the programme with the goal of providing at least 100 days of employment to 200,000 people who have been registered as unemployed this year, only 2,759 people are working in construction projects under the programme.</p> <p>While the local levels are not showing interest in conducting the employment programme on time, the number of unemployed people who are listed is increasing. This year, registered unemployed citizens have increased by 100,000 compared to last year. A total of 708,245 people were listed in PM's Employment Program in the last fiscal year, which has reached 841,477 in the current FY.</p> <p>Most of the academically-sound unemployed youth are not interested in registering their name in this list because they get work only for a few weeks in the construction project. However, as the registered people remain unemployed, the money that the local levels can spend is still unspent. This programme does not seem to be able to play a role in job creation.</p> <p>The local levels show various reasons for not implementing this programme. The spokesperson of the programme, Loknath Bhusal says that many projects under the programme are not started due to the election. He said, “Since the projects have started, now the listed unemployed people have started getting jobs. We will provide employment to 200,000 people.”</p> <p>A recent study by the National Planning Commission showed that the government took a loan of Rs 14 billion from the World Bank to run this programme, but its utilization is not effective.</p> <p>The study suggested the government to take into account the overall aspect while determining the minimum wage rate, stating that the loan amount is overdue. After the formation of the new government under the leadership of Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, PM's Employment Program is given more priority.</p> <p>It is clear from the fact that Dahal wants to continue this program effectively in the future as well since it is included as a priority in the minimum common program of the government. In the government's minimum program, it was announced to provide 300,000 jobs per year through the PM's Employment Program. However, the lack of improvement in the implementation even in the current fiscal year has raised doubts about its credibility.</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16499', 'image' => '20230116071248_20230116040124_PMEP.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 19:12:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16757', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banks Provide Rs 100 billion Credit to Industries in Madhes Province ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' Banks and financial institutions have provided a lending of more than Rs 100 billion to industries in Madhes Province in the fiscal year 2078-79. ', 'content' => '<p><br /> <span style="font-size:16px">January 16: Banks and financial institutions have provided a lending of more than Rs 100 billion to industries in Madhes Province in the fiscal year 2078-79. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">A report prepared by the Nepal Rastra Bank’s Madhes Province Office on economic activities shows that banks and financial institutions have given a total credit of over Rs 102.13 billion to the industries in Madhes Province in the fiscal year of 2078-79. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">In the previous fiscal year, a total credit flow to industries stood at Rs 105.23 billion in the province. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Banks have issued highest lending to industries in Parsa. Out of the total industrial credit, 56.05 percent of the loan has been provided to the industries in Parsa. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Many industries have opened along Birgunj-Pathlaiya Industrial Corridor due to proximity to Birgunj Customs Office. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Chairman of the Madhes Chapter of Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) Ganesh Prasad Lath says that credit flow is high to the industries in the corridor due to the presence of a large number of industries there.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Out of total lending in the province, industries in Saptari have received the least amount of loan. Industries located in Saptari have been issued only 2.51 per cent of the total lending. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Of the total credit flow, industries manufacturing non-food items have received the highest amount of loan. The non-food manufacturing industries have received 52.39 percent of loan while 30.57 per cent of the credit has flown to industries manufacturing products related to agriculture, forest and drinking items. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Likewise, 7.62 percent credit has gone to industries manufacturing goods related to metals, machinery and electronics while construction industries account for 7.27 per cent of the credit flow. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Credit flow to the mine industries and electricity, gas and water industries stands at 1.66 and 0.48 per cent respectively.<br /> The average production growth rate of industries has gone down during the review period in the province. Production growth rate of 30 sampled industries during the review period is 5.23 per cent.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Average production growth rate, nonetheless, was 12.10 per cent in the previous year. In the review period, the production of leather and leather-related goods increased while plastic manufacturing industries’ production had slumped. </span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16498', 'image' => '20230116050902_collage (59).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 17:03:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16755', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Millet Farming Area Declines but Production is Rising', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: Although the area of millet cultivation is shrinking in Nepal, it has been found that the production of the crop is increasing.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 16: Although the area of millet cultivation is shrinking in Nepal, it has been found that the production of the crop is increasing. According to the last ten years’ data prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the area of millet farming in Nepal decreased by around 12,500 hectares.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data provided by the Ministry, 315,067 metric tons of millet was produced in 278,030 hectares of land in the fiscal year (FY) 2068/69. In the last 10 years, the area of millet production decreased by 12,629 hectares to 265,401 hectares. Meanwhile, the production volume increased by 11,376 metric tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Head of the Centre for Crop Development and Agro Biodiversity Conservation Dr. Ram Krishna Shrestha informed that farmers are using Kavre 1, Kavre 2, Okhale, Dalle and other advanced varieties of millet seeds with the help of the center, increasing the productivity as compared to the past. According to him, productivity was 1.13 metric tons per hectare 10 years ago and now it is 1.22 tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Since the farmers' attraction towards millet farming was decreasing, the government of Nepal started celebrating the International Millet Crop Year from this year to promote these crops internationally. The United Nations is preparing to celebrate the English year 2023 as the Year of Millet upon India's proposal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal is also going to participate in the promotion and value addition of millet variety. The ministry informed that a concept paper is being prepared on how to celebrate the millet crop year. For the past three years, the government has been giving subsidies in collaboration with the local level to promote millet farming and increase production. According to Shrestha, subsidies worth Rs 26 million have been given to the farmers in 133 rural municipalities so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16496', 'image' => '20230116032506_120238810_2409742145996788_1009834206072561128_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 15:24:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16754', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nagadhunga Tunnel to Come into Operation by Next Dashain', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: It has been more than three years since the construction of Nagadhunga Tunnel started with the target of completing the project within 42 months. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 16: It has been more than three years since the construction of Nagadhunga Tunnel started with the target of completing the project within 42 months. With less than half of the budget spent, the Department of Roads claims that about 27 per cent of the construction work of the project is remaining. The department has started preparations for its operational management. According to the department, 73.30 per cent of the construction of the tunnel has been completed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The department is planning to entrust the operation of the tunnel for a year to the Japanese construction company Hamza/Ando Corporation, which was awarded the contract to build the tunnel with grant assistance from the Government of Japan. The department said that they will hand over the management to a Japanese company for a year to prepare the necessary manpower for the operation of the tunnel. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Arjun Jung Thapa, director general of the department, said that after the construction of the tunnel accelerated, the department discussed the operational issues with representatives of Hazma Ando.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Once the tunnel is ready, they will operate it, and they will provide training to the Nepalese during the initial period," Thapa said, "After the tunnel comes into operation, it will require human resources in three shifts.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">For this, 54 people will take training within a year. There will be two control rooms in the under-construction tunnel. The control rooms will be located at Tutepakha in Nagadhunga on the east side of the tunnel and Sisnekhola in Dhading on the west side.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A dedicated team is needed to watch ambulances, fire brigade, and CCTV.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Thapa said that up to 18 personnel including watchmen will be needed in the tunnel on both sides in one shift and they will be trained by the Japanese team for a year. According to him, the Japanese team will provide training on surveillance and security issues through CCTV during this period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The department will prepare the Nepali group required for the tunnel operation. According to him, the Japanese company has proposed to keep manpower in three shifts, including traffic police, equipment operators, and ambulance drivers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Out of the estimated budget of Rs 22 billion for the tunnel, the project has so far spent Rs 10 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The compensation for the locals affected by the project has not been released yet. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"In the current fiscal year, the Ministry of Finance did not release the budget for compensation," said Thapa, "For compensation towards Balambu, we need Rs 25 million, and the rest is about Rs 30 million for Sisnekhola."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He informed New Business Age that the project has not yet received compensation from the Ministry of Finance. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The foundation stone of the tunnel was laid by the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in October, 2019. As per the initial agreement, the project was supposed to be completed by April 2023. However, the extended deadline of the project is mid-August 2023 due to the delay in the work due to covid-19 and land acquisition.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Thapa, it will take more than two months to build a flyover, install security equipment and arrange lights inside the tunnel. "The tunnel will be operational by next Dashain," said Thapa.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">An agreement was reached between the Government of Nepal and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2016 to construct the tunnel. The total cost of the tunnel is estimated to be around Rs 22 billion, of which JICA will bear Rs 16 billion and the Government of Nepal will bear Rs 6 billion. The total length of the tunnel is projected to be 5.7 km.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16495', 'image' => '20230116020351_nagdhunga tunnel.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 14:03:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16753', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Around 16,000 Tourists Visited Annapurna Circuit in 2022 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: A total of 15,900 foreign tourists enjoyed trekking in the Annapurna circuit in the year 2022. The figure includes 10,364 men and 5,536 women. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 16: A total of 15,900 foreign tourists enjoyed trekking in the Annapurna circuit in the year 2022. The figure includes 10,364 men and 5,536 women. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) Tourist Check Point at Dharapani, the highest number of tourists was from France, at 2,012. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the number of tourists visiting the region in 2022 was more than in 2021 by 13,627. In 2021, only 2,273 tourists had arrived in Annapurna for trekking on one of the famous trekking routes of the country, said tourism assistant of the center Chettra Bahadur Gurung. The number of tourists was 1,976 in 2020, 36,647 in 2019, 29,484 in 2018, and 21,068 in 2017. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The entrance to Annapurna circuit is Lamjung in Besisahar Municipality-7. Five districts namely Lamjung, Manang, Kaski, Mustang and Myagdi are connected by this trekking route. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16494', 'image' => '20230116124954_Annapurna-Circuit-6-1600x1067.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 12:49:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16752', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank and IMF Forecast Conflicting Growth Projections', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected global economic growth to remain unchanged in 2023. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 16: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected global economic growth to remain unchanged in 2023. Meanwhile, the World Bank (WB) has reduced the growth forecast for the same period. In 2023, the world economy is expected to grow by 2.7 percent, said Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of IMF. She said that the increase in oil prices is unchanged, the labor market is still strong, and the growth projection of the fund will be kept unchanged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She says that this year will be difficult for the world economy as the prices are still at a high level. However, she suggested not to expect one cut after another like last year. At a press conference held at IMF's headquarters in Washington DC, Georgieva said that the growth rate will remain slow in 2023 and the positive part of the economic picture now is a robust labor market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As long as people are employed, even if the price is high, they will spend and that will support the economic activities, said Georgieva. She also emphasized that the fund does not expect any significant reduction in the world economic growth rate this year. “This is good news, isn't it?” She said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She expressed the hope that the world's economic growth rate will reach its peak and start rising gradually towards the end of 2023 or 2024. Georgieva has shown great hope about China's economy, which was very disappointing last year. However, from the middle of this year, it is said that it will start contributing to the economic growth rate again, which will only happen if China sticks to its plan of not reversing to the zero Covid-19 policy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The world's largest economy, the United States, is estimated to land safely the next year. Georgieva says that there are uncertainties such as a major cyber attack, the threat due to Russia's attack on Ukraine escalating, such as the use of nuclear weapons, etc.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It is uncertain what the impact of growing social unrest and tight economic conditions will be in Brazil, Peru and other countries. She said, “Even last year, unexpected things happened twice. Now we are in a shock state. It will not be surprising if such shocks are seen this year as well.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A few days ago, WB on the other hand said that the world economy would grow by only 1.7 percent this year. This growth will be the weakest in three decades. This is 1.3 percentage points less than WB's estimate earlier. It is said that many central banks of the world are tightening monetary policy to control inflation and the possibility of growth is still uncertain as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">WB said that due to high inflation, aggressive interest rate hikes to control inflation, and the spread of the Covid-19 virus in many countries including China, Japan, the world economy will be pushed into recession. WB said that within three years of coming out of the recession caused by the pandemic, the global economic growth rate is very close to falling into a recession again.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16493', 'image' => '20230116120225_global.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 12:01:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16751', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pokhara Plane Crash is the Biggest Domestic Air Disaster in Nepal: CAAN', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: The Yeti Airlines' plane crash in Pokhara on Sunday is the biggest air disaster in the domestic sector in terms of human casualties. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">January 16: The Yeti Airlines' plane crash in Pokhara on Sunday is the biggest air disaster in the domestic sector in terms of human casualties. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The aircraft with 72 people onboard including 68 passengers and four crew members had crashed into the Seti River gorge near Pokhara’s old airport on Sunday morning while making a final approach to land.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Although government authorities have confirmed 69 dead and three people missing, it is feared that all the 72 people on board the ill-fated aircraft have been killed. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“The aircraft accident in Pokhara is the biggest one in the domestic sector so far,” the state-owned national news agency RSS quoted Jagannath Niraula, spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), as saying. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Hundreds of people have lost their lives in various incidences of air crash that have taken place in Nepal before this. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">But this is the first time such a large number of people have been killed in a single incident in domestic flight involving an ATR aircraft, which is considered relatively safe and reliable. The ATR aircraft is acclaimed as a safe passenger plane worldwide.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">An emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers has decided to form a five-member probe committee to investigate the crash. The committee led by former secretary Nagendra Ghimire has been mandated to identify the cause of the plane crash and make recommendations to prevent such accidents from happening in the future.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The members of the committee include aviation expert and retired captain Deepak Prakash Bastola of the Nepalese Army, retired captain Sunil Thapa, and aircraft maintenance engineer Ekraj Jung Thapa. Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation is the member secretary of the committee.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The cabinet meeting has also decided to observe a one-day national mourning on Monday to mourn the deaths of the passengers and crew members onboard the ill-fated aircraft.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16492', 'image' => '20230116111806_FkGFz7BaEAEmLVY.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 11:17:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16750', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Yeti Airlines Cancels All Regular Flights Scheduled for Monday ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Following the tragic plane crash in Pokhara, Yeti Airlines has cancelled all regular flights scheduled for Monday. ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">January 16: Following the tragic plane crash in Pokhara, Yeti Airlines has cancelled all regular flights scheduled for Monday. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">Issuing a press statement on Sunday, the airlines said that it had cancelled all regular flights to mourn the deaths of passengers, who lost their lives in the crash in Pokhara.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">Emergency and rescue flights, however, will operate smoothly.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">ATR-72 plane belonging to Yeti Airlines carrying 72 people including 68 passengers and four crew members had crashed in Pokhara on Sunday morning. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">The plane that took off from Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 am had crashed and caught fire in an attempt to land in Pokhara.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">Meanwhile, the government has decided to give a public holiday on Monday to observe national day of mourning for victims of the tragic air disaster in the tourist town of Pokhara. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">The national flag will be hoisted on half-mast to mourn the loss of lives. </span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16491', 'image' => '20230116060959_collage (32).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 05:57:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16749', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'KMC to Monitor Cooperatives', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 15: After receiving mounting complaints of a number of cooperatives committing financial irregularities, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has decided to regularly monitor the cooperatives under its jurisdiction.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 15: After receiving mounting complaints of a number of cooperatives committing financial irregularities, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has decided to regularly monitor the cooperatives under its jurisdiction.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Considering that the cooperatives that have been accused of not returning the money taken from the depositors on time, the Department of Cooperatives under the KMC is going to monitor the cooperatives in all 32 wards of the metropolis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Devendra Pokharel, head of cooperatives department of the metropolis, informed that there are many complaints about a number of cooperatives cheating the common people.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “In the first stage, cooperatives operating against the rules and refusing to return the money of the depositors will be monitored. In the second phase, other cooperatives will be monitored and instructions will be given as per the need.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">If the instructions given during the monitoring are not followed, KMC will readily take actions according to the Cooperatives Act. All the cooperatives are required to operate in accordance with the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Cooperatives Act, 2074.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even though there has been a drop in the number of people complaining about money fraud in the last 20 days, there have been a lot of fraud complaints this year compared to previous years. Due to this, KMC is about to start monitoring. A month ago, up to 15 complaints were received daily in Kathmandu. As per the information of KMC, now three to four complaints are received daily. Preparations are being made to form a team to start the monitoring work immediately.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Complaints against 118 cooperatives</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The depositors have filed complaints against 118 cooperatives operating within KMC area for not returning their money. The number of complaints is for the current financial year only, which was 60 in the last fiscal year. Pokharel, the head of the department, informed that in the six months of the current fiscal year, there have been twice as many complaints as in the previous year. According to him, most of the complaints received were from down-town areas of KMC where the number of cooperatives is high.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">KMC tried to contact 47 of the 118 cooperatives several times. Some of them are yet to come in contact while some who came into contact, have not returned the money of the depositors yet. KMC has handed over the operators of such cooperatives to the police while discussion with the remaining 71 cooperatives is underway to return the money of the depositors. Among the 1,955 cooperatives in KMC, savings and loan cooperatives are the largest in number. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16490', 'image' => '20230115065213_20220802015543_cooperative problematic.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 18:51:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16748', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banks and Financial Institutions Slash Interest on Deposits', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"> <br /> January 15: Banks and financial institutions have slashed the interest rates on deposits for mid-January to mid-February (Magh).</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Interest rate notices published by most of the commercial banks for Magh have reduced interest rates to 11 per cent on deposits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Commercial banks that were providing interest rate of 12.13 per cent on individual fixed deposits last month (Poush) will give a maximum of 11 per cent interest on such deposit for Magh. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Nepal Bankers’ Association had decided to cut the interest on deposit on Wednesday. In line with the same decision, commercial banks have revised the interest on deposits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">In a notice published on Saturday, Global IME Bank has trimmed the interest rate on deposit. As per the revised interest rates, the bank will provide interest from 6.42 to 8.42 per cent on saving accounts. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Likewise, Nepal Investment Mega Bank will provide a maximum 11 percent interest on individual fixed deposit and 9 per cent on institutional deposits. Similarly, the bank will give 12 per cent interest on remittance account.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Similarly, development banks and finance companies have also lowered interest rates on deposit for Magh.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Development banks will provide a maximum of 12 per interest on individual fixed deposits. Finance companies have also decreased interest rates on deposits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Banks and financial institutions can revise interest on deposits on a monthly basis, while they can review interest on lending/credit only after each quarter. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Easing of the liquidity and pressure from all quarters to slash the interest rate had forced the banks to trim the interest on deposits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Liquidity has been easing in the banking system for the past one month, causing the central bank to signal the interest rate drop on deposits. </span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16489', 'image' => '20230115064453_collage (58).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 18:39:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16747', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '68 Bodies Retrieved from Pokhara Plane Crash Site', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 15: A total of 68 bodies have been retrieved from the site where the ATR-72 plane belonging to Yeti Airlines crashed in Pokhara of Kaski this morning. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 15: A total of 68 bodies have been retrieved from the site where the ATR-72 plane belonging to Yeti Airlines crashed in Pokhara of Kaski this morning. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> According to Kaski’s Assistant Chief District Officer Anil Shahi, the rescuers are using crane to undertake rescue efforts as the plane fell deep down into the Seti River gorge. Thirty-one bodies have been already taken to the Pokhara-based Gandaki Hospital for post-mortem. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A total of 72 people including 68 passengers and four crew members were onboard the ill-fated plane that took off from Tribhuvan International Airport to Pokhara at 10:33 am today. Among the deceased, 53 are Nepalis, five Indians, four Russians, one Irish, one Argentinian, two Koreans and one French national. The crew members are Captain Kamal KC and Anju Khatiwada, and airhostess Srijana Hongchun and Osin Alemagar. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16488', 'image' => '20230115051237_31534744547_53f0fff7b5_b.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 17:12:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16746', 'article_category_id' => '228', 'title' => 'Government Forms Five-member Probe Commission to Investigate Yeti Airline Plane Crash ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The government has formed a five-member probe commission to investigate Yeti Airlines plane crash in Pokhara. ', 'content' => '<p><br /> <span style="font-size:18px">January 15: The government has formed a five-member probe commission to investigate Yeti Airlines plane crash in Pokhara. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">An emergency Cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister’s residence in Baluawatr took the decision to this effect.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The commission has been assigned the responsibilities to figure out the causes behind the crash and recommend suggestions to prevent similar crashes in the future.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The probe commission headed by former Secretary Nagendra Ghimire comprises aviation experts Dipak Prakash Bastola and Sunil Thapa, and aeronautical engineer, Ekraj Jung Thapa as members. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Joint Secretary Buddhisagar Lamichhane of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation is the member-secretary of the commission. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The commission has been given 45 days to submit the report. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Poudel said that the government will implement the suggestions as soon as the commission submits its report to it.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">A Yeti Airlines plane carrying 68 passengers had crashed in Pokhara on Sunday morning.<br /> The ATR-72 plane, which left for Pokhara from Kathmandu at 10.33 am in the morning, reportedly crashed in the Seti River gorge while making a final approach for landing.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">According to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, there were 68 passengers on board the plane including 60 Nepali nationals, and eight foreigners and four crew members including Captain Kamal KC and Anju Khatiwada.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16487', 'image' => '20230115043129_collage (56).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 16:20:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16745', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Balance of Payments in Surplus', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 15: Nepal’s Balance of Payments (BoP) remained at a surplus of Rs 45.87 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 15: Nepal’s Balance of Payments (BoP) remained at a surplus of Rs 45.87 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year. According to Nepal Rastra Bank, the BoP was in a deficit of Rs 195.01 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the US Dollar terms, the BOP remained at a surplus of 346.8 million in the review period against a deficit of 1.64 billion in the same period of the previous year, revealed the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report of Nepal Rastra Bank published on Friday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the current account remained at a deficit of Rs 37.91 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of Rs 298.51 billion in the same period of the previous year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the US Dollar terms, the current account registered a deficit of 297.2 million in the review period compared to deficit of 2.51 billion in the same period last year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the review period, capital transfer decreased 25.3 percent to Rs 3.47 billion and net foreign direct investment (FDI) remained Rs 604.9 million. In the same period of the previous year, capital transfer and net FDI amounted to Rs 4.64 billion and Rs 7.07 billion respectively. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16486', 'image' => '20230115032604_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 15:25:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16744', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import, Export Drop Resulting in a Decline in Trade Deficit', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 15: Nepal’s imports decreased 20.7 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal year against an increase of 59.5 percent during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 15: Nepal’s imports decreased 20.7 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal year against an increase of 59.5 percent during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report of Nepal Rastra Bank, imports from India, China and other countries decreased 20.0 percent, 22.6 percent, and 21.4 percent respectively. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Imports of petroleum products, sponge iron, gold, chemical fertilizer, aircraft spare parts, among others, increased whereas imports of transport equipment and parts, MS billet, silver, medicine, crude soybean oil, among others, decreased in the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the five months of FY 2022/23, merchandise exports decreased 34.6 percent to Rs 67.30 billion against an increase of 105.6 percent in the same period of the previous year, added the NRB report. Destination-wise, exports to India and China decreased 43.7 percent and 35.9 percent respectively whereas exports to other countries increased 7.1 percent. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Exports of zinc sheet, particle board, woolen carpets, cardamom, tea, among others, increased whereas exports of soybean oil, palm oil, oil cakes, textiles, silverware and jewelries, among others, decreased in the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Based on customs points, exports from Dry Port, Jaleshwar, Kailali, Krishnanagar, Mechi and Tribhuwan Airport Customs offices increased whereas exports from all the other major customs points decreased in the review period. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the import side, imports from all the major customs points decreased in the review period. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The country’s total trade deficit decreased 18.8 percent to Rs 597.44 billion during the five months of 2022/23. Such a deficit had increased 54.7 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The export-import ratio decreased to 10.1 percent in the review period from 12.3 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the Broad Economic Categories (BEC), the intermediate and final consumption goods accounted for 53.4 percent and 46.5 percent of the total exports respectively, whereas the ratio of capital goods in total exports remained negligible at 0.05 percent in the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the same period of the previous year, the ratio of intermediate, capital and final consumption goods remained 47.1 percent, 0.02 percent and 52.9 percent of total exports respectively. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the imports side, the share of intermediate goods remained 53.1 percent, capital goods 9.0 percent and final consumption goods remained 38.0 percent in the review period. Such ratios were 53.8 percent, 10.9 percent and 35.4 percent respectively in the same period of the previous year.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16485', 'image' => '20230115025117_Trade.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 14:50:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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According to the Ministry of Finance, the country collected Rs 490.4 billion revenue against the target of Rs 651.61 billion as of mid-January this year. This is 75.2 per cent of the half-yearly revenue collection target. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the review period, the revenue from customs suffered the most. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the data of the ministry, customs revenue collection is just 53 per cent of the target estimated for the first six months of current fiscal year. The government had planned to collect Rs 161.82 billion from the customs revenue during this period but the collection is just Rs 85.78 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the collection of VAT and excise duty is also only 72 per cent of the target. The government had planned to collect Rs 180.24 billion from VAT in the review period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the government had planned to collect Rs 97.51 billion from excise duty but only Rs 70.51 billion was collected during this period. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry said that a total of Rs 116.79 billion in income tax was collected in this period, which is just 74.3 per cent of the government’s target. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, the tax under the education service has been collected as per the government estimates during the review period. Of the target of Rs 734.8 million, the government collected Rs 736.7 million in education service tax. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry shared that the revenue collection in the first six months of the current fiscal year has dropped by 15.32 per cent against the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ministry stated that revenue collection has been marred due to government measures taken to discourage imports. Likewise, slow business of real estate and bearish trend in the share market also affected the collection of capital gains tax during the review period. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16500', 'image' => '20230116094432_20220117021230_20210308113657_20200911125203_1599773733.Clipboard04.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 21:44:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16758', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Employment Programme becoming Ineffective', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: The implementation of the Prime Minister's Employment Programme (PMEP) is found to be rather ineffective. ', 'content' => '<p>January 16: The implementation of the Prime Minister's Employment Programme (PMEP) is found to be rather ineffective. The PM's Employment Program launched by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli with the aim of reducing the unemployment rate failed in effective execution even in the current fiscal year.</p> <p>Only less than 5 percent of the budget allocated for this programme has been spent as of mid-January of the current fiscal year. Although the government allocated a budget of Rs 7.13 billion for the employment programme in the current year, only Rs 309.5 million has been spent. PM's Employment Programme Secretariat informed that although the government implemented the programme with the goal of providing at least 100 days of employment to 200,000 people who have been registered as unemployed this year, only 2,759 people are working in construction projects under the programme.</p> <p>While the local levels are not showing interest in conducting the employment programme on time, the number of unemployed people who are listed is increasing. This year, registered unemployed citizens have increased by 100,000 compared to last year. A total of 708,245 people were listed in PM's Employment Program in the last fiscal year, which has reached 841,477 in the current FY.</p> <p>Most of the academically-sound unemployed youth are not interested in registering their name in this list because they get work only for a few weeks in the construction project. However, as the registered people remain unemployed, the money that the local levels can spend is still unspent. This programme does not seem to be able to play a role in job creation.</p> <p>The local levels show various reasons for not implementing this programme. The spokesperson of the programme, Loknath Bhusal says that many projects under the programme are not started due to the election. He said, “Since the projects have started, now the listed unemployed people have started getting jobs. We will provide employment to 200,000 people.”</p> <p>A recent study by the National Planning Commission showed that the government took a loan of Rs 14 billion from the World Bank to run this programme, but its utilization is not effective.</p> <p>The study suggested the government to take into account the overall aspect while determining the minimum wage rate, stating that the loan amount is overdue. After the formation of the new government under the leadership of Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, PM's Employment Program is given more priority.</p> <p>It is clear from the fact that Dahal wants to continue this program effectively in the future as well since it is included as a priority in the minimum common program of the government. In the government's minimum program, it was announced to provide 300,000 jobs per year through the PM's Employment Program. However, the lack of improvement in the implementation even in the current fiscal year has raised doubts about its credibility.</p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16499', 'image' => '20230116071248_20230116040124_PMEP.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 19:12:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16757', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banks Provide Rs 100 billion Credit to Industries in Madhes Province ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => ' Banks and financial institutions have provided a lending of more than Rs 100 billion to industries in Madhes Province in the fiscal year 2078-79. ', 'content' => '<p><br /> <span style="font-size:16px">January 16: Banks and financial institutions have provided a lending of more than Rs 100 billion to industries in Madhes Province in the fiscal year 2078-79. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">A report prepared by the Nepal Rastra Bank’s Madhes Province Office on economic activities shows that banks and financial institutions have given a total credit of over Rs 102.13 billion to the industries in Madhes Province in the fiscal year of 2078-79. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">In the previous fiscal year, a total credit flow to industries stood at Rs 105.23 billion in the province. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Banks have issued highest lending to industries in Parsa. Out of the total industrial credit, 56.05 percent of the loan has been provided to the industries in Parsa. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Many industries have opened along Birgunj-Pathlaiya Industrial Corridor due to proximity to Birgunj Customs Office. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Chairman of the Madhes Chapter of Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) Ganesh Prasad Lath says that credit flow is high to the industries in the corridor due to the presence of a large number of industries there.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Out of total lending in the province, industries in Saptari have received the least amount of loan. Industries located in Saptari have been issued only 2.51 per cent of the total lending. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Of the total credit flow, industries manufacturing non-food items have received the highest amount of loan. The non-food manufacturing industries have received 52.39 percent of loan while 30.57 per cent of the credit has flown to industries manufacturing products related to agriculture, forest and drinking items. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Likewise, 7.62 percent credit has gone to industries manufacturing goods related to metals, machinery and electronics while construction industries account for 7.27 per cent of the credit flow. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Credit flow to the mine industries and electricity, gas and water industries stands at 1.66 and 0.48 per cent respectively.<br /> The average production growth rate of industries has gone down during the review period in the province. Production growth rate of 30 sampled industries during the review period is 5.23 per cent.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px">Average production growth rate, nonetheless, was 12.10 per cent in the previous year. In the review period, the production of leather and leather-related goods increased while plastic manufacturing industries’ production had slumped. </span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16498', 'image' => '20230116050902_collage (59).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 17:03:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16755', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Millet Farming Area Declines but Production is Rising', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: Although the area of millet cultivation is shrinking in Nepal, it has been found that the production of the crop is increasing.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 16: Although the area of millet cultivation is shrinking in Nepal, it has been found that the production of the crop is increasing. According to the last ten years’ data prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the area of millet farming in Nepal decreased by around 12,500 hectares.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data provided by the Ministry, 315,067 metric tons of millet was produced in 278,030 hectares of land in the fiscal year (FY) 2068/69. In the last 10 years, the area of millet production decreased by 12,629 hectares to 265,401 hectares. Meanwhile, the production volume increased by 11,376 metric tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Head of the Centre for Crop Development and Agro Biodiversity Conservation Dr. Ram Krishna Shrestha informed that farmers are using Kavre 1, Kavre 2, Okhale, Dalle and other advanced varieties of millet seeds with the help of the center, increasing the productivity as compared to the past. According to him, productivity was 1.13 metric tons per hectare 10 years ago and now it is 1.22 tons.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Since the farmers' attraction towards millet farming was decreasing, the government of Nepal started celebrating the International Millet Crop Year from this year to promote these crops internationally. The United Nations is preparing to celebrate the English year 2023 as the Year of Millet upon India's proposal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal is also going to participate in the promotion and value addition of millet variety. The ministry informed that a concept paper is being prepared on how to celebrate the millet crop year. For the past three years, the government has been giving subsidies in collaboration with the local level to promote millet farming and increase production. According to Shrestha, subsidies worth Rs 26 million have been given to the farmers in 133 rural municipalities so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16496', 'image' => '20230116032506_120238810_2409742145996788_1009834206072561128_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 15:24:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16754', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nagadhunga Tunnel to Come into Operation by Next Dashain', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: It has been more than three years since the construction of Nagadhunga Tunnel started with the target of completing the project within 42 months. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 16: It has been more than three years since the construction of Nagadhunga Tunnel started with the target of completing the project within 42 months. With less than half of the budget spent, the Department of Roads claims that about 27 per cent of the construction work of the project is remaining. The department has started preparations for its operational management. According to the department, 73.30 per cent of the construction of the tunnel has been completed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The department is planning to entrust the operation of the tunnel for a year to the Japanese construction company Hamza/Ando Corporation, which was awarded the contract to build the tunnel with grant assistance from the Government of Japan. The department said that they will hand over the management to a Japanese company for a year to prepare the necessary manpower for the operation of the tunnel. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Arjun Jung Thapa, director general of the department, said that after the construction of the tunnel accelerated, the department discussed the operational issues with representatives of Hazma Ando.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"Once the tunnel is ready, they will operate it, and they will provide training to the Nepalese during the initial period," Thapa said, "After the tunnel comes into operation, it will require human resources in three shifts.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">For this, 54 people will take training within a year. There will be two control rooms in the under-construction tunnel. The control rooms will be located at Tutepakha in Nagadhunga on the east side of the tunnel and Sisnekhola in Dhading on the west side.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A dedicated team is needed to watch ambulances, fire brigade, and CCTV.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Thapa said that up to 18 personnel including watchmen will be needed in the tunnel on both sides in one shift and they will be trained by the Japanese team for a year. According to him, the Japanese team will provide training on surveillance and security issues through CCTV during this period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The department will prepare the Nepali group required for the tunnel operation. According to him, the Japanese company has proposed to keep manpower in three shifts, including traffic police, equipment operators, and ambulance drivers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Out of the estimated budget of Rs 22 billion for the tunnel, the project has so far spent Rs 10 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The compensation for the locals affected by the project has not been released yet. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"In the current fiscal year, the Ministry of Finance did not release the budget for compensation," said Thapa, "For compensation towards Balambu, we need Rs 25 million, and the rest is about Rs 30 million for Sisnekhola."</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He informed New Business Age that the project has not yet received compensation from the Ministry of Finance. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The foundation stone of the tunnel was laid by the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in October, 2019. As per the initial agreement, the project was supposed to be completed by April 2023. However, the extended deadline of the project is mid-August 2023 due to the delay in the work due to covid-19 and land acquisition.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Thapa, it will take more than two months to build a flyover, install security equipment and arrange lights inside the tunnel. "The tunnel will be operational by next Dashain," said Thapa.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">An agreement was reached between the Government of Nepal and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 2016 to construct the tunnel. The total cost of the tunnel is estimated to be around Rs 22 billion, of which JICA will bear Rs 16 billion and the Government of Nepal will bear Rs 6 billion. The total length of the tunnel is projected to be 5.7 km.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16495', 'image' => '20230116020351_nagdhunga tunnel.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 14:03:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16753', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Around 16,000 Tourists Visited Annapurna Circuit in 2022 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: A total of 15,900 foreign tourists enjoyed trekking in the Annapurna circuit in the year 2022. The figure includes 10,364 men and 5,536 women. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 16: A total of 15,900 foreign tourists enjoyed trekking in the Annapurna circuit in the year 2022. The figure includes 10,364 men and 5,536 women. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) Tourist Check Point at Dharapani, the highest number of tourists was from France, at 2,012. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the number of tourists visiting the region in 2022 was more than in 2021 by 13,627. In 2021, only 2,273 tourists had arrived in Annapurna for trekking on one of the famous trekking routes of the country, said tourism assistant of the center Chettra Bahadur Gurung. The number of tourists was 1,976 in 2020, 36,647 in 2019, 29,484 in 2018, and 21,068 in 2017. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The entrance to Annapurna circuit is Lamjung in Besisahar Municipality-7. Five districts namely Lamjung, Manang, Kaski, Mustang and Myagdi are connected by this trekking route. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16494', 'image' => '20230116124954_Annapurna-Circuit-6-1600x1067.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 12:49:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16752', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank and IMF Forecast Conflicting Growth Projections', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected global economic growth to remain unchanged in 2023. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 16: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected global economic growth to remain unchanged in 2023. Meanwhile, the World Bank (WB) has reduced the growth forecast for the same period. In 2023, the world economy is expected to grow by 2.7 percent, said Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of IMF. She said that the increase in oil prices is unchanged, the labor market is still strong, and the growth projection of the fund will be kept unchanged. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She says that this year will be difficult for the world economy as the prices are still at a high level. However, she suggested not to expect one cut after another like last year. At a press conference held at IMF's headquarters in Washington DC, Georgieva said that the growth rate will remain slow in 2023 and the positive part of the economic picture now is a robust labor market.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As long as people are employed, even if the price is high, they will spend and that will support the economic activities, said Georgieva. She also emphasized that the fund does not expect any significant reduction in the world economic growth rate this year. “This is good news, isn't it?” She said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She expressed the hope that the world's economic growth rate will reach its peak and start rising gradually towards the end of 2023 or 2024. Georgieva has shown great hope about China's economy, which was very disappointing last year. However, from the middle of this year, it is said that it will start contributing to the economic growth rate again, which will only happen if China sticks to its plan of not reversing to the zero Covid-19 policy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The world's largest economy, the United States, is estimated to land safely the next year. Georgieva says that there are uncertainties such as a major cyber attack, the threat due to Russia's attack on Ukraine escalating, such as the use of nuclear weapons, etc.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It is uncertain what the impact of growing social unrest and tight economic conditions will be in Brazil, Peru and other countries. She said, “Even last year, unexpected things happened twice. Now we are in a shock state. It will not be surprising if such shocks are seen this year as well.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A few days ago, WB on the other hand said that the world economy would grow by only 1.7 percent this year. This growth will be the weakest in three decades. This is 1.3 percentage points less than WB's estimate earlier. It is said that many central banks of the world are tightening monetary policy to control inflation and the possibility of growth is still uncertain as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">WB said that due to high inflation, aggressive interest rate hikes to control inflation, and the spread of the Covid-19 virus in many countries including China, Japan, the world economy will be pushed into recession. WB said that within three years of coming out of the recession caused by the pandemic, the global economic growth rate is very close to falling into a recession again.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16493', 'image' => '20230116120225_global.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 12:01:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16751', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Pokhara Plane Crash is the Biggest Domestic Air Disaster in Nepal: CAAN', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 16: The Yeti Airlines' plane crash in Pokhara on Sunday is the biggest air disaster in the domestic sector in terms of human casualties. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">January 16: The Yeti Airlines' plane crash in Pokhara on Sunday is the biggest air disaster in the domestic sector in terms of human casualties. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The aircraft with 72 people onboard including 68 passengers and four crew members had crashed into the Seti River gorge near Pokhara’s old airport on Sunday morning while making a final approach to land.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Although government authorities have confirmed 69 dead and three people missing, it is feared that all the 72 people on board the ill-fated aircraft have been killed. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“The aircraft accident in Pokhara is the biggest one in the domestic sector so far,” the state-owned national news agency RSS quoted Jagannath Niraula, spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), as saying. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Hundreds of people have lost their lives in various incidences of air crash that have taken place in Nepal before this. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">But this is the first time such a large number of people have been killed in a single incident in domestic flight involving an ATR aircraft, which is considered relatively safe and reliable. The ATR aircraft is acclaimed as a safe passenger plane worldwide.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">An emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers has decided to form a five-member probe committee to investigate the crash. The committee led by former secretary Nagendra Ghimire has been mandated to identify the cause of the plane crash and make recommendations to prevent such accidents from happening in the future.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The members of the committee include aviation expert and retired captain Deepak Prakash Bastola of the Nepalese Army, retired captain Sunil Thapa, and aircraft maintenance engineer Ekraj Jung Thapa. Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation is the member secretary of the committee.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The cabinet meeting has also decided to observe a one-day national mourning on Monday to mourn the deaths of the passengers and crew members onboard the ill-fated aircraft.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16492', 'image' => '20230116111806_FkGFz7BaEAEmLVY.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 11:17:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16750', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Yeti Airlines Cancels All Regular Flights Scheduled for Monday ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'Following the tragic plane crash in Pokhara, Yeti Airlines has cancelled all regular flights scheduled for Monday. ', 'content' => '<p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">January 16: Following the tragic plane crash in Pokhara, Yeti Airlines has cancelled all regular flights scheduled for Monday. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">Issuing a press statement on Sunday, the airlines said that it had cancelled all regular flights to mourn the deaths of passengers, who lost their lives in the crash in Pokhara.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">Emergency and rescue flights, however, will operate smoothly.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">ATR-72 plane belonging to Yeti Airlines carrying 72 people including 68 passengers and four crew members had crashed in Pokhara on Sunday morning. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">The plane that took off from Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 am had crashed and caught fire in an attempt to land in Pokhara.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">Meanwhile, the government has decided to give a public holiday on Monday to observe national day of mourning for victims of the tragic air disaster in the tourist town of Pokhara. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:22px">The national flag will be hoisted on half-mast to mourn the loss of lives. </span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-16', 'modified' => '2023-01-16', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16491', 'image' => '20230116060959_collage (32).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-16 05:57:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16749', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'KMC to Monitor Cooperatives', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 15: After receiving mounting complaints of a number of cooperatives committing financial irregularities, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has decided to regularly monitor the cooperatives under its jurisdiction.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">January 15: After receiving mounting complaints of a number of cooperatives committing financial irregularities, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has decided to regularly monitor the cooperatives under its jurisdiction.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Considering that the cooperatives that have been accused of not returning the money taken from the depositors on time, the Department of Cooperatives under the KMC is going to monitor the cooperatives in all 32 wards of the metropolis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Devendra Pokharel, head of cooperatives department of the metropolis, informed that there are many complaints about a number of cooperatives cheating the common people.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “In the first stage, cooperatives operating against the rules and refusing to return the money of the depositors will be monitored. In the second phase, other cooperatives will be monitored and instructions will be given as per the need.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">If the instructions given during the monitoring are not followed, KMC will readily take actions according to the Cooperatives Act. All the cooperatives are required to operate in accordance with the Kathmandu Metropolitan City Cooperatives Act, 2074.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even though there has been a drop in the number of people complaining about money fraud in the last 20 days, there have been a lot of fraud complaints this year compared to previous years. Due to this, KMC is about to start monitoring. A month ago, up to 15 complaints were received daily in Kathmandu. As per the information of KMC, now three to four complaints are received daily. Preparations are being made to form a team to start the monitoring work immediately.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><strong>Complaints against 118 cooperatives</strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The depositors have filed complaints against 118 cooperatives operating within KMC area for not returning their money. The number of complaints is for the current financial year only, which was 60 in the last fiscal year. Pokharel, the head of the department, informed that in the six months of the current fiscal year, there have been twice as many complaints as in the previous year. According to him, most of the complaints received were from down-town areas of KMC where the number of cooperatives is high.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">KMC tried to contact 47 of the 118 cooperatives several times. Some of them are yet to come in contact while some who came into contact, have not returned the money of the depositors yet. KMC has handed over the operators of such cooperatives to the police while discussion with the remaining 71 cooperatives is underway to return the money of the depositors. Among the 1,955 cooperatives in KMC, savings and loan cooperatives are the largest in number. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16490', 'image' => '20230115065213_20220802015543_cooperative problematic.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 18:51:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16748', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Banks and Financial Institutions Slash Interest on Deposits', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:20px"> <br /> January 15: Banks and financial institutions have slashed the interest rates on deposits for mid-January to mid-February (Magh).</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Interest rate notices published by most of the commercial banks for Magh have reduced interest rates to 11 per cent on deposits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Commercial banks that were providing interest rate of 12.13 per cent on individual fixed deposits last month (Poush) will give a maximum of 11 per cent interest on such deposit for Magh. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Nepal Bankers’ Association had decided to cut the interest on deposit on Wednesday. In line with the same decision, commercial banks have revised the interest on deposits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">In a notice published on Saturday, Global IME Bank has trimmed the interest rate on deposit. As per the revised interest rates, the bank will provide interest from 6.42 to 8.42 per cent on saving accounts. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Likewise, Nepal Investment Mega Bank will provide a maximum 11 percent interest on individual fixed deposit and 9 per cent on institutional deposits. Similarly, the bank will give 12 per cent interest on remittance account.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Similarly, development banks and finance companies have also lowered interest rates on deposit for Magh.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Development banks will provide a maximum of 12 per interest on individual fixed deposits. Finance companies have also decreased interest rates on deposits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Banks and financial institutions can revise interest on deposits on a monthly basis, while they can review interest on lending/credit only after each quarter. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Easing of the liquidity and pressure from all quarters to slash the interest rate had forced the banks to trim the interest on deposits. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:20px">Liquidity has been easing in the banking system for the past one month, causing the central bank to signal the interest rate drop on deposits. </span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16489', 'image' => '20230115064453_collage (58).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 18:39:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16747', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '68 Bodies Retrieved from Pokhara Plane Crash Site', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 15: A total of 68 bodies have been retrieved from the site where the ATR-72 plane belonging to Yeti Airlines crashed in Pokhara of Kaski this morning. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">January 15: A total of 68 bodies have been retrieved from the site where the ATR-72 plane belonging to Yeti Airlines crashed in Pokhara of Kaski this morning. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> According to Kaski’s Assistant Chief District Officer Anil Shahi, the rescuers are using crane to undertake rescue efforts as the plane fell deep down into the Seti River gorge. Thirty-one bodies have been already taken to the Pokhara-based Gandaki Hospital for post-mortem. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A total of 72 people including 68 passengers and four crew members were onboard the ill-fated plane that took off from Tribhuvan International Airport to Pokhara at 10:33 am today. Among the deceased, 53 are Nepalis, five Indians, four Russians, one Irish, one Argentinian, two Koreans and one French national. The crew members are Captain Kamal KC and Anju Khatiwada, and airhostess Srijana Hongchun and Osin Alemagar. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16488', 'image' => '20230115051237_31534744547_53f0fff7b5_b.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 17:12:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16746', 'article_category_id' => '228', 'title' => 'Government Forms Five-member Probe Commission to Investigate Yeti Airline Plane Crash ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'The government has formed a five-member probe commission to investigate Yeti Airlines plane crash in Pokhara. ', 'content' => '<p><br /> <span style="font-size:18px">January 15: The government has formed a five-member probe commission to investigate Yeti Airlines plane crash in Pokhara. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">An emergency Cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister’s residence in Baluawatr took the decision to this effect.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The commission has been assigned the responsibilities to figure out the causes behind the crash and recommend suggestions to prevent similar crashes in the future.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The probe commission headed by former Secretary Nagendra Ghimire comprises aviation experts Dipak Prakash Bastola and Sunil Thapa, and aeronautical engineer, Ekraj Jung Thapa as members. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Joint Secretary Buddhisagar Lamichhane of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation is the member-secretary of the commission. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">The commission has been given 45 days to submit the report. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Bishnu Prasad Poudel said that the government will implement the suggestions as soon as the commission submits its report to it.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">A Yeti Airlines plane carrying 68 passengers had crashed in Pokhara on Sunday morning.<br /> The ATR-72 plane, which left for Pokhara from Kathmandu at 10.33 am in the morning, reportedly crashed in the Seti River gorge while making a final approach for landing.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px">According to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, there were 68 passengers on board the plane including 60 Nepali nationals, and eight foreigners and four crew members including Captain Kamal KC and Anju Khatiwada.</span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16487', 'image' => '20230115043129_collage (56).jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 16:20:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '42' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16745', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Balance of Payments in Surplus', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 15: Nepal’s Balance of Payments (BoP) remained at a surplus of Rs 45.87 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 15: Nepal’s Balance of Payments (BoP) remained at a surplus of Rs 45.87 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year. According to Nepal Rastra Bank, the BoP was in a deficit of Rs 195.01 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the US Dollar terms, the BOP remained at a surplus of 346.8 million in the review period against a deficit of 1.64 billion in the same period of the previous year, revealed the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report of Nepal Rastra Bank published on Friday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the current account remained at a deficit of Rs 37.91 billion in the review period compared to a deficit of Rs 298.51 billion in the same period of the previous year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the US Dollar terms, the current account registered a deficit of 297.2 million in the review period compared to deficit of 2.51 billion in the same period last year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the review period, capital transfer decreased 25.3 percent to Rs 3.47 billion and net foreign direct investment (FDI) remained Rs 604.9 million. In the same period of the previous year, capital transfer and net FDI amounted to Rs 4.64 billion and Rs 7.07 billion respectively. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16486', 'image' => '20230115032604_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 15:25:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16744', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Import, Export Drop Resulting in a Decline in Trade Deficit', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'January 15: Nepal’s imports decreased 20.7 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal year against an increase of 59.5 percent during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">January 15: Nepal’s imports decreased 20.7 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal year against an increase of 59.5 percent during the corresponding period of last fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report of Nepal Rastra Bank, imports from India, China and other countries decreased 20.0 percent, 22.6 percent, and 21.4 percent respectively. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Imports of petroleum products, sponge iron, gold, chemical fertilizer, aircraft spare parts, among others, increased whereas imports of transport equipment and parts, MS billet, silver, medicine, crude soybean oil, among others, decreased in the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the five months of FY 2022/23, merchandise exports decreased 34.6 percent to Rs 67.30 billion against an increase of 105.6 percent in the same period of the previous year, added the NRB report. Destination-wise, exports to India and China decreased 43.7 percent and 35.9 percent respectively whereas exports to other countries increased 7.1 percent. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Exports of zinc sheet, particle board, woolen carpets, cardamom, tea, among others, increased whereas exports of soybean oil, palm oil, oil cakes, textiles, silverware and jewelries, among others, decreased in the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Based on customs points, exports from Dry Port, Jaleshwar, Kailali, Krishnanagar, Mechi and Tribhuwan Airport Customs offices increased whereas exports from all the other major customs points decreased in the review period. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the import side, imports from all the major customs points decreased in the review period. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The country’s total trade deficit decreased 18.8 percent to Rs 597.44 billion during the five months of 2022/23. Such a deficit had increased 54.7 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The export-import ratio decreased to 10.1 percent in the review period from 12.3 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the Broad Economic Categories (BEC), the intermediate and final consumption goods accounted for 53.4 percent and 46.5 percent of the total exports respectively, whereas the ratio of capital goods in total exports remained negligible at 0.05 percent in the review period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the same period of the previous year, the ratio of intermediate, capital and final consumption goods remained 47.1 percent, 0.02 percent and 52.9 percent of total exports respectively. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On the imports side, the share of intermediate goods remained 53.1 percent, capital goods 9.0 percent and final consumption goods remained 38.0 percent in the review period. Such ratios were 53.8 percent, 10.9 percent and 35.4 percent respectively in the same period of the previous year.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2023-01-15', 'modified' => '2023-01-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '16485', 'image' => '20230115025117_Trade.jpg', 'article_date' => '2023-01-15 14:50:40', '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
