October 11: Death toll from the outbreak of dengue has reached 44 in Nepal.…
October 11: Death toll from the outbreak of dengue has reached 44 in Nepal.…
October 10: The number of people receiving microfinance service has crossed the mark of 5.8…
October 10: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has authenticated the bill related to insurance which was conceptualized by the government to regulate the insurance sector with an innovative…
October 10: Export of cooking oil from Nepal took a nosedive after India reduced the customs duty on oil imports to control the market price of edible…
October 10: Importers have been facing problems since the past five years due to the government’s failure in managing dusty cargo at the Birgunj…
October 10: The value of the US dollar is gradually increasing thus making the Nepali currency…
October 10: Hindu devotees of Nepal observed the Kojagrat Purnima (full moon day) on Sunday as part of the final day of the 15-day Dashain festival by worshipping and paying homage to Mahalaxmi, the goddess of wealth and…
October 10: Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Dr Bishwonath Poudel, has resigned from his post effective from October 6, according to NPC…
October 9: The central banks across the world are caught up in a race to curb inflation that only the Federal Reserve can stop, according to a recent analysis of…
October 9: The Nepal Development Update published by the World Bank contains a special focus on the Macroeconomic Impacts of Climate…
October 9: Tourists stranded along the Annapurna Circuit have started returning to Lamjung.…
October 9: Monsoon this year extended by approximately two…
October 9: Light rainfall is taking place in a few places of Lumbini and Sudurpaschim…
October 9: Nepal’s economy is expected to grow at a rate of 5.1 percent in Fiscal Year 2022/23 and 4.9 percent in FY 2023/24, reflecting monetary policy…
October 7: Global oil supply is set to tighten, intensifying concerns over soaring inflation after the OPEC+ group of nations announced its largest supply cut since 2020 ahead of European Union embargoes on Russian energy, Reuters…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 11: Death toll from the outbreak of dengue has reached 44 in Nepal. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the mosquito-borne viral disease has spread to 76 out of 77 districts in the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A total of 33,975 people have been infected by dengue since it was first reported in early August, RSS reported citing the Ministry of Health and Population.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Experts believe that this disease, which was only reported in the southern belt of Nepal in the past, is now seen in mountainous districts due to the impact of global warming.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Various studies have indicated that mosquitoes have moved to higher altitude due to warmer temperatures fuelled by climate change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, 27 people tested positive for COVID-19 infection on Monday. The infection rate was confirmed from a total of 1,546 samples tested on the day. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">RSS further reported that President Bidya Devi Bhandari has also been infected with SARS--CoV 2 virus. According to RSS, the Head-of-the-State was hospitalized on October 8 after she complained of fever and flu-like symptoms. She is receiving the treatment at the Annex ward bed number 601 of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, the hospital’s information officer Ram Bikram Adhikari confirmed that the president’s PCR report tested positive for COVID-19. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The number of active cases of coronavirus is 569. The death toll from COVID-19 stands at 12,018 till date. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-11', 'modified' => '2022-10-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15868', 'image' => '20221011112213_dengue-test_650x400_61442241844.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-11 11:21:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16126', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '5.8 Million People have Access to Microfinance Services', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: The number of people receiving microfinance service has crossed the mark of 5.8 million.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 10: The number of people receiving microfinance service has crossed the mark of 5.8 million. The customer base of microfinance companies has increase due to expansion of branches resulting in wider access to microfinance services. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the annual survey report on microfinance sector prepared by Nepal Rastra Bank, the customers of microfinance companies increased by 669,000 in a year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The number of customers of microfinance companies was 5,191,000 by the end of Fiscal Year 2020/21, which increased to 5,860,000 by the end of last fiscal year (FY 2021/22), the survey report states.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although the number of microfinance companies is declining due to merger and acquisition, the general public’s access to finance is increasing due to expansion of branches of such companies. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">There were 70 microfinance companies by the end of Fiscal Year 2020/21. The number of microfinance companies stands at 65 as of the end of last fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, the branches of microfinance companies increased by 9.54 percent in the review period and currently stands at 5,062, the NRB report states.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Microfinance companies give priority to ensure access to finance to the people who are unable to get access to banks and financial institutions. Microfinance companies form groups of deprived sector community and provide loans without any collateral. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Microfinance companies can provide loans up to Rs 700,000 to the people of the deprived sector without any collateral on the assurance of the group while such people can avail up to Rs 1.5 million by keeping their property as collateral.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The number of people taking loans from microfinance companies has increased by 10.4 percent as of mid-July this year compared to the same period last of last fiscal year. The total number of people who have taken loans from microfinance companies stands at 3.3 million.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15867', 'image' => '20221010040059_micro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 16:00:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16125', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'President Authenticates Insurance Bill', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has authenticated the bill related to insurance which was conceptualized by the government to regulate the insurance sector with an innovative approach.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 10: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has authenticated the bill related to insurance which was conceptualized by the government to regulate the insurance sector with an innovative approach.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Insurance Bill 2079, which was passed by both the houses of parliament – House of Representatives and the National Assembly – before the Dashain festival, was authenticated by the head of state on Sunday, October 9.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The bill authenticated by the president will become an Act once it is published in the Nepal Gazette.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The new Act will transform the Insurance Board into the Insurance Authority of Nepal. The terms of the chairman of the board and other members will get continuity in the newly-formed authority. There is a provision in the new Act that the chairman and members of the Insurance Board will automatically hold the same posts in the authority until their term expires. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The then Finance Minister Dr Yuvraj Khatiwada had registered the Insurance Bill in parliament four years ago to amend and consolidate the laws related to the insurance sector. However, the discussions on the bill was halted for a long time after a dispute regarding the continuity of the terms of the chairman and board members of the Insurance Board surfaced. The parliamentarians submitted 85 amendments to the original bill while the finance committee amended 124 points and submitted it to the parliament.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the original bill, there was a provision that all the responsibilities, including the management of staff of the board, would go to the proposed authority, which would also have a new chairman and director. The then president Chiranjeevi Chapagain opposed this provision. However, the amended bill has a provision to give continuity to the directors including the chairman of the current Insurance Board in the newly formed authority.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the bill also has a provision to establish an insurance development fund to increase access to insurance in rural areas as well as among the poor and underprivileged.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Surya Prasad Silwal, chairman of the Insurance Board, believes that a new era will begin in the insurance sector of Nepal after the implementation of the new Insurance Act. "The Act of 2049 has not been able to cover the latest developments in the insurance sector," he had said in an earlier interview with New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The President’s Office on Sunday issued a statement confirming that the Insurance Bill along with other two bills were certified as per Article 113 (2) of Constitution of Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The other two bills certified by the president include the bill to amend and integrate laws on management of public debt and the bill to manage animal health and livestock service entrepreneurs' council. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15866', 'image' => '20221010025244_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 14:52:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16123', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production Capacity of Domestic Oil Industries Shrinks to 20 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: Export of cooking oil from Nepal took a nosedive after India reduced the customs duty on oil imports to control the market price of edible oil.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 10: Export of cooking oil from Nepal took a nosedive after India reduced the customs duty on oil imports to control the market price of edible oil. According to the industrialists of Nepal, investment worth Rs 15 billion of 30 oil industries is in crisis.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When India imposed a customs duty of up to 40 percent on the import of semi-refined oil, the industries of Nepal brought such oil from third countries, processed it and exported the processed oil to India. The oil industries of Nepal used to bring semi-refined oil from Ukraine, Indonesia and Malaysia, and made profit by taking advantage of the difference in import duty and export concession between Nepal and India. Such industries have been exporting goods to India under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) concessions by paying zero to 5 percent customs duty. After exporting the products, the industrialists used to get refunds up to 10 percent for customs duty and Value Added Tax on raw materials required to prepare refined oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nikhil Chachan, the owner of Narayani Oil Refinery, said that the export from Nepal has been affected after India took strategic measures while considering the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war and the possible food crisis.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of the industries expanded their capacity when exports to India were easy. In the meantime, some new industries were established to take advantage of the situation. At present, the production capacity of the domestic oil industry is around 2.5 million tons a year. About 500,000 tons of oil is consumed in the country. Now the export is becoming difficult and production has shrunk. Entrepreneurs say that now such industries are running at 15 to 20 percent of their total capacity.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India reduced the import duty to 2.5 percent to reduce the market price of oil. In addition to this, the import and agricultural infrastructure development tax on 2 million metric tons each of semi-refined soybean and sunflower oil for the current fiscal year (FY) 2022/23 and the next fiscal year 2023/24 has been completely removed. In these two fiscal years, 5 million tons of semi-refined oil will be imported into India at zero customs duty. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Suresh Rungata, owner of OCB Foods, said that its direct impact is seen in the export of oil from Nepal. According to Birgunj customs office, the export of refined oil decreased significantly in the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Refined palm oil was exported in July and August last year to the extent of 29.5 million liters. This year only 9.6 million liters have been exported during the same period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the first two months of last fiscal year, 4.7 million kilograms of soybean oil was exported, which is only 3.5 million kilograms this year. Similarly, last year 5,796,000 liters of sunflower oil was sold in the Indian market, but only 199,000 liters have been sold during the first two months of this year. Since oil was the main contributor to Nepal's export trade, Rungta claimed that the trade deficit will increase as oil exports have been affected. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15865', 'image' => '20221010013516_shutterstock_1353066692.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 13:34:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16122', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Management of Dusty Cargo becoming a Headache for Importers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: Importers have been facing problems since the past five years due to the government’s failure in managing dusty cargo at the Birgunj border.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 10: Importers have been facing problems since the past five years due to the government’s failure in managing dusty cargo at the Birgunj border. Nepali importers are facing further problems after the Indian customs issued a notice stating that all imports and exports through the Raxaul-Birgunj border crossing will be done through the Integrated Checkpoint (ICP) from October 16.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The notice issued by the Patna-based office of Indian customs mentions that there will be no import or export through Raxaul Customs. A notification has been issued to divert all imports and exports of this border check point to the ICP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The public notice issued by the Indian customs on October 7 has urged all concerned bodies not to prepare shipping bills, bills of entry and other documents for Raxaul Customs from this Wednesday itself. The Indian customs issued the notice saying that all the imports and exports of the Birgunj-Raxaul border should be done through the ICP on the pretext that the ICP has come into full operation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, Nepali importers are facing additional burden due to the lack of a suitable location for dusty cargo management on the Nepal side. Earlier, the import of dusty cargo faced stiff opposition from the local residents of Raxaul who complained of pollution. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As a result, the loading and unloading of clinker was banned in Raxaul five years ago due to the obstruction of the locals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At that time, a team led by the then joint secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Ravi Shankar Sainju, had suggested managing such cargo at three different locations in Birgunj. Since then, the Indian customs has repeatedly given ultimatums to remove the dusty cargo from Raxaul. However, the government has not yet been able to provide an alternative. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With this notification from Indian customs, the issue of dusty cargo management has become challenging again. It has added stress to importers, says Madhav Rajpal, vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry. .</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the last four years since the ICP started operation, most of the imports and exports have been taking place through this integrated infrastructure. However, dusty cargo such as coal, iron ore, slag and some quantity of industrial raw materials including iron blades, iron roll, etc. have been entering Nepal through the Raxaul-Birgunj friendship bridge. </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' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15864', 'image' => '20221010121907_1665358541.Clipboard47.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 12:18:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16121', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'US Dollar becomes Further Strong ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: The value of the US dollar is gradually increasing thus making the Nepali currency weaker. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 10: The value of the US dollar is gradually increasing thus making the Nepali currency weaker. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)’s foreign exchange rate for today (October 10), the purchasing rate of the US dollar is Rs 131.42 while the selling rate is Rs 132.02 per unit. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">At the start of this year on January 1, the purchasing rate of the US dollar was Rs 118.64 while the selling rate was Rs 119.24. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The rising value of the US dollar is estimated to hurt the nation's economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the rise in the dollar's value will have a positive impact on remittance inflow, the nation's overall economy subsequently face its consequences. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Inflation, additional investment in the payment for foreign consultants and the additional burden in the payment of foreign debt and its interest are some of the major consequences of it. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The rise in the value of the US dollar has its impact on the Indian currency and this will have its effects on the Nepali currency which is pegged to the Indian currency. (With inputs from RSS)</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15863', 'image' => '20221010104119_dolar-americano-monedas.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 10:40:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16120', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Festival of Dashain Draws to a Close after Observing Kojagrat Purnima', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: Hindu devotees of Nepal observed the Kojagrat Purnima (full moon day) on Sunday as part of the final day of the 15-day Dashain festival by worshipping and paying homage to Mahalaxmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 10: Hindu devotees of Nepal observed the Kojagrat Purnima (full moon day) on Sunday as part of the final day of the 15-day Dashain festival by worshipping and paying homage to Mahalaxmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Dashain festival formally ends on the full moon day in the Nepali month of Ashwin with the marking of the Kojagrat Purnima. Devotees offer worship to Goddess Mahalaxmi at their homes in the evening, and keep vigil the whole night. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There is a belief that the goddess Mahalaxmi takes a trip around the world on the night of Kojagrat Purnima 'to check as to who is observing the vigil on this particular night'. As per this belief, the goddess of wealth blesses the people who are found observing the overnight vigil, says Nepal Calendar Determination Committee Chairperson Prof Dr Ramchandra Gautam. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Since the ritual of giving and receiving Tika and Jamara of the Dashain festival also concludes on this day, the Jamara that is sprouted and anointed at the Dashainghar on the day of Ghatasthapana is disposed as per the religious tradition. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People also perform worship at the Swoyambhu Chaitya and observe the night vigil by lighting the Mahadeep lamp. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15862', 'image' => '20221010102630_dashain image.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 10:25:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16124', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NPC Vice Chair Poudel Resigns', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Dr Bishwonath Poudel, has resigned from his post effective from October 6, according to NPC Secretariat.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 10: Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Dr Bishwonath Poudel, has resigned from his post effective from October 6, according to NPC Secretariat. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Dr Poudel resigned from his post after getting a ticket from the ruling Nepali Congress to contest in the upcoming election from Chitwan-1 constituency. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He has already filed his candidacy for the election. Another former vice chair of the NPC, Dr Swarnim Wagle was also aspiring to contest election from the same constituency in Chitwan. However, the NC backed Dr Poudel for the nomination. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, industrialist Binod Chaudhary will be contesting the election representing the NC from Nawalparasi-1.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15861', 'image' => '20221010021838_1665303621.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 14:18:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16119', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Central Banks Caught in the Fed's Slipstream', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: The central banks across the world are caught up in a race to curb inflation that only the Federal Reserve can stop, according to a recent analysis of Reuters.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">October 9: The central banks across the world are caught up in a race to curb inflation that only the Federal Reserve can stop, according to a recent analysis of Reuters.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the news agency, the US central bank has embarked on its most aggressive policy by tightening cycle for four decades and thus raising interest rates by three percentage points since January to slow runaway inflation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">That has left policymakers elsewhere with a tough choice: keep up with the Fed at the risk of hurting your own economy or watch your currency and bonds collapse as investors switch to dollars, Reuters reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"There is a growing risk that central banks will err on the side of caution by overtightening," Reuters quoted economist Jennifer McKeown as saying. "The risk is that rate hikes beyond our expectations prompt an even deeper downturn."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Central bankers and finance chiefs, who will meet in Washington this week, are mostly fighting inflation driven by factors including energy prices and trade supply snags. But few economies can stomach the diet of rate hikes the Fed has adopted to cool overheated domestic demand - largely the result of massive pandemic-era US stimulus that the rest of the world couldn't match, added Reuters.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the analysis, responses have varied with South Korea pledging to follow the Fed, belated but robust rate hikes in the euro zone despite a looming recession, and market interventions in Japan and Britain to stem bleeding in currencies and bonds. But they all face the same problem: there is less money to go around since the Fed turned off the taps, making investors impatient with profligate governments, stubborn central banks or lacklustre growth.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Data from the United States, the euro zone, China and Japan shows the amount of money in circulation has fallen.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">That has long been a harbinger of trouble for poorer economies that rely on foreign capital, and central bankers in the Philippines and Mexico have been clear about the impact of the Fed's actions on their own stances.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">What's worse, worldwide rate hikes reinforce each other by depressing trade and markets, raising the risk of a global recession - as the World Bank has warned.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The damage has already become visible in financial markets, where shares and bonds have fallen sharply, leaving investors hoping the Fed will change course.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"Only the Fed can print the dollars necessary to fix the problem quickly," Mike Wilson, chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley, said in a podcast.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Fed policymakers have this week restated their focus on taming inflation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to Reuters, this happened during the financial crisis, when central banks acted together to stabilise markets, and with 1985's Plaza Accord, agreed by the top five developed economies to depreciate the dollar. But with the Fed happy for a strong dollar to bring down import prices and few signs of a political backlash against the currency's appreciation, the chances of a repeat are low.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The analysis suggests that governments and central banks must bear alone the cost of market interventions to support their currencies and shield their financial systems from instability.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Droves of emerging economies, including Chile, the Czech Republic and India, have intervened in the forex market, where volatility soared around 50 percent in two months, according to a widely watched Deutsche Bank index.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">But richer countries are stepping in too.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Japan has started buying the yen for the first time since 1998 after the currency was pummelled by the central bank's decision to keep rates at zero. The Bank of England last week bought gilts to help shield pension schemes from market ire at government tax-cutting plans, Reuters further reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Analysts reportedly said none of these measures was likely to work unless the Fed stops raising rates, however - and for some, such actions are a sign of looming capitulation to market pressures.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15860', 'image' => '20221009010829_interest ratee.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 13:07:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16118', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank Warns of Severe Impacts of Climate Change on Nepal’s Economy', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: The Nepal Development Update published by the World Bank contains a special focus on the Macroeconomic Impacts of Climate Change.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 9: The Nepal Development Update published by the World Bank contains a special focus on the Macroeconomic Impacts of Climate Change. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report released on October 6, Nepal is highly vulnerable to climate change and must adapt to global warming, even though it is a negligible contributor to global greenhouse gases. The new analysis of the World Bank presented in the update finds that negative impacts are expected to accelerate sharply in the second half of the century, with GDP contracting 24 percent relative to the baseline projections by 2100. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A list of 32 actionable steps that Nepal can take now to reduce these impacts and reinforce its Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) pathway is provided in the recently released Nepal Country Climate and Development Report, the World Bank said in a statement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Nepal’s GDP and other macroeconomic losses in the first three decades of the 21st century are small to begin with, but are expected to accelerate quickly in the second half of the century as temperatures and climate events reach higher levels of intensity,” the statement quoted World Bank’s Country Director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka Faris Hadad-Zervos as saying. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“These findings underscore the urgency of implementing measures aligned with the country’s Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) pathway, to increase Nepal’s adaptive capacity to climate-related shocks.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Earlier in the Country Climate and Development Report, the World Bank had warned that climate change would continue to jeopardize gains in Nepal’s human development and poverty reduction without comprehensive and scaled-up climate action.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">To respond to this challenge, Nepal is already implementing steps to recalibrate its economy by adopting a Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) approach. In 2021, Nepal adopted the Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID) approach as a national vision to guide long-term green growth and build resilience to climate and other shocks that are barriers to Nepal’s development ambitions, the report added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Under Nepal’s federal structure, the local governments are placed at the center of climate resilience and development efforts with extensive implementation responsibilities and play a crucial role in translating the GRID strategy into action.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report, Nepal has pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2045 and to significantly scale up hydropower investment in the coming decade. Nepal has begun to put in place the necessary policy framework, such as the 2019 National Climate Change Policy, the 2022 Solid Waste Management Policy, the 2022 Forest Regulation and the 2022 Land Use Regulation, the World Bank Report stated. “However, implementation of this reform agenda and prioritization of investments is incipient. Moreover, enhanced prioritization and efficiency of public expenditure are required to maximize climate and development benefits.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15859', 'image' => '20221009010544_SA-Surkhet-DubanChhetraa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 13:04:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16116', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bad Weather Forces Tourists to Return from Annapurna Circuit', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: Tourists stranded along the Annapurna Circuit have started returning to Lamjung. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 9: Tourists stranded along the Annapurna Circuit have started returning to Lamjung. The tourists could not continue to their journey due to inclement weather and started returning to Lamjung from Wednesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tourist assistant at Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP)’s Tourist Check Point Dharapani, Kshetra Bahadur Gurung informed that more than 80 tourists used to travel through this foot trail through Manang district every day before the rainfall.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“However, due to continuous rainfall, the foot trail deteriorated and snowfall started in the upper parts of Manang. So, the tourists have started returning to Besisahar in Lamjung, the entrance of the Annapurna Circuit,” Gurung told the state-owned RSS.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He informed that 85 stranded tourists returned to Chame Rural Municipality on Saturday morning, 150 on Thursday and 40 on Wednesday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, the tourists who arrived in Lamjung to go around the circuit are also staying at Besishahr. According to tourism entrepreneurs, bad weather has started taking toll on their business even during the tourist season itself. Tourism activities along the Annapurna circuit was previously affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and cold weather. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pancha Bahadur Gurung, a tourism entrepreneur said, “Around this time of the year, we never had a single moment to spare in the past because we had to attend to the guests. But the rainfall caused problem in the arrival of tourists and the business slowed down.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">This is the time when the fields and meadows of Manang turn vivid green. Also, the sight of blooming buckwheat and barley attracts tourists. Most of the tourists go to Thorang-La Pass, Larke Pass and Kala Pass, while some tourists visit the Tilicho Lake which is situated at the highest altitude in the world. The entrance of the Annapurna Circuit is located in Besisahar, the district headquarters of Lamjung. The mesmerizing foot trail then connects to four other districts en route to Kaski via Manang, Mustang, and Myagdi.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15858', 'image' => '20221009114613_Annapurna-Circuit-6-1600x1067.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 11:45:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16115', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Monsoon to Exit Nepal after One Week ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: Monsoon this year extended by approximately two weeks.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 9: Monsoon this year extended by approximately two weeks. It was predicted to remain until only October 2, according to the Meteorological Forecasting Division under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The monsoon low-pressure system from the mid-western Bay of Bengal and the surroundings had an impact in Nepal, thus prolonging monsoon this year, said senior meteorologist Barun Paudel. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“Monsoon that started from June 5 from the eastern belt of the country will exit from Nepal after one week," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The eastern belt of the country, Kaski district and the Kathmandu Valley have clear weather. But, it is raining in most parts of Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces as monsoon rainfall is concentrated in the areas, he said, adding that the weather will be clear in the areas from coming Tuesday. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15857', 'image' => '20221009103109_image_750x_62a32cee152ae.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 10:30:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16117', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rainfall Likely in Three Provinces ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: Light rainfall is taking place in a few places of Lumbini and Sudurpaschim provinces.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 9: Light rainfall is taking place in a few places of Lumbini and Sudurpaschim provinces. In the afternoon, there is a possibility of heavy rainfall at a couple of places in Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology under the Weather Forecasting Division. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the weather bulletin issued by the division, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces will have normal to complete change in the weather today afternoon while the rest of the provinces will have partial change. There is a possibility of light to moderate rainfall with thunder and lightning in some places of Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces, the department said. The same weather system will continue during the night as well. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15856', 'image' => '20221009115214_SA-Surkhet-DubanChhetrae.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 11:51:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16114', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Set to Experience Moderate Growth Amid Global Turmoil', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: Nepal’s economy is expected to grow at a rate of 5.1 percent in Fiscal Year 2022/23 and 4.9 percent in FY 2023/24, reflecting monetary policy normalization', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 9: Nepal’s economy is expected to grow at a rate of 5.1 percent in Fiscal Year 2022/23 and 4.9 percent in FY 2023/24, reflecting monetary policy normalization, the end of pandemic-era monetary support measures, and still relatively high commodity prices, according to the World Bank’s latest report. A rebound in tourism is projected to support Nepal’s services sector and industrial growth is expected to be strong due to increased hydroelectricity production, states the macroeconomic update of World Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">While public debt levels are expected to stabilize and pressure on foreign exchange reserves is projected to ease, Nepal continues to face structural challenges relating to a modernization of the tax system, the attraction of new sources of foreign exchange (especially FDI) and full implementation of fiscal federalism that need to be addressed to ensure sustainable and inclusive growth, added the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Released on October 6 , the latest South Asia Economic Focus, Coping with Shocks: Migration and the Road to Resilience, projects regional growth to average 5.8 percent this year - a downward revision of 1 percentage point from the forecast made in June. This follows growth of 7.8 percent in 2021, when most countries were rebounding from the pandemic slump.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">While economic distress is weighing down all South Asian countries, some are coping better than others, the World Bank said in a statement. Exports and the services sector in India, the region’s largest economy, have recovered more strongly than the world average while its ample foreign reserves served as a buffer to external shocks. The return of tourism is helping to drive growth in the Maldives, and to a lesser extent in Nepal—both of which have dynamic services sectors, added the report. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The combined effects of COVID-19 and the record-high commodity prices due to the war in Ukraine took a heavier toll on Sri Lanka, exacerbating its debt woes and depleting foreign reserves. Plunged into its worst-ever economic crisis, Sri Lanka’s real GDP is expected to fall by 9.2 percent this year and a further 4.2 percent in 2023. High commodity prices also worsened Pakistan’s external imbalances, bringing down its reserves. After devastating climate-change-fueled floods submerged one-third of the country this year, its outlook remains subject to significant uncertainty.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Inflation in South Asia, caused by elevated global food and energy prices and trade restrictions that worsened food insecurity in the region, is expected to rise to 9.2 percent this year before gradually subsiding. The resulting squeeze on real income is severe, particularly for the region’s poor who spend a large share of their income on food, states the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">South Asia’s migrant workers, many of whom are employed in the informal sector, were disproportionately affected when restrictions to movement were imposed during COVID-19. However, the later phase of the pandemic has highlighted the crucial role migration can play in facilitating recovery. Survey data from the South Asia Economic Focus suggests that in late 2021 and early 2022, migration flows are associated with movement from areas hit hard by the pandemic to those that were not, thus helping equilibrate demand and supply of labor in the aftermath of the COVID-19 shock.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Labor mobility across and within countries enables economic development by allowing people to move to locations where they are more productive. It also helps adjust to shocks such as climate events to which South Asia’s rural poor are particularly vulnerable,” said Hans Timmer, World Bank Chief Economist for South Asia. “Removing restrictions to labor mobility is vital to the region’s resilience and its long-term development.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">To this end, the report offers two recommendations. Firstly, cutting the costs migrants face should be high on the policy agenda. Secondly, policymakers can de-risk migration through several means including more flexible visa policies, mechanisms to support migrant workers during shocks, and social protection programs.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15855', 'image' => '20221009100714_World.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 10:06:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16113', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'OPEC+ Oil Output Cut ahead of Winter Fans Inflation Concerns', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 7: Global oil supply is set to tighten, intensifying concerns over soaring inflation after the OPEC+ group of nations announced its largest supply cut since 2020 ahead of European Union embargoes on Russian energy, Reuters reported.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">October 7: Global oil supply is set to tighten, intensifying concerns over soaring inflation after the OPEC+ group of nations announced its largest supply cut since 2020 ahead of European Union embargoes on Russian energy, Reuters reported.<br /> According to the news agency, the move has widened a diplomatic rift between the Saudi-backed bloc and Western nations, which worry higher energy prices will hurt the fragile global economy and hinder efforts to deprive Moscow of oil revenue following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.<br /> Global crude futures , jumped this week, returning to three-week highs, after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, including Russia, on Wednesday agreed to slash output by 2 million barrels per day just ahead of peak winter season.<br /> This is likely to drive spot prices higher, particularly for Middle East oil, which meets about two-third of Asia's demand, industry participants said, adding to inflation concerns as governments from Japan to India fight rising costs of living while Europe is expected to burn more oil to replace Russian gas this winter."We are concerned about a resurgence in international oil prices, which have shown some signs of calming down since the second quarter," Reuters quoted a spokesperson at SK Energy, South Korea's largest refiner, as saying.<br /> Another South Korean refining source said the supply cut could drive prices back to levels seen in the second quarter.<br /> South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy and a manufacturing powerhouse, has seen costs skyrocket due to the surging commodity prices.<br /> Brent hit $139.13 a barrel in March, the highest since 2008, after the Ukraine war sparked fears of Russian oil supply loss.<br /> According to Reuters, Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said the real supply cut would be about 1 million to 1.1 million bpd, a response to rising global interest rates and a weakening world economy.<br /> That move triggered a sharp response from Washington, which criticised the OPEC+ deal as shortsighted. The White House said President Joe Biden would continue to assess whether to release further strategic oil stocks to lower prices.<br /> "Saudi, UAE (the United Arab Emirates) and Kuwait are likely to take up most of the burden of cuts," said Tilak Doshi, managing director of Doshi Consulting, who was previously with Saudi Aramco.<br /> "It's a slap on Biden administration's face by OPEC+," he said, adding that ties between Russia and Saudi seem increasingly tight.<br /> The OPEC+ cuts compound supply concerns as European Union sanctions on Russian crude and oil products take effect in December and February, respectively, prompting Morgan Stanley to raise oil price forecasts. </span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-07', 'modified' => '2022-10-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15854', 'image' => '20221007091814_thumbs_b_c_815329508b9f387eda70839ac6a30868-696x392-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-07 09:17:23', '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' => '16127', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Dengue Spreads Across Seventy Six Districts of Nepal', 'sub_title' => 'Death Toll from the Viral Infection Climbs to 44 ', 'summary' => 'October 11: Death toll from the outbreak of dengue has reached 44 in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 11: Death toll from the outbreak of dengue has reached 44 in Nepal. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the mosquito-borne viral disease has spread to 76 out of 77 districts in the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A total of 33,975 people have been infected by dengue since it was first reported in early August, RSS reported citing the Ministry of Health and Population.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Experts believe that this disease, which was only reported in the southern belt of Nepal in the past, is now seen in mountainous districts due to the impact of global warming.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Various studies have indicated that mosquitoes have moved to higher altitude due to warmer temperatures fuelled by climate change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, 27 people tested positive for COVID-19 infection on Monday. The infection rate was confirmed from a total of 1,546 samples tested on the day. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">RSS further reported that President Bidya Devi Bhandari has also been infected with SARS--CoV 2 virus. According to RSS, the Head-of-the-State was hospitalized on October 8 after she complained of fever and flu-like symptoms. She is receiving the treatment at the Annex ward bed number 601 of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, the hospital’s information officer Ram Bikram Adhikari confirmed that the president’s PCR report tested positive for COVID-19. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The number of active cases of coronavirus is 569. The death toll from COVID-19 stands at 12,018 till date. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-11', 'modified' => '2022-10-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15868', 'image' => '20221011112213_dengue-test_650x400_61442241844.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-11 11:21:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16126', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '5.8 Million People have Access to Microfinance Services', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: The number of people receiving microfinance service has crossed the mark of 5.8 million.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 10: The number of people receiving microfinance service has crossed the mark of 5.8 million. The customer base of microfinance companies has increase due to expansion of branches resulting in wider access to microfinance services. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the annual survey report on microfinance sector prepared by Nepal Rastra Bank, the customers of microfinance companies increased by 669,000 in a year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The number of customers of microfinance companies was 5,191,000 by the end of Fiscal Year 2020/21, which increased to 5,860,000 by the end of last fiscal year (FY 2021/22), the survey report states.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although the number of microfinance companies is declining due to merger and acquisition, the general public’s access to finance is increasing due to expansion of branches of such companies. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">There were 70 microfinance companies by the end of Fiscal Year 2020/21. The number of microfinance companies stands at 65 as of the end of last fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, the branches of microfinance companies increased by 9.54 percent in the review period and currently stands at 5,062, the NRB report states.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Microfinance companies give priority to ensure access to finance to the people who are unable to get access to banks and financial institutions. Microfinance companies form groups of deprived sector community and provide loans without any collateral. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Microfinance companies can provide loans up to Rs 700,000 to the people of the deprived sector without any collateral on the assurance of the group while such people can avail up to Rs 1.5 million by keeping their property as collateral.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The number of people taking loans from microfinance companies has increased by 10.4 percent as of mid-July this year compared to the same period last of last fiscal year. The total number of people who have taken loans from microfinance companies stands at 3.3 million.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15867', 'image' => '20221010040059_micro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 16:00:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16125', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'President Authenticates Insurance Bill', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has authenticated the bill related to insurance which was conceptualized by the government to regulate the insurance sector with an innovative approach.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 10: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has authenticated the bill related to insurance which was conceptualized by the government to regulate the insurance sector with an innovative approach.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Insurance Bill 2079, which was passed by both the houses of parliament – House of Representatives and the National Assembly – before the Dashain festival, was authenticated by the head of state on Sunday, October 9.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The bill authenticated by the president will become an Act once it is published in the Nepal Gazette.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The new Act will transform the Insurance Board into the Insurance Authority of Nepal. The terms of the chairman of the board and other members will get continuity in the newly-formed authority. There is a provision in the new Act that the chairman and members of the Insurance Board will automatically hold the same posts in the authority until their term expires. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The then Finance Minister Dr Yuvraj Khatiwada had registered the Insurance Bill in parliament four years ago to amend and consolidate the laws related to the insurance sector. However, the discussions on the bill was halted for a long time after a dispute regarding the continuity of the terms of the chairman and board members of the Insurance Board surfaced. The parliamentarians submitted 85 amendments to the original bill while the finance committee amended 124 points and submitted it to the parliament.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the original bill, there was a provision that all the responsibilities, including the management of staff of the board, would go to the proposed authority, which would also have a new chairman and director. The then president Chiranjeevi Chapagain opposed this provision. However, the amended bill has a provision to give continuity to the directors including the chairman of the current Insurance Board in the newly formed authority.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the bill also has a provision to establish an insurance development fund to increase access to insurance in rural areas as well as among the poor and underprivileged.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Surya Prasad Silwal, chairman of the Insurance Board, believes that a new era will begin in the insurance sector of Nepal after the implementation of the new Insurance Act. "The Act of 2049 has not been able to cover the latest developments in the insurance sector," he had said in an earlier interview with New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The President’s Office on Sunday issued a statement confirming that the Insurance Bill along with other two bills were certified as per Article 113 (2) of Constitution of Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The other two bills certified by the president include the bill to amend and integrate laws on management of public debt and the bill to manage animal health and livestock service entrepreneurs' council. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15866', 'image' => '20221010025244_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 14:52:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16123', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production Capacity of Domestic Oil Industries Shrinks to 20 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: Export of cooking oil from Nepal took a nosedive after India reduced the customs duty on oil imports to control the market price of edible oil.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 10: Export of cooking oil from Nepal took a nosedive after India reduced the customs duty on oil imports to control the market price of edible oil. According to the industrialists of Nepal, investment worth Rs 15 billion of 30 oil industries is in crisis.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When India imposed a customs duty of up to 40 percent on the import of semi-refined oil, the industries of Nepal brought such oil from third countries, processed it and exported the processed oil to India. The oil industries of Nepal used to bring semi-refined oil from Ukraine, Indonesia and Malaysia, and made profit by taking advantage of the difference in import duty and export concession between Nepal and India. Such industries have been exporting goods to India under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) concessions by paying zero to 5 percent customs duty. After exporting the products, the industrialists used to get refunds up to 10 percent for customs duty and Value Added Tax on raw materials required to prepare refined oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nikhil Chachan, the owner of Narayani Oil Refinery, said that the export from Nepal has been affected after India took strategic measures while considering the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war and the possible food crisis.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of the industries expanded their capacity when exports to India were easy. In the meantime, some new industries were established to take advantage of the situation. At present, the production capacity of the domestic oil industry is around 2.5 million tons a year. About 500,000 tons of oil is consumed in the country. Now the export is becoming difficult and production has shrunk. Entrepreneurs say that now such industries are running at 15 to 20 percent of their total capacity.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India reduced the import duty to 2.5 percent to reduce the market price of oil. In addition to this, the import and agricultural infrastructure development tax on 2 million metric tons each of semi-refined soybean and sunflower oil for the current fiscal year (FY) 2022/23 and the next fiscal year 2023/24 has been completely removed. In these two fiscal years, 5 million tons of semi-refined oil will be imported into India at zero customs duty. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Suresh Rungata, owner of OCB Foods, said that its direct impact is seen in the export of oil from Nepal. According to Birgunj customs office, the export of refined oil decreased significantly in the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Refined palm oil was exported in July and August last year to the extent of 29.5 million liters. This year only 9.6 million liters have been exported during the same period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the first two months of last fiscal year, 4.7 million kilograms of soybean oil was exported, which is only 3.5 million kilograms this year. Similarly, last year 5,796,000 liters of sunflower oil was sold in the Indian market, but only 199,000 liters have been sold during the first two months of this year. Since oil was the main contributor to Nepal's export trade, Rungta claimed that the trade deficit will increase as oil exports have been affected. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15865', 'image' => '20221010013516_shutterstock_1353066692.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 13:34:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16122', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Management of Dusty Cargo becoming a Headache for Importers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: Importers have been facing problems since the past five years due to the government’s failure in managing dusty cargo at the Birgunj border.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 10: Importers have been facing problems since the past five years due to the government’s failure in managing dusty cargo at the Birgunj border. Nepali importers are facing further problems after the Indian customs issued a notice stating that all imports and exports through the Raxaul-Birgunj border crossing will be done through the Integrated Checkpoint (ICP) from October 16.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The notice issued by the Patna-based office of Indian customs mentions that there will be no import or export through Raxaul Customs. A notification has been issued to divert all imports and exports of this border check point to the ICP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The public notice issued by the Indian customs on October 7 has urged all concerned bodies not to prepare shipping bills, bills of entry and other documents for Raxaul Customs from this Wednesday itself. The Indian customs issued the notice saying that all the imports and exports of the Birgunj-Raxaul border should be done through the ICP on the pretext that the ICP has come into full operation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, Nepali importers are facing additional burden due to the lack of a suitable location for dusty cargo management on the Nepal side. Earlier, the import of dusty cargo faced stiff opposition from the local residents of Raxaul who complained of pollution. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As a result, the loading and unloading of clinker was banned in Raxaul five years ago due to the obstruction of the locals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At that time, a team led by the then joint secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Ravi Shankar Sainju, had suggested managing such cargo at three different locations in Birgunj. Since then, the Indian customs has repeatedly given ultimatums to remove the dusty cargo from Raxaul. However, the government has not yet been able to provide an alternative. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With this notification from Indian customs, the issue of dusty cargo management has become challenging again. It has added stress to importers, says Madhav Rajpal, vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry. .</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the last four years since the ICP started operation, most of the imports and exports have been taking place through this integrated infrastructure. However, dusty cargo such as coal, iron ore, slag and some quantity of industrial raw materials including iron blades, iron roll, etc. have been entering Nepal through the Raxaul-Birgunj friendship bridge. </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' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15864', 'image' => '20221010121907_1665358541.Clipboard47.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 12:18:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16121', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'US Dollar becomes Further Strong ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: The value of the US dollar is gradually increasing thus making the Nepali currency weaker. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 10: The value of the US dollar is gradually increasing thus making the Nepali currency weaker. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)’s foreign exchange rate for today (October 10), the purchasing rate of the US dollar is Rs 131.42 while the selling rate is Rs 132.02 per unit. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">At the start of this year on January 1, the purchasing rate of the US dollar was Rs 118.64 while the selling rate was Rs 119.24. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The rising value of the US dollar is estimated to hurt the nation's economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the rise in the dollar's value will have a positive impact on remittance inflow, the nation's overall economy subsequently face its consequences. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Inflation, additional investment in the payment for foreign consultants and the additional burden in the payment of foreign debt and its interest are some of the major consequences of it. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The rise in the value of the US dollar has its impact on the Indian currency and this will have its effects on the Nepali currency which is pegged to the Indian currency. (With inputs from RSS)</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15863', 'image' => '20221010104119_dolar-americano-monedas.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 10:40:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16120', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Festival of Dashain Draws to a Close after Observing Kojagrat Purnima', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: Hindu devotees of Nepal observed the Kojagrat Purnima (full moon day) on Sunday as part of the final day of the 15-day Dashain festival by worshipping and paying homage to Mahalaxmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 10: Hindu devotees of Nepal observed the Kojagrat Purnima (full moon day) on Sunday as part of the final day of the 15-day Dashain festival by worshipping and paying homage to Mahalaxmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Dashain festival formally ends on the full moon day in the Nepali month of Ashwin with the marking of the Kojagrat Purnima. Devotees offer worship to Goddess Mahalaxmi at their homes in the evening, and keep vigil the whole night. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There is a belief that the goddess Mahalaxmi takes a trip around the world on the night of Kojagrat Purnima 'to check as to who is observing the vigil on this particular night'. As per this belief, the goddess of wealth blesses the people who are found observing the overnight vigil, says Nepal Calendar Determination Committee Chairperson Prof Dr Ramchandra Gautam. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Since the ritual of giving and receiving Tika and Jamara of the Dashain festival also concludes on this day, the Jamara that is sprouted and anointed at the Dashainghar on the day of Ghatasthapana is disposed as per the religious tradition. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People also perform worship at the Swoyambhu Chaitya and observe the night vigil by lighting the Mahadeep lamp. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15862', 'image' => '20221010102630_dashain image.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 10:25:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16124', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NPC Vice Chair Poudel Resigns', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Dr Bishwonath Poudel, has resigned from his post effective from October 6, according to NPC Secretariat.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 10: Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Dr Bishwonath Poudel, has resigned from his post effective from October 6, according to NPC Secretariat. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Dr Poudel resigned from his post after getting a ticket from the ruling Nepali Congress to contest in the upcoming election from Chitwan-1 constituency. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He has already filed his candidacy for the election. Another former vice chair of the NPC, Dr Swarnim Wagle was also aspiring to contest election from the same constituency in Chitwan. However, the NC backed Dr Poudel for the nomination. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, industrialist Binod Chaudhary will be contesting the election representing the NC from Nawalparasi-1.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15861', 'image' => '20221010021838_1665303621.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 14:18:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16119', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Central Banks Caught in the Fed's Slipstream', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: The central banks across the world are caught up in a race to curb inflation that only the Federal Reserve can stop, according to a recent analysis of Reuters.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">October 9: The central banks across the world are caught up in a race to curb inflation that only the Federal Reserve can stop, according to a recent analysis of Reuters.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the news agency, the US central bank has embarked on its most aggressive policy by tightening cycle for four decades and thus raising interest rates by three percentage points since January to slow runaway inflation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">That has left policymakers elsewhere with a tough choice: keep up with the Fed at the risk of hurting your own economy or watch your currency and bonds collapse as investors switch to dollars, Reuters reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"There is a growing risk that central banks will err on the side of caution by overtightening," Reuters quoted economist Jennifer McKeown as saying. "The risk is that rate hikes beyond our expectations prompt an even deeper downturn."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Central bankers and finance chiefs, who will meet in Washington this week, are mostly fighting inflation driven by factors including energy prices and trade supply snags. But few economies can stomach the diet of rate hikes the Fed has adopted to cool overheated domestic demand - largely the result of massive pandemic-era US stimulus that the rest of the world couldn't match, added Reuters.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the analysis, responses have varied with South Korea pledging to follow the Fed, belated but robust rate hikes in the euro zone despite a looming recession, and market interventions in Japan and Britain to stem bleeding in currencies and bonds. But they all face the same problem: there is less money to go around since the Fed turned off the taps, making investors impatient with profligate governments, stubborn central banks or lacklustre growth.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Data from the United States, the euro zone, China and Japan shows the amount of money in circulation has fallen.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">That has long been a harbinger of trouble for poorer economies that rely on foreign capital, and central bankers in the Philippines and Mexico have been clear about the impact of the Fed's actions on their own stances.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">What's worse, worldwide rate hikes reinforce each other by depressing trade and markets, raising the risk of a global recession - as the World Bank has warned.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The damage has already become visible in financial markets, where shares and bonds have fallen sharply, leaving investors hoping the Fed will change course.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"Only the Fed can print the dollars necessary to fix the problem quickly," Mike Wilson, chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley, said in a podcast.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Fed policymakers have this week restated their focus on taming inflation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to Reuters, this happened during the financial crisis, when central banks acted together to stabilise markets, and with 1985's Plaza Accord, agreed by the top five developed economies to depreciate the dollar. But with the Fed happy for a strong dollar to bring down import prices and few signs of a political backlash against the currency's appreciation, the chances of a repeat are low.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The analysis suggests that governments and central banks must bear alone the cost of market interventions to support their currencies and shield their financial systems from instability.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Droves of emerging economies, including Chile, the Czech Republic and India, have intervened in the forex market, where volatility soared around 50 percent in two months, according to a widely watched Deutsche Bank index.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">But richer countries are stepping in too.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Japan has started buying the yen for the first time since 1998 after the currency was pummelled by the central bank's decision to keep rates at zero. The Bank of England last week bought gilts to help shield pension schemes from market ire at government tax-cutting plans, Reuters further reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Analysts reportedly said none of these measures was likely to work unless the Fed stops raising rates, however - and for some, such actions are a sign of looming capitulation to market pressures.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15860', 'image' => '20221009010829_interest ratee.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 13:07:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16118', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank Warns of Severe Impacts of Climate Change on Nepal’s Economy', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: The Nepal Development Update published by the World Bank contains a special focus on the Macroeconomic Impacts of Climate Change.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 9: The Nepal Development Update published by the World Bank contains a special focus on the Macroeconomic Impacts of Climate Change. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report released on October 6, Nepal is highly vulnerable to climate change and must adapt to global warming, even though it is a negligible contributor to global greenhouse gases. The new analysis of the World Bank presented in the update finds that negative impacts are expected to accelerate sharply in the second half of the century, with GDP contracting 24 percent relative to the baseline projections by 2100. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A list of 32 actionable steps that Nepal can take now to reduce these impacts and reinforce its Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) pathway is provided in the recently released Nepal Country Climate and Development Report, the World Bank said in a statement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Nepal’s GDP and other macroeconomic losses in the first three decades of the 21st century are small to begin with, but are expected to accelerate quickly in the second half of the century as temperatures and climate events reach higher levels of intensity,” the statement quoted World Bank’s Country Director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka Faris Hadad-Zervos as saying. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“These findings underscore the urgency of implementing measures aligned with the country’s Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) pathway, to increase Nepal’s adaptive capacity to climate-related shocks.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Earlier in the Country Climate and Development Report, the World Bank had warned that climate change would continue to jeopardize gains in Nepal’s human development and poverty reduction without comprehensive and scaled-up climate action.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">To respond to this challenge, Nepal is already implementing steps to recalibrate its economy by adopting a Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) approach. In 2021, Nepal adopted the Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID) approach as a national vision to guide long-term green growth and build resilience to climate and other shocks that are barriers to Nepal’s development ambitions, the report added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Under Nepal’s federal structure, the local governments are placed at the center of climate resilience and development efforts with extensive implementation responsibilities and play a crucial role in translating the GRID strategy into action.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report, Nepal has pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2045 and to significantly scale up hydropower investment in the coming decade. Nepal has begun to put in place the necessary policy framework, such as the 2019 National Climate Change Policy, the 2022 Solid Waste Management Policy, the 2022 Forest Regulation and the 2022 Land Use Regulation, the World Bank Report stated. “However, implementation of this reform agenda and prioritization of investments is incipient. Moreover, enhanced prioritization and efficiency of public expenditure are required to maximize climate and development benefits.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15859', 'image' => '20221009010544_SA-Surkhet-DubanChhetraa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 13:04:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16116', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bad Weather Forces Tourists to Return from Annapurna Circuit', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: Tourists stranded along the Annapurna Circuit have started returning to Lamjung. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 9: Tourists stranded along the Annapurna Circuit have started returning to Lamjung. The tourists could not continue to their journey due to inclement weather and started returning to Lamjung from Wednesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tourist assistant at Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP)’s Tourist Check Point Dharapani, Kshetra Bahadur Gurung informed that more than 80 tourists used to travel through this foot trail through Manang district every day before the rainfall.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“However, due to continuous rainfall, the foot trail deteriorated and snowfall started in the upper parts of Manang. So, the tourists have started returning to Besisahar in Lamjung, the entrance of the Annapurna Circuit,” Gurung told the state-owned RSS.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He informed that 85 stranded tourists returned to Chame Rural Municipality on Saturday morning, 150 on Thursday and 40 on Wednesday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, the tourists who arrived in Lamjung to go around the circuit are also staying at Besishahr. According to tourism entrepreneurs, bad weather has started taking toll on their business even during the tourist season itself. Tourism activities along the Annapurna circuit was previously affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and cold weather. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pancha Bahadur Gurung, a tourism entrepreneur said, “Around this time of the year, we never had a single moment to spare in the past because we had to attend to the guests. But the rainfall caused problem in the arrival of tourists and the business slowed down.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">This is the time when the fields and meadows of Manang turn vivid green. Also, the sight of blooming buckwheat and barley attracts tourists. Most of the tourists go to Thorang-La Pass, Larke Pass and Kala Pass, while some tourists visit the Tilicho Lake which is situated at the highest altitude in the world. The entrance of the Annapurna Circuit is located in Besisahar, the district headquarters of Lamjung. The mesmerizing foot trail then connects to four other districts en route to Kaski via Manang, Mustang, and Myagdi.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15858', 'image' => '20221009114613_Annapurna-Circuit-6-1600x1067.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 11:45:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16115', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Monsoon to Exit Nepal after One Week ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: Monsoon this year extended by approximately two weeks.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 9: Monsoon this year extended by approximately two weeks. It was predicted to remain until only October 2, according to the Meteorological Forecasting Division under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The monsoon low-pressure system from the mid-western Bay of Bengal and the surroundings had an impact in Nepal, thus prolonging monsoon this year, said senior meteorologist Barun Paudel. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“Monsoon that started from June 5 from the eastern belt of the country will exit from Nepal after one week," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The eastern belt of the country, Kaski district and the Kathmandu Valley have clear weather. But, it is raining in most parts of Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces as monsoon rainfall is concentrated in the areas, he said, adding that the weather will be clear in the areas from coming Tuesday. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15857', 'image' => '20221009103109_image_750x_62a32cee152ae.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 10:30:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16117', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rainfall Likely in Three Provinces ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: Light rainfall is taking place in a few places of Lumbini and Sudurpaschim provinces.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 9: Light rainfall is taking place in a few places of Lumbini and Sudurpaschim provinces. In the afternoon, there is a possibility of heavy rainfall at a couple of places in Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology under the Weather Forecasting Division. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the weather bulletin issued by the division, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces will have normal to complete change in the weather today afternoon while the rest of the provinces will have partial change. There is a possibility of light to moderate rainfall with thunder and lightning in some places of Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces, the department said. The same weather system will continue during the night as well. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15856', 'image' => '20221009115214_SA-Surkhet-DubanChhetrae.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 11:51:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16114', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Set to Experience Moderate Growth Amid Global Turmoil', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: Nepal’s economy is expected to grow at a rate of 5.1 percent in Fiscal Year 2022/23 and 4.9 percent in FY 2023/24, reflecting monetary policy normalization', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 9: Nepal’s economy is expected to grow at a rate of 5.1 percent in Fiscal Year 2022/23 and 4.9 percent in FY 2023/24, reflecting monetary policy normalization, the end of pandemic-era monetary support measures, and still relatively high commodity prices, according to the World Bank’s latest report. A rebound in tourism is projected to support Nepal’s services sector and industrial growth is expected to be strong due to increased hydroelectricity production, states the macroeconomic update of World Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">While public debt levels are expected to stabilize and pressure on foreign exchange reserves is projected to ease, Nepal continues to face structural challenges relating to a modernization of the tax system, the attraction of new sources of foreign exchange (especially FDI) and full implementation of fiscal federalism that need to be addressed to ensure sustainable and inclusive growth, added the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Released on October 6 , the latest South Asia Economic Focus, Coping with Shocks: Migration and the Road to Resilience, projects regional growth to average 5.8 percent this year - a downward revision of 1 percentage point from the forecast made in June. This follows growth of 7.8 percent in 2021, when most countries were rebounding from the pandemic slump.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">While economic distress is weighing down all South Asian countries, some are coping better than others, the World Bank said in a statement. Exports and the services sector in India, the region’s largest economy, have recovered more strongly than the world average while its ample foreign reserves served as a buffer to external shocks. The return of tourism is helping to drive growth in the Maldives, and to a lesser extent in Nepal—both of which have dynamic services sectors, added the report. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The combined effects of COVID-19 and the record-high commodity prices due to the war in Ukraine took a heavier toll on Sri Lanka, exacerbating its debt woes and depleting foreign reserves. Plunged into its worst-ever economic crisis, Sri Lanka’s real GDP is expected to fall by 9.2 percent this year and a further 4.2 percent in 2023. High commodity prices also worsened Pakistan’s external imbalances, bringing down its reserves. After devastating climate-change-fueled floods submerged one-third of the country this year, its outlook remains subject to significant uncertainty.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Inflation in South Asia, caused by elevated global food and energy prices and trade restrictions that worsened food insecurity in the region, is expected to rise to 9.2 percent this year before gradually subsiding. The resulting squeeze on real income is severe, particularly for the region’s poor who spend a large share of their income on food, states the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">South Asia’s migrant workers, many of whom are employed in the informal sector, were disproportionately affected when restrictions to movement were imposed during COVID-19. However, the later phase of the pandemic has highlighted the crucial role migration can play in facilitating recovery. Survey data from the South Asia Economic Focus suggests that in late 2021 and early 2022, migration flows are associated with movement from areas hit hard by the pandemic to those that were not, thus helping equilibrate demand and supply of labor in the aftermath of the COVID-19 shock.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Labor mobility across and within countries enables economic development by allowing people to move to locations where they are more productive. It also helps adjust to shocks such as climate events to which South Asia’s rural poor are particularly vulnerable,” said Hans Timmer, World Bank Chief Economist for South Asia. “Removing restrictions to labor mobility is vital to the region’s resilience and its long-term development.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">To this end, the report offers two recommendations. Firstly, cutting the costs migrants face should be high on the policy agenda. Secondly, policymakers can de-risk migration through several means including more flexible visa policies, mechanisms to support migrant workers during shocks, and social protection programs.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15855', 'image' => '20221009100714_World.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 10:06:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16113', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'OPEC+ Oil Output Cut ahead of Winter Fans Inflation Concerns', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 7: Global oil supply is set to tighten, intensifying concerns over soaring inflation after the OPEC+ group of nations announced its largest supply cut since 2020 ahead of European Union embargoes on Russian energy, Reuters reported.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">October 7: Global oil supply is set to tighten, intensifying concerns over soaring inflation after the OPEC+ group of nations announced its largest supply cut since 2020 ahead of European Union embargoes on Russian energy, Reuters reported.<br /> According to the news agency, the move has widened a diplomatic rift between the Saudi-backed bloc and Western nations, which worry higher energy prices will hurt the fragile global economy and hinder efforts to deprive Moscow of oil revenue following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.<br /> Global crude futures , jumped this week, returning to three-week highs, after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, including Russia, on Wednesday agreed to slash output by 2 million barrels per day just ahead of peak winter season.<br /> This is likely to drive spot prices higher, particularly for Middle East oil, which meets about two-third of Asia's demand, industry participants said, adding to inflation concerns as governments from Japan to India fight rising costs of living while Europe is expected to burn more oil to replace Russian gas this winter."We are concerned about a resurgence in international oil prices, which have shown some signs of calming down since the second quarter," Reuters quoted a spokesperson at SK Energy, South Korea's largest refiner, as saying.<br /> Another South Korean refining source said the supply cut could drive prices back to levels seen in the second quarter.<br /> South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy and a manufacturing powerhouse, has seen costs skyrocket due to the surging commodity prices.<br /> Brent hit $139.13 a barrel in March, the highest since 2008, after the Ukraine war sparked fears of Russian oil supply loss.<br /> According to Reuters, Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said the real supply cut would be about 1 million to 1.1 million bpd, a response to rising global interest rates and a weakening world economy.<br /> That move triggered a sharp response from Washington, which criticised the OPEC+ deal as shortsighted. The White House said President Joe Biden would continue to assess whether to release further strategic oil stocks to lower prices.<br /> "Saudi, UAE (the United Arab Emirates) and Kuwait are likely to take up most of the burden of cuts," said Tilak Doshi, managing director of Doshi Consulting, who was previously with Saudi Aramco.<br /> "It's a slap on Biden administration's face by OPEC+," he said, adding that ties between Russia and Saudi seem increasingly tight.<br /> The OPEC+ cuts compound supply concerns as European Union sanctions on Russian crude and oil products take effect in December and February, respectively, prompting Morgan Stanley to raise oil price forecasts. </span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-07', 'modified' => '2022-10-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15854', 'image' => '20221007091814_thumbs_b_c_815329508b9f387eda70839ac6a30868-696x392-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-07 09:17:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16127', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Dengue Spreads Across Seventy Six Districts of Nepal', 'sub_title' => 'Death Toll from the Viral Infection Climbs to 44 ', 'summary' => 'October 11: Death toll from the outbreak of dengue has reached 44 in Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 11: Death toll from the outbreak of dengue has reached 44 in Nepal. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the mosquito-borne viral disease has spread to 76 out of 77 districts in the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A total of 33,975 people have been infected by dengue since it was first reported in early August, RSS reported citing the Ministry of Health and Population.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Experts believe that this disease, which was only reported in the southern belt of Nepal in the past, is now seen in mountainous districts due to the impact of global warming.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Various studies have indicated that mosquitoes have moved to higher altitude due to warmer temperatures fuelled by climate change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, 27 people tested positive for COVID-19 infection on Monday. The infection rate was confirmed from a total of 1,546 samples tested on the day. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">RSS further reported that President Bidya Devi Bhandari has also been infected with SARS--CoV 2 virus. According to RSS, the Head-of-the-State was hospitalized on October 8 after she complained of fever and flu-like symptoms. She is receiving the treatment at the Annex ward bed number 601 of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, the hospital’s information officer Ram Bikram Adhikari confirmed that the president’s PCR report tested positive for COVID-19. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The number of active cases of coronavirus is 569. The death toll from COVID-19 stands at 12,018 till date. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-11', 'modified' => '2022-10-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15868', 'image' => '20221011112213_dengue-test_650x400_61442241844.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-11 11:21:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16126', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '5.8 Million People have Access to Microfinance Services', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: The number of people receiving microfinance service has crossed the mark of 5.8 million.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 10: The number of people receiving microfinance service has crossed the mark of 5.8 million. The customer base of microfinance companies has increase due to expansion of branches resulting in wider access to microfinance services. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the annual survey report on microfinance sector prepared by Nepal Rastra Bank, the customers of microfinance companies increased by 669,000 in a year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The number of customers of microfinance companies was 5,191,000 by the end of Fiscal Year 2020/21, which increased to 5,860,000 by the end of last fiscal year (FY 2021/22), the survey report states.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although the number of microfinance companies is declining due to merger and acquisition, the general public’s access to finance is increasing due to expansion of branches of such companies. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">There were 70 microfinance companies by the end of Fiscal Year 2020/21. The number of microfinance companies stands at 65 as of the end of last fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, the branches of microfinance companies increased by 9.54 percent in the review period and currently stands at 5,062, the NRB report states.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Microfinance companies give priority to ensure access to finance to the people who are unable to get access to banks and financial institutions. Microfinance companies form groups of deprived sector community and provide loans without any collateral. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Microfinance companies can provide loans up to Rs 700,000 to the people of the deprived sector without any collateral on the assurance of the group while such people can avail up to Rs 1.5 million by keeping their property as collateral.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The number of people taking loans from microfinance companies has increased by 10.4 percent as of mid-July this year compared to the same period last of last fiscal year. The total number of people who have taken loans from microfinance companies stands at 3.3 million.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15867', 'image' => '20221010040059_micro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 16:00:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16125', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'President Authenticates Insurance Bill', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has authenticated the bill related to insurance which was conceptualized by the government to regulate the insurance sector with an innovative approach.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 10: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has authenticated the bill related to insurance which was conceptualized by the government to regulate the insurance sector with an innovative approach.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Insurance Bill 2079, which was passed by both the houses of parliament – House of Representatives and the National Assembly – before the Dashain festival, was authenticated by the head of state on Sunday, October 9.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The bill authenticated by the president will become an Act once it is published in the Nepal Gazette.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The new Act will transform the Insurance Board into the Insurance Authority of Nepal. The terms of the chairman of the board and other members will get continuity in the newly-formed authority. There is a provision in the new Act that the chairman and members of the Insurance Board will automatically hold the same posts in the authority until their term expires. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The then Finance Minister Dr Yuvraj Khatiwada had registered the Insurance Bill in parliament four years ago to amend and consolidate the laws related to the insurance sector. However, the discussions on the bill was halted for a long time after a dispute regarding the continuity of the terms of the chairman and board members of the Insurance Board surfaced. The parliamentarians submitted 85 amendments to the original bill while the finance committee amended 124 points and submitted it to the parliament.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the original bill, there was a provision that all the responsibilities, including the management of staff of the board, would go to the proposed authority, which would also have a new chairman and director. The then president Chiranjeevi Chapagain opposed this provision. However, the amended bill has a provision to give continuity to the directors including the chairman of the current Insurance Board in the newly formed authority.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the bill also has a provision to establish an insurance development fund to increase access to insurance in rural areas as well as among the poor and underprivileged.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Surya Prasad Silwal, chairman of the Insurance Board, believes that a new era will begin in the insurance sector of Nepal after the implementation of the new Insurance Act. "The Act of 2049 has not been able to cover the latest developments in the insurance sector," he had said in an earlier interview with New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The President’s Office on Sunday issued a statement confirming that the Insurance Bill along with other two bills were certified as per Article 113 (2) of Constitution of Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The other two bills certified by the president include the bill to amend and integrate laws on management of public debt and the bill to manage animal health and livestock service entrepreneurs' council. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15866', 'image' => '20221010025244_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 14:52:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16123', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production Capacity of Domestic Oil Industries Shrinks to 20 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: Export of cooking oil from Nepal took a nosedive after India reduced the customs duty on oil imports to control the market price of edible oil.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 10: Export of cooking oil from Nepal took a nosedive after India reduced the customs duty on oil imports to control the market price of edible oil. According to the industrialists of Nepal, investment worth Rs 15 billion of 30 oil industries is in crisis.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When India imposed a customs duty of up to 40 percent on the import of semi-refined oil, the industries of Nepal brought such oil from third countries, processed it and exported the processed oil to India. The oil industries of Nepal used to bring semi-refined oil from Ukraine, Indonesia and Malaysia, and made profit by taking advantage of the difference in import duty and export concession between Nepal and India. Such industries have been exporting goods to India under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) concessions by paying zero to 5 percent customs duty. After exporting the products, the industrialists used to get refunds up to 10 percent for customs duty and Value Added Tax on raw materials required to prepare refined oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nikhil Chachan, the owner of Narayani Oil Refinery, said that the export from Nepal has been affected after India took strategic measures while considering the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war and the possible food crisis.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of the industries expanded their capacity when exports to India were easy. In the meantime, some new industries were established to take advantage of the situation. At present, the production capacity of the domestic oil industry is around 2.5 million tons a year. About 500,000 tons of oil is consumed in the country. Now the export is becoming difficult and production has shrunk. Entrepreneurs say that now such industries are running at 15 to 20 percent of their total capacity.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India reduced the import duty to 2.5 percent to reduce the market price of oil. In addition to this, the import and agricultural infrastructure development tax on 2 million metric tons each of semi-refined soybean and sunflower oil for the current fiscal year (FY) 2022/23 and the next fiscal year 2023/24 has been completely removed. In these two fiscal years, 5 million tons of semi-refined oil will be imported into India at zero customs duty. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Suresh Rungata, owner of OCB Foods, said that its direct impact is seen in the export of oil from Nepal. According to Birgunj customs office, the export of refined oil decreased significantly in the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Refined palm oil was exported in July and August last year to the extent of 29.5 million liters. This year only 9.6 million liters have been exported during the same period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the first two months of last fiscal year, 4.7 million kilograms of soybean oil was exported, which is only 3.5 million kilograms this year. Similarly, last year 5,796,000 liters of sunflower oil was sold in the Indian market, but only 199,000 liters have been sold during the first two months of this year. Since oil was the main contributor to Nepal's export trade, Rungta claimed that the trade deficit will increase as oil exports have been affected. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15865', 'image' => '20221010013516_shutterstock_1353066692.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 13:34:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16122', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Management of Dusty Cargo becoming a Headache for Importers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: Importers have been facing problems since the past five years due to the government’s failure in managing dusty cargo at the Birgunj border.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 10: Importers have been facing problems since the past five years due to the government’s failure in managing dusty cargo at the Birgunj border. Nepali importers are facing further problems after the Indian customs issued a notice stating that all imports and exports through the Raxaul-Birgunj border crossing will be done through the Integrated Checkpoint (ICP) from October 16.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The notice issued by the Patna-based office of Indian customs mentions that there will be no import or export through Raxaul Customs. A notification has been issued to divert all imports and exports of this border check point to the ICP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The public notice issued by the Indian customs on October 7 has urged all concerned bodies not to prepare shipping bills, bills of entry and other documents for Raxaul Customs from this Wednesday itself. The Indian customs issued the notice saying that all the imports and exports of the Birgunj-Raxaul border should be done through the ICP on the pretext that the ICP has come into full operation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, Nepali importers are facing additional burden due to the lack of a suitable location for dusty cargo management on the Nepal side. Earlier, the import of dusty cargo faced stiff opposition from the local residents of Raxaul who complained of pollution. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As a result, the loading and unloading of clinker was banned in Raxaul five years ago due to the obstruction of the locals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At that time, a team led by the then joint secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Ravi Shankar Sainju, had suggested managing such cargo at three different locations in Birgunj. Since then, the Indian customs has repeatedly given ultimatums to remove the dusty cargo from Raxaul. However, the government has not yet been able to provide an alternative. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With this notification from Indian customs, the issue of dusty cargo management has become challenging again. It has added stress to importers, says Madhav Rajpal, vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry. .</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the last four years since the ICP started operation, most of the imports and exports have been taking place through this integrated infrastructure. However, dusty cargo such as coal, iron ore, slag and some quantity of industrial raw materials including iron blades, iron roll, etc. have been entering Nepal through the Raxaul-Birgunj friendship bridge. </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' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15864', 'image' => '20221010121907_1665358541.Clipboard47.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 12:18:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16121', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'US Dollar becomes Further Strong ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: The value of the US dollar is gradually increasing thus making the Nepali currency weaker. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 10: The value of the US dollar is gradually increasing thus making the Nepali currency weaker. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)’s foreign exchange rate for today (October 10), the purchasing rate of the US dollar is Rs 131.42 while the selling rate is Rs 132.02 per unit. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">At the start of this year on January 1, the purchasing rate of the US dollar was Rs 118.64 while the selling rate was Rs 119.24. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The rising value of the US dollar is estimated to hurt the nation's economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the rise in the dollar's value will have a positive impact on remittance inflow, the nation's overall economy subsequently face its consequences. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Inflation, additional investment in the payment for foreign consultants and the additional burden in the payment of foreign debt and its interest are some of the major consequences of it. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The rise in the value of the US dollar has its impact on the Indian currency and this will have its effects on the Nepali currency which is pegged to the Indian currency. (With inputs from RSS)</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15863', 'image' => '20221010104119_dolar-americano-monedas.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 10:40:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16120', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Festival of Dashain Draws to a Close after Observing Kojagrat Purnima', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: Hindu devotees of Nepal observed the Kojagrat Purnima (full moon day) on Sunday as part of the final day of the 15-day Dashain festival by worshipping and paying homage to Mahalaxmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 10: Hindu devotees of Nepal observed the Kojagrat Purnima (full moon day) on Sunday as part of the final day of the 15-day Dashain festival by worshipping and paying homage to Mahalaxmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Dashain festival formally ends on the full moon day in the Nepali month of Ashwin with the marking of the Kojagrat Purnima. Devotees offer worship to Goddess Mahalaxmi at their homes in the evening, and keep vigil the whole night. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There is a belief that the goddess Mahalaxmi takes a trip around the world on the night of Kojagrat Purnima 'to check as to who is observing the vigil on this particular night'. As per this belief, the goddess of wealth blesses the people who are found observing the overnight vigil, says Nepal Calendar Determination Committee Chairperson Prof Dr Ramchandra Gautam. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Since the ritual of giving and receiving Tika and Jamara of the Dashain festival also concludes on this day, the Jamara that is sprouted and anointed at the Dashainghar on the day of Ghatasthapana is disposed as per the religious tradition. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People also perform worship at the Swoyambhu Chaitya and observe the night vigil by lighting the Mahadeep lamp. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15862', 'image' => '20221010102630_dashain image.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 10:25:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16124', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NPC Vice Chair Poudel Resigns', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Dr Bishwonath Poudel, has resigned from his post effective from October 6, according to NPC Secretariat.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 10: Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Dr Bishwonath Poudel, has resigned from his post effective from October 6, according to NPC Secretariat. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Dr Poudel resigned from his post after getting a ticket from the ruling Nepali Congress to contest in the upcoming election from Chitwan-1 constituency. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He has already filed his candidacy for the election. Another former vice chair of the NPC, Dr Swarnim Wagle was also aspiring to contest election from the same constituency in Chitwan. However, the NC backed Dr Poudel for the nomination. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, industrialist Binod Chaudhary will be contesting the election representing the NC from Nawalparasi-1.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15861', 'image' => '20221010021838_1665303621.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 14:18:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16119', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Central Banks Caught in the Fed's Slipstream', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: The central banks across the world are caught up in a race to curb inflation that only the Federal Reserve can stop, according to a recent analysis of Reuters.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">October 9: The central banks across the world are caught up in a race to curb inflation that only the Federal Reserve can stop, according to a recent analysis of Reuters.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the news agency, the US central bank has embarked on its most aggressive policy by tightening cycle for four decades and thus raising interest rates by three percentage points since January to slow runaway inflation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">That has left policymakers elsewhere with a tough choice: keep up with the Fed at the risk of hurting your own economy or watch your currency and bonds collapse as investors switch to dollars, Reuters reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"There is a growing risk that central banks will err on the side of caution by overtightening," Reuters quoted economist Jennifer McKeown as saying. "The risk is that rate hikes beyond our expectations prompt an even deeper downturn."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Central bankers and finance chiefs, who will meet in Washington this week, are mostly fighting inflation driven by factors including energy prices and trade supply snags. But few economies can stomach the diet of rate hikes the Fed has adopted to cool overheated domestic demand - largely the result of massive pandemic-era US stimulus that the rest of the world couldn't match, added Reuters.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the analysis, responses have varied with South Korea pledging to follow the Fed, belated but robust rate hikes in the euro zone despite a looming recession, and market interventions in Japan and Britain to stem bleeding in currencies and bonds. But they all face the same problem: there is less money to go around since the Fed turned off the taps, making investors impatient with profligate governments, stubborn central banks or lacklustre growth.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Data from the United States, the euro zone, China and Japan shows the amount of money in circulation has fallen.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">That has long been a harbinger of trouble for poorer economies that rely on foreign capital, and central bankers in the Philippines and Mexico have been clear about the impact of the Fed's actions on their own stances.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">What's worse, worldwide rate hikes reinforce each other by depressing trade and markets, raising the risk of a global recession - as the World Bank has warned.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The damage has already become visible in financial markets, where shares and bonds have fallen sharply, leaving investors hoping the Fed will change course.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"Only the Fed can print the dollars necessary to fix the problem quickly," Mike Wilson, chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley, said in a podcast.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Fed policymakers have this week restated their focus on taming inflation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to Reuters, this happened during the financial crisis, when central banks acted together to stabilise markets, and with 1985's Plaza Accord, agreed by the top five developed economies to depreciate the dollar. But with the Fed happy for a strong dollar to bring down import prices and few signs of a political backlash against the currency's appreciation, the chances of a repeat are low.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The analysis suggests that governments and central banks must bear alone the cost of market interventions to support their currencies and shield their financial systems from instability.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Droves of emerging economies, including Chile, the Czech Republic and India, have intervened in the forex market, where volatility soared around 50 percent in two months, according to a widely watched Deutsche Bank index.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">But richer countries are stepping in too.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Japan has started buying the yen for the first time since 1998 after the currency was pummelled by the central bank's decision to keep rates at zero. The Bank of England last week bought gilts to help shield pension schemes from market ire at government tax-cutting plans, Reuters further reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Analysts reportedly said none of these measures was likely to work unless the Fed stops raising rates, however - and for some, such actions are a sign of looming capitulation to market pressures.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15860', 'image' => '20221009010829_interest ratee.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 13:07:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16118', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank Warns of Severe Impacts of Climate Change on Nepal’s Economy', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: The Nepal Development Update published by the World Bank contains a special focus on the Macroeconomic Impacts of Climate Change.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 9: The Nepal Development Update published by the World Bank contains a special focus on the Macroeconomic Impacts of Climate Change. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report released on October 6, Nepal is highly vulnerable to climate change and must adapt to global warming, even though it is a negligible contributor to global greenhouse gases. The new analysis of the World Bank presented in the update finds that negative impacts are expected to accelerate sharply in the second half of the century, with GDP contracting 24 percent relative to the baseline projections by 2100. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A list of 32 actionable steps that Nepal can take now to reduce these impacts and reinforce its Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) pathway is provided in the recently released Nepal Country Climate and Development Report, the World Bank said in a statement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Nepal’s GDP and other macroeconomic losses in the first three decades of the 21st century are small to begin with, but are expected to accelerate quickly in the second half of the century as temperatures and climate events reach higher levels of intensity,” the statement quoted World Bank’s Country Director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka Faris Hadad-Zervos as saying. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“These findings underscore the urgency of implementing measures aligned with the country’s Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) pathway, to increase Nepal’s adaptive capacity to climate-related shocks.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Earlier in the Country Climate and Development Report, the World Bank had warned that climate change would continue to jeopardize gains in Nepal’s human development and poverty reduction without comprehensive and scaled-up climate action.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">To respond to this challenge, Nepal is already implementing steps to recalibrate its economy by adopting a Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) approach. In 2021, Nepal adopted the Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID) approach as a national vision to guide long-term green growth and build resilience to climate and other shocks that are barriers to Nepal’s development ambitions, the report added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Under Nepal’s federal structure, the local governments are placed at the center of climate resilience and development efforts with extensive implementation responsibilities and play a crucial role in translating the GRID strategy into action.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report, Nepal has pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2045 and to significantly scale up hydropower investment in the coming decade. Nepal has begun to put in place the necessary policy framework, such as the 2019 National Climate Change Policy, the 2022 Solid Waste Management Policy, the 2022 Forest Regulation and the 2022 Land Use Regulation, the World Bank Report stated. “However, implementation of this reform agenda and prioritization of investments is incipient. Moreover, enhanced prioritization and efficiency of public expenditure are required to maximize climate and development benefits.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15859', 'image' => '20221009010544_SA-Surkhet-DubanChhetraa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 13:04:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16116', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bad Weather Forces Tourists to Return from Annapurna Circuit', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: Tourists stranded along the Annapurna Circuit have started returning to Lamjung. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 9: Tourists stranded along the Annapurna Circuit have started returning to Lamjung. The tourists could not continue to their journey due to inclement weather and started returning to Lamjung from Wednesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tourist assistant at Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP)’s Tourist Check Point Dharapani, Kshetra Bahadur Gurung informed that more than 80 tourists used to travel through this foot trail through Manang district every day before the rainfall.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“However, due to continuous rainfall, the foot trail deteriorated and snowfall started in the upper parts of Manang. So, the tourists have started returning to Besisahar in Lamjung, the entrance of the Annapurna Circuit,” Gurung told the state-owned RSS.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He informed that 85 stranded tourists returned to Chame Rural Municipality on Saturday morning, 150 on Thursday and 40 on Wednesday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, the tourists who arrived in Lamjung to go around the circuit are also staying at Besishahr. According to tourism entrepreneurs, bad weather has started taking toll on their business even during the tourist season itself. Tourism activities along the Annapurna circuit was previously affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and cold weather. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pancha Bahadur Gurung, a tourism entrepreneur said, “Around this time of the year, we never had a single moment to spare in the past because we had to attend to the guests. But the rainfall caused problem in the arrival of tourists and the business slowed down.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">This is the time when the fields and meadows of Manang turn vivid green. Also, the sight of blooming buckwheat and barley attracts tourists. Most of the tourists go to Thorang-La Pass, Larke Pass and Kala Pass, while some tourists visit the Tilicho Lake which is situated at the highest altitude in the world. The entrance of the Annapurna Circuit is located in Besisahar, the district headquarters of Lamjung. The mesmerizing foot trail then connects to four other districts en route to Kaski via Manang, Mustang, and Myagdi.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15858', 'image' => '20221009114613_Annapurna-Circuit-6-1600x1067.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 11:45:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16115', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Monsoon to Exit Nepal after One Week ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: Monsoon this year extended by approximately two weeks.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 9: Monsoon this year extended by approximately two weeks. It was predicted to remain until only October 2, according to the Meteorological Forecasting Division under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The monsoon low-pressure system from the mid-western Bay of Bengal and the surroundings had an impact in Nepal, thus prolonging monsoon this year, said senior meteorologist Barun Paudel. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“Monsoon that started from June 5 from the eastern belt of the country will exit from Nepal after one week," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The eastern belt of the country, Kaski district and the Kathmandu Valley have clear weather. But, it is raining in most parts of Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces as monsoon rainfall is concentrated in the areas, he said, adding that the weather will be clear in the areas from coming Tuesday. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15857', 'image' => '20221009103109_image_750x_62a32cee152ae.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 10:30:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16117', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rainfall Likely in Three Provinces ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: Light rainfall is taking place in a few places of Lumbini and Sudurpaschim provinces.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 9: Light rainfall is taking place in a few places of Lumbini and Sudurpaschim provinces. In the afternoon, there is a possibility of heavy rainfall at a couple of places in Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology under the Weather Forecasting Division. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the weather bulletin issued by the division, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces will have normal to complete change in the weather today afternoon while the rest of the provinces will have partial change. There is a possibility of light to moderate rainfall with thunder and lightning in some places of Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces, the department said. The same weather system will continue during the night as well. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15856', 'image' => '20221009115214_SA-Surkhet-DubanChhetrae.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 11:51:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16114', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Set to Experience Moderate Growth Amid Global Turmoil', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: Nepal’s economy is expected to grow at a rate of 5.1 percent in Fiscal Year 2022/23 and 4.9 percent in FY 2023/24, reflecting monetary policy normalization', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 9: Nepal’s economy is expected to grow at a rate of 5.1 percent in Fiscal Year 2022/23 and 4.9 percent in FY 2023/24, reflecting monetary policy normalization, the end of pandemic-era monetary support measures, and still relatively high commodity prices, according to the World Bank’s latest report. A rebound in tourism is projected to support Nepal’s services sector and industrial growth is expected to be strong due to increased hydroelectricity production, states the macroeconomic update of World Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">While public debt levels are expected to stabilize and pressure on foreign exchange reserves is projected to ease, Nepal continues to face structural challenges relating to a modernization of the tax system, the attraction of new sources of foreign exchange (especially FDI) and full implementation of fiscal federalism that need to be addressed to ensure sustainable and inclusive growth, added the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Released on October 6 , the latest South Asia Economic Focus, Coping with Shocks: Migration and the Road to Resilience, projects regional growth to average 5.8 percent this year - a downward revision of 1 percentage point from the forecast made in June. This follows growth of 7.8 percent in 2021, when most countries were rebounding from the pandemic slump.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">While economic distress is weighing down all South Asian countries, some are coping better than others, the World Bank said in a statement. Exports and the services sector in India, the region’s largest economy, have recovered more strongly than the world average while its ample foreign reserves served as a buffer to external shocks. The return of tourism is helping to drive growth in the Maldives, and to a lesser extent in Nepal—both of which have dynamic services sectors, added the report. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The combined effects of COVID-19 and the record-high commodity prices due to the war in Ukraine took a heavier toll on Sri Lanka, exacerbating its debt woes and depleting foreign reserves. Plunged into its worst-ever economic crisis, Sri Lanka’s real GDP is expected to fall by 9.2 percent this year and a further 4.2 percent in 2023. High commodity prices also worsened Pakistan’s external imbalances, bringing down its reserves. After devastating climate-change-fueled floods submerged one-third of the country this year, its outlook remains subject to significant uncertainty.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Inflation in South Asia, caused by elevated global food and energy prices and trade restrictions that worsened food insecurity in the region, is expected to rise to 9.2 percent this year before gradually subsiding. The resulting squeeze on real income is severe, particularly for the region’s poor who spend a large share of their income on food, states the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">South Asia’s migrant workers, many of whom are employed in the informal sector, were disproportionately affected when restrictions to movement were imposed during COVID-19. However, the later phase of the pandemic has highlighted the crucial role migration can play in facilitating recovery. Survey data from the South Asia Economic Focus suggests that in late 2021 and early 2022, migration flows are associated with movement from areas hit hard by the pandemic to those that were not, thus helping equilibrate demand and supply of labor in the aftermath of the COVID-19 shock.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Labor mobility across and within countries enables economic development by allowing people to move to locations where they are more productive. It also helps adjust to shocks such as climate events to which South Asia’s rural poor are particularly vulnerable,” said Hans Timmer, World Bank Chief Economist for South Asia. “Removing restrictions to labor mobility is vital to the region’s resilience and its long-term development.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">To this end, the report offers two recommendations. Firstly, cutting the costs migrants face should be high on the policy agenda. Secondly, policymakers can de-risk migration through several means including more flexible visa policies, mechanisms to support migrant workers during shocks, and social protection programs.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15855', 'image' => '20221009100714_World.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 10:06:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16113', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'OPEC+ Oil Output Cut ahead of Winter Fans Inflation Concerns', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 7: Global oil supply is set to tighten, intensifying concerns over soaring inflation after the OPEC+ group of nations announced its largest supply cut since 2020 ahead of European Union embargoes on Russian energy, Reuters reported.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">October 7: Global oil supply is set to tighten, intensifying concerns over soaring inflation after the OPEC+ group of nations announced its largest supply cut since 2020 ahead of European Union embargoes on Russian energy, Reuters reported.<br /> According to the news agency, the move has widened a diplomatic rift between the Saudi-backed bloc and Western nations, which worry higher energy prices will hurt the fragile global economy and hinder efforts to deprive Moscow of oil revenue following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.<br /> Global crude futures , jumped this week, returning to three-week highs, after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, including Russia, on Wednesday agreed to slash output by 2 million barrels per day just ahead of peak winter season.<br /> This is likely to drive spot prices higher, particularly for Middle East oil, which meets about two-third of Asia's demand, industry participants said, adding to inflation concerns as governments from Japan to India fight rising costs of living while Europe is expected to burn more oil to replace Russian gas this winter."We are concerned about a resurgence in international oil prices, which have shown some signs of calming down since the second quarter," Reuters quoted a spokesperson at SK Energy, South Korea's largest refiner, as saying.<br /> Another South Korean refining source said the supply cut could drive prices back to levels seen in the second quarter.<br /> South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy and a manufacturing powerhouse, has seen costs skyrocket due to the surging commodity prices.<br /> Brent hit $139.13 a barrel in March, the highest since 2008, after the Ukraine war sparked fears of Russian oil supply loss.<br /> According to Reuters, Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said the real supply cut would be about 1 million to 1.1 million bpd, a response to rising global interest rates and a weakening world economy.<br /> That move triggered a sharp response from Washington, which criticised the OPEC+ deal as shortsighted. The White House said President Joe Biden would continue to assess whether to release further strategic oil stocks to lower prices.<br /> "Saudi, UAE (the United Arab Emirates) and Kuwait are likely to take up most of the burden of cuts," said Tilak Doshi, managing director of Doshi Consulting, who was previously with Saudi Aramco.<br /> "It's a slap on Biden administration's face by OPEC+," he said, adding that ties between Russia and Saudi seem increasingly tight.<br /> The OPEC+ cuts compound supply concerns as European Union sanctions on Russian crude and oil products take effect in December and February, respectively, prompting Morgan Stanley to raise oil price forecasts. </span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-07', 'modified' => '2022-10-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15854', 'image' => '20221007091814_thumbs_b_c_815329508b9f387eda70839ac6a30868-696x392-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-07 09:17:23', '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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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 11: Death toll from the outbreak of dengue has reached 44 in Nepal. According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, the mosquito-borne viral disease has spread to 76 out of 77 districts in the country. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A total of 33,975 people have been infected by dengue since it was first reported in early August, RSS reported citing the Ministry of Health and Population.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Experts believe that this disease, which was only reported in the southern belt of Nepal in the past, is now seen in mountainous districts due to the impact of global warming.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Various studies have indicated that mosquitoes have moved to higher altitude due to warmer temperatures fuelled by climate change.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, 27 people tested positive for COVID-19 infection on Monday. The infection rate was confirmed from a total of 1,546 samples tested on the day. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">RSS further reported that President Bidya Devi Bhandari has also been infected with SARS--CoV 2 virus. According to RSS, the Head-of-the-State was hospitalized on October 8 after she complained of fever and flu-like symptoms. She is receiving the treatment at the Annex ward bed number 601 of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, the hospital’s information officer Ram Bikram Adhikari confirmed that the president’s PCR report tested positive for COVID-19. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The number of active cases of coronavirus is 569. The death toll from COVID-19 stands at 12,018 till date. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-11', 'modified' => '2022-10-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15868', 'image' => '20221011112213_dengue-test_650x400_61442241844.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-11 11:21:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16126', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '5.8 Million People have Access to Microfinance Services', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: The number of people receiving microfinance service has crossed the mark of 5.8 million.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 10: The number of people receiving microfinance service has crossed the mark of 5.8 million. The customer base of microfinance companies has increase due to expansion of branches resulting in wider access to microfinance services. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the annual survey report on microfinance sector prepared by Nepal Rastra Bank, the customers of microfinance companies increased by 669,000 in a year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The number of customers of microfinance companies was 5,191,000 by the end of Fiscal Year 2020/21, which increased to 5,860,000 by the end of last fiscal year (FY 2021/22), the survey report states.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although the number of microfinance companies is declining due to merger and acquisition, the general public’s access to finance is increasing due to expansion of branches of such companies. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">There were 70 microfinance companies by the end of Fiscal Year 2020/21. The number of microfinance companies stands at 65 as of the end of last fiscal year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, the branches of microfinance companies increased by 9.54 percent in the review period and currently stands at 5,062, the NRB report states.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Microfinance companies give priority to ensure access to finance to the people who are unable to get access to banks and financial institutions. Microfinance companies form groups of deprived sector community and provide loans without any collateral. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Microfinance companies can provide loans up to Rs 700,000 to the people of the deprived sector without any collateral on the assurance of the group while such people can avail up to Rs 1.5 million by keeping their property as collateral.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The number of people taking loans from microfinance companies has increased by 10.4 percent as of mid-July this year compared to the same period last of last fiscal year. The total number of people who have taken loans from microfinance companies stands at 3.3 million.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15867', 'image' => '20221010040059_micro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 16:00:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16125', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'President Authenticates Insurance Bill', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has authenticated the bill related to insurance which was conceptualized by the government to regulate the insurance sector with an innovative approach.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 10: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has authenticated the bill related to insurance which was conceptualized by the government to regulate the insurance sector with an innovative approach.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Insurance Bill 2079, which was passed by both the houses of parliament – House of Representatives and the National Assembly – before the Dashain festival, was authenticated by the head of state on Sunday, October 9.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The bill authenticated by the president will become an Act once it is published in the Nepal Gazette.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The new Act will transform the Insurance Board into the Insurance Authority of Nepal. The terms of the chairman of the board and other members will get continuity in the newly-formed authority. There is a provision in the new Act that the chairman and members of the Insurance Board will automatically hold the same posts in the authority until their term expires. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The then Finance Minister Dr Yuvraj Khatiwada had registered the Insurance Bill in parliament four years ago to amend and consolidate the laws related to the insurance sector. However, the discussions on the bill was halted for a long time after a dispute regarding the continuity of the terms of the chairman and board members of the Insurance Board surfaced. The parliamentarians submitted 85 amendments to the original bill while the finance committee amended 124 points and submitted it to the parliament.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the original bill, there was a provision that all the responsibilities, including the management of staff of the board, would go to the proposed authority, which would also have a new chairman and director. The then president Chiranjeevi Chapagain opposed this provision. However, the amended bill has a provision to give continuity to the directors including the chairman of the current Insurance Board in the newly formed authority.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the bill also has a provision to establish an insurance development fund to increase access to insurance in rural areas as well as among the poor and underprivileged.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Surya Prasad Silwal, chairman of the Insurance Board, believes that a new era will begin in the insurance sector of Nepal after the implementation of the new Insurance Act. "The Act of 2049 has not been able to cover the latest developments in the insurance sector," he had said in an earlier interview with New Business Age.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The President’s Office on Sunday issued a statement confirming that the Insurance Bill along with other two bills were certified as per Article 113 (2) of Constitution of Nepal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The other two bills certified by the president include the bill to amend and integrate laws on management of public debt and the bill to manage animal health and livestock service entrepreneurs' council. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:16px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15866', 'image' => '20221010025244_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 14:52:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16123', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production Capacity of Domestic Oil Industries Shrinks to 20 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: Export of cooking oil from Nepal took a nosedive after India reduced the customs duty on oil imports to control the market price of edible oil.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 10: Export of cooking oil from Nepal took a nosedive after India reduced the customs duty on oil imports to control the market price of edible oil. According to the industrialists of Nepal, investment worth Rs 15 billion of 30 oil industries is in crisis.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When India imposed a customs duty of up to 40 percent on the import of semi-refined oil, the industries of Nepal brought such oil from third countries, processed it and exported the processed oil to India. The oil industries of Nepal used to bring semi-refined oil from Ukraine, Indonesia and Malaysia, and made profit by taking advantage of the difference in import duty and export concession between Nepal and India. Such industries have been exporting goods to India under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) concessions by paying zero to 5 percent customs duty. After exporting the products, the industrialists used to get refunds up to 10 percent for customs duty and Value Added Tax on raw materials required to prepare refined oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nikhil Chachan, the owner of Narayani Oil Refinery, said that the export from Nepal has been affected after India took strategic measures while considering the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war and the possible food crisis.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Most of the industries expanded their capacity when exports to India were easy. In the meantime, some new industries were established to take advantage of the situation. At present, the production capacity of the domestic oil industry is around 2.5 million tons a year. About 500,000 tons of oil is consumed in the country. Now the export is becoming difficult and production has shrunk. Entrepreneurs say that now such industries are running at 15 to 20 percent of their total capacity.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India reduced the import duty to 2.5 percent to reduce the market price of oil. In addition to this, the import and agricultural infrastructure development tax on 2 million metric tons each of semi-refined soybean and sunflower oil for the current fiscal year (FY) 2022/23 and the next fiscal year 2023/24 has been completely removed. In these two fiscal years, 5 million tons of semi-refined oil will be imported into India at zero customs duty. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Suresh Rungata, owner of OCB Foods, said that its direct impact is seen in the export of oil from Nepal. According to Birgunj customs office, the export of refined oil decreased significantly in the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Refined palm oil was exported in July and August last year to the extent of 29.5 million liters. This year only 9.6 million liters have been exported during the same period.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the first two months of last fiscal year, 4.7 million kilograms of soybean oil was exported, which is only 3.5 million kilograms this year. Similarly, last year 5,796,000 liters of sunflower oil was sold in the Indian market, but only 199,000 liters have been sold during the first two months of this year. Since oil was the main contributor to Nepal's export trade, Rungta claimed that the trade deficit will increase as oil exports have been affected. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15865', 'image' => '20221010013516_shutterstock_1353066692.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 13:34:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16122', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Management of Dusty Cargo becoming a Headache for Importers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: Importers have been facing problems since the past five years due to the government’s failure in managing dusty cargo at the Birgunj border.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 10: Importers have been facing problems since the past five years due to the government’s failure in managing dusty cargo at the Birgunj border. Nepali importers are facing further problems after the Indian customs issued a notice stating that all imports and exports through the Raxaul-Birgunj border crossing will be done through the Integrated Checkpoint (ICP) from October 16.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The notice issued by the Patna-based office of Indian customs mentions that there will be no import or export through Raxaul Customs. A notification has been issued to divert all imports and exports of this border check point to the ICP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The public notice issued by the Indian customs on October 7 has urged all concerned bodies not to prepare shipping bills, bills of entry and other documents for Raxaul Customs from this Wednesday itself. The Indian customs issued the notice saying that all the imports and exports of the Birgunj-Raxaul border should be done through the ICP on the pretext that the ICP has come into full operation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, Nepali importers are facing additional burden due to the lack of a suitable location for dusty cargo management on the Nepal side. Earlier, the import of dusty cargo faced stiff opposition from the local residents of Raxaul who complained of pollution. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">As a result, the loading and unloading of clinker was banned in Raxaul five years ago due to the obstruction of the locals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At that time, a team led by the then joint secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Ravi Shankar Sainju, had suggested managing such cargo at three different locations in Birgunj. Since then, the Indian customs has repeatedly given ultimatums to remove the dusty cargo from Raxaul. However, the government has not yet been able to provide an alternative. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With this notification from Indian customs, the issue of dusty cargo management has become challenging again. It has added stress to importers, says Madhav Rajpal, vice president of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry. .</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the last four years since the ICP started operation, most of the imports and exports have been taking place through this integrated infrastructure. However, dusty cargo such as coal, iron ore, slag and some quantity of industrial raw materials including iron blades, iron roll, etc. have been entering Nepal through the Raxaul-Birgunj friendship bridge. </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' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15864', 'image' => '20221010121907_1665358541.Clipboard47.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 12:18:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16121', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'US Dollar becomes Further Strong ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: The value of the US dollar is gradually increasing thus making the Nepali currency weaker. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 10: The value of the US dollar is gradually increasing thus making the Nepali currency weaker. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)’s foreign exchange rate for today (October 10), the purchasing rate of the US dollar is Rs 131.42 while the selling rate is Rs 132.02 per unit. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">At the start of this year on January 1, the purchasing rate of the US dollar was Rs 118.64 while the selling rate was Rs 119.24. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The rising value of the US dollar is estimated to hurt the nation's economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the rise in the dollar's value will have a positive impact on remittance inflow, the nation's overall economy subsequently face its consequences. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Inflation, additional investment in the payment for foreign consultants and the additional burden in the payment of foreign debt and its interest are some of the major consequences of it. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The rise in the value of the US dollar has its impact on the Indian currency and this will have its effects on the Nepali currency which is pegged to the Indian currency. (With inputs from RSS)</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15863', 'image' => '20221010104119_dolar-americano-monedas.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 10:40:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16120', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Festival of Dashain Draws to a Close after Observing Kojagrat Purnima', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: Hindu devotees of Nepal observed the Kojagrat Purnima (full moon day) on Sunday as part of the final day of the 15-day Dashain festival by worshipping and paying homage to Mahalaxmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 10: Hindu devotees of Nepal observed the Kojagrat Purnima (full moon day) on Sunday as part of the final day of the 15-day Dashain festival by worshipping and paying homage to Mahalaxmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Dashain festival formally ends on the full moon day in the Nepali month of Ashwin with the marking of the Kojagrat Purnima. Devotees offer worship to Goddess Mahalaxmi at their homes in the evening, and keep vigil the whole night. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There is a belief that the goddess Mahalaxmi takes a trip around the world on the night of Kojagrat Purnima 'to check as to who is observing the vigil on this particular night'. As per this belief, the goddess of wealth blesses the people who are found observing the overnight vigil, says Nepal Calendar Determination Committee Chairperson Prof Dr Ramchandra Gautam. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Since the ritual of giving and receiving Tika and Jamara of the Dashain festival also concludes on this day, the Jamara that is sprouted and anointed at the Dashainghar on the day of Ghatasthapana is disposed as per the religious tradition. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">People also perform worship at the Swoyambhu Chaitya and observe the night vigil by lighting the Mahadeep lamp. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15862', 'image' => '20221010102630_dashain image.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 10:25:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16124', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NPC Vice Chair Poudel Resigns', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 10: Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Dr Bishwonath Poudel, has resigned from his post effective from October 6, according to NPC Secretariat.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 10: Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Dr Bishwonath Poudel, has resigned from his post effective from October 6, according to NPC Secretariat. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Dr Poudel resigned from his post after getting a ticket from the ruling Nepali Congress to contest in the upcoming election from Chitwan-1 constituency. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He has already filed his candidacy for the election. Another former vice chair of the NPC, Dr Swarnim Wagle was also aspiring to contest election from the same constituency in Chitwan. However, the NC backed Dr Poudel for the nomination. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, industrialist Binod Chaudhary will be contesting the election representing the NC from Nawalparasi-1.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-10', 'modified' => '2022-10-10', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15861', 'image' => '20221010021838_1665303621.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-10 14:18:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16119', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Central Banks Caught in the Fed's Slipstream', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: The central banks across the world are caught up in a race to curb inflation that only the Federal Reserve can stop, according to a recent analysis of Reuters.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">October 9: The central banks across the world are caught up in a race to curb inflation that only the Federal Reserve can stop, according to a recent analysis of Reuters.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the news agency, the US central bank has embarked on its most aggressive policy by tightening cycle for four decades and thus raising interest rates by three percentage points since January to slow runaway inflation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">That has left policymakers elsewhere with a tough choice: keep up with the Fed at the risk of hurting your own economy or watch your currency and bonds collapse as investors switch to dollars, Reuters reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"There is a growing risk that central banks will err on the side of caution by overtightening," Reuters quoted economist Jennifer McKeown as saying. "The risk is that rate hikes beyond our expectations prompt an even deeper downturn."</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Central bankers and finance chiefs, who will meet in Washington this week, are mostly fighting inflation driven by factors including energy prices and trade supply snags. But few economies can stomach the diet of rate hikes the Fed has adopted to cool overheated domestic demand - largely the result of massive pandemic-era US stimulus that the rest of the world couldn't match, added Reuters.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to the analysis, responses have varied with South Korea pledging to follow the Fed, belated but robust rate hikes in the euro zone despite a looming recession, and market interventions in Japan and Britain to stem bleeding in currencies and bonds. But they all face the same problem: there is less money to go around since the Fed turned off the taps, making investors impatient with profligate governments, stubborn central banks or lacklustre growth.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Data from the United States, the euro zone, China and Japan shows the amount of money in circulation has fallen.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">That has long been a harbinger of trouble for poorer economies that rely on foreign capital, and central bankers in the Philippines and Mexico have been clear about the impact of the Fed's actions on their own stances.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">What's worse, worldwide rate hikes reinforce each other by depressing trade and markets, raising the risk of a global recession - as the World Bank has warned.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The damage has already become visible in financial markets, where shares and bonds have fallen sharply, leaving investors hoping the Fed will change course.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">"Only the Fed can print the dollars necessary to fix the problem quickly," Mike Wilson, chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley, said in a podcast.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Fed policymakers have this week restated their focus on taming inflation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">According to Reuters, this happened during the financial crisis, when central banks acted together to stabilise markets, and with 1985's Plaza Accord, agreed by the top five developed economies to depreciate the dollar. But with the Fed happy for a strong dollar to bring down import prices and few signs of a political backlash against the currency's appreciation, the chances of a repeat are low.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The analysis suggests that governments and central banks must bear alone the cost of market interventions to support their currencies and shield their financial systems from instability.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Droves of emerging economies, including Chile, the Czech Republic and India, have intervened in the forex market, where volatility soared around 50 percent in two months, according to a widely watched Deutsche Bank index.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">But richer countries are stepping in too.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Japan has started buying the yen for the first time since 1998 after the currency was pummelled by the central bank's decision to keep rates at zero. The Bank of England last week bought gilts to help shield pension schemes from market ire at government tax-cutting plans, Reuters further reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Analysts reportedly said none of these measures was likely to work unless the Fed stops raising rates, however - and for some, such actions are a sign of looming capitulation to market pressures.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15860', 'image' => '20221009010829_interest ratee.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 13:07:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16118', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank Warns of Severe Impacts of Climate Change on Nepal’s Economy', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: The Nepal Development Update published by the World Bank contains a special focus on the Macroeconomic Impacts of Climate Change.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 9: The Nepal Development Update published by the World Bank contains a special focus on the Macroeconomic Impacts of Climate Change. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report released on October 6, Nepal is highly vulnerable to climate change and must adapt to global warming, even though it is a negligible contributor to global greenhouse gases. The new analysis of the World Bank presented in the update finds that negative impacts are expected to accelerate sharply in the second half of the century, with GDP contracting 24 percent relative to the baseline projections by 2100. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A list of 32 actionable steps that Nepal can take now to reduce these impacts and reinforce its Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) pathway is provided in the recently released Nepal Country Climate and Development Report, the World Bank said in a statement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Nepal’s GDP and other macroeconomic losses in the first three decades of the 21st century are small to begin with, but are expected to accelerate quickly in the second half of the century as temperatures and climate events reach higher levels of intensity,” the statement quoted World Bank’s Country Director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka Faris Hadad-Zervos as saying. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“These findings underscore the urgency of implementing measures aligned with the country’s Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) pathway, to increase Nepal’s adaptive capacity to climate-related shocks.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Earlier in the Country Climate and Development Report, the World Bank had warned that climate change would continue to jeopardize gains in Nepal’s human development and poverty reduction without comprehensive and scaled-up climate action.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">To respond to this challenge, Nepal is already implementing steps to recalibrate its economy by adopting a Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) approach. In 2021, Nepal adopted the Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID) approach as a national vision to guide long-term green growth and build resilience to climate and other shocks that are barriers to Nepal’s development ambitions, the report added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Under Nepal’s federal structure, the local governments are placed at the center of climate resilience and development efforts with extensive implementation responsibilities and play a crucial role in translating the GRID strategy into action.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report, Nepal has pledged to achieve net zero emissions by 2045 and to significantly scale up hydropower investment in the coming decade. Nepal has begun to put in place the necessary policy framework, such as the 2019 National Climate Change Policy, the 2022 Solid Waste Management Policy, the 2022 Forest Regulation and the 2022 Land Use Regulation, the World Bank Report stated. “However, implementation of this reform agenda and prioritization of investments is incipient. Moreover, enhanced prioritization and efficiency of public expenditure are required to maximize climate and development benefits.”</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15859', 'image' => '20221009010544_SA-Surkhet-DubanChhetraa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 13:04:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16116', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Bad Weather Forces Tourists to Return from Annapurna Circuit', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: Tourists stranded along the Annapurna Circuit have started returning to Lamjung. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 9: Tourists stranded along the Annapurna Circuit have started returning to Lamjung. The tourists could not continue to their journey due to inclement weather and started returning to Lamjung from Wednesday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tourist assistant at Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP)’s Tourist Check Point Dharapani, Kshetra Bahadur Gurung informed that more than 80 tourists used to travel through this foot trail through Manang district every day before the rainfall.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“However, due to continuous rainfall, the foot trail deteriorated and snowfall started in the upper parts of Manang. So, the tourists have started returning to Besisahar in Lamjung, the entrance of the Annapurna Circuit,” Gurung told the state-owned RSS.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He informed that 85 stranded tourists returned to Chame Rural Municipality on Saturday morning, 150 on Thursday and 40 on Wednesday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, the tourists who arrived in Lamjung to go around the circuit are also staying at Besishahr. According to tourism entrepreneurs, bad weather has started taking toll on their business even during the tourist season itself. Tourism activities along the Annapurna circuit was previously affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and cold weather. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pancha Bahadur Gurung, a tourism entrepreneur said, “Around this time of the year, we never had a single moment to spare in the past because we had to attend to the guests. But the rainfall caused problem in the arrival of tourists and the business slowed down.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">This is the time when the fields and meadows of Manang turn vivid green. Also, the sight of blooming buckwheat and barley attracts tourists. Most of the tourists go to Thorang-La Pass, Larke Pass and Kala Pass, while some tourists visit the Tilicho Lake which is situated at the highest altitude in the world. The entrance of the Annapurna Circuit is located in Besisahar, the district headquarters of Lamjung. The mesmerizing foot trail then connects to four other districts en route to Kaski via Manang, Mustang, and Myagdi.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15858', 'image' => '20221009114613_Annapurna-Circuit-6-1600x1067.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 11:45:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16115', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Monsoon to Exit Nepal after One Week ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: Monsoon this year extended by approximately two weeks.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 9: Monsoon this year extended by approximately two weeks. It was predicted to remain until only October 2, according to the Meteorological Forecasting Division under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The monsoon low-pressure system from the mid-western Bay of Bengal and the surroundings had an impact in Nepal, thus prolonging monsoon this year, said senior meteorologist Barun Paudel. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">“Monsoon that started from June 5 from the eastern belt of the country will exit from Nepal after one week," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The eastern belt of the country, Kaski district and the Kathmandu Valley have clear weather. But, it is raining in most parts of Karnali and Sudurpaschim Provinces as monsoon rainfall is concentrated in the areas, he said, adding that the weather will be clear in the areas from coming Tuesday. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15857', 'image' => '20221009103109_image_750x_62a32cee152ae.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 10:30:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16117', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Rainfall Likely in Three Provinces ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: Light rainfall is taking place in a few places of Lumbini and Sudurpaschim provinces.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 9: Light rainfall is taking place in a few places of Lumbini and Sudurpaschim provinces. In the afternoon, there is a possibility of heavy rainfall at a couple of places in Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology under the Weather Forecasting Division. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the weather bulletin issued by the division, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces will have normal to complete change in the weather today afternoon while the rest of the provinces will have partial change. There is a possibility of light to moderate rainfall with thunder and lightning in some places of Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces, the department said. The same weather system will continue during the night as well. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15856', 'image' => '20221009115214_SA-Surkhet-DubanChhetrae.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 11:51:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16114', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal Set to Experience Moderate Growth Amid Global Turmoil', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 9: Nepal’s economy is expected to grow at a rate of 5.1 percent in Fiscal Year 2022/23 and 4.9 percent in FY 2023/24, reflecting monetary policy normalization', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">October 9: Nepal’s economy is expected to grow at a rate of 5.1 percent in Fiscal Year 2022/23 and 4.9 percent in FY 2023/24, reflecting monetary policy normalization, the end of pandemic-era monetary support measures, and still relatively high commodity prices, according to the World Bank’s latest report. A rebound in tourism is projected to support Nepal’s services sector and industrial growth is expected to be strong due to increased hydroelectricity production, states the macroeconomic update of World Bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">While public debt levels are expected to stabilize and pressure on foreign exchange reserves is projected to ease, Nepal continues to face structural challenges relating to a modernization of the tax system, the attraction of new sources of foreign exchange (especially FDI) and full implementation of fiscal federalism that need to be addressed to ensure sustainable and inclusive growth, added the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Released on October 6 , the latest South Asia Economic Focus, Coping with Shocks: Migration and the Road to Resilience, projects regional growth to average 5.8 percent this year - a downward revision of 1 percentage point from the forecast made in June. This follows growth of 7.8 percent in 2021, when most countries were rebounding from the pandemic slump.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">While economic distress is weighing down all South Asian countries, some are coping better than others, the World Bank said in a statement. Exports and the services sector in India, the region’s largest economy, have recovered more strongly than the world average while its ample foreign reserves served as a buffer to external shocks. The return of tourism is helping to drive growth in the Maldives, and to a lesser extent in Nepal—both of which have dynamic services sectors, added the report. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The combined effects of COVID-19 and the record-high commodity prices due to the war in Ukraine took a heavier toll on Sri Lanka, exacerbating its debt woes and depleting foreign reserves. Plunged into its worst-ever economic crisis, Sri Lanka’s real GDP is expected to fall by 9.2 percent this year and a further 4.2 percent in 2023. High commodity prices also worsened Pakistan’s external imbalances, bringing down its reserves. After devastating climate-change-fueled floods submerged one-third of the country this year, its outlook remains subject to significant uncertainty.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Inflation in South Asia, caused by elevated global food and energy prices and trade restrictions that worsened food insecurity in the region, is expected to rise to 9.2 percent this year before gradually subsiding. The resulting squeeze on real income is severe, particularly for the region’s poor who spend a large share of their income on food, states the report.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">South Asia’s migrant workers, many of whom are employed in the informal sector, were disproportionately affected when restrictions to movement were imposed during COVID-19. However, the later phase of the pandemic has highlighted the crucial role migration can play in facilitating recovery. Survey data from the South Asia Economic Focus suggests that in late 2021 and early 2022, migration flows are associated with movement from areas hit hard by the pandemic to those that were not, thus helping equilibrate demand and supply of labor in the aftermath of the COVID-19 shock.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Labor mobility across and within countries enables economic development by allowing people to move to locations where they are more productive. It also helps adjust to shocks such as climate events to which South Asia’s rural poor are particularly vulnerable,” said Hans Timmer, World Bank Chief Economist for South Asia. “Removing restrictions to labor mobility is vital to the region’s resilience and its long-term development.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">To this end, the report offers two recommendations. Firstly, cutting the costs migrants face should be high on the policy agenda. Secondly, policymakers can de-risk migration through several means including more flexible visa policies, mechanisms to support migrant workers during shocks, and social protection programs.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-09', 'modified' => '2022-10-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15855', 'image' => '20221009100714_World.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-09 10:06:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16113', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'OPEC+ Oil Output Cut ahead of Winter Fans Inflation Concerns', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 7: Global oil supply is set to tighten, intensifying concerns over soaring inflation after the OPEC+ group of nations announced its largest supply cut since 2020 ahead of European Union embargoes on Russian energy, Reuters reported.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px">October 7: Global oil supply is set to tighten, intensifying concerns over soaring inflation after the OPEC+ group of nations announced its largest supply cut since 2020 ahead of European Union embargoes on Russian energy, Reuters reported.<br /> According to the news agency, the move has widened a diplomatic rift between the Saudi-backed bloc and Western nations, which worry higher energy prices will hurt the fragile global economy and hinder efforts to deprive Moscow of oil revenue following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.<br /> Global crude futures , jumped this week, returning to three-week highs, after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, including Russia, on Wednesday agreed to slash output by 2 million barrels per day just ahead of peak winter season.<br /> This is likely to drive spot prices higher, particularly for Middle East oil, which meets about two-third of Asia's demand, industry participants said, adding to inflation concerns as governments from Japan to India fight rising costs of living while Europe is expected to burn more oil to replace Russian gas this winter."We are concerned about a resurgence in international oil prices, which have shown some signs of calming down since the second quarter," Reuters quoted a spokesperson at SK Energy, South Korea's largest refiner, as saying.<br /> Another South Korean refining source said the supply cut could drive prices back to levels seen in the second quarter.<br /> South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy and a manufacturing powerhouse, has seen costs skyrocket due to the surging commodity prices.<br /> Brent hit $139.13 a barrel in March, the highest since 2008, after the Ukraine war sparked fears of Russian oil supply loss.<br /> According to Reuters, Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said the real supply cut would be about 1 million to 1.1 million bpd, a response to rising global interest rates and a weakening world economy.<br /> That move triggered a sharp response from Washington, which criticised the OPEC+ deal as shortsighted. The White House said President Joe Biden would continue to assess whether to release further strategic oil stocks to lower prices.<br /> "Saudi, UAE (the United Arab Emirates) and Kuwait are likely to take up most of the burden of cuts," said Tilak Doshi, managing director of Doshi Consulting, who was previously with Saudi Aramco.<br /> "It's a slap on Biden administration's face by OPEC+," he said, adding that ties between Russia and Saudi seem increasingly tight.<br /> The OPEC+ cuts compound supply concerns as European Union sanctions on Russian crude and oil products take effect in December and February, respectively, prompting Morgan Stanley to raise oil price forecasts. </span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-10-07', 'modified' => '2022-10-07', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15854', 'image' => '20221007091814_thumbs_b_c_815329508b9f387eda70839ac6a30868-696x392-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-10-07 09:17:23', '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
