September 22: Nepal’s economy is estimated to expand modestly by 4.7 percent (at market prices) in the current fiscal year (FY 2022/23), down from an estimated growth of 5.8 percent in FY…
September 22: Nepal’s economy is estimated to expand modestly by 4.7 percent (at market prices) in the current fiscal year (FY 2022/23), down from an estimated growth of 5.8 percent in FY…
September 22: Japan has decided to provide grant assistance of up to Rs 2 billion (Japanese Yen 2,256,000,000) to implement of the Project for the Improvement of the Rehabilitation of Irrigation System in eastern…
September 21: Banks and Financial Institutions have assured the guarantee of at least Rs 1100 billion deposited by the customers.…
September 21: Nepal Police has decided to deploy 3,343 police personnel in the capital Kathmandu in order to maintain peace and security during the upcoming festive…
September 21: Revenue collection has been affected due the strict policy adopted by the government to discourage imports.…
September 20: Some local units have been found abusing the authority given by the Local Level Operation Act 2074.…
September 21: Three out of five Galvanized Iron (GI) wire industries in Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor, which were closed due to the increase in customs duty and excise duty on the import of raw materials, have come into operation…
September 21: Nepal Electricity Authority has exported electricity worth more than Rs 7 billion to the Indian market in the last four…
September 21: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has urged banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to increase investment in the industrial and manufacturing…
September 20: The Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, Ramshahpath has decided to launch 'special' checks at the entry points in the Kathmandu Valley in view of upcoming…
September 20: The Nepalese Army, which aims to complete the Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway (Fast Track) project by mid-December 2024, has spent only Rs 37.96 billion in the project so…
September 20: Whenever there is an election in Nepal, the issue of using electronic voting machine becomes the topic of hot debate. After the election, this issue gets overshadowed for the next five…
September 20: The number of people acquiring work permits to go for foreign employment has not declined even though the festival of Dashain, the main festival of Nepal, is just around the…
September 20: The Insurance Board, which has been regulating the insurance sector of Nepal, is now going to be transformed into an…
September 20: The urban areas of Nepal generate around one million tonnes of garbage annually, according to the data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on…
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The report also notes that services growth will likely moderate owing to a slowdown in real estate, wholesale, and retail trade activities, induced by credit control measures and hike in interest rates. But provincial and federal level elections scheduled in November 2022 will stimulate spending resulting in GDP growth.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">The government’s fiscal policy reflected in the budget speech for 2023 is somewhat expansionary, focused on strengthening agriculture, industry, infrastructure, and social protection, added the report. Monetary policy is contractionary, aimed at curbing high credit growth to contain domestic demand, escalating prices, and rising imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">The country’s inflation will likely marginally decline to 6.1 percent in FY 2022/23 from 6.3 percent in FY 2021/22, restrained by tight monetary policy, a normal harvest, somewhat subdued oil prices, and a modest inflation decline in India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">The current account deficit is estimated to narrow to 8.1 percent of GDP in FY 2022/23 owing to a moderation in merchandise imports amidst stable remittance inflow, states the report. Out-migration for foreign employment has picked up, exceeding the pre-pandemic level of FY 2018/19. Imports related to COVID-19 will have substantially decreased and falling oil prices will help lower import bill for Nepal, says the ADB report. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-22', 'modified' => '2022-09-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15791', 'image' => '20220922113226_ADB.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-22 11:31:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16049', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Japan to Provide Financial Assistance for Improvement of Irrigation and Transmission Systems', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 22: Japan has decided to provide grant assistance of up to Rs 2 billion (Japanese Yen 2,256,000,000) to implement of the Project for the Improvement of the Rehabilitation of Irrigation System in eastern Terai. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 22: Japan has decided to provide grant assistance of up to Rs 2 billion (Japanese Yen 2,256,000,000) to implement of the Project for the Improvement of the Rehabilitation of Irrigation System in eastern Terai. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In addition to this, Japan has agreed to ensure concessional loan assistance of Rs 14.2 billion (Japanese Yen 15,901,000,000) to Nepal for the Urban Transmission and Distribution System Improvement Project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Embassy of Japan and the Ministry of Finance signed notes in this regard amidst a programme held at the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday, the Embassy said in a press statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Japan's Ambassador to Nepal, Kikuta Yutaka, and Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar signed the agreement on behalf of their respective governments. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, the Japanese ambassador said both agriculture and energy are important sectors for economic development of Nepal. </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"">"Agriculture is the major industry in which a large number of Nepal people are engaged. The development of agriculture is indispensable for the overall development of Nepal. Likewise, as Nepal's hydropower generation capability has been improving, it is important to develop the transmission and distribution system to take full advantage of the progress," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He further stated that the year 2022 marks the 120th anniversary since the first eight Nepali students were dispatched to Japan for study. The two projects singed in this commemorative year symbolize the friendship between the two countries and will contribute to Nepal's development, added Yutaka. He further said that the Japan is committed to extending all possible assistance to Nepal in its endevour for nation building and strengthening the friendly relationship between the people of Japan and Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Ministry of Finance, the grant assistance will be used for the maintenance and improvement of Chandra Nahar irrigation system for reliable and continuous irrigation facilities, mainly in the eastern Terai. Similarly, the concessional loan will be utilised for improving the urban electricity transmission system in big cities of Nepal, including Kathmandu and Pokhara with the aim of reducing transmission losses as well as increasing the reliability of electricity distribution. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following the signing ceremony, Finance Secretary Pushkar said the implementation of these two projects would be crucial for improving irrigation facilities in Nepal, increasing reliability of electricity supply and reducing the transmission losses. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He appreciated Japan for its continuous support in socio-economic and human resources development of Nepal. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-22', 'modified' => '2022-09-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15790', 'image' => '20220922110915_RS_KTM_008A849609212022.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-22 11:08:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16048', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Assures Deposit Guarantee of Rs 1100 Billion Deposited in BFIs', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Banks and Financial Institutions have assured the guarantee of at least Rs 1100 billion deposited by the customers. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 21: Banks and Financial Institutions have assured the guarantee of at least Rs 1100 billion deposited by the customers. As per the announcement of BFIs to protect the deposits made by small depositors and to build the customers’ trust on banking system, the banks have brought a maximum of Rs 300,000 from each of 33,700,000 customers within the fold of the Deposit and Credit Guarantee Fund.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">About a decade ago, the government had made it mandatory for BFIs to guarantee the safety of the deposits in the name of their customers. Initially, the banks were instructed to guarantee the security of at least Rs 200,000 per account which was increased to Rs 300,000 per account three years ago. The government has already decided that the banks must protect at least Rs 500,000 of each account from mid-September of the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Chief of the fund Ramesh Ghimire informed New Business Age that the state-run programme will assure protection of at least Rs 1100 billion deposited by the customers of banks as of mid-September 2022. He further said that this amount will increase after mid-September as the government has already decided that the banks must protect at least Rs 500,000 per account.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the fund, 108 banking and financial institutions have received commitment from the fund for the guarantee of their credit and deposits. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government had initiated the deposit guarantee programme about a decade ago after the liquidation of Nepal Development Bank. The fund will be responsible to pay the prescribed amount to the customers if the BFIs turn problematic and are unable to return the deposits to the customers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per this provision, the fund had earlier paid Rs 110 million to the customers of Himalayan Finance.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari says that the concept of deposit guarantee was developed in the 1930s after the banks worldwide turned problematic. He said that Nepal has also put in practice the same concept to protect the deposits of the customers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at the 49<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the fund, Governor Adhikari said that 22 percent of the total deposits of BFIs have been secured so far.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15789', 'image' => '20220921042258_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 16:22:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16047', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kathmandu Police to Mobilize Over Three Thousand Security Personnel for Festive Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Nepal Police has decided to deploy 3,343 police personnel in the capital Kathmandu in order to maintain peace and security during the upcoming festive season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 21: Nepal Police has decided to deploy 3,343 police personnel in the capital Kathmandu in order to maintain peace and security during the upcoming festive season. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The District Police Range, Kathmandu made such revelation during a programme organized on Tuesday to shed light on the security plans of the police force for the festivals which are just around the corner. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to SSP Dinesh Raj Mainali, spokesperson of the District Police Range, Kathmandu, the police have already started implementing the Festive Security Plan 2079 from Tuesday itself with the motive of minimizing criminal activities during the festivals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Police has assured of effective coordination among various units of the police force to maintain security. According to SSP Mainali, the police teams will reach the incident site within five to seven minutes if any untoward incident happens. Another major objective of the security plan is to ensure justice to the victims and to penalize the offenders. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SSP Mainali informed that police personnel in plain clothes will be deployed in areas where excessive number of crimes take place as well as areas having high potential for criminal activities. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the police force will also be conducting awareness campaigns through the Facebook page of District Police Range, Kathmandu as well as Traffic FM and other media. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The police will be monitoring the general activities in major business centers and thoroughfares as well as places where financial transactions take place more and the entry points of Kathmandu valley through CCTV cameras. Likewise, drones will also be used during this period to take videos and help in maintaining security. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the police plans to effectively mobilize its units from all 14 police circles within Kathmandu and set up 12 help desks. Similarly, mobile patrols will be done in 24 locations while there will be picketing in 91 places and quick response teams in 14 places. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15788', 'image' => '20220921034658_Nepal_Police_logo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 15:46:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16046', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Revenue Collection Slumps due to Decline in Import of Fuel and Vehicles ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Revenue collection has been affected due the strict policy adopted by the government to discourage imports. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 21: Revenue collection has been affected due the strict policy adopted by the government to discourage imports. The government has failed to collect revenue as per its target due to the decline in imports of petroleum products and vehicles which are the chief contributors to the government’s revenue. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Birgunj Customs, which is the main customs point of the country in terms of the quantity of imports and exports, failed to meet its target of revenue collection in the first two months of the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj Customs, Dhan Bahadur Baruwal, the revenue collection of this customs office during the review period was 79 percent of the target. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Customs Chief Baruwal confirmed that the revenue collection declined due to the drop in import of petroleum products and vehicles. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“This customs point used to collect maximum revenue from petroleum products and vehicles. As the import of these products declined, we couldn’t meet the revenue collection target,” said Baruwal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has adopted a strict policy for the import of vehicles such as cars, jeeps and vans for personal use. The demand for vehicles has dropped after banks refused to invest on vehicles as per the instruction of the central bank. The importers are unable to obtain customs clearance of the vehicles that have already arrived at the customs point. At present, more than 1800 vehicles are stuck at the Integrated Check Point in Birgjun, informed Kamal Gyawali, chief of the Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Committee that looks after the ICP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Customs officials say that the government increased the revenue collection target when it had adopted measures to curb imports. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The revenue collection target of Birgunj Customs during the last fiscal year was Rs 204 billion which has been increased to Rs 260 billion in the current fiscal year. Birgunj Customs has collected Rs 27.13 billion in the last two months.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15787', 'image' => '20220921031124_PS_Birgunj-DSCN0013.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 15:10:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16045', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Local Units Imposing Unauthorized Taxes on Imported Raw Materials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: Some local units have been found abusing the authority given by the Local Level Operation Act 2074. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Om Prakash Khanal</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 20: Some local units have been found abusing the authority given by the Local Level Operation Act 2074. The situation has deteriorated so much that several local units have been imposing taxes on the industrial raw materials that have received customs clearance. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importers have collected evidences of paying unauthorized taxes that they are forced to pay right from the customs point to the delivery destination. Birgunj metropolis and Jitpur-Simara sub-metropolis collected tax on scrap materials from vehicles carrying coal from Birgunj Customs. Even though the tax on scrap materials cannot be levied on industrial raw materials, the municipality is doing so with the help of contractors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The local governments in this corridor have sub-contracted the responsibility of collecting taxes on herbs, scrap materials and animals having origin, commercial use, and trading within the respective local unit. A member of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce said that both these municipalities located in the Bara-Parsa industrial corridor are collecting taxes illegally through their contractors. Businessmen say that such a tax may seem like a headache for businessmen on surface level, but in the real sense the final burden of the tax falls on the consumers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In Birgunj, a company named Medant Construction holds the contract for collecting such taxes and H&J Traders has the bagged the contract in Jitpursimara sub-metropolitan city of Bara. Both these contractors collect tax contrary to the agreement. On September 2, a truck with registration number JH 10 BA 3274, that passed the customs check from the ICP Birgunj, was initially handed over a receipt of Rs 200 at the local Bahuari Chowk by the employees of Medanta.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The complaint of the importer is that he was forced to pay INR 200 despite receiving receipt of NRS 200. As soon as the truck passed the customs, it was again surrounded by the employees of H&J on the highway at some distance and was forced to pay the money. New Business Age has verified the evidence of the importer paying Rs 200 to the employees of H&J.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The employees of the contractor assigned to collect taxes on the road don’t even write the full number of the transport vehicle in the tax receipt. Only the number of the truck is mentioned in the receipt issued by both the contractors. The alphabet as well is not mentioned with the number.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">These contractors, who have received the patronage of the municipal leadership, set up tax collection centers at 13 locations in Birgunj metropolis and various locations in Jitpur-Simara. The contractors stand with bags of receipts to collect taxes at the gates of industries in the industrial corridor. The businessmen complain that the contractors force them to pay tax not only on the raw materials entering the industry but also on the finished goods coming out of the industry. Manoj Karna, head of the Revenue Administration of Birgunj Metropolis says that tax on scrap materials cannot be levied on raw materials. However, extortion in the name of tax collection continues unabated.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15786', 'image' => '20220921014410_taxxxxx.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 13:43:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16044', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three GI Wire Industries Resume Operation after Revision of Tax Rates', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Three out of five Galvanized Iron (GI) wire industries in Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor, which were closed due to the increase in customs duty and excise duty on the import of raw materials, have come into operation again.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 21: Three out of five Galvanized Iron (GI) wire industries in Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor, which were closed due to the increase in customs duty and excise duty on the import of raw materials, have come into operation again. After the tax rates increased in the budget was revised by the decision of the Council of Ministers, the closed industries resumed operation. In the meantime, the remaining two industries are also preparing to resume operation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Premier Wires Pvt Ltd, Hulas Wire Industries Ltd and Pioneer Wires Pvt Ltd have started production after the tax rates were revised, while Kamala Wire and Arihant Wire are preparing to start production within a few days. Those industries were closed for four months after the finance minister increased the customs duty and excise duty on the raw material of GI wire through the budget of the current fiscal year. More than 2,000 workers were unemployed due to the closure of industries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Managing Director of Premier Wires Saurabh Sharda said that although the tax rate increased by the finance minister was revised by the decision of the Council of Ministers, the Nepali industries are not able to export GI wire to India due to the excise duty imposed since the last three years. He informed that the industries could not start production immediately because it took time to arrange raw materials, workers and machinery.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Janardan Sharma had increased the customs duty on Mild Steel (MS) wire rod, the raw material required for this industry, from 5 to 10 percent. The rate of excise duty was also increased from Rs 2.50 to Rs 4.50 per kg. India also started levying 15 percent customs duty on the export of MS wire to protect its industry. As a result, it became impossible for the Nepali industrialists to sustain their business.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Anil Sharda, general secretary of Morang Merchant’s Association and operator of Pioneer Wire said they had to pay a total of 29.5 percent revenue on the import of MS wire including India's export duty, Nepal's import duty and excise duty. So they had to close the industry and started protest on the streets. However, he added that the government saved the industry by addressing their demands even though it was a bit late.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Suyash Raj Pyakurel, president of the Chamber of Industry, Morang, said that due to the excise duty imposed on raw materials, the export of GI wire, which was 22,740 metric tons in the fiscal year 2018/19, dropped to 672 metric tons in the fiscal year 2021/22. He said that up to 40,000 tons of GI wire can be exported from Nepal annually if Nepal removes the excise duty and India removes the export duty. According to him, Nepal can earn Rs 6 billion from the export of GI wire.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15785', 'image' => '20220921010537_1663734995.करको दर सच्चिएपछि ३ जीआई वायर उद्योग चल्न थाले.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 13:04:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16043', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Exports Electricity worth Rs 7 Billion to India in 4 Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Nepal Electricity Authority has exported electricity worth more than Rs 7 billion to the Indian market in the last four months.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 21: Nepal Electricity Authority has exported electricity worth more than Rs 7 billion to the Indian market in the last four months. In the second month of the current fiscal year, export of electricity amounted to Rs 2.42 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA has said that 246.5 million units of surplus electricity were exported between mid-August to mid-September. The export generated a revenue of Rs 2.41 billion. In monsoon, NEA sold the surplus electricity through competition in the day-ahead market of Indian Energy Exchange Limited from June 2.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the beginning, 39 megawatts of electricity produced by two power plants were sold in the Indian Energy Exchange Market daily. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Since June 10, 364 megawatts of electricity produced by six hydropower plants have been sold daily in the Indian market at competitive rates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA has earned Rs 7.19 billion by selling 787.8 million units of electricity in the Indian market between May, June, July and August. As the electricity trade with India is done in Indian rupees, Nepal has received INR 4.49 billion from the export of electricity in four months.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kulman Ghising, executive director of NEA, said that every month when electricity exports increase, the amount received from it is contributed to Nepal's foreign exchange reserves which helps reduces the trade deficit between the two countries. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"In the current fiscal year, the target is to earn about Rs 16 billion from electricity export," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ghising added that since the festival is about to start, domestic consumption will be slightly reduced due to the closure of industries and factories, but the production will be at full capacity. So, the NEA has proposed exporting about 200 megawatts of electricity which is subject to approval by the government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In Indian Energy Exchange Market, 24 hours are divided into 96 blocks of 15 minutes each and electricity is traded at a competitive rate set by the market. Therefore, the price of each block is different. The average rate of electricity exported by NEA in August is Rs 9.80 per unit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15784', 'image' => '20220921122507_electricity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 12:24:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16042', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Minister Sharma Urges BFIs to Investment More in Productive Sector ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has urged banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to increase investment in the industrial and manufacturing sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 21: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has urged banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to increase investment in the industrial and manufacturing sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at the 49th anniversary of the Deposit and Credit Guarantee Fund (DCGF) on Tuesday, Minister Sharma said that the industrial and productive sector should not be jeopardized due to lack of investment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that economic development of the country would not be possible without development of industrial and manufacturing sector, Sharma called for a system wherein investment in projects are considered by keeping the project itself as a collateral. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minister argued that the country cannot become economically strong unless rural economy is developed. He viewed that stakeholders should pay attention whether the loans given by the BFIs for agriculture sector were being invested in real estate. </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"">"BFIs should invest in manufacturing sector. Loans should be provided to industrial and manufacturing sectors at less than two per cent interest," said Minister Sharma. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to him, there is no alternative to increasing production to substitute imports and called for more investment to boost domestic production. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari said that although it had been a long time since the DCGF came into operation, it could not devise effective policies, programmes and plans. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Urging the concerned stakeholders to pay attention to this aspect, Governor Adhikari requested the DCGF to deliver its services effectively by devising long-term plans and to function within the jurisdiction of the DCGF's Act. "The DCGF should not only collect money. Consider investing in other sectors as well," said Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Revenue Secretary Rameshwar Dangal, who is also the chairperson of the DCGF, pledged utmost efforts on his part to make the fund more effective. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The DCGF, as a deposit insurer, started the deposit guarantee scheme in Nepal since 2010. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15783', 'image' => '20220921113316_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 11:32:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16040', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Valley Traffic Police to Launch 'Special' Checking Targeting Festivals ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, Ramshahpath has decided to launch 'special' checks at the entry points in the Kathmandu Valley in view of upcoming festivals. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 20: The Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, Ramshahpath has decided to launch 'special' checking at the entry points in the Kathmandu Valley in view of upcoming festivals. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the office, they will focus on long-route vehicles during the campaign. </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"">"Our efforts will be for terminating possible incidences of passengers being conned under various pretexts during festivals, and ensuring their safe travels,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Rajendra Prasad Bhatta.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to SSP Bhatta, special security measures have been planned at Thankot, Nagdhunga, Jagati, Pharping, Balaju Bypass entry points. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the office has planned to conduct regular checking, and checks against drunk-driving at 35 locations in the Valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Vehicles will be banned from carrying passengers more than their seating capacity and goods on hoods will also be banned. Vehicle operators are required to get the condition of their vehicles checked and repaired regularly, and passengers should be informed about security measures they should take during a long-route travel. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the traffic police will act against the possibility of overcharging passengers during festivals. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Kathmandu Traffic Police Office and the Department of Transport Management will set up passengers help desks at 14 locations in the Kathmandu Valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Office in collaboration with the Department is to set up help desks at Nagdhunga, Kalanki, Swoyambhu, Machhaokhari, New Buspark, Chabahil, Gaushala, Koteshwor, Jagati, Saatdobato, Balkhu, Dakshinkali, Sundhara and Old Buspark. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Spokesperson Bhatta said that the help desks aim to facilitate passengers for ensuring comfortable travel and to implement fixed transport fare rate during the festivals. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15781', 'image' => '20220920040327_20220414085442_public transportation.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 16:02:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16039', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Twenty One Percent Progress in KTM-Tarai Fast Track', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The Nepalese Army, which aims to complete the Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway (Fast Track) project by mid-December 2024, has spent only Rs 37.96 billion in the project so far.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 20: The Nepalese Army, which aims to complete the Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway (Fast Track) project by mid-December 2024, has spent only Rs 37.96 billion in the project so far. The total cost of the expressway which is being constructed under the management of the Nepalese Army is Rs 175 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government had entrusted the management of the expressway to the Nepalese Army in the fiscal year 2016/17 with a mandate to complete it within four years. The progress of the expressway is only 21 percent so far. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The term of the project was extended till 2024 after it was not possible to complete the fast track within the initial deadline of four years due to various reasons.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The dispute in Khokna remains as it is and the contract agreements for six more packages are yet to be signed. The construction of these packages has not started yet which suggests that the fast track will not be completed within the extended deadline.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">This is evident from the progress report presented by the Nepalese Army during a programme organized on Friday to inform about the current status of the expressway and the action plan for the current fiscal year. Project Chief Bikas Pokharel informed that 21.18 percent of physical progress has been achieved since the project started. In the last fiscal year, the project received a total budget of Rs 8.79 billion. Both physical and financial progress during the review year was above 99 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The contract management of Khokna and Package No 11, which is considered the starting point of the 72.5 km expressway, is the major bone of contention. Project chief Pokharel informed that the army is yet to acquire 414 ropanis of land in this area due to the protest of the locals, who have been demanding preservation of their cultural heritage.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The army has stated that the delay in resolving the Khokna-Bungmati dispute is a major challenge for completing the project within the given deadline. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Khokna dispute, the complications in the process of felling trees and land acquisition, the preparation of the supplementary environmental impact assessment (SEIA) report and the inter-ministerial process to remove the procedural hassles have been mentioned by the army as a the main challenges.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, the army says that efforts are being made to complete the work on time. Out of the total 11 packages of the project, five packages including construction of tunnel, road and bridge have been signed and construction has been started. The army has said that it will manage the contract for the remaining six packages in the current fiscal year and start the work simultaneously. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15780', 'image' => '20220920032839_fast track.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 15:28:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16038', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'When will Nepal Adopt Electronic Voting System?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: Whenever there is an election in Nepal, the issue of using electronic voting machine becomes the topic of hot debate. After the election, this issue gets overshadowed for the next five years.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 20: Whenever there is an election in Nepal, the issue of using electronic voting machine becomes the topic of hot debate. After the election, this issue gets overshadowed for the next five years.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It is not logical to argue that the electronic voting machine, which was used in the first Constituent Assembly election in 2008, cannot be used now. In the last 15 years, many things have been digitalized with new innovations in the field of information and technology. However, the Government of Nepal and the Election Commission are heading in the opposite direction as far as voting is concerned.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Electronic voting machines are now being used even in the general conventions of many political parties. If so, why can't the voting machine be used in the national elections?</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">People are not very hopeful that voting machines will be used when the parties in power do not want to use them. However, the use of electronic voting machines is now not only a necessity but also a compulsion to prevent billions of rupees from flowing out of the country during election at a time when the pressure on the foreign exchange reserves persists and the overall economic indicators are not positive.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">By using electronic equipment, voting is done faster and the results are also faster. There is no need to stay awake all night to count votes or surround the polling stations with wire netting for the fear of rigging.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Election Commission had formed a taskforce comprising team of experts under the coordination of Anil Kumar Dutta, joint secretary of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, to conduct a feasibility study for using electronic voting system. The taskforce submitted the feasibility study report to the commission within one week recommending the use of electronic voting machines for the local election because such machines are being used in internal elections of political parties. The taskforce suggested that electronic voting can be done using machines made in Nepal, India or machines made in any other country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even though the study team submitted its report, the Election Commission got stuck in the issue of verification of the machine. As a result, electronic voting machines were not used even in one municipality in the recently held local elections.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Electronic voting system is associated with the modernization of election. Such system is in place even in neighbouring India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Election Commission take the political parties into confidence to vote electronically. This is because even now, when they lose the election, they still have believe that they can win by tampering with the ballot paper or the ballot boxes.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15779', 'image' => '20220920023845_Election_Commission.2e16d0ba.fill-650x500.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 14:38:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16037', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 76,000 People Acquire Work Permits ahead of Dashain', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The number of people acquiring work permits to go for foreign employment has not declined even though the festival of Dashain, the main festival of Nepal, is just around the corner.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 20: The number of people acquiring work permits to go for foreign employment has not declined even though the festival of Dashain, the main festival of Nepal, is just around the corner.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Department of Foreign Employment, 76,430 people have taken work permits to go for foreign employment within a span of a month between mid-August to mid-September of the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The number of people seeking work permits in mid-July to mid-August was 63,039, which increased by 21 percent in mid-August to mid-September.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department informed that among the ones receiving work permit, 68,884 are men and 7,519 are women. They have taken work permits to go to South East Asian countries as well as the Gulf and European countries. Most of them have taken work permit to go to Malaysia (35,372), followed by Qatar (11,775) and the UAE (8,365).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the department, the number of highly skilled workers is 13, the number of professional workers is 146, the number of semi-skilled workers is 5,092, the number of skilled workers is 46,069 and the number of workers without skills is 25,083.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15778', 'image' => '20220920012147_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 13:21:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16036', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Board to be Transformed into an Authority', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The Insurance Board, which has been regulating the insurance sector of Nepal, is now going to be transformed into an authority.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 20: The Insurance Board, which has been regulating the insurance sector of Nepal, is now going to be transformed into an authority. With the passing of the Insurance Bill 2079 by both the houses of the Federal Parliament, the way to transform the board into an authority has been opened. After authentication by the president, the bill will take the form of an Act and come into force.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The House of Representatives passed the bill last July and sent it to the National Assembly. The National Assembly meeting held last Thursday passed the bill along with the report of the Legislative Management Committee. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Then, the proposal to pass the bill with suggestions from the National Assembly was passed by the majority of MPs during a meeting of the House of Representatives on Friday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Surya Prasad Silwal, chairman of the Insurance Board, said 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 said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The then Finance Minister, Yuvraj Khatiwada, had registered the Insurance Bill in parliament four years ago to amend and consolidate laws related to the insurance sector. However, the discussion on the bill was halted for a long time after a dispute regarding the continuity of the terms of the chairman and directors 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></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","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></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","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></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-11-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15777', 'image' => '20221108014349_20220401011717_Insurance board.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 09:49:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16035', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Urban Areas of Nepal Generate One Million Tonnes of Garbage in a Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The urban areas of Nepal generate around one million tonnes of garbage annually, according to the data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 20: The urban areas of Nepal generate around one million tonnes of garbage annually, according to the data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the study report prepared by the bureau, the residential areas generate most of the garbage in the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Out of the total garbage produced in the country, the residential areas are responsible for producing 386,690 tonnes of wastages while the business area generates 245,884 tonnes of garbage. Similarly, 103,244 tonnes of garbage are released by educational institutions and 94,392 tonnes by the industrial areas. Likewise, health sector generates 101,507 tonnes of wastage while 66,220 toones of garbage come out from other areas, the bureau informed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the bureau, a total of 389,983 tonnes (39 percent) of garbage are sent to landfill site, 315,069 tonnes (31 percent) are dumped in riverbanks and riverside while 22,075 tonnes (2 percent) of garbage are burnt down. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the study report, most of the garbage generated in the country are of organic nature. Such garbage are a result of agricultural wastage. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Other waste products such as plastic, metals and paper amounting to 8,690 tonnes can be recycled, says the report. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The report suggests capacity enhancement of the professionals and stakeholders working in waste management sector to for proper classification, management and reuse of waste matters in accordance to the international standards. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The bureau had conducted a survey on wastage production, collection and management around three years ago.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15776', 'image' => '20220920092533_Kathmandu Valley.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 09:24:53', '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' => '16050', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Economy to Modestly Expand in Current FY: ADB Report', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 22: Nepal’s economy is estimated to expand modestly by 4.7 percent (at market prices) in the current fiscal year (FY 2022/23), down from an estimated growth of 5.8 percent in FY 2021/22.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">September 22: Nepal’s economy is estimated to expand modestly by 4.7 percent (at market prices) in the current fiscal year (FY 2022/23), down from an estimated growth of 5.8 percent in FY 2021/22, says the latest report of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">According to the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2022, the flagship economic publication of the ADB, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth is forecast to moderate largely reflecting the tight monetary policy adopted by the government for the current fiscal year amid rise in imports, a marked decline in foreign exchange reserves, and inflationary pressure. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">ADB’s Country Director for Nepal Arnaud Cauchois said in a statement that the downside risks to growth may arise from further stringent measures by the authorities that may be necessary to curb import, which will depress domestic production and consumption, adversely affecting growth.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">“A resurgence of COVID-19 infections leading to lockdown measures, intensification of dengue fever straining the fragile health system, disasters triggered by natural hazards, and geopolitical turmoil may further dampen growth prospects,” added Cauchois.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">The update highlights that agriculture growth will likely be boosted owing to a normal monsoon, but the ongoing fertilizer shortages may adversely affect paddy production. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">According to the report, industrial production is expected to grow on increased generation of hydroelectricity and capacity utilization of the industries. The report also notes that services growth will likely moderate owing to a slowdown in real estate, wholesale, and retail trade activities, induced by credit control measures and hike in interest rates. But provincial and federal level elections scheduled in November 2022 will stimulate spending resulting in GDP growth.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">The government’s fiscal policy reflected in the budget speech for 2023 is somewhat expansionary, focused on strengthening agriculture, industry, infrastructure, and social protection, added the report. Monetary policy is contractionary, aimed at curbing high credit growth to contain domestic demand, escalating prices, and rising imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">The country’s inflation will likely marginally decline to 6.1 percent in FY 2022/23 from 6.3 percent in FY 2021/22, restrained by tight monetary policy, a normal harvest, somewhat subdued oil prices, and a modest inflation decline in India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">The current account deficit is estimated to narrow to 8.1 percent of GDP in FY 2022/23 owing to a moderation in merchandise imports amidst stable remittance inflow, states the report. Out-migration for foreign employment has picked up, exceeding the pre-pandemic level of FY 2018/19. Imports related to COVID-19 will have substantially decreased and falling oil prices will help lower import bill for Nepal, says the ADB report. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-22', 'modified' => '2022-09-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15791', 'image' => '20220922113226_ADB.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-22 11:31:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16049', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Japan to Provide Financial Assistance for Improvement of Irrigation and Transmission Systems', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 22: Japan has decided to provide grant assistance of up to Rs 2 billion (Japanese Yen 2,256,000,000) to implement of the Project for the Improvement of the Rehabilitation of Irrigation System in eastern Terai. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 22: Japan has decided to provide grant assistance of up to Rs 2 billion (Japanese Yen 2,256,000,000) to implement of the Project for the Improvement of the Rehabilitation of Irrigation System in eastern Terai. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In addition to this, Japan has agreed to ensure concessional loan assistance of Rs 14.2 billion (Japanese Yen 15,901,000,000) to Nepal for the Urban Transmission and Distribution System Improvement Project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Embassy of Japan and the Ministry of Finance signed notes in this regard amidst a programme held at the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday, the Embassy said in a press statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Japan's Ambassador to Nepal, Kikuta Yutaka, and Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar signed the agreement on behalf of their respective governments. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, the Japanese ambassador said both agriculture and energy are important sectors for economic development of Nepal. </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"">"Agriculture is the major industry in which a large number of Nepal people are engaged. The development of agriculture is indispensable for the overall development of Nepal. Likewise, as Nepal's hydropower generation capability has been improving, it is important to develop the transmission and distribution system to take full advantage of the progress," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He further stated that the year 2022 marks the 120th anniversary since the first eight Nepali students were dispatched to Japan for study. The two projects singed in this commemorative year symbolize the friendship between the two countries and will contribute to Nepal's development, added Yutaka. He further said that the Japan is committed to extending all possible assistance to Nepal in its endevour for nation building and strengthening the friendly relationship between the people of Japan and Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Ministry of Finance, the grant assistance will be used for the maintenance and improvement of Chandra Nahar irrigation system for reliable and continuous irrigation facilities, mainly in the eastern Terai. Similarly, the concessional loan will be utilised for improving the urban electricity transmission system in big cities of Nepal, including Kathmandu and Pokhara with the aim of reducing transmission losses as well as increasing the reliability of electricity distribution. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following the signing ceremony, Finance Secretary Pushkar said the implementation of these two projects would be crucial for improving irrigation facilities in Nepal, increasing reliability of electricity supply and reducing the transmission losses. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He appreciated Japan for its continuous support in socio-economic and human resources development of Nepal. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-22', 'modified' => '2022-09-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15790', 'image' => '20220922110915_RS_KTM_008A849609212022.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-22 11:08:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16048', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Assures Deposit Guarantee of Rs 1100 Billion Deposited in BFIs', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Banks and Financial Institutions have assured the guarantee of at least Rs 1100 billion deposited by the customers. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 21: Banks and Financial Institutions have assured the guarantee of at least Rs 1100 billion deposited by the customers. As per the announcement of BFIs to protect the deposits made by small depositors and to build the customers’ trust on banking system, the banks have brought a maximum of Rs 300,000 from each of 33,700,000 customers within the fold of the Deposit and Credit Guarantee Fund.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">About a decade ago, the government had made it mandatory for BFIs to guarantee the safety of the deposits in the name of their customers. Initially, the banks were instructed to guarantee the security of at least Rs 200,000 per account which was increased to Rs 300,000 per account three years ago. The government has already decided that the banks must protect at least Rs 500,000 of each account from mid-September of the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Chief of the fund Ramesh Ghimire informed New Business Age that the state-run programme will assure protection of at least Rs 1100 billion deposited by the customers of banks as of mid-September 2022. He further said that this amount will increase after mid-September as the government has already decided that the banks must protect at least Rs 500,000 per account.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the fund, 108 banking and financial institutions have received commitment from the fund for the guarantee of their credit and deposits. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government had initiated the deposit guarantee programme about a decade ago after the liquidation of Nepal Development Bank. The fund will be responsible to pay the prescribed amount to the customers if the BFIs turn problematic and are unable to return the deposits to the customers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per this provision, the fund had earlier paid Rs 110 million to the customers of Himalayan Finance.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari says that the concept of deposit guarantee was developed in the 1930s after the banks worldwide turned problematic. He said that Nepal has also put in practice the same concept to protect the deposits of the customers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at the 49<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the fund, Governor Adhikari said that 22 percent of the total deposits of BFIs have been secured so far.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15789', 'image' => '20220921042258_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 16:22:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16047', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kathmandu Police to Mobilize Over Three Thousand Security Personnel for Festive Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Nepal Police has decided to deploy 3,343 police personnel in the capital Kathmandu in order to maintain peace and security during the upcoming festive season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 21: Nepal Police has decided to deploy 3,343 police personnel in the capital Kathmandu in order to maintain peace and security during the upcoming festive season. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The District Police Range, Kathmandu made such revelation during a programme organized on Tuesday to shed light on the security plans of the police force for the festivals which are just around the corner. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to SSP Dinesh Raj Mainali, spokesperson of the District Police Range, Kathmandu, the police have already started implementing the Festive Security Plan 2079 from Tuesday itself with the motive of minimizing criminal activities during the festivals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Police has assured of effective coordination among various units of the police force to maintain security. According to SSP Mainali, the police teams will reach the incident site within five to seven minutes if any untoward incident happens. Another major objective of the security plan is to ensure justice to the victims and to penalize the offenders. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SSP Mainali informed that police personnel in plain clothes will be deployed in areas where excessive number of crimes take place as well as areas having high potential for criminal activities. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the police force will also be conducting awareness campaigns through the Facebook page of District Police Range, Kathmandu as well as Traffic FM and other media. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The police will be monitoring the general activities in major business centers and thoroughfares as well as places where financial transactions take place more and the entry points of Kathmandu valley through CCTV cameras. Likewise, drones will also be used during this period to take videos and help in maintaining security. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the police plans to effectively mobilize its units from all 14 police circles within Kathmandu and set up 12 help desks. Similarly, mobile patrols will be done in 24 locations while there will be picketing in 91 places and quick response teams in 14 places. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15788', 'image' => '20220921034658_Nepal_Police_logo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 15:46:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16046', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Revenue Collection Slumps due to Decline in Import of Fuel and Vehicles ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Revenue collection has been affected due the strict policy adopted by the government to discourage imports. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 21: Revenue collection has been affected due the strict policy adopted by the government to discourage imports. The government has failed to collect revenue as per its target due to the decline in imports of petroleum products and vehicles which are the chief contributors to the government’s revenue. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Birgunj Customs, which is the main customs point of the country in terms of the quantity of imports and exports, failed to meet its target of revenue collection in the first two months of the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj Customs, Dhan Bahadur Baruwal, the revenue collection of this customs office during the review period was 79 percent of the target. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Customs Chief Baruwal confirmed that the revenue collection declined due to the drop in import of petroleum products and vehicles. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“This customs point used to collect maximum revenue from petroleum products and vehicles. As the import of these products declined, we couldn’t meet the revenue collection target,” said Baruwal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has adopted a strict policy for the import of vehicles such as cars, jeeps and vans for personal use. The demand for vehicles has dropped after banks refused to invest on vehicles as per the instruction of the central bank. The importers are unable to obtain customs clearance of the vehicles that have already arrived at the customs point. At present, more than 1800 vehicles are stuck at the Integrated Check Point in Birgjun, informed Kamal Gyawali, chief of the Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Committee that looks after the ICP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Customs officials say that the government increased the revenue collection target when it had adopted measures to curb imports. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The revenue collection target of Birgunj Customs during the last fiscal year was Rs 204 billion which has been increased to Rs 260 billion in the current fiscal year. Birgunj Customs has collected Rs 27.13 billion in the last two months.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15787', 'image' => '20220921031124_PS_Birgunj-DSCN0013.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 15:10:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16045', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Local Units Imposing Unauthorized Taxes on Imported Raw Materials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: Some local units have been found abusing the authority given by the Local Level Operation Act 2074. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Om Prakash Khanal</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 20: Some local units have been found abusing the authority given by the Local Level Operation Act 2074. The situation has deteriorated so much that several local units have been imposing taxes on the industrial raw materials that have received customs clearance. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importers have collected evidences of paying unauthorized taxes that they are forced to pay right from the customs point to the delivery destination. Birgunj metropolis and Jitpur-Simara sub-metropolis collected tax on scrap materials from vehicles carrying coal from Birgunj Customs. Even though the tax on scrap materials cannot be levied on industrial raw materials, the municipality is doing so with the help of contractors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The local governments in this corridor have sub-contracted the responsibility of collecting taxes on herbs, scrap materials and animals having origin, commercial use, and trading within the respective local unit. A member of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce said that both these municipalities located in the Bara-Parsa industrial corridor are collecting taxes illegally through their contractors. Businessmen say that such a tax may seem like a headache for businessmen on surface level, but in the real sense the final burden of the tax falls on the consumers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In Birgunj, a company named Medant Construction holds the contract for collecting such taxes and H&J Traders has the bagged the contract in Jitpursimara sub-metropolitan city of Bara. Both these contractors collect tax contrary to the agreement. On September 2, a truck with registration number JH 10 BA 3274, that passed the customs check from the ICP Birgunj, was initially handed over a receipt of Rs 200 at the local Bahuari Chowk by the employees of Medanta.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The complaint of the importer is that he was forced to pay INR 200 despite receiving receipt of NRS 200. As soon as the truck passed the customs, it was again surrounded by the employees of H&J on the highway at some distance and was forced to pay the money. New Business Age has verified the evidence of the importer paying Rs 200 to the employees of H&J.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The employees of the contractor assigned to collect taxes on the road don’t even write the full number of the transport vehicle in the tax receipt. Only the number of the truck is mentioned in the receipt issued by both the contractors. The alphabet as well is not mentioned with the number.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">These contractors, who have received the patronage of the municipal leadership, set up tax collection centers at 13 locations in Birgunj metropolis and various locations in Jitpur-Simara. The contractors stand with bags of receipts to collect taxes at the gates of industries in the industrial corridor. The businessmen complain that the contractors force them to pay tax not only on the raw materials entering the industry but also on the finished goods coming out of the industry. Manoj Karna, head of the Revenue Administration of Birgunj Metropolis says that tax on scrap materials cannot be levied on raw materials. However, extortion in the name of tax collection continues unabated.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15786', 'image' => '20220921014410_taxxxxx.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 13:43:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16044', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three GI Wire Industries Resume Operation after Revision of Tax Rates', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Three out of five Galvanized Iron (GI) wire industries in Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor, which were closed due to the increase in customs duty and excise duty on the import of raw materials, have come into operation again.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 21: Three out of five Galvanized Iron (GI) wire industries in Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor, which were closed due to the increase in customs duty and excise duty on the import of raw materials, have come into operation again. After the tax rates increased in the budget was revised by the decision of the Council of Ministers, the closed industries resumed operation. In the meantime, the remaining two industries are also preparing to resume operation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Premier Wires Pvt Ltd, Hulas Wire Industries Ltd and Pioneer Wires Pvt Ltd have started production after the tax rates were revised, while Kamala Wire and Arihant Wire are preparing to start production within a few days. Those industries were closed for four months after the finance minister increased the customs duty and excise duty on the raw material of GI wire through the budget of the current fiscal year. More than 2,000 workers were unemployed due to the closure of industries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Managing Director of Premier Wires Saurabh Sharda said that although the tax rate increased by the finance minister was revised by the decision of the Council of Ministers, the Nepali industries are not able to export GI wire to India due to the excise duty imposed since the last three years. He informed that the industries could not start production immediately because it took time to arrange raw materials, workers and machinery.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Janardan Sharma had increased the customs duty on Mild Steel (MS) wire rod, the raw material required for this industry, from 5 to 10 percent. The rate of excise duty was also increased from Rs 2.50 to Rs 4.50 per kg. India also started levying 15 percent customs duty on the export of MS wire to protect its industry. As a result, it became impossible for the Nepali industrialists to sustain their business.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Anil Sharda, general secretary of Morang Merchant’s Association and operator of Pioneer Wire said they had to pay a total of 29.5 percent revenue on the import of MS wire including India's export duty, Nepal's import duty and excise duty. So they had to close the industry and started protest on the streets. However, he added that the government saved the industry by addressing their demands even though it was a bit late.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Suyash Raj Pyakurel, president of the Chamber of Industry, Morang, said that due to the excise duty imposed on raw materials, the export of GI wire, which was 22,740 metric tons in the fiscal year 2018/19, dropped to 672 metric tons in the fiscal year 2021/22. He said that up to 40,000 tons of GI wire can be exported from Nepal annually if Nepal removes the excise duty and India removes the export duty. According to him, Nepal can earn Rs 6 billion from the export of GI wire.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15785', 'image' => '20220921010537_1663734995.करको दर सच्चिएपछि ३ जीआई वायर उद्योग चल्न थाले.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 13:04:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16043', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Exports Electricity worth Rs 7 Billion to India in 4 Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Nepal Electricity Authority has exported electricity worth more than Rs 7 billion to the Indian market in the last four months.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 21: Nepal Electricity Authority has exported electricity worth more than Rs 7 billion to the Indian market in the last four months. In the second month of the current fiscal year, export of electricity amounted to Rs 2.42 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA has said that 246.5 million units of surplus electricity were exported between mid-August to mid-September. The export generated a revenue of Rs 2.41 billion. In monsoon, NEA sold the surplus electricity through competition in the day-ahead market of Indian Energy Exchange Limited from June 2.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the beginning, 39 megawatts of electricity produced by two power plants were sold in the Indian Energy Exchange Market daily. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Since June 10, 364 megawatts of electricity produced by six hydropower plants have been sold daily in the Indian market at competitive rates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA has earned Rs 7.19 billion by selling 787.8 million units of electricity in the Indian market between May, June, July and August. As the electricity trade with India is done in Indian rupees, Nepal has received INR 4.49 billion from the export of electricity in four months.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kulman Ghising, executive director of NEA, said that every month when electricity exports increase, the amount received from it is contributed to Nepal's foreign exchange reserves which helps reduces the trade deficit between the two countries. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"In the current fiscal year, the target is to earn about Rs 16 billion from electricity export," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ghising added that since the festival is about to start, domestic consumption will be slightly reduced due to the closure of industries and factories, but the production will be at full capacity. So, the NEA has proposed exporting about 200 megawatts of electricity which is subject to approval by the government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In Indian Energy Exchange Market, 24 hours are divided into 96 blocks of 15 minutes each and electricity is traded at a competitive rate set by the market. Therefore, the price of each block is different. The average rate of electricity exported by NEA in August is Rs 9.80 per unit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15784', 'image' => '20220921122507_electricity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 12:24:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16042', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Minister Sharma Urges BFIs to Investment More in Productive Sector ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has urged banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to increase investment in the industrial and manufacturing sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 21: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has urged banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to increase investment in the industrial and manufacturing sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at the 49th anniversary of the Deposit and Credit Guarantee Fund (DCGF) on Tuesday, Minister Sharma said that the industrial and productive sector should not be jeopardized due to lack of investment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that economic development of the country would not be possible without development of industrial and manufacturing sector, Sharma called for a system wherein investment in projects are considered by keeping the project itself as a collateral. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minister argued that the country cannot become economically strong unless rural economy is developed. He viewed that stakeholders should pay attention whether the loans given by the BFIs for agriculture sector were being invested in real estate. </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"">"BFIs should invest in manufacturing sector. Loans should be provided to industrial and manufacturing sectors at less than two per cent interest," said Minister Sharma. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to him, there is no alternative to increasing production to substitute imports and called for more investment to boost domestic production. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari said that although it had been a long time since the DCGF came into operation, it could not devise effective policies, programmes and plans. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Urging the concerned stakeholders to pay attention to this aspect, Governor Adhikari requested the DCGF to deliver its services effectively by devising long-term plans and to function within the jurisdiction of the DCGF's Act. "The DCGF should not only collect money. Consider investing in other sectors as well," said Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Revenue Secretary Rameshwar Dangal, who is also the chairperson of the DCGF, pledged utmost efforts on his part to make the fund more effective. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The DCGF, as a deposit insurer, started the deposit guarantee scheme in Nepal since 2010. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15783', 'image' => '20220921113316_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 11:32:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16040', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Valley Traffic Police to Launch 'Special' Checking Targeting Festivals ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, Ramshahpath has decided to launch 'special' checks at the entry points in the Kathmandu Valley in view of upcoming festivals. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 20: The Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, Ramshahpath has decided to launch 'special' checking at the entry points in the Kathmandu Valley in view of upcoming festivals. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the office, they will focus on long-route vehicles during the campaign. </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"">"Our efforts will be for terminating possible incidences of passengers being conned under various pretexts during festivals, and ensuring their safe travels,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Rajendra Prasad Bhatta.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to SSP Bhatta, special security measures have been planned at Thankot, Nagdhunga, Jagati, Pharping, Balaju Bypass entry points. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the office has planned to conduct regular checking, and checks against drunk-driving at 35 locations in the Valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Vehicles will be banned from carrying passengers more than their seating capacity and goods on hoods will also be banned. Vehicle operators are required to get the condition of their vehicles checked and repaired regularly, and passengers should be informed about security measures they should take during a long-route travel. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the traffic police will act against the possibility of overcharging passengers during festivals. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Kathmandu Traffic Police Office and the Department of Transport Management will set up passengers help desks at 14 locations in the Kathmandu Valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Office in collaboration with the Department is to set up help desks at Nagdhunga, Kalanki, Swoyambhu, Machhaokhari, New Buspark, Chabahil, Gaushala, Koteshwor, Jagati, Saatdobato, Balkhu, Dakshinkali, Sundhara and Old Buspark. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Spokesperson Bhatta said that the help desks aim to facilitate passengers for ensuring comfortable travel and to implement fixed transport fare rate during the festivals. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15781', 'image' => '20220920040327_20220414085442_public transportation.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 16:02:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16039', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Twenty One Percent Progress in KTM-Tarai Fast Track', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The Nepalese Army, which aims to complete the Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway (Fast Track) project by mid-December 2024, has spent only Rs 37.96 billion in the project so far.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 20: The Nepalese Army, which aims to complete the Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway (Fast Track) project by mid-December 2024, has spent only Rs 37.96 billion in the project so far. The total cost of the expressway which is being constructed under the management of the Nepalese Army is Rs 175 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government had entrusted the management of the expressway to the Nepalese Army in the fiscal year 2016/17 with a mandate to complete it within four years. The progress of the expressway is only 21 percent so far. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The term of the project was extended till 2024 after it was not possible to complete the fast track within the initial deadline of four years due to various reasons.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The dispute in Khokna remains as it is and the contract agreements for six more packages are yet to be signed. The construction of these packages has not started yet which suggests that the fast track will not be completed within the extended deadline.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">This is evident from the progress report presented by the Nepalese Army during a programme organized on Friday to inform about the current status of the expressway and the action plan for the current fiscal year. Project Chief Bikas Pokharel informed that 21.18 percent of physical progress has been achieved since the project started. In the last fiscal year, the project received a total budget of Rs 8.79 billion. Both physical and financial progress during the review year was above 99 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The contract management of Khokna and Package No 11, which is considered the starting point of the 72.5 km expressway, is the major bone of contention. Project chief Pokharel informed that the army is yet to acquire 414 ropanis of land in this area due to the protest of the locals, who have been demanding preservation of their cultural heritage.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The army has stated that the delay in resolving the Khokna-Bungmati dispute is a major challenge for completing the project within the given deadline. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Khokna dispute, the complications in the process of felling trees and land acquisition, the preparation of the supplementary environmental impact assessment (SEIA) report and the inter-ministerial process to remove the procedural hassles have been mentioned by the army as a the main challenges.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, the army says that efforts are being made to complete the work on time. Out of the total 11 packages of the project, five packages including construction of tunnel, road and bridge have been signed and construction has been started. The army has said that it will manage the contract for the remaining six packages in the current fiscal year and start the work simultaneously. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15780', 'image' => '20220920032839_fast track.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 15:28:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16038', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'When will Nepal Adopt Electronic Voting System?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: Whenever there is an election in Nepal, the issue of using electronic voting machine becomes the topic of hot debate. After the election, this issue gets overshadowed for the next five years.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 20: Whenever there is an election in Nepal, the issue of using electronic voting machine becomes the topic of hot debate. After the election, this issue gets overshadowed for the next five years.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It is not logical to argue that the electronic voting machine, which was used in the first Constituent Assembly election in 2008, cannot be used now. In the last 15 years, many things have been digitalized with new innovations in the field of information and technology. However, the Government of Nepal and the Election Commission are heading in the opposite direction as far as voting is concerned.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Electronic voting machines are now being used even in the general conventions of many political parties. If so, why can't the voting machine be used in the national elections?</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">People are not very hopeful that voting machines will be used when the parties in power do not want to use them. However, the use of electronic voting machines is now not only a necessity but also a compulsion to prevent billions of rupees from flowing out of the country during election at a time when the pressure on the foreign exchange reserves persists and the overall economic indicators are not positive.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">By using electronic equipment, voting is done faster and the results are also faster. There is no need to stay awake all night to count votes or surround the polling stations with wire netting for the fear of rigging.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Election Commission had formed a taskforce comprising team of experts under the coordination of Anil Kumar Dutta, joint secretary of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, to conduct a feasibility study for using electronic voting system. The taskforce submitted the feasibility study report to the commission within one week recommending the use of electronic voting machines for the local election because such machines are being used in internal elections of political parties. The taskforce suggested that electronic voting can be done using machines made in Nepal, India or machines made in any other country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even though the study team submitted its report, the Election Commission got stuck in the issue of verification of the machine. As a result, electronic voting machines were not used even in one municipality in the recently held local elections.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Electronic voting system is associated with the modernization of election. Such system is in place even in neighbouring India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Election Commission take the political parties into confidence to vote electronically. This is because even now, when they lose the election, they still have believe that they can win by tampering with the ballot paper or the ballot boxes.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15779', 'image' => '20220920023845_Election_Commission.2e16d0ba.fill-650x500.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 14:38:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16037', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 76,000 People Acquire Work Permits ahead of Dashain', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The number of people acquiring work permits to go for foreign employment has not declined even though the festival of Dashain, the main festival of Nepal, is just around the corner.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 20: The number of people acquiring work permits to go for foreign employment has not declined even though the festival of Dashain, the main festival of Nepal, is just around the corner.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Department of Foreign Employment, 76,430 people have taken work permits to go for foreign employment within a span of a month between mid-August to mid-September of the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The number of people seeking work permits in mid-July to mid-August was 63,039, which increased by 21 percent in mid-August to mid-September.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department informed that among the ones receiving work permit, 68,884 are men and 7,519 are women. They have taken work permits to go to South East Asian countries as well as the Gulf and European countries. Most of them have taken work permit to go to Malaysia (35,372), followed by Qatar (11,775) and the UAE (8,365).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the department, the number of highly skilled workers is 13, the number of professional workers is 146, the number of semi-skilled workers is 5,092, the number of skilled workers is 46,069 and the number of workers without skills is 25,083.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15778', 'image' => '20220920012147_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 13:21:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16036', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Board to be Transformed into an Authority', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The Insurance Board, which has been regulating the insurance sector of Nepal, is now going to be transformed into an authority.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 20: The Insurance Board, which has been regulating the insurance sector of Nepal, is now going to be transformed into an authority. With the passing of the Insurance Bill 2079 by both the houses of the Federal Parliament, the way to transform the board into an authority has been opened. After authentication by the president, the bill will take the form of an Act and come into force.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The House of Representatives passed the bill last July and sent it to the National Assembly. The National Assembly meeting held last Thursday passed the bill along with the report of the Legislative Management Committee. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Then, the proposal to pass the bill with suggestions from the National Assembly was passed by the majority of MPs during a meeting of the House of Representatives on Friday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Surya Prasad Silwal, chairman of the Insurance Board, said 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 said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The then Finance Minister, Yuvraj Khatiwada, had registered the Insurance Bill in parliament four years ago to amend and consolidate laws related to the insurance sector. However, the discussion on the bill was halted for a long time after a dispute regarding the continuity of the terms of the chairman and directors 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></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","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></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","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></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-11-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15777', 'image' => '20221108014349_20220401011717_Insurance board.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 09:49:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16035', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Urban Areas of Nepal Generate One Million Tonnes of Garbage in a Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The urban areas of Nepal generate around one million tonnes of garbage annually, according to the data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 20: The urban areas of Nepal generate around one million tonnes of garbage annually, according to the data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the study report prepared by the bureau, the residential areas generate most of the garbage in the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Out of the total garbage produced in the country, the residential areas are responsible for producing 386,690 tonnes of wastages while the business area generates 245,884 tonnes of garbage. Similarly, 103,244 tonnes of garbage are released by educational institutions and 94,392 tonnes by the industrial areas. Likewise, health sector generates 101,507 tonnes of wastage while 66,220 toones of garbage come out from other areas, the bureau informed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the bureau, a total of 389,983 tonnes (39 percent) of garbage are sent to landfill site, 315,069 tonnes (31 percent) are dumped in riverbanks and riverside while 22,075 tonnes (2 percent) of garbage are burnt down. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the study report, most of the garbage generated in the country are of organic nature. Such garbage are a result of agricultural wastage. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Other waste products such as plastic, metals and paper amounting to 8,690 tonnes can be recycled, says the report. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The report suggests capacity enhancement of the professionals and stakeholders working in waste management sector to for proper classification, management and reuse of waste matters in accordance to the international standards. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The bureau had conducted a survey on wastage production, collection and management around three years ago.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15776', 'image' => '20220920092533_Kathmandu Valley.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 09:24:53', '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' => '16050', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal’s Economy to Modestly Expand in Current FY: ADB Report', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 22: Nepal’s economy is estimated to expand modestly by 4.7 percent (at market prices) in the current fiscal year (FY 2022/23), down from an estimated growth of 5.8 percent in FY 2021/22.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">September 22: Nepal’s economy is estimated to expand modestly by 4.7 percent (at market prices) in the current fiscal year (FY 2022/23), down from an estimated growth of 5.8 percent in FY 2021/22, says the latest report of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">According to the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2022, the flagship economic publication of the ADB, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth is forecast to moderate largely reflecting the tight monetary policy adopted by the government for the current fiscal year amid rise in imports, a marked decline in foreign exchange reserves, and inflationary pressure. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">ADB’s Country Director for Nepal Arnaud Cauchois said in a statement that the downside risks to growth may arise from further stringent measures by the authorities that may be necessary to curb import, which will depress domestic production and consumption, adversely affecting growth.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">“A resurgence of COVID-19 infections leading to lockdown measures, intensification of dengue fever straining the fragile health system, disasters triggered by natural hazards, and geopolitical turmoil may further dampen growth prospects,” added Cauchois.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">The update highlights that agriculture growth will likely be boosted owing to a normal monsoon, but the ongoing fertilizer shortages may adversely affect paddy production. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">According to the report, industrial production is expected to grow on increased generation of hydroelectricity and capacity utilization of the industries. The report also notes that services growth will likely moderate owing to a slowdown in real estate, wholesale, and retail trade activities, induced by credit control measures and hike in interest rates. But provincial and federal level elections scheduled in November 2022 will stimulate spending resulting in GDP growth.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">The government’s fiscal policy reflected in the budget speech for 2023 is somewhat expansionary, focused on strengthening agriculture, industry, infrastructure, and social protection, added the report. Monetary policy is contractionary, aimed at curbing high credit growth to contain domestic demand, escalating prices, and rising imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">The country’s inflation will likely marginally decline to 6.1 percent in FY 2022/23 from 6.3 percent in FY 2021/22, restrained by tight monetary policy, a normal harvest, somewhat subdued oil prices, and a modest inflation decline in India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">The current account deficit is estimated to narrow to 8.1 percent of GDP in FY 2022/23 owing to a moderation in merchandise imports amidst stable remittance inflow, states the report. Out-migration for foreign employment has picked up, exceeding the pre-pandemic level of FY 2018/19. Imports related to COVID-19 will have substantially decreased and falling oil prices will help lower import bill for Nepal, says the ADB report. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-22', 'modified' => '2022-09-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15791', 'image' => '20220922113226_ADB.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-22 11:31:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16049', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Japan to Provide Financial Assistance for Improvement of Irrigation and Transmission Systems', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 22: Japan has decided to provide grant assistance of up to Rs 2 billion (Japanese Yen 2,256,000,000) to implement of the Project for the Improvement of the Rehabilitation of Irrigation System in eastern Terai. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 22: Japan has decided to provide grant assistance of up to Rs 2 billion (Japanese Yen 2,256,000,000) to implement of the Project for the Improvement of the Rehabilitation of Irrigation System in eastern Terai. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In addition to this, Japan has agreed to ensure concessional loan assistance of Rs 14.2 billion (Japanese Yen 15,901,000,000) to Nepal for the Urban Transmission and Distribution System Improvement Project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Embassy of Japan and the Ministry of Finance signed notes in this regard amidst a programme held at the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday, the Embassy said in a press statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Japan's Ambassador to Nepal, Kikuta Yutaka, and Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar signed the agreement on behalf of their respective governments. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, the Japanese ambassador said both agriculture and energy are important sectors for economic development of Nepal. </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"">"Agriculture is the major industry in which a large number of Nepal people are engaged. The development of agriculture is indispensable for the overall development of Nepal. Likewise, as Nepal's hydropower generation capability has been improving, it is important to develop the transmission and distribution system to take full advantage of the progress," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He further stated that the year 2022 marks the 120th anniversary since the first eight Nepali students were dispatched to Japan for study. The two projects singed in this commemorative year symbolize the friendship between the two countries and will contribute to Nepal's development, added Yutaka. He further said that the Japan is committed to extending all possible assistance to Nepal in its endevour for nation building and strengthening the friendly relationship between the people of Japan and Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Ministry of Finance, the grant assistance will be used for the maintenance and improvement of Chandra Nahar irrigation system for reliable and continuous irrigation facilities, mainly in the eastern Terai. Similarly, the concessional loan will be utilised for improving the urban electricity transmission system in big cities of Nepal, including Kathmandu and Pokhara with the aim of reducing transmission losses as well as increasing the reliability of electricity distribution. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following the signing ceremony, Finance Secretary Pushkar said the implementation of these two projects would be crucial for improving irrigation facilities in Nepal, increasing reliability of electricity supply and reducing the transmission losses. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He appreciated Japan for its continuous support in socio-economic and human resources development of Nepal. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-22', 'modified' => '2022-09-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15790', 'image' => '20220922110915_RS_KTM_008A849609212022.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-22 11:08:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16048', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Assures Deposit Guarantee of Rs 1100 Billion Deposited in BFIs', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Banks and Financial Institutions have assured the guarantee of at least Rs 1100 billion deposited by the customers. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 21: Banks and Financial Institutions have assured the guarantee of at least Rs 1100 billion deposited by the customers. As per the announcement of BFIs to protect the deposits made by small depositors and to build the customers’ trust on banking system, the banks have brought a maximum of Rs 300,000 from each of 33,700,000 customers within the fold of the Deposit and Credit Guarantee Fund.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">About a decade ago, the government had made it mandatory for BFIs to guarantee the safety of the deposits in the name of their customers. Initially, the banks were instructed to guarantee the security of at least Rs 200,000 per account which was increased to Rs 300,000 per account three years ago. The government has already decided that the banks must protect at least Rs 500,000 of each account from mid-September of the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Chief of the fund Ramesh Ghimire informed New Business Age that the state-run programme will assure protection of at least Rs 1100 billion deposited by the customers of banks as of mid-September 2022. He further said that this amount will increase after mid-September as the government has already decided that the banks must protect at least Rs 500,000 per account.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the fund, 108 banking and financial institutions have received commitment from the fund for the guarantee of their credit and deposits. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government had initiated the deposit guarantee programme about a decade ago after the liquidation of Nepal Development Bank. The fund will be responsible to pay the prescribed amount to the customers if the BFIs turn problematic and are unable to return the deposits to the customers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per this provision, the fund had earlier paid Rs 110 million to the customers of Himalayan Finance.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari says that the concept of deposit guarantee was developed in the 1930s after the banks worldwide turned problematic. He said that Nepal has also put in practice the same concept to protect the deposits of the customers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at the 49<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the fund, Governor Adhikari said that 22 percent of the total deposits of BFIs have been secured so far.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15789', 'image' => '20220921042258_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 16:22:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16047', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kathmandu Police to Mobilize Over Three Thousand Security Personnel for Festive Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Nepal Police has decided to deploy 3,343 police personnel in the capital Kathmandu in order to maintain peace and security during the upcoming festive season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 21: Nepal Police has decided to deploy 3,343 police personnel in the capital Kathmandu in order to maintain peace and security during the upcoming festive season. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The District Police Range, Kathmandu made such revelation during a programme organized on Tuesday to shed light on the security plans of the police force for the festivals which are just around the corner. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to SSP Dinesh Raj Mainali, spokesperson of the District Police Range, Kathmandu, the police have already started implementing the Festive Security Plan 2079 from Tuesday itself with the motive of minimizing criminal activities during the festivals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Police has assured of effective coordination among various units of the police force to maintain security. According to SSP Mainali, the police teams will reach the incident site within five to seven minutes if any untoward incident happens. Another major objective of the security plan is to ensure justice to the victims and to penalize the offenders. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SSP Mainali informed that police personnel in plain clothes will be deployed in areas where excessive number of crimes take place as well as areas having high potential for criminal activities. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the police force will also be conducting awareness campaigns through the Facebook page of District Police Range, Kathmandu as well as Traffic FM and other media. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The police will be monitoring the general activities in major business centers and thoroughfares as well as places where financial transactions take place more and the entry points of Kathmandu valley through CCTV cameras. Likewise, drones will also be used during this period to take videos and help in maintaining security. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the police plans to effectively mobilize its units from all 14 police circles within Kathmandu and set up 12 help desks. Similarly, mobile patrols will be done in 24 locations while there will be picketing in 91 places and quick response teams in 14 places. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15788', 'image' => '20220921034658_Nepal_Police_logo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 15:46:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16046', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Revenue Collection Slumps due to Decline in Import of Fuel and Vehicles ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Revenue collection has been affected due the strict policy adopted by the government to discourage imports. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 21: Revenue collection has been affected due the strict policy adopted by the government to discourage imports. The government has failed to collect revenue as per its target due to the decline in imports of petroleum products and vehicles which are the chief contributors to the government’s revenue. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Birgunj Customs, which is the main customs point of the country in terms of the quantity of imports and exports, failed to meet its target of revenue collection in the first two months of the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj Customs, Dhan Bahadur Baruwal, the revenue collection of this customs office during the review period was 79 percent of the target. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Customs Chief Baruwal confirmed that the revenue collection declined due to the drop in import of petroleum products and vehicles. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“This customs point used to collect maximum revenue from petroleum products and vehicles. As the import of these products declined, we couldn’t meet the revenue collection target,” said Baruwal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has adopted a strict policy for the import of vehicles such as cars, jeeps and vans for personal use. The demand for vehicles has dropped after banks refused to invest on vehicles as per the instruction of the central bank. The importers are unable to obtain customs clearance of the vehicles that have already arrived at the customs point. At present, more than 1800 vehicles are stuck at the Integrated Check Point in Birgjun, informed Kamal Gyawali, chief of the Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Committee that looks after the ICP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Customs officials say that the government increased the revenue collection target when it had adopted measures to curb imports. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The revenue collection target of Birgunj Customs during the last fiscal year was Rs 204 billion which has been increased to Rs 260 billion in the current fiscal year. Birgunj Customs has collected Rs 27.13 billion in the last two months.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15787', 'image' => '20220921031124_PS_Birgunj-DSCN0013.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 15:10:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16045', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Local Units Imposing Unauthorized Taxes on Imported Raw Materials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: Some local units have been found abusing the authority given by the Local Level Operation Act 2074. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Om Prakash Khanal</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 20: Some local units have been found abusing the authority given by the Local Level Operation Act 2074. The situation has deteriorated so much that several local units have been imposing taxes on the industrial raw materials that have received customs clearance. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importers have collected evidences of paying unauthorized taxes that they are forced to pay right from the customs point to the delivery destination. Birgunj metropolis and Jitpur-Simara sub-metropolis collected tax on scrap materials from vehicles carrying coal from Birgunj Customs. Even though the tax on scrap materials cannot be levied on industrial raw materials, the municipality is doing so with the help of contractors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The local governments in this corridor have sub-contracted the responsibility of collecting taxes on herbs, scrap materials and animals having origin, commercial use, and trading within the respective local unit. A member of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce said that both these municipalities located in the Bara-Parsa industrial corridor are collecting taxes illegally through their contractors. Businessmen say that such a tax may seem like a headache for businessmen on surface level, but in the real sense the final burden of the tax falls on the consumers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In Birgunj, a company named Medant Construction holds the contract for collecting such taxes and H&J Traders has the bagged the contract in Jitpursimara sub-metropolitan city of Bara. Both these contractors collect tax contrary to the agreement. On September 2, a truck with registration number JH 10 BA 3274, that passed the customs check from the ICP Birgunj, was initially handed over a receipt of Rs 200 at the local Bahuari Chowk by the employees of Medanta.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The complaint of the importer is that he was forced to pay INR 200 despite receiving receipt of NRS 200. As soon as the truck passed the customs, it was again surrounded by the employees of H&J on the highway at some distance and was forced to pay the money. New Business Age has verified the evidence of the importer paying Rs 200 to the employees of H&J.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The employees of the contractor assigned to collect taxes on the road don’t even write the full number of the transport vehicle in the tax receipt. Only the number of the truck is mentioned in the receipt issued by both the contractors. The alphabet as well is not mentioned with the number.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">These contractors, who have received the patronage of the municipal leadership, set up tax collection centers at 13 locations in Birgunj metropolis and various locations in Jitpur-Simara. The contractors stand with bags of receipts to collect taxes at the gates of industries in the industrial corridor. The businessmen complain that the contractors force them to pay tax not only on the raw materials entering the industry but also on the finished goods coming out of the industry. Manoj Karna, head of the Revenue Administration of Birgunj Metropolis says that tax on scrap materials cannot be levied on raw materials. However, extortion in the name of tax collection continues unabated.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15786', 'image' => '20220921014410_taxxxxx.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 13:43:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16044', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three GI Wire Industries Resume Operation after Revision of Tax Rates', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Three out of five Galvanized Iron (GI) wire industries in Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor, which were closed due to the increase in customs duty and excise duty on the import of raw materials, have come into operation again.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 21: Three out of five Galvanized Iron (GI) wire industries in Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor, which were closed due to the increase in customs duty and excise duty on the import of raw materials, have come into operation again. After the tax rates increased in the budget was revised by the decision of the Council of Ministers, the closed industries resumed operation. In the meantime, the remaining two industries are also preparing to resume operation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Premier Wires Pvt Ltd, Hulas Wire Industries Ltd and Pioneer Wires Pvt Ltd have started production after the tax rates were revised, while Kamala Wire and Arihant Wire are preparing to start production within a few days. Those industries were closed for four months after the finance minister increased the customs duty and excise duty on the raw material of GI wire through the budget of the current fiscal year. More than 2,000 workers were unemployed due to the closure of industries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Managing Director of Premier Wires Saurabh Sharda said that although the tax rate increased by the finance minister was revised by the decision of the Council of Ministers, the Nepali industries are not able to export GI wire to India due to the excise duty imposed since the last three years. He informed that the industries could not start production immediately because it took time to arrange raw materials, workers and machinery.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Janardan Sharma had increased the customs duty on Mild Steel (MS) wire rod, the raw material required for this industry, from 5 to 10 percent. The rate of excise duty was also increased from Rs 2.50 to Rs 4.50 per kg. India also started levying 15 percent customs duty on the export of MS wire to protect its industry. As a result, it became impossible for the Nepali industrialists to sustain their business.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Anil Sharda, general secretary of Morang Merchant’s Association and operator of Pioneer Wire said they had to pay a total of 29.5 percent revenue on the import of MS wire including India's export duty, Nepal's import duty and excise duty. So they had to close the industry and started protest on the streets. However, he added that the government saved the industry by addressing their demands even though it was a bit late.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Suyash Raj Pyakurel, president of the Chamber of Industry, Morang, said that due to the excise duty imposed on raw materials, the export of GI wire, which was 22,740 metric tons in the fiscal year 2018/19, dropped to 672 metric tons in the fiscal year 2021/22. He said that up to 40,000 tons of GI wire can be exported from Nepal annually if Nepal removes the excise duty and India removes the export duty. According to him, Nepal can earn Rs 6 billion from the export of GI wire.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15785', 'image' => '20220921010537_1663734995.करको दर सच्चिएपछि ३ जीआई वायर उद्योग चल्न थाले.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 13:04:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16043', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Exports Electricity worth Rs 7 Billion to India in 4 Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Nepal Electricity Authority has exported electricity worth more than Rs 7 billion to the Indian market in the last four months.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 21: Nepal Electricity Authority has exported electricity worth more than Rs 7 billion to the Indian market in the last four months. In the second month of the current fiscal year, export of electricity amounted to Rs 2.42 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA has said that 246.5 million units of surplus electricity were exported between mid-August to mid-September. The export generated a revenue of Rs 2.41 billion. In monsoon, NEA sold the surplus electricity through competition in the day-ahead market of Indian Energy Exchange Limited from June 2.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the beginning, 39 megawatts of electricity produced by two power plants were sold in the Indian Energy Exchange Market daily. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Since June 10, 364 megawatts of electricity produced by six hydropower plants have been sold daily in the Indian market at competitive rates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA has earned Rs 7.19 billion by selling 787.8 million units of electricity in the Indian market between May, June, July and August. As the electricity trade with India is done in Indian rupees, Nepal has received INR 4.49 billion from the export of electricity in four months.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kulman Ghising, executive director of NEA, said that every month when electricity exports increase, the amount received from it is contributed to Nepal's foreign exchange reserves which helps reduces the trade deficit between the two countries. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"In the current fiscal year, the target is to earn about Rs 16 billion from electricity export," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ghising added that since the festival is about to start, domestic consumption will be slightly reduced due to the closure of industries and factories, but the production will be at full capacity. So, the NEA has proposed exporting about 200 megawatts of electricity which is subject to approval by the government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In Indian Energy Exchange Market, 24 hours are divided into 96 blocks of 15 minutes each and electricity is traded at a competitive rate set by the market. Therefore, the price of each block is different. The average rate of electricity exported by NEA in August is Rs 9.80 per unit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15784', 'image' => '20220921122507_electricity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 12:24:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16042', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Minister Sharma Urges BFIs to Investment More in Productive Sector ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has urged banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to increase investment in the industrial and manufacturing sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 21: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has urged banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to increase investment in the industrial and manufacturing sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at the 49th anniversary of the Deposit and Credit Guarantee Fund (DCGF) on Tuesday, Minister Sharma said that the industrial and productive sector should not be jeopardized due to lack of investment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that economic development of the country would not be possible without development of industrial and manufacturing sector, Sharma called for a system wherein investment in projects are considered by keeping the project itself as a collateral. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minister argued that the country cannot become economically strong unless rural economy is developed. He viewed that stakeholders should pay attention whether the loans given by the BFIs for agriculture sector were being invested in real estate. </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"">"BFIs should invest in manufacturing sector. Loans should be provided to industrial and manufacturing sectors at less than two per cent interest," said Minister Sharma. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to him, there is no alternative to increasing production to substitute imports and called for more investment to boost domestic production. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari said that although it had been a long time since the DCGF came into operation, it could not devise effective policies, programmes and plans. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Urging the concerned stakeholders to pay attention to this aspect, Governor Adhikari requested the DCGF to deliver its services effectively by devising long-term plans and to function within the jurisdiction of the DCGF's Act. "The DCGF should not only collect money. Consider investing in other sectors as well," said Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Revenue Secretary Rameshwar Dangal, who is also the chairperson of the DCGF, pledged utmost efforts on his part to make the fund more effective. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The DCGF, as a deposit insurer, started the deposit guarantee scheme in Nepal since 2010. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15783', 'image' => '20220921113316_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 11:32:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16040', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Valley Traffic Police to Launch 'Special' Checking Targeting Festivals ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, Ramshahpath has decided to launch 'special' checks at the entry points in the Kathmandu Valley in view of upcoming festivals. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 20: The Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, Ramshahpath has decided to launch 'special' checking at the entry points in the Kathmandu Valley in view of upcoming festivals. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the office, they will focus on long-route vehicles during the campaign. </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"">"Our efforts will be for terminating possible incidences of passengers being conned under various pretexts during festivals, and ensuring their safe travels,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Rajendra Prasad Bhatta.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to SSP Bhatta, special security measures have been planned at Thankot, Nagdhunga, Jagati, Pharping, Balaju Bypass entry points. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the office has planned to conduct regular checking, and checks against drunk-driving at 35 locations in the Valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Vehicles will be banned from carrying passengers more than their seating capacity and goods on hoods will also be banned. Vehicle operators are required to get the condition of their vehicles checked and repaired regularly, and passengers should be informed about security measures they should take during a long-route travel. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the traffic police will act against the possibility of overcharging passengers during festivals. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Kathmandu Traffic Police Office and the Department of Transport Management will set up passengers help desks at 14 locations in the Kathmandu Valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Office in collaboration with the Department is to set up help desks at Nagdhunga, Kalanki, Swoyambhu, Machhaokhari, New Buspark, Chabahil, Gaushala, Koteshwor, Jagati, Saatdobato, Balkhu, Dakshinkali, Sundhara and Old Buspark. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Spokesperson Bhatta said that the help desks aim to facilitate passengers for ensuring comfortable travel and to implement fixed transport fare rate during the festivals. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15781', 'image' => '20220920040327_20220414085442_public transportation.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 16:02:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16039', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Twenty One Percent Progress in KTM-Tarai Fast Track', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The Nepalese Army, which aims to complete the Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway (Fast Track) project by mid-December 2024, has spent only Rs 37.96 billion in the project so far.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 20: The Nepalese Army, which aims to complete the Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway (Fast Track) project by mid-December 2024, has spent only Rs 37.96 billion in the project so far. The total cost of the expressway which is being constructed under the management of the Nepalese Army is Rs 175 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government had entrusted the management of the expressway to the Nepalese Army in the fiscal year 2016/17 with a mandate to complete it within four years. The progress of the expressway is only 21 percent so far. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The term of the project was extended till 2024 after it was not possible to complete the fast track within the initial deadline of four years due to various reasons.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The dispute in Khokna remains as it is and the contract agreements for six more packages are yet to be signed. The construction of these packages has not started yet which suggests that the fast track will not be completed within the extended deadline.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">This is evident from the progress report presented by the Nepalese Army during a programme organized on Friday to inform about the current status of the expressway and the action plan for the current fiscal year. Project Chief Bikas Pokharel informed that 21.18 percent of physical progress has been achieved since the project started. In the last fiscal year, the project received a total budget of Rs 8.79 billion. Both physical and financial progress during the review year was above 99 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The contract management of Khokna and Package No 11, which is considered the starting point of the 72.5 km expressway, is the major bone of contention. Project chief Pokharel informed that the army is yet to acquire 414 ropanis of land in this area due to the protest of the locals, who have been demanding preservation of their cultural heritage.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The army has stated that the delay in resolving the Khokna-Bungmati dispute is a major challenge for completing the project within the given deadline. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Khokna dispute, the complications in the process of felling trees and land acquisition, the preparation of the supplementary environmental impact assessment (SEIA) report and the inter-ministerial process to remove the procedural hassles have been mentioned by the army as a the main challenges.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, the army says that efforts are being made to complete the work on time. Out of the total 11 packages of the project, five packages including construction of tunnel, road and bridge have been signed and construction has been started. The army has said that it will manage the contract for the remaining six packages in the current fiscal year and start the work simultaneously. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15780', 'image' => '20220920032839_fast track.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 15:28:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16038', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'When will Nepal Adopt Electronic Voting System?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: Whenever there is an election in Nepal, the issue of using electronic voting machine becomes the topic of hot debate. After the election, this issue gets overshadowed for the next five years.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 20: Whenever there is an election in Nepal, the issue of using electronic voting machine becomes the topic of hot debate. After the election, this issue gets overshadowed for the next five years.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It is not logical to argue that the electronic voting machine, which was used in the first Constituent Assembly election in 2008, cannot be used now. In the last 15 years, many things have been digitalized with new innovations in the field of information and technology. However, the Government of Nepal and the Election Commission are heading in the opposite direction as far as voting is concerned.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Electronic voting machines are now being used even in the general conventions of many political parties. If so, why can't the voting machine be used in the national elections?</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">People are not very hopeful that voting machines will be used when the parties in power do not want to use them. However, the use of electronic voting machines is now not only a necessity but also a compulsion to prevent billions of rupees from flowing out of the country during election at a time when the pressure on the foreign exchange reserves persists and the overall economic indicators are not positive.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">By using electronic equipment, voting is done faster and the results are also faster. There is no need to stay awake all night to count votes or surround the polling stations with wire netting for the fear of rigging.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Election Commission had formed a taskforce comprising team of experts under the coordination of Anil Kumar Dutta, joint secretary of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, to conduct a feasibility study for using electronic voting system. The taskforce submitted the feasibility study report to the commission within one week recommending the use of electronic voting machines for the local election because such machines are being used in internal elections of political parties. The taskforce suggested that electronic voting can be done using machines made in Nepal, India or machines made in any other country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even though the study team submitted its report, the Election Commission got stuck in the issue of verification of the machine. As a result, electronic voting machines were not used even in one municipality in the recently held local elections.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Electronic voting system is associated with the modernization of election. Such system is in place even in neighbouring India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Election Commission take the political parties into confidence to vote electronically. This is because even now, when they lose the election, they still have believe that they can win by tampering with the ballot paper or the ballot boxes.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15779', 'image' => '20220920023845_Election_Commission.2e16d0ba.fill-650x500.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 14:38:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16037', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 76,000 People Acquire Work Permits ahead of Dashain', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The number of people acquiring work permits to go for foreign employment has not declined even though the festival of Dashain, the main festival of Nepal, is just around the corner.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 20: The number of people acquiring work permits to go for foreign employment has not declined even though the festival of Dashain, the main festival of Nepal, is just around the corner.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Department of Foreign Employment, 76,430 people have taken work permits to go for foreign employment within a span of a month between mid-August to mid-September of the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The number of people seeking work permits in mid-July to mid-August was 63,039, which increased by 21 percent in mid-August to mid-September.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department informed that among the ones receiving work permit, 68,884 are men and 7,519 are women. They have taken work permits to go to South East Asian countries as well as the Gulf and European countries. Most of them have taken work permit to go to Malaysia (35,372), followed by Qatar (11,775) and the UAE (8,365).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the department, the number of highly skilled workers is 13, the number of professional workers is 146, the number of semi-skilled workers is 5,092, the number of skilled workers is 46,069 and the number of workers without skills is 25,083.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15778', 'image' => '20220920012147_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 13:21:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16036', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Board to be Transformed into an Authority', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The Insurance Board, which has been regulating the insurance sector of Nepal, is now going to be transformed into an authority.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 20: The Insurance Board, which has been regulating the insurance sector of Nepal, is now going to be transformed into an authority. With the passing of the Insurance Bill 2079 by both the houses of the Federal Parliament, the way to transform the board into an authority has been opened. After authentication by the president, the bill will take the form of an Act and come into force.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The House of Representatives passed the bill last July and sent it to the National Assembly. The National Assembly meeting held last Thursday passed the bill along with the report of the Legislative Management Committee. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Then, the proposal to pass the bill with suggestions from the National Assembly was passed by the majority of MPs during a meeting of the House of Representatives on Friday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Surya Prasad Silwal, chairman of the Insurance Board, said 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 said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The then Finance Minister, Yuvraj Khatiwada, had registered the Insurance Bill in parliament four years ago to amend and consolidate laws related to the insurance sector. However, the discussion on the bill was halted for a long time after a dispute regarding the continuity of the terms of the chairman and directors 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></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","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></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","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></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-11-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15777', 'image' => '20221108014349_20220401011717_Insurance board.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 09:49:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16035', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Urban Areas of Nepal Generate One Million Tonnes of Garbage in a Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The urban areas of Nepal generate around one million tonnes of garbage annually, according to the data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 20: The urban areas of Nepal generate around one million tonnes of garbage annually, according to the data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the study report prepared by the bureau, the residential areas generate most of the garbage in the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Out of the total garbage produced in the country, the residential areas are responsible for producing 386,690 tonnes of wastages while the business area generates 245,884 tonnes of garbage. Similarly, 103,244 tonnes of garbage are released by educational institutions and 94,392 tonnes by the industrial areas. Likewise, health sector generates 101,507 tonnes of wastage while 66,220 toones of garbage come out from other areas, the bureau informed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the bureau, a total of 389,983 tonnes (39 percent) of garbage are sent to landfill site, 315,069 tonnes (31 percent) are dumped in riverbanks and riverside while 22,075 tonnes (2 percent) of garbage are burnt down. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the study report, most of the garbage generated in the country are of organic nature. Such garbage are a result of agricultural wastage. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Other waste products such as plastic, metals and paper amounting to 8,690 tonnes can be recycled, says the report. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The report suggests capacity enhancement of the professionals and stakeholders working in waste management sector to for proper classification, management and reuse of waste matters in accordance to the international standards. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The bureau had conducted a survey on wastage production, collection and management around three years ago.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15776', 'image' => '20220920092533_Kathmandu Valley.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 09:24:53', '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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The report also notes that services growth will likely moderate owing to a slowdown in real estate, wholesale, and retail trade activities, induced by credit control measures and hike in interest rates. But provincial and federal level elections scheduled in November 2022 will stimulate spending resulting in GDP growth.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">The government’s fiscal policy reflected in the budget speech for 2023 is somewhat expansionary, focused on strengthening agriculture, industry, infrastructure, and social protection, added the report. Monetary policy is contractionary, aimed at curbing high credit growth to contain domestic demand, escalating prices, and rising imports.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">The country’s inflation will likely marginally decline to 6.1 percent in FY 2022/23 from 6.3 percent in FY 2021/22, restrained by tight monetary policy, a normal harvest, somewhat subdued oil prices, and a modest inflation decline in India. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><span style="font-family:"Segoe UI","sans-serif"">The current account deficit is estimated to narrow to 8.1 percent of GDP in FY 2022/23 owing to a moderation in merchandise imports amidst stable remittance inflow, states the report. Out-migration for foreign employment has picked up, exceeding the pre-pandemic level of FY 2018/19. Imports related to COVID-19 will have substantially decreased and falling oil prices will help lower import bill for Nepal, says the ADB report. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-22', 'modified' => '2022-09-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15791', 'image' => '20220922113226_ADB.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-22 11:31:42', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16049', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Japan to Provide Financial Assistance for Improvement of Irrigation and Transmission Systems', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 22: Japan has decided to provide grant assistance of up to Rs 2 billion (Japanese Yen 2,256,000,000) to implement of the Project for the Improvement of the Rehabilitation of Irrigation System in eastern Terai. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 22: Japan has decided to provide grant assistance of up to Rs 2 billion (Japanese Yen 2,256,000,000) to implement of the Project for the Improvement of the Rehabilitation of Irrigation System in eastern Terai. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In addition to this, Japan has agreed to ensure concessional loan assistance of Rs 14.2 billion (Japanese Yen 15,901,000,000) to Nepal for the Urban Transmission and Distribution System Improvement Project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Embassy of Japan and the Ministry of Finance signed notes in this regard amidst a programme held at the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday, the Embassy said in a press statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Japan's Ambassador to Nepal, Kikuta Yutaka, and Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Pushkar signed the agreement on behalf of their respective governments. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, the Japanese ambassador said both agriculture and energy are important sectors for economic development of Nepal. </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"">"Agriculture is the major industry in which a large number of Nepal people are engaged. The development of agriculture is indispensable for the overall development of Nepal. Likewise, as Nepal's hydropower generation capability has been improving, it is important to develop the transmission and distribution system to take full advantage of the progress," he said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He further stated that the year 2022 marks the 120th anniversary since the first eight Nepali students were dispatched to Japan for study. The two projects singed in this commemorative year symbolize the friendship between the two countries and will contribute to Nepal's development, added Yutaka. He further said that the Japan is committed to extending all possible assistance to Nepal in its endevour for nation building and strengthening the friendly relationship between the people of Japan and Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Ministry of Finance, the grant assistance will be used for the maintenance and improvement of Chandra Nahar irrigation system for reliable and continuous irrigation facilities, mainly in the eastern Terai. Similarly, the concessional loan will be utilised for improving the urban electricity transmission system in big cities of Nepal, including Kathmandu and Pokhara with the aim of reducing transmission losses as well as increasing the reliability of electricity distribution. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Following the signing ceremony, Finance Secretary Pushkar said the implementation of these two projects would be crucial for improving irrigation facilities in Nepal, increasing reliability of electricity supply and reducing the transmission losses. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He appreciated Japan for its continuous support in socio-economic and human resources development of Nepal. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-22', 'modified' => '2022-09-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15790', 'image' => '20220922110915_RS_KTM_008A849609212022.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-22 11:08:29', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16048', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Assures Deposit Guarantee of Rs 1100 Billion Deposited in BFIs', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Banks and Financial Institutions have assured the guarantee of at least Rs 1100 billion deposited by the customers. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 21: Banks and Financial Institutions have assured the guarantee of at least Rs 1100 billion deposited by the customers. As per the announcement of BFIs to protect the deposits made by small depositors and to build the customers’ trust on banking system, the banks have brought a maximum of Rs 300,000 from each of 33,700,000 customers within the fold of the Deposit and Credit Guarantee Fund.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">About a decade ago, the government had made it mandatory for BFIs to guarantee the safety of the deposits in the name of their customers. Initially, the banks were instructed to guarantee the security of at least Rs 200,000 per account which was increased to Rs 300,000 per account three years ago. The government has already decided that the banks must protect at least Rs 500,000 of each account from mid-September of the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Chief of the fund Ramesh Ghimire informed New Business Age that the state-run programme will assure protection of at least Rs 1100 billion deposited by the customers of banks as of mid-September 2022. He further said that this amount will increase after mid-September as the government has already decided that the banks must protect at least Rs 500,000 per account.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the fund, 108 banking and financial institutions have received commitment from the fund for the guarantee of their credit and deposits. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government had initiated the deposit guarantee programme about a decade ago after the liquidation of Nepal Development Bank. The fund will be responsible to pay the prescribed amount to the customers if the BFIs turn problematic and are unable to return the deposits to the customers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per this provision, the fund had earlier paid Rs 110 million to the customers of Himalayan Finance.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari says that the concept of deposit guarantee was developed in the 1930s after the banks worldwide turned problematic. He said that Nepal has also put in practice the same concept to protect the deposits of the customers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at the 49<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the fund, Governor Adhikari said that 22 percent of the total deposits of BFIs have been secured so far.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15789', 'image' => '20220921042258_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 16:22:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16047', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Kathmandu Police to Mobilize Over Three Thousand Security Personnel for Festive Season', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Nepal Police has decided to deploy 3,343 police personnel in the capital Kathmandu in order to maintain peace and security during the upcoming festive season.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 21: Nepal Police has decided to deploy 3,343 police personnel in the capital Kathmandu in order to maintain peace and security during the upcoming festive season. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The District Police Range, Kathmandu made such revelation during a programme organized on Tuesday to shed light on the security plans of the police force for the festivals which are just around the corner. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to SSP Dinesh Raj Mainali, spokesperson of the District Police Range, Kathmandu, the police have already started implementing the Festive Security Plan 2079 from Tuesday itself with the motive of minimizing criminal activities during the festivals.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepal Police has assured of effective coordination among various units of the police force to maintain security. According to SSP Mainali, the police teams will reach the incident site within five to seven minutes if any untoward incident happens. Another major objective of the security plan is to ensure justice to the victims and to penalize the offenders. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">SSP Mainali informed that police personnel in plain clothes will be deployed in areas where excessive number of crimes take place as well as areas having high potential for criminal activities. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the police force will also be conducting awareness campaigns through the Facebook page of District Police Range, Kathmandu as well as Traffic FM and other media. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The police will be monitoring the general activities in major business centers and thoroughfares as well as places where financial transactions take place more and the entry points of Kathmandu valley through CCTV cameras. Likewise, drones will also be used during this period to take videos and help in maintaining security. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the police plans to effectively mobilize its units from all 14 police circles within Kathmandu and set up 12 help desks. Similarly, mobile patrols will be done in 24 locations while there will be picketing in 91 places and quick response teams in 14 places. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15788', 'image' => '20220921034658_Nepal_Police_logo.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 15:46:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16046', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Revenue Collection Slumps due to Decline in Import of Fuel and Vehicles ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Revenue collection has been affected due the strict policy adopted by the government to discourage imports. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 21: Revenue collection has been affected due the strict policy adopted by the government to discourage imports. The government has failed to collect revenue as per its target due to the decline in imports of petroleum products and vehicles which are the chief contributors to the government’s revenue. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Birgunj Customs, which is the main customs point of the country in terms of the quantity of imports and exports, failed to meet its target of revenue collection in the first two months of the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj Customs, Dhan Bahadur Baruwal, the revenue collection of this customs office during the review period was 79 percent of the target. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Customs Chief Baruwal confirmed that the revenue collection declined due to the drop in import of petroleum products and vehicles. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“This customs point used to collect maximum revenue from petroleum products and vehicles. As the import of these products declined, we couldn’t meet the revenue collection target,” said Baruwal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has adopted a strict policy for the import of vehicles such as cars, jeeps and vans for personal use. The demand for vehicles has dropped after banks refused to invest on vehicles as per the instruction of the central bank. The importers are unable to obtain customs clearance of the vehicles that have already arrived at the customs point. At present, more than 1800 vehicles are stuck at the Integrated Check Point in Birgjun, informed Kamal Gyawali, chief of the Nepal Intermodal Transport Development Committee that looks after the ICP.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Customs officials say that the government increased the revenue collection target when it had adopted measures to curb imports. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The revenue collection target of Birgunj Customs during the last fiscal year was Rs 204 billion which has been increased to Rs 260 billion in the current fiscal year. Birgunj Customs has collected Rs 27.13 billion in the last two months.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15787', 'image' => '20220921031124_PS_Birgunj-DSCN0013.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 15:10:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16045', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Local Units Imposing Unauthorized Taxes on Imported Raw Materials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: Some local units have been found abusing the authority given by the Local Level Operation Act 2074. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Om Prakash Khanal</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 20: Some local units have been found abusing the authority given by the Local Level Operation Act 2074. The situation has deteriorated so much that several local units have been imposing taxes on the industrial raw materials that have received customs clearance. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importers have collected evidences of paying unauthorized taxes that they are forced to pay right from the customs point to the delivery destination. Birgunj metropolis and Jitpur-Simara sub-metropolis collected tax on scrap materials from vehicles carrying coal from Birgunj Customs. Even though the tax on scrap materials cannot be levied on industrial raw materials, the municipality is doing so with the help of contractors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The local governments in this corridor have sub-contracted the responsibility of collecting taxes on herbs, scrap materials and animals having origin, commercial use, and trading within the respective local unit. A member of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce said that both these municipalities located in the Bara-Parsa industrial corridor are collecting taxes illegally through their contractors. Businessmen say that such a tax may seem like a headache for businessmen on surface level, but in the real sense the final burden of the tax falls on the consumers.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In Birgunj, a company named Medant Construction holds the contract for collecting such taxes and H&J Traders has the bagged the contract in Jitpursimara sub-metropolitan city of Bara. Both these contractors collect tax contrary to the agreement. On September 2, a truck with registration number JH 10 BA 3274, that passed the customs check from the ICP Birgunj, was initially handed over a receipt of Rs 200 at the local Bahuari Chowk by the employees of Medanta.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The complaint of the importer is that he was forced to pay INR 200 despite receiving receipt of NRS 200. As soon as the truck passed the customs, it was again surrounded by the employees of H&J on the highway at some distance and was forced to pay the money. New Business Age has verified the evidence of the importer paying Rs 200 to the employees of H&J.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The employees of the contractor assigned to collect taxes on the road don’t even write the full number of the transport vehicle in the tax receipt. Only the number of the truck is mentioned in the receipt issued by both the contractors. The alphabet as well is not mentioned with the number.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">These contractors, who have received the patronage of the municipal leadership, set up tax collection centers at 13 locations in Birgunj metropolis and various locations in Jitpur-Simara. The contractors stand with bags of receipts to collect taxes at the gates of industries in the industrial corridor. The businessmen complain that the contractors force them to pay tax not only on the raw materials entering the industry but also on the finished goods coming out of the industry. Manoj Karna, head of the Revenue Administration of Birgunj Metropolis says that tax on scrap materials cannot be levied on raw materials. However, extortion in the name of tax collection continues unabated.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15786', 'image' => '20220921014410_taxxxxx.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 13:43:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16044', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Three GI Wire Industries Resume Operation after Revision of Tax Rates', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Three out of five Galvanized Iron (GI) wire industries in Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor, which were closed due to the increase in customs duty and excise duty on the import of raw materials, have come into operation again.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 21: Three out of five Galvanized Iron (GI) wire industries in Sunsari-Morang Industrial Corridor, which were closed due to the increase in customs duty and excise duty on the import of raw materials, have come into operation again. After the tax rates increased in the budget was revised by the decision of the Council of Ministers, the closed industries resumed operation. In the meantime, the remaining two industries are also preparing to resume operation.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Premier Wires Pvt Ltd, Hulas Wire Industries Ltd and Pioneer Wires Pvt Ltd have started production after the tax rates were revised, while Kamala Wire and Arihant Wire are preparing to start production within a few days. Those industries were closed for four months after the finance minister increased the customs duty and excise duty on the raw material of GI wire through the budget of the current fiscal year. More than 2,000 workers were unemployed due to the closure of industries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Managing Director of Premier Wires Saurabh Sharda said that although the tax rate increased by the finance minister was revised by the decision of the Council of Ministers, the Nepali industries are not able to export GI wire to India due to the excise duty imposed since the last three years. He informed that the industries could not start production immediately because it took time to arrange raw materials, workers and machinery.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Janardan Sharma had increased the customs duty on Mild Steel (MS) wire rod, the raw material required for this industry, from 5 to 10 percent. The rate of excise duty was also increased from Rs 2.50 to Rs 4.50 per kg. India also started levying 15 percent customs duty on the export of MS wire to protect its industry. As a result, it became impossible for the Nepali industrialists to sustain their business.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Anil Sharda, general secretary of Morang Merchant’s Association and operator of Pioneer Wire said they had to pay a total of 29.5 percent revenue on the import of MS wire including India's export duty, Nepal's import duty and excise duty. So they had to close the industry and started protest on the streets. However, he added that the government saved the industry by addressing their demands even though it was a bit late.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Suyash Raj Pyakurel, president of the Chamber of Industry, Morang, said that due to the excise duty imposed on raw materials, the export of GI wire, which was 22,740 metric tons in the fiscal year 2018/19, dropped to 672 metric tons in the fiscal year 2021/22. He said that up to 40,000 tons of GI wire can be exported from Nepal annually if Nepal removes the excise duty and India removes the export duty. According to him, Nepal can earn Rs 6 billion from the export of GI wire.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15785', 'image' => '20220921010537_1663734995.करको दर सच्चिएपछि ३ जीआई वायर उद्योग चल्न थाले.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 13:04:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16043', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NEA Exports Electricity worth Rs 7 Billion to India in 4 Months', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Nepal Electricity Authority has exported electricity worth more than Rs 7 billion to the Indian market in the last four months.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 21: Nepal Electricity Authority has exported electricity worth more than Rs 7 billion to the Indian market in the last four months. In the second month of the current fiscal year, export of electricity amounted to Rs 2.42 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA has said that 246.5 million units of surplus electricity were exported between mid-August to mid-September. The export generated a revenue of Rs 2.41 billion. In monsoon, NEA sold the surplus electricity through competition in the day-ahead market of Indian Energy Exchange Limited from June 2.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the beginning, 39 megawatts of electricity produced by two power plants were sold in the Indian Energy Exchange Market daily. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Since June 10, 364 megawatts of electricity produced by six hydropower plants have been sold daily in the Indian market at competitive rates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEA has earned Rs 7.19 billion by selling 787.8 million units of electricity in the Indian market between May, June, July and August. As the electricity trade with India is done in Indian rupees, Nepal has received INR 4.49 billion from the export of electricity in four months.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Kulman Ghising, executive director of NEA, said that every month when electricity exports increase, the amount received from it is contributed to Nepal's foreign exchange reserves which helps reduces the trade deficit between the two countries. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"In the current fiscal year, the target is to earn about Rs 16 billion from electricity export," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ghising added that since the festival is about to start, domestic consumption will be slightly reduced due to the closure of industries and factories, but the production will be at full capacity. So, the NEA has proposed exporting about 200 megawatts of electricity which is subject to approval by the government.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In Indian Energy Exchange Market, 24 hours are divided into 96 blocks of 15 minutes each and electricity is traded at a competitive rate set by the market. Therefore, the price of each block is different. The average rate of electricity exported by NEA in August is Rs 9.80 per unit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15784', 'image' => '20220921122507_electricity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 12:24:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16042', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Minister Sharma Urges BFIs to Investment More in Productive Sector ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 21: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has urged banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to increase investment in the industrial and manufacturing sector. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 21: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has urged banks and financial institutions (BFIs) to increase investment in the industrial and manufacturing sector. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at the 49th anniversary of the Deposit and Credit Guarantee Fund (DCGF) on Tuesday, Minister Sharma said that the industrial and productive sector should not be jeopardized due to lack of investment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that economic development of the country would not be possible without development of industrial and manufacturing sector, Sharma called for a system wherein investment in projects are considered by keeping the project itself as a collateral. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minister argued that the country cannot become economically strong unless rural economy is developed. He viewed that stakeholders should pay attention whether the loans given by the BFIs for agriculture sector were being invested in real estate. </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"">"BFIs should invest in manufacturing sector. Loans should be provided to industrial and manufacturing sectors at less than two per cent interest," said Minister Sharma. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to him, there is no alternative to increasing production to substitute imports and called for more investment to boost domestic production. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank Maha Prasad Adhikari said that although it had been a long time since the DCGF came into operation, it could not devise effective policies, programmes and plans. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Urging the concerned stakeholders to pay attention to this aspect, Governor Adhikari requested the DCGF to deliver its services effectively by devising long-term plans and to function within the jurisdiction of the DCGF's Act. "The DCGF should not only collect money. Consider investing in other sectors as well," said Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Revenue Secretary Rameshwar Dangal, who is also the chairperson of the DCGF, pledged utmost efforts on his part to make the fund more effective. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The DCGF, as a deposit insurer, started the deposit guarantee scheme in Nepal since 2010. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-21', 'modified' => '2022-09-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15783', 'image' => '20220921113316_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-21 11:32:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16040', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Valley Traffic Police to Launch 'Special' Checking Targeting Festivals ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, Ramshahpath has decided to launch 'special' checks at the entry points in the Kathmandu Valley in view of upcoming festivals. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">September 20: The Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, Ramshahpath has decided to launch 'special' checking at the entry points in the Kathmandu Valley in view of upcoming festivals. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the office, they will focus on long-route vehicles during the campaign. </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"">"Our efforts will be for terminating possible incidences of passengers being conned under various pretexts during festivals, and ensuring their safe travels,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Rajendra Prasad Bhatta.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to SSP Bhatta, special security measures have been planned at Thankot, Nagdhunga, Jagati, Pharping, Balaju Bypass entry points. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the office has planned to conduct regular checking, and checks against drunk-driving at 35 locations in the Valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Vehicles will be banned from carrying passengers more than their seating capacity and goods on hoods will also be banned. Vehicle operators are required to get the condition of their vehicles checked and repaired regularly, and passengers should be informed about security measures they should take during a long-route travel. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the traffic police will act against the possibility of overcharging passengers during festivals. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Kathmandu Traffic Police Office and the Department of Transport Management will set up passengers help desks at 14 locations in the Kathmandu Valley. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Office in collaboration with the Department is to set up help desks at Nagdhunga, Kalanki, Swoyambhu, Machhaokhari, New Buspark, Chabahil, Gaushala, Koteshwor, Jagati, Saatdobato, Balkhu, Dakshinkali, Sundhara and Old Buspark. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Spokesperson Bhatta said that the help desks aim to facilitate passengers for ensuring comfortable travel and to implement fixed transport fare rate during the festivals. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15781', 'image' => '20220920040327_20220414085442_public transportation.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 16:02:34', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16039', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Twenty One Percent Progress in KTM-Tarai Fast Track', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The Nepalese Army, which aims to complete the Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway (Fast Track) project by mid-December 2024, has spent only Rs 37.96 billion in the project so far.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">September 20: The Nepalese Army, which aims to complete the Kathmandu-Tarai Expressway (Fast Track) project by mid-December 2024, has spent only Rs 37.96 billion in the project so far. The total cost of the expressway which is being constructed under the management of the Nepalese Army is Rs 175 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government had entrusted the management of the expressway to the Nepalese Army in the fiscal year 2016/17 with a mandate to complete it within four years. The progress of the expressway is only 21 percent so far. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The term of the project was extended till 2024 after it was not possible to complete the fast track within the initial deadline of four years due to various reasons.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The dispute in Khokna remains as it is and the contract agreements for six more packages are yet to be signed. The construction of these packages has not started yet which suggests that the fast track will not be completed within the extended deadline.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">This is evident from the progress report presented by the Nepalese Army during a programme organized on Friday to inform about the current status of the expressway and the action plan for the current fiscal year. Project Chief Bikas Pokharel informed that 21.18 percent of physical progress has been achieved since the project started. In the last fiscal year, the project received a total budget of Rs 8.79 billion. Both physical and financial progress during the review year was above 99 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The contract management of Khokna and Package No 11, which is considered the starting point of the 72.5 km expressway, is the major bone of contention. Project chief Pokharel informed that the army is yet to acquire 414 ropanis of land in this area due to the protest of the locals, who have been demanding preservation of their cultural heritage.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The army has stated that the delay in resolving the Khokna-Bungmati dispute is a major challenge for completing the project within the given deadline. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Khokna dispute, the complications in the process of felling trees and land acquisition, the preparation of the supplementary environmental impact assessment (SEIA) report and the inter-ministerial process to remove the procedural hassles have been mentioned by the army as a the main challenges.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, the army says that efforts are being made to complete the work on time. Out of the total 11 packages of the project, five packages including construction of tunnel, road and bridge have been signed and construction has been started. The army has said that it will manage the contract for the remaining six packages in the current fiscal year and start the work simultaneously. </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15780', 'image' => '20220920032839_fast track.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 15:28:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16038', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'When will Nepal Adopt Electronic Voting System?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: Whenever there is an election in Nepal, the issue of using electronic voting machine becomes the topic of hot debate. After the election, this issue gets overshadowed for the next five years.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 20: Whenever there is an election in Nepal, the issue of using electronic voting machine becomes the topic of hot debate. After the election, this issue gets overshadowed for the next five years.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It is not logical to argue that the electronic voting machine, which was used in the first Constituent Assembly election in 2008, cannot be used now. In the last 15 years, many things have been digitalized with new innovations in the field of information and technology. However, the Government of Nepal and the Election Commission are heading in the opposite direction as far as voting is concerned.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Electronic voting machines are now being used even in the general conventions of many political parties. If so, why can't the voting machine be used in the national elections?</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">People are not very hopeful that voting machines will be used when the parties in power do not want to use them. However, the use of electronic voting machines is now not only a necessity but also a compulsion to prevent billions of rupees from flowing out of the country during election at a time when the pressure on the foreign exchange reserves persists and the overall economic indicators are not positive.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">By using electronic equipment, voting is done faster and the results are also faster. There is no need to stay awake all night to count votes or surround the polling stations with wire netting for the fear of rigging.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Election Commission had formed a taskforce comprising team of experts under the coordination of Anil Kumar Dutta, joint secretary of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, to conduct a feasibility study for using electronic voting system. The taskforce submitted the feasibility study report to the commission within one week recommending the use of electronic voting machines for the local election because such machines are being used in internal elections of political parties. The taskforce suggested that electronic voting can be done using machines made in Nepal, India or machines made in any other country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even though the study team submitted its report, the Election Commission got stuck in the issue of verification of the machine. As a result, electronic voting machines were not used even in one municipality in the recently held local elections.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Electronic voting system is associated with the modernization of election. Such system is in place even in neighbouring India.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Election Commission take the political parties into confidence to vote electronically. This is because even now, when they lose the election, they still have believe that they can win by tampering with the ballot paper or the ballot boxes.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15779', 'image' => '20220920023845_Election_Commission.2e16d0ba.fill-650x500.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 14:38:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16037', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 76,000 People Acquire Work Permits ahead of Dashain', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The number of people acquiring work permits to go for foreign employment has not declined even though the festival of Dashain, the main festival of Nepal, is just around the corner.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 20: The number of people acquiring work permits to go for foreign employment has not declined even though the festival of Dashain, the main festival of Nepal, is just around the corner.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Department of Foreign Employment, 76,430 people have taken work permits to go for foreign employment within a span of a month between mid-August to mid-September of the current fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The number of people seeking work permits in mid-July to mid-August was 63,039, which increased by 21 percent in mid-August to mid-September.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department informed that among the ones receiving work permit, 68,884 are men and 7,519 are women. They have taken work permits to go to South East Asian countries as well as the Gulf and European countries. Most of them have taken work permit to go to Malaysia (35,372), followed by Qatar (11,775) and the UAE (8,365).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the department, the number of highly skilled workers is 13, the number of professional workers is 146, the number of semi-skilled workers is 5,092, the number of skilled workers is 46,069 and the number of workers without skills is 25,083.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15778', 'image' => '20220920012147_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 13:21:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16036', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Board to be Transformed into an Authority', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The Insurance Board, which has been regulating the insurance sector of Nepal, is now going to be transformed into an authority.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">September 20: The Insurance Board, which has been regulating the insurance sector of Nepal, is now going to be transformed into an authority. With the passing of the Insurance Bill 2079 by both the houses of the Federal Parliament, the way to transform the board into an authority has been opened. After authentication by the president, the bill will take the form of an Act and come into force.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The House of Representatives passed the bill last July and sent it to the National Assembly. The National Assembly meeting held last Thursday passed the bill along with the report of the Legislative Management Committee. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Then, the proposal to pass the bill with suggestions from the National Assembly was passed by the majority of MPs during a meeting of the House of Representatives on Friday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Surya Prasad Silwal, chairman of the Insurance Board, said 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 said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The then Finance Minister, Yuvraj Khatiwada, had registered the Insurance Bill in parliament four years ago to amend and consolidate laws related to the insurance sector. However, the discussion on the bill was halted for a long time after a dispute regarding the continuity of the terms of the chairman and directors 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></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","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></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","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></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-11-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15777', 'image' => '20221108014349_20220401011717_Insurance board.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 09:49:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '16035', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Urban Areas of Nepal Generate One Million Tonnes of Garbage in a Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'September 20: The urban areas of Nepal generate around one million tonnes of garbage annually, according to the data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">September 20: The urban areas of Nepal generate around one million tonnes of garbage annually, according to the data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the study report prepared by the bureau, the residential areas generate most of the garbage in the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Out of the total garbage produced in the country, the residential areas are responsible for producing 386,690 tonnes of wastages while the business area generates 245,884 tonnes of garbage. Similarly, 103,244 tonnes of garbage are released by educational institutions and 94,392 tonnes by the industrial areas. Likewise, health sector generates 101,507 tonnes of wastage while 66,220 toones of garbage come out from other areas, the bureau informed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the bureau, a total of 389,983 tonnes (39 percent) of garbage are sent to landfill site, 315,069 tonnes (31 percent) are dumped in riverbanks and riverside while 22,075 tonnes (2 percent) of garbage are burnt down. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the study report, most of the garbage generated in the country are of organic nature. Such garbage are a result of agricultural wastage. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Other waste products such as plastic, metals and paper amounting to 8,690 tonnes can be recycled, says the report. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The report suggests capacity enhancement of the professionals and stakeholders working in waste management sector to for proper classification, management and reuse of waste matters in accordance to the international standards. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The bureau had conducted a survey on wastage production, collection and management around three years ago.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-09-20', 'modified' => '2022-09-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15776', 'image' => '20220920092533_Kathmandu Valley.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-09-20 09:24:53', '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
