July 15: Banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have stepped up measures to increase fixed deposits in recent times due to the lack of liquidity (investable capital) seen in the financial…
July 15: Banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have stepped up measures to increase fixed deposits in recent times due to the lack of liquidity (investable capital) seen in the financial…
July 15: The Ministry of Finance has refused to cooperate with the parliamentary probe committee formed to investigate the allegations against former finance minister Janardan Sharma.…
July 15: The insurance sector of Nepal witnessed two preliminary agreements for merger in a single day.…
July 15: Since its inception 13 years ago, the Foreign Employment Tribunal has settled the highest number of cases in the current fiscal year. The tribunal settled 73.46 per cent of the cases this…
July 14: Both the cost and time of national pride projects have been found to have increased, according to the 59th report released by the Office of the Auditor General on…
July 14: The series of economic crisis is deepening in the country day by…
July 14: There are four million taxpayers in the…
July 14: India has made it clear that Nepal will not be affected by the ban on exports of wheat, sugar and other…
July 14: The price of edible oil took a nosedive in the domestic market of Nepal after the Government of India reduced the import duty on unrefined oil.…
July 14: The World Bank has agreed to provide a concessional loan of US$80 million (approximately Rs 10 billion) to the Government of Nepal for water supply…
July 13: The insurance sector is highly enthusiastic about merger. The insurance sector which has a history of 75 years in the country has not yet witnessed a single…
July 13: A parliamentary special probe committee has started investigation against former finance minister Janardan Sharma for his alleged involvement in changing the tax rates under the influence of…
July 13: The gold and silver traders have urged the customs department to facilitate people wearing traditional jewelries at the…
July 13: A Member of Parliament has demanded probe into Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari’s political…
July 13: Deposit collection of commercial banks between mid-June to mid-July in the current fiscal year stood almost at Rs 100…
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15625', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Fixed Deposits of Banks Growing', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 15: Banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have stepped up measures to increase fixed deposits in recent times due to the lack of liquidity (investable capital) seen in the financial sector.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 15: Banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have stepped up measures to increase fixed deposits in recent times due to the lack of liquidity (investable capital) seen in the financial sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The share of fixed deposits has increased after the banks started attracting general public by announcing higher interest rates.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the data of Nepal Rastra Bank, as of June in the current fiscal year, the share of fixed deposits out of the total deposits of Rs 49 trillion 85 billion in banks and financial institutions has climbed to 57.1 percent. Until a year ago, the share of fixed deposits was 48.5 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Depositors are attracted to term deposits due to high interest rates and other facilities announced by banks to increase deposits due to the lack of liquidity in banks. Banks pay 5 percentage points more on term deposits than on ordinary savings. As per the NRB directive, the difference between the maximum and minimum interest rates on all types of deposit accounts other than call deposits cannot be more than 5 percentage points.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Due to the intervention of the NRB in the interest rates of banks and financial institutions and the consent of the Nepal Bankers Association, the umbrella organization of the banks, BFIs have attracted the general public to term savings.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As a result, the share of ordinary savings and current deposits has decreased, and fixed deposits have increased. In June 2020, current account deposits were 10 percent but in May 2022, they fell to 8.8 perecnt. Similarly, ordinary savings have dropped from 31.9 percent to 27.1 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">After the banks raised the interest rate to 12 percent, the NRB intervened last October and directed them to set a single-digit limit. At that time, the central bank had also issued a directive not to reduce interest rates by more than 10 percent. Since then, umbrella organizations of banks and financial institutions have agreed to keep the interest rates stable.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the instructions of the NRB, despite increasing the interest rate by 10 percent in February, it is implementing a gentleman's agreement not to increase the interest rate in March, April, May and June since the deposits did not increase. The association has already decided to implement the same interest rate in June and July as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Nepal Bankers Association has agreed that the commercial banks will give a maximum interest rate of 11.03 percent to individuals and 10.03 percent to institutions on 1-year term deposits. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As per the provisions of NRB, banks can provide an additional 1 percent on the deposits coming from remittance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Anil Kumar Upadhyay, president of the Nepal Bankers Association, said that due to the interest rate, the deposit portfolio of banks has increased from current and savings to term deposits. He said that the interest rate on fixed deposits grew from 6 percent to 11-12 percent within a year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-15', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15366', 'image' => '20220715024504_Banks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-15 14:44:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15624', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Ministry Fails to Cooperate with Probe Committee', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 15: The Ministry of Finance has refused to cooperate with the parliamentary probe committee formed to investigate the allegations against former finance minister Janardan Sharma. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 15: The Ministry of Finance has refused to cooperate with the parliamentary probe committee formed to investigate the allegations against former finance minister Janardan Sharma. The probe committee’s schedule was affected due to the non-cooperation by the finance ministry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The 11-member probe committee couldn’t hold any discussion on Thursday after the ministry failed to submit the details sought by the committee.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Secretary of the committee Surendra Aryal informed New Business Age that they could not hold any discussion on the main agenda after the finance ministry did not provide the details and documents related to the then finance minister Sharma. He said that the committee had instructed the ministry on Wednesday to provide the details and relevant documents by 2 pm on Thursday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We had requested the finance ministry to provide us the details by 2 pm on Thursday but they did not cooperate. Since we didn’t have the documents, we couldn’t focus the discussion on the main agenda,” said Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He added that the committee will grill both the secretaries of the finance ministry regarding this issue.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We will resume the discussion at 10 am on Friday after receiving the documents from the ministry, We will hold further discussions with the secretaries at 12 pm,” added Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He further said that the meeting on Thursday decided to approve the work schedule in order to complete the investigation within the given deadline. The committee has been instructed to finish the investigation within 10 days after starting the probe.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The committee is headed by its senior-most member Laxman Lal Karna after the committee members failed to choose its chairman through consensus.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sharma has been accused of changing the tax rates in favour of certain business houses. It was also reported that Sharma had allowed unauthorized persons to enter the ministry on the eve of the budget announcement, drawing criticism from all quarters. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-15', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15365', 'image' => '20220715094311_finance_ministry_copy1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-15 09:42:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15623', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Sector Witnesses Two Mergers in a Single Day ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 15: The insurance sector of Nepal witnessed two preliminary agreements for merger in a single day. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 15: The insurance sector of Nepal witnessed two preliminary agreements for merger in a single day. A preliminary merger agreement was reached between Sanima Life Insruance Company and Reliance Life Insurance Company in the life insurance category while Sanima General Insurance Company reached an understanding with General Insurance Company for merger in the non-life insurance category.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Director of Sanima Life Insurance Company Ghanashyam Thapa and director of Reliance Life Insurance Company Bharat Kumar Todi signed the agreement on behalf of their respective companies.</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 two companies will decide on the name of the merged entity, staff adjustment, and other issues after getting in-principle approval from the Insurance Board. The swap ratio will be decided after the Asset and Liability Assessment. After the merger, the paid-up capital will reach Rs 4.18 billion. At present, Sanima Life Insurance Company has a paid-up capital of Rs 2.8 billion and Reliance Life Insurance has a paid-up capital of Rs 2.10 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 size of the life insurance fund of the merged entity will reach Rs 6.80 billion. At present, Sanima Life Insurance Company has a life insurance fund of Rs 3.13 billion and Reliance Life Insurance has a life insurance fund of Rs 3.67 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"">Meanwhile, Sanima General Insurance and General Insurance Company have also agreed tp take a final decision after the assessment.</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 two companies have agreed to conduct integrated transaction under the name of GIC Insurance.</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 MoU was signed by Chairman of Sanima General Insurance Company Khemraj Lamichhane and Chairman of General Insurance Company Kunal Kayal. Kayal will be the chairman of the company after the merger. It has been agreed that Sudyumna Upadhyaya will be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). After the merger, the company's paid-up capital will reach Rs 2 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 Insurance Board has been indirectly pressuring for merger by issuing instructions to increase paid-up capital. The Finance Act provides for tax exemption if the merger is agreed upon within mid-July. The insurance companies have agreed to merge to get the discount. So far, there have been six merger agreements in insurance sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Earlier, a preliminary merger agreement had been signed between Himalayan General Insurance and Everest Insurance as well as Siddhartha Insurance and Premier Insurance. Himalayan General and Everest will be conducting integrated business under the name of Himalayan Everest Insurance since next Sunday. Prime Life, Gurans Life, and Union are merging in the life insurance category. Surya Life and Jyoti Life have also agreed to merge.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-15', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15364', 'image' => '20220715091255_1657783196.Merger 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-15 09:12:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15622', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Foreign Employment Tribunal Settles Highest Number of Cases in Current Fiscal Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 15: Since its inception 13 years ago, the Foreign Employment Tribunal has settled the highest number of cases in the current fiscal year. The tribunal settled 73.46 per cent of the cases this year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 15: Since its inception 13 years ago, the Foreign Employment Tribunal has settled the highest number of cases in the current fiscal year. The tribunal settled 73.46 per cent of the cases this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Registrar at the Tribunal Anandaraj Panta said 227 cases were finalized in the current fiscal year out of the total 309 cases registered in the current and last fiscal years. So far, the tribunal has settled 2,498 cases. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the last five years, the case settlement rate of the tribunal has been above 50 per cent though its performance was affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the fiscal year 2076/077 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Established as per the Foreign Employment Act, the tribunal oversees criminal cases related to foreign employment. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-15', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15363', 'image' => '20220715085741_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-15 08:53:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15620', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Both Cost and Time of National Pride Projects have Increased ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: Both the cost and time of national pride projects have been found to have increased, according to the 59th report released by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 14: Both the cost and time of national pride projects have been found to have increased, according to the 59th report released by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government in the fiscal year 2068/69 had announced national pride projects under 17 different headings including road infrastructure, agriculture, irrigation facility, hydropower, airport construction and drinking water among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There are currently 24 national pride projects that are currently under construction. The report of the Office of the Auditor General mentions that the progress of these projects till the fiscal year 2077/78 is nil. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Though the construction of national pride projects have been carried out with priority since 10 years, other projects except the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project have not yet been completed, states the report. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the report, </span></strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">starting construction activities without preparing detailed project report, lack of coordination among the concerned bodies, lack of construction capacity, weak monitoring and assessment are the reasons behind increase in time and cost of national pride projects. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the report, the cost and time of 10 out of the 24 national pride projects have increased. The physical progress of Railway and Metro Development project, whose construction started in the fiscal year 2066/67 BS, is nil. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report reads that although Rs 24.47 billion has been spent in the project so far, the physical progress is zero. The project has to be completed within the fiscal year 2078/79 BS. The government has estimated Rs 555.22 billion for the construction of the project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the physical progress of the Karnali Corridor is only 28 per cent. More than Rs 11.30 billion has been spent in the project which started in the fiscal year 2065/66 BS. It has to be completed within the fiscal year 2079/80 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Koshi Corridor, started from fiscal year 2065/66 BS has achieved only 24 per cent physical progress. A total of Rs 30.58 billion has been spent so far for the project, which has to be completed within the fiscal year 2080/81. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report mentions that progress of projects like Mahakali Irrigation Project, North South Kaligandaki Project, Budhigandaki Hydropower Project, Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Project, President Chure Tarai-Madhes Conservation Development Committee and Kathmandu Tarai-Madhes Fast Track is not satisfactory. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The physical progress of Mid-Hill Highway is 57.84 per cent so far. A target has been set to complete the project, that started in 2064/65 BS, within 2079/80 BS. Out of Rs 84.33 billion allocated by the government for the project, Rs 53.34 billion has been spent so far. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15362', 'image' => '20220714055046_20170616052456_fast track nov 21.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 17:50:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15621', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Arrears Rises: OAG Report', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: The series of economic crisis is deepening in the country day by day.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 14: The series of economic crisis is deepening in the country day by day. According to the 59<sup>th</sup> annual report published by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday, the trend of misusing funds from the state coffers and financial irregularities have been increasing. The report also pointed out that the concerned government bodies have been found using money from the state treasury without maintaining audit reports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Government arrears have also increased this year compared to last year, the report states.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report, the arrears of the federal government, provincial government, local government and state-owned corporations have increased by Rs 115 billion this year and stands at Rs 483 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma Dangal says that the arrears have increased by 15.46 percent compared to last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Office of the Auditor General considers the money spent form the state coffers as arrears if the money is not spent as per the existing laws, or the audit report is not prepared or there has been financial irregularities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Some arrears occur due to procedural flaws while others are due to financial irregularities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the 59<sup>th</sup> annual report, a total of 3287 offices of the federal government maintained audit reports. Transactions worth Rs 2820.37 billion were audited during the review period while the arrears were found to be worth Rs 49.47 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the auditing of 1131 offices under the provincial governments found transactions worth Rs 299.57 billion while the arrears were found to be Rs Rs 7.48 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, auditing of transactions worth Rs 1051.9 billion at the local levels revealed arrears worth Rs 43.90 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the arrears of 448 committees and government bodies stood at Rs 14.19 billion. This was revealed after auditing transactions worth Rs 206 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Office of the Auditor General, the Ministry of Finance tops the list of government offices with the highest arrears. The arrears of the finance ministry stands at Rs 19.92 billion.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15361', 'image' => '20220714063601_1657751487.Clipboard14.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 18:35:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15619', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal has more than 4 Million Taxpayers ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: There are four million taxpayers in the country.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 14: There are four million taxpayers in the country. As per the 59th report released by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday, the number of taxpayers has reached 4.059 million till the fiscal year 2077/78 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Number of taxpayers of three groups—income, value added tax and excise duty has increased, reads the report. Of them, 1.577 million people have taken business permanent account number (PAN), 2.471 million have taken individual PAN and 9,998 have taken advance tax PAN. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Number of taxpayers taking PAN for income tax has increased by 18.9 per cent in the fiscal year 2077/78 BS as compared to fiscal year 2076/77 BS. The number of people with PAN for income tax has reached 4.059 million with an increase of 645,717 this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the number of taxpayers towards VAT has reached 268,436 while 103,423 people have acquired excise duty license. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the report, doctors, engineers, lawyers, auditors, artists, players, teachers have not acquired PAN and those who have taken PAN have not given their income details. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15360', 'image' => '20220714053420_taxxxxx.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 17:33:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15618', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Will not Halt Export of Wheat and Sugar to Nepal: Indian Envoy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: India has made it clear that Nepal will not be affected by the ban on exports of wheat, sugar and other commodities.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 14: India has made it clear that Nepal will not be affected by the ban on exports of wheat, sugar and other commodities. Indian Ambassador to Nepal Navin Srivastav said the ban imposed by the Indian government on wheat and sugar exports would not apply to Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Speaking at a reception organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) on Wednesday, Srivastav clarified that the export ban is not intended for Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">India had announced a ban on wheat and sugar exports in May. Stating that the Indian government is in favour of Nepal's economic development along with its own, Shrivastav added, "India is always ready to support Nepal's every effort for progress, and both countries are willing to work in a joint venture."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the occasion, FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha said that Nepal's industries would be in trouble due to the export ban. He said that India should also address the issues of capital expansion, infrastructure development of transit points, upgrading laboratories and removal of non-customs obstruction. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">”Nepal's trade deficit with India is a matter of concern. Indian help is indispensable to reduce this,” Golchha said, urging help for the construction of the Mirgunj bridge.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He emphasized that the Government of India should also resolve the delay in export of agricultural products due to the lack of laboratories. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Due to non-customs barriers, there is a problem, especially in the export of agricultural products and herbs. FNCCI has also drawn the ambassador's attention to the facility of using two more ports for trade with third countries,” added Golchha.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Srivastav informed that the Government of India is ready to strengthen Nepal's economy by solving the problems in road, rail, air and also digital connectivity. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Regarding the lab test, the Indian government has established an international-level lab in Raxaul, Srivastav said. The lab in Kathmandu is being recognized in India within a month, he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">FNCCI informed that it is working to organize the Nepal-India Investment Conference in Kathmandu in collaboration with the Government of Nepal, Government of India, Investment Board Nepal, and Confederation of Indian Industry. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15359', 'image' => '20220714021207_wheatttttt.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 14:11:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15617', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Prices of Edible Oil Take a Nosedive', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: The price of edible oil took a nosedive in the domestic market of Nepal after the Government of India reduced the import duty on unrefined oil. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 14: The price of edible oil took a nosedive in the domestic market of Nepal after the Government of India reduced the import duty on unrefined oil. Due to the latest decision of the Indian government, Nepali entrepreneurs have not been able to export edible oil produced in the country and have decided to reduced the price. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of soybean oil, which had reached as high as Rs 3,200 per carton, has now come down by Rs 700 to Rs 2,500 in the last one week. The price of sunflower oil as well went down by Rs 600 per cartoon. Sunflower oil, which used to be sold at Rs 3,200 per cartoon, is now available at Rs 2,600.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Nepali oil producers had been exporting refined oil to India at excessive prices until India reduced the tariffs on oil imports. With the reduction in import duty, India started producing oil at a lower cost than Nepal, which is the reason why the export from here has almost come to a standstill. Entrepreneurs say that even Nepali consumers in the border areas are in a position to buy edible oil from India rather than Nepal due to the competitive price. India reduced import duty on unrefined oil in an attempt to control inflation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Suresh Rungata, operator of OCB Food in Birgunj, due to this, India started producing edible oil at a lower cost than Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, India, which has been levying tax of up to 40 percent on crude oil imports, now reduced it to just 3 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Exports from Nepal came to a standstill after India reduced import duty on raw materials. When we could not export, our stock increased and the price went down,” said Rungata.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">While on the other hands, Amul Kaji Tuladhar, president of the Nepal Retailers Association said that the entrepreneurs may have been compelled to reduce the price due to the pressure to pay interest on bank loans at a time when the income from exports is declining. He says that retailers and consumers will be affected when big entrepreneurs and traders fluctuate the price arbitrarily. He expressed that handing over the responsibility of import and sale of essential food items to government bodies such as the Salt Trading Corporation will help in controlling the market price to some extent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Consumers are relieved after the skyrocketing oil prices started falling. Rajesh Maharjan, who visited a retail market in Kalimati on Wednesday, said he felt some relief after getting oil at a lower price than before. He had bought soybean oil at about Rs 320 per liter about two weeks ago. He said that he bought the same oil at Rs 300 per liter on Wednesday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15358', 'image' => '20220714010133_shutterstock_1353066692.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 13:00:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15616', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank to Provide Concessional Loan of $80 Million for Water Supply Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: The World Bank has agreed to provide a concessional loan of US$80 million (approximately Rs 10 billion) to the Government of Nepal for water supply management.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 14: The World Bank has agreed to provide a concessional loan of US$80 million (approximately Rs 10 billion) to the Government of Nepal for water supply management. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The World Bank issued a statement on Wednesday confirming that it signed an agreement with Government of Nepal in this regard. According to the World Bank, the concessional loan will be utilized for a project to improve the delivery of water and sanitation services and to promote integrated water resources management in selected areas of the country<strong><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.</span></strong></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini and the World Bank's Country Director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Faris Hadad-Zervos, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Our overarching priorities are guided by the objective of achieving sustainable and inclusive growth in alignment with federalism principles enshrined in the Constitution of Nepal. The project will support the provision of much-needed water supply and sanitation services to underserved and vulnerable communities, ensure better water sector coordination, and promote higher water quality and service standards,” the statement quoted <span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Finance Secretary Marasini as saying.</span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the World Bank, the <span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Water Sector Governance and Infrastructure Support Project</span> will be implemented in strategic towns and rural municipalities in Karnali and Sudurpashchim provinces where there is low access to water supply and sanitation services, a higher incidence of poverty, and are vulnerable to climate change.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“This project will help strengthen the delivery of water and sanitation services at the local level by building the capacity of municipalities, while at the same time addressing critical gaps in water and sanitation infrastructure to support Nepal’s economic progress and a green, resilient, and inclusive development,” said <span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">World Bank's Country Director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Faris Hadad-Zervos</span>.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The project will help the local governments develop viable institutions to deliver water supply and sanitation services sustainably and efficiently, the statement added. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the World Bank, the project will also strengthen the accountability of the sector to customers by building the monitoring and regulatory capacity of provincial and federal government agencies in the sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"These will be complemented by investments in construction and rehabilitation of vital water supply and sanitation infrastructure, as well as water-quality surveillance facilities and monitoring systems.</span></span>"</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => 'World Bank, Concessional, Loan, Nepal, Government, Water, Management, Sanitation', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15357', 'image' => '20220714085956_aa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 08:58:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15615', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Companies Show Eagerness to Merge before Time Runs Out', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: The insurance sector is highly enthusiastic about merger. The insurance sector which has a history of 75 years in the country has not yet witnessed a single merger.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 13: The insurance sector is highly enthusiastic about merger. The insurance sector which has a history of 75 years in the country has not yet witnessed a single merger.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Many companies opted for merger and acquisition after the regulatory body, the Insurance Board, pressured them to merge in order to increase their paid-up capital. More companies are preparing to sign a preliminary merger agreement by mid-July.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Fiscal Act provides for exemption of capital gains tax, dividend tax and employee retirement tax from the company that conclude the preliminary merger agreement by mid-July this year. Insurance companies are preparing to sign a merger agreement within the deadline to avail the facility. A senior official of the Insurance Board said that four more merger agreements will be signed within this timeframe.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">So far, a preliminary merger agreement has been signed between Himalayan General Insurance Company and Everest Insurance among the non-life insurance companies and Siddhartha General Insurance Company and Premier Insurance. Himalayan General and Everest will be conducting integrated business under the name of Himalayan Everest Insurance from next Sunday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There are currently 19 life and 20 non-life insurance companies operating in Nepal. After the merger of the companies that have entered into agreements, the number of life insurance companies will be reduced to 16 while there will be only 18 non-life insurance companies. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A senior official of the Insurance Board says that other companies will also join the merger process within this month. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Insurance companies are widely involved in the merger process. So far, four mergers have been agreed. According to unofficial information we have received, there may be four more agreements in July,” he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The officials are of the view that the companies that have agreed to the merger within this month for tax exemption. "However, the merger is an ongoing process. It is not necessary to do it within this month,” said the official. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Insurance Board had recently decided to increase the paid-up capital of insurance companies. The board has directed non-life insurance companies to increase their paid-up capital to Rs 2.5 billion while the life insurance companies have been told to increase their paid-up capital to Rs 5 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Recent activities of insurance companies have shown a surge in mergers. Although the Insurance Board has given the option to increase the paid-up capital by issuing right shares, many companies have given priority to merger. In recent times, many companies have convened annual or special general meetings with an agenda to pass a merger proposal. Many companies including Prabhu Life Insurance Company, Reliance Life Insurance Company, Citizen Life Insurance Company, Sanima Life Insurance Company, Insurance Company General Insurance Company, Sanima General have called a general assembly to approve the merger agenda. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15356', 'image' => '20220713054958_merger.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 17:49:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15614', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Parliamentary Committee begins Probe into Allegations Against Janardan Sharma', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: A parliamentary special probe committee has started investigation against former finance minister Janardan Sharma for his alleged involvement in changing the tax rates under the influence of middlemen.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 13: A parliamentary special probe committee has started investigation against former finance minister Janardan Sharma for his alleged involvement in changing the tax rates under the influence of middlemen. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A meeting of the 11-member probe committee on Tuesday decided to seek CCTV footage to study the allegations labeled against Sharma while preparing the budget. Sharma has been accused of allowing entry of unauthorized people into the finance ministry on the eve of the budget announcement on May 28 purportedly for changing the tax rates in favour of certain business groups.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Secretary of the probe committee Surendra Aryal informed New Business Age that the committee has decided to seek CCTV footage along with other relevant documents to study the case. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We have decided to seek the CCTV footage and other documents related to budget formation. The Finance Ministry must submit those documents to the committee by 2 pm on Thursday,” said Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Earlier, the ministry had made an irresponsible remark to the secretary of Consumer Welfare Protection Forum Jaya Prasad Poudel that the CCTV footage cannot be retrieved after 13 days. However, the CCTV Installation and Operation Work Procedure 2072 issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs clearly mentions that the CCTV footage must be maintained for at least three months. The work procedure further states that the CCTV footage must be made available to the Nepal Police or other government bodies immediately upon request and the concerned ministry should bear all the responsibility related to the monitoring room.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sharma was forced to resign due to the irresponsible remark of the ministry that the footage has been deleted. Voices have been raised that the finance secretary, who is close to the Maoist Centre, must also resign in connection to this case. Finance Secretary Madhy Kumar Marasini has been accused of trying to cover up the misdeeds of Sharma.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The probe committee meeting on Tuesday chaired by its senior-most member Laxman Lal Karna however couldn’t elect its chairman. Both the opposition and ruling parties had claimed the chairmanship of the committee. Secretary Aryal informed that the next meeting will elect the committee chair unanimously.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The lawmakers will hold internal discussion and reach a concensus,” said Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The next meeting of the probe committee has been called for 2 pm on Thursday, informed Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The 11-member committee has been mandated to submit its report within 10 days after starting its investigation.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15355', 'image' => '20220713053145_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 17:30:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15613', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Gold Dealers urge Customs Department not to Trouble Passengers Wearing Traditional Jewelry', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: The gold and silver traders have urged the customs department to facilitate people wearing traditional jewelries at the airport.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 13: The gold and silver traders have urged the customs department to facilitate people wearing traditional jewelries at the airport. Stating that the customs office at the Tribhuvan International Airport is unnecessarily strict when it comes to entering the country wearing traditional Nepali jewelry, the gold and silver dealers made such a request.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A delegation of the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association led by its president Manik Ratna Shakya made such request to the Director General of the Department of Customs Kamal Prasad Bhattarai on Tuesday. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">During the meeting with Director General Bhattarai, President of the federation, Manik Ratna Shakya expressed dissatisfaction over the customs duty levied on gold jewelry weighing more than 50 grams when entering Nepal from abroad wearing traditional Nepali jewelry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the existing arrangement, every person coming to Nepal from abroad can bring up to 50 grams of gold jewelry with exemption on customs duty. The gold dealers protested against the customs duty after it was revealed that people can wear jewelry when they go out of Nepal but if they wear more than 50 grams of jewelry when they come back to Nepal from abroad, they need to pay at the customs duty.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Director General of the Customs Department Bhattarai said that he will take initiative to study the problems of the dealers and address them. However, he explained that such practice was brought after it was found that some people were trying to smuggle gold under the pretext of wearing jewelry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The federation’s President Shakya, Vice President Pawan Kumar Somani, General Secretary Dharma Sundar Bajracharya and Treasurer Sudip Shrestha were present during the meeting.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15354', 'image' => '20220713025457_jewellry.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 14:54:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15612', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'MP Demands Probe into NRB Governor's Alleged Party Membership ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: A Member of Parliament has demanded probe into Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari’s political affiliation.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 13: A Member of Parliament has demanded probe into Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari’s political affiliation. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The lawmaker made such demand during the House of Representatives meeting on Wednesday (July 13) after it came to light that Adhikari is a member of the CPN UML’s economic and planning department, the state-owned RSS reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at the HoR meeting, CPN (Maoist Center) lawmaker Rekha Sharma argued that Adhikari’s appointment is against the provision that an individual associated with any party should not be appointed the governor of the central bank. Sharma argued that his appointment is in contravention with the existing laws as well as the bank's act and regulations. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She has demanded an investigation in this connection and action against both sides- the side making the appointment and the side who got appointed. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari was appointed as the governor of NRB by the erstwhile government led by KP Sharma Oli. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, the UML's latest intra-party directive states that M Adhikari (Khotang) has been appointed as the member of the CPN (UML) economic and planning department. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">New Business Age couldn’t independently verify whether M Adhikari of the main opposition party is the NRB Governor. However, according to media reports, social media users suspect it is the same person as the address mentioned in the UML list reportedly matches with that of Governor Adhikari. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari has reportedly denied the allegation on social media.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that the central bank’s governor had a fallout with the then Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, who happens to be from the Maoist party.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Sharma had made a failed attempt to sack the governor in April accusing him of failing to accomplish his responsibilities as the governor of the central bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 7 had decided to investigative into the alleged role of Governor Adhikari in leaking sensitive information of NRB, leading to his suspension.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, the Supreme Court issued a stay order against the government’s decision to suspend the governor. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the other hand, disgraced finance minister Sharma resigned from his post in connection to a different issue involving the entry of unauthorized people at the ministry on the eve of budget announcement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15353', 'image' => '20220713023338_maha.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 14:32:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15611', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Deposit Collection of Banks Increases by Rs 94 Billion in 24 Days', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: Deposit collection of commercial banks between mid-June to mid-July in the current fiscal year stood almost at Rs 100 billion.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 13: Deposit collection of commercial banks between mid-June to mid-July in the current fiscal year stood almost at Rs 100 billion. The increase in deposit collection has been attributed to the increase in government expenditure since mid-June. With the increase in deposit collection, the credit-to-deposit ratio (CD ratio) of banks has improved since the last month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the Nepal Bankers Association, the total deposits of commercial banks has reached Rs 4.494 trillion by July 8. Earlier, the deposit collection of banks was Rs 4.4 trillion by mid-June. The deposit increased by Rs 94 billion in just 24 days.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Despite the increase in total deposits of banks, foreign exchange reserves however, showed a slump. Commercial banks had foreign exchange reserves of Rs 111 billion as of mid-June, but it fell to Rs 106 billion on July 8. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As per the Nepal Bankers Association, deposits in Nepali currency increased from Rs 4.290 trillion to Rs 4.387 trillion. Deposits of banks in the last one week increased by Rs 62 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Government spending increased since mid-June as the fiscal year drew towards its end. According to records maintained by the Financial Comptroller General’s Office, the government spent Rs 6.51 billion on Monday alone. On Saturday, the government’s spending stood at Rs 25.55 billion. About Rs 200 billion has been spent from the state coffers between mid-June to mid-July June alone.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bankers had kept complaining that there was a lack of liquidity in banks and financial institutions due to the government's inability to spend the budget. However, despite the increase in deposit collection from mid-June to mid-July, commercial banks have reduced the credit flow. Banks reduced credit flow to maintain the CD ratio as per the provisions of the current fiscal year’s monetary policy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the association, the credit flow of banks decreased by Rs 19 billion between mid-June to mid-July. The total credit of banks decreased from Rs 4.193 trillion to Rs 4.174 trillion by July 8. In the last week alone, the credit of banks declined by Rs 10 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The banks have emphasized on loan recovery to maintain the CD ratio of 90 percent as specified by the central bank. According to the association, the average CD ratio of banks by July 8 is 88.57 percent. The average CD ratio of banks by mid-June last year was 90.15 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to NRB, the CD ratio of only four commercial banks is above 90 percent. By mid-May, the CD ratio of 15 banks was above 90 percent. Banks have tightened loans disbursement and emphasized on deposit collection and credit recovery to maintain the CD ratio as set by the NRB.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15352', 'image' => '20220713014238_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 13:41:57', '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' => '15625', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Fixed Deposits of Banks Growing', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 15: Banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have stepped up measures to increase fixed deposits in recent times due to the lack of liquidity (investable capital) seen in the financial sector.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 15: Banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have stepped up measures to increase fixed deposits in recent times due to the lack of liquidity (investable capital) seen in the financial sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The share of fixed deposits has increased after the banks started attracting general public by announcing higher interest rates.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the data of Nepal Rastra Bank, as of June in the current fiscal year, the share of fixed deposits out of the total deposits of Rs 49 trillion 85 billion in banks and financial institutions has climbed to 57.1 percent. Until a year ago, the share of fixed deposits was 48.5 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Depositors are attracted to term deposits due to high interest rates and other facilities announced by banks to increase deposits due to the lack of liquidity in banks. Banks pay 5 percentage points more on term deposits than on ordinary savings. As per the NRB directive, the difference between the maximum and minimum interest rates on all types of deposit accounts other than call deposits cannot be more than 5 percentage points.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Due to the intervention of the NRB in the interest rates of banks and financial institutions and the consent of the Nepal Bankers Association, the umbrella organization of the banks, BFIs have attracted the general public to term savings.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As a result, the share of ordinary savings and current deposits has decreased, and fixed deposits have increased. In June 2020, current account deposits were 10 percent but in May 2022, they fell to 8.8 perecnt. Similarly, ordinary savings have dropped from 31.9 percent to 27.1 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">After the banks raised the interest rate to 12 percent, the NRB intervened last October and directed them to set a single-digit limit. At that time, the central bank had also issued a directive not to reduce interest rates by more than 10 percent. Since then, umbrella organizations of banks and financial institutions have agreed to keep the interest rates stable.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the instructions of the NRB, despite increasing the interest rate by 10 percent in February, it is implementing a gentleman's agreement not to increase the interest rate in March, April, May and June since the deposits did not increase. The association has already decided to implement the same interest rate in June and July as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Nepal Bankers Association has agreed that the commercial banks will give a maximum interest rate of 11.03 percent to individuals and 10.03 percent to institutions on 1-year term deposits. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As per the provisions of NRB, banks can provide an additional 1 percent on the deposits coming from remittance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Anil Kumar Upadhyay, president of the Nepal Bankers Association, said that due to the interest rate, the deposit portfolio of banks has increased from current and savings to term deposits. He said that the interest rate on fixed deposits grew from 6 percent to 11-12 percent within a year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-15', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15366', 'image' => '20220715024504_Banks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-15 14:44:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15624', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Ministry Fails to Cooperate with Probe Committee', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 15: The Ministry of Finance has refused to cooperate with the parliamentary probe committee formed to investigate the allegations against former finance minister Janardan Sharma. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 15: The Ministry of Finance has refused to cooperate with the parliamentary probe committee formed to investigate the allegations against former finance minister Janardan Sharma. The probe committee’s schedule was affected due to the non-cooperation by the finance ministry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The 11-member probe committee couldn’t hold any discussion on Thursday after the ministry failed to submit the details sought by the committee.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Secretary of the committee Surendra Aryal informed New Business Age that they could not hold any discussion on the main agenda after the finance ministry did not provide the details and documents related to the then finance minister Sharma. He said that the committee had instructed the ministry on Wednesday to provide the details and relevant documents by 2 pm on Thursday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We had requested the finance ministry to provide us the details by 2 pm on Thursday but they did not cooperate. Since we didn’t have the documents, we couldn’t focus the discussion on the main agenda,” said Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He added that the committee will grill both the secretaries of the finance ministry regarding this issue.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We will resume the discussion at 10 am on Friday after receiving the documents from the ministry, We will hold further discussions with the secretaries at 12 pm,” added Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He further said that the meeting on Thursday decided to approve the work schedule in order to complete the investigation within the given deadline. The committee has been instructed to finish the investigation within 10 days after starting the probe.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The committee is headed by its senior-most member Laxman Lal Karna after the committee members failed to choose its chairman through consensus.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sharma has been accused of changing the tax rates in favour of certain business houses. It was also reported that Sharma had allowed unauthorized persons to enter the ministry on the eve of the budget announcement, drawing criticism from all quarters. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-15', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15365', 'image' => '20220715094311_finance_ministry_copy1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-15 09:42:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15623', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Sector Witnesses Two Mergers in a Single Day ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 15: The insurance sector of Nepal witnessed two preliminary agreements for merger in a single day. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 15: The insurance sector of Nepal witnessed two preliminary agreements for merger in a single day. A preliminary merger agreement was reached between Sanima Life Insruance Company and Reliance Life Insurance Company in the life insurance category while Sanima General Insurance Company reached an understanding with General Insurance Company for merger in the non-life insurance category.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Director of Sanima Life Insurance Company Ghanashyam Thapa and director of Reliance Life Insurance Company Bharat Kumar Todi signed the agreement on behalf of their respective companies.</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 two companies will decide on the name of the merged entity, staff adjustment, and other issues after getting in-principle approval from the Insurance Board. The swap ratio will be decided after the Asset and Liability Assessment. After the merger, the paid-up capital will reach Rs 4.18 billion. At present, Sanima Life Insurance Company has a paid-up capital of Rs 2.8 billion and Reliance Life Insurance has a paid-up capital of Rs 2.10 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 size of the life insurance fund of the merged entity will reach Rs 6.80 billion. At present, Sanima Life Insurance Company has a life insurance fund of Rs 3.13 billion and Reliance Life Insurance has a life insurance fund of Rs 3.67 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"">Meanwhile, Sanima General Insurance and General Insurance Company have also agreed tp take a final decision after the assessment.</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 two companies have agreed to conduct integrated transaction under the name of GIC Insurance.</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 MoU was signed by Chairman of Sanima General Insurance Company Khemraj Lamichhane and Chairman of General Insurance Company Kunal Kayal. Kayal will be the chairman of the company after the merger. It has been agreed that Sudyumna Upadhyaya will be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). After the merger, the company's paid-up capital will reach Rs 2 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 Insurance Board has been indirectly pressuring for merger by issuing instructions to increase paid-up capital. The Finance Act provides for tax exemption if the merger is agreed upon within mid-July. The insurance companies have agreed to merge to get the discount. So far, there have been six merger agreements in insurance sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Earlier, a preliminary merger agreement had been signed between Himalayan General Insurance and Everest Insurance as well as Siddhartha Insurance and Premier Insurance. Himalayan General and Everest will be conducting integrated business under the name of Himalayan Everest Insurance since next Sunday. Prime Life, Gurans Life, and Union are merging in the life insurance category. Surya Life and Jyoti Life have also agreed to merge.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-15', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15364', 'image' => '20220715091255_1657783196.Merger 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-15 09:12:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15622', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Foreign Employment Tribunal Settles Highest Number of Cases in Current Fiscal Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 15: Since its inception 13 years ago, the Foreign Employment Tribunal has settled the highest number of cases in the current fiscal year. The tribunal settled 73.46 per cent of the cases this year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 15: Since its inception 13 years ago, the Foreign Employment Tribunal has settled the highest number of cases in the current fiscal year. The tribunal settled 73.46 per cent of the cases this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Registrar at the Tribunal Anandaraj Panta said 227 cases were finalized in the current fiscal year out of the total 309 cases registered in the current and last fiscal years. So far, the tribunal has settled 2,498 cases. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the last five years, the case settlement rate of the tribunal has been above 50 per cent though its performance was affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the fiscal year 2076/077 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Established as per the Foreign Employment Act, the tribunal oversees criminal cases related to foreign employment. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-15', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15363', 'image' => '20220715085741_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-15 08:53:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15620', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Both Cost and Time of National Pride Projects have Increased ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: Both the cost and time of national pride projects have been found to have increased, according to the 59th report released by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 14: Both the cost and time of national pride projects have been found to have increased, according to the 59th report released by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government in the fiscal year 2068/69 had announced national pride projects under 17 different headings including road infrastructure, agriculture, irrigation facility, hydropower, airport construction and drinking water among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There are currently 24 national pride projects that are currently under construction. The report of the Office of the Auditor General mentions that the progress of these projects till the fiscal year 2077/78 is nil. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Though the construction of national pride projects have been carried out with priority since 10 years, other projects except the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project have not yet been completed, states the report. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the report, </span></strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">starting construction activities without preparing detailed project report, lack of coordination among the concerned bodies, lack of construction capacity, weak monitoring and assessment are the reasons behind increase in time and cost of national pride projects. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the report, the cost and time of 10 out of the 24 national pride projects have increased. The physical progress of Railway and Metro Development project, whose construction started in the fiscal year 2066/67 BS, is nil. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report reads that although Rs 24.47 billion has been spent in the project so far, the physical progress is zero. The project has to be completed within the fiscal year 2078/79 BS. The government has estimated Rs 555.22 billion for the construction of the project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the physical progress of the Karnali Corridor is only 28 per cent. More than Rs 11.30 billion has been spent in the project which started in the fiscal year 2065/66 BS. It has to be completed within the fiscal year 2079/80 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Koshi Corridor, started from fiscal year 2065/66 BS has achieved only 24 per cent physical progress. A total of Rs 30.58 billion has been spent so far for the project, which has to be completed within the fiscal year 2080/81. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report mentions that progress of projects like Mahakali Irrigation Project, North South Kaligandaki Project, Budhigandaki Hydropower Project, Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Project, President Chure Tarai-Madhes Conservation Development Committee and Kathmandu Tarai-Madhes Fast Track is not satisfactory. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The physical progress of Mid-Hill Highway is 57.84 per cent so far. A target has been set to complete the project, that started in 2064/65 BS, within 2079/80 BS. Out of Rs 84.33 billion allocated by the government for the project, Rs 53.34 billion has been spent so far. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15362', 'image' => '20220714055046_20170616052456_fast track nov 21.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 17:50:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15621', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Arrears Rises: OAG Report', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: The series of economic crisis is deepening in the country day by day.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 14: The series of economic crisis is deepening in the country day by day. According to the 59<sup>th</sup> annual report published by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday, the trend of misusing funds from the state coffers and financial irregularities have been increasing. The report also pointed out that the concerned government bodies have been found using money from the state treasury without maintaining audit reports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Government arrears have also increased this year compared to last year, the report states.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report, the arrears of the federal government, provincial government, local government and state-owned corporations have increased by Rs 115 billion this year and stands at Rs 483 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma Dangal says that the arrears have increased by 15.46 percent compared to last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Office of the Auditor General considers the money spent form the state coffers as arrears if the money is not spent as per the existing laws, or the audit report is not prepared or there has been financial irregularities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Some arrears occur due to procedural flaws while others are due to financial irregularities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the 59<sup>th</sup> annual report, a total of 3287 offices of the federal government maintained audit reports. Transactions worth Rs 2820.37 billion were audited during the review period while the arrears were found to be worth Rs 49.47 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the auditing of 1131 offices under the provincial governments found transactions worth Rs 299.57 billion while the arrears were found to be Rs Rs 7.48 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, auditing of transactions worth Rs 1051.9 billion at the local levels revealed arrears worth Rs 43.90 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the arrears of 448 committees and government bodies stood at Rs 14.19 billion. This was revealed after auditing transactions worth Rs 206 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Office of the Auditor General, the Ministry of Finance tops the list of government offices with the highest arrears. The arrears of the finance ministry stands at Rs 19.92 billion.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15361', 'image' => '20220714063601_1657751487.Clipboard14.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 18:35:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15619', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal has more than 4 Million Taxpayers ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: There are four million taxpayers in the country.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 14: There are four million taxpayers in the country. As per the 59th report released by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday, the number of taxpayers has reached 4.059 million till the fiscal year 2077/78 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Number of taxpayers of three groups—income, value added tax and excise duty has increased, reads the report. Of them, 1.577 million people have taken business permanent account number (PAN), 2.471 million have taken individual PAN and 9,998 have taken advance tax PAN. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Number of taxpayers taking PAN for income tax has increased by 18.9 per cent in the fiscal year 2077/78 BS as compared to fiscal year 2076/77 BS. The number of people with PAN for income tax has reached 4.059 million with an increase of 645,717 this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the number of taxpayers towards VAT has reached 268,436 while 103,423 people have acquired excise duty license. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the report, doctors, engineers, lawyers, auditors, artists, players, teachers have not acquired PAN and those who have taken PAN have not given their income details. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15360', 'image' => '20220714053420_taxxxxx.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 17:33:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15618', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Will not Halt Export of Wheat and Sugar to Nepal: Indian Envoy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: India has made it clear that Nepal will not be affected by the ban on exports of wheat, sugar and other commodities.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 14: India has made it clear that Nepal will not be affected by the ban on exports of wheat, sugar and other commodities. Indian Ambassador to Nepal Navin Srivastav said the ban imposed by the Indian government on wheat and sugar exports would not apply to Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Speaking at a reception organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) on Wednesday, Srivastav clarified that the export ban is not intended for Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">India had announced a ban on wheat and sugar exports in May. Stating that the Indian government is in favour of Nepal's economic development along with its own, Shrivastav added, "India is always ready to support Nepal's every effort for progress, and both countries are willing to work in a joint venture."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the occasion, FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha said that Nepal's industries would be in trouble due to the export ban. He said that India should also address the issues of capital expansion, infrastructure development of transit points, upgrading laboratories and removal of non-customs obstruction. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">”Nepal's trade deficit with India is a matter of concern. Indian help is indispensable to reduce this,” Golchha said, urging help for the construction of the Mirgunj bridge.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He emphasized that the Government of India should also resolve the delay in export of agricultural products due to the lack of laboratories. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Due to non-customs barriers, there is a problem, especially in the export of agricultural products and herbs. FNCCI has also drawn the ambassador's attention to the facility of using two more ports for trade with third countries,” added Golchha.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Srivastav informed that the Government of India is ready to strengthen Nepal's economy by solving the problems in road, rail, air and also digital connectivity. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Regarding the lab test, the Indian government has established an international-level lab in Raxaul, Srivastav said. The lab in Kathmandu is being recognized in India within a month, he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">FNCCI informed that it is working to organize the Nepal-India Investment Conference in Kathmandu in collaboration with the Government of Nepal, Government of India, Investment Board Nepal, and Confederation of Indian Industry. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15359', 'image' => '20220714021207_wheatttttt.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 14:11:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15617', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Prices of Edible Oil Take a Nosedive', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: The price of edible oil took a nosedive in the domestic market of Nepal after the Government of India reduced the import duty on unrefined oil. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 14: The price of edible oil took a nosedive in the domestic market of Nepal after the Government of India reduced the import duty on unrefined oil. Due to the latest decision of the Indian government, Nepali entrepreneurs have not been able to export edible oil produced in the country and have decided to reduced the price. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of soybean oil, which had reached as high as Rs 3,200 per carton, has now come down by Rs 700 to Rs 2,500 in the last one week. The price of sunflower oil as well went down by Rs 600 per cartoon. Sunflower oil, which used to be sold at Rs 3,200 per cartoon, is now available at Rs 2,600.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Nepali oil producers had been exporting refined oil to India at excessive prices until India reduced the tariffs on oil imports. With the reduction in import duty, India started producing oil at a lower cost than Nepal, which is the reason why the export from here has almost come to a standstill. Entrepreneurs say that even Nepali consumers in the border areas are in a position to buy edible oil from India rather than Nepal due to the competitive price. India reduced import duty on unrefined oil in an attempt to control inflation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Suresh Rungata, operator of OCB Food in Birgunj, due to this, India started producing edible oil at a lower cost than Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, India, which has been levying tax of up to 40 percent on crude oil imports, now reduced it to just 3 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Exports from Nepal came to a standstill after India reduced import duty on raw materials. When we could not export, our stock increased and the price went down,” said Rungata.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">While on the other hands, Amul Kaji Tuladhar, president of the Nepal Retailers Association said that the entrepreneurs may have been compelled to reduce the price due to the pressure to pay interest on bank loans at a time when the income from exports is declining. He says that retailers and consumers will be affected when big entrepreneurs and traders fluctuate the price arbitrarily. He expressed that handing over the responsibility of import and sale of essential food items to government bodies such as the Salt Trading Corporation will help in controlling the market price to some extent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Consumers are relieved after the skyrocketing oil prices started falling. Rajesh Maharjan, who visited a retail market in Kalimati on Wednesday, said he felt some relief after getting oil at a lower price than before. He had bought soybean oil at about Rs 320 per liter about two weeks ago. He said that he bought the same oil at Rs 300 per liter on Wednesday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15358', 'image' => '20220714010133_shutterstock_1353066692.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 13:00:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15616', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank to Provide Concessional Loan of $80 Million for Water Supply Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: The World Bank has agreed to provide a concessional loan of US$80 million (approximately Rs 10 billion) to the Government of Nepal for water supply management.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 14: The World Bank has agreed to provide a concessional loan of US$80 million (approximately Rs 10 billion) to the Government of Nepal for water supply management. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The World Bank issued a statement on Wednesday confirming that it signed an agreement with Government of Nepal in this regard. According to the World Bank, the concessional loan will be utilized for a project to improve the delivery of water and sanitation services and to promote integrated water resources management in selected areas of the country<strong><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.</span></strong></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini and the World Bank's Country Director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Faris Hadad-Zervos, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Our overarching priorities are guided by the objective of achieving sustainable and inclusive growth in alignment with federalism principles enshrined in the Constitution of Nepal. The project will support the provision of much-needed water supply and sanitation services to underserved and vulnerable communities, ensure better water sector coordination, and promote higher water quality and service standards,” the statement quoted <span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Finance Secretary Marasini as saying.</span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the World Bank, the <span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Water Sector Governance and Infrastructure Support Project</span> will be implemented in strategic towns and rural municipalities in Karnali and Sudurpashchim provinces where there is low access to water supply and sanitation services, a higher incidence of poverty, and are vulnerable to climate change.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“This project will help strengthen the delivery of water and sanitation services at the local level by building the capacity of municipalities, while at the same time addressing critical gaps in water and sanitation infrastructure to support Nepal’s economic progress and a green, resilient, and inclusive development,” said <span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">World Bank's Country Director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Faris Hadad-Zervos</span>.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The project will help the local governments develop viable institutions to deliver water supply and sanitation services sustainably and efficiently, the statement added. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the World Bank, the project will also strengthen the accountability of the sector to customers by building the monitoring and regulatory capacity of provincial and federal government agencies in the sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"These will be complemented by investments in construction and rehabilitation of vital water supply and sanitation infrastructure, as well as water-quality surveillance facilities and monitoring systems.</span></span>"</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => 'World Bank, Concessional, Loan, Nepal, Government, Water, Management, Sanitation', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15357', 'image' => '20220714085956_aa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 08:58:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15615', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Companies Show Eagerness to Merge before Time Runs Out', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: The insurance sector is highly enthusiastic about merger. The insurance sector which has a history of 75 years in the country has not yet witnessed a single merger.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 13: The insurance sector is highly enthusiastic about merger. The insurance sector which has a history of 75 years in the country has not yet witnessed a single merger.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Many companies opted for merger and acquisition after the regulatory body, the Insurance Board, pressured them to merge in order to increase their paid-up capital. More companies are preparing to sign a preliminary merger agreement by mid-July.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Fiscal Act provides for exemption of capital gains tax, dividend tax and employee retirement tax from the company that conclude the preliminary merger agreement by mid-July this year. Insurance companies are preparing to sign a merger agreement within the deadline to avail the facility. A senior official of the Insurance Board said that four more merger agreements will be signed within this timeframe.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">So far, a preliminary merger agreement has been signed between Himalayan General Insurance Company and Everest Insurance among the non-life insurance companies and Siddhartha General Insurance Company and Premier Insurance. Himalayan General and Everest will be conducting integrated business under the name of Himalayan Everest Insurance from next Sunday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There are currently 19 life and 20 non-life insurance companies operating in Nepal. After the merger of the companies that have entered into agreements, the number of life insurance companies will be reduced to 16 while there will be only 18 non-life insurance companies. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A senior official of the Insurance Board says that other companies will also join the merger process within this month. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Insurance companies are widely involved in the merger process. So far, four mergers have been agreed. According to unofficial information we have received, there may be four more agreements in July,” he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The officials are of the view that the companies that have agreed to the merger within this month for tax exemption. "However, the merger is an ongoing process. It is not necessary to do it within this month,” said the official. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Insurance Board had recently decided to increase the paid-up capital of insurance companies. The board has directed non-life insurance companies to increase their paid-up capital to Rs 2.5 billion while the life insurance companies have been told to increase their paid-up capital to Rs 5 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Recent activities of insurance companies have shown a surge in mergers. Although the Insurance Board has given the option to increase the paid-up capital by issuing right shares, many companies have given priority to merger. In recent times, many companies have convened annual or special general meetings with an agenda to pass a merger proposal. Many companies including Prabhu Life Insurance Company, Reliance Life Insurance Company, Citizen Life Insurance Company, Sanima Life Insurance Company, Insurance Company General Insurance Company, Sanima General have called a general assembly to approve the merger agenda. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15356', 'image' => '20220713054958_merger.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 17:49:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15614', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Parliamentary Committee begins Probe into Allegations Against Janardan Sharma', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: A parliamentary special probe committee has started investigation against former finance minister Janardan Sharma for his alleged involvement in changing the tax rates under the influence of middlemen.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 13: A parliamentary special probe committee has started investigation against former finance minister Janardan Sharma for his alleged involvement in changing the tax rates under the influence of middlemen. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A meeting of the 11-member probe committee on Tuesday decided to seek CCTV footage to study the allegations labeled against Sharma while preparing the budget. Sharma has been accused of allowing entry of unauthorized people into the finance ministry on the eve of the budget announcement on May 28 purportedly for changing the tax rates in favour of certain business groups.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Secretary of the probe committee Surendra Aryal informed New Business Age that the committee has decided to seek CCTV footage along with other relevant documents to study the case. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We have decided to seek the CCTV footage and other documents related to budget formation. The Finance Ministry must submit those documents to the committee by 2 pm on Thursday,” said Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Earlier, the ministry had made an irresponsible remark to the secretary of Consumer Welfare Protection Forum Jaya Prasad Poudel that the CCTV footage cannot be retrieved after 13 days. However, the CCTV Installation and Operation Work Procedure 2072 issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs clearly mentions that the CCTV footage must be maintained for at least three months. The work procedure further states that the CCTV footage must be made available to the Nepal Police or other government bodies immediately upon request and the concerned ministry should bear all the responsibility related to the monitoring room.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sharma was forced to resign due to the irresponsible remark of the ministry that the footage has been deleted. Voices have been raised that the finance secretary, who is close to the Maoist Centre, must also resign in connection to this case. Finance Secretary Madhy Kumar Marasini has been accused of trying to cover up the misdeeds of Sharma.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The probe committee meeting on Tuesday chaired by its senior-most member Laxman Lal Karna however couldn’t elect its chairman. Both the opposition and ruling parties had claimed the chairmanship of the committee. Secretary Aryal informed that the next meeting will elect the committee chair unanimously.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The lawmakers will hold internal discussion and reach a concensus,” said Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The next meeting of the probe committee has been called for 2 pm on Thursday, informed Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The 11-member committee has been mandated to submit its report within 10 days after starting its investigation.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15355', 'image' => '20220713053145_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 17:30:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15613', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Gold Dealers urge Customs Department not to Trouble Passengers Wearing Traditional Jewelry', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: The gold and silver traders have urged the customs department to facilitate people wearing traditional jewelries at the airport.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 13: The gold and silver traders have urged the customs department to facilitate people wearing traditional jewelries at the airport. Stating that the customs office at the Tribhuvan International Airport is unnecessarily strict when it comes to entering the country wearing traditional Nepali jewelry, the gold and silver dealers made such a request.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A delegation of the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association led by its president Manik Ratna Shakya made such request to the Director General of the Department of Customs Kamal Prasad Bhattarai on Tuesday. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">During the meeting with Director General Bhattarai, President of the federation, Manik Ratna Shakya expressed dissatisfaction over the customs duty levied on gold jewelry weighing more than 50 grams when entering Nepal from abroad wearing traditional Nepali jewelry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the existing arrangement, every person coming to Nepal from abroad can bring up to 50 grams of gold jewelry with exemption on customs duty. The gold dealers protested against the customs duty after it was revealed that people can wear jewelry when they go out of Nepal but if they wear more than 50 grams of jewelry when they come back to Nepal from abroad, they need to pay at the customs duty.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Director General of the Customs Department Bhattarai said that he will take initiative to study the problems of the dealers and address them. However, he explained that such practice was brought after it was found that some people were trying to smuggle gold under the pretext of wearing jewelry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The federation’s President Shakya, Vice President Pawan Kumar Somani, General Secretary Dharma Sundar Bajracharya and Treasurer Sudip Shrestha were present during the meeting.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15354', 'image' => '20220713025457_jewellry.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 14:54:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15612', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'MP Demands Probe into NRB Governor's Alleged Party Membership ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: A Member of Parliament has demanded probe into Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari’s political affiliation.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 13: A Member of Parliament has demanded probe into Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari’s political affiliation. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The lawmaker made such demand during the House of Representatives meeting on Wednesday (July 13) after it came to light that Adhikari is a member of the CPN UML’s economic and planning department, the state-owned RSS reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at the HoR meeting, CPN (Maoist Center) lawmaker Rekha Sharma argued that Adhikari’s appointment is against the provision that an individual associated with any party should not be appointed the governor of the central bank. Sharma argued that his appointment is in contravention with the existing laws as well as the bank's act and regulations. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She has demanded an investigation in this connection and action against both sides- the side making the appointment and the side who got appointed. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari was appointed as the governor of NRB by the erstwhile government led by KP Sharma Oli. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, the UML's latest intra-party directive states that M Adhikari (Khotang) has been appointed as the member of the CPN (UML) economic and planning department. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">New Business Age couldn’t independently verify whether M Adhikari of the main opposition party is the NRB Governor. However, according to media reports, social media users suspect it is the same person as the address mentioned in the UML list reportedly matches with that of Governor Adhikari. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari has reportedly denied the allegation on social media.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that the central bank’s governor had a fallout with the then Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, who happens to be from the Maoist party.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Sharma had made a failed attempt to sack the governor in April accusing him of failing to accomplish his responsibilities as the governor of the central bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 7 had decided to investigative into the alleged role of Governor Adhikari in leaking sensitive information of NRB, leading to his suspension.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, the Supreme Court issued a stay order against the government’s decision to suspend the governor. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the other hand, disgraced finance minister Sharma resigned from his post in connection to a different issue involving the entry of unauthorized people at the ministry on the eve of budget announcement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15353', 'image' => '20220713023338_maha.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 14:32:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15611', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Deposit Collection of Banks Increases by Rs 94 Billion in 24 Days', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: Deposit collection of commercial banks between mid-June to mid-July in the current fiscal year stood almost at Rs 100 billion.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 13: Deposit collection of commercial banks between mid-June to mid-July in the current fiscal year stood almost at Rs 100 billion. The increase in deposit collection has been attributed to the increase in government expenditure since mid-June. With the increase in deposit collection, the credit-to-deposit ratio (CD ratio) of banks has improved since the last month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the Nepal Bankers Association, the total deposits of commercial banks has reached Rs 4.494 trillion by July 8. Earlier, the deposit collection of banks was Rs 4.4 trillion by mid-June. The deposit increased by Rs 94 billion in just 24 days.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Despite the increase in total deposits of banks, foreign exchange reserves however, showed a slump. Commercial banks had foreign exchange reserves of Rs 111 billion as of mid-June, but it fell to Rs 106 billion on July 8. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As per the Nepal Bankers Association, deposits in Nepali currency increased from Rs 4.290 trillion to Rs 4.387 trillion. Deposits of banks in the last one week increased by Rs 62 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Government spending increased since mid-June as the fiscal year drew towards its end. According to records maintained by the Financial Comptroller General’s Office, the government spent Rs 6.51 billion on Monday alone. On Saturday, the government’s spending stood at Rs 25.55 billion. About Rs 200 billion has been spent from the state coffers between mid-June to mid-July June alone.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bankers had kept complaining that there was a lack of liquidity in banks and financial institutions due to the government's inability to spend the budget. However, despite the increase in deposit collection from mid-June to mid-July, commercial banks have reduced the credit flow. Banks reduced credit flow to maintain the CD ratio as per the provisions of the current fiscal year’s monetary policy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the association, the credit flow of banks decreased by Rs 19 billion between mid-June to mid-July. The total credit of banks decreased from Rs 4.193 trillion to Rs 4.174 trillion by July 8. In the last week alone, the credit of banks declined by Rs 10 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The banks have emphasized on loan recovery to maintain the CD ratio of 90 percent as specified by the central bank. According to the association, the average CD ratio of banks by July 8 is 88.57 percent. The average CD ratio of banks by mid-June last year was 90.15 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to NRB, the CD ratio of only four commercial banks is above 90 percent. By mid-May, the CD ratio of 15 banks was above 90 percent. Banks have tightened loans disbursement and emphasized on deposit collection and credit recovery to maintain the CD ratio as set by the NRB.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15352', 'image' => '20220713014238_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 13:41:57', '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' => '15625', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Fixed Deposits of Banks Growing', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 15: Banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have stepped up measures to increase fixed deposits in recent times due to the lack of liquidity (investable capital) seen in the financial sector.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 15: Banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have stepped up measures to increase fixed deposits in recent times due to the lack of liquidity (investable capital) seen in the financial sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The share of fixed deposits has increased after the banks started attracting general public by announcing higher interest rates.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the data of Nepal Rastra Bank, as of June in the current fiscal year, the share of fixed deposits out of the total deposits of Rs 49 trillion 85 billion in banks and financial institutions has climbed to 57.1 percent. Until a year ago, the share of fixed deposits was 48.5 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Depositors are attracted to term deposits due to high interest rates and other facilities announced by banks to increase deposits due to the lack of liquidity in banks. Banks pay 5 percentage points more on term deposits than on ordinary savings. As per the NRB directive, the difference between the maximum and minimum interest rates on all types of deposit accounts other than call deposits cannot be more than 5 percentage points.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Due to the intervention of the NRB in the interest rates of banks and financial institutions and the consent of the Nepal Bankers Association, the umbrella organization of the banks, BFIs have attracted the general public to term savings.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As a result, the share of ordinary savings and current deposits has decreased, and fixed deposits have increased. In June 2020, current account deposits were 10 percent but in May 2022, they fell to 8.8 perecnt. Similarly, ordinary savings have dropped from 31.9 percent to 27.1 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">After the banks raised the interest rate to 12 percent, the NRB intervened last October and directed them to set a single-digit limit. At that time, the central bank had also issued a directive not to reduce interest rates by more than 10 percent. Since then, umbrella organizations of banks and financial institutions have agreed to keep the interest rates stable.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the instructions of the NRB, despite increasing the interest rate by 10 percent in February, it is implementing a gentleman's agreement not to increase the interest rate in March, April, May and June since the deposits did not increase. The association has already decided to implement the same interest rate in June and July as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Nepal Bankers Association has agreed that the commercial banks will give a maximum interest rate of 11.03 percent to individuals and 10.03 percent to institutions on 1-year term deposits. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As per the provisions of NRB, banks can provide an additional 1 percent on the deposits coming from remittance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Anil Kumar Upadhyay, president of the Nepal Bankers Association, said that due to the interest rate, the deposit portfolio of banks has increased from current and savings to term deposits. He said that the interest rate on fixed deposits grew from 6 percent to 11-12 percent within a year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-15', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15366', 'image' => '20220715024504_Banks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-15 14:44:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15624', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Ministry Fails to Cooperate with Probe Committee', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 15: The Ministry of Finance has refused to cooperate with the parliamentary probe committee formed to investigate the allegations against former finance minister Janardan Sharma. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 15: The Ministry of Finance has refused to cooperate with the parliamentary probe committee formed to investigate the allegations against former finance minister Janardan Sharma. The probe committee’s schedule was affected due to the non-cooperation by the finance ministry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The 11-member probe committee couldn’t hold any discussion on Thursday after the ministry failed to submit the details sought by the committee.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Secretary of the committee Surendra Aryal informed New Business Age that they could not hold any discussion on the main agenda after the finance ministry did not provide the details and documents related to the then finance minister Sharma. He said that the committee had instructed the ministry on Wednesday to provide the details and relevant documents by 2 pm on Thursday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We had requested the finance ministry to provide us the details by 2 pm on Thursday but they did not cooperate. Since we didn’t have the documents, we couldn’t focus the discussion on the main agenda,” said Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He added that the committee will grill both the secretaries of the finance ministry regarding this issue.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We will resume the discussion at 10 am on Friday after receiving the documents from the ministry, We will hold further discussions with the secretaries at 12 pm,” added Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He further said that the meeting on Thursday decided to approve the work schedule in order to complete the investigation within the given deadline. The committee has been instructed to finish the investigation within 10 days after starting the probe.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The committee is headed by its senior-most member Laxman Lal Karna after the committee members failed to choose its chairman through consensus.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sharma has been accused of changing the tax rates in favour of certain business houses. It was also reported that Sharma had allowed unauthorized persons to enter the ministry on the eve of the budget announcement, drawing criticism from all quarters. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-15', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15365', 'image' => '20220715094311_finance_ministry_copy1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-15 09:42:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15623', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Sector Witnesses Two Mergers in a Single Day ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 15: The insurance sector of Nepal witnessed two preliminary agreements for merger in a single day. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 15: The insurance sector of Nepal witnessed two preliminary agreements for merger in a single day. A preliminary merger agreement was reached between Sanima Life Insruance Company and Reliance Life Insurance Company in the life insurance category while Sanima General Insurance Company reached an understanding with General Insurance Company for merger in the non-life insurance category.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Director of Sanima Life Insurance Company Ghanashyam Thapa and director of Reliance Life Insurance Company Bharat Kumar Todi signed the agreement on behalf of their respective companies.</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 two companies will decide on the name of the merged entity, staff adjustment, and other issues after getting in-principle approval from the Insurance Board. The swap ratio will be decided after the Asset and Liability Assessment. After the merger, the paid-up capital will reach Rs 4.18 billion. At present, Sanima Life Insurance Company has a paid-up capital of Rs 2.8 billion and Reliance Life Insurance has a paid-up capital of Rs 2.10 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 size of the life insurance fund of the merged entity will reach Rs 6.80 billion. At present, Sanima Life Insurance Company has a life insurance fund of Rs 3.13 billion and Reliance Life Insurance has a life insurance fund of Rs 3.67 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"">Meanwhile, Sanima General Insurance and General Insurance Company have also agreed tp take a final decision after the assessment.</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 two companies have agreed to conduct integrated transaction under the name of GIC Insurance.</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 MoU was signed by Chairman of Sanima General Insurance Company Khemraj Lamichhane and Chairman of General Insurance Company Kunal Kayal. Kayal will be the chairman of the company after the merger. It has been agreed that Sudyumna Upadhyaya will be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). After the merger, the company's paid-up capital will reach Rs 2 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 Insurance Board has been indirectly pressuring for merger by issuing instructions to increase paid-up capital. The Finance Act provides for tax exemption if the merger is agreed upon within mid-July. The insurance companies have agreed to merge to get the discount. So far, there have been six merger agreements in insurance sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Earlier, a preliminary merger agreement had been signed between Himalayan General Insurance and Everest Insurance as well as Siddhartha Insurance and Premier Insurance. Himalayan General and Everest will be conducting integrated business under the name of Himalayan Everest Insurance since next Sunday. Prime Life, Gurans Life, and Union are merging in the life insurance category. Surya Life and Jyoti Life have also agreed to merge.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-15', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15364', 'image' => '20220715091255_1657783196.Merger 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-15 09:12:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15622', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Foreign Employment Tribunal Settles Highest Number of Cases in Current Fiscal Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 15: Since its inception 13 years ago, the Foreign Employment Tribunal has settled the highest number of cases in the current fiscal year. The tribunal settled 73.46 per cent of the cases this year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 15: Since its inception 13 years ago, the Foreign Employment Tribunal has settled the highest number of cases in the current fiscal year. The tribunal settled 73.46 per cent of the cases this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Registrar at the Tribunal Anandaraj Panta said 227 cases were finalized in the current fiscal year out of the total 309 cases registered in the current and last fiscal years. So far, the tribunal has settled 2,498 cases. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the last five years, the case settlement rate of the tribunal has been above 50 per cent though its performance was affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the fiscal year 2076/077 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Established as per the Foreign Employment Act, the tribunal oversees criminal cases related to foreign employment. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-15', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15363', 'image' => '20220715085741_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-15 08:53:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15620', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Both Cost and Time of National Pride Projects have Increased ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: Both the cost and time of national pride projects have been found to have increased, according to the 59th report released by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 14: Both the cost and time of national pride projects have been found to have increased, according to the 59th report released by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government in the fiscal year 2068/69 had announced national pride projects under 17 different headings including road infrastructure, agriculture, irrigation facility, hydropower, airport construction and drinking water among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There are currently 24 national pride projects that are currently under construction. The report of the Office of the Auditor General mentions that the progress of these projects till the fiscal year 2077/78 is nil. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Though the construction of national pride projects have been carried out with priority since 10 years, other projects except the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project have not yet been completed, states the report. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the report, </span></strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">starting construction activities without preparing detailed project report, lack of coordination among the concerned bodies, lack of construction capacity, weak monitoring and assessment are the reasons behind increase in time and cost of national pride projects. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the report, the cost and time of 10 out of the 24 national pride projects have increased. The physical progress of Railway and Metro Development project, whose construction started in the fiscal year 2066/67 BS, is nil. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report reads that although Rs 24.47 billion has been spent in the project so far, the physical progress is zero. The project has to be completed within the fiscal year 2078/79 BS. The government has estimated Rs 555.22 billion for the construction of the project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the physical progress of the Karnali Corridor is only 28 per cent. More than Rs 11.30 billion has been spent in the project which started in the fiscal year 2065/66 BS. It has to be completed within the fiscal year 2079/80 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Koshi Corridor, started from fiscal year 2065/66 BS has achieved only 24 per cent physical progress. A total of Rs 30.58 billion has been spent so far for the project, which has to be completed within the fiscal year 2080/81. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report mentions that progress of projects like Mahakali Irrigation Project, North South Kaligandaki Project, Budhigandaki Hydropower Project, Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Project, President Chure Tarai-Madhes Conservation Development Committee and Kathmandu Tarai-Madhes Fast Track is not satisfactory. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The physical progress of Mid-Hill Highway is 57.84 per cent so far. A target has been set to complete the project, that started in 2064/65 BS, within 2079/80 BS. Out of Rs 84.33 billion allocated by the government for the project, Rs 53.34 billion has been spent so far. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15362', 'image' => '20220714055046_20170616052456_fast track nov 21.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 17:50:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15621', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Arrears Rises: OAG Report', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: The series of economic crisis is deepening in the country day by day.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 14: The series of economic crisis is deepening in the country day by day. According to the 59<sup>th</sup> annual report published by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday, the trend of misusing funds from the state coffers and financial irregularities have been increasing. The report also pointed out that the concerned government bodies have been found using money from the state treasury without maintaining audit reports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Government arrears have also increased this year compared to last year, the report states.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report, the arrears of the federal government, provincial government, local government and state-owned corporations have increased by Rs 115 billion this year and stands at Rs 483 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma Dangal says that the arrears have increased by 15.46 percent compared to last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Office of the Auditor General considers the money spent form the state coffers as arrears if the money is not spent as per the existing laws, or the audit report is not prepared or there has been financial irregularities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Some arrears occur due to procedural flaws while others are due to financial irregularities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the 59<sup>th</sup> annual report, a total of 3287 offices of the federal government maintained audit reports. Transactions worth Rs 2820.37 billion were audited during the review period while the arrears were found to be worth Rs 49.47 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the auditing of 1131 offices under the provincial governments found transactions worth Rs 299.57 billion while the arrears were found to be Rs Rs 7.48 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, auditing of transactions worth Rs 1051.9 billion at the local levels revealed arrears worth Rs 43.90 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the arrears of 448 committees and government bodies stood at Rs 14.19 billion. This was revealed after auditing transactions worth Rs 206 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Office of the Auditor General, the Ministry of Finance tops the list of government offices with the highest arrears. The arrears of the finance ministry stands at Rs 19.92 billion.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15361', 'image' => '20220714063601_1657751487.Clipboard14.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 18:35:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15619', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal has more than 4 Million Taxpayers ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: There are four million taxpayers in the country.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 14: There are four million taxpayers in the country. As per the 59th report released by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday, the number of taxpayers has reached 4.059 million till the fiscal year 2077/78 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Number of taxpayers of three groups—income, value added tax and excise duty has increased, reads the report. Of them, 1.577 million people have taken business permanent account number (PAN), 2.471 million have taken individual PAN and 9,998 have taken advance tax PAN. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Number of taxpayers taking PAN for income tax has increased by 18.9 per cent in the fiscal year 2077/78 BS as compared to fiscal year 2076/77 BS. The number of people with PAN for income tax has reached 4.059 million with an increase of 645,717 this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the number of taxpayers towards VAT has reached 268,436 while 103,423 people have acquired excise duty license. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the report, doctors, engineers, lawyers, auditors, artists, players, teachers have not acquired PAN and those who have taken PAN have not given their income details. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15360', 'image' => '20220714053420_taxxxxx.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 17:33:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15618', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Will not Halt Export of Wheat and Sugar to Nepal: Indian Envoy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: India has made it clear that Nepal will not be affected by the ban on exports of wheat, sugar and other commodities.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 14: India has made it clear that Nepal will not be affected by the ban on exports of wheat, sugar and other commodities. Indian Ambassador to Nepal Navin Srivastav said the ban imposed by the Indian government on wheat and sugar exports would not apply to Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Speaking at a reception organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) on Wednesday, Srivastav clarified that the export ban is not intended for Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">India had announced a ban on wheat and sugar exports in May. Stating that the Indian government is in favour of Nepal's economic development along with its own, Shrivastav added, "India is always ready to support Nepal's every effort for progress, and both countries are willing to work in a joint venture."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the occasion, FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha said that Nepal's industries would be in trouble due to the export ban. He said that India should also address the issues of capital expansion, infrastructure development of transit points, upgrading laboratories and removal of non-customs obstruction. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">”Nepal's trade deficit with India is a matter of concern. Indian help is indispensable to reduce this,” Golchha said, urging help for the construction of the Mirgunj bridge.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He emphasized that the Government of India should also resolve the delay in export of agricultural products due to the lack of laboratories. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Due to non-customs barriers, there is a problem, especially in the export of agricultural products and herbs. FNCCI has also drawn the ambassador's attention to the facility of using two more ports for trade with third countries,” added Golchha.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Srivastav informed that the Government of India is ready to strengthen Nepal's economy by solving the problems in road, rail, air and also digital connectivity. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Regarding the lab test, the Indian government has established an international-level lab in Raxaul, Srivastav said. The lab in Kathmandu is being recognized in India within a month, he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">FNCCI informed that it is working to organize the Nepal-India Investment Conference in Kathmandu in collaboration with the Government of Nepal, Government of India, Investment Board Nepal, and Confederation of Indian Industry. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15359', 'image' => '20220714021207_wheatttttt.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 14:11:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15617', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Prices of Edible Oil Take a Nosedive', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: The price of edible oil took a nosedive in the domestic market of Nepal after the Government of India reduced the import duty on unrefined oil. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 14: The price of edible oil took a nosedive in the domestic market of Nepal after the Government of India reduced the import duty on unrefined oil. Due to the latest decision of the Indian government, Nepali entrepreneurs have not been able to export edible oil produced in the country and have decided to reduced the price. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of soybean oil, which had reached as high as Rs 3,200 per carton, has now come down by Rs 700 to Rs 2,500 in the last one week. The price of sunflower oil as well went down by Rs 600 per cartoon. Sunflower oil, which used to be sold at Rs 3,200 per cartoon, is now available at Rs 2,600.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Nepali oil producers had been exporting refined oil to India at excessive prices until India reduced the tariffs on oil imports. With the reduction in import duty, India started producing oil at a lower cost than Nepal, which is the reason why the export from here has almost come to a standstill. Entrepreneurs say that even Nepali consumers in the border areas are in a position to buy edible oil from India rather than Nepal due to the competitive price. India reduced import duty on unrefined oil in an attempt to control inflation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Suresh Rungata, operator of OCB Food in Birgunj, due to this, India started producing edible oil at a lower cost than Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, India, which has been levying tax of up to 40 percent on crude oil imports, now reduced it to just 3 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Exports from Nepal came to a standstill after India reduced import duty on raw materials. When we could not export, our stock increased and the price went down,” said Rungata.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">While on the other hands, Amul Kaji Tuladhar, president of the Nepal Retailers Association said that the entrepreneurs may have been compelled to reduce the price due to the pressure to pay interest on bank loans at a time when the income from exports is declining. He says that retailers and consumers will be affected when big entrepreneurs and traders fluctuate the price arbitrarily. He expressed that handing over the responsibility of import and sale of essential food items to government bodies such as the Salt Trading Corporation will help in controlling the market price to some extent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Consumers are relieved after the skyrocketing oil prices started falling. Rajesh Maharjan, who visited a retail market in Kalimati on Wednesday, said he felt some relief after getting oil at a lower price than before. He had bought soybean oil at about Rs 320 per liter about two weeks ago. He said that he bought the same oil at Rs 300 per liter on Wednesday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15358', 'image' => '20220714010133_shutterstock_1353066692.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 13:00:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15616', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank to Provide Concessional Loan of $80 Million for Water Supply Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: The World Bank has agreed to provide a concessional loan of US$80 million (approximately Rs 10 billion) to the Government of Nepal for water supply management.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 14: The World Bank has agreed to provide a concessional loan of US$80 million (approximately Rs 10 billion) to the Government of Nepal for water supply management. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The World Bank issued a statement on Wednesday confirming that it signed an agreement with Government of Nepal in this regard. According to the World Bank, the concessional loan will be utilized for a project to improve the delivery of water and sanitation services and to promote integrated water resources management in selected areas of the country<strong><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.</span></strong></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini and the World Bank's Country Director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Faris Hadad-Zervos, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Our overarching priorities are guided by the objective of achieving sustainable and inclusive growth in alignment with federalism principles enshrined in the Constitution of Nepal. The project will support the provision of much-needed water supply and sanitation services to underserved and vulnerable communities, ensure better water sector coordination, and promote higher water quality and service standards,” the statement quoted <span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Finance Secretary Marasini as saying.</span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the World Bank, the <span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Water Sector Governance and Infrastructure Support Project</span> will be implemented in strategic towns and rural municipalities in Karnali and Sudurpashchim provinces where there is low access to water supply and sanitation services, a higher incidence of poverty, and are vulnerable to climate change.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“This project will help strengthen the delivery of water and sanitation services at the local level by building the capacity of municipalities, while at the same time addressing critical gaps in water and sanitation infrastructure to support Nepal’s economic progress and a green, resilient, and inclusive development,” said <span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">World Bank's Country Director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Faris Hadad-Zervos</span>.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The project will help the local governments develop viable institutions to deliver water supply and sanitation services sustainably and efficiently, the statement added. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the World Bank, the project will also strengthen the accountability of the sector to customers by building the monitoring and regulatory capacity of provincial and federal government agencies in the sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"These will be complemented by investments in construction and rehabilitation of vital water supply and sanitation infrastructure, as well as water-quality surveillance facilities and monitoring systems.</span></span>"</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => 'World Bank, Concessional, Loan, Nepal, Government, Water, Management, Sanitation', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15357', 'image' => '20220714085956_aa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 08:58:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15615', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Companies Show Eagerness to Merge before Time Runs Out', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: The insurance sector is highly enthusiastic about merger. The insurance sector which has a history of 75 years in the country has not yet witnessed a single merger.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 13: The insurance sector is highly enthusiastic about merger. The insurance sector which has a history of 75 years in the country has not yet witnessed a single merger.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Many companies opted for merger and acquisition after the regulatory body, the Insurance Board, pressured them to merge in order to increase their paid-up capital. More companies are preparing to sign a preliminary merger agreement by mid-July.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Fiscal Act provides for exemption of capital gains tax, dividend tax and employee retirement tax from the company that conclude the preliminary merger agreement by mid-July this year. Insurance companies are preparing to sign a merger agreement within the deadline to avail the facility. A senior official of the Insurance Board said that four more merger agreements will be signed within this timeframe.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">So far, a preliminary merger agreement has been signed between Himalayan General Insurance Company and Everest Insurance among the non-life insurance companies and Siddhartha General Insurance Company and Premier Insurance. Himalayan General and Everest will be conducting integrated business under the name of Himalayan Everest Insurance from next Sunday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There are currently 19 life and 20 non-life insurance companies operating in Nepal. After the merger of the companies that have entered into agreements, the number of life insurance companies will be reduced to 16 while there will be only 18 non-life insurance companies. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A senior official of the Insurance Board says that other companies will also join the merger process within this month. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Insurance companies are widely involved in the merger process. So far, four mergers have been agreed. According to unofficial information we have received, there may be four more agreements in July,” he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The officials are of the view that the companies that have agreed to the merger within this month for tax exemption. "However, the merger is an ongoing process. It is not necessary to do it within this month,” said the official. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Insurance Board had recently decided to increase the paid-up capital of insurance companies. The board has directed non-life insurance companies to increase their paid-up capital to Rs 2.5 billion while the life insurance companies have been told to increase their paid-up capital to Rs 5 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Recent activities of insurance companies have shown a surge in mergers. Although the Insurance Board has given the option to increase the paid-up capital by issuing right shares, many companies have given priority to merger. In recent times, many companies have convened annual or special general meetings with an agenda to pass a merger proposal. Many companies including Prabhu Life Insurance Company, Reliance Life Insurance Company, Citizen Life Insurance Company, Sanima Life Insurance Company, Insurance Company General Insurance Company, Sanima General have called a general assembly to approve the merger agenda. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15356', 'image' => '20220713054958_merger.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 17:49:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15614', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Parliamentary Committee begins Probe into Allegations Against Janardan Sharma', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: A parliamentary special probe committee has started investigation against former finance minister Janardan Sharma for his alleged involvement in changing the tax rates under the influence of middlemen.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 13: A parliamentary special probe committee has started investigation against former finance minister Janardan Sharma for his alleged involvement in changing the tax rates under the influence of middlemen. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A meeting of the 11-member probe committee on Tuesday decided to seek CCTV footage to study the allegations labeled against Sharma while preparing the budget. Sharma has been accused of allowing entry of unauthorized people into the finance ministry on the eve of the budget announcement on May 28 purportedly for changing the tax rates in favour of certain business groups.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Secretary of the probe committee Surendra Aryal informed New Business Age that the committee has decided to seek CCTV footage along with other relevant documents to study the case. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We have decided to seek the CCTV footage and other documents related to budget formation. The Finance Ministry must submit those documents to the committee by 2 pm on Thursday,” said Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Earlier, the ministry had made an irresponsible remark to the secretary of Consumer Welfare Protection Forum Jaya Prasad Poudel that the CCTV footage cannot be retrieved after 13 days. However, the CCTV Installation and Operation Work Procedure 2072 issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs clearly mentions that the CCTV footage must be maintained for at least three months. The work procedure further states that the CCTV footage must be made available to the Nepal Police or other government bodies immediately upon request and the concerned ministry should bear all the responsibility related to the monitoring room.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sharma was forced to resign due to the irresponsible remark of the ministry that the footage has been deleted. Voices have been raised that the finance secretary, who is close to the Maoist Centre, must also resign in connection to this case. Finance Secretary Madhy Kumar Marasini has been accused of trying to cover up the misdeeds of Sharma.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The probe committee meeting on Tuesday chaired by its senior-most member Laxman Lal Karna however couldn’t elect its chairman. Both the opposition and ruling parties had claimed the chairmanship of the committee. Secretary Aryal informed that the next meeting will elect the committee chair unanimously.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The lawmakers will hold internal discussion and reach a concensus,” said Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The next meeting of the probe committee has been called for 2 pm on Thursday, informed Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The 11-member committee has been mandated to submit its report within 10 days after starting its investigation.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15355', 'image' => '20220713053145_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 17:30:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15613', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Gold Dealers urge Customs Department not to Trouble Passengers Wearing Traditional Jewelry', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: The gold and silver traders have urged the customs department to facilitate people wearing traditional jewelries at the airport.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 13: The gold and silver traders have urged the customs department to facilitate people wearing traditional jewelries at the airport. Stating that the customs office at the Tribhuvan International Airport is unnecessarily strict when it comes to entering the country wearing traditional Nepali jewelry, the gold and silver dealers made such a request.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A delegation of the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association led by its president Manik Ratna Shakya made such request to the Director General of the Department of Customs Kamal Prasad Bhattarai on Tuesday. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">During the meeting with Director General Bhattarai, President of the federation, Manik Ratna Shakya expressed dissatisfaction over the customs duty levied on gold jewelry weighing more than 50 grams when entering Nepal from abroad wearing traditional Nepali jewelry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the existing arrangement, every person coming to Nepal from abroad can bring up to 50 grams of gold jewelry with exemption on customs duty. The gold dealers protested against the customs duty after it was revealed that people can wear jewelry when they go out of Nepal but if they wear more than 50 grams of jewelry when they come back to Nepal from abroad, they need to pay at the customs duty.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Director General of the Customs Department Bhattarai said that he will take initiative to study the problems of the dealers and address them. However, he explained that such practice was brought after it was found that some people were trying to smuggle gold under the pretext of wearing jewelry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The federation’s President Shakya, Vice President Pawan Kumar Somani, General Secretary Dharma Sundar Bajracharya and Treasurer Sudip Shrestha were present during the meeting.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15354', 'image' => '20220713025457_jewellry.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 14:54:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15612', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'MP Demands Probe into NRB Governor's Alleged Party Membership ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: A Member of Parliament has demanded probe into Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari’s political affiliation.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 13: A Member of Parliament has demanded probe into Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari’s political affiliation. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The lawmaker made such demand during the House of Representatives meeting on Wednesday (July 13) after it came to light that Adhikari is a member of the CPN UML’s economic and planning department, the state-owned RSS reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at the HoR meeting, CPN (Maoist Center) lawmaker Rekha Sharma argued that Adhikari’s appointment is against the provision that an individual associated with any party should not be appointed the governor of the central bank. Sharma argued that his appointment is in contravention with the existing laws as well as the bank's act and regulations. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She has demanded an investigation in this connection and action against both sides- the side making the appointment and the side who got appointed. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari was appointed as the governor of NRB by the erstwhile government led by KP Sharma Oli. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, the UML's latest intra-party directive states that M Adhikari (Khotang) has been appointed as the member of the CPN (UML) economic and planning department. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">New Business Age couldn’t independently verify whether M Adhikari of the main opposition party is the NRB Governor. However, according to media reports, social media users suspect it is the same person as the address mentioned in the UML list reportedly matches with that of Governor Adhikari. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari has reportedly denied the allegation on social media.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that the central bank’s governor had a fallout with the then Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, who happens to be from the Maoist party.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Sharma had made a failed attempt to sack the governor in April accusing him of failing to accomplish his responsibilities as the governor of the central bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 7 had decided to investigative into the alleged role of Governor Adhikari in leaking sensitive information of NRB, leading to his suspension.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, the Supreme Court issued a stay order against the government’s decision to suspend the governor. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the other hand, disgraced finance minister Sharma resigned from his post in connection to a different issue involving the entry of unauthorized people at the ministry on the eve of budget announcement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15353', 'image' => '20220713023338_maha.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 14:32:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15611', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Deposit Collection of Banks Increases by Rs 94 Billion in 24 Days', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: Deposit collection of commercial banks between mid-June to mid-July in the current fiscal year stood almost at Rs 100 billion.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 13: Deposit collection of commercial banks between mid-June to mid-July in the current fiscal year stood almost at Rs 100 billion. The increase in deposit collection has been attributed to the increase in government expenditure since mid-June. With the increase in deposit collection, the credit-to-deposit ratio (CD ratio) of banks has improved since the last month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the Nepal Bankers Association, the total deposits of commercial banks has reached Rs 4.494 trillion by July 8. Earlier, the deposit collection of banks was Rs 4.4 trillion by mid-June. The deposit increased by Rs 94 billion in just 24 days.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Despite the increase in total deposits of banks, foreign exchange reserves however, showed a slump. Commercial banks had foreign exchange reserves of Rs 111 billion as of mid-June, but it fell to Rs 106 billion on July 8. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As per the Nepal Bankers Association, deposits in Nepali currency increased from Rs 4.290 trillion to Rs 4.387 trillion. Deposits of banks in the last one week increased by Rs 62 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Government spending increased since mid-June as the fiscal year drew towards its end. According to records maintained by the Financial Comptroller General’s Office, the government spent Rs 6.51 billion on Monday alone. On Saturday, the government’s spending stood at Rs 25.55 billion. About Rs 200 billion has been spent from the state coffers between mid-June to mid-July June alone.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bankers had kept complaining that there was a lack of liquidity in banks and financial institutions due to the government's inability to spend the budget. However, despite the increase in deposit collection from mid-June to mid-July, commercial banks have reduced the credit flow. Banks reduced credit flow to maintain the CD ratio as per the provisions of the current fiscal year’s monetary policy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the association, the credit flow of banks decreased by Rs 19 billion between mid-June to mid-July. The total credit of banks decreased from Rs 4.193 trillion to Rs 4.174 trillion by July 8. In the last week alone, the credit of banks declined by Rs 10 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The banks have emphasized on loan recovery to maintain the CD ratio of 90 percent as specified by the central bank. According to the association, the average CD ratio of banks by July 8 is 88.57 percent. The average CD ratio of banks by mid-June last year was 90.15 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to NRB, the CD ratio of only four commercial banks is above 90 percent. By mid-May, the CD ratio of 15 banks was above 90 percent. Banks have tightened loans disbursement and emphasized on deposit collection and credit recovery to maintain the CD ratio as set by the NRB.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15352', 'image' => '20220713014238_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 13:41:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15625', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Fixed Deposits of Banks Growing', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 15: Banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have stepped up measures to increase fixed deposits in recent times due to the lack of liquidity (investable capital) seen in the financial sector.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 15: Banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have stepped up measures to increase fixed deposits in recent times due to the lack of liquidity (investable capital) seen in the financial sector.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The share of fixed deposits has increased after the banks started attracting general public by announcing higher interest rates.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the data of Nepal Rastra Bank, as of June in the current fiscal year, the share of fixed deposits out of the total deposits of Rs 49 trillion 85 billion in banks and financial institutions has climbed to 57.1 percent. Until a year ago, the share of fixed deposits was 48.5 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Depositors are attracted to term deposits due to high interest rates and other facilities announced by banks to increase deposits due to the lack of liquidity in banks. Banks pay 5 percentage points more on term deposits than on ordinary savings. As per the NRB directive, the difference between the maximum and minimum interest rates on all types of deposit accounts other than call deposits cannot be more than 5 percentage points.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Due to the intervention of the NRB in the interest rates of banks and financial institutions and the consent of the Nepal Bankers Association, the umbrella organization of the banks, BFIs have attracted the general public to term savings.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As a result, the share of ordinary savings and current deposits has decreased, and fixed deposits have increased. In June 2020, current account deposits were 10 percent but in May 2022, they fell to 8.8 perecnt. Similarly, ordinary savings have dropped from 31.9 percent to 27.1 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">After the banks raised the interest rate to 12 percent, the NRB intervened last October and directed them to set a single-digit limit. At that time, the central bank had also issued a directive not to reduce interest rates by more than 10 percent. Since then, umbrella organizations of banks and financial institutions have agreed to keep the interest rates stable.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the instructions of the NRB, despite increasing the interest rate by 10 percent in February, it is implementing a gentleman's agreement not to increase the interest rate in March, April, May and June since the deposits did not increase. The association has already decided to implement the same interest rate in June and July as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Nepal Bankers Association has agreed that the commercial banks will give a maximum interest rate of 11.03 percent to individuals and 10.03 percent to institutions on 1-year term deposits. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As per the provisions of NRB, banks can provide an additional 1 percent on the deposits coming from remittance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Anil Kumar Upadhyay, president of the Nepal Bankers Association, said that due to the interest rate, the deposit portfolio of banks has increased from current and savings to term deposits. He said that the interest rate on fixed deposits grew from 6 percent to 11-12 percent within a year.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong> </strong></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-15', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15366', 'image' => '20220715024504_Banks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-15 14:44:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15624', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Ministry Fails to Cooperate with Probe Committee', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 15: The Ministry of Finance has refused to cooperate with the parliamentary probe committee formed to investigate the allegations against former finance minister Janardan Sharma. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 15: The Ministry of Finance has refused to cooperate with the parliamentary probe committee formed to investigate the allegations against former finance minister Janardan Sharma. The probe committee’s schedule was affected due to the non-cooperation by the finance ministry.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The 11-member probe committee couldn’t hold any discussion on Thursday after the ministry failed to submit the details sought by the committee.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Secretary of the committee Surendra Aryal informed New Business Age that they could not hold any discussion on the main agenda after the finance ministry did not provide the details and documents related to the then finance minister Sharma. He said that the committee had instructed the ministry on Wednesday to provide the details and relevant documents by 2 pm on Thursday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We had requested the finance ministry to provide us the details by 2 pm on Thursday but they did not cooperate. Since we didn’t have the documents, we couldn’t focus the discussion on the main agenda,” said Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He added that the committee will grill both the secretaries of the finance ministry regarding this issue.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We will resume the discussion at 10 am on Friday after receiving the documents from the ministry, We will hold further discussions with the secretaries at 12 pm,” added Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He further said that the meeting on Thursday decided to approve the work schedule in order to complete the investigation within the given deadline. The committee has been instructed to finish the investigation within 10 days after starting the probe.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The committee is headed by its senior-most member Laxman Lal Karna after the committee members failed to choose its chairman through consensus.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sharma has been accused of changing the tax rates in favour of certain business houses. It was also reported that Sharma had allowed unauthorized persons to enter the ministry on the eve of the budget announcement, drawing criticism from all quarters. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-15', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15365', 'image' => '20220715094311_finance_ministry_copy1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-15 09:42:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15623', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Sector Witnesses Two Mergers in a Single Day ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 15: The insurance sector of Nepal witnessed two preliminary agreements for merger in a single day. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 15: The insurance sector of Nepal witnessed two preliminary agreements for merger in a single day. A preliminary merger agreement was reached between Sanima Life Insruance Company and Reliance Life Insurance Company in the life insurance category while Sanima General Insurance Company reached an understanding with General Insurance Company for merger in the non-life insurance category.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Director of Sanima Life Insurance Company Ghanashyam Thapa and director of Reliance Life Insurance Company Bharat Kumar Todi signed the agreement on behalf of their respective companies.</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 two companies will decide on the name of the merged entity, staff adjustment, and other issues after getting in-principle approval from the Insurance Board. The swap ratio will be decided after the Asset and Liability Assessment. After the merger, the paid-up capital will reach Rs 4.18 billion. At present, Sanima Life Insurance Company has a paid-up capital of Rs 2.8 billion and Reliance Life Insurance has a paid-up capital of Rs 2.10 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 size of the life insurance fund of the merged entity will reach Rs 6.80 billion. At present, Sanima Life Insurance Company has a life insurance fund of Rs 3.13 billion and Reliance Life Insurance has a life insurance fund of Rs 3.67 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"">Meanwhile, Sanima General Insurance and General Insurance Company have also agreed tp take a final decision after the assessment.</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 two companies have agreed to conduct integrated transaction under the name of GIC Insurance.</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 MoU was signed by Chairman of Sanima General Insurance Company Khemraj Lamichhane and Chairman of General Insurance Company Kunal Kayal. Kayal will be the chairman of the company after the merger. It has been agreed that Sudyumna Upadhyaya will be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). After the merger, the company's paid-up capital will reach Rs 2 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 Insurance Board has been indirectly pressuring for merger by issuing instructions to increase paid-up capital. The Finance Act provides for tax exemption if the merger is agreed upon within mid-July. The insurance companies have agreed to merge to get the discount. So far, there have been six merger agreements in insurance sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Earlier, a preliminary merger agreement had been signed between Himalayan General Insurance and Everest Insurance as well as Siddhartha Insurance and Premier Insurance. Himalayan General and Everest will be conducting integrated business under the name of Himalayan Everest Insurance since next Sunday. Prime Life, Gurans Life, and Union are merging in the life insurance category. Surya Life and Jyoti Life have also agreed to merge.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-15', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15364', 'image' => '20220715091255_1657783196.Merger 1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-15 09:12:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15622', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Foreign Employment Tribunal Settles Highest Number of Cases in Current Fiscal Year ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 15: Since its inception 13 years ago, the Foreign Employment Tribunal has settled the highest number of cases in the current fiscal year. The tribunal settled 73.46 per cent of the cases this year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 15: Since its inception 13 years ago, the Foreign Employment Tribunal has settled the highest number of cases in the current fiscal year. The tribunal settled 73.46 per cent of the cases this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Registrar at the Tribunal Anandaraj Panta said 227 cases were finalized in the current fiscal year out of the total 309 cases registered in the current and last fiscal years. So far, the tribunal has settled 2,498 cases. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In the last five years, the case settlement rate of the tribunal has been above 50 per cent though its performance was affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the fiscal year 2076/077 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Established as per the Foreign Employment Act, the tribunal oversees criminal cases related to foreign employment. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-15', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15363', 'image' => '20220715085741_foreign emp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-15 08:53:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15620', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Both Cost and Time of National Pride Projects have Increased ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: Both the cost and time of national pride projects have been found to have increased, according to the 59th report released by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 14: Both the cost and time of national pride projects have been found to have increased, according to the 59th report released by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government in the fiscal year 2068/69 had announced national pride projects under 17 different headings including road infrastructure, agriculture, irrigation facility, hydropower, airport construction and drinking water among others. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">There are currently 24 national pride projects that are currently under construction. The report of the Office of the Auditor General mentions that the progress of these projects till the fiscal year 2077/78 is nil. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Though the construction of national pride projects have been carried out with priority since 10 years, other projects except the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project have not yet been completed, states the report. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the report, </span></strong><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">starting construction activities without preparing detailed project report, lack of coordination among the concerned bodies, lack of construction capacity, weak monitoring and assessment are the reasons behind increase in time and cost of national pride projects. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the report, the cost and time of 10 out of the 24 national pride projects have increased. The physical progress of Railway and Metro Development project, whose construction started in the fiscal year 2066/67 BS, is nil. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report reads that although Rs 24.47 billion has been spent in the project so far, the physical progress is zero. The project has to be completed within the fiscal year 2078/79 BS. The government has estimated Rs 555.22 billion for the construction of the project. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the physical progress of the Karnali Corridor is only 28 per cent. More than Rs 11.30 billion has been spent in the project which started in the fiscal year 2065/66 BS. It has to be completed within the fiscal year 2079/80 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the Koshi Corridor, started from fiscal year 2065/66 BS has achieved only 24 per cent physical progress. A total of Rs 30.58 billion has been spent so far for the project, which has to be completed within the fiscal year 2080/81. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The report mentions that progress of projects like Mahakali Irrigation Project, North South Kaligandaki Project, Budhigandaki Hydropower Project, Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Project, President Chure Tarai-Madhes Conservation Development Committee and Kathmandu Tarai-Madhes Fast Track is not satisfactory. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The physical progress of Mid-Hill Highway is 57.84 per cent so far. A target has been set to complete the project, that started in 2064/65 BS, within 2079/80 BS. Out of Rs 84.33 billion allocated by the government for the project, Rs 53.34 billion has been spent so far. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-15', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15362', 'image' => '20220714055046_20170616052456_fast track nov 21.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 17:50:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15621', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Arrears Rises: OAG Report', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: The series of economic crisis is deepening in the country day by day.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 14: The series of economic crisis is deepening in the country day by day. According to the 59<sup>th</sup> annual report published by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday, the trend of misusing funds from the state coffers and financial irregularities have been increasing. The report also pointed out that the concerned government bodies have been found using money from the state treasury without maintaining audit reports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Government arrears have also increased this year compared to last year, the report states.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the report, the arrears of the federal government, provincial government, local government and state-owned corporations have increased by Rs 115 billion this year and stands at Rs 483 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Auditor General Tanka Mani Sharma Dangal says that the arrears have increased by 15.46 percent compared to last year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Office of the Auditor General considers the money spent form the state coffers as arrears if the money is not spent as per the existing laws, or the audit report is not prepared or there has been financial irregularities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Some arrears occur due to procedural flaws while others are due to financial irregularities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the 59<sup>th</sup> annual report, a total of 3287 offices of the federal government maintained audit reports. Transactions worth Rs 2820.37 billion were audited during the review period while the arrears were found to be worth Rs 49.47 billion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the auditing of 1131 offices under the provincial governments found transactions worth Rs 299.57 billion while the arrears were found to be Rs Rs 7.48 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, auditing of transactions worth Rs 1051.9 billion at the local levels revealed arrears worth Rs 43.90 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the arrears of 448 committees and government bodies stood at Rs 14.19 billion. This was revealed after auditing transactions worth Rs 206 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the Office of the Auditor General, the Ministry of Finance tops the list of government offices with the highest arrears. The arrears of the finance ministry stands at Rs 19.92 billion.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15361', 'image' => '20220714063601_1657751487.Clipboard14.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 18:35:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15619', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal has more than 4 Million Taxpayers ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: There are four million taxpayers in the country.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 14: There are four million taxpayers in the country. As per the 59th report released by the Office of the Auditor General on Wednesday, the number of taxpayers has reached 4.059 million till the fiscal year 2077/78 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Number of taxpayers of three groups—income, value added tax and excise duty has increased, reads the report. Of them, 1.577 million people have taken business permanent account number (PAN), 2.471 million have taken individual PAN and 9,998 have taken advance tax PAN. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Number of taxpayers taking PAN for income tax has increased by 18.9 per cent in the fiscal year 2077/78 BS as compared to fiscal year 2076/77 BS. The number of people with PAN for income tax has reached 4.059 million with an increase of 645,717 this year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, the number of taxpayers towards VAT has reached 268,436 while 103,423 people have acquired excise duty license. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the report, doctors, engineers, lawyers, auditors, artists, players, teachers have not acquired PAN and those who have taken PAN have not given their income details. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15360', 'image' => '20220714053420_taxxxxx.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 17:33:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15618', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Will not Halt Export of Wheat and Sugar to Nepal: Indian Envoy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: India has made it clear that Nepal will not be affected by the ban on exports of wheat, sugar and other commodities.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 14: India has made it clear that Nepal will not be affected by the ban on exports of wheat, sugar and other commodities. Indian Ambassador to Nepal Navin Srivastav said the ban imposed by the Indian government on wheat and sugar exports would not apply to Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Speaking at a reception organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) on Wednesday, Srivastav clarified that the export ban is not intended for Nepal. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">India had announced a ban on wheat and sugar exports in May. Stating that the Indian government is in favour of Nepal's economic development along with its own, Shrivastav added, "India is always ready to support Nepal's every effort for progress, and both countries are willing to work in a joint venture."</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">On the occasion, FNCCI President Shekhar Golchha said that Nepal's industries would be in trouble due to the export ban. He said that India should also address the issues of capital expansion, infrastructure development of transit points, upgrading laboratories and removal of non-customs obstruction. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">”Nepal's trade deficit with India is a matter of concern. Indian help is indispensable to reduce this,” Golchha said, urging help for the construction of the Mirgunj bridge.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He emphasized that the Government of India should also resolve the delay in export of agricultural products due to the lack of laboratories. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Due to non-customs barriers, there is a problem, especially in the export of agricultural products and herbs. FNCCI has also drawn the ambassador's attention to the facility of using two more ports for trade with third countries,” added Golchha.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Srivastav informed that the Government of India is ready to strengthen Nepal's economy by solving the problems in road, rail, air and also digital connectivity. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Regarding the lab test, the Indian government has established an international-level lab in Raxaul, Srivastav said. The lab in Kathmandu is being recognized in India within a month, he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">FNCCI informed that it is working to organize the Nepal-India Investment Conference in Kathmandu in collaboration with the Government of Nepal, Government of India, Investment Board Nepal, and Confederation of Indian Industry. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15359', 'image' => '20220714021207_wheatttttt.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 14:11:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15617', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Prices of Edible Oil Take a Nosedive', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: The price of edible oil took a nosedive in the domestic market of Nepal after the Government of India reduced the import duty on unrefined oil. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 14: The price of edible oil took a nosedive in the domestic market of Nepal after the Government of India reduced the import duty on unrefined oil. Due to the latest decision of the Indian government, Nepali entrepreneurs have not been able to export edible oil produced in the country and have decided to reduced the price. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The price of soybean oil, which had reached as high as Rs 3,200 per carton, has now come down by Rs 700 to Rs 2,500 in the last one week. The price of sunflower oil as well went down by Rs 600 per cartoon. Sunflower oil, which used to be sold at Rs 3,200 per cartoon, is now available at Rs 2,600.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Nepali oil producers had been exporting refined oil to India at excessive prices until India reduced the tariffs on oil imports. With the reduction in import duty, India started producing oil at a lower cost than Nepal, which is the reason why the export from here has almost come to a standstill. Entrepreneurs say that even Nepali consumers in the border areas are in a position to buy edible oil from India rather than Nepal due to the competitive price. India reduced import duty on unrefined oil in an attempt to control inflation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to Suresh Rungata, operator of OCB Food in Birgunj, due to this, India started producing edible oil at a lower cost than Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to him, India, which has been levying tax of up to 40 percent on crude oil imports, now reduced it to just 3 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Exports from Nepal came to a standstill after India reduced import duty on raw materials. When we could not export, our stock increased and the price went down,” said Rungata.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">While on the other hands, Amul Kaji Tuladhar, president of the Nepal Retailers Association said that the entrepreneurs may have been compelled to reduce the price due to the pressure to pay interest on bank loans at a time when the income from exports is declining. He says that retailers and consumers will be affected when big entrepreneurs and traders fluctuate the price arbitrarily. He expressed that handing over the responsibility of import and sale of essential food items to government bodies such as the Salt Trading Corporation will help in controlling the market price to some extent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Consumers are relieved after the skyrocketing oil prices started falling. Rajesh Maharjan, who visited a retail market in Kalimati on Wednesday, said he felt some relief after getting oil at a lower price than before. He had bought soybean oil at about Rs 320 per liter about two weeks ago. He said that he bought the same oil at Rs 300 per liter on Wednesday.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15358', 'image' => '20220714010133_shutterstock_1353066692.jpeg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 13:00:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15616', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'World Bank to Provide Concessional Loan of $80 Million for Water Supply Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 14: The World Bank has agreed to provide a concessional loan of US$80 million (approximately Rs 10 billion) to the Government of Nepal for water supply management.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 14: The World Bank has agreed to provide a concessional loan of US$80 million (approximately Rs 10 billion) to the Government of Nepal for water supply management. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The World Bank issued a statement on Wednesday confirming that it signed an agreement with Government of Nepal in this regard. According to the World Bank, the concessional loan will be utilized for a project to improve the delivery of water and sanitation services and to promote integrated water resources management in selected areas of the country<strong><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">.</span></strong></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini and the World Bank's Country Director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Faris Hadad-Zervos, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“Our overarching priorities are guided by the objective of achieving sustainable and inclusive growth in alignment with federalism principles enshrined in the Constitution of Nepal. The project will support the provision of much-needed water supply and sanitation services to underserved and vulnerable communities, ensure better water sector coordination, and promote higher water quality and service standards,” the statement quoted <span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Finance Secretary Marasini as saying.</span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the World Bank, the <span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Water Sector Governance and Infrastructure Support Project</span> will be implemented in strategic towns and rural municipalities in Karnali and Sudurpashchim provinces where there is low access to water supply and sanitation services, a higher incidence of poverty, and are vulnerable to climate change.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">“This project will help strengthen the delivery of water and sanitation services at the local level by building the capacity of municipalities, while at the same time addressing critical gaps in water and sanitation infrastructure to support Nepal’s economic progress and a green, resilient, and inclusive development,” said <span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">World Bank's Country Director for the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, Faris Hadad-Zervos</span>.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The project will help the local governments develop viable institutions to deliver water supply and sanitation services sustainably and efficiently, the statement added. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the World Bank, the project will also strengthen the accountability of the sector to customers by building the monitoring and regulatory capacity of provincial and federal government agencies in the sector. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"These will be complemented by investments in construction and rehabilitation of vital water supply and sanitation infrastructure, as well as water-quality surveillance facilities and monitoring systems.</span></span>"</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-14', 'modified' => '2022-07-14', 'keywords' => 'World Bank, Concessional, Loan, Nepal, Government, Water, Management, Sanitation', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15357', 'image' => '20220714085956_aa.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-14 08:58:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15615', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Companies Show Eagerness to Merge before Time Runs Out', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: The insurance sector is highly enthusiastic about merger. The insurance sector which has a history of 75 years in the country has not yet witnessed a single merger.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 13: The insurance sector is highly enthusiastic about merger. The insurance sector which has a history of 75 years in the country has not yet witnessed a single merger.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Many companies opted for merger and acquisition after the regulatory body, the Insurance Board, pressured them to merge in order to increase their paid-up capital. More companies are preparing to sign a preliminary merger agreement by mid-July.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Fiscal Act provides for exemption of capital gains tax, dividend tax and employee retirement tax from the company that conclude the preliminary merger agreement by mid-July this year. Insurance companies are preparing to sign a merger agreement within the deadline to avail the facility. A senior official of the Insurance Board said that four more merger agreements will be signed within this timeframe.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">So far, a preliminary merger agreement has been signed between Himalayan General Insurance Company and Everest Insurance among the non-life insurance companies and Siddhartha General Insurance Company and Premier Insurance. Himalayan General and Everest will be conducting integrated business under the name of Himalayan Everest Insurance from next Sunday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There are currently 19 life and 20 non-life insurance companies operating in Nepal. After the merger of the companies that have entered into agreements, the number of life insurance companies will be reduced to 16 while there will be only 18 non-life insurance companies. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A senior official of the Insurance Board says that other companies will also join the merger process within this month. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Insurance companies are widely involved in the merger process. So far, four mergers have been agreed. According to unofficial information we have received, there may be four more agreements in July,” he said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The officials are of the view that the companies that have agreed to the merger within this month for tax exemption. "However, the merger is an ongoing process. It is not necessary to do it within this month,” said the official. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Insurance Board had recently decided to increase the paid-up capital of insurance companies. The board has directed non-life insurance companies to increase their paid-up capital to Rs 2.5 billion while the life insurance companies have been told to increase their paid-up capital to Rs 5 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Recent activities of insurance companies have shown a surge in mergers. Although the Insurance Board has given the option to increase the paid-up capital by issuing right shares, many companies have given priority to merger. In recent times, many companies have convened annual or special general meetings with an agenda to pass a merger proposal. Many companies including Prabhu Life Insurance Company, Reliance Life Insurance Company, Citizen Life Insurance Company, Sanima Life Insurance Company, Insurance Company General Insurance Company, Sanima General have called a general assembly to approve the merger agenda. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15356', 'image' => '20220713054958_merger.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 17:49:15', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15614', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Parliamentary Committee begins Probe into Allegations Against Janardan Sharma', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: A parliamentary special probe committee has started investigation against former finance minister Janardan Sharma for his alleged involvement in changing the tax rates under the influence of middlemen.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">July 13: A parliamentary special probe committee has started investigation against former finance minister Janardan Sharma for his alleged involvement in changing the tax rates under the influence of middlemen. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A meeting of the 11-member probe committee on Tuesday decided to seek CCTV footage to study the allegations labeled against Sharma while preparing the budget. Sharma has been accused of allowing entry of unauthorized people into the finance ministry on the eve of the budget announcement on May 28 purportedly for changing the tax rates in favour of certain business groups.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Secretary of the probe committee Surendra Aryal informed New Business Age that the committee has decided to seek CCTV footage along with other relevant documents to study the case. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“We have decided to seek the CCTV footage and other documents related to budget formation. The Finance Ministry must submit those documents to the committee by 2 pm on Thursday,” said Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Earlier, the ministry had made an irresponsible remark to the secretary of Consumer Welfare Protection Forum Jaya Prasad Poudel that the CCTV footage cannot be retrieved after 13 days. However, the CCTV Installation and Operation Work Procedure 2072 issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs clearly mentions that the CCTV footage must be maintained for at least three months. The work procedure further states that the CCTV footage must be made available to the Nepal Police or other government bodies immediately upon request and the concerned ministry should bear all the responsibility related to the monitoring room.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Sharma was forced to resign due to the irresponsible remark of the ministry that the footage has been deleted. Voices have been raised that the finance secretary, who is close to the Maoist Centre, must also resign in connection to this case. Finance Secretary Madhy Kumar Marasini has been accused of trying to cover up the misdeeds of Sharma.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The probe committee meeting on Tuesday chaired by its senior-most member Laxman Lal Karna however couldn’t elect its chairman. Both the opposition and ruling parties had claimed the chairmanship of the committee. Secretary Aryal informed that the next meeting will elect the committee chair unanimously.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The lawmakers will hold internal discussion and reach a concensus,” said Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The next meeting of the probe committee has been called for 2 pm on Thursday, informed Aryal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The 11-member committee has been mandated to submit its report within 10 days after starting its investigation.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15355', 'image' => '20220713053145_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 17:30:57', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15613', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Gold Dealers urge Customs Department not to Trouble Passengers Wearing Traditional Jewelry', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: The gold and silver traders have urged the customs department to facilitate people wearing traditional jewelries at the airport.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 13: The gold and silver traders have urged the customs department to facilitate people wearing traditional jewelries at the airport. Stating that the customs office at the Tribhuvan International Airport is unnecessarily strict when it comes to entering the country wearing traditional Nepali jewelry, the gold and silver dealers made such a request.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A delegation of the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association led by its president Manik Ratna Shakya made such request to the Director General of the Department of Customs Kamal Prasad Bhattarai on Tuesday. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">During the meeting with Director General Bhattarai, President of the federation, Manik Ratna Shakya expressed dissatisfaction over the customs duty levied on gold jewelry weighing more than 50 grams when entering Nepal from abroad wearing traditional Nepali jewelry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the existing arrangement, every person coming to Nepal from abroad can bring up to 50 grams of gold jewelry with exemption on customs duty. The gold dealers protested against the customs duty after it was revealed that people can wear jewelry when they go out of Nepal but if they wear more than 50 grams of jewelry when they come back to Nepal from abroad, they need to pay at the customs duty.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Director General of the Customs Department Bhattarai said that he will take initiative to study the problems of the dealers and address them. However, he explained that such practice was brought after it was found that some people were trying to smuggle gold under the pretext of wearing jewelry.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The federation’s President Shakya, Vice President Pawan Kumar Somani, General Secretary Dharma Sundar Bajracharya and Treasurer Sudip Shrestha were present during the meeting.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15354', 'image' => '20220713025457_jewellry.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 14:54:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15612', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'MP Demands Probe into NRB Governor's Alleged Party Membership ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: A Member of Parliament has demanded probe into Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari’s political affiliation.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">July 13: A Member of Parliament has demanded probe into Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari’s political affiliation. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The lawmaker made such demand during the House of Representatives meeting on Wednesday (July 13) after it came to light that Adhikari is a member of the CPN UML’s economic and planning department, the state-owned RSS reported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking at the HoR meeting, CPN (Maoist Center) lawmaker Rekha Sharma argued that Adhikari’s appointment is against the provision that an individual associated with any party should not be appointed the governor of the central bank. Sharma argued that his appointment is in contravention with the existing laws as well as the bank's act and regulations. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She has demanded an investigation in this connection and action against both sides- the side making the appointment and the side who got appointed. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari was appointed as the governor of NRB by the erstwhile government led by KP Sharma Oli. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, the UML's latest intra-party directive states that M Adhikari (Khotang) has been appointed as the member of the CPN (UML) economic and planning department. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">New Business Age couldn’t independently verify whether M Adhikari of the main opposition party is the NRB Governor. However, according to media reports, social media users suspect it is the same person as the address mentioned in the UML list reportedly matches with that of Governor Adhikari. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari has reportedly denied the allegation on social media.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted that the central bank’s governor had a fallout with the then Finance Minister Janardan Sharma, who happens to be from the Maoist party.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Sharma had made a failed attempt to sack the governor in April accusing him of failing to accomplish his responsibilities as the governor of the central bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 7 had decided to investigative into the alleged role of Governor Adhikari in leaking sensitive information of NRB, leading to his suspension.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, the Supreme Court issued a stay order against the government’s decision to suspend the governor. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the other hand, disgraced finance minister Sharma resigned from his post in connection to a different issue involving the entry of unauthorized people at the ministry on the eve of budget announcement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15353', 'image' => '20220713023338_maha.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 14:32:08', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15611', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Deposit Collection of Banks Increases by Rs 94 Billion in 24 Days', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'July 13: Deposit collection of commercial banks between mid-June to mid-July in the current fiscal year stood almost at Rs 100 billion.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">July 13: Deposit collection of commercial banks between mid-June to mid-July in the current fiscal year stood almost at Rs 100 billion. The increase in deposit collection has been attributed to the increase in government expenditure since mid-June. With the increase in deposit collection, the credit-to-deposit ratio (CD ratio) of banks has improved since the last month.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the Nepal Bankers Association, the total deposits of commercial banks has reached Rs 4.494 trillion by July 8. Earlier, the deposit collection of banks was Rs 4.4 trillion by mid-June. The deposit increased by Rs 94 billion in just 24 days.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Despite the increase in total deposits of banks, foreign exchange reserves however, showed a slump. Commercial banks had foreign exchange reserves of Rs 111 billion as of mid-June, but it fell to Rs 106 billion on July 8. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">As per the Nepal Bankers Association, deposits in Nepali currency increased from Rs 4.290 trillion to Rs 4.387 trillion. Deposits of banks in the last one week increased by Rs 62 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Government spending increased since mid-June as the fiscal year drew towards its end. According to records maintained by the Financial Comptroller General’s Office, the government spent Rs 6.51 billion on Monday alone. On Saturday, the government’s spending stood at Rs 25.55 billion. About Rs 200 billion has been spent from the state coffers between mid-June to mid-July June alone.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bankers had kept complaining that there was a lack of liquidity in banks and financial institutions due to the government's inability to spend the budget. However, despite the increase in deposit collection from mid-June to mid-July, commercial banks have reduced the credit flow. Banks reduced credit flow to maintain the CD ratio as per the provisions of the current fiscal year’s monetary policy.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the association, the credit flow of banks decreased by Rs 19 billion between mid-June to mid-July. The total credit of banks decreased from Rs 4.193 trillion to Rs 4.174 trillion by July 8. In the last week alone, the credit of banks declined by Rs 10 billion.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The banks have emphasized on loan recovery to maintain the CD ratio of 90 percent as specified by the central bank. According to the association, the average CD ratio of banks by July 8 is 88.57 percent. The average CD ratio of banks by mid-June last year was 90.15 percent.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to NRB, the CD ratio of only four commercial banks is above 90 percent. By mid-May, the CD ratio of 15 banks was above 90 percent. Banks have tightened loans disbursement and emphasized on deposit collection and credit recovery to maintain the CD ratio as set by the NRB.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-07-13', 'modified' => '2022-07-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15352', 'image' => '20220713014238_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-07-13 13:41:57', '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
