June 12: Experts have suggested the country’s leadership to focus on the national needs and priority while enforcing projects initiated by foreign countries for the economic development of…
June 12: Experts have suggested the country’s leadership to focus on the national needs and priority while enforcing projects initiated by foreign countries for the economic development of…
June 12: Chitwan, one of the major tourist destinations in the country, has got another introduction in the field of hospitality - Resort…
June 12: Nepal Power Exchange Limited's (NPEL) plan to sell 500 MW of electricity to India is in doubt after the government delayed the process of issuing licenses for power…
June 12: Stakeholders say that the government has introduced various programmes for women entrepreneurship but they are not implemented effectively.…
June 12: The government has banned strike for any reason in 25 sectors under the most essential services.…
June 12: Nepal's trade deficit has increased by 30.5 per cent in the first 10 months of current the fiscal year (FY 2021/22) as compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal…
June 9: Insurance companies have to agree in principle to merge by mid-July to avail tax exemption facility announced by the Insurance Board for…
June 9: Operators of banks and financial institutions (BFIS) have started lobbying with the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to settle the merger and acquisition policy adopted by the central bank with the objective of reducing the number of banks and financial…
June 9: The Government of Nepal has signed a preliminary Project Development Agreement (PDA) for the construction of Manang Marsyangdi Hydropower Project with Chinese…
June 9: The consumption of fossil fuel in Nepal has declined by Rs 3.19 billion within a period of one…
June 9: Members of the National Assembly have drawn the government's attention towards contemporary issues in the country including the lack of fertilizers for farmers, text books for community schools' students and government's clear viewpoint on country's foreign…
June 9: A four-member committee led by executive director of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has been formed to carry out a study of the existing situation of the capital market, said Finance Minister Janardan…
June 8: The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has admitted flaws in fixing embossed number plates on vehicles due to the negligence by its subordinate…
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June 8: The government has planned to bring in around Rs 300 billion from abroad through loans and grants next year to meet the budget announced on May 29.…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 12: Experts have suggested the country’s leadership to focus on the national needs and priority while enforcing projects initiated by foreign countries for the economic development of Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They underscored the need for maintaining a balance between diplomacy and national interest while enforcing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project initiated by China and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) project forwarded by the US. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During an interaction organized on 'BRI: International Practice and Its Relevance in Nepal' by News Society Nepal on Saturday, experts on international relations expressed their views that although both projects are not undesirable as such, they must be utilized for Nepal's best interest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Geja Sharma Wagle said the mega projects in Nepal were unnecessarily geo-politicized. It was worrying to dub some projects for nationalist cause while others against nationalism. "The same BRI and MCC are successful in Mongolia while these failed in Sri Lanka. So, projects cannot be termed good or bad in black and white. Most important is whether the country needs it or not," he underlined. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He made it clear that Nepal could not afford the projects on taking foreign loan. According to him, if the parliamentary endorsement is made for the project of over Rs 50 billion, it could help maintain transparency. Public debates should be held before launching mega projects, Wagle suggested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, another expert Ajay Bhadra Khanal said neither MCC nor BRI would bring challenges. But, major problems around the implementation of these projects are corruption, bad governance, and economic greed, he reminded. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It would be counterproductive to run mega projects on personal interest, he cautioned. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Chief Editor of the Annapurna Express weekly, Bishwas Baral, said mega projects are run successfully in democratic countries rather than in authoritarian countries. He reminded that in the African countries with low corruption, mega projects are implemented successfully. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15171', 'image' => '20220612053022_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 17:29:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15428', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '40 Percent Resorts in Chitwan District', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: Chitwan, one of the major tourist destinations in the country, has got another introduction in the field of hospitality - Resort Hub.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 12: Chitwan, one of the major tourist destinations in the country, has got another introduction in the field of hospitality - Resort Hub. Looking at the details of the resorts classified by the tourism department, it has been found that Chitwan houses the majority of resorts. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">According to the records of the department, the number of resorts in Chitwan alone has reached 46. Other famous tourist destinations like Pokhara, Kathmandu, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj and districts around the valley have fewer number of resorts than Chitwan.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Chairman of the Chitwan Chapter of Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) Deepak Bhattarai shared that Rs 40 billion has been invested in the hospitality industry of Chitwan so far. Statistics from the department and HAN Chitwan show that Chitwan has become a resort hub.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Bhattarai said that the number of tourists visiting Chitwan and investment in the hospitality industry is encouraging as Chitwan is more diverse than other destinations. There are 150 hospitality businesses, including hotels and resorts in Chitwan.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">He informed that only 120 were registered with the HAN Chitwan chapter. According to department officials, resorts are usually above the three-star category. According to the tourism department, a primary resort is classified as a three-star level.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The department has classified resorts into three categories namely simple, deluxe and luxury. The number of ordinary resorts is more in Chitwan. However, Chitwan does not have any of the deluxe and luxury category resorts.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">According to the department, a luxury resort must have the standard of a five-star hotel and deluxe as a four-star hotel. Luxury resorts are limited to Kathmandu, according to the department. Deluxe resorts are only available in Kavre, Kaski and Kapilvastu.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">There are 114 ordinary, deluxe and luxury resorts in Nepal. Of these, 109 are ordinary. Most of the ordinary resorts are in the Chitwan district. "It is estimated that more than Rs 40 billion has been invested in the hospitality sector in Chitwan so far," Bhattarai said. Kathmandu's star hotels are expanding their investments in Chitwan. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">According to him, hotels, including Annapurna and Kathmandu Guest House are preparing to invest in resorts and hotels in Chitwan. With the increase in investment and number of beds in the hospitality industry of Chitwan, the hoteliers have increased their target of attracting tourists.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Stating that 200,000 tourists used to visit the area annually before the pandemic, Bhattarai added, "The aim is to increase that number to 400,000 this year." </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">He said that the target is to attract more tourists as the situation is gradually returning to normal. The records of HAN show that the number of beds in the hotels and resorts currently in operation in Chitwan is 6,500. This capacity can serve 8,000 tourists daily. Increasing urbanization and the lack of space in Kathmandu, Pokhara and other places have attracted investors in Chitwan of late. Bhattarai shared that investors have shown interest as there are plenty of tourist attractions in Chitwan.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15170', 'image' => '20220612051554_slider1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 17:15:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15427', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Power Export Plan of Private Sector Uncertain due to lack of License', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: Nepal Power Exchange Limited's (NPEL) plan to sell 500 MW of electricity to India is in doubt after the government delayed the process of issuing licenses for power trade. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">June 12: Nepal Power Exchange Limited's (NPEL) plan to sell 500 MW of electricity to India is in doubt after the government delayed the process of issuing licenses for power trade. NPEL had reached a bilateral agreement at the Power Summit held in Kathmandu last December to provide 500 MW of electricity to Manikaran Power Limited of India this rainy season. However, the government's refusal to grant permission to NPEL for electricity trade has cast doubt over the implementation of the agreement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Currently, the government-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has been solely conducting electricity trade. There is no provision in the prevailing laws for the private sector to trade electricity. It may be noted that NPEL had entered into an agreement with Manikaran Power Limited after the government promised to give license to the private sector to trade electricity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, the government has now stopped the process of issuing licenses to the private sector citing lack of law. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Energy Minister Pampha Bhusal had pledged to allow private sector to trade electricity even if the government had to issue an ordinance for it.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ashish Garg, managing director of NPEL, confirmed that the issue of providing 500 MW of electricity to Manikaran Power Limiter has become uncertain due to lack of license. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> "If the government had given the license, we would have taken further steps to export electricity to India through Manikaran,” said Garg. He is in a dilemma as the government has not issued a license. The government needs to pay attention to this matter, he further said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In fact, NPEL does not have its own electricity to sell. During the rainy season, NEA generates about 1000 MW more electricity. During this time the NEA sells 364 MW electricity in India’s open market and 200 MW to trading companies there. Taking this into consideration, NPEL had planned to buy the surplus electricity from NEA and sell it to Manikaran Power Limited. NPEL has stated that it has not been able to take any further action due to lack of license.</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, spokesperson of the Ministry of Energy Madhu Prasad Bhetwal says that they are looking for alternative ways to give electricity trade licenses to the private 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"">"Licensing electricity to the private sector has not been possible without the necessary legislation, so we are looking for alternatives. We are ready to resolve this problem as soon as possible,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Previously, the ministry had formulated a procedure to give licenses to the private sector for electricity trade. However, the Ministry of Law had banned the private sector from trading electricity stating that the existing Electricity Act does not have any such provision. The electricity bill under consideration in the parliament has a provision for the private sector to trade electricity. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15169', 'image' => '20220612032135_Transmission.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 15:20:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15426', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Woman Entrepreneurship is the Backbone of Economic Development’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: Stakeholders say that the government has introduced various programmes for women entrepreneurship but they are not implemented effectively. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 12: Stakeholders say that the government has introduced various programmes for women entrepreneurship but they are not implemented effectively. Speaking at interaction programme organized by Daayitwa, an organization working on economic policy reform on Friday, experts stated that women entrepreneurship is an important basis for the development of the overall economic sector and pointed towards the need to focus on women entrepreneurship. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Agriculture, Food Security and Gender Expert Dr Yamuna Ghale complained that even though the Nepal Rastra Bank introduced provisions to provide loan of Rs 1.5 million for women entrepreneurship, it is not easy for women to get such a loan. She remarked that entrepreneurship using local resources, tools and skills is needed to improve the economy in the current situation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Speaking at the programme, Neeru Rayamajhi Khatri, president of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs’ Associations of Nepal (FWEAN) stated that even though good policies and rules are formulated in Nepal, the implementation is very weak and women are the ones who suffer the backlash. “Some of the programmes targeted at women are not reported at all and some of them are not completed in time. Under these circumstances, what is the use of introducing programmes even if they are good?” she said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The participants of the programme complained that the information relayed to the women in rural areas are not useful as they are generally based in Nepali and English languages rather than the local language.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Meanwhile, Radhika Aryal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies said that the ministry is doing various works for women entrepreneurship and stakeholders should be able to benefit from such programmes. Participants of the program suggested that the government should work accordingly as there are problems in marketing and branding women entrepreneurship.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Former Minister Kamala Roka said that the development of women entrepreneurship has not been possible due to the non-changing mentality of people despite the change in the political system. She said that the lack of coordination among the ministries is also a responsible factor for confusion and obstacles in developing entrepreneurship. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Chairman of Daayitwa, Dr. Pukar Malla informed that five more of such interaction programmes emphasizing entrepreneurship will be organized this year. He also hoped that such interactions will help in improving the existing policies.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15168', 'image' => '20220612023555_woman.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 14:35:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15425', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Bans Strike in 25 Sectors Providing Most Essential Services ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: The government has banned strike for any reason in 25 sectors under the most essential services. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 12: The government has banned strike for any reason in 25 sectors under the most essential services. The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a notice in the Nepal Gazette prohibiting shutdown or strike in 25 various sectors providing most essential services. The government said it issued such order exercising the rights granted by Clause 3(1) of the Essential Services Operation Act, 2014 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the government’s decision, strike is not allowed in sectors like the postal, wire and telecommunications services, transport (transport of goods via land, water and air routes), supervision, operation and maintenance of aviation offices and aircraft, services relating to railway stations, and transport and loading and unloading of goods from government warehouses. The rule also covers government’s printing work. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, no obstruction is entertained in the services relating to the government’s defence management including manufacturing, storage and supply of arms and ammunition or other military logistics. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, strike is prohibited in services relating to communications, internal security, drinking water operation and supplies, tourist residence, motel, hotel, restaurant and resort. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The notice further states that there should be no hindrance in the import, transport, storage and distribution of liquefied petroleum gas (cooking gas). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Services relating to hospital and health center including ambulance service, manufacturing and supplies of drugs, and the collection, transport, processing, and management of waste, dumping site construction and the construction of other required infrastructure including the services relating to waste management sector shall not be affected by strike or shutdown. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Strike is banned in import, transport, storage and supplies of daily consumer goods (foodstuff, pulse, rice, salt and edible oil) and in the delivery of banking, insurance and electricity services. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The strike ban also include meteorological forecasting services, veterinary, internet and passport department and consular department services and the services relating to mask and hand sanitizers. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15167', 'image' => '20220612010308_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 13:02:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15424', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Trade Deficit Increases by 30.5 Percent in 10 Months ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: Nepal's trade deficit has increased by 30.5 per cent in the first 10 months of current the fiscal year (FY 2021/22) as compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 12: Nepal's trade deficit has increased by 30.5 per cent in the first 10 months of current the fiscal year (FY 2021/22) as compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre, the total trade deficit has reached Rs 177.8 billion as of May 14 in the current fiscal year. The contribution of export and import to the total trade is 9.7 percent and 90.3 per cent respectively. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The total exports increased by 59.8 per cent and reached Rs 17.33 billion during the 10 months of the current fiscal year while the total imports increased by 28 per cent and reached Rs 160.46 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ratio of export and import during the 10 months of the previous fiscal year was 1:11.6 while the ratio is 1:9.3 during the corresponding period of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal exported soybean oil, palm oil, woolen carpet and rugs, readymade clothes, juice, sunflower oil, cardamom, tea, pashmina shawl, dog chew, iron products, noodles, Nepali handmade paper and herbs during the 10 months of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although there has been a remarkable improvement in overall export during the review period, the total trade deficit has climbed to Rs 143.1 billion, up by 24.9 per cent, due to the surge in import. -- RSS </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">--- </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15166', 'image' => '20220612113321_Trade.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 11:32:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15423', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Companies to get Tax Exemption only if they Merge within the Current FY', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: Insurance companies have to agree in principle to merge by mid-July to avail tax exemption facility announced by the Insurance Board for merger.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 9: Insurance companies have to agree in principle to merge by mid-July to avail tax exemption facility announced by the Insurance Board for merger.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Such companies will have to start an integrated business by next June. The Finance Act stipulates that only insurance companies that have agreed in principle to merge within coming June will get various tax exemptions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">As per the law, the insurance company concerned will have to submit a letter of intent regarding the merger to the Inland Revenue Department within coming June to get a tax exemption for the merger. The Insurance Board had recently issued a circular urging the insurance companies to take action on the merger accordingly.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The Finance Act provides tax exemption on capital gains tax, dividend tax and retirement pay of companies going for the merger.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">There is a provision in the Act that a merger agreement must be reached within Fiscal Year 2079 BS to get such facility.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Chairman of the board Surya Prasad Silwal said that the insurance companies should reach a merger agreement within this month to get the tax exemption facility. He said that no tax exemption will be given to those who sign the agreement after the specified period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Insurance companies are preparing to merge after the board introduced the mandatory provision two months ago that requires the company to double their paid-up capital within the current fiscal year. Most life and non-life insurance companies have no choice but to merge to meet their capital growth needs.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The Insurance Board has directed to increase the minimum paid-up capital of life insurance companies to Rs 5 billion and non-life insurance to Rs 2.5 billion within given deadline. At present, the minimum paid-up capital is Rs 2 billion for life insurance and Rs 1 billion for non-life insurance.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">A merger agreement has been reached between Everest and Himalayan General Insurance after the board directed the companies to increase the paid-up capital. A merger agreement also has been reached between Prime Life, Gurans and Union Life. Other companies are also preparing to merge. The board has urged the companies to take advantage of the tax exemption available for mergers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15165', 'image' => '20220609041052_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 16:10:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15422', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFI Operators Urge Central Bank to Conclude the process of Merger', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: Operators of banks and financial institutions (BFIS) have started lobbying with the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to settle the merger and acquisition policy adopted by the central bank with the objective of reducing the number of banks and financial institutions.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 9: Operators of banks and financial institutions (BFIS) have started lobbying with the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to settle the merger and acquisition policy adopted by the central bank with the objective of reducing the number of banks and financial institutions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Stating that the banks are still under pressure even a decade after the central bank adopted the merger and acquisition policy, the operators urged the NRB to wrap up the process.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Bhoj Bahadur Shah, senior vice-president of the Confederation of Banks and Financial Institutions Nepal (CBIFIN) and chairman of Mega Bank said, “The issue of merger has become an evergreen agenda in our country. It has always put pressure on the managers of banks and financial institutions. It needs to be addressed properly now.” He informed that an informal conversation was held with the Governor of NRB Maha Prasad Adhikari and the issue be formally raised through CBIFIN.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">NRB had put forward the policy of bank merger in 2008 by issuing regulations on merger or acquisition of banks and financial institutions. In 2013, the central bank issued Regulations on Acquisition (2013) for the purchase of banks and financial institutions. In the year 2016, NRB merged the two regulations and issued the regulations regarding merger and acquisition of banks and financial institutions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">As many as 241 banks and financial institutions joined the merger / acquisition process by mid-April 2018 after the merger and acquisition process of banks and financial institutions started. Of these, the licenses of 177 institutions were revoked and the number dropped to 64.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">A large number of mergers took place after NRB adopted the policy of increasing the paid-up capital four times within two years through the monetary policy of 2015. However, the number of commercial banks did not decrease even though the number of development banks and finance companies decreased after the large institutions started acquiring smaller ones.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The number of commercial banks, which reached 32, has dropped to 27 after the merger policy of NRB. At present, Nabil and NB Bank are in the final stages of merger process. Similarly, the number of development banks reaching 90 dropped to 18 while the number of finance companies dropped to 17 from 79.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">With the decline in the number of development banks and finance companies, the issue of 'big merger' is still under discussion in recent years. Even though the issue of big merger has put pressure on the banks, the bank operators complained that the NRB has not come up with any package to encourage them.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">In a recent study by NRB, stakeholders suggested that it would be appropriate to reduce the number of commercial banks to 15.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">A study report by CIBIFIN on the state of banks and financial institutions also suggests that incentives should be provided in a way that would encourage merger instead of forcing mergers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">During a meeting with bank operators last Thursday, Governor Adhikari indicated that NRB is about to change its merger policy. He informed the bank operators that the incentives and facility being given for the merger will not be available from the next fiscal year and indicated that the such facility available for merger will be maintained only till the next monetary policy. After the given period, he indicated that the merger will need to be done under pressure on the basis of necessity and justification.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Banks are under pressure due to the lack of liquidity in the current fiscal year and failure to meet the indicators set by NRB. Banks are also under pressure to merge as returns are declining due to fierce competition.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15164', 'image' => '20220609034724_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 15:46:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15421', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PDA of Manang Marshyangdi Hydropower Project Signed', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: The Government of Nepal has signed a preliminary Project Development Agreement (PDA) for the construction of Manang Marsyangdi Hydropower Project with Chinese investment.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 9: The Government of Nepal has signed a preliminary Project Development Agreement (PDA) for the construction of Manang Marsyangdi Hydropower Project with Chinese investment. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The initial PDA was signed by Joint Secretary Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal on behalf of the government and Uttar Kumar Shrestha, Chief Executive Officer of Butwal Power Company on behalf of the promoter company. The full agreement will be signed after the approval of initial agreement by the Council of Ministers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Butwal Power Company will invest 20 percent in the project with a capacity of 135 MW. Eighty percent of the investment will be from China's Sichuan Provincial Investment Group, Chengdu Xingcheng Investment Group and Qing Yuan Engineering Consulting Company (QYEC). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The construction of the project will move ahead with joint investment. Negotiations had been going on for a long time for the PDA of the project. The project will be constructed in Naso and Chame villages of Manang district. The project is estimated to generate 759.48 million units of electricity annually.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The project aims to start generating electricity by 2025. The electricity of the project will be connected to the 220 KV switching station of NEA at Dharapani of Manang. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15163', 'image' => '20220609125414_PDA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 12:53:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15420', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Consumption of Fuel Declines by 18 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: The consumption of fossil fuel in Nepal has declined by Rs 3.19 billion within a period of one month.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">June 9: The consumption of fossil fuel in Nepal has declined by Rs 3.19 billion within a period of one month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Nepal Oil Corporation, the sale of fuel in the month of Jestha (mid-May to mid-June) declined by 8.4 million litres compared to the previous month (mid-April to mid-May). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The sale of diesel declined by 9.94 million litres worth Rs 3.51 billion during the review period. Likewise, the sale of petrol in the same period was less by Rs 140.28 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Deputy Spokesperson of NOC Pushkar Karki informed that the consumption of fuel declined in the review month because of various factors including the two-day public holiday announced by the government, end of local election and the construction holiday announced by contractors who halted major projects due to the recent price hike.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Karki said that vehicles were mobilized in massive numbers during the local election of May 13. The use of vehicles has declined significantly after the election resulting in comparatively low consumption of fuel. NOC believes that the general public might also have reduced fuel consumption due to the sharp hike in prices of petroleum products. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NOC had recommended the government to announce two-day holiday a week in order to reduce fuel consumption. However, the government revoked its decision of granting holidays on Sunday saying it was not much effective. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The price of petroleum products have been skyrocketing in recent months. Currently, a litre of petrol costs Rs 170 while diesel costs Rs 153 per litre. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The NOC is yet to pay dues amounting to Rs 32 billion to the Indian Oil Corporation. NOC officials say that it be becoming quite challenging to distribute fuel due to the losses it has been incurring continuously.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15162', 'image' => '20220609102857_petroo - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 10:27:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15419', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'National Assembly Members Draw Govt's Attention Towards Contemporary Issues ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: Members of the National Assembly have drawn the government's attention towards contemporary issues in the country including the lack of fertilizers for farmers, text books for community schools' students and government's clear viewpoint on country's foreign policy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 9: Members of the National Assembly have drawn the government's attention towards contemporary issues in the country including the lack of fertilizers for farmers, text books for community schools' students and government's clear viewpoint on country's foreign policy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking in the special hour of the upper house meeting on Wednesday, parliamentarian Khimlal Bhattarai accused the government of not being serious towards implementing the constitution. He said that the students in public schools have not received text books although the new academic session has already begun. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He expressed concerns over the decreasing quality of the community schools and also urged the government to take forward the Bill relating to Citizenship Act. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Krishna Prasad Poudel was concerned about the weak condition of education sector. He underscored skill-based, knowledge-based and productive education system to build prosperous and equitable society based on social justice. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Nanda Chapagain rued over the lack of fertilizers for farmers and drew the attention of the government to provide fertilizer at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Gomadevi Timalsina stressed on enabling environment for the supply of raw materials for industries to be set up by the government in all seven provinces. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, National Assembly member Jitendra Narayan Dev argued that the foreign policy of Nepal does not change along with the change in government and reaffirmed that Nepal's foreign policy is based on Panchasheel - the five principles of peaceful co-existence and Non-Aligned Movement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He viewed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should hold discussions with leaders of the major political parties and forge a national consensus on the policies relating to national security, foreign affairs and water resources. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Another MP Bhagawati Neupane sought for a clear concept of the incumbent government regarding Nepal's foreign policy. She suggested to adopt a balanced foreign policy by soliciting suggestions from all political parties. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15161', 'image' => '20220609081224_20220605121907_Parliament.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 08:10:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15418', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Forms 4-Member Committee to Study the Capital Market ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: A four-member committee led by executive director of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has been formed to carry out a study of the existing situation of the capital market, said Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 9: A four-member committee led by executive director of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has been formed to carry out a study of the existing situation of the capital market, said Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Addressing the 30th anniversary of SEBON on Wednesday, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma informed that the four-member committee was formed to study the existing situation of the capital market in Nepal and seek it suggestions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He said that a meeting involving the finance ministry, governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank and the SEBON chair at the Finance Ministry on Wednesday took a decision to form the committee. According to the minister, the committee has been tasked with the responsibility of providing suggestions to end the problems faced by the capital market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Other members of the committee include a representative each from the finance ministry and the central bank while a representative of the SEBON is the member-secretary of the committee. This initiative is expected to help the formulation of monetary policy and end problems faced by the capital market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Minister Sharma said the budget for the next fiscal year has stressed on further strengthening the capital market. It has also covered an array of related subjects like making legal arrangements for non-resident Nepalis to invest in Nepal's secondary market and the reservation of 10 percent quotas for Nepali migrant workers in every sale of IPO shares. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minister reiterated his commitments on behalf of the government to carry out reforms in the capital market and protect investors. He also directed regulators to increase awareness and knowledge of investors about the market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, the SEBON Chair Ramesh Hamal informed about activities and progress of the SEBON. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15160', 'image' => '20220609080427_20220602052434_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 08:03:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15417', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'DoTM Admits Flaws in Fixing Embossed Number Plates', 'sub_title' => 'Insists it is Mandatory to Fix Embossed Number Plates', 'summary' => 'June 8: The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has admitted flaws in fixing embossed number plates on vehicles due to the negligence by its subordinate bodies.', 'content' => '<p><br /> <span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">June 8: The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has admitted flaws in fixing embossed number plates on vehicles due to the negligence by its subordinate bodies and has also apologized for the confusion created by the latest notice issued by the department for implementing the decision to use such number plates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a statement on Tuesday, the DoTM apologized for the confusion created by the notice published on Friday (June 3) and the trouble they had to undergo due to the notice. However, the department clarified that it is still mandatory for all vehicles to fix embossed number plates. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the five-page long statement issued by the DoTM, it has sincerely admitted flaws on part of its subordinate bodies and officials in implementing the decision.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Fixing of embossed number plates as per the notice issued in Nepal Gazette on November 8, 2021 did not take place in the pace as expected. In addition to that, vehicle owners did not file application for fixing embossed number plates thinking it was optional,” reads the statement, adding, “The concerned offices under the department and the officials also did not show keen interest in fixing embossed number plate.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, the department did not say if it took action against the negligent officials or not.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Had the officials fulfilled their duties diligently, lots of vehicles would have had embossed number plates by now. Most of the vehicle owners visit the DoTM only once a year to renew their registration. If the DoTM had made it mandatory to have embossed number for renewal of registration, hundreds of thousands of vehicles would have embossed number plates in the last seven months.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, the vehicle owners are facing unprecedented problems in registration and fixing embossed number plates all of a sudden following the notice issued by the department on Friday. The service seekers are facing problems due to the large number of people seeking the service all at once. The department is seen jam-packed with vehicle owners seeking to fix the embossed number plates fearing action from the government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The decision to make embossed number plates mandatory has drawn widespread condemnation, especially because the DoTM has not prepared the required infrastructure to deliver the service. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-08', 'modified' => '2022-06-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15159', 'image' => '20220608081057_Department.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-08 20:09:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15416', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Investment on Sanitary Pad Industry in Risk due to Government’s 'Faulty' Policy', 'sub_title' => '35 industries with investment of Rs 6 billion on the verge of shutdown', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bedraj Poudel</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">June 8: The government’s move to encourage the import of sanitary pads is certain to shut down 35 home-grown sanitary pad industries set up with a total investment of around Rs 6 billion. The move is a setback to the sanitary pad industry, which is self-sufficient to meet the domestic demand.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the stakeholders, the indigenous industries have the capacity to produce about 900 million units of sanitary pads on an annual basis. Entrepreneurs say that the current demand of Nepal is around 300 million units.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government has made an arrangement to give 90 percent customs duty exemption for the import of sanitary pads through the budget of the coming Fiscal Year (FY) 2079/80. The import duty on foreign sanitary pads used to be 15 percent but now it is only 1.5 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The sanitary pad manufacturers complained that the government should have given priority to domestic products instead of reducing the customs duty on foreign products from 15 to 1.5 percent. According to the stakeholders, this has threatened the existence of the sanitary pad industries of the country. Nepal's sanitary pad industry employs 6,000 people.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ironically, although the customs duty on other imported raw materials is maintained at 1 percent, the overall tax on the raw materials used for pads is 8.25 percent. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the industrialist, seven raw materials are required to make a pad. The customs duty on flock pulp is 5 percent. It is the raw material required for 65% of sanitary pads. Perforated P film, release paper, glue, sap powder is subject to 1 percent customs duty each. Entrepreneurs say that if the customs duty of 30 percent on wrapper paper is added along with excise duty of 5 percent, the overall tax will be 8.25 percent. As the government has given 90 percent customs duty exemption on import of foreign ready-made pads, importers will have to pay only 1.5 percent tax.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Due to this, the price of imported pads in the market will be Rs 10 cheaper than Nepali pads, says Puneet Sharda of Jasmine Hygiene. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"The policy brought by the government for the benefit of limited traders is inappropriate at a time when the production of sanitary industry of Nepal is exceeding the demand. It should be rectified," said Sharda. Moreover, he also says that the government has given 90 percent exemption in customs duty on sanitary pads contrary to its own policy of raising the tariff on finished goods one level more than raw materials.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Stating that the government should protect the domestic industries, Sharda said that the government should amend its decision before the budget is passed by the parliament. He said that the country has become self-reliant on sanitary pads and the government should impose an additional 5 percent customs duty for an overall 20 percent customs duty for the import of such goods.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bhavesh Rathi, director of Health and Hygiene, another company that manufactures sanitary pads, said that the government's policy is certain to shut down the domestic industry and promote import of foreign pads. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He also complained that the government's policy has compelled them to shut down the industry at a time when they have set up a new plant to manufacture adult diaper. He informed that the pads imported from abroad have been given exemptions while those produced in the country are subject to quality mark, lab test and scientific size. He noted that the investment in the pad industry was at risk due to the government's policy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"While the Nepali industry is preparing for export by meeting the domestic demand, the government has encouraged the import of pads needlessly. It is unfortunate,” said Rathi</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of the Chamber of Industry, Morang, Suyash Raj Pyakurel, said that 6,000 people would lose their jobs and Rs 6 billion would be lost due to the wrong policy of the government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Navin Rijal, president of the Morang Trade Association, objected to the provision in the budget to give some limited industrialists the opportunity to earn more. He said that the government has come up with a policy that will only benefit some importers and some industrialists while many cannot afford it. He demanded that the government amend its policy for the benefit of all.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bhim Ghimire, president of the Province 1 Chapter of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), has termed the government's exemption in sanitary pads, iron industry, palm oil industry and electricity as policy corruption. "The government should adopt a policy that is equal and valid for all," Ghimire said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pads imported from abroad come in kilograms and pieces. In FY 2077/78, 3.58 million pieces and 1738 tons of sanitary pads were imported in Nepal. In the first eight months of the current fiscal year, 99 million pieces have been imported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the fiscal year 2075/76, after the government reduced the customs duty on all raw materials for sanitary pad to 5 percent, the number of indigenous industries had increased. In the budget of FY 2077/78, provision was made for the new industry to get tax exemption for 5 years. Entrepreneurs and businessmen were excited by this prospect. The possibility of opening more industries had increased.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government implemented the procedure of distribution and management of sanitary pads in 2076 BS. The minimum standards for sanitary pads produced by large industries and locally produced are different. Nepal's quality mark No 587 specifies the length, width, absorption capacity, pH value, presence of microorganisms, etc of the pad.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Locally produced sanitary pads should use white cotton and muslin cloth, the fabric should be at least two cubits long and half a cubit wide. There is a provision that 95 percent cotton cloth must be used to ensure the quality of the pad.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-08', 'modified' => '2022-06-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15158', 'image' => '20220608051008_ROS_KTM-4187.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-08 17:09:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15415', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Foreign Aid Expectation for Next Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 8: The government has planned to bring in around Rs 300 billion from abroad through loans and grants next year to meet the budget announced on May 29. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 8: The government has planned to bring in around Rs 300 billion from abroad through loans and grants next year to meet the budget announced on May 29. The government, which introduced a budget of Rs 1793.83 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, has set a target of receiving Rs 300 billion from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other donors since the expenditure cannot be covered by internal sources.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The government aims to receive Rs 55.46 billion out of Rs 300 billion in grants and Rs 242.26 billion in loans. The government, which seems to be focusing on bilateral grants, has emphasized on multilateral donors in obtaining loans.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The government estimates that the country will receive the most assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) towards multilateral lenders in the upcoming fiscal year. The government is expecting to receive Rs 105.35 billion from ADB alone next year. Out of this, Rs 3.71 billion will be grants and Rs 101.64 billion will be loans. After ADB, the government has set a target of getting the most foreign aid from the World Bank. Next year, the target is to receive a total of Rs 85.12 billion from the World Bank including a grant of Rs 3.43 billion and loan of Rs 81.65 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">A maximum of</span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt">Rs 5.91 billion in grants will be received from the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). It is estimated that the government will receive Rs 8.53 billion from India and Rs 3 billion from China.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The European Union, OPEC, the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund are also in the list of major donors next year. The government is preparing to borrow a direct loan from some countries.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">According to the Ministry of Finance, the government is preparing to receive more grants and loans from countries including India, China and Finland to mobilize resources for the upcoming fiscal year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Similarly, the government also aims to bring in more than Rs 9 billion in grants from the United States next year. According to the Public Debt Management Office, the government has been taking loans from various donor agencies at interest rates ranging from 0.1 to 2.25 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The interest rate on ADB loans is 1 to 1.5 percent per annum. OFD and Kuwait provide loans to Nepal at an annual interest rate of 2.25 percent. According to Hira Neupane, Deputy Secretary of the Debt Management Office, the loans received by the government from the donor body seems to have reached Rs 951 billion as of December 2021.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-08', 'modified' => '2022-06-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15157', 'image' => '20220608041821_Foreign investment.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-08 16:17:37', '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
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 12: Experts have suggested the country’s leadership to focus on the national needs and priority while enforcing projects initiated by foreign countries for the economic development of Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They underscored the need for maintaining a balance between diplomacy and national interest while enforcing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project initiated by China and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) project forwarded by the US. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During an interaction organized on 'BRI: International Practice and Its Relevance in Nepal' by News Society Nepal on Saturday, experts on international relations expressed their views that although both projects are not undesirable as such, they must be utilized for Nepal's best interest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Geja Sharma Wagle said the mega projects in Nepal were unnecessarily geo-politicized. It was worrying to dub some projects for nationalist cause while others against nationalism. "The same BRI and MCC are successful in Mongolia while these failed in Sri Lanka. So, projects cannot be termed good or bad in black and white. Most important is whether the country needs it or not," he underlined. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He made it clear that Nepal could not afford the projects on taking foreign loan. According to him, if the parliamentary endorsement is made for the project of over Rs 50 billion, it could help maintain transparency. Public debates should be held before launching mega projects, Wagle suggested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, another expert Ajay Bhadra Khanal said neither MCC nor BRI would bring challenges. But, major problems around the implementation of these projects are corruption, bad governance, and economic greed, he reminded. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It would be counterproductive to run mega projects on personal interest, he cautioned. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Chief Editor of the Annapurna Express weekly, Bishwas Baral, said mega projects are run successfully in democratic countries rather than in authoritarian countries. He reminded that in the African countries with low corruption, mega projects are implemented successfully. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15171', 'image' => '20220612053022_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 17:29:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15428', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '40 Percent Resorts in Chitwan District', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: Chitwan, one of the major tourist destinations in the country, has got another introduction in the field of hospitality - Resort Hub.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 12: Chitwan, one of the major tourist destinations in the country, has got another introduction in the field of hospitality - Resort Hub. Looking at the details of the resorts classified by the tourism department, it has been found that Chitwan houses the majority of resorts. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">According to the records of the department, the number of resorts in Chitwan alone has reached 46. Other famous tourist destinations like Pokhara, Kathmandu, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj and districts around the valley have fewer number of resorts than Chitwan.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Chairman of the Chitwan Chapter of Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) Deepak Bhattarai shared that Rs 40 billion has been invested in the hospitality industry of Chitwan so far. Statistics from the department and HAN Chitwan show that Chitwan has become a resort hub.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Bhattarai said that the number of tourists visiting Chitwan and investment in the hospitality industry is encouraging as Chitwan is more diverse than other destinations. There are 150 hospitality businesses, including hotels and resorts in Chitwan.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">He informed that only 120 were registered with the HAN Chitwan chapter. According to department officials, resorts are usually above the three-star category. According to the tourism department, a primary resort is classified as a three-star level.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The department has classified resorts into three categories namely simple, deluxe and luxury. The number of ordinary resorts is more in Chitwan. However, Chitwan does not have any of the deluxe and luxury category resorts.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">According to the department, a luxury resort must have the standard of a five-star hotel and deluxe as a four-star hotel. Luxury resorts are limited to Kathmandu, according to the department. Deluxe resorts are only available in Kavre, Kaski and Kapilvastu.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">There are 114 ordinary, deluxe and luxury resorts in Nepal. Of these, 109 are ordinary. Most of the ordinary resorts are in the Chitwan district. "It is estimated that more than Rs 40 billion has been invested in the hospitality sector in Chitwan so far," Bhattarai said. Kathmandu's star hotels are expanding their investments in Chitwan. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">According to him, hotels, including Annapurna and Kathmandu Guest House are preparing to invest in resorts and hotels in Chitwan. With the increase in investment and number of beds in the hospitality industry of Chitwan, the hoteliers have increased their target of attracting tourists.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Stating that 200,000 tourists used to visit the area annually before the pandemic, Bhattarai added, "The aim is to increase that number to 400,000 this year." </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">He said that the target is to attract more tourists as the situation is gradually returning to normal. The records of HAN show that the number of beds in the hotels and resorts currently in operation in Chitwan is 6,500. This capacity can serve 8,000 tourists daily. Increasing urbanization and the lack of space in Kathmandu, Pokhara and other places have attracted investors in Chitwan of late. Bhattarai shared that investors have shown interest as there are plenty of tourist attractions in Chitwan.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15170', 'image' => '20220612051554_slider1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 17:15:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15427', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Power Export Plan of Private Sector Uncertain due to lack of License', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: Nepal Power Exchange Limited's (NPEL) plan to sell 500 MW of electricity to India is in doubt after the government delayed the process of issuing licenses for power trade. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">June 12: Nepal Power Exchange Limited's (NPEL) plan to sell 500 MW of electricity to India is in doubt after the government delayed the process of issuing licenses for power trade. NPEL had reached a bilateral agreement at the Power Summit held in Kathmandu last December to provide 500 MW of electricity to Manikaran Power Limited of India this rainy season. However, the government's refusal to grant permission to NPEL for electricity trade has cast doubt over the implementation of the agreement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Currently, the government-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has been solely conducting electricity trade. There is no provision in the prevailing laws for the private sector to trade electricity. It may be noted that NPEL had entered into an agreement with Manikaran Power Limited after the government promised to give license to the private sector to trade electricity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, the government has now stopped the process of issuing licenses to the private sector citing lack of law. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Energy Minister Pampha Bhusal had pledged to allow private sector to trade electricity even if the government had to issue an ordinance for it.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ashish Garg, managing director of NPEL, confirmed that the issue of providing 500 MW of electricity to Manikaran Power Limiter has become uncertain due to lack of license. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> "If the government had given the license, we would have taken further steps to export electricity to India through Manikaran,” said Garg. He is in a dilemma as the government has not issued a license. The government needs to pay attention to this matter, he further said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In fact, NPEL does not have its own electricity to sell. During the rainy season, NEA generates about 1000 MW more electricity. During this time the NEA sells 364 MW electricity in India’s open market and 200 MW to trading companies there. Taking this into consideration, NPEL had planned to buy the surplus electricity from NEA and sell it to Manikaran Power Limited. NPEL has stated that it has not been able to take any further action due to lack of license.</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, spokesperson of the Ministry of Energy Madhu Prasad Bhetwal says that they are looking for alternative ways to give electricity trade licenses to the private 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"">"Licensing electricity to the private sector has not been possible without the necessary legislation, so we are looking for alternatives. We are ready to resolve this problem as soon as possible,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Previously, the ministry had formulated a procedure to give licenses to the private sector for electricity trade. However, the Ministry of Law had banned the private sector from trading electricity stating that the existing Electricity Act does not have any such provision. The electricity bill under consideration in the parliament has a provision for the private sector to trade electricity. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15169', 'image' => '20220612032135_Transmission.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 15:20:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15426', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Woman Entrepreneurship is the Backbone of Economic Development’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: Stakeholders say that the government has introduced various programmes for women entrepreneurship but they are not implemented effectively. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 12: Stakeholders say that the government has introduced various programmes for women entrepreneurship but they are not implemented effectively. Speaking at interaction programme organized by Daayitwa, an organization working on economic policy reform on Friday, experts stated that women entrepreneurship is an important basis for the development of the overall economic sector and pointed towards the need to focus on women entrepreneurship. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Agriculture, Food Security and Gender Expert Dr Yamuna Ghale complained that even though the Nepal Rastra Bank introduced provisions to provide loan of Rs 1.5 million for women entrepreneurship, it is not easy for women to get such a loan. She remarked that entrepreneurship using local resources, tools and skills is needed to improve the economy in the current situation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Speaking at the programme, Neeru Rayamajhi Khatri, president of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs’ Associations of Nepal (FWEAN) stated that even though good policies and rules are formulated in Nepal, the implementation is very weak and women are the ones who suffer the backlash. “Some of the programmes targeted at women are not reported at all and some of them are not completed in time. Under these circumstances, what is the use of introducing programmes even if they are good?” she said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The participants of the programme complained that the information relayed to the women in rural areas are not useful as they are generally based in Nepali and English languages rather than the local language.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Meanwhile, Radhika Aryal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies said that the ministry is doing various works for women entrepreneurship and stakeholders should be able to benefit from such programmes. Participants of the program suggested that the government should work accordingly as there are problems in marketing and branding women entrepreneurship.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Former Minister Kamala Roka said that the development of women entrepreneurship has not been possible due to the non-changing mentality of people despite the change in the political system. She said that the lack of coordination among the ministries is also a responsible factor for confusion and obstacles in developing entrepreneurship. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Chairman of Daayitwa, Dr. Pukar Malla informed that five more of such interaction programmes emphasizing entrepreneurship will be organized this year. He also hoped that such interactions will help in improving the existing policies.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15168', 'image' => '20220612023555_woman.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 14:35:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15425', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Bans Strike in 25 Sectors Providing Most Essential Services ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: The government has banned strike for any reason in 25 sectors under the most essential services. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 12: The government has banned strike for any reason in 25 sectors under the most essential services. The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a notice in the Nepal Gazette prohibiting shutdown or strike in 25 various sectors providing most essential services. The government said it issued such order exercising the rights granted by Clause 3(1) of the Essential Services Operation Act, 2014 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the government’s decision, strike is not allowed in sectors like the postal, wire and telecommunications services, transport (transport of goods via land, water and air routes), supervision, operation and maintenance of aviation offices and aircraft, services relating to railway stations, and transport and loading and unloading of goods from government warehouses. The rule also covers government’s printing work. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, no obstruction is entertained in the services relating to the government’s defence management including manufacturing, storage and supply of arms and ammunition or other military logistics. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, strike is prohibited in services relating to communications, internal security, drinking water operation and supplies, tourist residence, motel, hotel, restaurant and resort. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The notice further states that there should be no hindrance in the import, transport, storage and distribution of liquefied petroleum gas (cooking gas). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Services relating to hospital and health center including ambulance service, manufacturing and supplies of drugs, and the collection, transport, processing, and management of waste, dumping site construction and the construction of other required infrastructure including the services relating to waste management sector shall not be affected by strike or shutdown. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Strike is banned in import, transport, storage and supplies of daily consumer goods (foodstuff, pulse, rice, salt and edible oil) and in the delivery of banking, insurance and electricity services. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The strike ban also include meteorological forecasting services, veterinary, internet and passport department and consular department services and the services relating to mask and hand sanitizers. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15167', 'image' => '20220612010308_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 13:02:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15424', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Trade Deficit Increases by 30.5 Percent in 10 Months ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: Nepal's trade deficit has increased by 30.5 per cent in the first 10 months of current the fiscal year (FY 2021/22) as compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 12: Nepal's trade deficit has increased by 30.5 per cent in the first 10 months of current the fiscal year (FY 2021/22) as compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre, the total trade deficit has reached Rs 177.8 billion as of May 14 in the current fiscal year. The contribution of export and import to the total trade is 9.7 percent and 90.3 per cent respectively. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The total exports increased by 59.8 per cent and reached Rs 17.33 billion during the 10 months of the current fiscal year while the total imports increased by 28 per cent and reached Rs 160.46 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ratio of export and import during the 10 months of the previous fiscal year was 1:11.6 while the ratio is 1:9.3 during the corresponding period of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal exported soybean oil, palm oil, woolen carpet and rugs, readymade clothes, juice, sunflower oil, cardamom, tea, pashmina shawl, dog chew, iron products, noodles, Nepali handmade paper and herbs during the 10 months of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although there has been a remarkable improvement in overall export during the review period, the total trade deficit has climbed to Rs 143.1 billion, up by 24.9 per cent, due to the surge in import. -- RSS </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">--- </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15166', 'image' => '20220612113321_Trade.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 11:32:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15423', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Companies to get Tax Exemption only if they Merge within the Current FY', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: Insurance companies have to agree in principle to merge by mid-July to avail tax exemption facility announced by the Insurance Board for merger.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 9: Insurance companies have to agree in principle to merge by mid-July to avail tax exemption facility announced by the Insurance Board for merger.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Such companies will have to start an integrated business by next June. The Finance Act stipulates that only insurance companies that have agreed in principle to merge within coming June will get various tax exemptions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">As per the law, the insurance company concerned will have to submit a letter of intent regarding the merger to the Inland Revenue Department within coming June to get a tax exemption for the merger. The Insurance Board had recently issued a circular urging the insurance companies to take action on the merger accordingly.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The Finance Act provides tax exemption on capital gains tax, dividend tax and retirement pay of companies going for the merger.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">There is a provision in the Act that a merger agreement must be reached within Fiscal Year 2079 BS to get such facility.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Chairman of the board Surya Prasad Silwal said that the insurance companies should reach a merger agreement within this month to get the tax exemption facility. He said that no tax exemption will be given to those who sign the agreement after the specified period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Insurance companies are preparing to merge after the board introduced the mandatory provision two months ago that requires the company to double their paid-up capital within the current fiscal year. Most life and non-life insurance companies have no choice but to merge to meet their capital growth needs.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The Insurance Board has directed to increase the minimum paid-up capital of life insurance companies to Rs 5 billion and non-life insurance to Rs 2.5 billion within given deadline. At present, the minimum paid-up capital is Rs 2 billion for life insurance and Rs 1 billion for non-life insurance.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">A merger agreement has been reached between Everest and Himalayan General Insurance after the board directed the companies to increase the paid-up capital. A merger agreement also has been reached between Prime Life, Gurans and Union Life. Other companies are also preparing to merge. The board has urged the companies to take advantage of the tax exemption available for mergers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15165', 'image' => '20220609041052_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 16:10:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15422', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFI Operators Urge Central Bank to Conclude the process of Merger', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: Operators of banks and financial institutions (BFIS) have started lobbying with the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to settle the merger and acquisition policy adopted by the central bank with the objective of reducing the number of banks and financial institutions.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 9: Operators of banks and financial institutions (BFIS) have started lobbying with the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to settle the merger and acquisition policy adopted by the central bank with the objective of reducing the number of banks and financial institutions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Stating that the banks are still under pressure even a decade after the central bank adopted the merger and acquisition policy, the operators urged the NRB to wrap up the process.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Bhoj Bahadur Shah, senior vice-president of the Confederation of Banks and Financial Institutions Nepal (CBIFIN) and chairman of Mega Bank said, “The issue of merger has become an evergreen agenda in our country. It has always put pressure on the managers of banks and financial institutions. It needs to be addressed properly now.” He informed that an informal conversation was held with the Governor of NRB Maha Prasad Adhikari and the issue be formally raised through CBIFIN.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">NRB had put forward the policy of bank merger in 2008 by issuing regulations on merger or acquisition of banks and financial institutions. In 2013, the central bank issued Regulations on Acquisition (2013) for the purchase of banks and financial institutions. In the year 2016, NRB merged the two regulations and issued the regulations regarding merger and acquisition of banks and financial institutions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">As many as 241 banks and financial institutions joined the merger / acquisition process by mid-April 2018 after the merger and acquisition process of banks and financial institutions started. Of these, the licenses of 177 institutions were revoked and the number dropped to 64.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">A large number of mergers took place after NRB adopted the policy of increasing the paid-up capital four times within two years through the monetary policy of 2015. However, the number of commercial banks did not decrease even though the number of development banks and finance companies decreased after the large institutions started acquiring smaller ones.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The number of commercial banks, which reached 32, has dropped to 27 after the merger policy of NRB. At present, Nabil and NB Bank are in the final stages of merger process. Similarly, the number of development banks reaching 90 dropped to 18 while the number of finance companies dropped to 17 from 79.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">With the decline in the number of development banks and finance companies, the issue of 'big merger' is still under discussion in recent years. Even though the issue of big merger has put pressure on the banks, the bank operators complained that the NRB has not come up with any package to encourage them.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">In a recent study by NRB, stakeholders suggested that it would be appropriate to reduce the number of commercial banks to 15.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">A study report by CIBIFIN on the state of banks and financial institutions also suggests that incentives should be provided in a way that would encourage merger instead of forcing mergers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">During a meeting with bank operators last Thursday, Governor Adhikari indicated that NRB is about to change its merger policy. He informed the bank operators that the incentives and facility being given for the merger will not be available from the next fiscal year and indicated that the such facility available for merger will be maintained only till the next monetary policy. After the given period, he indicated that the merger will need to be done under pressure on the basis of necessity and justification.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Banks are under pressure due to the lack of liquidity in the current fiscal year and failure to meet the indicators set by NRB. Banks are also under pressure to merge as returns are declining due to fierce competition.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15164', 'image' => '20220609034724_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 15:46:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15421', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PDA of Manang Marshyangdi Hydropower Project Signed', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: The Government of Nepal has signed a preliminary Project Development Agreement (PDA) for the construction of Manang Marsyangdi Hydropower Project with Chinese investment.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 9: The Government of Nepal has signed a preliminary Project Development Agreement (PDA) for the construction of Manang Marsyangdi Hydropower Project with Chinese investment. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The initial PDA was signed by Joint Secretary Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal on behalf of the government and Uttar Kumar Shrestha, Chief Executive Officer of Butwal Power Company on behalf of the promoter company. The full agreement will be signed after the approval of initial agreement by the Council of Ministers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Butwal Power Company will invest 20 percent in the project with a capacity of 135 MW. Eighty percent of the investment will be from China's Sichuan Provincial Investment Group, Chengdu Xingcheng Investment Group and Qing Yuan Engineering Consulting Company (QYEC). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The construction of the project will move ahead with joint investment. Negotiations had been going on for a long time for the PDA of the project. The project will be constructed in Naso and Chame villages of Manang district. The project is estimated to generate 759.48 million units of electricity annually.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The project aims to start generating electricity by 2025. The electricity of the project will be connected to the 220 KV switching station of NEA at Dharapani of Manang. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15163', 'image' => '20220609125414_PDA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 12:53:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15420', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Consumption of Fuel Declines by 18 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: The consumption of fossil fuel in Nepal has declined by Rs 3.19 billion within a period of one month.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">June 9: The consumption of fossil fuel in Nepal has declined by Rs 3.19 billion within a period of one month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Nepal Oil Corporation, the sale of fuel in the month of Jestha (mid-May to mid-June) declined by 8.4 million litres compared to the previous month (mid-April to mid-May). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The sale of diesel declined by 9.94 million litres worth Rs 3.51 billion during the review period. Likewise, the sale of petrol in the same period was less by Rs 140.28 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Deputy Spokesperson of NOC Pushkar Karki informed that the consumption of fuel declined in the review month because of various factors including the two-day public holiday announced by the government, end of local election and the construction holiday announced by contractors who halted major projects due to the recent price hike.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Karki said that vehicles were mobilized in massive numbers during the local election of May 13. The use of vehicles has declined significantly after the election resulting in comparatively low consumption of fuel. NOC believes that the general public might also have reduced fuel consumption due to the sharp hike in prices of petroleum products. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NOC had recommended the government to announce two-day holiday a week in order to reduce fuel consumption. However, the government revoked its decision of granting holidays on Sunday saying it was not much effective. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The price of petroleum products have been skyrocketing in recent months. Currently, a litre of petrol costs Rs 170 while diesel costs Rs 153 per litre. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The NOC is yet to pay dues amounting to Rs 32 billion to the Indian Oil Corporation. NOC officials say that it be becoming quite challenging to distribute fuel due to the losses it has been incurring continuously.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15162', 'image' => '20220609102857_petroo - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 10:27:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15419', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'National Assembly Members Draw Govt's Attention Towards Contemporary Issues ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: Members of the National Assembly have drawn the government's attention towards contemporary issues in the country including the lack of fertilizers for farmers, text books for community schools' students and government's clear viewpoint on country's foreign policy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 9: Members of the National Assembly have drawn the government's attention towards contemporary issues in the country including the lack of fertilizers for farmers, text books for community schools' students and government's clear viewpoint on country's foreign policy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking in the special hour of the upper house meeting on Wednesday, parliamentarian Khimlal Bhattarai accused the government of not being serious towards implementing the constitution. He said that the students in public schools have not received text books although the new academic session has already begun. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He expressed concerns over the decreasing quality of the community schools and also urged the government to take forward the Bill relating to Citizenship Act. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Krishna Prasad Poudel was concerned about the weak condition of education sector. He underscored skill-based, knowledge-based and productive education system to build prosperous and equitable society based on social justice. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Nanda Chapagain rued over the lack of fertilizers for farmers and drew the attention of the government to provide fertilizer at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Gomadevi Timalsina stressed on enabling environment for the supply of raw materials for industries to be set up by the government in all seven provinces. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, National Assembly member Jitendra Narayan Dev argued that the foreign policy of Nepal does not change along with the change in government and reaffirmed that Nepal's foreign policy is based on Panchasheel - the five principles of peaceful co-existence and Non-Aligned Movement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He viewed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should hold discussions with leaders of the major political parties and forge a national consensus on the policies relating to national security, foreign affairs and water resources. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Another MP Bhagawati Neupane sought for a clear concept of the incumbent government regarding Nepal's foreign policy. She suggested to adopt a balanced foreign policy by soliciting suggestions from all political parties. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15161', 'image' => '20220609081224_20220605121907_Parliament.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 08:10:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15418', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Forms 4-Member Committee to Study the Capital Market ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: A four-member committee led by executive director of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has been formed to carry out a study of the existing situation of the capital market, said Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 9: A four-member committee led by executive director of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has been formed to carry out a study of the existing situation of the capital market, said Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Addressing the 30th anniversary of SEBON on Wednesday, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma informed that the four-member committee was formed to study the existing situation of the capital market in Nepal and seek it suggestions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He said that a meeting involving the finance ministry, governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank and the SEBON chair at the Finance Ministry on Wednesday took a decision to form the committee. According to the minister, the committee has been tasked with the responsibility of providing suggestions to end the problems faced by the capital market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Other members of the committee include a representative each from the finance ministry and the central bank while a representative of the SEBON is the member-secretary of the committee. This initiative is expected to help the formulation of monetary policy and end problems faced by the capital market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Minister Sharma said the budget for the next fiscal year has stressed on further strengthening the capital market. It has also covered an array of related subjects like making legal arrangements for non-resident Nepalis to invest in Nepal's secondary market and the reservation of 10 percent quotas for Nepali migrant workers in every sale of IPO shares. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minister reiterated his commitments on behalf of the government to carry out reforms in the capital market and protect investors. He also directed regulators to increase awareness and knowledge of investors about the market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, the SEBON Chair Ramesh Hamal informed about activities and progress of the SEBON. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15160', 'image' => '20220609080427_20220602052434_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 08:03:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15417', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'DoTM Admits Flaws in Fixing Embossed Number Plates', 'sub_title' => 'Insists it is Mandatory to Fix Embossed Number Plates', 'summary' => 'June 8: The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has admitted flaws in fixing embossed number plates on vehicles due to the negligence by its subordinate bodies.', 'content' => '<p><br /> <span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">June 8: The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has admitted flaws in fixing embossed number plates on vehicles due to the negligence by its subordinate bodies and has also apologized for the confusion created by the latest notice issued by the department for implementing the decision to use such number plates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a statement on Tuesday, the DoTM apologized for the confusion created by the notice published on Friday (June 3) and the trouble they had to undergo due to the notice. However, the department clarified that it is still mandatory for all vehicles to fix embossed number plates. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the five-page long statement issued by the DoTM, it has sincerely admitted flaws on part of its subordinate bodies and officials in implementing the decision.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Fixing of embossed number plates as per the notice issued in Nepal Gazette on November 8, 2021 did not take place in the pace as expected. In addition to that, vehicle owners did not file application for fixing embossed number plates thinking it was optional,” reads the statement, adding, “The concerned offices under the department and the officials also did not show keen interest in fixing embossed number plate.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, the department did not say if it took action against the negligent officials or not.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Had the officials fulfilled their duties diligently, lots of vehicles would have had embossed number plates by now. Most of the vehicle owners visit the DoTM only once a year to renew their registration. If the DoTM had made it mandatory to have embossed number for renewal of registration, hundreds of thousands of vehicles would have embossed number plates in the last seven months.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, the vehicle owners are facing unprecedented problems in registration and fixing embossed number plates all of a sudden following the notice issued by the department on Friday. The service seekers are facing problems due to the large number of people seeking the service all at once. The department is seen jam-packed with vehicle owners seeking to fix the embossed number plates fearing action from the government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The decision to make embossed number plates mandatory has drawn widespread condemnation, especially because the DoTM has not prepared the required infrastructure to deliver the service. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-08', 'modified' => '2022-06-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15159', 'image' => '20220608081057_Department.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-08 20:09:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15416', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Investment on Sanitary Pad Industry in Risk due to Government’s 'Faulty' Policy', 'sub_title' => '35 industries with investment of Rs 6 billion on the verge of shutdown', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bedraj Poudel</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">June 8: The government’s move to encourage the import of sanitary pads is certain to shut down 35 home-grown sanitary pad industries set up with a total investment of around Rs 6 billion. The move is a setback to the sanitary pad industry, which is self-sufficient to meet the domestic demand.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the stakeholders, the indigenous industries have the capacity to produce about 900 million units of sanitary pads on an annual basis. Entrepreneurs say that the current demand of Nepal is around 300 million units.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government has made an arrangement to give 90 percent customs duty exemption for the import of sanitary pads through the budget of the coming Fiscal Year (FY) 2079/80. The import duty on foreign sanitary pads used to be 15 percent but now it is only 1.5 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The sanitary pad manufacturers complained that the government should have given priority to domestic products instead of reducing the customs duty on foreign products from 15 to 1.5 percent. According to the stakeholders, this has threatened the existence of the sanitary pad industries of the country. Nepal's sanitary pad industry employs 6,000 people.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ironically, although the customs duty on other imported raw materials is maintained at 1 percent, the overall tax on the raw materials used for pads is 8.25 percent. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the industrialist, seven raw materials are required to make a pad. The customs duty on flock pulp is 5 percent. It is the raw material required for 65% of sanitary pads. Perforated P film, release paper, glue, sap powder is subject to 1 percent customs duty each. Entrepreneurs say that if the customs duty of 30 percent on wrapper paper is added along with excise duty of 5 percent, the overall tax will be 8.25 percent. As the government has given 90 percent customs duty exemption on import of foreign ready-made pads, importers will have to pay only 1.5 percent tax.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Due to this, the price of imported pads in the market will be Rs 10 cheaper than Nepali pads, says Puneet Sharda of Jasmine Hygiene. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"The policy brought by the government for the benefit of limited traders is inappropriate at a time when the production of sanitary industry of Nepal is exceeding the demand. It should be rectified," said Sharda. Moreover, he also says that the government has given 90 percent exemption in customs duty on sanitary pads contrary to its own policy of raising the tariff on finished goods one level more than raw materials.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Stating that the government should protect the domestic industries, Sharda said that the government should amend its decision before the budget is passed by the parliament. He said that the country has become self-reliant on sanitary pads and the government should impose an additional 5 percent customs duty for an overall 20 percent customs duty for the import of such goods.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bhavesh Rathi, director of Health and Hygiene, another company that manufactures sanitary pads, said that the government's policy is certain to shut down the domestic industry and promote import of foreign pads. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He also complained that the government's policy has compelled them to shut down the industry at a time when they have set up a new plant to manufacture adult diaper. He informed that the pads imported from abroad have been given exemptions while those produced in the country are subject to quality mark, lab test and scientific size. He noted that the investment in the pad industry was at risk due to the government's policy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"While the Nepali industry is preparing for export by meeting the domestic demand, the government has encouraged the import of pads needlessly. It is unfortunate,” said Rathi</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of the Chamber of Industry, Morang, Suyash Raj Pyakurel, said that 6,000 people would lose their jobs and Rs 6 billion would be lost due to the wrong policy of the government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Navin Rijal, president of the Morang Trade Association, objected to the provision in the budget to give some limited industrialists the opportunity to earn more. He said that the government has come up with a policy that will only benefit some importers and some industrialists while many cannot afford it. He demanded that the government amend its policy for the benefit of all.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bhim Ghimire, president of the Province 1 Chapter of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), has termed the government's exemption in sanitary pads, iron industry, palm oil industry and electricity as policy corruption. "The government should adopt a policy that is equal and valid for all," Ghimire said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pads imported from abroad come in kilograms and pieces. In FY 2077/78, 3.58 million pieces and 1738 tons of sanitary pads were imported in Nepal. In the first eight months of the current fiscal year, 99 million pieces have been imported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the fiscal year 2075/76, after the government reduced the customs duty on all raw materials for sanitary pad to 5 percent, the number of indigenous industries had increased. In the budget of FY 2077/78, provision was made for the new industry to get tax exemption for 5 years. Entrepreneurs and businessmen were excited by this prospect. The possibility of opening more industries had increased.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government implemented the procedure of distribution and management of sanitary pads in 2076 BS. The minimum standards for sanitary pads produced by large industries and locally produced are different. Nepal's quality mark No 587 specifies the length, width, absorption capacity, pH value, presence of microorganisms, etc of the pad.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Locally produced sanitary pads should use white cotton and muslin cloth, the fabric should be at least two cubits long and half a cubit wide. There is a provision that 95 percent cotton cloth must be used to ensure the quality of the pad.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-08', 'modified' => '2022-06-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15158', 'image' => '20220608051008_ROS_KTM-4187.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-08 17:09:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15415', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Foreign Aid Expectation for Next Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 8: The government has planned to bring in around Rs 300 billion from abroad through loans and grants next year to meet the budget announced on May 29. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 8: The government has planned to bring in around Rs 300 billion from abroad through loans and grants next year to meet the budget announced on May 29. The government, which introduced a budget of Rs 1793.83 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, has set a target of receiving Rs 300 billion from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other donors since the expenditure cannot be covered by internal sources.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The government aims to receive Rs 55.46 billion out of Rs 300 billion in grants and Rs 242.26 billion in loans. The government, which seems to be focusing on bilateral grants, has emphasized on multilateral donors in obtaining loans.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The government estimates that the country will receive the most assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) towards multilateral lenders in the upcoming fiscal year. The government is expecting to receive Rs 105.35 billion from ADB alone next year. Out of this, Rs 3.71 billion will be grants and Rs 101.64 billion will be loans. After ADB, the government has set a target of getting the most foreign aid from the World Bank. Next year, the target is to receive a total of Rs 85.12 billion from the World Bank including a grant of Rs 3.43 billion and loan of Rs 81.65 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">A maximum of</span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt">Rs 5.91 billion in grants will be received from the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). It is estimated that the government will receive Rs 8.53 billion from India and Rs 3 billion from China.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The European Union, OPEC, the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund are also in the list of major donors next year. The government is preparing to borrow a direct loan from some countries.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">According to the Ministry of Finance, the government is preparing to receive more grants and loans from countries including India, China and Finland to mobilize resources for the upcoming fiscal year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Similarly, the government also aims to bring in more than Rs 9 billion in grants from the United States next year. According to the Public Debt Management Office, the government has been taking loans from various donor agencies at interest rates ranging from 0.1 to 2.25 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The interest rate on ADB loans is 1 to 1.5 percent per annum. OFD and Kuwait provide loans to Nepal at an annual interest rate of 2.25 percent. According to Hira Neupane, Deputy Secretary of the Debt Management Office, the loans received by the government from the donor body seems to have reached Rs 951 billion as of December 2021.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-08', 'modified' => '2022-06-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15157', 'image' => '20220608041821_Foreign investment.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-08 16:17:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 12: Experts have suggested the country’s leadership to focus on the national needs and priority while enforcing projects initiated by foreign countries for the economic development of Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They underscored the need for maintaining a balance between diplomacy and national interest while enforcing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project initiated by China and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) project forwarded by the US. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During an interaction organized on 'BRI: International Practice and Its Relevance in Nepal' by News Society Nepal on Saturday, experts on international relations expressed their views that although both projects are not undesirable as such, they must be utilized for Nepal's best interest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Geja Sharma Wagle said the mega projects in Nepal were unnecessarily geo-politicized. It was worrying to dub some projects for nationalist cause while others against nationalism. "The same BRI and MCC are successful in Mongolia while these failed in Sri Lanka. So, projects cannot be termed good or bad in black and white. Most important is whether the country needs it or not," he underlined. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He made it clear that Nepal could not afford the projects on taking foreign loan. According to him, if the parliamentary endorsement is made for the project of over Rs 50 billion, it could help maintain transparency. Public debates should be held before launching mega projects, Wagle suggested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, another expert Ajay Bhadra Khanal said neither MCC nor BRI would bring challenges. But, major problems around the implementation of these projects are corruption, bad governance, and economic greed, he reminded. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It would be counterproductive to run mega projects on personal interest, he cautioned. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Chief Editor of the Annapurna Express weekly, Bishwas Baral, said mega projects are run successfully in democratic countries rather than in authoritarian countries. He reminded that in the African countries with low corruption, mega projects are implemented successfully. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15171', 'image' => '20220612053022_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 17:29:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15428', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '40 Percent Resorts in Chitwan District', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: Chitwan, one of the major tourist destinations in the country, has got another introduction in the field of hospitality - Resort Hub.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 12: Chitwan, one of the major tourist destinations in the country, has got another introduction in the field of hospitality - Resort Hub. Looking at the details of the resorts classified by the tourism department, it has been found that Chitwan houses the majority of resorts. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">According to the records of the department, the number of resorts in Chitwan alone has reached 46. Other famous tourist destinations like Pokhara, Kathmandu, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj and districts around the valley have fewer number of resorts than Chitwan.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Chairman of the Chitwan Chapter of Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) Deepak Bhattarai shared that Rs 40 billion has been invested in the hospitality industry of Chitwan so far. Statistics from the department and HAN Chitwan show that Chitwan has become a resort hub.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Bhattarai said that the number of tourists visiting Chitwan and investment in the hospitality industry is encouraging as Chitwan is more diverse than other destinations. There are 150 hospitality businesses, including hotels and resorts in Chitwan.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">He informed that only 120 were registered with the HAN Chitwan chapter. According to department officials, resorts are usually above the three-star category. According to the tourism department, a primary resort is classified as a three-star level.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The department has classified resorts into three categories namely simple, deluxe and luxury. The number of ordinary resorts is more in Chitwan. However, Chitwan does not have any of the deluxe and luxury category resorts.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">According to the department, a luxury resort must have the standard of a five-star hotel and deluxe as a four-star hotel. Luxury resorts are limited to Kathmandu, according to the department. Deluxe resorts are only available in Kavre, Kaski and Kapilvastu.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">There are 114 ordinary, deluxe and luxury resorts in Nepal. Of these, 109 are ordinary. Most of the ordinary resorts are in the Chitwan district. "It is estimated that more than Rs 40 billion has been invested in the hospitality sector in Chitwan so far," Bhattarai said. Kathmandu's star hotels are expanding their investments in Chitwan. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">According to him, hotels, including Annapurna and Kathmandu Guest House are preparing to invest in resorts and hotels in Chitwan. With the increase in investment and number of beds in the hospitality industry of Chitwan, the hoteliers have increased their target of attracting tourists.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Stating that 200,000 tourists used to visit the area annually before the pandemic, Bhattarai added, "The aim is to increase that number to 400,000 this year." </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">He said that the target is to attract more tourists as the situation is gradually returning to normal. The records of HAN show that the number of beds in the hotels and resorts currently in operation in Chitwan is 6,500. This capacity can serve 8,000 tourists daily. Increasing urbanization and the lack of space in Kathmandu, Pokhara and other places have attracted investors in Chitwan of late. Bhattarai shared that investors have shown interest as there are plenty of tourist attractions in Chitwan.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15170', 'image' => '20220612051554_slider1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 17:15:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15427', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Power Export Plan of Private Sector Uncertain due to lack of License', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: Nepal Power Exchange Limited's (NPEL) plan to sell 500 MW of electricity to India is in doubt after the government delayed the process of issuing licenses for power trade. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">June 12: Nepal Power Exchange Limited's (NPEL) plan to sell 500 MW of electricity to India is in doubt after the government delayed the process of issuing licenses for power trade. NPEL had reached a bilateral agreement at the Power Summit held in Kathmandu last December to provide 500 MW of electricity to Manikaran Power Limited of India this rainy season. However, the government's refusal to grant permission to NPEL for electricity trade has cast doubt over the implementation of the agreement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Currently, the government-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has been solely conducting electricity trade. There is no provision in the prevailing laws for the private sector to trade electricity. It may be noted that NPEL had entered into an agreement with Manikaran Power Limited after the government promised to give license to the private sector to trade electricity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, the government has now stopped the process of issuing licenses to the private sector citing lack of law. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Energy Minister Pampha Bhusal had pledged to allow private sector to trade electricity even if the government had to issue an ordinance for it.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ashish Garg, managing director of NPEL, confirmed that the issue of providing 500 MW of electricity to Manikaran Power Limiter has become uncertain due to lack of license. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> "If the government had given the license, we would have taken further steps to export electricity to India through Manikaran,” said Garg. He is in a dilemma as the government has not issued a license. The government needs to pay attention to this matter, he further said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In fact, NPEL does not have its own electricity to sell. During the rainy season, NEA generates about 1000 MW more electricity. During this time the NEA sells 364 MW electricity in India’s open market and 200 MW to trading companies there. Taking this into consideration, NPEL had planned to buy the surplus electricity from NEA and sell it to Manikaran Power Limited. NPEL has stated that it has not been able to take any further action due to lack of license.</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, spokesperson of the Ministry of Energy Madhu Prasad Bhetwal says that they are looking for alternative ways to give electricity trade licenses to the private 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"">"Licensing electricity to the private sector has not been possible without the necessary legislation, so we are looking for alternatives. We are ready to resolve this problem as soon as possible,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Previously, the ministry had formulated a procedure to give licenses to the private sector for electricity trade. However, the Ministry of Law had banned the private sector from trading electricity stating that the existing Electricity Act does not have any such provision. The electricity bill under consideration in the parliament has a provision for the private sector to trade electricity. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15169', 'image' => '20220612032135_Transmission.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 15:20:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15426', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Woman Entrepreneurship is the Backbone of Economic Development’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: Stakeholders say that the government has introduced various programmes for women entrepreneurship but they are not implemented effectively. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 12: Stakeholders say that the government has introduced various programmes for women entrepreneurship but they are not implemented effectively. Speaking at interaction programme organized by Daayitwa, an organization working on economic policy reform on Friday, experts stated that women entrepreneurship is an important basis for the development of the overall economic sector and pointed towards the need to focus on women entrepreneurship. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Agriculture, Food Security and Gender Expert Dr Yamuna Ghale complained that even though the Nepal Rastra Bank introduced provisions to provide loan of Rs 1.5 million for women entrepreneurship, it is not easy for women to get such a loan. She remarked that entrepreneurship using local resources, tools and skills is needed to improve the economy in the current situation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Speaking at the programme, Neeru Rayamajhi Khatri, president of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs’ Associations of Nepal (FWEAN) stated that even though good policies and rules are formulated in Nepal, the implementation is very weak and women are the ones who suffer the backlash. “Some of the programmes targeted at women are not reported at all and some of them are not completed in time. Under these circumstances, what is the use of introducing programmes even if they are good?” she said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The participants of the programme complained that the information relayed to the women in rural areas are not useful as they are generally based in Nepali and English languages rather than the local language.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Meanwhile, Radhika Aryal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies said that the ministry is doing various works for women entrepreneurship and stakeholders should be able to benefit from such programmes. Participants of the program suggested that the government should work accordingly as there are problems in marketing and branding women entrepreneurship.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Former Minister Kamala Roka said that the development of women entrepreneurship has not been possible due to the non-changing mentality of people despite the change in the political system. She said that the lack of coordination among the ministries is also a responsible factor for confusion and obstacles in developing entrepreneurship. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Chairman of Daayitwa, Dr. Pukar Malla informed that five more of such interaction programmes emphasizing entrepreneurship will be organized this year. He also hoped that such interactions will help in improving the existing policies.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15168', 'image' => '20220612023555_woman.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 14:35:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15425', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Bans Strike in 25 Sectors Providing Most Essential Services ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: The government has banned strike for any reason in 25 sectors under the most essential services. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 12: The government has banned strike for any reason in 25 sectors under the most essential services. The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a notice in the Nepal Gazette prohibiting shutdown or strike in 25 various sectors providing most essential services. The government said it issued such order exercising the rights granted by Clause 3(1) of the Essential Services Operation Act, 2014 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the government’s decision, strike is not allowed in sectors like the postal, wire and telecommunications services, transport (transport of goods via land, water and air routes), supervision, operation and maintenance of aviation offices and aircraft, services relating to railway stations, and transport and loading and unloading of goods from government warehouses. The rule also covers government’s printing work. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, no obstruction is entertained in the services relating to the government’s defence management including manufacturing, storage and supply of arms and ammunition or other military logistics. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, strike is prohibited in services relating to communications, internal security, drinking water operation and supplies, tourist residence, motel, hotel, restaurant and resort. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The notice further states that there should be no hindrance in the import, transport, storage and distribution of liquefied petroleum gas (cooking gas). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Services relating to hospital and health center including ambulance service, manufacturing and supplies of drugs, and the collection, transport, processing, and management of waste, dumping site construction and the construction of other required infrastructure including the services relating to waste management sector shall not be affected by strike or shutdown. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Strike is banned in import, transport, storage and supplies of daily consumer goods (foodstuff, pulse, rice, salt and edible oil) and in the delivery of banking, insurance and electricity services. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The strike ban also include meteorological forecasting services, veterinary, internet and passport department and consular department services and the services relating to mask and hand sanitizers. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15167', 'image' => '20220612010308_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 13:02:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15424', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Trade Deficit Increases by 30.5 Percent in 10 Months ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: Nepal's trade deficit has increased by 30.5 per cent in the first 10 months of current the fiscal year (FY 2021/22) as compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 12: Nepal's trade deficit has increased by 30.5 per cent in the first 10 months of current the fiscal year (FY 2021/22) as compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre, the total trade deficit has reached Rs 177.8 billion as of May 14 in the current fiscal year. The contribution of export and import to the total trade is 9.7 percent and 90.3 per cent respectively. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The total exports increased by 59.8 per cent and reached Rs 17.33 billion during the 10 months of the current fiscal year while the total imports increased by 28 per cent and reached Rs 160.46 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ratio of export and import during the 10 months of the previous fiscal year was 1:11.6 while the ratio is 1:9.3 during the corresponding period of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal exported soybean oil, palm oil, woolen carpet and rugs, readymade clothes, juice, sunflower oil, cardamom, tea, pashmina shawl, dog chew, iron products, noodles, Nepali handmade paper and herbs during the 10 months of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although there has been a remarkable improvement in overall export during the review period, the total trade deficit has climbed to Rs 143.1 billion, up by 24.9 per cent, due to the surge in import. -- RSS </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">--- </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15166', 'image' => '20220612113321_Trade.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 11:32:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15423', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Companies to get Tax Exemption only if they Merge within the Current FY', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: Insurance companies have to agree in principle to merge by mid-July to avail tax exemption facility announced by the Insurance Board for merger.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 9: Insurance companies have to agree in principle to merge by mid-July to avail tax exemption facility announced by the Insurance Board for merger.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Such companies will have to start an integrated business by next June. The Finance Act stipulates that only insurance companies that have agreed in principle to merge within coming June will get various tax exemptions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">As per the law, the insurance company concerned will have to submit a letter of intent regarding the merger to the Inland Revenue Department within coming June to get a tax exemption for the merger. The Insurance Board had recently issued a circular urging the insurance companies to take action on the merger accordingly.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The Finance Act provides tax exemption on capital gains tax, dividend tax and retirement pay of companies going for the merger.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">There is a provision in the Act that a merger agreement must be reached within Fiscal Year 2079 BS to get such facility.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Chairman of the board Surya Prasad Silwal said that the insurance companies should reach a merger agreement within this month to get the tax exemption facility. He said that no tax exemption will be given to those who sign the agreement after the specified period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Insurance companies are preparing to merge after the board introduced the mandatory provision two months ago that requires the company to double their paid-up capital within the current fiscal year. Most life and non-life insurance companies have no choice but to merge to meet their capital growth needs.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The Insurance Board has directed to increase the minimum paid-up capital of life insurance companies to Rs 5 billion and non-life insurance to Rs 2.5 billion within given deadline. At present, the minimum paid-up capital is Rs 2 billion for life insurance and Rs 1 billion for non-life insurance.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">A merger agreement has been reached between Everest and Himalayan General Insurance after the board directed the companies to increase the paid-up capital. A merger agreement also has been reached between Prime Life, Gurans and Union Life. Other companies are also preparing to merge. The board has urged the companies to take advantage of the tax exemption available for mergers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15165', 'image' => '20220609041052_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 16:10:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15422', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFI Operators Urge Central Bank to Conclude the process of Merger', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: Operators of banks and financial institutions (BFIS) have started lobbying with the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to settle the merger and acquisition policy adopted by the central bank with the objective of reducing the number of banks and financial institutions.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 9: Operators of banks and financial institutions (BFIS) have started lobbying with the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to settle the merger and acquisition policy adopted by the central bank with the objective of reducing the number of banks and financial institutions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Stating that the banks are still under pressure even a decade after the central bank adopted the merger and acquisition policy, the operators urged the NRB to wrap up the process.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Bhoj Bahadur Shah, senior vice-president of the Confederation of Banks and Financial Institutions Nepal (CBIFIN) and chairman of Mega Bank said, “The issue of merger has become an evergreen agenda in our country. It has always put pressure on the managers of banks and financial institutions. It needs to be addressed properly now.” He informed that an informal conversation was held with the Governor of NRB Maha Prasad Adhikari and the issue be formally raised through CBIFIN.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">NRB had put forward the policy of bank merger in 2008 by issuing regulations on merger or acquisition of banks and financial institutions. In 2013, the central bank issued Regulations on Acquisition (2013) for the purchase of banks and financial institutions. In the year 2016, NRB merged the two regulations and issued the regulations regarding merger and acquisition of banks and financial institutions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">As many as 241 banks and financial institutions joined the merger / acquisition process by mid-April 2018 after the merger and acquisition process of banks and financial institutions started. Of these, the licenses of 177 institutions were revoked and the number dropped to 64.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">A large number of mergers took place after NRB adopted the policy of increasing the paid-up capital four times within two years through the monetary policy of 2015. However, the number of commercial banks did not decrease even though the number of development banks and finance companies decreased after the large institutions started acquiring smaller ones.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The number of commercial banks, which reached 32, has dropped to 27 after the merger policy of NRB. At present, Nabil and NB Bank are in the final stages of merger process. Similarly, the number of development banks reaching 90 dropped to 18 while the number of finance companies dropped to 17 from 79.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">With the decline in the number of development banks and finance companies, the issue of 'big merger' is still under discussion in recent years. Even though the issue of big merger has put pressure on the banks, the bank operators complained that the NRB has not come up with any package to encourage them.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">In a recent study by NRB, stakeholders suggested that it would be appropriate to reduce the number of commercial banks to 15.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">A study report by CIBIFIN on the state of banks and financial institutions also suggests that incentives should be provided in a way that would encourage merger instead of forcing mergers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">During a meeting with bank operators last Thursday, Governor Adhikari indicated that NRB is about to change its merger policy. He informed the bank operators that the incentives and facility being given for the merger will not be available from the next fiscal year and indicated that the such facility available for merger will be maintained only till the next monetary policy. After the given period, he indicated that the merger will need to be done under pressure on the basis of necessity and justification.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Banks are under pressure due to the lack of liquidity in the current fiscal year and failure to meet the indicators set by NRB. Banks are also under pressure to merge as returns are declining due to fierce competition.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15164', 'image' => '20220609034724_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 15:46:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15421', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PDA of Manang Marshyangdi Hydropower Project Signed', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: The Government of Nepal has signed a preliminary Project Development Agreement (PDA) for the construction of Manang Marsyangdi Hydropower Project with Chinese investment.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 9: The Government of Nepal has signed a preliminary Project Development Agreement (PDA) for the construction of Manang Marsyangdi Hydropower Project with Chinese investment. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The initial PDA was signed by Joint Secretary Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal on behalf of the government and Uttar Kumar Shrestha, Chief Executive Officer of Butwal Power Company on behalf of the promoter company. The full agreement will be signed after the approval of initial agreement by the Council of Ministers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Butwal Power Company will invest 20 percent in the project with a capacity of 135 MW. Eighty percent of the investment will be from China's Sichuan Provincial Investment Group, Chengdu Xingcheng Investment Group and Qing Yuan Engineering Consulting Company (QYEC). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The construction of the project will move ahead with joint investment. Negotiations had been going on for a long time for the PDA of the project. The project will be constructed in Naso and Chame villages of Manang district. The project is estimated to generate 759.48 million units of electricity annually.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The project aims to start generating electricity by 2025. The electricity of the project will be connected to the 220 KV switching station of NEA at Dharapani of Manang. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15163', 'image' => '20220609125414_PDA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 12:53:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15420', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Consumption of Fuel Declines by 18 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: The consumption of fossil fuel in Nepal has declined by Rs 3.19 billion within a period of one month.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">June 9: The consumption of fossil fuel in Nepal has declined by Rs 3.19 billion within a period of one month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Nepal Oil Corporation, the sale of fuel in the month of Jestha (mid-May to mid-June) declined by 8.4 million litres compared to the previous month (mid-April to mid-May). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The sale of diesel declined by 9.94 million litres worth Rs 3.51 billion during the review period. Likewise, the sale of petrol in the same period was less by Rs 140.28 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Deputy Spokesperson of NOC Pushkar Karki informed that the consumption of fuel declined in the review month because of various factors including the two-day public holiday announced by the government, end of local election and the construction holiday announced by contractors who halted major projects due to the recent price hike.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Karki said that vehicles were mobilized in massive numbers during the local election of May 13. The use of vehicles has declined significantly after the election resulting in comparatively low consumption of fuel. NOC believes that the general public might also have reduced fuel consumption due to the sharp hike in prices of petroleum products. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NOC had recommended the government to announce two-day holiday a week in order to reduce fuel consumption. However, the government revoked its decision of granting holidays on Sunday saying it was not much effective. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The price of petroleum products have been skyrocketing in recent months. Currently, a litre of petrol costs Rs 170 while diesel costs Rs 153 per litre. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The NOC is yet to pay dues amounting to Rs 32 billion to the Indian Oil Corporation. NOC officials say that it be becoming quite challenging to distribute fuel due to the losses it has been incurring continuously.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15162', 'image' => '20220609102857_petroo - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 10:27:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15419', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'National Assembly Members Draw Govt's Attention Towards Contemporary Issues ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: Members of the National Assembly have drawn the government's attention towards contemporary issues in the country including the lack of fertilizers for farmers, text books for community schools' students and government's clear viewpoint on country's foreign policy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 9: Members of the National Assembly have drawn the government's attention towards contemporary issues in the country including the lack of fertilizers for farmers, text books for community schools' students and government's clear viewpoint on country's foreign policy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking in the special hour of the upper house meeting on Wednesday, parliamentarian Khimlal Bhattarai accused the government of not being serious towards implementing the constitution. He said that the students in public schools have not received text books although the new academic session has already begun. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He expressed concerns over the decreasing quality of the community schools and also urged the government to take forward the Bill relating to Citizenship Act. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Krishna Prasad Poudel was concerned about the weak condition of education sector. He underscored skill-based, knowledge-based and productive education system to build prosperous and equitable society based on social justice. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Nanda Chapagain rued over the lack of fertilizers for farmers and drew the attention of the government to provide fertilizer at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Gomadevi Timalsina stressed on enabling environment for the supply of raw materials for industries to be set up by the government in all seven provinces. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, National Assembly member Jitendra Narayan Dev argued that the foreign policy of Nepal does not change along with the change in government and reaffirmed that Nepal's foreign policy is based on Panchasheel - the five principles of peaceful co-existence and Non-Aligned Movement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He viewed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should hold discussions with leaders of the major political parties and forge a national consensus on the policies relating to national security, foreign affairs and water resources. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Another MP Bhagawati Neupane sought for a clear concept of the incumbent government regarding Nepal's foreign policy. She suggested to adopt a balanced foreign policy by soliciting suggestions from all political parties. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15161', 'image' => '20220609081224_20220605121907_Parliament.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 08:10:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15418', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Forms 4-Member Committee to Study the Capital Market ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: A four-member committee led by executive director of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has been formed to carry out a study of the existing situation of the capital market, said Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 9: A four-member committee led by executive director of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has been formed to carry out a study of the existing situation of the capital market, said Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Addressing the 30th anniversary of SEBON on Wednesday, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma informed that the four-member committee was formed to study the existing situation of the capital market in Nepal and seek it suggestions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He said that a meeting involving the finance ministry, governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank and the SEBON chair at the Finance Ministry on Wednesday took a decision to form the committee. According to the minister, the committee has been tasked with the responsibility of providing suggestions to end the problems faced by the capital market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Other members of the committee include a representative each from the finance ministry and the central bank while a representative of the SEBON is the member-secretary of the committee. This initiative is expected to help the formulation of monetary policy and end problems faced by the capital market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Minister Sharma said the budget for the next fiscal year has stressed on further strengthening the capital market. It has also covered an array of related subjects like making legal arrangements for non-resident Nepalis to invest in Nepal's secondary market and the reservation of 10 percent quotas for Nepali migrant workers in every sale of IPO shares. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minister reiterated his commitments on behalf of the government to carry out reforms in the capital market and protect investors. He also directed regulators to increase awareness and knowledge of investors about the market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, the SEBON Chair Ramesh Hamal informed about activities and progress of the SEBON. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15160', 'image' => '20220609080427_20220602052434_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 08:03:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15417', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'DoTM Admits Flaws in Fixing Embossed Number Plates', 'sub_title' => 'Insists it is Mandatory to Fix Embossed Number Plates', 'summary' => 'June 8: The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has admitted flaws in fixing embossed number plates on vehicles due to the negligence by its subordinate bodies.', 'content' => '<p><br /> <span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">June 8: The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has admitted flaws in fixing embossed number plates on vehicles due to the negligence by its subordinate bodies and has also apologized for the confusion created by the latest notice issued by the department for implementing the decision to use such number plates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a statement on Tuesday, the DoTM apologized for the confusion created by the notice published on Friday (June 3) and the trouble they had to undergo due to the notice. However, the department clarified that it is still mandatory for all vehicles to fix embossed number plates. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the five-page long statement issued by the DoTM, it has sincerely admitted flaws on part of its subordinate bodies and officials in implementing the decision.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Fixing of embossed number plates as per the notice issued in Nepal Gazette on November 8, 2021 did not take place in the pace as expected. In addition to that, vehicle owners did not file application for fixing embossed number plates thinking it was optional,” reads the statement, adding, “The concerned offices under the department and the officials also did not show keen interest in fixing embossed number plate.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, the department did not say if it took action against the negligent officials or not.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Had the officials fulfilled their duties diligently, lots of vehicles would have had embossed number plates by now. Most of the vehicle owners visit the DoTM only once a year to renew their registration. If the DoTM had made it mandatory to have embossed number for renewal of registration, hundreds of thousands of vehicles would have embossed number plates in the last seven months.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, the vehicle owners are facing unprecedented problems in registration and fixing embossed number plates all of a sudden following the notice issued by the department on Friday. The service seekers are facing problems due to the large number of people seeking the service all at once. The department is seen jam-packed with vehicle owners seeking to fix the embossed number plates fearing action from the government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The decision to make embossed number plates mandatory has drawn widespread condemnation, especially because the DoTM has not prepared the required infrastructure to deliver the service. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-08', 'modified' => '2022-06-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15159', 'image' => '20220608081057_Department.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-08 20:09:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15416', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Investment on Sanitary Pad Industry in Risk due to Government’s 'Faulty' Policy', 'sub_title' => '35 industries with investment of Rs 6 billion on the verge of shutdown', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bedraj Poudel</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">June 8: The government’s move to encourage the import of sanitary pads is certain to shut down 35 home-grown sanitary pad industries set up with a total investment of around Rs 6 billion. The move is a setback to the sanitary pad industry, which is self-sufficient to meet the domestic demand.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the stakeholders, the indigenous industries have the capacity to produce about 900 million units of sanitary pads on an annual basis. Entrepreneurs say that the current demand of Nepal is around 300 million units.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government has made an arrangement to give 90 percent customs duty exemption for the import of sanitary pads through the budget of the coming Fiscal Year (FY) 2079/80. The import duty on foreign sanitary pads used to be 15 percent but now it is only 1.5 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The sanitary pad manufacturers complained that the government should have given priority to domestic products instead of reducing the customs duty on foreign products from 15 to 1.5 percent. According to the stakeholders, this has threatened the existence of the sanitary pad industries of the country. Nepal's sanitary pad industry employs 6,000 people.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ironically, although the customs duty on other imported raw materials is maintained at 1 percent, the overall tax on the raw materials used for pads is 8.25 percent. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the industrialist, seven raw materials are required to make a pad. The customs duty on flock pulp is 5 percent. It is the raw material required for 65% of sanitary pads. Perforated P film, release paper, glue, sap powder is subject to 1 percent customs duty each. Entrepreneurs say that if the customs duty of 30 percent on wrapper paper is added along with excise duty of 5 percent, the overall tax will be 8.25 percent. As the government has given 90 percent customs duty exemption on import of foreign ready-made pads, importers will have to pay only 1.5 percent tax.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Due to this, the price of imported pads in the market will be Rs 10 cheaper than Nepali pads, says Puneet Sharda of Jasmine Hygiene. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"The policy brought by the government for the benefit of limited traders is inappropriate at a time when the production of sanitary industry of Nepal is exceeding the demand. It should be rectified," said Sharda. Moreover, he also says that the government has given 90 percent exemption in customs duty on sanitary pads contrary to its own policy of raising the tariff on finished goods one level more than raw materials.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Stating that the government should protect the domestic industries, Sharda said that the government should amend its decision before the budget is passed by the parliament. He said that the country has become self-reliant on sanitary pads and the government should impose an additional 5 percent customs duty for an overall 20 percent customs duty for the import of such goods.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bhavesh Rathi, director of Health and Hygiene, another company that manufactures sanitary pads, said that the government's policy is certain to shut down the domestic industry and promote import of foreign pads. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He also complained that the government's policy has compelled them to shut down the industry at a time when they have set up a new plant to manufacture adult diaper. He informed that the pads imported from abroad have been given exemptions while those produced in the country are subject to quality mark, lab test and scientific size. He noted that the investment in the pad industry was at risk due to the government's policy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"While the Nepali industry is preparing for export by meeting the domestic demand, the government has encouraged the import of pads needlessly. It is unfortunate,” said Rathi</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of the Chamber of Industry, Morang, Suyash Raj Pyakurel, said that 6,000 people would lose their jobs and Rs 6 billion would be lost due to the wrong policy of the government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Navin Rijal, president of the Morang Trade Association, objected to the provision in the budget to give some limited industrialists the opportunity to earn more. He said that the government has come up with a policy that will only benefit some importers and some industrialists while many cannot afford it. He demanded that the government amend its policy for the benefit of all.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bhim Ghimire, president of the Province 1 Chapter of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), has termed the government's exemption in sanitary pads, iron industry, palm oil industry and electricity as policy corruption. "The government should adopt a policy that is equal and valid for all," Ghimire said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pads imported from abroad come in kilograms and pieces. In FY 2077/78, 3.58 million pieces and 1738 tons of sanitary pads were imported in Nepal. In the first eight months of the current fiscal year, 99 million pieces have been imported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the fiscal year 2075/76, after the government reduced the customs duty on all raw materials for sanitary pad to 5 percent, the number of indigenous industries had increased. In the budget of FY 2077/78, provision was made for the new industry to get tax exemption for 5 years. Entrepreneurs and businessmen were excited by this prospect. The possibility of opening more industries had increased.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government implemented the procedure of distribution and management of sanitary pads in 2076 BS. The minimum standards for sanitary pads produced by large industries and locally produced are different. Nepal's quality mark No 587 specifies the length, width, absorption capacity, pH value, presence of microorganisms, etc of the pad.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Locally produced sanitary pads should use white cotton and muslin cloth, the fabric should be at least two cubits long and half a cubit wide. There is a provision that 95 percent cotton cloth must be used to ensure the quality of the pad.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-08', 'modified' => '2022-06-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15158', 'image' => '20220608051008_ROS_KTM-4187.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-08 17:09:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15415', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Foreign Aid Expectation for Next Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 8: The government has planned to bring in around Rs 300 billion from abroad through loans and grants next year to meet the budget announced on May 29. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 8: The government has planned to bring in around Rs 300 billion from abroad through loans and grants next year to meet the budget announced on May 29. The government, which introduced a budget of Rs 1793.83 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, has set a target of receiving Rs 300 billion from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other donors since the expenditure cannot be covered by internal sources.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The government aims to receive Rs 55.46 billion out of Rs 300 billion in grants and Rs 242.26 billion in loans. The government, which seems to be focusing on bilateral grants, has emphasized on multilateral donors in obtaining loans.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The government estimates that the country will receive the most assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) towards multilateral lenders in the upcoming fiscal year. The government is expecting to receive Rs 105.35 billion from ADB alone next year. Out of this, Rs 3.71 billion will be grants and Rs 101.64 billion will be loans. After ADB, the government has set a target of getting the most foreign aid from the World Bank. Next year, the target is to receive a total of Rs 85.12 billion from the World Bank including a grant of Rs 3.43 billion and loan of Rs 81.65 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">A maximum of</span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt">Rs 5.91 billion in grants will be received from the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). It is estimated that the government will receive Rs 8.53 billion from India and Rs 3 billion from China.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The European Union, OPEC, the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund are also in the list of major donors next year. The government is preparing to borrow a direct loan from some countries.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">According to the Ministry of Finance, the government is preparing to receive more grants and loans from countries including India, China and Finland to mobilize resources for the upcoming fiscal year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Similarly, the government also aims to bring in more than Rs 9 billion in grants from the United States next year. According to the Public Debt Management Office, the government has been taking loans from various donor agencies at interest rates ranging from 0.1 to 2.25 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The interest rate on ADB loans is 1 to 1.5 percent per annum. OFD and Kuwait provide loans to Nepal at an annual interest rate of 2.25 percent. According to Hira Neupane, Deputy Secretary of the Debt Management Office, the loans received by the government from the donor body seems to have reached Rs 951 billion as of December 2021.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-08', 'modified' => '2022-06-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15157', 'image' => '20220608041821_Foreign investment.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-08 16:17:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 12: Experts have suggested the country’s leadership to focus on the national needs and priority while enforcing projects initiated by foreign countries for the economic development of Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They underscored the need for maintaining a balance between diplomacy and national interest while enforcing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project initiated by China and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) project forwarded by the US. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During an interaction organized on 'BRI: International Practice and Its Relevance in Nepal' by News Society Nepal on Saturday, experts on international relations expressed their views that although both projects are not undesirable as such, they must be utilized for Nepal's best interest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Geja Sharma Wagle said the mega projects in Nepal were unnecessarily geo-politicized. It was worrying to dub some projects for nationalist cause while others against nationalism. "The same BRI and MCC are successful in Mongolia while these failed in Sri Lanka. So, projects cannot be termed good or bad in black and white. Most important is whether the country needs it or not," he underlined. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He made it clear that Nepal could not afford the projects on taking foreign loan. According to him, if the parliamentary endorsement is made for the project of over Rs 50 billion, it could help maintain transparency. Public debates should be held before launching mega projects, Wagle suggested. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, another expert Ajay Bhadra Khanal said neither MCC nor BRI would bring challenges. But, major problems around the implementation of these projects are corruption, bad governance, and economic greed, he reminded. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It would be counterproductive to run mega projects on personal interest, he cautioned. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Chief Editor of the Annapurna Express weekly, Bishwas Baral, said mega projects are run successfully in democratic countries rather than in authoritarian countries. He reminded that in the African countries with low corruption, mega projects are implemented successfully. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15171', 'image' => '20220612053022_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 17:29:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15428', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '40 Percent Resorts in Chitwan District', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: Chitwan, one of the major tourist destinations in the country, has got another introduction in the field of hospitality - Resort Hub.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 12: Chitwan, one of the major tourist destinations in the country, has got another introduction in the field of hospitality - Resort Hub. Looking at the details of the resorts classified by the tourism department, it has been found that Chitwan houses the majority of resorts. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">According to the records of the department, the number of resorts in Chitwan alone has reached 46. Other famous tourist destinations like Pokhara, Kathmandu, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj and districts around the valley have fewer number of resorts than Chitwan.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Chairman of the Chitwan Chapter of Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN) Deepak Bhattarai shared that Rs 40 billion has been invested in the hospitality industry of Chitwan so far. Statistics from the department and HAN Chitwan show that Chitwan has become a resort hub.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Bhattarai said that the number of tourists visiting Chitwan and investment in the hospitality industry is encouraging as Chitwan is more diverse than other destinations. There are 150 hospitality businesses, including hotels and resorts in Chitwan.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">He informed that only 120 were registered with the HAN Chitwan chapter. According to department officials, resorts are usually above the three-star category. According to the tourism department, a primary resort is classified as a three-star level.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The department has classified resorts into three categories namely simple, deluxe and luxury. The number of ordinary resorts is more in Chitwan. However, Chitwan does not have any of the deluxe and luxury category resorts.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">According to the department, a luxury resort must have the standard of a five-star hotel and deluxe as a four-star hotel. Luxury resorts are limited to Kathmandu, according to the department. Deluxe resorts are only available in Kavre, Kaski and Kapilvastu.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">There are 114 ordinary, deluxe and luxury resorts in Nepal. Of these, 109 are ordinary. Most of the ordinary resorts are in the Chitwan district. "It is estimated that more than Rs 40 billion has been invested in the hospitality sector in Chitwan so far," Bhattarai said. Kathmandu's star hotels are expanding their investments in Chitwan. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">According to him, hotels, including Annapurna and Kathmandu Guest House are preparing to invest in resorts and hotels in Chitwan. With the increase in investment and number of beds in the hospitality industry of Chitwan, the hoteliers have increased their target of attracting tourists.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Stating that 200,000 tourists used to visit the area annually before the pandemic, Bhattarai added, "The aim is to increase that number to 400,000 this year." </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">He said that the target is to attract more tourists as the situation is gradually returning to normal. The records of HAN show that the number of beds in the hotels and resorts currently in operation in Chitwan is 6,500. This capacity can serve 8,000 tourists daily. Increasing urbanization and the lack of space in Kathmandu, Pokhara and other places have attracted investors in Chitwan of late. Bhattarai shared that investors have shown interest as there are plenty of tourist attractions in Chitwan.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15170', 'image' => '20220612051554_slider1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 17:15:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15427', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Power Export Plan of Private Sector Uncertain due to lack of License', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: Nepal Power Exchange Limited's (NPEL) plan to sell 500 MW of electricity to India is in doubt after the government delayed the process of issuing licenses for power trade. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">June 12: Nepal Power Exchange Limited's (NPEL) plan to sell 500 MW of electricity to India is in doubt after the government delayed the process of issuing licenses for power trade. NPEL had reached a bilateral agreement at the Power Summit held in Kathmandu last December to provide 500 MW of electricity to Manikaran Power Limited of India this rainy season. However, the government's refusal to grant permission to NPEL for electricity trade has cast doubt over the implementation of the agreement.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Currently, the government-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has been solely conducting electricity trade. There is no provision in the prevailing laws for the private sector to trade electricity. It may be noted that NPEL had entered into an agreement with Manikaran Power Limited after the government promised to give license to the private sector to trade electricity.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">However, the government has now stopped the process of issuing licenses to the private sector citing lack of law. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Energy Minister Pampha Bhusal had pledged to allow private sector to trade electricity even if the government had to issue an ordinance for it.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ashish Garg, managing director of NPEL, confirmed that the issue of providing 500 MW of electricity to Manikaran Power Limiter has become uncertain due to lack of license. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""> "If the government had given the license, we would have taken further steps to export electricity to India through Manikaran,” said Garg. He is in a dilemma as the government has not issued a license. The government needs to pay attention to this matter, he further said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In fact, NPEL does not have its own electricity to sell. During the rainy season, NEA generates about 1000 MW more electricity. During this time the NEA sells 364 MW electricity in India’s open market and 200 MW to trading companies there. Taking this into consideration, NPEL had planned to buy the surplus electricity from NEA and sell it to Manikaran Power Limited. NPEL has stated that it has not been able to take any further action due to lack of license.</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, spokesperson of the Ministry of Energy Madhu Prasad Bhetwal says that they are looking for alternative ways to give electricity trade licenses to the private 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"">"Licensing electricity to the private sector has not been possible without the necessary legislation, so we are looking for alternatives. We are ready to resolve this problem as soon as possible,” he said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Previously, the ministry had formulated a procedure to give licenses to the private sector for electricity trade. However, the Ministry of Law had banned the private sector from trading electricity stating that the existing Electricity Act does not have any such provision. The electricity bill under consideration in the parliament has a provision for the private sector to trade electricity. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15169', 'image' => '20220612032135_Transmission.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 15:20:46', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15426', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '‘Woman Entrepreneurship is the Backbone of Economic Development’', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: Stakeholders say that the government has introduced various programmes for women entrepreneurship but they are not implemented effectively. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 12: Stakeholders say that the government has introduced various programmes for women entrepreneurship but they are not implemented effectively. Speaking at interaction programme organized by Daayitwa, an organization working on economic policy reform on Friday, experts stated that women entrepreneurship is an important basis for the development of the overall economic sector and pointed towards the need to focus on women entrepreneurship. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Agriculture, Food Security and Gender Expert Dr Yamuna Ghale complained that even though the Nepal Rastra Bank introduced provisions to provide loan of Rs 1.5 million for women entrepreneurship, it is not easy for women to get such a loan. She remarked that entrepreneurship using local resources, tools and skills is needed to improve the economy in the current situation.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Speaking at the programme, Neeru Rayamajhi Khatri, president of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs’ Associations of Nepal (FWEAN) stated that even though good policies and rules are formulated in Nepal, the implementation is very weak and women are the ones who suffer the backlash. “Some of the programmes targeted at women are not reported at all and some of them are not completed in time. Under these circumstances, what is the use of introducing programmes even if they are good?” she said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The participants of the programme complained that the information relayed to the women in rural areas are not useful as they are generally based in Nepali and English languages rather than the local language.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Meanwhile, Radhika Aryal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies said that the ministry is doing various works for women entrepreneurship and stakeholders should be able to benefit from such programmes. Participants of the program suggested that the government should work accordingly as there are problems in marketing and branding women entrepreneurship.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Former Minister Kamala Roka said that the development of women entrepreneurship has not been possible due to the non-changing mentality of people despite the change in the political system. She said that the lack of coordination among the ministries is also a responsible factor for confusion and obstacles in developing entrepreneurship. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Chairman of Daayitwa, Dr. Pukar Malla informed that five more of such interaction programmes emphasizing entrepreneurship will be organized this year. He also hoped that such interactions will help in improving the existing policies.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15168', 'image' => '20220612023555_woman.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 14:35:02', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15425', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Bans Strike in 25 Sectors Providing Most Essential Services ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: The government has banned strike for any reason in 25 sectors under the most essential services. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 12: The government has banned strike for any reason in 25 sectors under the most essential services. The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a notice in the Nepal Gazette prohibiting shutdown or strike in 25 various sectors providing most essential services. The government said it issued such order exercising the rights granted by Clause 3(1) of the Essential Services Operation Act, 2014 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the government’s decision, strike is not allowed in sectors like the postal, wire and telecommunications services, transport (transport of goods via land, water and air routes), supervision, operation and maintenance of aviation offices and aircraft, services relating to railway stations, and transport and loading and unloading of goods from government warehouses. The rule also covers government’s printing work. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, no obstruction is entertained in the services relating to the government’s defence management including manufacturing, storage and supply of arms and ammunition or other military logistics. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, strike is prohibited in services relating to communications, internal security, drinking water operation and supplies, tourist residence, motel, hotel, restaurant and resort. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The notice further states that there should be no hindrance in the import, transport, storage and distribution of liquefied petroleum gas (cooking gas). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Services relating to hospital and health center including ambulance service, manufacturing and supplies of drugs, and the collection, transport, processing, and management of waste, dumping site construction and the construction of other required infrastructure including the services relating to waste management sector shall not be affected by strike or shutdown. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Strike is banned in import, transport, storage and supplies of daily consumer goods (foodstuff, pulse, rice, salt and edible oil) and in the delivery of banking, insurance and electricity services. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The strike ban also include meteorological forecasting services, veterinary, internet and passport department and consular department services and the services relating to mask and hand sanitizers. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15167', 'image' => '20220612010308_Untitled.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 13:02:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15424', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Trade Deficit Increases by 30.5 Percent in 10 Months ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 12: Nepal's trade deficit has increased by 30.5 per cent in the first 10 months of current the fiscal year (FY 2021/22) as compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 12: Nepal's trade deficit has increased by 30.5 per cent in the first 10 months of current the fiscal year (FY 2021/22) as compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Trade and Export Promotion Centre, the total trade deficit has reached Rs 177.8 billion as of May 14 in the current fiscal year. The contribution of export and import to the total trade is 9.7 percent and 90.3 per cent respectively. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The total exports increased by 59.8 per cent and reached Rs 17.33 billion during the 10 months of the current fiscal year while the total imports increased by 28 per cent and reached Rs 160.46 billion. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ratio of export and import during the 10 months of the previous fiscal year was 1:11.6 while the ratio is 1:9.3 during the corresponding period of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal exported soybean oil, palm oil, woolen carpet and rugs, readymade clothes, juice, sunflower oil, cardamom, tea, pashmina shawl, dog chew, iron products, noodles, Nepali handmade paper and herbs during the 10 months of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although there has been a remarkable improvement in overall export during the review period, the total trade deficit has climbed to Rs 143.1 billion, up by 24.9 per cent, due to the surge in import. -- RSS </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">--- </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-12', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15166', 'image' => '20220612113321_Trade.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-12 11:32:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15423', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Insurance Companies to get Tax Exemption only if they Merge within the Current FY', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: Insurance companies have to agree in principle to merge by mid-July to avail tax exemption facility announced by the Insurance Board for merger.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 9: Insurance companies have to agree in principle to merge by mid-July to avail tax exemption facility announced by the Insurance Board for merger.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Such companies will have to start an integrated business by next June. The Finance Act stipulates that only insurance companies that have agreed in principle to merge within coming June will get various tax exemptions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">As per the law, the insurance company concerned will have to submit a letter of intent regarding the merger to the Inland Revenue Department within coming June to get a tax exemption for the merger. The Insurance Board had recently issued a circular urging the insurance companies to take action on the merger accordingly.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The Finance Act provides tax exemption on capital gains tax, dividend tax and retirement pay of companies going for the merger.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">There is a provision in the Act that a merger agreement must be reached within Fiscal Year 2079 BS to get such facility.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Chairman of the board Surya Prasad Silwal said that the insurance companies should reach a merger agreement within this month to get the tax exemption facility. He said that no tax exemption will be given to those who sign the agreement after the specified period.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Insurance companies are preparing to merge after the board introduced the mandatory provision two months ago that requires the company to double their paid-up capital within the current fiscal year. Most life and non-life insurance companies have no choice but to merge to meet their capital growth needs.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The Insurance Board has directed to increase the minimum paid-up capital of life insurance companies to Rs 5 billion and non-life insurance to Rs 2.5 billion within given deadline. At present, the minimum paid-up capital is Rs 2 billion for life insurance and Rs 1 billion for non-life insurance.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">A merger agreement has been reached between Everest and Himalayan General Insurance after the board directed the companies to increase the paid-up capital. A merger agreement also has been reached between Prime Life, Gurans and Union Life. Other companies are also preparing to merge. The board has urged the companies to take advantage of the tax exemption available for mergers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-12', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15165', 'image' => '20220609041052_Insurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 16:10:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15422', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFI Operators Urge Central Bank to Conclude the process of Merger', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: Operators of banks and financial institutions (BFIS) have started lobbying with the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to settle the merger and acquisition policy adopted by the central bank with the objective of reducing the number of banks and financial institutions.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 9: Operators of banks and financial institutions (BFIS) have started lobbying with the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) to settle the merger and acquisition policy adopted by the central bank with the objective of reducing the number of banks and financial institutions.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Stating that the banks are still under pressure even a decade after the central bank adopted the merger and acquisition policy, the operators urged the NRB to wrap up the process.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Bhoj Bahadur Shah, senior vice-president of the Confederation of Banks and Financial Institutions Nepal (CBIFIN) and chairman of Mega Bank said, “The issue of merger has become an evergreen agenda in our country. It has always put pressure on the managers of banks and financial institutions. It needs to be addressed properly now.” He informed that an informal conversation was held with the Governor of NRB Maha Prasad Adhikari and the issue be formally raised through CBIFIN.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">NRB had put forward the policy of bank merger in 2008 by issuing regulations on merger or acquisition of banks and financial institutions. In 2013, the central bank issued Regulations on Acquisition (2013) for the purchase of banks and financial institutions. In the year 2016, NRB merged the two regulations and issued the regulations regarding merger and acquisition of banks and financial institutions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">As many as 241 banks and financial institutions joined the merger / acquisition process by mid-April 2018 after the merger and acquisition process of banks and financial institutions started. Of these, the licenses of 177 institutions were revoked and the number dropped to 64.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">A large number of mergers took place after NRB adopted the policy of increasing the paid-up capital four times within two years through the monetary policy of 2015. However, the number of commercial banks did not decrease even though the number of development banks and finance companies decreased after the large institutions started acquiring smaller ones.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The number of commercial banks, which reached 32, has dropped to 27 after the merger policy of NRB. At present, Nabil and NB Bank are in the final stages of merger process. Similarly, the number of development banks reaching 90 dropped to 18 while the number of finance companies dropped to 17 from 79.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">With the decline in the number of development banks and finance companies, the issue of 'big merger' is still under discussion in recent years. Even though the issue of big merger has put pressure on the banks, the bank operators complained that the NRB has not come up with any package to encourage them.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">In a recent study by NRB, stakeholders suggested that it would be appropriate to reduce the number of commercial banks to 15.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">A study report by CIBIFIN on the state of banks and financial institutions also suggests that incentives should be provided in a way that would encourage merger instead of forcing mergers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">During a meeting with bank operators last Thursday, Governor Adhikari indicated that NRB is about to change its merger policy. He informed the bank operators that the incentives and facility being given for the merger will not be available from the next fiscal year and indicated that the such facility available for merger will be maintained only till the next monetary policy. After the given period, he indicated that the merger will need to be done under pressure on the basis of necessity and justification.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Banks are under pressure due to the lack of liquidity in the current fiscal year and failure to meet the indicators set by NRB. Banks are also under pressure to merge as returns are declining due to fierce competition.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15164', 'image' => '20220609034724_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 15:46:33', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15421', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PDA of Manang Marshyangdi Hydropower Project Signed', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: The Government of Nepal has signed a preliminary Project Development Agreement (PDA) for the construction of Manang Marsyangdi Hydropower Project with Chinese investment.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 9: The Government of Nepal has signed a preliminary Project Development Agreement (PDA) for the construction of Manang Marsyangdi Hydropower Project with Chinese investment. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The initial PDA was signed by Joint Secretary Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal on behalf of the government and Uttar Kumar Shrestha, Chief Executive Officer of Butwal Power Company on behalf of the promoter company. The full agreement will be signed after the approval of initial agreement by the Council of Ministers.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Butwal Power Company will invest 20 percent in the project with a capacity of 135 MW. Eighty percent of the investment will be from China's Sichuan Provincial Investment Group, Chengdu Xingcheng Investment Group and Qing Yuan Engineering Consulting Company (QYEC). </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The construction of the project will move ahead with joint investment. Negotiations had been going on for a long time for the PDA of the project. The project will be constructed in Naso and Chame villages of Manang district. The project is estimated to generate 759.48 million units of electricity annually.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The project aims to start generating electricity by 2025. The electricity of the project will be connected to the 220 KV switching station of NEA at Dharapani of Manang. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15163', 'image' => '20220609125414_PDA.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 12:53:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15420', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Consumption of Fuel Declines by 18 Percent', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: The consumption of fossil fuel in Nepal has declined by Rs 3.19 billion within a period of one month.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">June 9: The consumption of fossil fuel in Nepal has declined by Rs 3.19 billion within a period of one month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Nepal Oil Corporation, the sale of fuel in the month of Jestha (mid-May to mid-June) declined by 8.4 million litres compared to the previous month (mid-April to mid-May). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The sale of diesel declined by 9.94 million litres worth Rs 3.51 billion during the review period. Likewise, the sale of petrol in the same period was less by Rs 140.28 million.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Deputy Spokesperson of NOC Pushkar Karki informed that the consumption of fuel declined in the review month because of various factors including the two-day public holiday announced by the government, end of local election and the construction holiday announced by contractors who halted major projects due to the recent price hike.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Karki said that vehicles were mobilized in massive numbers during the local election of May 13. The use of vehicles has declined significantly after the election resulting in comparatively low consumption of fuel. NOC believes that the general public might also have reduced fuel consumption due to the sharp hike in prices of petroleum products. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NOC had recommended the government to announce two-day holiday a week in order to reduce fuel consumption. However, the government revoked its decision of granting holidays on Sunday saying it was not much effective. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The price of petroleum products have been skyrocketing in recent months. Currently, a litre of petrol costs Rs 170 while diesel costs Rs 153 per litre. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The NOC is yet to pay dues amounting to Rs 32 billion to the Indian Oil Corporation. NOC officials say that it be becoming quite challenging to distribute fuel due to the losses it has been incurring continuously.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15162', 'image' => '20220609102857_petroo - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 10:27:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15419', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'National Assembly Members Draw Govt's Attention Towards Contemporary Issues ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: Members of the National Assembly have drawn the government's attention towards contemporary issues in the country including the lack of fertilizers for farmers, text books for community schools' students and government's clear viewpoint on country's foreign policy. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 9: Members of the National Assembly have drawn the government's attention towards contemporary issues in the country including the lack of fertilizers for farmers, text books for community schools' students and government's clear viewpoint on country's foreign policy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Speaking in the special hour of the upper house meeting on Wednesday, parliamentarian Khimlal Bhattarai accused the government of not being serious towards implementing the constitution. He said that the students in public schools have not received text books although the new academic session has already begun. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He expressed concerns over the decreasing quality of the community schools and also urged the government to take forward the Bill relating to Citizenship Act. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Krishna Prasad Poudel was concerned about the weak condition of education sector. He underscored skill-based, knowledge-based and productive education system to build prosperous and equitable society based on social justice. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Likewise, Nanda Chapagain rued over the lack of fertilizers for farmers and drew the attention of the government to provide fertilizer at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Gomadevi Timalsina stressed on enabling environment for the supply of raw materials for industries to be set up by the government in all seven provinces. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, National Assembly member Jitendra Narayan Dev argued that the foreign policy of Nepal does not change along with the change in government and reaffirmed that Nepal's foreign policy is based on Panchasheel - the five principles of peaceful co-existence and Non-Aligned Movement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He viewed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should hold discussions with leaders of the major political parties and forge a national consensus on the policies relating to national security, foreign affairs and water resources. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Another MP Bhagawati Neupane sought for a clear concept of the incumbent government regarding Nepal's foreign policy. She suggested to adopt a balanced foreign policy by soliciting suggestions from all political parties. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15161', 'image' => '20220609081224_20220605121907_Parliament.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 08:10:11', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15418', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Forms 4-Member Committee to Study the Capital Market ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 9: A four-member committee led by executive director of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has been formed to carry out a study of the existing situation of the capital market, said Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">June 9: A four-member committee led by executive director of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has been formed to carry out a study of the existing situation of the capital market, said Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Addressing the 30th anniversary of SEBON on Wednesday, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma informed that the four-member committee was formed to study the existing situation of the capital market in Nepal and seek it suggestions. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He said that a meeting involving the finance ministry, governor of the Nepal Rastra Bank and the SEBON chair at the Finance Ministry on Wednesday took a decision to form the committee. According to the minister, the committee has been tasked with the responsibility of providing suggestions to end the problems faced by the capital market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Other members of the committee include a representative each from the finance ministry and the central bank while a representative of the SEBON is the member-secretary of the committee. This initiative is expected to help the formulation of monetary policy and end problems faced by the capital market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, Finance Minister Sharma said the budget for the next fiscal year has stressed on further strengthening the capital market. It has also covered an array of related subjects like making legal arrangements for non-resident Nepalis to invest in Nepal's secondary market and the reservation of 10 percent quotas for Nepali migrant workers in every sale of IPO shares. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minister reiterated his commitments on behalf of the government to carry out reforms in the capital market and protect investors. He also directed regulators to increase awareness and knowledge of investors about the market. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">On the occasion, the SEBON Chair Ramesh Hamal informed about activities and progress of the SEBON. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-09', 'modified' => '2022-06-09', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15160', 'image' => '20220609080427_20220602052434_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-09 08:03:37', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15417', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'DoTM Admits Flaws in Fixing Embossed Number Plates', 'sub_title' => 'Insists it is Mandatory to Fix Embossed Number Plates', 'summary' => 'June 8: The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has admitted flaws in fixing embossed number plates on vehicles due to the negligence by its subordinate bodies.', 'content' => '<p><br /> <span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">June 8: The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has admitted flaws in fixing embossed number plates on vehicles due to the negligence by its subordinate bodies and has also apologized for the confusion created by the latest notice issued by the department for implementing the decision to use such number plates.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a statement on Tuesday, the DoTM apologized for the confusion created by the notice published on Friday (June 3) and the trouble they had to undergo due to the notice. However, the department clarified that it is still mandatory for all vehicles to fix embossed number plates. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">In the five-page long statement issued by the DoTM, it has sincerely admitted flaws on part of its subordinate bodies and officials in implementing the decision.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Fixing of embossed number plates as per the notice issued in Nepal Gazette on November 8, 2021 did not take place in the pace as expected. In addition to that, vehicle owners did not file application for fixing embossed number plates thinking it was optional,” reads the statement, adding, “The concerned offices under the department and the officials also did not show keen interest in fixing embossed number plate.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, the department did not say if it took action against the negligent officials or not.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Had the officials fulfilled their duties diligently, lots of vehicles would have had embossed number plates by now. Most of the vehicle owners visit the DoTM only once a year to renew their registration. If the DoTM had made it mandatory to have embossed number for renewal of registration, hundreds of thousands of vehicles would have embossed number plates in the last seven months.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, the vehicle owners are facing unprecedented problems in registration and fixing embossed number plates all of a sudden following the notice issued by the department on Friday. The service seekers are facing problems due to the large number of people seeking the service all at once. The department is seen jam-packed with vehicle owners seeking to fix the embossed number plates fearing action from the government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The decision to make embossed number plates mandatory has drawn widespread condemnation, especially because the DoTM has not prepared the required infrastructure to deliver the service. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-08', 'modified' => '2022-06-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15159', 'image' => '20220608081057_Department.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-08 20:09:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15416', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Investment on Sanitary Pad Industry in Risk due to Government’s 'Faulty' Policy', 'sub_title' => '35 industries with investment of Rs 6 billion on the verge of shutdown', 'summary' => '', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bedraj Poudel</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">June 8: The government’s move to encourage the import of sanitary pads is certain to shut down 35 home-grown sanitary pad industries set up with a total investment of around Rs 6 billion. The move is a setback to the sanitary pad industry, which is self-sufficient to meet the domestic demand.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the stakeholders, the indigenous industries have the capacity to produce about 900 million units of sanitary pads on an annual basis. Entrepreneurs say that the current demand of Nepal is around 300 million units.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government has made an arrangement to give 90 percent customs duty exemption for the import of sanitary pads through the budget of the coming Fiscal Year (FY) 2079/80. The import duty on foreign sanitary pads used to be 15 percent but now it is only 1.5 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The sanitary pad manufacturers complained that the government should have given priority to domestic products instead of reducing the customs duty on foreign products from 15 to 1.5 percent. According to the stakeholders, this has threatened the existence of the sanitary pad industries of the country. Nepal's sanitary pad industry employs 6,000 people.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ironically, although the customs duty on other imported raw materials is maintained at 1 percent, the overall tax on the raw materials used for pads is 8.25 percent. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the industrialist, seven raw materials are required to make a pad. The customs duty on flock pulp is 5 percent. It is the raw material required for 65% of sanitary pads. Perforated P film, release paper, glue, sap powder is subject to 1 percent customs duty each. Entrepreneurs say that if the customs duty of 30 percent on wrapper paper is added along with excise duty of 5 percent, the overall tax will be 8.25 percent. As the government has given 90 percent customs duty exemption on import of foreign ready-made pads, importers will have to pay only 1.5 percent tax.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Due to this, the price of imported pads in the market will be Rs 10 cheaper than Nepali pads, says Puneet Sharda of Jasmine Hygiene. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"The policy brought by the government for the benefit of limited traders is inappropriate at a time when the production of sanitary industry of Nepal is exceeding the demand. It should be rectified," said Sharda. Moreover, he also says that the government has given 90 percent exemption in customs duty on sanitary pads contrary to its own policy of raising the tariff on finished goods one level more than raw materials.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Stating that the government should protect the domestic industries, Sharda said that the government should amend its decision before the budget is passed by the parliament. He said that the country has become self-reliant on sanitary pads and the government should impose an additional 5 percent customs duty for an overall 20 percent customs duty for the import of such goods.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bhavesh Rathi, director of Health and Hygiene, another company that manufactures sanitary pads, said that the government's policy is certain to shut down the domestic industry and promote import of foreign pads. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">He also complained that the government's policy has compelled them to shut down the industry at a time when they have set up a new plant to manufacture adult diaper. He informed that the pads imported from abroad have been given exemptions while those produced in the country are subject to quality mark, lab test and scientific size. He noted that the investment in the pad industry was at risk due to the government's policy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">"While the Nepali industry is preparing for export by meeting the domestic demand, the government has encouraged the import of pads needlessly. It is unfortunate,” said Rathi</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Chairman of the Chamber of Industry, Morang, Suyash Raj Pyakurel, said that 6,000 people would lose their jobs and Rs 6 billion would be lost due to the wrong policy of the government.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Navin Rijal, president of the Morang Trade Association, objected to the provision in the budget to give some limited industrialists the opportunity to earn more. He said that the government has come up with a policy that will only benefit some importers and some industrialists while many cannot afford it. He demanded that the government amend its policy for the benefit of all.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Bhim Ghimire, president of the Province 1 Chapter of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), has termed the government's exemption in sanitary pads, iron industry, palm oil industry and electricity as policy corruption. "The government should adopt a policy that is equal and valid for all," Ghimire said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Pads imported from abroad come in kilograms and pieces. In FY 2077/78, 3.58 million pieces and 1738 tons of sanitary pads were imported in Nepal. In the first eight months of the current fiscal year, 99 million pieces have been imported.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the fiscal year 2075/76, after the government reduced the customs duty on all raw materials for sanitary pad to 5 percent, the number of indigenous industries had increased. In the budget of FY 2077/78, provision was made for the new industry to get tax exemption for 5 years. Entrepreneurs and businessmen were excited by this prospect. The possibility of opening more industries had increased.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The government implemented the procedure of distribution and management of sanitary pads in 2076 BS. The minimum standards for sanitary pads produced by large industries and locally produced are different. Nepal's quality mark No 587 specifies the length, width, absorption capacity, pH value, presence of microorganisms, etc of the pad.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Locally produced sanitary pads should use white cotton and muslin cloth, the fabric should be at least two cubits long and half a cubit wide. There is a provision that 95 percent cotton cloth must be used to ensure the quality of the pad.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-08', 'modified' => '2022-06-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15158', 'image' => '20220608051008_ROS_KTM-4187.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-08 17:09:01', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15415', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government’s Foreign Aid Expectation for Next Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'June 8: The government has planned to bring in around Rs 300 billion from abroad through loans and grants next year to meet the budget announced on May 29. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">June 8: The government has planned to bring in around Rs 300 billion from abroad through loans and grants next year to meet the budget announced on May 29. The government, which introduced a budget of Rs 1793.83 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, has set a target of receiving Rs 300 billion from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other donors since the expenditure cannot be covered by internal sources.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The government aims to receive Rs 55.46 billion out of Rs 300 billion in grants and Rs 242.26 billion in loans. The government, which seems to be focusing on bilateral grants, has emphasized on multilateral donors in obtaining loans.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The government estimates that the country will receive the most assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) towards multilateral lenders in the upcoming fiscal year. The government is expecting to receive Rs 105.35 billion from ADB alone next year. Out of this, Rs 3.71 billion will be grants and Rs 101.64 billion will be loans. After ADB, the government has set a target of getting the most foreign aid from the World Bank. Next year, the target is to receive a total of Rs 85.12 billion from the World Bank including a grant of Rs 3.43 billion and loan of Rs 81.65 billion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">A maximum of</span> <span style="font-size:15.0pt">Rs 5.91 billion in grants will be received from the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). It is estimated that the government will receive Rs 8.53 billion from India and Rs 3 billion from China.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The European Union, OPEC, the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund are also in the list of major donors next year. The government is preparing to borrow a direct loan from some countries.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">According to the Ministry of Finance, the government is preparing to receive more grants and loans from countries including India, China and Finland to mobilize resources for the upcoming fiscal year.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">Similarly, the government also aims to bring in more than Rs 9 billion in grants from the United States next year. According to the Public Debt Management Office, the government has been taking loans from various donor agencies at interest rates ranging from 0.1 to 2.25 percent.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt">The interest rate on ADB loans is 1 to 1.5 percent per annum. OFD and Kuwait provide loans to Nepal at an annual interest rate of 2.25 percent. According to Hira Neupane, Deputy Secretary of the Debt Management Office, the loans received by the government from the donor body seems to have reached Rs 951 billion as of December 2021.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-06-08', 'modified' => '2022-06-08', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15157', 'image' => '20220608041821_Foreign investment.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-06-08 16:17:37', '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
