May 22: Most of the major hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley will be operational on Sundays despite the government's decision to grant public holiday for two days a week.…
May 22: Most of the major hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley will be operational on Sundays despite the government's decision to grant public holiday for two days a week.…
May 22: Lawmakers of the ruling parties during the deliberations on the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the Fiscal Year 2022/23 on Friday argued that the principles and priorities were practical and scientific in…
May 20: The state-owned Salt Trading Corporation, which is responsible for buying and selling food and fertilizer at subsidized rate, has 21,000 quintals of flour in stock.…
May 20: As soon as the Indian government imposed a ban on the exports of wheat, its price skyrocketed in the international…
May 20: Tourism entrepreneurs of Chitwan are excited after the government announced a public holiday on Sunday.…
May 20: With only nine days left for the budget announcement, discussions are underway in the parliament on the priorities and principles of the Appropriation…
May 20: The Foreign Employment Office, Kathmandu has informed that it will launch online service for all kinds of labour permits from today (May…
May 19: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma on Tuesday presented the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in the federal…
May 19: Jazeera Airways, a leading airline company of Kuwait, has pledged to promote Bhairahawa as a tourism destination.…
May 19: The Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nabil Bank in order to promote foreign investment and business…
May 19: Share trading of 14 companies has been halted due to the process of merger and…
May 19: Credit flow and deposit collection of banks have been steadily declining.…
May 19: A meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday held discussion on the principles and priorities of budget and the programmes to be included in the appropriation bill for the next fiscal year (FY…
May 18: The government has increased the fares of public transport with immediate effect.…
May 18: Sunil Sharma of Asan, Kathmandu was shocked to hear the price of tomato when he went to buy vegetables on Monday morning.…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 22: Most of the major hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley will be operational on Sundays despite the government's decision to grant public holiday for two days a week. The hospitals decided to operate on Sunday as well, stating that the patients will have to suffer in absence of treatment if they are closed for two consecutive days. The government decided to give leave on Saturday and Sunday, starting from May 15 in a trial phase with the objective of reducing fuel consumption. The government has fixed office hours on weekdays from Monday through Friday between 9:30 am to 5:30 pm.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The major hospitals in the valley including Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Civil Service Hospital, Kanti Children's Hospital, Sukraraj Tropical and Communicable Diseases Hospital, Shahid Ganga Lal Heart Center, Paropakar Maternity Hospital have decided to operate on Sundays as well. However, Bir Hospital will be closed on Sunday, as per the government's decision to grant two days leave.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dr Bhupendra Basnet, director of Bir Hospital, said that the hospital will be closed on Sunday as per the decision of the government. Basnet said, “We are operating the hospital as per the decision of the government. The emergency services of the hospital are operating 24 hours a day. We decided to close the hospital on Sunday as not many critical patients visit the outpatient department.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the director of Ganga Lal Heart Center, Dr Chandramani Adhikari said, as the center is an independent health institution, it will remain open on Sunday as well, considering the treatment of the patients, regardless of the government's decision. About 600 patients visit the center daily for treatment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The director of Sukraraj Tropical and Communicable Diseases Hospital, Dr Manisha Thapa said that all services including outpatient services will be operated regularly even on public holidays. Ram Bikram Adhikari, information officer of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, informed that the hospital will continue to operate as before.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-22', 'modified' => '2022-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15051', 'image' => '20220522114737_Hospital.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-22 11:46:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15308', 'article_category_id' => '268', 'title' => 'MPs Stress on Establishment of Industries to Substitute Import-Oriented Economy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 22: Lawmakers of the ruling parties during the deliberations on the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the Fiscal Year 2022/23 on Friday argued that the principles and priorities were practical and scientific in nature.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 22: Lawmakers of the ruling parties during the deliberations on the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the Fiscal Year 2022/23 on Friday argued that the principles and priorities were practical and scientific in nature. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, lawmakers of the opposition party blamed that the principles and priorities have no course and aim. Members of Parliament (MPs) stressed the need of taking initiatives for making economy export-oriented, increasing domestic production and increasing export instead of import. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They said that initiatives should be taken immediately to resolve the current crisis that has emerged due to the declining foreign exchange reserves and rising balance of payments deficit. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Lawmakers of the opposition party criticized the government for lifting the ban on import goods like dates, betel nuts and black pepper. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">CPN (UML) lawmaker Rajendra Gautam said that the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill presented by the government are not matching principally. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Gagan Kumar Thapa of the Nepali Congress drew the attention of the government to establish industries by creating investment-friendly environment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that urbanization and income had increased and so was the scope of employment, he spoke of the need to formulate policies, programme and plans attracting foreign investment and expanding domestic investment within a decade. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He was of the view that workers' participation could be increased and value chain could be grown since the bases of industries such as shoe, textile and garment industries have increased. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, CPN (Maoist Centre)'s parliamentarian Barshaman Pun called for reforms in the policy level and structural level to increase employment and give newness in agriculture sector. The former finance minister also urged to give special priority to reservoir-based hydropower projects and increase investment for energy security. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He opined that the country’s foreign exchange reserves have been affected by a large number of Nepali students leaving abroad annually for further studies taking huge chunks of Nepali currency abroad. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Parliamentarians Gopal Bom and Nirudevi Pal expressed their views on theoretical issues of Appropriation Bill and pressed for effective implementation of policy, programmes and plans. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-22', 'modified' => '2022-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15050', 'image' => '20220522111327_Industries.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-22 11:12:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government has 21,000 Quintals of Flour in Stock', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: The state-owned Salt Trading Corporation, which is responsible for buying and selling food and fertilizer at subsidized rate, has 21,000 quintals of flour in stock. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 20: The state-owned Salt Trading Corporation, which is responsible for buying and selling food and fertilizer at subsidized rate, has 21,000 quintals of flour in stock. Hetauda-based Nepal Food Industries Limited, a subsidiary of Salt Trading Corporation, has produced 75,000 quintals of flour in the current fiscal year. Of this, 54,000 quintals have been sold and 21,000 quintals are left, informed the Salt Trading Corporation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The stock of Salt Trading Corporation will not last for even a day if it is sold as per the market demand. However, the spokesperson of Salt Trading Corporation, Kumar Rajbhandari said that the flour is being sold in retail just to keep the uncontrolled price hike in in the market in check. Traders, however, claim that there is no shortage of flour and other commodities in the market even though the government does not have enough stock.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pabitra Bajracharya, the outgoing president of the Retail Trade Association, remarked that if the current situation continues for a long time, the prices of biscuits, noodles, pasta and other commodities are likely to be affected. According to him, there is no probability of immediate price hike as retailers and wholesalers have stocks of old goods that can last for up to 2/3 months.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15049', 'image' => '20220520055604_Flour_AdobeStock_169806265_E.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 17:55:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Wheat Skyrocketing in International Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: As soon as the Indian government imposed a ban on the exports of wheat, its price skyrocketed in the international market.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 20: As soon as the Indian government imposed a ban on the exports of wheat, its price skyrocketed in the international market. Ironically, Nepali farmers were forced to sell wheat at cheaper rates when the price has been soaring worldwide. Due to the government's failure to announce support price at the right time and traders arbitrarily fixing the price for the farmers' produce, Nepali farmers were obliged to sell wheat at cheap prices even when prices were skyrocketing in the international market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India banned export of wheat last Friday. According to international media, the price of wheat went through the roof in the world market, marking an increase of 60 percent this year alone. According to the traders, the price of wheat flour even in India went up from Rs 2880 to Rs 3300 per quintal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">No matter how much the price goes up in the world market, Nepali farmers are still devoid from any benefits. Before the government fixed the support price, farmers in some districts of the Terai had already sold wheat at Rs 400 per quintal, which is lesser than the minimum support price set by the government. The government later fixed the support price of wheat at Rs 3,165 per quintal after much delay. However, farmers are not even able to get this price. Till date, farmers of Sunsari, Siraha, Rautahat and other districts are selling wheat at the rate of Rs 2,800 per quintal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhubaneswar Yadav, a representative farmer from Sunsari said, “The government does not buy wheat from these districts. Wheat that we sold to traders at Rs 2,800 is now being sold by traders at Rs 3,600 per quintal. Flour industrialists do not buy wheat directly from us, that is why we are forced to sit idly and watch all the profits reaped by the middlemen.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Farmers of Banke, Bardiya and Kailali have already sold wheat to traders at the rate of Rs 2,800 per quintal. After the farmers sold their produce, the Food Management and Trading Company of the government started buying wheat in those districts. Food procurement centers are deserted as farmers have already sold wheat. Sharmila Subedi, information officer of the state-owned company said that 112 quintals of wheat was purchased in Rajapur of Bardiya, besides which, other procurement centers could not buy wheat at all.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Another farmer Chandra Kant Yadav from Lahan said that he sold 25 quintals of wheat to local traders at the rate of Rs 2,800 per quintal. He expressed, “It is said that the prices have gone up now. We could not even sell at the rate fixed by the government. The Food Management and Trading Company started buying wheat only after we sold it. Now, it is the traders who make profit.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the stakeholders, farmers not getting a fair price for their produce has become a persistent problem. Chairman of the National Farmers' Commission, Dr. Prem Prasad Dangal, says that although the government implemented the concept of support price to prevent farmers from being cheated by traders, the government's weakness itself has posed a challenge to its implementation. “It is a shame that Nepali farmers have to sell their produce at lower rates when prices are rising in the international market,” said Dangal. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15048', 'image' => '20220520051031_Wheat_photo-cred-Adobe-stock_E-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 17:09:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15305', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Entrepreneurs of Chitwan Excited about the Prospects of 2 Days' Leave', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: Tourism entrepreneurs of Chitwan are excited after the government announced a public holiday on Sunday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 20: Tourism entrepreneurs of Chitwan are excited after the government announced a public holiday on Sunday. Entrepreneurs are expecting that the number of domestic tourists will increase during the two consecutive days off.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The tourism entrepreneurs hope that the tourism sector, which has been weighed down by the Covid-19 infection, will return to normalcy. They had been demanding leave on Sunday after the number of tourists coming for one night's stay started increasing.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Local tourism entrepreneur Biplav Poudel said that they had been demanding two days' leave for better prospects of business.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Poudel, the manager of Hotel Barahi in Meghauli and Pokhara, said that the number of tourists will now increase in homestays as well as big hotels. "This will make the economy vibrant, '' he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Poudel believes that two days of holidays and fun would energize the workers for the rest of the week days.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Deepak Bhattarai, president of the Regional Hotel Association Chitwan, said that the number of tourists used to increase by 50 % compared to other days in the past when there was a regular two-day holiday. "Compared to other days, the number of tourists increases on holidays. At the same time, when there are two days of holidays, the number of tourists is even more,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhattarai said that he expects the tourism sector to be better than before with the two-day holiday. He informed New Business Age that there are positive signs soon after the leave started. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Entrepreneurs expect this holiday to increase family travel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Gunaraj Thapaliya, general secretary of the regional hotel association, said that the number of people booking hotels through the telephone has started to increase. Situated in the centre of the country, it is easy to visit Sauraha from many neighbouring districts to spend a night in the wilderness.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the decline in the number of foreign tourists, the tourism sector here has been dependent on domestic tourists. Tourists mainly visit Pokhara, Lumbini, Chitwan, Kathmandu and other areas in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Director of Hotel Narayani Resort, Gaindakot, Basanta Parajuli said that the two-day leave will have a positive impact on the tourism sector. The trend of travelling with family increases during the holidays, he added. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15047', 'image' => '20220520024257_Chitwan-sunset-sauraha-nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 14:42:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Absent during Pre-Budget Discussions ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: With only nine days left for the budget announcement, discussions are underway in the parliament on the priorities and principles of the Appropriation Bill.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 20: With only nine days left for the budget announcement, discussions are underway in the parliament on the priorities and principles of the Appropriation Bill. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, the absence of Finance Minister Janardan Sharma during the discussion has raised concerns that the suggestions made by the people’s representatives for the upcoming budget will be limited to the parliament.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The members of parliament questioned the rationale behind the absence of the finance minister during the pre-budget discussion on Thursday. Terming the absence of the finance minister in the parliament as irresponsible, they drew the attention of the speaker. After the objection of the MPs, speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota directed the finance minister to attend the meeting. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Sharma hadn’t stayed till the end during Wednesday’s meeting as well. Maoist MP Gajendra Bahadur Mahat, who was the last speaker on Wednesday, had queried about the finance minister after not seeing him in parliament. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He was not present during the discussion on Thursday also. Chief Whip of the CPN-UML, Bishal Bhattarai said that the finance minister himself started the discussion on the principles and priorities of the budget but was not present during the discussion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that his attention had been drawn to this issue, Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota said, “As per sub-section 5 of section 6 of the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives 2075, I instruct the Honorable Minister of the concerned ministry to attend the meeting.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepali Congress MP and former Minister Dr Minendra Rijal said that it was disappointing that the finance minister and the officials were not present while the principles and priorities of the budget were being discussed in the parliament. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dr Rijal commented that the structural problems in the economy have contributed to the non-spending of the capital budget. Keeping in view the priorities and principles of the Appropriation Bill, he said that the stakeholders, MPs, Ministry of Finance and others should make meaningful efforts to end the trend of non-spending of capital budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rijal said that food production should be increased within the country to reduce the pressure on the balance of payments, and clear policy arrangements should be made for the promotion of industries and businesses in public-private partnership. Furthermore, he said that the problems in the economy were not only due to the current government alone and urged not to forget the fact that foreign debt had increased due to the decisions taken by the then UML-led government. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15046', 'image' => '20220520010402_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 13:03:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Labour Permit Service goes Full-Scale Online from Today ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: The Foreign Employment Office, Kathmandu has informed that it will launch online service for all kinds of labour permits from today (May 20).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 20: The Foreign Employment Office, Kathmandu has informed that it will launch online service for all kinds of labour permits from today (May 20). Now, anyone going abroad for foreign employment can take the labour permit through online system, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. This will effectively end the need to physically visit the office to take labour permits. </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"">From now on, the new system will be applicable for both individual and institutional labour permits as well as renewal of labour permits. The Foreign Employment Office had started issuing institutional labour permits through online system almost a month ago. Similarly, renewal of labour permit through online system was initiated in January. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The recent change in service delivery has largely reduced the number of service seekers who used to be present in large numbers at the office until some time ago. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Office chief Ramesh Aryal informed that the labour permit service has gone online as per directive of the Labour Ministry. Such decision was taken to facilitate both the service seekers and the service providers, said Aryal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, a total of 167,000 persons were provided labour permit during last fiscal year while more than half a million people have been granted labour permit in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15045', 'image' => '20220520082126_20211215023334_20200315123851_1111.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 08:20:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15302', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Budget Always has the Same Principles and Priorities', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma on Tuesday presented the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in the federal parliament.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 19: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma on Tuesday presented the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in the federal parliament. The principles and priorities that the government presents in parliament ahead of the budget as per the constitutional provision is always the same in nature every year. It is almost impossible to find something innovative and new in the principles and priorities for the budget.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Appropriation Bill, 2079 BS is aimed at building a socialism-oriented, balanced, inclusive and self-reliant economy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The budget for the upcoming fiscal year will focus on fulfilling the aspirations of the Nepali people for development and prosperity and laying the groundwork for a socialism-oriented economy. The flow of public services, transformation and construction of large infrastructure and government investment in the social sector will be increased,” reads the draft.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The budget proposal placed forth three years back by the then Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada under the government led by KP Sharma Oli also mentioned the same thing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It stated, “The results of the momentous political change we have achieved are being reflected in the social transformation and economic development and the living standards of the people. The achievements we have achieved in a short period of time in the implementation of federalism have laid a solid foundation for good governance, development and prosperity. The budget for the coming fiscal year will be focused on moving forward as a socialism-oriented nation with social justice and high economic growth based on this foundation.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Analyzing the documents presented in parliament in the last few years, it is evident that the principles and priorities of the government is always the same despite change in government. However, those who run the state are yet to clarify how they will create a socialism-oriented economy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The priorities of the government for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year once again include development of agriculture sector, industrial development and promotion, development of energy sector, etc. These sated priorities are not new at all.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Khatiwada's budget, which he presented in parliament three years ago, also had similar priorities. It read, “Significant advances will be made in formulating investment-friendly laws and structures, accelerating the upliftment of the poor, backward classes, regions and communities, increasing employment opportunities, social security for all, access to basic education and access to primary health care for all.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Economist Keshav Acharya stated that usage of such repeated notions make it clear that the government makes such issues as a priority just for the sake of making announcements every year but fails to implement them each time. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to him, the government should not talk only about principles and priorities in the budget, but also state clearly on how they can be implemented. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The budget prioritizes health, education, employment, infrastructure, from a socialist-oriented economy. The state does not seem to be serious about how to achieve the goals set in those areas,” Acharya said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Even the leaders of the ruling parties are not satisfied with the priorities and principles of the budget presented by the government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, leader and a member of the ruling coalition partner – Janata Samajwadi Party – remarked that the priorities and principles should not just be written on papers. According to him, the state should now be responsible for education, health, social security and large infrastructure, while the responsibilities for agriculture, industry, services and tourism should be given to the private sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">CPN-UML leader Yogesh Bhattarai remarked that the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill lacked a base for advancing towards the path of socialism and neglected the aspects relating to strengthening public health and education. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He sought the government’s attention towards an increment of capital expenditure by minimizing a trade deficit. He was of the view of preventing a probable difficult situation for nation’s economy. He added that the bill did not seem giving priorities to the reduction of consumption of petroleum products and the promotion of the use of alternative energy. “Non-economic activities have increased, posing an additional challenge to the national economy.’’ </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15044', 'image' => '20220519054048_budget new.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 17:39:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15301', 'article_category_id' => '239', 'title' => 'Jazeera Airways Pledges to Help Promote Tourism', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: Jazeera Airways, a leading airline company of Kuwait, has pledged to promote Bhairahawa as a tourism destination. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 19: Jazeera Airways, a leading airline company of Kuwait, has pledged to promote Bhairahawa as a tourism destination. The airliner is the first international company to start flight service to Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport since May 16 on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti festival.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Vice president for sales of Jazeera Airways Ravindran Bharathan said that the flight service has been initiated due to high demand for direct flights to the Terai plains of Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “Jazeera Airways continues to expand its network to offer destinations that also cater to large expatriate communities that are often not served by direct routes from Kuwait and the Middle East. It now really makes it a lot easier for Nepalese and tourists to get into the Terai area of Nepal rather than going through an indirect route which could take up to more than a day of traveling,” he said, adding, “The new service to the Gautam Buddha International Airport is a direct service to the gateway of Lumbini - the birthplace of Gautam Buddha.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rabi Chandra Singh, chairman of the Society International Travel Services, a part of the RR Group of companies, stated, “After 74 years of international flights based only in Kathmandu, this service is going to make a huge difference in the western part of Nepal. This newly opened international flight service will help boost tourism in Bhairahawa which is one of the potential sectors for economic development in Nepal. Let's rejoice in this historic moment together.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The airlines company informed that it will operate three flights a week on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15043', 'image' => '20220519051442_Jazeera_Airways_.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 17:13:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15300', 'article_category_id' => '279', 'title' => 'Investment Board, Nabil Bank Sign MoU to Promote Foreign Investment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: The Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nabil Bank in order to promote foreign investment and business partnership.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 19: The Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nabil Bank in order to promote foreign investment and business partnership in the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Chief Executive Officer of IBN Sushil Bhatta and CEO of Nabil Bank Anil Keshari Shah signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations amid a programme on Wednesday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the agreement, the two organisations have decided to give special emphasis to foreign direct investment (FDI) channeling and Sustainable Financing Opportunities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The MoU states that the Investment Board will coordinate and cooperate in attracting foreign investors to invest in Nepal by sharing information on prospective projects in the country and by organizing joint programmes to promote investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Addressing the signing ceremony at IBN’s office, CEO of the board Sushil Bhatta said that the strategic partnership between the board and the bank will help develop a culture of cooperation in the future. He further informed that the board has been developing Management Information System (MIS) and website-based one-stop service (OSS) for the convenience of the investors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, Nabil Bank’s Vice Chairman Upendra Prasad Poudel praised the role of IBN in sustainable development of Nepal and urged the board to take into consideration the environmental and social aspects while developing projects in the future.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, CEO of Nabil Bank Anil Keshari Shah said that the agreement between the bank and the board would help create plenty of opportunities for foreign investment in Nepal.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15042', 'image' => '20220519041350_nabil2 - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 16:13:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15299', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Share Transaction of 14 Companies on Hold due to Merger', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: Share trading of 14 companies has been halted due to the process of merger and acquisition.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 19: Share trading of 14 companies has been halted due to the process of merger and acquisition. According to the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), the trading of shares of three commercial banks, five insurance companies, six microfinance companies, and two hydropower companies has been halted for the purpose of merger and acquisition.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The three commercial banks are Nepal Investment Bank, Himalayan Bank and Nepal Bangladesh Bank. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Share trading of Nepal Investment Bank and Himalayan Bank has been suspended since 31st April 2021 because of the merger process. Although the merger between the two banks has broken down, the share trading is still suspended.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEPSE has stated that the share transaction has not be opened despite the breakdown of the merger between the two banks as they have not submitted written request in this regard.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Share trading of Nepal Bangladesh Bank, which is being acquired by Nabil Bank, has also been suspended since December 12, 2021.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At this time, banks and financial institutions, insurance companies and the hydropower sector are going through mergers and acquisitions. Recently, five insurance companies have signed merger agreements.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Everest Insurance and Himalayan General Insurance have agreed to merge in order to increase their paid-up capital.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Share trading of the two companies, which entered into a preliminary merger agreement on April 7, has been suspended since April 8. The largest merger agreement in the insurance sector has been reached between Union Life Insurance, Gurans Life Insurance and Prime Life Insurance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Share trading of the three companies, which had signed a preliminary agreement on the merger on April 13, has been suspended since May 12 due to four consecutive days of public holiday. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Apart from this, share trading of Nadep Microfinance, Andhikhola Microfinance, Ghodighoda Microfinance and Samaj Microfinance has also been blocked on the pretext of merger and acquisition.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Investors have complained that mergers and acquisitions have hampered trading for a long time. Even after months of exiting the merger and acquisition process, the general investors’ assets seem to have been jeopardized by not opening the transaction.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ambika Prasad Poudel, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Capital Market Forum, said that the investors who have always been supporting the merger and acquisition process have been hit the hardest at this time.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15041', 'image' => '20220519031228_Mergers-and-Acquisitions-Vietnam.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 15:11:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15298', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Credit Flow and Deposit Collection of Banks Declining ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: Credit flow and deposit collection of banks have been steadily declining. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 19: Credit flow and deposit collection of banks have been steadily declining. Banks have started reducing the credit flow as deposit collection in banks have not been able to rise amid the current liquidity crisis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Nepal Bankers’ Association, Rs 19 billion was withdrawn from commercial banks between mid-April and mid-May. The total deposits of commercial banks which stood at Rs 4.38 trillion by mid-April, has come down to Rs 4.37 as of mid-May. The association said that although there has been a slight improvement in deposits in late April, there has been a steady decline in deposits after that. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Local elections is believed to be the main reason for the decline in deposit collection of banks. Chairman of the Nepal Bankers' Association and Chief Executive Officer of the Agricultural Development Bank Anil Kumar Upadhyaya said that the money withdrawn from the banking system during the election will be returned to the system gradually. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Along with the deposit collection, the credit flow of the banks have also declined. The credit flow of the banks, which was Rs 4.197 trillion in mid-April, has dropped by Rs 6 billion to Rs Rs 4.191 trillion in mid-May. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The credit flow of the banks are stagnant at the moment as the credit-deposit (CD) ratio is high due to the liquidity crisis. Banks have disbursed only small loans that were already approved. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank has directed banks to maintain the CD ratio of 90 percent by mid-July. However, according to the data of the association, the CD ratio of only nine banks was within the prescribed ratio by the central bank. Besides, the CD ratio of more than a dozen banks is more than 91 percent and half a dozen banks is around 90 percent. The banks have started reducing credit flow to maintain the CD ratio. As per the NRB, the average CD ratio of banks till May 16 is 90.44 percent. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15040', 'image' => '20220519011625_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 13:15:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15297', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Lawmakers Stress on Common Understanding for Balanced Development', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: A meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday held discussion on the principles and priorities of budget and the programmes to be included in the appropriation bill for the next fiscal year (FY 2022/23). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 19: A meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday held discussion on the principles and priorities of budget and the programmes to be included in the appropriation bill for the next fiscal year (FY 2022/23). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Attending the session, lawmakers stressed the need for balanced development activities and economic distribution. Suggesting that a common understanding should be reached to bring the budget, they stressed that it should prioritise agriculture, energy and tourism and lead the country toward economic independence. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The principles and priorities of budget presented in Tuesday’s HoR session by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma focused on maintaining fiscal discipline. The government has proposed budget allocation for the projects that are feasible in terms of finance and technology and also plans to cut government expenditure in non-productive areas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the budget proposal has emphasised on building an independent and socialism-oriented economy while focusing on social justice and rural development, generating job opportunities for youths within the country and increasing agricultural production. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the discussion, ruling NC’s whip Pushpa Bhusal Gautam expressed the hope that the budget would help take strides in rural development and in the sectors of energy and tourism while increasing agricultural production. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Haribol Gajurel from the CPN (Maoist Center), a coalition partner in the incumbent government, criticised the principles and priorities of budget for not including the issue of land reforms. He suggested that there should have been a wide discussions among political parties, both ruling and opposition, before making government’s policies and programmes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Uma Shankar Aragariya from the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party stressed the need for prioritising agriculture and resolving problems faced farmers such as the lack of fertilizers and seeds. </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"">Main opposition CPN (UML)’s Khagaraj Adhikari emphasised the need to transform tourism and culture into national capital. He also criticised the incumbent government of increasing trade deficit. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Also, Samina Hussein from the CPN (Unified Socialist), an alliance partner in the government, underscored the need for the agriculture development. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The lower house will next meet today (May 19) at 1:00 pm. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15039', 'image' => '20220519114444_Parliament.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 11:43:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15296', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'DoTM Increases Public Transport Fares', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 18: The government has increased the fares of public transport with immediate effect. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt">May 18: The government has increased the fares of public transport with immediate effect. The Department of Transport Management under the federal government has adjusted the fare of public transport after the price of diesel and petrol was increased by Rs 10 per litre.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt">The fare has been increased by 5.1 percent. The department has increased the fare as per the arrangement of automatically adjusting the fare of public transport along with the change in the price of petroleum products.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt">The department has said that the increased fare will be applicable for public transport plying through two or more states (on a national level route) from Wednesday. Now the state governments will also adjust the fare of public transport on this basis.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-18', 'modified' => '2022-05-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15038', 'image' => '20220518063257_TransportMCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-18 18:32:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15295', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Tomato Increases Four-fold within a Month', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 18: Sunil Sharma of Asan, Kathmandu was shocked to hear the price of tomato when he went to buy vegetables on Monday morning. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 18: Sunil Sharma of Asan, Kathmandu was shocked to hear the price of tomato when he went to buy vegetables on Monday morning. He said, “I found tomatoes at Rs 140 per kg in a shop. I had to buy it even though it was expensive.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Consumers are complaining that tomatoes are hard to find in most of the shops now as the price has skyrocketed. A month ago, the price of tomatoes at the Kalimati vegetable market was Rs 20 to Rs 30 per kg. But at present, it is sold at Rs 80 to Rs 95 per kg. This is a four-fold increment in the price of tomatoes within a month. Consumers are suffering due to high prices. The retail prices are even higher than the wholesale price.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tomato is one of the essential vegetables in Nepali kitchen. Thus, the consumers are put in a troublesome situation whenever its price goes up. The tomatoes which used to be delivered to Kathmandu under normal circumstances are now being consumed in the villages due to the environment created by the local level elections. This has also put pressure on supplies.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Spokesperson of Kalimati Vegetable and Fruit Market Development Committee Binaya Shrestha said that the prices of tomato has skyrocketed because its imports from India were halted due to the local elections. In addition to this, there has been a reduction in supply from local producers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Shrestha said, during the first nine months of the current fiscal year, 26,802 tons of small-sized tomatoes entered the Kalimati vegetable market. He added that 4,066 tons were imported from India and the rest was domestically produced. Kathmandu is currently receiving large quantities of tomatoes from Dhading, Makwanpur, Kavre and Chitwan. According to him, now is the time for Indian tomatoes to hit the market rather than the Nepali tomatoes.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is a compulsion to import tomatoes as domestically produced tomatoes fail to meet the market demand. When imported from abroad, the price goes up and down due to various reasons. Shrestha said that the price of tomato will go down again after it starts coming from India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tomatoes of larger size are imported from India rather than the small-sized tomatoes. Demand for this specialty is high during this period due its usage as salads in parties of various functions. In 9 months of the current fiscal year, 5,400 tons of large- sized tomatoes entered the Kalimati market from India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-18', 'modified' => '2022-05-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15037', 'image' => '20220518031459_Tomato_je.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-18 15:13:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15309', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Major Hospitals to Remain Open in KTM Valley on Sundays', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 22: Most of the major hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley will be operational on Sundays despite the government's decision to grant public holiday for two days a week. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 22: Most of the major hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley will be operational on Sundays despite the government's decision to grant public holiday for two days a week. The hospitals decided to operate on Sunday as well, stating that the patients will have to suffer in absence of treatment if they are closed for two consecutive days. The government decided to give leave on Saturday and Sunday, starting from May 15 in a trial phase with the objective of reducing fuel consumption. The government has fixed office hours on weekdays from Monday through Friday between 9:30 am to 5:30 pm.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The major hospitals in the valley including Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Civil Service Hospital, Kanti Children's Hospital, Sukraraj Tropical and Communicable Diseases Hospital, Shahid Ganga Lal Heart Center, Paropakar Maternity Hospital have decided to operate on Sundays as well. However, Bir Hospital will be closed on Sunday, as per the government's decision to grant two days leave.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dr Bhupendra Basnet, director of Bir Hospital, said that the hospital will be closed on Sunday as per the decision of the government. Basnet said, “We are operating the hospital as per the decision of the government. The emergency services of the hospital are operating 24 hours a day. We decided to close the hospital on Sunday as not many critical patients visit the outpatient department.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the director of Ganga Lal Heart Center, Dr Chandramani Adhikari said, as the center is an independent health institution, it will remain open on Sunday as well, considering the treatment of the patients, regardless of the government's decision. About 600 patients visit the center daily for treatment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The director of Sukraraj Tropical and Communicable Diseases Hospital, Dr Manisha Thapa said that all services including outpatient services will be operated regularly even on public holidays. Ram Bikram Adhikari, information officer of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, informed that the hospital will continue to operate as before.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-22', 'modified' => '2022-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15051', 'image' => '20220522114737_Hospital.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-22 11:46:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15308', 'article_category_id' => '268', 'title' => 'MPs Stress on Establishment of Industries to Substitute Import-Oriented Economy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 22: Lawmakers of the ruling parties during the deliberations on the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the Fiscal Year 2022/23 on Friday argued that the principles and priorities were practical and scientific in nature.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 22: Lawmakers of the ruling parties during the deliberations on the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the Fiscal Year 2022/23 on Friday argued that the principles and priorities were practical and scientific in nature. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, lawmakers of the opposition party blamed that the principles and priorities have no course and aim. Members of Parliament (MPs) stressed the need of taking initiatives for making economy export-oriented, increasing domestic production and increasing export instead of import. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They said that initiatives should be taken immediately to resolve the current crisis that has emerged due to the declining foreign exchange reserves and rising balance of payments deficit. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Lawmakers of the opposition party criticized the government for lifting the ban on import goods like dates, betel nuts and black pepper. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">CPN (UML) lawmaker Rajendra Gautam said that the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill presented by the government are not matching principally. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Gagan Kumar Thapa of the Nepali Congress drew the attention of the government to establish industries by creating investment-friendly environment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that urbanization and income had increased and so was the scope of employment, he spoke of the need to formulate policies, programme and plans attracting foreign investment and expanding domestic investment within a decade. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He was of the view that workers' participation could be increased and value chain could be grown since the bases of industries such as shoe, textile and garment industries have increased. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, CPN (Maoist Centre)'s parliamentarian Barshaman Pun called for reforms in the policy level and structural level to increase employment and give newness in agriculture sector. The former finance minister also urged to give special priority to reservoir-based hydropower projects and increase investment for energy security. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He opined that the country’s foreign exchange reserves have been affected by a large number of Nepali students leaving abroad annually for further studies taking huge chunks of Nepali currency abroad. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Parliamentarians Gopal Bom and Nirudevi Pal expressed their views on theoretical issues of Appropriation Bill and pressed for effective implementation of policy, programmes and plans. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-22', 'modified' => '2022-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15050', 'image' => '20220522111327_Industries.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-22 11:12:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government has 21,000 Quintals of Flour in Stock', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: The state-owned Salt Trading Corporation, which is responsible for buying and selling food and fertilizer at subsidized rate, has 21,000 quintals of flour in stock. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 20: The state-owned Salt Trading Corporation, which is responsible for buying and selling food and fertilizer at subsidized rate, has 21,000 quintals of flour in stock. Hetauda-based Nepal Food Industries Limited, a subsidiary of Salt Trading Corporation, has produced 75,000 quintals of flour in the current fiscal year. Of this, 54,000 quintals have been sold and 21,000 quintals are left, informed the Salt Trading Corporation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The stock of Salt Trading Corporation will not last for even a day if it is sold as per the market demand. However, the spokesperson of Salt Trading Corporation, Kumar Rajbhandari said that the flour is being sold in retail just to keep the uncontrolled price hike in in the market in check. Traders, however, claim that there is no shortage of flour and other commodities in the market even though the government does not have enough stock.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pabitra Bajracharya, the outgoing president of the Retail Trade Association, remarked that if the current situation continues for a long time, the prices of biscuits, noodles, pasta and other commodities are likely to be affected. According to him, there is no probability of immediate price hike as retailers and wholesalers have stocks of old goods that can last for up to 2/3 months.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15049', 'image' => '20220520055604_Flour_AdobeStock_169806265_E.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 17:55:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Wheat Skyrocketing in International Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: As soon as the Indian government imposed a ban on the exports of wheat, its price skyrocketed in the international market.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 20: As soon as the Indian government imposed a ban on the exports of wheat, its price skyrocketed in the international market. Ironically, Nepali farmers were forced to sell wheat at cheaper rates when the price has been soaring worldwide. Due to the government's failure to announce support price at the right time and traders arbitrarily fixing the price for the farmers' produce, Nepali farmers were obliged to sell wheat at cheap prices even when prices were skyrocketing in the international market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India banned export of wheat last Friday. According to international media, the price of wheat went through the roof in the world market, marking an increase of 60 percent this year alone. According to the traders, the price of wheat flour even in India went up from Rs 2880 to Rs 3300 per quintal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">No matter how much the price goes up in the world market, Nepali farmers are still devoid from any benefits. Before the government fixed the support price, farmers in some districts of the Terai had already sold wheat at Rs 400 per quintal, which is lesser than the minimum support price set by the government. The government later fixed the support price of wheat at Rs 3,165 per quintal after much delay. However, farmers are not even able to get this price. Till date, farmers of Sunsari, Siraha, Rautahat and other districts are selling wheat at the rate of Rs 2,800 per quintal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhubaneswar Yadav, a representative farmer from Sunsari said, “The government does not buy wheat from these districts. Wheat that we sold to traders at Rs 2,800 is now being sold by traders at Rs 3,600 per quintal. Flour industrialists do not buy wheat directly from us, that is why we are forced to sit idly and watch all the profits reaped by the middlemen.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Farmers of Banke, Bardiya and Kailali have already sold wheat to traders at the rate of Rs 2,800 per quintal. After the farmers sold their produce, the Food Management and Trading Company of the government started buying wheat in those districts. Food procurement centers are deserted as farmers have already sold wheat. Sharmila Subedi, information officer of the state-owned company said that 112 quintals of wheat was purchased in Rajapur of Bardiya, besides which, other procurement centers could not buy wheat at all.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Another farmer Chandra Kant Yadav from Lahan said that he sold 25 quintals of wheat to local traders at the rate of Rs 2,800 per quintal. He expressed, “It is said that the prices have gone up now. We could not even sell at the rate fixed by the government. The Food Management and Trading Company started buying wheat only after we sold it. Now, it is the traders who make profit.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the stakeholders, farmers not getting a fair price for their produce has become a persistent problem. Chairman of the National Farmers' Commission, Dr. Prem Prasad Dangal, says that although the government implemented the concept of support price to prevent farmers from being cheated by traders, the government's weakness itself has posed a challenge to its implementation. “It is a shame that Nepali farmers have to sell their produce at lower rates when prices are rising in the international market,” said Dangal. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15048', 'image' => '20220520051031_Wheat_photo-cred-Adobe-stock_E-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 17:09:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15305', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Entrepreneurs of Chitwan Excited about the Prospects of 2 Days' Leave', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: Tourism entrepreneurs of Chitwan are excited after the government announced a public holiday on Sunday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 20: Tourism entrepreneurs of Chitwan are excited after the government announced a public holiday on Sunday. Entrepreneurs are expecting that the number of domestic tourists will increase during the two consecutive days off.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The tourism entrepreneurs hope that the tourism sector, which has been weighed down by the Covid-19 infection, will return to normalcy. They had been demanding leave on Sunday after the number of tourists coming for one night's stay started increasing.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Local tourism entrepreneur Biplav Poudel said that they had been demanding two days' leave for better prospects of business.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Poudel, the manager of Hotel Barahi in Meghauli and Pokhara, said that the number of tourists will now increase in homestays as well as big hotels. "This will make the economy vibrant, '' he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Poudel believes that two days of holidays and fun would energize the workers for the rest of the week days.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Deepak Bhattarai, president of the Regional Hotel Association Chitwan, said that the number of tourists used to increase by 50 % compared to other days in the past when there was a regular two-day holiday. "Compared to other days, the number of tourists increases on holidays. At the same time, when there are two days of holidays, the number of tourists is even more,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhattarai said that he expects the tourism sector to be better than before with the two-day holiday. He informed New Business Age that there are positive signs soon after the leave started. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Entrepreneurs expect this holiday to increase family travel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Gunaraj Thapaliya, general secretary of the regional hotel association, said that the number of people booking hotels through the telephone has started to increase. Situated in the centre of the country, it is easy to visit Sauraha from many neighbouring districts to spend a night in the wilderness.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the decline in the number of foreign tourists, the tourism sector here has been dependent on domestic tourists. Tourists mainly visit Pokhara, Lumbini, Chitwan, Kathmandu and other areas in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Director of Hotel Narayani Resort, Gaindakot, Basanta Parajuli said that the two-day leave will have a positive impact on the tourism sector. The trend of travelling with family increases during the holidays, he added. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15047', 'image' => '20220520024257_Chitwan-sunset-sauraha-nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 14:42:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Absent during Pre-Budget Discussions ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: With only nine days left for the budget announcement, discussions are underway in the parliament on the priorities and principles of the Appropriation Bill.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 20: With only nine days left for the budget announcement, discussions are underway in the parliament on the priorities and principles of the Appropriation Bill. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, the absence of Finance Minister Janardan Sharma during the discussion has raised concerns that the suggestions made by the people’s representatives for the upcoming budget will be limited to the parliament.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The members of parliament questioned the rationale behind the absence of the finance minister during the pre-budget discussion on Thursday. Terming the absence of the finance minister in the parliament as irresponsible, they drew the attention of the speaker. After the objection of the MPs, speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota directed the finance minister to attend the meeting. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Sharma hadn’t stayed till the end during Wednesday’s meeting as well. Maoist MP Gajendra Bahadur Mahat, who was the last speaker on Wednesday, had queried about the finance minister after not seeing him in parliament. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He was not present during the discussion on Thursday also. Chief Whip of the CPN-UML, Bishal Bhattarai said that the finance minister himself started the discussion on the principles and priorities of the budget but was not present during the discussion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that his attention had been drawn to this issue, Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota said, “As per sub-section 5 of section 6 of the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives 2075, I instruct the Honorable Minister of the concerned ministry to attend the meeting.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepali Congress MP and former Minister Dr Minendra Rijal said that it was disappointing that the finance minister and the officials were not present while the principles and priorities of the budget were being discussed in the parliament. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dr Rijal commented that the structural problems in the economy have contributed to the non-spending of the capital budget. Keeping in view the priorities and principles of the Appropriation Bill, he said that the stakeholders, MPs, Ministry of Finance and others should make meaningful efforts to end the trend of non-spending of capital budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rijal said that food production should be increased within the country to reduce the pressure on the balance of payments, and clear policy arrangements should be made for the promotion of industries and businesses in public-private partnership. Furthermore, he said that the problems in the economy were not only due to the current government alone and urged not to forget the fact that foreign debt had increased due to the decisions taken by the then UML-led government. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15046', 'image' => '20220520010402_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 13:03:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Labour Permit Service goes Full-Scale Online from Today ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: The Foreign Employment Office, Kathmandu has informed that it will launch online service for all kinds of labour permits from today (May 20).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 20: The Foreign Employment Office, Kathmandu has informed that it will launch online service for all kinds of labour permits from today (May 20). Now, anyone going abroad for foreign employment can take the labour permit through online system, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. This will effectively end the need to physically visit the office to take labour permits. </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"">From now on, the new system will be applicable for both individual and institutional labour permits as well as renewal of labour permits. The Foreign Employment Office had started issuing institutional labour permits through online system almost a month ago. Similarly, renewal of labour permit through online system was initiated in January. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The recent change in service delivery has largely reduced the number of service seekers who used to be present in large numbers at the office until some time ago. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Office chief Ramesh Aryal informed that the labour permit service has gone online as per directive of the Labour Ministry. Such decision was taken to facilitate both the service seekers and the service providers, said Aryal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, a total of 167,000 persons were provided labour permit during last fiscal year while more than half a million people have been granted labour permit in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15045', 'image' => '20220520082126_20211215023334_20200315123851_1111.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 08:20:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15302', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Budget Always has the Same Principles and Priorities', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma on Tuesday presented the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in the federal parliament.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 19: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma on Tuesday presented the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in the federal parliament. The principles and priorities that the government presents in parliament ahead of the budget as per the constitutional provision is always the same in nature every year. It is almost impossible to find something innovative and new in the principles and priorities for the budget.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Appropriation Bill, 2079 BS is aimed at building a socialism-oriented, balanced, inclusive and self-reliant economy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The budget for the upcoming fiscal year will focus on fulfilling the aspirations of the Nepali people for development and prosperity and laying the groundwork for a socialism-oriented economy. The flow of public services, transformation and construction of large infrastructure and government investment in the social sector will be increased,” reads the draft.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The budget proposal placed forth three years back by the then Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada under the government led by KP Sharma Oli also mentioned the same thing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It stated, “The results of the momentous political change we have achieved are being reflected in the social transformation and economic development and the living standards of the people. The achievements we have achieved in a short period of time in the implementation of federalism have laid a solid foundation for good governance, development and prosperity. The budget for the coming fiscal year will be focused on moving forward as a socialism-oriented nation with social justice and high economic growth based on this foundation.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Analyzing the documents presented in parliament in the last few years, it is evident that the principles and priorities of the government is always the same despite change in government. However, those who run the state are yet to clarify how they will create a socialism-oriented economy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The priorities of the government for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year once again include development of agriculture sector, industrial development and promotion, development of energy sector, etc. These sated priorities are not new at all.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Khatiwada's budget, which he presented in parliament three years ago, also had similar priorities. It read, “Significant advances will be made in formulating investment-friendly laws and structures, accelerating the upliftment of the poor, backward classes, regions and communities, increasing employment opportunities, social security for all, access to basic education and access to primary health care for all.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Economist Keshav Acharya stated that usage of such repeated notions make it clear that the government makes such issues as a priority just for the sake of making announcements every year but fails to implement them each time. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to him, the government should not talk only about principles and priorities in the budget, but also state clearly on how they can be implemented. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The budget prioritizes health, education, employment, infrastructure, from a socialist-oriented economy. The state does not seem to be serious about how to achieve the goals set in those areas,” Acharya said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Even the leaders of the ruling parties are not satisfied with the priorities and principles of the budget presented by the government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, leader and a member of the ruling coalition partner – Janata Samajwadi Party – remarked that the priorities and principles should not just be written on papers. According to him, the state should now be responsible for education, health, social security and large infrastructure, while the responsibilities for agriculture, industry, services and tourism should be given to the private sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">CPN-UML leader Yogesh Bhattarai remarked that the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill lacked a base for advancing towards the path of socialism and neglected the aspects relating to strengthening public health and education. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He sought the government’s attention towards an increment of capital expenditure by minimizing a trade deficit. He was of the view of preventing a probable difficult situation for nation’s economy. He added that the bill did not seem giving priorities to the reduction of consumption of petroleum products and the promotion of the use of alternative energy. “Non-economic activities have increased, posing an additional challenge to the national economy.’’ </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15044', 'image' => '20220519054048_budget new.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 17:39:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15301', 'article_category_id' => '239', 'title' => 'Jazeera Airways Pledges to Help Promote Tourism', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: Jazeera Airways, a leading airline company of Kuwait, has pledged to promote Bhairahawa as a tourism destination. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 19: Jazeera Airways, a leading airline company of Kuwait, has pledged to promote Bhairahawa as a tourism destination. The airliner is the first international company to start flight service to Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport since May 16 on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti festival.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Vice president for sales of Jazeera Airways Ravindran Bharathan said that the flight service has been initiated due to high demand for direct flights to the Terai plains of Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “Jazeera Airways continues to expand its network to offer destinations that also cater to large expatriate communities that are often not served by direct routes from Kuwait and the Middle East. It now really makes it a lot easier for Nepalese and tourists to get into the Terai area of Nepal rather than going through an indirect route which could take up to more than a day of traveling,” he said, adding, “The new service to the Gautam Buddha International Airport is a direct service to the gateway of Lumbini - the birthplace of Gautam Buddha.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rabi Chandra Singh, chairman of the Society International Travel Services, a part of the RR Group of companies, stated, “After 74 years of international flights based only in Kathmandu, this service is going to make a huge difference in the western part of Nepal. This newly opened international flight service will help boost tourism in Bhairahawa which is one of the potential sectors for economic development in Nepal. Let's rejoice in this historic moment together.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The airlines company informed that it will operate three flights a week on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15043', 'image' => '20220519051442_Jazeera_Airways_.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 17:13:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15300', 'article_category_id' => '279', 'title' => 'Investment Board, Nabil Bank Sign MoU to Promote Foreign Investment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: The Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nabil Bank in order to promote foreign investment and business partnership.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 19: The Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nabil Bank in order to promote foreign investment and business partnership in the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Chief Executive Officer of IBN Sushil Bhatta and CEO of Nabil Bank Anil Keshari Shah signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations amid a programme on Wednesday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the agreement, the two organisations have decided to give special emphasis to foreign direct investment (FDI) channeling and Sustainable Financing Opportunities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The MoU states that the Investment Board will coordinate and cooperate in attracting foreign investors to invest in Nepal by sharing information on prospective projects in the country and by organizing joint programmes to promote investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Addressing the signing ceremony at IBN’s office, CEO of the board Sushil Bhatta said that the strategic partnership between the board and the bank will help develop a culture of cooperation in the future. He further informed that the board has been developing Management Information System (MIS) and website-based one-stop service (OSS) for the convenience of the investors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, Nabil Bank’s Vice Chairman Upendra Prasad Poudel praised the role of IBN in sustainable development of Nepal and urged the board to take into consideration the environmental and social aspects while developing projects in the future.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, CEO of Nabil Bank Anil Keshari Shah said that the agreement between the bank and the board would help create plenty of opportunities for foreign investment in Nepal.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15042', 'image' => '20220519041350_nabil2 - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 16:13:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15299', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Share Transaction of 14 Companies on Hold due to Merger', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: Share trading of 14 companies has been halted due to the process of merger and acquisition.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 19: Share trading of 14 companies has been halted due to the process of merger and acquisition. According to the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), the trading of shares of three commercial banks, five insurance companies, six microfinance companies, and two hydropower companies has been halted for the purpose of merger and acquisition.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The three commercial banks are Nepal Investment Bank, Himalayan Bank and Nepal Bangladesh Bank. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Share trading of Nepal Investment Bank and Himalayan Bank has been suspended since 31st April 2021 because of the merger process. Although the merger between the two banks has broken down, the share trading is still suspended.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEPSE has stated that the share transaction has not be opened despite the breakdown of the merger between the two banks as they have not submitted written request in this regard.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Share trading of Nepal Bangladesh Bank, which is being acquired by Nabil Bank, has also been suspended since December 12, 2021.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At this time, banks and financial institutions, insurance companies and the hydropower sector are going through mergers and acquisitions. Recently, five insurance companies have signed merger agreements.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Everest Insurance and Himalayan General Insurance have agreed to merge in order to increase their paid-up capital.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Share trading of the two companies, which entered into a preliminary merger agreement on April 7, has been suspended since April 8. The largest merger agreement in the insurance sector has been reached between Union Life Insurance, Gurans Life Insurance and Prime Life Insurance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Share trading of the three companies, which had signed a preliminary agreement on the merger on April 13, has been suspended since May 12 due to four consecutive days of public holiday. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Apart from this, share trading of Nadep Microfinance, Andhikhola Microfinance, Ghodighoda Microfinance and Samaj Microfinance has also been blocked on the pretext of merger and acquisition.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Investors have complained that mergers and acquisitions have hampered trading for a long time. Even after months of exiting the merger and acquisition process, the general investors’ assets seem to have been jeopardized by not opening the transaction.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ambika Prasad Poudel, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Capital Market Forum, said that the investors who have always been supporting the merger and acquisition process have been hit the hardest at this time.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15041', 'image' => '20220519031228_Mergers-and-Acquisitions-Vietnam.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 15:11:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15298', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Credit Flow and Deposit Collection of Banks Declining ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: Credit flow and deposit collection of banks have been steadily declining. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 19: Credit flow and deposit collection of banks have been steadily declining. Banks have started reducing the credit flow as deposit collection in banks have not been able to rise amid the current liquidity crisis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Nepal Bankers’ Association, Rs 19 billion was withdrawn from commercial banks between mid-April and mid-May. The total deposits of commercial banks which stood at Rs 4.38 trillion by mid-April, has come down to Rs 4.37 as of mid-May. The association said that although there has been a slight improvement in deposits in late April, there has been a steady decline in deposits after that. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Local elections is believed to be the main reason for the decline in deposit collection of banks. Chairman of the Nepal Bankers' Association and Chief Executive Officer of the Agricultural Development Bank Anil Kumar Upadhyaya said that the money withdrawn from the banking system during the election will be returned to the system gradually. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Along with the deposit collection, the credit flow of the banks have also declined. The credit flow of the banks, which was Rs 4.197 trillion in mid-April, has dropped by Rs 6 billion to Rs Rs 4.191 trillion in mid-May. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The credit flow of the banks are stagnant at the moment as the credit-deposit (CD) ratio is high due to the liquidity crisis. Banks have disbursed only small loans that were already approved. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank has directed banks to maintain the CD ratio of 90 percent by mid-July. However, according to the data of the association, the CD ratio of only nine banks was within the prescribed ratio by the central bank. Besides, the CD ratio of more than a dozen banks is more than 91 percent and half a dozen banks is around 90 percent. The banks have started reducing credit flow to maintain the CD ratio. As per the NRB, the average CD ratio of banks till May 16 is 90.44 percent. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15040', 'image' => '20220519011625_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 13:15:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15297', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Lawmakers Stress on Common Understanding for Balanced Development', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: A meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday held discussion on the principles and priorities of budget and the programmes to be included in the appropriation bill for the next fiscal year (FY 2022/23). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 19: A meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday held discussion on the principles and priorities of budget and the programmes to be included in the appropriation bill for the next fiscal year (FY 2022/23). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Attending the session, lawmakers stressed the need for balanced development activities and economic distribution. Suggesting that a common understanding should be reached to bring the budget, they stressed that it should prioritise agriculture, energy and tourism and lead the country toward economic independence. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The principles and priorities of budget presented in Tuesday’s HoR session by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma focused on maintaining fiscal discipline. The government has proposed budget allocation for the projects that are feasible in terms of finance and technology and also plans to cut government expenditure in non-productive areas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the budget proposal has emphasised on building an independent and socialism-oriented economy while focusing on social justice and rural development, generating job opportunities for youths within the country and increasing agricultural production. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the discussion, ruling NC’s whip Pushpa Bhusal Gautam expressed the hope that the budget would help take strides in rural development and in the sectors of energy and tourism while increasing agricultural production. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Haribol Gajurel from the CPN (Maoist Center), a coalition partner in the incumbent government, criticised the principles and priorities of budget for not including the issue of land reforms. He suggested that there should have been a wide discussions among political parties, both ruling and opposition, before making government’s policies and programmes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Uma Shankar Aragariya from the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party stressed the need for prioritising agriculture and resolving problems faced farmers such as the lack of fertilizers and seeds. </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"">Main opposition CPN (UML)’s Khagaraj Adhikari emphasised the need to transform tourism and culture into national capital. He also criticised the incumbent government of increasing trade deficit. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Also, Samina Hussein from the CPN (Unified Socialist), an alliance partner in the government, underscored the need for the agriculture development. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The lower house will next meet today (May 19) at 1:00 pm. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15039', 'image' => '20220519114444_Parliament.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 11:43:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15296', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'DoTM Increases Public Transport Fares', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 18: The government has increased the fares of public transport with immediate effect. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt">May 18: The government has increased the fares of public transport with immediate effect. The Department of Transport Management under the federal government has adjusted the fare of public transport after the price of diesel and petrol was increased by Rs 10 per litre.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt">The fare has been increased by 5.1 percent. The department has increased the fare as per the arrangement of automatically adjusting the fare of public transport along with the change in the price of petroleum products.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt">The department has said that the increased fare will be applicable for public transport plying through two or more states (on a national level route) from Wednesday. Now the state governments will also adjust the fare of public transport on this basis.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-18', 'modified' => '2022-05-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15038', 'image' => '20220518063257_TransportMCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-18 18:32:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15295', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Tomato Increases Four-fold within a Month', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 18: Sunil Sharma of Asan, Kathmandu was shocked to hear the price of tomato when he went to buy vegetables on Monday morning. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 18: Sunil Sharma of Asan, Kathmandu was shocked to hear the price of tomato when he went to buy vegetables on Monday morning. He said, “I found tomatoes at Rs 140 per kg in a shop. I had to buy it even though it was expensive.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Consumers are complaining that tomatoes are hard to find in most of the shops now as the price has skyrocketed. A month ago, the price of tomatoes at the Kalimati vegetable market was Rs 20 to Rs 30 per kg. But at present, it is sold at Rs 80 to Rs 95 per kg. This is a four-fold increment in the price of tomatoes within a month. Consumers are suffering due to high prices. The retail prices are even higher than the wholesale price.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tomato is one of the essential vegetables in Nepali kitchen. Thus, the consumers are put in a troublesome situation whenever its price goes up. The tomatoes which used to be delivered to Kathmandu under normal circumstances are now being consumed in the villages due to the environment created by the local level elections. This has also put pressure on supplies.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Spokesperson of Kalimati Vegetable and Fruit Market Development Committee Binaya Shrestha said that the prices of tomato has skyrocketed because its imports from India were halted due to the local elections. In addition to this, there has been a reduction in supply from local producers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Shrestha said, during the first nine months of the current fiscal year, 26,802 tons of small-sized tomatoes entered the Kalimati vegetable market. He added that 4,066 tons were imported from India and the rest was domestically produced. Kathmandu is currently receiving large quantities of tomatoes from Dhading, Makwanpur, Kavre and Chitwan. According to him, now is the time for Indian tomatoes to hit the market rather than the Nepali tomatoes.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is a compulsion to import tomatoes as domestically produced tomatoes fail to meet the market demand. When imported from abroad, the price goes up and down due to various reasons. Shrestha said that the price of tomato will go down again after it starts coming from India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tomatoes of larger size are imported from India rather than the small-sized tomatoes. Demand for this specialty is high during this period due its usage as salads in parties of various functions. In 9 months of the current fiscal year, 5,400 tons of large- sized tomatoes entered the Kalimati market from India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-18', 'modified' => '2022-05-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15037', 'image' => '20220518031459_Tomato_je.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-18 15:13:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15309', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Major Hospitals to Remain Open in KTM Valley on Sundays', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 22: Most of the major hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley will be operational on Sundays despite the government's decision to grant public holiday for two days a week. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 22: Most of the major hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley will be operational on Sundays despite the government's decision to grant public holiday for two days a week. The hospitals decided to operate on Sunday as well, stating that the patients will have to suffer in absence of treatment if they are closed for two consecutive days. The government decided to give leave on Saturday and Sunday, starting from May 15 in a trial phase with the objective of reducing fuel consumption. The government has fixed office hours on weekdays from Monday through Friday between 9:30 am to 5:30 pm.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The major hospitals in the valley including Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Civil Service Hospital, Kanti Children's Hospital, Sukraraj Tropical and Communicable Diseases Hospital, Shahid Ganga Lal Heart Center, Paropakar Maternity Hospital have decided to operate on Sundays as well. However, Bir Hospital will be closed on Sunday, as per the government's decision to grant two days leave.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dr Bhupendra Basnet, director of Bir Hospital, said that the hospital will be closed on Sunday as per the decision of the government. Basnet said, “We are operating the hospital as per the decision of the government. The emergency services of the hospital are operating 24 hours a day. We decided to close the hospital on Sunday as not many critical patients visit the outpatient department.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the director of Ganga Lal Heart Center, Dr Chandramani Adhikari said, as the center is an independent health institution, it will remain open on Sunday as well, considering the treatment of the patients, regardless of the government's decision. About 600 patients visit the center daily for treatment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The director of Sukraraj Tropical and Communicable Diseases Hospital, Dr Manisha Thapa said that all services including outpatient services will be operated regularly even on public holidays. Ram Bikram Adhikari, information officer of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, informed that the hospital will continue to operate as before.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-22', 'modified' => '2022-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15051', 'image' => '20220522114737_Hospital.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-22 11:46:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15308', 'article_category_id' => '268', 'title' => 'MPs Stress on Establishment of Industries to Substitute Import-Oriented Economy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 22: Lawmakers of the ruling parties during the deliberations on the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the Fiscal Year 2022/23 on Friday argued that the principles and priorities were practical and scientific in nature.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 22: Lawmakers of the ruling parties during the deliberations on the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the Fiscal Year 2022/23 on Friday argued that the principles and priorities were practical and scientific in nature. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, lawmakers of the opposition party blamed that the principles and priorities have no course and aim. Members of Parliament (MPs) stressed the need of taking initiatives for making economy export-oriented, increasing domestic production and increasing export instead of import. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They said that initiatives should be taken immediately to resolve the current crisis that has emerged due to the declining foreign exchange reserves and rising balance of payments deficit. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Lawmakers of the opposition party criticized the government for lifting the ban on import goods like dates, betel nuts and black pepper. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">CPN (UML) lawmaker Rajendra Gautam said that the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill presented by the government are not matching principally. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Gagan Kumar Thapa of the Nepali Congress drew the attention of the government to establish industries by creating investment-friendly environment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that urbanization and income had increased and so was the scope of employment, he spoke of the need to formulate policies, programme and plans attracting foreign investment and expanding domestic investment within a decade. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He was of the view that workers' participation could be increased and value chain could be grown since the bases of industries such as shoe, textile and garment industries have increased. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, CPN (Maoist Centre)'s parliamentarian Barshaman Pun called for reforms in the policy level and structural level to increase employment and give newness in agriculture sector. The former finance minister also urged to give special priority to reservoir-based hydropower projects and increase investment for energy security. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He opined that the country’s foreign exchange reserves have been affected by a large number of Nepali students leaving abroad annually for further studies taking huge chunks of Nepali currency abroad. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Parliamentarians Gopal Bom and Nirudevi Pal expressed their views on theoretical issues of Appropriation Bill and pressed for effective implementation of policy, programmes and plans. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-22', 'modified' => '2022-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15050', 'image' => '20220522111327_Industries.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-22 11:12:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government has 21,000 Quintals of Flour in Stock', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: The state-owned Salt Trading Corporation, which is responsible for buying and selling food and fertilizer at subsidized rate, has 21,000 quintals of flour in stock. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 20: The state-owned Salt Trading Corporation, which is responsible for buying and selling food and fertilizer at subsidized rate, has 21,000 quintals of flour in stock. Hetauda-based Nepal Food Industries Limited, a subsidiary of Salt Trading Corporation, has produced 75,000 quintals of flour in the current fiscal year. Of this, 54,000 quintals have been sold and 21,000 quintals are left, informed the Salt Trading Corporation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The stock of Salt Trading Corporation will not last for even a day if it is sold as per the market demand. However, the spokesperson of Salt Trading Corporation, Kumar Rajbhandari said that the flour is being sold in retail just to keep the uncontrolled price hike in in the market in check. Traders, however, claim that there is no shortage of flour and other commodities in the market even though the government does not have enough stock.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pabitra Bajracharya, the outgoing president of the Retail Trade Association, remarked that if the current situation continues for a long time, the prices of biscuits, noodles, pasta and other commodities are likely to be affected. According to him, there is no probability of immediate price hike as retailers and wholesalers have stocks of old goods that can last for up to 2/3 months.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15049', 'image' => '20220520055604_Flour_AdobeStock_169806265_E.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 17:55:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Wheat Skyrocketing in International Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: As soon as the Indian government imposed a ban on the exports of wheat, its price skyrocketed in the international market.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 20: As soon as the Indian government imposed a ban on the exports of wheat, its price skyrocketed in the international market. Ironically, Nepali farmers were forced to sell wheat at cheaper rates when the price has been soaring worldwide. Due to the government's failure to announce support price at the right time and traders arbitrarily fixing the price for the farmers' produce, Nepali farmers were obliged to sell wheat at cheap prices even when prices were skyrocketing in the international market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India banned export of wheat last Friday. According to international media, the price of wheat went through the roof in the world market, marking an increase of 60 percent this year alone. According to the traders, the price of wheat flour even in India went up from Rs 2880 to Rs 3300 per quintal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">No matter how much the price goes up in the world market, Nepali farmers are still devoid from any benefits. Before the government fixed the support price, farmers in some districts of the Terai had already sold wheat at Rs 400 per quintal, which is lesser than the minimum support price set by the government. The government later fixed the support price of wheat at Rs 3,165 per quintal after much delay. However, farmers are not even able to get this price. Till date, farmers of Sunsari, Siraha, Rautahat and other districts are selling wheat at the rate of Rs 2,800 per quintal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhubaneswar Yadav, a representative farmer from Sunsari said, “The government does not buy wheat from these districts. Wheat that we sold to traders at Rs 2,800 is now being sold by traders at Rs 3,600 per quintal. Flour industrialists do not buy wheat directly from us, that is why we are forced to sit idly and watch all the profits reaped by the middlemen.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Farmers of Banke, Bardiya and Kailali have already sold wheat to traders at the rate of Rs 2,800 per quintal. After the farmers sold their produce, the Food Management and Trading Company of the government started buying wheat in those districts. Food procurement centers are deserted as farmers have already sold wheat. Sharmila Subedi, information officer of the state-owned company said that 112 quintals of wheat was purchased in Rajapur of Bardiya, besides which, other procurement centers could not buy wheat at all.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Another farmer Chandra Kant Yadav from Lahan said that he sold 25 quintals of wheat to local traders at the rate of Rs 2,800 per quintal. He expressed, “It is said that the prices have gone up now. We could not even sell at the rate fixed by the government. The Food Management and Trading Company started buying wheat only after we sold it. Now, it is the traders who make profit.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the stakeholders, farmers not getting a fair price for their produce has become a persistent problem. Chairman of the National Farmers' Commission, Dr. Prem Prasad Dangal, says that although the government implemented the concept of support price to prevent farmers from being cheated by traders, the government's weakness itself has posed a challenge to its implementation. “It is a shame that Nepali farmers have to sell their produce at lower rates when prices are rising in the international market,” said Dangal. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15048', 'image' => '20220520051031_Wheat_photo-cred-Adobe-stock_E-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 17:09:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15305', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Entrepreneurs of Chitwan Excited about the Prospects of 2 Days' Leave', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: Tourism entrepreneurs of Chitwan are excited after the government announced a public holiday on Sunday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 20: Tourism entrepreneurs of Chitwan are excited after the government announced a public holiday on Sunday. Entrepreneurs are expecting that the number of domestic tourists will increase during the two consecutive days off.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The tourism entrepreneurs hope that the tourism sector, which has been weighed down by the Covid-19 infection, will return to normalcy. They had been demanding leave on Sunday after the number of tourists coming for one night's stay started increasing.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Local tourism entrepreneur Biplav Poudel said that they had been demanding two days' leave for better prospects of business.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Poudel, the manager of Hotel Barahi in Meghauli and Pokhara, said that the number of tourists will now increase in homestays as well as big hotels. "This will make the economy vibrant, '' he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Poudel believes that two days of holidays and fun would energize the workers for the rest of the week days.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Deepak Bhattarai, president of the Regional Hotel Association Chitwan, said that the number of tourists used to increase by 50 % compared to other days in the past when there was a regular two-day holiday. "Compared to other days, the number of tourists increases on holidays. At the same time, when there are two days of holidays, the number of tourists is even more,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhattarai said that he expects the tourism sector to be better than before with the two-day holiday. He informed New Business Age that there are positive signs soon after the leave started. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Entrepreneurs expect this holiday to increase family travel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Gunaraj Thapaliya, general secretary of the regional hotel association, said that the number of people booking hotels through the telephone has started to increase. Situated in the centre of the country, it is easy to visit Sauraha from many neighbouring districts to spend a night in the wilderness.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the decline in the number of foreign tourists, the tourism sector here has been dependent on domestic tourists. Tourists mainly visit Pokhara, Lumbini, Chitwan, Kathmandu and other areas in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Director of Hotel Narayani Resort, Gaindakot, Basanta Parajuli said that the two-day leave will have a positive impact on the tourism sector. The trend of travelling with family increases during the holidays, he added. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15047', 'image' => '20220520024257_Chitwan-sunset-sauraha-nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 14:42:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Absent during Pre-Budget Discussions ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: With only nine days left for the budget announcement, discussions are underway in the parliament on the priorities and principles of the Appropriation Bill.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 20: With only nine days left for the budget announcement, discussions are underway in the parliament on the priorities and principles of the Appropriation Bill. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, the absence of Finance Minister Janardan Sharma during the discussion has raised concerns that the suggestions made by the people’s representatives for the upcoming budget will be limited to the parliament.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The members of parliament questioned the rationale behind the absence of the finance minister during the pre-budget discussion on Thursday. Terming the absence of the finance minister in the parliament as irresponsible, they drew the attention of the speaker. After the objection of the MPs, speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota directed the finance minister to attend the meeting. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Sharma hadn’t stayed till the end during Wednesday’s meeting as well. Maoist MP Gajendra Bahadur Mahat, who was the last speaker on Wednesday, had queried about the finance minister after not seeing him in parliament. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He was not present during the discussion on Thursday also. Chief Whip of the CPN-UML, Bishal Bhattarai said that the finance minister himself started the discussion on the principles and priorities of the budget but was not present during the discussion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that his attention had been drawn to this issue, Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota said, “As per sub-section 5 of section 6 of the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives 2075, I instruct the Honorable Minister of the concerned ministry to attend the meeting.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepali Congress MP and former Minister Dr Minendra Rijal said that it was disappointing that the finance minister and the officials were not present while the principles and priorities of the budget were being discussed in the parliament. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dr Rijal commented that the structural problems in the economy have contributed to the non-spending of the capital budget. Keeping in view the priorities and principles of the Appropriation Bill, he said that the stakeholders, MPs, Ministry of Finance and others should make meaningful efforts to end the trend of non-spending of capital budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rijal said that food production should be increased within the country to reduce the pressure on the balance of payments, and clear policy arrangements should be made for the promotion of industries and businesses in public-private partnership. Furthermore, he said that the problems in the economy were not only due to the current government alone and urged not to forget the fact that foreign debt had increased due to the decisions taken by the then UML-led government. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15046', 'image' => '20220520010402_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 13:03:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Labour Permit Service goes Full-Scale Online from Today ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: The Foreign Employment Office, Kathmandu has informed that it will launch online service for all kinds of labour permits from today (May 20).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 20: The Foreign Employment Office, Kathmandu has informed that it will launch online service for all kinds of labour permits from today (May 20). Now, anyone going abroad for foreign employment can take the labour permit through online system, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. This will effectively end the need to physically visit the office to take labour permits. </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"">From now on, the new system will be applicable for both individual and institutional labour permits as well as renewal of labour permits. The Foreign Employment Office had started issuing institutional labour permits through online system almost a month ago. Similarly, renewal of labour permit through online system was initiated in January. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The recent change in service delivery has largely reduced the number of service seekers who used to be present in large numbers at the office until some time ago. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Office chief Ramesh Aryal informed that the labour permit service has gone online as per directive of the Labour Ministry. Such decision was taken to facilitate both the service seekers and the service providers, said Aryal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, a total of 167,000 persons were provided labour permit during last fiscal year while more than half a million people have been granted labour permit in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15045', 'image' => '20220520082126_20211215023334_20200315123851_1111.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 08:20:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15302', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Budget Always has the Same Principles and Priorities', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma on Tuesday presented the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in the federal parliament.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 19: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma on Tuesday presented the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in the federal parliament. The principles and priorities that the government presents in parliament ahead of the budget as per the constitutional provision is always the same in nature every year. It is almost impossible to find something innovative and new in the principles and priorities for the budget.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Appropriation Bill, 2079 BS is aimed at building a socialism-oriented, balanced, inclusive and self-reliant economy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The budget for the upcoming fiscal year will focus on fulfilling the aspirations of the Nepali people for development and prosperity and laying the groundwork for a socialism-oriented economy. The flow of public services, transformation and construction of large infrastructure and government investment in the social sector will be increased,” reads the draft.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The budget proposal placed forth three years back by the then Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada under the government led by KP Sharma Oli also mentioned the same thing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It stated, “The results of the momentous political change we have achieved are being reflected in the social transformation and economic development and the living standards of the people. The achievements we have achieved in a short period of time in the implementation of federalism have laid a solid foundation for good governance, development and prosperity. The budget for the coming fiscal year will be focused on moving forward as a socialism-oriented nation with social justice and high economic growth based on this foundation.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Analyzing the documents presented in parliament in the last few years, it is evident that the principles and priorities of the government is always the same despite change in government. However, those who run the state are yet to clarify how they will create a socialism-oriented economy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The priorities of the government for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year once again include development of agriculture sector, industrial development and promotion, development of energy sector, etc. These sated priorities are not new at all.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Khatiwada's budget, which he presented in parliament three years ago, also had similar priorities. It read, “Significant advances will be made in formulating investment-friendly laws and structures, accelerating the upliftment of the poor, backward classes, regions and communities, increasing employment opportunities, social security for all, access to basic education and access to primary health care for all.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Economist Keshav Acharya stated that usage of such repeated notions make it clear that the government makes such issues as a priority just for the sake of making announcements every year but fails to implement them each time. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to him, the government should not talk only about principles and priorities in the budget, but also state clearly on how they can be implemented. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The budget prioritizes health, education, employment, infrastructure, from a socialist-oriented economy. The state does not seem to be serious about how to achieve the goals set in those areas,” Acharya said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Even the leaders of the ruling parties are not satisfied with the priorities and principles of the budget presented by the government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, leader and a member of the ruling coalition partner – Janata Samajwadi Party – remarked that the priorities and principles should not just be written on papers. According to him, the state should now be responsible for education, health, social security and large infrastructure, while the responsibilities for agriculture, industry, services and tourism should be given to the private sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">CPN-UML leader Yogesh Bhattarai remarked that the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill lacked a base for advancing towards the path of socialism and neglected the aspects relating to strengthening public health and education. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He sought the government’s attention towards an increment of capital expenditure by minimizing a trade deficit. He was of the view of preventing a probable difficult situation for nation’s economy. He added that the bill did not seem giving priorities to the reduction of consumption of petroleum products and the promotion of the use of alternative energy. “Non-economic activities have increased, posing an additional challenge to the national economy.’’ </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15044', 'image' => '20220519054048_budget new.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 17:39:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15301', 'article_category_id' => '239', 'title' => 'Jazeera Airways Pledges to Help Promote Tourism', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: Jazeera Airways, a leading airline company of Kuwait, has pledged to promote Bhairahawa as a tourism destination. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 19: Jazeera Airways, a leading airline company of Kuwait, has pledged to promote Bhairahawa as a tourism destination. The airliner is the first international company to start flight service to Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport since May 16 on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti festival.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Vice president for sales of Jazeera Airways Ravindran Bharathan said that the flight service has been initiated due to high demand for direct flights to the Terai plains of Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “Jazeera Airways continues to expand its network to offer destinations that also cater to large expatriate communities that are often not served by direct routes from Kuwait and the Middle East. It now really makes it a lot easier for Nepalese and tourists to get into the Terai area of Nepal rather than going through an indirect route which could take up to more than a day of traveling,” he said, adding, “The new service to the Gautam Buddha International Airport is a direct service to the gateway of Lumbini - the birthplace of Gautam Buddha.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rabi Chandra Singh, chairman of the Society International Travel Services, a part of the RR Group of companies, stated, “After 74 years of international flights based only in Kathmandu, this service is going to make a huge difference in the western part of Nepal. This newly opened international flight service will help boost tourism in Bhairahawa which is one of the potential sectors for economic development in Nepal. Let's rejoice in this historic moment together.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The airlines company informed that it will operate three flights a week on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15043', 'image' => '20220519051442_Jazeera_Airways_.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 17:13:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15300', 'article_category_id' => '279', 'title' => 'Investment Board, Nabil Bank Sign MoU to Promote Foreign Investment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: The Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nabil Bank in order to promote foreign investment and business partnership.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 19: The Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nabil Bank in order to promote foreign investment and business partnership in the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Chief Executive Officer of IBN Sushil Bhatta and CEO of Nabil Bank Anil Keshari Shah signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations amid a programme on Wednesday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the agreement, the two organisations have decided to give special emphasis to foreign direct investment (FDI) channeling and Sustainable Financing Opportunities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The MoU states that the Investment Board will coordinate and cooperate in attracting foreign investors to invest in Nepal by sharing information on prospective projects in the country and by organizing joint programmes to promote investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Addressing the signing ceremony at IBN’s office, CEO of the board Sushil Bhatta said that the strategic partnership between the board and the bank will help develop a culture of cooperation in the future. He further informed that the board has been developing Management Information System (MIS) and website-based one-stop service (OSS) for the convenience of the investors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, Nabil Bank’s Vice Chairman Upendra Prasad Poudel praised the role of IBN in sustainable development of Nepal and urged the board to take into consideration the environmental and social aspects while developing projects in the future.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, CEO of Nabil Bank Anil Keshari Shah said that the agreement between the bank and the board would help create plenty of opportunities for foreign investment in Nepal.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15042', 'image' => '20220519041350_nabil2 - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 16:13:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15299', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Share Transaction of 14 Companies on Hold due to Merger', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: Share trading of 14 companies has been halted due to the process of merger and acquisition.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 19: Share trading of 14 companies has been halted due to the process of merger and acquisition. According to the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), the trading of shares of three commercial banks, five insurance companies, six microfinance companies, and two hydropower companies has been halted for the purpose of merger and acquisition.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The three commercial banks are Nepal Investment Bank, Himalayan Bank and Nepal Bangladesh Bank. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Share trading of Nepal Investment Bank and Himalayan Bank has been suspended since 31st April 2021 because of the merger process. Although the merger between the two banks has broken down, the share trading is still suspended.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEPSE has stated that the share transaction has not be opened despite the breakdown of the merger between the two banks as they have not submitted written request in this regard.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Share trading of Nepal Bangladesh Bank, which is being acquired by Nabil Bank, has also been suspended since December 12, 2021.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At this time, banks and financial institutions, insurance companies and the hydropower sector are going through mergers and acquisitions. Recently, five insurance companies have signed merger agreements.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Everest Insurance and Himalayan General Insurance have agreed to merge in order to increase their paid-up capital.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Share trading of the two companies, which entered into a preliminary merger agreement on April 7, has been suspended since April 8. The largest merger agreement in the insurance sector has been reached between Union Life Insurance, Gurans Life Insurance and Prime Life Insurance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Share trading of the three companies, which had signed a preliminary agreement on the merger on April 13, has been suspended since May 12 due to four consecutive days of public holiday. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Apart from this, share trading of Nadep Microfinance, Andhikhola Microfinance, Ghodighoda Microfinance and Samaj Microfinance has also been blocked on the pretext of merger and acquisition.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Investors have complained that mergers and acquisitions have hampered trading for a long time. Even after months of exiting the merger and acquisition process, the general investors’ assets seem to have been jeopardized by not opening the transaction.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ambika Prasad Poudel, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Capital Market Forum, said that the investors who have always been supporting the merger and acquisition process have been hit the hardest at this time.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15041', 'image' => '20220519031228_Mergers-and-Acquisitions-Vietnam.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 15:11:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15298', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Credit Flow and Deposit Collection of Banks Declining ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: Credit flow and deposit collection of banks have been steadily declining. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 19: Credit flow and deposit collection of banks have been steadily declining. Banks have started reducing the credit flow as deposit collection in banks have not been able to rise amid the current liquidity crisis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Nepal Bankers’ Association, Rs 19 billion was withdrawn from commercial banks between mid-April and mid-May. The total deposits of commercial banks which stood at Rs 4.38 trillion by mid-April, has come down to Rs 4.37 as of mid-May. The association said that although there has been a slight improvement in deposits in late April, there has been a steady decline in deposits after that. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Local elections is believed to be the main reason for the decline in deposit collection of banks. Chairman of the Nepal Bankers' Association and Chief Executive Officer of the Agricultural Development Bank Anil Kumar Upadhyaya said that the money withdrawn from the banking system during the election will be returned to the system gradually. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Along with the deposit collection, the credit flow of the banks have also declined. The credit flow of the banks, which was Rs 4.197 trillion in mid-April, has dropped by Rs 6 billion to Rs Rs 4.191 trillion in mid-May. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The credit flow of the banks are stagnant at the moment as the credit-deposit (CD) ratio is high due to the liquidity crisis. Banks have disbursed only small loans that were already approved. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank has directed banks to maintain the CD ratio of 90 percent by mid-July. However, according to the data of the association, the CD ratio of only nine banks was within the prescribed ratio by the central bank. Besides, the CD ratio of more than a dozen banks is more than 91 percent and half a dozen banks is around 90 percent. The banks have started reducing credit flow to maintain the CD ratio. As per the NRB, the average CD ratio of banks till May 16 is 90.44 percent. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15040', 'image' => '20220519011625_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 13:15:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15297', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Lawmakers Stress on Common Understanding for Balanced Development', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: A meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday held discussion on the principles and priorities of budget and the programmes to be included in the appropriation bill for the next fiscal year (FY 2022/23). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 19: A meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday held discussion on the principles and priorities of budget and the programmes to be included in the appropriation bill for the next fiscal year (FY 2022/23). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Attending the session, lawmakers stressed the need for balanced development activities and economic distribution. Suggesting that a common understanding should be reached to bring the budget, they stressed that it should prioritise agriculture, energy and tourism and lead the country toward economic independence. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The principles and priorities of budget presented in Tuesday’s HoR session by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma focused on maintaining fiscal discipline. The government has proposed budget allocation for the projects that are feasible in terms of finance and technology and also plans to cut government expenditure in non-productive areas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the budget proposal has emphasised on building an independent and socialism-oriented economy while focusing on social justice and rural development, generating job opportunities for youths within the country and increasing agricultural production. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the discussion, ruling NC’s whip Pushpa Bhusal Gautam expressed the hope that the budget would help take strides in rural development and in the sectors of energy and tourism while increasing agricultural production. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Haribol Gajurel from the CPN (Maoist Center), a coalition partner in the incumbent government, criticised the principles and priorities of budget for not including the issue of land reforms. He suggested that there should have been a wide discussions among political parties, both ruling and opposition, before making government’s policies and programmes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Uma Shankar Aragariya from the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party stressed the need for prioritising agriculture and resolving problems faced farmers such as the lack of fertilizers and seeds. </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"">Main opposition CPN (UML)’s Khagaraj Adhikari emphasised the need to transform tourism and culture into national capital. He also criticised the incumbent government of increasing trade deficit. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Also, Samina Hussein from the CPN (Unified Socialist), an alliance partner in the government, underscored the need for the agriculture development. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The lower house will next meet today (May 19) at 1:00 pm. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15039', 'image' => '20220519114444_Parliament.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 11:43:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15296', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'DoTM Increases Public Transport Fares', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 18: The government has increased the fares of public transport with immediate effect. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt">May 18: The government has increased the fares of public transport with immediate effect. The Department of Transport Management under the federal government has adjusted the fare of public transport after the price of diesel and petrol was increased by Rs 10 per litre.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt">The fare has been increased by 5.1 percent. The department has increased the fare as per the arrangement of automatically adjusting the fare of public transport along with the change in the price of petroleum products.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt">The department has said that the increased fare will be applicable for public transport plying through two or more states (on a national level route) from Wednesday. Now the state governments will also adjust the fare of public transport on this basis.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-18', 'modified' => '2022-05-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15038', 'image' => '20220518063257_TransportMCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-18 18:32:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15295', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Tomato Increases Four-fold within a Month', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 18: Sunil Sharma of Asan, Kathmandu was shocked to hear the price of tomato when he went to buy vegetables on Monday morning. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 18: Sunil Sharma of Asan, Kathmandu was shocked to hear the price of tomato when he went to buy vegetables on Monday morning. He said, “I found tomatoes at Rs 140 per kg in a shop. I had to buy it even though it was expensive.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Consumers are complaining that tomatoes are hard to find in most of the shops now as the price has skyrocketed. A month ago, the price of tomatoes at the Kalimati vegetable market was Rs 20 to Rs 30 per kg. But at present, it is sold at Rs 80 to Rs 95 per kg. This is a four-fold increment in the price of tomatoes within a month. Consumers are suffering due to high prices. The retail prices are even higher than the wholesale price.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tomato is one of the essential vegetables in Nepali kitchen. Thus, the consumers are put in a troublesome situation whenever its price goes up. The tomatoes which used to be delivered to Kathmandu under normal circumstances are now being consumed in the villages due to the environment created by the local level elections. This has also put pressure on supplies.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Spokesperson of Kalimati Vegetable and Fruit Market Development Committee Binaya Shrestha said that the prices of tomato has skyrocketed because its imports from India were halted due to the local elections. In addition to this, there has been a reduction in supply from local producers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Shrestha said, during the first nine months of the current fiscal year, 26,802 tons of small-sized tomatoes entered the Kalimati vegetable market. He added that 4,066 tons were imported from India and the rest was domestically produced. Kathmandu is currently receiving large quantities of tomatoes from Dhading, Makwanpur, Kavre and Chitwan. According to him, now is the time for Indian tomatoes to hit the market rather than the Nepali tomatoes.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is a compulsion to import tomatoes as domestically produced tomatoes fail to meet the market demand. When imported from abroad, the price goes up and down due to various reasons. Shrestha said that the price of tomato will go down again after it starts coming from India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tomatoes of larger size are imported from India rather than the small-sized tomatoes. Demand for this specialty is high during this period due its usage as salads in parties of various functions. In 9 months of the current fiscal year, 5,400 tons of large- sized tomatoes entered the Kalimati market from India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-18', 'modified' => '2022-05-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15037', 'image' => '20220518031459_Tomato_je.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-18 15:13:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15309', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Major Hospitals to Remain Open in KTM Valley on Sundays', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 22: Most of the major hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley will be operational on Sundays despite the government's decision to grant public holiday for two days a week. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 22: Most of the major hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley will be operational on Sundays despite the government's decision to grant public holiday for two days a week. The hospitals decided to operate on Sunday as well, stating that the patients will have to suffer in absence of treatment if they are closed for two consecutive days. The government decided to give leave on Saturday and Sunday, starting from May 15 in a trial phase with the objective of reducing fuel consumption. The government has fixed office hours on weekdays from Monday through Friday between 9:30 am to 5:30 pm.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The major hospitals in the valley including Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Civil Service Hospital, Kanti Children's Hospital, Sukraraj Tropical and Communicable Diseases Hospital, Shahid Ganga Lal Heart Center, Paropakar Maternity Hospital have decided to operate on Sundays as well. However, Bir Hospital will be closed on Sunday, as per the government's decision to grant two days leave.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dr Bhupendra Basnet, director of Bir Hospital, said that the hospital will be closed on Sunday as per the decision of the government. Basnet said, “We are operating the hospital as per the decision of the government. The emergency services of the hospital are operating 24 hours a day. We decided to close the hospital on Sunday as not many critical patients visit the outpatient department.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the director of Ganga Lal Heart Center, Dr Chandramani Adhikari said, as the center is an independent health institution, it will remain open on Sunday as well, considering the treatment of the patients, regardless of the government's decision. About 600 patients visit the center daily for treatment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The director of Sukraraj Tropical and Communicable Diseases Hospital, Dr Manisha Thapa said that all services including outpatient services will be operated regularly even on public holidays. Ram Bikram Adhikari, information officer of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, informed that the hospital will continue to operate as before.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-22', 'modified' => '2022-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15051', 'image' => '20220522114737_Hospital.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-22 11:46:54', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15308', 'article_category_id' => '268', 'title' => 'MPs Stress on Establishment of Industries to Substitute Import-Oriented Economy ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 22: Lawmakers of the ruling parties during the deliberations on the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the Fiscal Year 2022/23 on Friday argued that the principles and priorities were practical and scientific in nature.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 22: Lawmakers of the ruling parties during the deliberations on the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the Fiscal Year 2022/23 on Friday argued that the principles and priorities were practical and scientific in nature. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">However, lawmakers of the opposition party blamed that the principles and priorities have no course and aim. Members of Parliament (MPs) stressed the need of taking initiatives for making economy export-oriented, increasing domestic production and increasing export instead of import. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">They said that initiatives should be taken immediately to resolve the current crisis that has emerged due to the declining foreign exchange reserves and rising balance of payments deficit. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Lawmakers of the opposition party criticized the government for lifting the ban on import goods like dates, betel nuts and black pepper. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">CPN (UML) lawmaker Rajendra Gautam said that the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill presented by the government are not matching principally. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Gagan Kumar Thapa of the Nepali Congress drew the attention of the government to establish industries by creating investment-friendly environment. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that urbanization and income had increased and so was the scope of employment, he spoke of the need to formulate policies, programme and plans attracting foreign investment and expanding domestic investment within a decade. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He was of the view that workers' participation could be increased and value chain could be grown since the bases of industries such as shoe, textile and garment industries have increased. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, CPN (Maoist Centre)'s parliamentarian Barshaman Pun called for reforms in the policy level and structural level to increase employment and give newness in agriculture sector. The former finance minister also urged to give special priority to reservoir-based hydropower projects and increase investment for energy security. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He opined that the country’s foreign exchange reserves have been affected by a large number of Nepali students leaving abroad annually for further studies taking huge chunks of Nepali currency abroad. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Parliamentarians Gopal Bom and Nirudevi Pal expressed their views on theoretical issues of Appropriation Bill and pressed for effective implementation of policy, programmes and plans. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-22', 'modified' => '2022-05-22', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15050', 'image' => '20220522111327_Industries.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-22 11:12:40', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15307', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government has 21,000 Quintals of Flour in Stock', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: The state-owned Salt Trading Corporation, which is responsible for buying and selling food and fertilizer at subsidized rate, has 21,000 quintals of flour in stock. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 20: The state-owned Salt Trading Corporation, which is responsible for buying and selling food and fertilizer at subsidized rate, has 21,000 quintals of flour in stock. Hetauda-based Nepal Food Industries Limited, a subsidiary of Salt Trading Corporation, has produced 75,000 quintals of flour in the current fiscal year. Of this, 54,000 quintals have been sold and 21,000 quintals are left, informed the Salt Trading Corporation.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The stock of Salt Trading Corporation will not last for even a day if it is sold as per the market demand. However, the spokesperson of Salt Trading Corporation, Kumar Rajbhandari said that the flour is being sold in retail just to keep the uncontrolled price hike in in the market in check. Traders, however, claim that there is no shortage of flour and other commodities in the market even though the government does not have enough stock.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Pabitra Bajracharya, the outgoing president of the Retail Trade Association, remarked that if the current situation continues for a long time, the prices of biscuits, noodles, pasta and other commodities are likely to be affected. According to him, there is no probability of immediate price hike as retailers and wholesalers have stocks of old goods that can last for up to 2/3 months.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15049', 'image' => '20220520055604_Flour_AdobeStock_169806265_E.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 17:55:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15306', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Wheat Skyrocketing in International Market', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: As soon as the Indian government imposed a ban on the exports of wheat, its price skyrocketed in the international market.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 20: As soon as the Indian government imposed a ban on the exports of wheat, its price skyrocketed in the international market. Ironically, Nepali farmers were forced to sell wheat at cheaper rates when the price has been soaring worldwide. Due to the government's failure to announce support price at the right time and traders arbitrarily fixing the price for the farmers' produce, Nepali farmers were obliged to sell wheat at cheap prices even when prices were skyrocketing in the international market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">India banned export of wheat last Friday. According to international media, the price of wheat went through the roof in the world market, marking an increase of 60 percent this year alone. According to the traders, the price of wheat flour even in India went up from Rs 2880 to Rs 3300 per quintal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">No matter how much the price goes up in the world market, Nepali farmers are still devoid from any benefits. Before the government fixed the support price, farmers in some districts of the Terai had already sold wheat at Rs 400 per quintal, which is lesser than the minimum support price set by the government. The government later fixed the support price of wheat at Rs 3,165 per quintal after much delay. However, farmers are not even able to get this price. Till date, farmers of Sunsari, Siraha, Rautahat and other districts are selling wheat at the rate of Rs 2,800 per quintal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhubaneswar Yadav, a representative farmer from Sunsari said, “The government does not buy wheat from these districts. Wheat that we sold to traders at Rs 2,800 is now being sold by traders at Rs 3,600 per quintal. Flour industrialists do not buy wheat directly from us, that is why we are forced to sit idly and watch all the profits reaped by the middlemen.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Farmers of Banke, Bardiya and Kailali have already sold wheat to traders at the rate of Rs 2,800 per quintal. After the farmers sold their produce, the Food Management and Trading Company of the government started buying wheat in those districts. Food procurement centers are deserted as farmers have already sold wheat. Sharmila Subedi, information officer of the state-owned company said that 112 quintals of wheat was purchased in Rajapur of Bardiya, besides which, other procurement centers could not buy wheat at all.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Another farmer Chandra Kant Yadav from Lahan said that he sold 25 quintals of wheat to local traders at the rate of Rs 2,800 per quintal. He expressed, “It is said that the prices have gone up now. We could not even sell at the rate fixed by the government. The Food Management and Trading Company started buying wheat only after we sold it. Now, it is the traders who make profit.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the stakeholders, farmers not getting a fair price for their produce has become a persistent problem. Chairman of the National Farmers' Commission, Dr. Prem Prasad Dangal, says that although the government implemented the concept of support price to prevent farmers from being cheated by traders, the government's weakness itself has posed a challenge to its implementation. “It is a shame that Nepali farmers have to sell their produce at lower rates when prices are rising in the international market,” said Dangal. </span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15048', 'image' => '20220520051031_Wheat_photo-cred-Adobe-stock_E-2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 17:09:27', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15305', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Entrepreneurs of Chitwan Excited about the Prospects of 2 Days' Leave', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: Tourism entrepreneurs of Chitwan are excited after the government announced a public holiday on Sunday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 20: Tourism entrepreneurs of Chitwan are excited after the government announced a public holiday on Sunday. Entrepreneurs are expecting that the number of domestic tourists will increase during the two consecutive days off.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The tourism entrepreneurs hope that the tourism sector, which has been weighed down by the Covid-19 infection, will return to normalcy. They had been demanding leave on Sunday after the number of tourists coming for one night's stay started increasing.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Local tourism entrepreneur Biplav Poudel said that they had been demanding two days' leave for better prospects of business.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Poudel, the manager of Hotel Barahi in Meghauli and Pokhara, said that the number of tourists will now increase in homestays as well as big hotels. "This will make the economy vibrant, '' he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Poudel believes that two days of holidays and fun would energize the workers for the rest of the week days.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Deepak Bhattarai, president of the Regional Hotel Association Chitwan, said that the number of tourists used to increase by 50 % compared to other days in the past when there was a regular two-day holiday. "Compared to other days, the number of tourists increases on holidays. At the same time, when there are two days of holidays, the number of tourists is even more,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bhattarai said that he expects the tourism sector to be better than before with the two-day holiday. He informed New Business Age that there are positive signs soon after the leave started. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Entrepreneurs expect this holiday to increase family travel. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Gunaraj Thapaliya, general secretary of the regional hotel association, said that the number of people booking hotels through the telephone has started to increase. Situated in the centre of the country, it is easy to visit Sauraha from many neighbouring districts to spend a night in the wilderness.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the decline in the number of foreign tourists, the tourism sector here has been dependent on domestic tourists. Tourists mainly visit Pokhara, Lumbini, Chitwan, Kathmandu and other areas in Nepal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Director of Hotel Narayani Resort, Gaindakot, Basanta Parajuli said that the two-day leave will have a positive impact on the tourism sector. The trend of travelling with family increases during the holidays, he added. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15047', 'image' => '20220520024257_Chitwan-sunset-sauraha-nepal.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 14:42:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15304', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Finance Minister Absent during Pre-Budget Discussions ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: With only nine days left for the budget announcement, discussions are underway in the parliament on the priorities and principles of the Appropriation Bill.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 20: With only nine days left for the budget announcement, discussions are underway in the parliament on the priorities and principles of the Appropriation Bill. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, the absence of Finance Minister Janardan Sharma during the discussion has raised concerns that the suggestions made by the people’s representatives for the upcoming budget will be limited to the parliament.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The members of parliament questioned the rationale behind the absence of the finance minister during the pre-budget discussion on Thursday. Terming the absence of the finance minister in the parliament as irresponsible, they drew the attention of the speaker. After the objection of the MPs, speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota directed the finance minister to attend the meeting. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Sharma hadn’t stayed till the end during Wednesday’s meeting as well. Maoist MP Gajendra Bahadur Mahat, who was the last speaker on Wednesday, had queried about the finance minister after not seeing him in parliament. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He was not present during the discussion on Thursday also. Chief Whip of the CPN-UML, Bishal Bhattarai said that the finance minister himself started the discussion on the principles and priorities of the budget but was not present during the discussion. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that his attention had been drawn to this issue, Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota said, “As per sub-section 5 of section 6 of the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives 2075, I instruct the Honorable Minister of the concerned ministry to attend the meeting.” </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepali Congress MP and former Minister Dr Minendra Rijal said that it was disappointing that the finance minister and the officials were not present while the principles and priorities of the budget were being discussed in the parliament. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Dr Rijal commented that the structural problems in the economy have contributed to the non-spending of the capital budget. Keeping in view the priorities and principles of the Appropriation Bill, he said that the stakeholders, MPs, Ministry of Finance and others should make meaningful efforts to end the trend of non-spending of capital budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rijal said that food production should be increased within the country to reduce the pressure on the balance of payments, and clear policy arrangements should be made for the promotion of industries and businesses in public-private partnership. Furthermore, he said that the problems in the economy were not only due to the current government alone and urged not to forget the fact that foreign debt had increased due to the decisions taken by the then UML-led government. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15046', 'image' => '20220520010402_fin min sharma.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 13:03:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15303', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Labour Permit Service goes Full-Scale Online from Today ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 20: The Foreign Employment Office, Kathmandu has informed that it will launch online service for all kinds of labour permits from today (May 20).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 20: The Foreign Employment Office, Kathmandu has informed that it will launch online service for all kinds of labour permits from today (May 20). Now, anyone going abroad for foreign employment can take the labour permit through online system, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. This will effectively end the need to physically visit the office to take labour permits. </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"">From now on, the new system will be applicable for both individual and institutional labour permits as well as renewal of labour permits. The Foreign Employment Office had started issuing institutional labour permits through online system almost a month ago. Similarly, renewal of labour permit through online system was initiated in January. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The recent change in service delivery has largely reduced the number of service seekers who used to be present in large numbers at the office until some time ago. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Office chief Ramesh Aryal informed that the labour permit service has gone online as per directive of the Labour Ministry. Such decision was taken to facilitate both the service seekers and the service providers, said Aryal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, a total of 167,000 persons were provided labour permit during last fiscal year while more than half a million people have been granted labour permit in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-20', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15045', 'image' => '20220520082126_20211215023334_20200315123851_1111.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-20 08:20:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15302', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Budget Always has the Same Principles and Priorities', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma on Tuesday presented the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in the federal parliament.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 19: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma on Tuesday presented the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year in the federal parliament. The principles and priorities that the government presents in parliament ahead of the budget as per the constitutional provision is always the same in nature every year. It is almost impossible to find something innovative and new in the principles and priorities for the budget.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Appropriation Bill, 2079 BS is aimed at building a socialism-oriented, balanced, inclusive and self-reliant economy. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The budget for the upcoming fiscal year will focus on fulfilling the aspirations of the Nepali people for development and prosperity and laying the groundwork for a socialism-oriented economy. The flow of public services, transformation and construction of large infrastructure and government investment in the social sector will be increased,” reads the draft.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The budget proposal placed forth three years back by the then Finance Minister Yuba Raj Khatiwada under the government led by KP Sharma Oli also mentioned the same thing.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It stated, “The results of the momentous political change we have achieved are being reflected in the social transformation and economic development and the living standards of the people. The achievements we have achieved in a short period of time in the implementation of federalism have laid a solid foundation for good governance, development and prosperity. The budget for the coming fiscal year will be focused on moving forward as a socialism-oriented nation with social justice and high economic growth based on this foundation.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Analyzing the documents presented in parliament in the last few years, it is evident that the principles and priorities of the government is always the same despite change in government. However, those who run the state are yet to clarify how they will create a socialism-oriented economy.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The priorities of the government for the budget of the upcoming fiscal year once again include development of agriculture sector, industrial development and promotion, development of energy sector, etc. These sated priorities are not new at all.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Khatiwada's budget, which he presented in parliament three years ago, also had similar priorities. It read, “Significant advances will be made in formulating investment-friendly laws and structures, accelerating the upliftment of the poor, backward classes, regions and communities, increasing employment opportunities, social security for all, access to basic education and access to primary health care for all.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Economist Keshav Acharya stated that usage of such repeated notions make it clear that the government makes such issues as a priority just for the sake of making announcements every year but fails to implement them each time. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to him, the government should not talk only about principles and priorities in the budget, but also state clearly on how they can be implemented. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The budget prioritizes health, education, employment, infrastructure, from a socialist-oriented economy. The state does not seem to be serious about how to achieve the goals set in those areas,” Acharya said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Even the leaders of the ruling parties are not satisfied with the priorities and principles of the budget presented by the government. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, leader and a member of the ruling coalition partner – Janata Samajwadi Party – remarked that the priorities and principles should not just be written on papers. According to him, the state should now be responsible for education, health, social security and large infrastructure, while the responsibilities for agriculture, industry, services and tourism should be given to the private sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">CPN-UML leader Yogesh Bhattarai remarked that the principles and priorities of the Appropriation Bill lacked a base for advancing towards the path of socialism and neglected the aspects relating to strengthening public health and education. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He sought the government’s attention towards an increment of capital expenditure by minimizing a trade deficit. He was of the view of preventing a probable difficult situation for nation’s economy. He added that the bill did not seem giving priorities to the reduction of consumption of petroleum products and the promotion of the use of alternative energy. “Non-economic activities have increased, posing an additional challenge to the national economy.’’ </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15044', 'image' => '20220519054048_budget new.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 17:39:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15301', 'article_category_id' => '239', 'title' => 'Jazeera Airways Pledges to Help Promote Tourism', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: Jazeera Airways, a leading airline company of Kuwait, has pledged to promote Bhairahawa as a tourism destination. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 19: Jazeera Airways, a leading airline company of Kuwait, has pledged to promote Bhairahawa as a tourism destination. The airliner is the first international company to start flight service to Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport since May 16 on the occasion of Buddha Jayanti festival.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Vice president for sales of Jazeera Airways Ravindran Bharathan said that the flight service has been initiated due to high demand for direct flights to the Terai plains of Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> “Jazeera Airways continues to expand its network to offer destinations that also cater to large expatriate communities that are often not served by direct routes from Kuwait and the Middle East. It now really makes it a lot easier for Nepalese and tourists to get into the Terai area of Nepal rather than going through an indirect route which could take up to more than a day of traveling,” he said, adding, “The new service to the Gautam Buddha International Airport is a direct service to the gateway of Lumbini - the birthplace of Gautam Buddha.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rabi Chandra Singh, chairman of the Society International Travel Services, a part of the RR Group of companies, stated, “After 74 years of international flights based only in Kathmandu, this service is going to make a huge difference in the western part of Nepal. This newly opened international flight service will help boost tourism in Bhairahawa which is one of the potential sectors for economic development in Nepal. Let's rejoice in this historic moment together.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The airlines company informed that it will operate three flights a week on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15043', 'image' => '20220519051442_Jazeera_Airways_.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 17:13:53', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15300', 'article_category_id' => '279', 'title' => 'Investment Board, Nabil Bank Sign MoU to Promote Foreign Investment', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: The Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nabil Bank in order to promote foreign investment and business partnership.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 19: The Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nabil Bank in order to promote foreign investment and business partnership in the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Chief Executive Officer of IBN Sushil Bhatta and CEO of Nabil Bank Anil Keshari Shah signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations amid a programme on Wednesday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the agreement, the two organisations have decided to give special emphasis to foreign direct investment (FDI) channeling and Sustainable Financing Opportunities.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The MoU states that the Investment Board will coordinate and cooperate in attracting foreign investors to invest in Nepal by sharing information on prospective projects in the country and by organizing joint programmes to promote investment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Addressing the signing ceremony at IBN’s office, CEO of the board Sushil Bhatta said that the strategic partnership between the board and the bank will help develop a culture of cooperation in the future. He further informed that the board has been developing Management Information System (MIS) and website-based one-stop service (OSS) for the convenience of the investors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, Nabil Bank’s Vice Chairman Upendra Prasad Poudel praised the role of IBN in sustainable development of Nepal and urged the board to take into consideration the environmental and social aspects while developing projects in the future.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, CEO of Nabil Bank Anil Keshari Shah said that the agreement between the bank and the board would help create plenty of opportunities for foreign investment in Nepal.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15042', 'image' => '20220519041350_nabil2 - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 16:13:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15299', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Share Transaction of 14 Companies on Hold due to Merger', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: Share trading of 14 companies has been halted due to the process of merger and acquisition.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 19: Share trading of 14 companies has been halted due to the process of merger and acquisition. According to the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), the trading of shares of three commercial banks, five insurance companies, six microfinance companies, and two hydropower companies has been halted for the purpose of merger and acquisition.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The three commercial banks are Nepal Investment Bank, Himalayan Bank and Nepal Bangladesh Bank. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Share trading of Nepal Investment Bank and Himalayan Bank has been suspended since 31st April 2021 because of the merger process. Although the merger between the two banks has broken down, the share trading is still suspended.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NEPSE has stated that the share transaction has not be opened despite the breakdown of the merger between the two banks as they have not submitted written request in this regard.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Share trading of Nepal Bangladesh Bank, which is being acquired by Nabil Bank, has also been suspended since December 12, 2021.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At this time, banks and financial institutions, insurance companies and the hydropower sector are going through mergers and acquisitions. Recently, five insurance companies have signed merger agreements.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Everest Insurance and Himalayan General Insurance have agreed to merge in order to increase their paid-up capital.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Share trading of the two companies, which entered into a preliminary merger agreement on April 7, has been suspended since April 8. The largest merger agreement in the insurance sector has been reached between Union Life Insurance, Gurans Life Insurance and Prime Life Insurance.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Share trading of the three companies, which had signed a preliminary agreement on the merger on April 13, has been suspended since May 12 due to four consecutive days of public holiday. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Apart from this, share trading of Nadep Microfinance, Andhikhola Microfinance, Ghodighoda Microfinance and Samaj Microfinance has also been blocked on the pretext of merger and acquisition.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Investors have complained that mergers and acquisitions have hampered trading for a long time. Even after months of exiting the merger and acquisition process, the general investors’ assets seem to have been jeopardized by not opening the transaction.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ambika Prasad Poudel, president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Capital Market Forum, said that the investors who have always been supporting the merger and acquisition process have been hit the hardest at this time.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15041', 'image' => '20220519031228_Mergers-and-Acquisitions-Vietnam.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 15:11:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15298', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Credit Flow and Deposit Collection of Banks Declining ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: Credit flow and deposit collection of banks have been steadily declining. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 19: Credit flow and deposit collection of banks have been steadily declining. Banks have started reducing the credit flow as deposit collection in banks have not been able to rise amid the current liquidity crisis. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Nepal Bankers’ Association, Rs 19 billion was withdrawn from commercial banks between mid-April and mid-May. The total deposits of commercial banks which stood at Rs 4.38 trillion by mid-April, has come down to Rs 4.37 as of mid-May. The association said that although there has been a slight improvement in deposits in late April, there has been a steady decline in deposits after that. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Local elections is believed to be the main reason for the decline in deposit collection of banks. Chairman of the Nepal Bankers' Association and Chief Executive Officer of the Agricultural Development Bank Anil Kumar Upadhyaya said that the money withdrawn from the banking system during the election will be returned to the system gradually. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Along with the deposit collection, the credit flow of the banks have also declined. The credit flow of the banks, which was Rs 4.197 trillion in mid-April, has dropped by Rs 6 billion to Rs Rs 4.191 trillion in mid-May. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The credit flow of the banks are stagnant at the moment as the credit-deposit (CD) ratio is high due to the liquidity crisis. Banks have disbursed only small loans that were already approved. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank has directed banks to maintain the CD ratio of 90 percent by mid-July. However, according to the data of the association, the CD ratio of only nine banks was within the prescribed ratio by the central bank. Besides, the CD ratio of more than a dozen banks is more than 91 percent and half a dozen banks is around 90 percent. The banks have started reducing credit flow to maintain the CD ratio. As per the NRB, the average CD ratio of banks till May 16 is 90.44 percent. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15040', 'image' => '20220519011625_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 13:15:48', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15297', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Lawmakers Stress on Common Understanding for Balanced Development', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 19: A meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday held discussion on the principles and priorities of budget and the programmes to be included in the appropriation bill for the next fiscal year (FY 2022/23). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 19: A meeting of the House of Representatives on Wednesday held discussion on the principles and priorities of budget and the programmes to be included in the appropriation bill for the next fiscal year (FY 2022/23). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Attending the session, lawmakers stressed the need for balanced development activities and economic distribution. Suggesting that a common understanding should be reached to bring the budget, they stressed that it should prioritise agriculture, energy and tourism and lead the country toward economic independence. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The principles and priorities of budget presented in Tuesday’s HoR session by Finance Minister Janardan Sharma focused on maintaining fiscal discipline. The government has proposed budget allocation for the projects that are feasible in terms of finance and technology and also plans to cut government expenditure in non-productive areas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the budget proposal has emphasised on building an independent and socialism-oriented economy while focusing on social justice and rural development, generating job opportunities for youths within the country and increasing agricultural production. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During the discussion, ruling NC’s whip Pushpa Bhusal Gautam expressed the hope that the budget would help take strides in rural development and in the sectors of energy and tourism while increasing agricultural production. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Haribol Gajurel from the CPN (Maoist Center), a coalition partner in the incumbent government, criticised the principles and priorities of budget for not including the issue of land reforms. He suggested that there should have been a wide discussions among political parties, both ruling and opposition, before making government’s policies and programmes. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Uma Shankar Aragariya from the Loktantrik Samajwadi Party stressed the need for prioritising agriculture and resolving problems faced farmers such as the lack of fertilizers and seeds. </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"">Main opposition CPN (UML)’s Khagaraj Adhikari emphasised the need to transform tourism and culture into national capital. He also criticised the incumbent government of increasing trade deficit. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Also, Samina Hussein from the CPN (Unified Socialist), an alliance partner in the government, underscored the need for the agriculture development. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The lower house will next meet today (May 19) at 1:00 pm. -- RSS </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-19', 'modified' => '2022-05-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15039', 'image' => '20220519114444_Parliament.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-19 11:43:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15296', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'DoTM Increases Public Transport Fares', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 18: The government has increased the fares of public transport with immediate effect. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt">May 18: The government has increased the fares of public transport with immediate effect. The Department of Transport Management under the federal government has adjusted the fare of public transport after the price of diesel and petrol was increased by Rs 10 per litre.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt">The fare has been increased by 5.1 percent. The department has increased the fare as per the arrangement of automatically adjusting the fare of public transport along with the change in the price of petroleum products.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt">The department has said that the increased fare will be applicable for public transport plying through two or more states (on a national level route) from Wednesday. Now the state governments will also adjust the fare of public transport on this basis.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-18', 'modified' => '2022-05-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15038', 'image' => '20220518063257_TransportMCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-18 18:32:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15295', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Price of Tomato Increases Four-fold within a Month', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 18: Sunil Sharma of Asan, Kathmandu was shocked to hear the price of tomato when he went to buy vegetables on Monday morning. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 18: Sunil Sharma of Asan, Kathmandu was shocked to hear the price of tomato when he went to buy vegetables on Monday morning. He said, “I found tomatoes at Rs 140 per kg in a shop. I had to buy it even though it was expensive.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Consumers are complaining that tomatoes are hard to find in most of the shops now as the price has skyrocketed. A month ago, the price of tomatoes at the Kalimati vegetable market was Rs 20 to Rs 30 per kg. But at present, it is sold at Rs 80 to Rs 95 per kg. This is a four-fold increment in the price of tomatoes within a month. Consumers are suffering due to high prices. The retail prices are even higher than the wholesale price.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tomato is one of the essential vegetables in Nepali kitchen. Thus, the consumers are put in a troublesome situation whenever its price goes up. The tomatoes which used to be delivered to Kathmandu under normal circumstances are now being consumed in the villages due to the environment created by the local level elections. This has also put pressure on supplies.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Spokesperson of Kalimati Vegetable and Fruit Market Development Committee Binaya Shrestha said that the prices of tomato has skyrocketed because its imports from India were halted due to the local elections. In addition to this, there has been a reduction in supply from local producers.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Shrestha said, during the first nine months of the current fiscal year, 26,802 tons of small-sized tomatoes entered the Kalimati vegetable market. He added that 4,066 tons were imported from India and the rest was domestically produced. Kathmandu is currently receiving large quantities of tomatoes from Dhading, Makwanpur, Kavre and Chitwan. According to him, now is the time for Indian tomatoes to hit the market rather than the Nepali tomatoes.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is a compulsion to import tomatoes as domestically produced tomatoes fail to meet the market demand. When imported from abroad, the price goes up and down due to various reasons. Shrestha said that the price of tomato will go down again after it starts coming from India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Tomatoes of larger size are imported from India rather than the small-sized tomatoes. Demand for this specialty is high during this period due its usage as salads in parties of various functions. In 9 months of the current fiscal year, 5,400 tons of large- sized tomatoes entered the Kalimati market from India.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-18', 'modified' => '2022-05-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '15037', 'image' => '20220518031459_Tomato_je.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-18 15:13:59', '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
