May 2: Julan Majhi, 40, of Kauwa forest in Sakhuwa Prasauni Rural Municipality-3 of Parsa has no idea about the International Labour…
May 2: Julan Majhi, 40, of Kauwa forest in Sakhuwa Prasauni Rural Municipality-3 of Parsa has no idea about the International Labour…
May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional…
May 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel…
May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their…
May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal…
May 1: The US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact project has been published in the Nepal Gazette, the government's official…
May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent…
May 1: The Supreme Court has upheld its interim order to allow Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari to resume his…
May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic…
May 1: Investors from 14 countries have registered industries in Nepal in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY). Compared to last fiscal year, the foreign investment proposal has improved this…
May 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four…
April 29: The state-owned Nepal Telecom (NT) is set to distribute e-SIM to its subscribers.…
April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).…
April 29: Nepal has exported tea worth Rs 2 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year while the country has imported tea worth Rs 80 million during the review…
April 29: ICRA Nepal has upgraded the issuer rating of NMB Bank Limited (NMB), indicating an adequate degree of safety regarding the timely servicing of financial…
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Majhi, who is busy with daily labor for livelihood, was not given any leave on May Day. He worked on road construction in Rampur of Palpa on May 1, which is the International Labour Day.</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"">He started working as a laborer at the age of 10 and it has already been more than three decades since then. He has already worked in the fields of road construction, building and bridge construction, and transportation of goods. He was busy with his daily work even on the Labour Day. Majhi remarked, “What is Labour Day? We need to work every day. The stove in the house does not light up on days when I don’t work.” He earns a daily wage of Rs 600 and supports his family of 4 including children.</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"">Raju Majhi, 25, of Parsa is also busy with labor. He works hard to blacktop the roads from morning till evening. He was also unaware of Labour Day on Sunday. He said, “There is not enough to eat without work. I cannot expect somebody to earn for me. I need to take care of my wife and children at home.”</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"">Tikaram Pun, 30, of Purtighat in Gulmi's Kali Gandaki Municipality-4 was busy with house construction on the Labour Day. He knows that Labour Day is celebrated on May 1, but it did not make any difference in his routine. He has been working for five years and gets a daily wage of Rs 750. However, if he is late for work even by a single hour, his wage is deducted.</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"">While celebrating the Labour Day, the workers demanded the government to increase the wages on time, provide employment in the villages and create an environment for people compelled to go for foreign employment to stay in the country itself.</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"">Netra Bahadur Rana, 42, of Bahkhola in Rampur Municipality-7 has been earning a living for the past six years. Lately, the election activity in the village is increasing. Leaders and activists are giving him various assurances. But he does not have faith in those leaders and activists as they will not return back after the election.</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"">Most of the workers working in the informal sector are dissatisfied with the government's inability to work for the welfare of the workers. Workers complained that they are not getting even the minimum wage set by the state. They complained that they have to work for wages fixed in the past but the prices of goods and services in the market are constantly rising at present.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14945', 'image' => '20220502055741_Labour Day.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 17:56:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15202', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cooking Oil Industries of Nepal Facing Problems in Importing Raw Materials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional problem.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional problem.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industrialists are in a tight spot after Indonesia halted the export of semi-processed palm oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The price of edible oil has been on the rise since the onset of Covid-19 pandemic. The price increased further due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the two main producers of oil. It disrupted the supply chain of raw materials for cooking oil. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nikhil Chachan, the operator of Birgunj-based Narayani Oil, said that additional problems have surfaced after Indonesia halted the export of semi-processed palm oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Indonesia halted the exports of palm oil since April 28 to control the price of oil in its domestic market. According to Chachan, the traders and importers can do nothing else than wait until Indonesia reviews the decision as per its commitment on May 7.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The domestic industries of Nepal process semi-refined palm oil imported from Indonesia. Most of the oil produced in Nepal is exported to India. Edible oil is the biggest contributor to Nepal's export trade of late. About 2 dozen industries in Nepal produce oil. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prabhudayal Agrawal, manager of Annapurna Vegetable Products said that managing the raw materials is challenging. Agarwal claims that Indonesia controlled its exports a month ago. Agarwal told New Business Age, “Even though the export ban was announced only last week, consignment delivery has been disrupted since the beginning of April.” Russia's military operation, which has been going on for more than two months, has disrupted the supply of unrefined oil to Nepal. Nepal's oil producers used to import more than 80 percent of sunflower and soybean oil from Ukraine prior to the conflict. Russia is also a major supplier of sunflower and mustard to Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importers remarked that the demand for soybean oil is growing as the imports of sunflower and mustard became uncertain. Director of OCB Food Suresh Rungta informed about the hike in price of cooking oil. Prices skyrocketed mainly due to disruption in supply of raw materials. Rungata said, the price of cooking oil, which was Rs 250 per liter two months ago, is now Rs 300.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the industrialists, the production cost of soybean oil has increased. Chachan said, “The price of semi-refined soybean oil, which was 1,900 USD per metric ton before Russia's military action against Ukraine, is now 2,100 USD.” </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14944', 'image' => '20220502031810_oil1501009175_7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 15:17:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15201', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Promotion held in New York', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel Association.', '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 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel Association as well as an organization named Nepal-The Wonderland of Natural, Cultural and Spiritual Beauty. </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 promotion event aimed at imparting the message that Nepal has reopened for travel and tourism after the Covid-19 pandemic and that the country is eager to welcome American tourists.</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"">Amrit Bahadur Rai, Nepal's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, who was the chief guest of the promotional event, said that Nepal's tourism is rich in natural beauty, cultural diversity, yoga, meditation and spirituality. He urged the guests to visit Nepal as tourism and other businesses have returned to normalcy.</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 attendee invited to the programme were given information about the major tourist attractions of Nepal, the services provided by Nepal to the tourists during the Covid-19 pandemic, the recently added tourism infrastructure, facilities and the new travel facilitation measures adopted by 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"">Nepali representatives also urged the invited guests, pilots, travel and tour business communities to consider Nepal as one of their favourite destinations. </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"">Most of the guests and speakers of the programme had travelled to Nepal earlier. They shared their unforgettable travel experience in Nepal. The event was graced by the presence of Seth Sycroff, Chief Executive Officer of the Sir Edmund Hillary Medal Project, British-American mountaineers, Everest climbers, and the first woman to reach the highest and deepest point on Earth.</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 event was organized on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Nepal-US diplomatic relations. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14943', 'image' => '20220502020900_Consulateumb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 14:07:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15200', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '70 Percent Members of Cooperatives Found Saving Money: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their money.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their money. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study conducted by Kathmandu University shows that 70 percent customers join cooperatives with the motive of saving. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The university had conducted the study focused on the contribution of cooperatives in Lumbini and Karnali provinces with the help of National Cooperatives Federation. Unveiling the preliminary report of the study, KU informed that 70 percent of members of cooperatives were found saving money. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the study found that 15 percent members join cooperatives for financial service while another 15 percent become members to get loan. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">At a time when the cooperatives in urban areas are under scrutiny, the study revealed that 86 percent customers in Karnali Province were satisfied with the cooperatives. The report further states that women were more happy with the service of cooperatives than men.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More than half of the respondents of the study conducted by the KU School of Management said they became entrepreneurs after joining cooperatives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Cooperatives have not only helped in developing saving habit but also played a vital role in creating entrepreneurship,” Prof Dr Binod Krishna Shrestha of KUSOM said referring to the preliminary report. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The study has shown that 62 percent of people who joined cooperatives in Lumbini Province and 57 percent in Karnali Province started their own business,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study shows that cooperatives have helped in developing saving habit as well as decision-making capacity, establishment of new businesses, creating employment opportunities, and ensuring financial independence among others. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study has recommended concerned bodies to ensure access of services of cooperatives among extremely poor communities and getting cooperatives involved in social works. Other suggestions of the report include involvement of cooperatives in education and risk management. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14942', 'image' => '20220502115836_362_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 11:57:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15199', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 1.5K Suspicious Transaction Reports under Investigation: NRB ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During this period, 465 reports were reviewed, 265 were documented while 119 were sent to the law enforcement bodies for investigation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the central bank said that the total internal borrowing liability of the government was Rs 60.57 billion till date while internal debt worth Rs 29.24 has been cleared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the central bank said it monitored 15 commercial banks under the guidelines prepared to increase supervisory effectiveness for prevention of money laundering and financial investment in terrorist activities. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14941', 'image' => '20220502110410_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 11:03:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15198', 'article_category_id' => '278', 'title' => 'MCC Compact Published in Nepal Gazette ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: The US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact project has been published in the Nepal Gazette, the government's official bulletin. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 1: The US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact project has been published in the Nepal Gazette, the government's official bulletin. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">With this, the project considered a milestone in the development of energy and infrastructure sector of Nepal has formally come into the implementation process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The $500 million project funded by the US government was ratified by the Federal Parliament on February 27, 2022 along with a 12-point interpretative declaration after a long political dispute and differences. The government and the MCC had signed the agreement on September 14, 2017. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC compact aims to maintain road quality, increase the availability and reliability of electricity, and facilitate cross-border electricity trade between Nepal and India—helping to spur investments, accelerate economic growth, and reduce poverty. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A total 312-kilometre transmission line of 400 kV capacity and nearly 100 kilometres of road would be constructed with the grant assistance under the MCC. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC compact has been ratified in line with Article 279 of the Constitution of Nepal and its authenticated copies in the Nepali and English language have been published in the Nepal Gazette as per Clause 12 of Nepal Treaty Act, 2074 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the agreement, MCC will provide US$ 459.5 million for the project. Apart from the financial management, US government will provide additional US$ 40.5 million to Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Under this project, the 400 kV double circuit transmission line at Nanglebhare of Kathmandu district will link the New Butwal substation in Butwal through Ratmate of Nuwakot and Damauli of Tanahun. Similarly, under the project, another transmission line goes through Galchhi in Dhading district to Hetauda in Makawanpur district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">All the preparedness for the project with a five-year completion deadline has moved forward, according to the MCA Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the process of using the forest lands and the distribution of compensation for acquiring them as per the environment impact assessment report is underway. Land acquisition at Ratmate in Nuwakot has been completed. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14940', 'image' => '20220501075907_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 19:58:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15197', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Gas Dealers to Face action for not Cooperating with Monitoring Team', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent monitoring.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent monitoring.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Director General of the Department Lila Prasad Sharma informed that action was taken against the dealers who denied showing purchase bills and broke the compliance with consumer law during the monitoring. According to him, action was taken against a gas depot of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-34 for not showing the purchase bill. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similar action was taken against one depot of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-32 Subidhanagar for not showing the bill while two depots in Anamnagar were booked for not acting in accordance with the consumer law.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department claims that various actions were taken and fines were slapped for not showing purchase bills during the monitoring in Chandragiri Municipality 14 and 15 and for not cooperating with the monitoring team by a depot of Lalitpur Metropolitan City 12. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department claimed that they have intensified monitoring focused on gas dealers recently after they created an artificial shortage of cooking gas. The department informed that it is imposing a fine of up to Rs 20,000 if the dealers were found to have hidden cooking gas.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14939', 'image' => '20220501065730_gas.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 18:56:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15196', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Upholds Interim Order on NRB Governor Case', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: The Supreme Court has upheld its interim order to allow Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari to resume his duties.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 1: The Supreme Court has upheld its interim order to allow Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari to resume his duties. A division bench of Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Tanka Bahadur Moktan issued a verdict on Friday upholding an earlier decision taken by the apex court over the suspension of the governor.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Governor Adhikari had filed a writ petition on April 17 against the government's decision to form a committee to investigate his alleged role in leaking sensitive information relating to the decisions of the Ministry of Finance and not effectively fulfilling his responsibilities. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 7 had decided to investigative into the alleged role of Governor Adhikari in leaking sensitive information. The cabinet meeting had formed a committee under the coordination of former Supreme Court Justice Purushottam Bhandari to investigate the matter. The committee was asked to submit its report within a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, responding to the writ petition on April 19, a single bench of Justice Hari Prasad Phuyal had issued an interim order against the government's decision. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that the government started probe against the governor without adequate grounds.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The court observed that the government had initiated the probe without any valid basis and the governor was not given any opportunity to defend himself. In this context, the court ruled that the government’s decision was biased and was carried out with mala fide intentions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The court verdict states that the government’s decision to investigate against the governor is against the precedents set in similar cases involving former governors Tilak Rawal and Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A letter handed over to the governor only states that he lacks the capacity to work as the central bank’s governor. However, it does not mention on what grounds did the ministry consider the governor incompetent, reads the verdict.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The court ruling has also upheld the autonomy of the central bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Adhikari was appointed as the governor of NRB by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli. He was praised for adopting a private sector-friendly policy to uplift the economy battered by Covid-19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, after the formation of the new government, it was revealed that he did not enjoy good relation with incumbent Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. Both Sharma and Adhikari had publicly denied their relation had soured.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14938', 'image' => '20220501051817_Supreme Court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 17:17:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15195', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'President's Calls for Ensuring Rights of Labourers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic development. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic development. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a message on the occasion of the International Labour Day (May Day 2022) today, the President made such statement while extending the best wishes for happiness, peace and prosperity to all Nepali working at home and abroad. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Bhandari also urged to ensure labour rights including decent work, proper wages and social security to the workers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"On this occasion, I would like to extend respect to all workers contributing to the nation's prosperity through their investment of labour and skills in different areas, including the country's industry, agriculture, construction and service sectors," read the president's message. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Bhandari reminded the responsibility of all to ensure the rights of the working class people through the implementation of constitutional provisions in order to build a socialism-oriented economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She called upon creating employment opportunities at home to the youth who are forced to leave for foreign jobs President Bhandari also said concerned bodies and stakeholders should make continued efforts to safeguard the human rights of migrant workers. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14937', 'image' => '20220501032203_rastrapati.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 15:21:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15194', 'article_category_id' => '279', 'title' => 'Foreign Investors Pledge Rs 33 Billion in 9 Months ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: Investors from 14 countries have registered industries in Nepal in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY). Compared to last fiscal year, the foreign investment proposal has improved this year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 1: Investors from 14 countries have registered industries in Nepal in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY). Compared to last fiscal year, the foreign investment proposal has improved this year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chinese investors are in the forefront among the investors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Department of Industry, the Chinese businessmen account for 73.21 percent of the total foreign investment proposals. After China, Spain is the second largest investor. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department informed that a total investment of Rs 33.37 billion has been proposed for the current fiscal year. China's share amounts to Rs 24.43 billion. Chinese investors have registered 121 establishments to invest in Nepal's agriculture and forestry sectors, as well as ICT, manufacturing, service and tourism sectors. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chinese investors have made the largest investment proposals in the service sector, along with tourism and manufacturing industries. China has proposed to invest Rs 12 billion in the service sector and Rs 9.45 billion in the tourism industry. According to the department, 7,472 people will get employment as per the investment proposed by China. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, Spain has proposed a foreign investment of around Rs 5 billion. Spain has proposed to invest only in the service sector, and has registered a service-oriented establishment with the department. The country plans to invest Rs 4.85 billion in the business. The Spanish investment will provide employment to 29 people. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After China and Spain, India has offered a lot of investment in manufacturing, service and tourism sectors. Indians have proposed a total investment of Rs 1.77 billion out of whic Rs 1.33 billion is to be invested in the service sector and Rs 390 million in the productive sector, according to the records of the department. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Investors from Singapore have also proposed to invest Rs 1 billion by registering a productive business. Although the investment proposals from the United States are less than these five countries, the area of investment is larger. In these nine months, American investors have registered nine establishments with an offer to invest Rs 400 million. These include ICT, manufacturing, service and tourism sectors. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Australia is the sixth largest investor in Nepal with an investment proposal of Rs 345 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The data of the department has shown that there is a lot of attraction of foreign investors in the tourism and service sector of Nepal. Investors from some countries want to invest only in tourism and service sectors. In addition, investment proposals have come from France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Vietnam and the United Kingdom. Entrepreneurs from nine of these countries want to invest in tourism sector. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14936', 'image' => '20220501010354_Foreign investment.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 13:03:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15193', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor comes to a Grinding Halt', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four days.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">May 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four 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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has announced 12 to 16 hours of load shedding in the industrial areas on a daily basis. However, the industries complain that power supply has been totally cut 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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hari Gautam, vice-president of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the production of industries in the corridor has dropped to zero after the power supply was cut off. The champer estimates that there are 2,000 small and medium scale industries in the region.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the NEA, it has failed to supply electricity to the industries after India halted the supply 500 MW of electricity for the industries. India itself is facing an energy crisis due to the shortage of coal in the wake of Russia-Ukraine war.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">India has stopped exporting electricity to Nepal for its internal supply.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Jitendra Kumar Jha, head of NEA Birgunj Distribution Center, said that 500 MW of electricity coming from India has now dropped to 36 MW. </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:"Arial","sans-serif"">“The supply to industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor has been cut off. At present, electricity is being supplied only to the household consumers. It may take a few more days to provide electricity to the industries,” said Jha.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">The NEA had promised to supply to the industries alternately but the power supply was completely cut off due to the failure to bring electricity from India. </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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Jha also informed that efforts are being made to resume the supply of electricity. "Efforts are being made to supply electricity. Electricity is likely to be supplied to the industries as early as Tuesday,” 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:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEA has informed that 40 percent of the water of Kulekhani project has been consumed. NEA is under pressure to make arrangements for distribution of electricity generated from the remaining 60 percent water. According to the NEA, the shortage of energy will remain unless the flow of water in the rivers increases.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14935', 'image' => '20220501120609_Industries.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 12:04:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15192', 'article_category_id' => '237', 'title' => 'Nepal Telecom to provide e-SIM ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: The state-owned Nepal Telecom (NT) is set to distribute e-SIM to its subscribers. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 29: The state-owned Nepal Telecom (NT) is set to distribute e-SIM to its subscribers. Nepal Telecom has reached an agreement with Monty UK Global to provide e-SIM in the near future. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The agreement was signed recently between the chief business officer of Nepal Telecom Sangeeta Pahadi and Chief Executive Officer of Ultimate Horizon Technologies Private Limited, Aditya Anand. </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"">As per the agreement, Monty UK Global will provide the necessary platform to distribute e-SIM service to the customers of Nepal Telecom. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal Telecom is going to distribute e-SIM in the process of introducing new technology and the necessary work for this will start soon, said Chief Business Officer Pahadi. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">With the availability of e-SIM, there is no need for a physically used SIM card. However, customers need a handset that supports e-SIM. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Apart from mobile sets, e-SIM can also be used on other devices and smart watches and various types of wearable devices. Nepal Telecom has stated that all the existing users can use e-SIM while new users can also get such SIM. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14934', 'image' => '20220429074225_Nepal-Telecom-(NTC-Building).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 19:41:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15191', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal's GDP Projected to reach Rs 4851 Billion this Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). ', '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"">April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). This is based on consumer price estimates. As per the base rate, the size of the economy this year will be equal to Rs 4155 billion.</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 department estimates that the GDP will grow by 5.84 on the basis of consumer prices. The fiscal Year 2067/68 is considered the base year for calculating the growth rate of GDP.</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 department's estimate is more than the 4.1 percent projected by the International Monetary Fund two days ago. However, this is less than the government's target of 7 percent growth in the replacement budget.</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 a projection released by the World Bank last year, Nepal's economy was set to grow by 3.7 percent this year. The Asian Development Bank has projected a growth rate of 3.9 percent.</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 department estimated the economic growth rate for 6 to 9 months of the current fiscal year based on the data and information related to the economic sector, officials from the department said during a press conference held on Thursday. </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 only three months left for the fiscal year to end with no major factors affecting GDP and the impact of COVID-19 also declining, this estimate will be prove to be correct, said Nevin Lal Shrestha, Director General of the bureau.</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 CBS informed that the contribution of service and secondary sector to the GDP has increased in the current fiscal year. However, the contribution of the primary sector has declined. According to the bureau, the overall industrial sector has been divided into three groups-primary, secondary and service sector.</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"">Primary sectors include agro-forestry, fisheries, mining and excavation.</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 primary sector is projected to contribute 24.5 percent to the current year's GDP," the department said. Due to the decline in the production of paddy in the current fiscal year, the growth rate of this sector has been lower than that of the previous fiscal year.</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 CBS has estimated that the contribution of the second sector to the GDP will be 13.7 percent in the current fiscal year.</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 second area includes industry, electricity and gas, water supply and construction. The service sector includes wholesale and retail trade, housing and food services, transportation communication and storage, financial, real estate business, professional and administrative services, public administration and defense, education, health and other services. It is estimated that this sector has contributed 61.8 percent to the GDP in the current fiscal year.</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 bureau estimates that imports will reach Rs 2 trillion and exports Rs 320 billion this year. The per capita GDP is expected to be USD 1,372. The average per capita income of Nepalis is estimated to be 1,381 dollars. The department estimates the average per capita income for the previous year was 1,246. This year, total household savings will be 9.3 percent of the GDP.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14933', 'image' => '20220429044433_gdp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 16:43:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15190', 'article_category_id' => '268', 'title' => 'Nepal Exports Tea worth Rs 2 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: Nepal has exported tea worth Rs 2 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year while the country has imported tea worth Rs 80 million during the review period.', '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"">April 29: Nepal has exported tea worth Rs 2 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year while the country has imported tea worth Rs 80 million during the review period.</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"">Nepal, where other goods are imported in large quantities, has made good progress in exporting tea. </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 data of the Department of Customs, Nepal has imported 183 metric tonnes of tea worth Rs 79.3 million in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. During the same period, 9,017 metric tons of tea worth Rs 2.36 billion was exported. </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"">As Nepal's tea is considered to be of high quality, its demand is high in various countries like India, China, Sri Lanka, the USA, Australia and Europe. Therefore, the graph of tea export is higher than other commodities, said Dr Bishnu Prasad Bhattarai, executive director of the National Tea and Coffee Development Board. </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"">Even in the previous year, export of tea was better than imports. Nepal imported 218 metric tons of tea worth Rs 77.3 million in FY 2076/77 and exported 11,185 tons of tea worth Rs 2.78 billion. In FY 2077/78, 346 metric tons of tea worth Rs 151.31 million were imported and 11,920 metric tons of tea worth Rs 3.79 billion were exported. </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 says that the export of tea can make a significant contribution to reduce the growing trade deficit if stakeholders focus on the quality of tea.</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 data of the board, tea was cultivated in 16,917 hectares of land in Nepal in the fiscal year 2077/78. A total of 23,745 metric tons of tea was produced during the period. Although the current year's figures are not yet ready, the board estimates that production will increase by about 10 percent. More than 16,000 farmers and more than 60,000 workers are involved in tea farming 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"">Nepali tea is in high demand in the world market and is being sold at a high price. However, more than 90 percent of exports go to India. Tea producers say that they are forced to sell tea at lower prices in India. Due to this, tea farming business has not been profitable 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"">Binay Sharma, project coordinator of Nepal Increase Sustainable Tea Export Project, said that the variety of Nepali tea and technology could not be developed due to lack of research work on production and processing technology. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14932', 'image' => '20220429014709_Tea.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 13:46:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15189', 'article_category_id' => '218', 'title' => 'ICRA Nepal upgrades NMB bank's issuer rating ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: ICRA Nepal has upgraded the issuer rating of NMB Bank Limited (NMB), indicating an adequate degree of safety regarding the timely servicing of financial obligations. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 29: ICRA Nepal has upgraded the issuer rating of NMB Bank Limited (NMB), indicating an adequate degree of safety regarding the timely servicing of financial obligations. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Such issuers carry low credit risk, NMB said in a press statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">ICRA Nepal Limited is the first credit rating agency of Nepal and licensed by the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON). It is a subsidiary of ICRA Limited of India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The rating upgrade indicates the bank’s ability to successfully consolidate its business following a series of mergers/acquisitions, as reflected in the recent improvement in asset quality and delinquencies. The upgrade is a testament to the bank’s exemplary track record and improvement in overall performance even when the economy is reeling under the impact of COVID- 19 pandemic, the statement added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">‘The Banker Magazine’ of The Financial Times, London, has awarded NMB Bank with the prestigious Bank of the Year Asia 2021 award. The bank has also been awarded with Bank of the Year in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021. NMB Bank is currently providing its services through 201 branches, 138 ATMs and 11 extension counters. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14931', 'image' => '20220429012340_20150811023459_cf(8) (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 13:20:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, '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' => '15203', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Daily Wage Workers Compelled to Work on Labour Day', 'sub_title' => 'Many Labourers Unaware about May Day', 'summary' => 'May 2: Julan Majhi, 40, of Kauwa forest in Sakhuwa Prasauni Rural Municipality-3 of Parsa has no idea about the International Labour Day.', '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 2: Julan Majhi, 40, of Kauwa forest in Sakhuwa Prasauni Rural Municipality-3 of Parsa has no idea about the International Labour Day. Majhi, who is busy with daily labor for livelihood, was not given any leave on May Day. He worked on road construction in Rampur of Palpa on May 1, which is the International Labour Day.</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"">He started working as a laborer at the age of 10 and it has already been more than three decades since then. He has already worked in the fields of road construction, building and bridge construction, and transportation of goods. He was busy with his daily work even on the Labour Day. Majhi remarked, “What is Labour Day? We need to work every day. The stove in the house does not light up on days when I don’t work.” He earns a daily wage of Rs 600 and supports his family of 4 including children.</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"">Raju Majhi, 25, of Parsa is also busy with labor. He works hard to blacktop the roads from morning till evening. He was also unaware of Labour Day on Sunday. He said, “There is not enough to eat without work. I cannot expect somebody to earn for me. I need to take care of my wife and children at home.”</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"">Tikaram Pun, 30, of Purtighat in Gulmi's Kali Gandaki Municipality-4 was busy with house construction on the Labour Day. He knows that Labour Day is celebrated on May 1, but it did not make any difference in his routine. He has been working for five years and gets a daily wage of Rs 750. However, if he is late for work even by a single hour, his wage is deducted.</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"">While celebrating the Labour Day, the workers demanded the government to increase the wages on time, provide employment in the villages and create an environment for people compelled to go for foreign employment to stay in the country itself.</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"">Netra Bahadur Rana, 42, of Bahkhola in Rampur Municipality-7 has been earning a living for the past six years. Lately, the election activity in the village is increasing. Leaders and activists are giving him various assurances. But he does not have faith in those leaders and activists as they will not return back after the election.</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"">Most of the workers working in the informal sector are dissatisfied with the government's inability to work for the welfare of the workers. Workers complained that they are not getting even the minimum wage set by the state. They complained that they have to work for wages fixed in the past but the prices of goods and services in the market are constantly rising at present.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14945', 'image' => '20220502055741_Labour Day.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 17:56:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15202', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cooking Oil Industries of Nepal Facing Problems in Importing Raw Materials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional problem.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional problem.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industrialists are in a tight spot after Indonesia halted the export of semi-processed palm oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The price of edible oil has been on the rise since the onset of Covid-19 pandemic. The price increased further due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the two main producers of oil. It disrupted the supply chain of raw materials for cooking oil. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nikhil Chachan, the operator of Birgunj-based Narayani Oil, said that additional problems have surfaced after Indonesia halted the export of semi-processed palm oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Indonesia halted the exports of palm oil since April 28 to control the price of oil in its domestic market. According to Chachan, the traders and importers can do nothing else than wait until Indonesia reviews the decision as per its commitment on May 7.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The domestic industries of Nepal process semi-refined palm oil imported from Indonesia. Most of the oil produced in Nepal is exported to India. Edible oil is the biggest contributor to Nepal's export trade of late. About 2 dozen industries in Nepal produce oil. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prabhudayal Agrawal, manager of Annapurna Vegetable Products said that managing the raw materials is challenging. Agarwal claims that Indonesia controlled its exports a month ago. Agarwal told New Business Age, “Even though the export ban was announced only last week, consignment delivery has been disrupted since the beginning of April.” Russia's military operation, which has been going on for more than two months, has disrupted the supply of unrefined oil to Nepal. Nepal's oil producers used to import more than 80 percent of sunflower and soybean oil from Ukraine prior to the conflict. Russia is also a major supplier of sunflower and mustard to Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importers remarked that the demand for soybean oil is growing as the imports of sunflower and mustard became uncertain. Director of OCB Food Suresh Rungta informed about the hike in price of cooking oil. Prices skyrocketed mainly due to disruption in supply of raw materials. Rungata said, the price of cooking oil, which was Rs 250 per liter two months ago, is now Rs 300.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the industrialists, the production cost of soybean oil has increased. Chachan said, “The price of semi-refined soybean oil, which was 1,900 USD per metric ton before Russia's military action against Ukraine, is now 2,100 USD.” </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14944', 'image' => '20220502031810_oil1501009175_7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 15:17:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15201', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Promotion held in New York', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel Association.', '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 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel Association as well as an organization named Nepal-The Wonderland of Natural, Cultural and Spiritual Beauty. </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 promotion event aimed at imparting the message that Nepal has reopened for travel and tourism after the Covid-19 pandemic and that the country is eager to welcome American tourists.</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"">Amrit Bahadur Rai, Nepal's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, who was the chief guest of the promotional event, said that Nepal's tourism is rich in natural beauty, cultural diversity, yoga, meditation and spirituality. He urged the guests to visit Nepal as tourism and other businesses have returned to normalcy.</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 attendee invited to the programme were given information about the major tourist attractions of Nepal, the services provided by Nepal to the tourists during the Covid-19 pandemic, the recently added tourism infrastructure, facilities and the new travel facilitation measures adopted by 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"">Nepali representatives also urged the invited guests, pilots, travel and tour business communities to consider Nepal as one of their favourite destinations. </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"">Most of the guests and speakers of the programme had travelled to Nepal earlier. They shared their unforgettable travel experience in Nepal. The event was graced by the presence of Seth Sycroff, Chief Executive Officer of the Sir Edmund Hillary Medal Project, British-American mountaineers, Everest climbers, and the first woman to reach the highest and deepest point on Earth.</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 event was organized on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Nepal-US diplomatic relations. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14943', 'image' => '20220502020900_Consulateumb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 14:07:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15200', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '70 Percent Members of Cooperatives Found Saving Money: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their money.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their money. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study conducted by Kathmandu University shows that 70 percent customers join cooperatives with the motive of saving. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The university had conducted the study focused on the contribution of cooperatives in Lumbini and Karnali provinces with the help of National Cooperatives Federation. Unveiling the preliminary report of the study, KU informed that 70 percent of members of cooperatives were found saving money. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the study found that 15 percent members join cooperatives for financial service while another 15 percent become members to get loan. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">At a time when the cooperatives in urban areas are under scrutiny, the study revealed that 86 percent customers in Karnali Province were satisfied with the cooperatives. The report further states that women were more happy with the service of cooperatives than men.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More than half of the respondents of the study conducted by the KU School of Management said they became entrepreneurs after joining cooperatives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Cooperatives have not only helped in developing saving habit but also played a vital role in creating entrepreneurship,” Prof Dr Binod Krishna Shrestha of KUSOM said referring to the preliminary report. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The study has shown that 62 percent of people who joined cooperatives in Lumbini Province and 57 percent in Karnali Province started their own business,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study shows that cooperatives have helped in developing saving habit as well as decision-making capacity, establishment of new businesses, creating employment opportunities, and ensuring financial independence among others. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study has recommended concerned bodies to ensure access of services of cooperatives among extremely poor communities and getting cooperatives involved in social works. Other suggestions of the report include involvement of cooperatives in education and risk management. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14942', 'image' => '20220502115836_362_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 11:57:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15199', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 1.5K Suspicious Transaction Reports under Investigation: NRB ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During this period, 465 reports were reviewed, 265 were documented while 119 were sent to the law enforcement bodies for investigation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the central bank said that the total internal borrowing liability of the government was Rs 60.57 billion till date while internal debt worth Rs 29.24 has been cleared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the central bank said it monitored 15 commercial banks under the guidelines prepared to increase supervisory effectiveness for prevention of money laundering and financial investment in terrorist activities. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14941', 'image' => '20220502110410_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 11:03:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15198', 'article_category_id' => '278', 'title' => 'MCC Compact Published in Nepal Gazette ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: The US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact project has been published in the Nepal Gazette, the government's official bulletin. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 1: The US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact project has been published in the Nepal Gazette, the government's official bulletin. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">With this, the project considered a milestone in the development of energy and infrastructure sector of Nepal has formally come into the implementation process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The $500 million project funded by the US government was ratified by the Federal Parliament on February 27, 2022 along with a 12-point interpretative declaration after a long political dispute and differences. The government and the MCC had signed the agreement on September 14, 2017. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC compact aims to maintain road quality, increase the availability and reliability of electricity, and facilitate cross-border electricity trade between Nepal and India—helping to spur investments, accelerate economic growth, and reduce poverty. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A total 312-kilometre transmission line of 400 kV capacity and nearly 100 kilometres of road would be constructed with the grant assistance under the MCC. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC compact has been ratified in line with Article 279 of the Constitution of Nepal and its authenticated copies in the Nepali and English language have been published in the Nepal Gazette as per Clause 12 of Nepal Treaty Act, 2074 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the agreement, MCC will provide US$ 459.5 million for the project. Apart from the financial management, US government will provide additional US$ 40.5 million to Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Under this project, the 400 kV double circuit transmission line at Nanglebhare of Kathmandu district will link the New Butwal substation in Butwal through Ratmate of Nuwakot and Damauli of Tanahun. Similarly, under the project, another transmission line goes through Galchhi in Dhading district to Hetauda in Makawanpur district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">All the preparedness for the project with a five-year completion deadline has moved forward, according to the MCA Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the process of using the forest lands and the distribution of compensation for acquiring them as per the environment impact assessment report is underway. Land acquisition at Ratmate in Nuwakot has been completed. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14940', 'image' => '20220501075907_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 19:58:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15197', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Gas Dealers to Face action for not Cooperating with Monitoring Team', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent monitoring.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent monitoring.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Director General of the Department Lila Prasad Sharma informed that action was taken against the dealers who denied showing purchase bills and broke the compliance with consumer law during the monitoring. According to him, action was taken against a gas depot of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-34 for not showing the purchase bill. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similar action was taken against one depot of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-32 Subidhanagar for not showing the bill while two depots in Anamnagar were booked for not acting in accordance with the consumer law.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department claims that various actions were taken and fines were slapped for not showing purchase bills during the monitoring in Chandragiri Municipality 14 and 15 and for not cooperating with the monitoring team by a depot of Lalitpur Metropolitan City 12. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department claimed that they have intensified monitoring focused on gas dealers recently after they created an artificial shortage of cooking gas. The department informed that it is imposing a fine of up to Rs 20,000 if the dealers were found to have hidden cooking gas.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14939', 'image' => '20220501065730_gas.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 18:56:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15196', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Upholds Interim Order on NRB Governor Case', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: The Supreme Court has upheld its interim order to allow Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari to resume his duties.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 1: The Supreme Court has upheld its interim order to allow Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari to resume his duties. A division bench of Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Tanka Bahadur Moktan issued a verdict on Friday upholding an earlier decision taken by the apex court over the suspension of the governor.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Governor Adhikari had filed a writ petition on April 17 against the government's decision to form a committee to investigate his alleged role in leaking sensitive information relating to the decisions of the Ministry of Finance and not effectively fulfilling his responsibilities. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 7 had decided to investigative into the alleged role of Governor Adhikari in leaking sensitive information. The cabinet meeting had formed a committee under the coordination of former Supreme Court Justice Purushottam Bhandari to investigate the matter. The committee was asked to submit its report within a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, responding to the writ petition on April 19, a single bench of Justice Hari Prasad Phuyal had issued an interim order against the government's decision. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that the government started probe against the governor without adequate grounds.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The court observed that the government had initiated the probe without any valid basis and the governor was not given any opportunity to defend himself. In this context, the court ruled that the government’s decision was biased and was carried out with mala fide intentions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The court verdict states that the government’s decision to investigate against the governor is against the precedents set in similar cases involving former governors Tilak Rawal and Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A letter handed over to the governor only states that he lacks the capacity to work as the central bank’s governor. However, it does not mention on what grounds did the ministry consider the governor incompetent, reads the verdict.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The court ruling has also upheld the autonomy of the central bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Adhikari was appointed as the governor of NRB by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli. He was praised for adopting a private sector-friendly policy to uplift the economy battered by Covid-19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, after the formation of the new government, it was revealed that he did not enjoy good relation with incumbent Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. Both Sharma and Adhikari had publicly denied their relation had soured.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14938', 'image' => '20220501051817_Supreme Court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 17:17:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15195', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'President's Calls for Ensuring Rights of Labourers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic development. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic development. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a message on the occasion of the International Labour Day (May Day 2022) today, the President made such statement while extending the best wishes for happiness, peace and prosperity to all Nepali working at home and abroad. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Bhandari also urged to ensure labour rights including decent work, proper wages and social security to the workers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"On this occasion, I would like to extend respect to all workers contributing to the nation's prosperity through their investment of labour and skills in different areas, including the country's industry, agriculture, construction and service sectors," read the president's message. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Bhandari reminded the responsibility of all to ensure the rights of the working class people through the implementation of constitutional provisions in order to build a socialism-oriented economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She called upon creating employment opportunities at home to the youth who are forced to leave for foreign jobs President Bhandari also said concerned bodies and stakeholders should make continued efforts to safeguard the human rights of migrant workers. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14937', 'image' => '20220501032203_rastrapati.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 15:21:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15194', 'article_category_id' => '279', 'title' => 'Foreign Investors Pledge Rs 33 Billion in 9 Months ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: Investors from 14 countries have registered industries in Nepal in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY). Compared to last fiscal year, the foreign investment proposal has improved this year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 1: Investors from 14 countries have registered industries in Nepal in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY). Compared to last fiscal year, the foreign investment proposal has improved this year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chinese investors are in the forefront among the investors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Department of Industry, the Chinese businessmen account for 73.21 percent of the total foreign investment proposals. After China, Spain is the second largest investor. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department informed that a total investment of Rs 33.37 billion has been proposed for the current fiscal year. China's share amounts to Rs 24.43 billion. Chinese investors have registered 121 establishments to invest in Nepal's agriculture and forestry sectors, as well as ICT, manufacturing, service and tourism sectors. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chinese investors have made the largest investment proposals in the service sector, along with tourism and manufacturing industries. China has proposed to invest Rs 12 billion in the service sector and Rs 9.45 billion in the tourism industry. According to the department, 7,472 people will get employment as per the investment proposed by China. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, Spain has proposed a foreign investment of around Rs 5 billion. Spain has proposed to invest only in the service sector, and has registered a service-oriented establishment with the department. The country plans to invest Rs 4.85 billion in the business. The Spanish investment will provide employment to 29 people. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After China and Spain, India has offered a lot of investment in manufacturing, service and tourism sectors. Indians have proposed a total investment of Rs 1.77 billion out of whic Rs 1.33 billion is to be invested in the service sector and Rs 390 million in the productive sector, according to the records of the department. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Investors from Singapore have also proposed to invest Rs 1 billion by registering a productive business. Although the investment proposals from the United States are less than these five countries, the area of investment is larger. In these nine months, American investors have registered nine establishments with an offer to invest Rs 400 million. These include ICT, manufacturing, service and tourism sectors. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Australia is the sixth largest investor in Nepal with an investment proposal of Rs 345 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The data of the department has shown that there is a lot of attraction of foreign investors in the tourism and service sector of Nepal. Investors from some countries want to invest only in tourism and service sectors. In addition, investment proposals have come from France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Vietnam and the United Kingdom. Entrepreneurs from nine of these countries want to invest in tourism sector. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14936', 'image' => '20220501010354_Foreign investment.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 13:03:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15193', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor comes to a Grinding Halt', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four days.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">May 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four 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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has announced 12 to 16 hours of load shedding in the industrial areas on a daily basis. However, the industries complain that power supply has been totally cut 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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hari Gautam, vice-president of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the production of industries in the corridor has dropped to zero after the power supply was cut off. The champer estimates that there are 2,000 small and medium scale industries in the region.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the NEA, it has failed to supply electricity to the industries after India halted the supply 500 MW of electricity for the industries. India itself is facing an energy crisis due to the shortage of coal in the wake of Russia-Ukraine war.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">India has stopped exporting electricity to Nepal for its internal supply.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Jitendra Kumar Jha, head of NEA Birgunj Distribution Center, said that 500 MW of electricity coming from India has now dropped to 36 MW. </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:"Arial","sans-serif"">“The supply to industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor has been cut off. At present, electricity is being supplied only to the household consumers. It may take a few more days to provide electricity to the industries,” said Jha.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">The NEA had promised to supply to the industries alternately but the power supply was completely cut off due to the failure to bring electricity from India. </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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Jha also informed that efforts are being made to resume the supply of electricity. "Efforts are being made to supply electricity. Electricity is likely to be supplied to the industries as early as Tuesday,” 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:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEA has informed that 40 percent of the water of Kulekhani project has been consumed. NEA is under pressure to make arrangements for distribution of electricity generated from the remaining 60 percent water. According to the NEA, the shortage of energy will remain unless the flow of water in the rivers increases.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14935', 'image' => '20220501120609_Industries.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 12:04:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15192', 'article_category_id' => '237', 'title' => 'Nepal Telecom to provide e-SIM ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: The state-owned Nepal Telecom (NT) is set to distribute e-SIM to its subscribers. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 29: The state-owned Nepal Telecom (NT) is set to distribute e-SIM to its subscribers. Nepal Telecom has reached an agreement with Monty UK Global to provide e-SIM in the near future. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The agreement was signed recently between the chief business officer of Nepal Telecom Sangeeta Pahadi and Chief Executive Officer of Ultimate Horizon Technologies Private Limited, Aditya Anand. </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"">As per the agreement, Monty UK Global will provide the necessary platform to distribute e-SIM service to the customers of Nepal Telecom. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal Telecom is going to distribute e-SIM in the process of introducing new technology and the necessary work for this will start soon, said Chief Business Officer Pahadi. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">With the availability of e-SIM, there is no need for a physically used SIM card. However, customers need a handset that supports e-SIM. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Apart from mobile sets, e-SIM can also be used on other devices and smart watches and various types of wearable devices. Nepal Telecom has stated that all the existing users can use e-SIM while new users can also get such SIM. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14934', 'image' => '20220429074225_Nepal-Telecom-(NTC-Building).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 19:41:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15191', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal's GDP Projected to reach Rs 4851 Billion this Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). ', '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"">April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). This is based on consumer price estimates. As per the base rate, the size of the economy this year will be equal to Rs 4155 billion.</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 department estimates that the GDP will grow by 5.84 on the basis of consumer prices. The fiscal Year 2067/68 is considered the base year for calculating the growth rate of GDP.</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 department's estimate is more than the 4.1 percent projected by the International Monetary Fund two days ago. However, this is less than the government's target of 7 percent growth in the replacement budget.</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 a projection released by the World Bank last year, Nepal's economy was set to grow by 3.7 percent this year. The Asian Development Bank has projected a growth rate of 3.9 percent.</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 department estimated the economic growth rate for 6 to 9 months of the current fiscal year based on the data and information related to the economic sector, officials from the department said during a press conference held on Thursday. </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 only three months left for the fiscal year to end with no major factors affecting GDP and the impact of COVID-19 also declining, this estimate will be prove to be correct, said Nevin Lal Shrestha, Director General of the bureau.</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 CBS informed that the contribution of service and secondary sector to the GDP has increased in the current fiscal year. However, the contribution of the primary sector has declined. According to the bureau, the overall industrial sector has been divided into three groups-primary, secondary and service sector.</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"">Primary sectors include agro-forestry, fisheries, mining and excavation.</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 primary sector is projected to contribute 24.5 percent to the current year's GDP," the department said. Due to the decline in the production of paddy in the current fiscal year, the growth rate of this sector has been lower than that of the previous fiscal year.</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 CBS has estimated that the contribution of the second sector to the GDP will be 13.7 percent in the current fiscal year.</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 second area includes industry, electricity and gas, water supply and construction. The service sector includes wholesale and retail trade, housing and food services, transportation communication and storage, financial, real estate business, professional and administrative services, public administration and defense, education, health and other services. It is estimated that this sector has contributed 61.8 percent to the GDP in the current fiscal year.</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 bureau estimates that imports will reach Rs 2 trillion and exports Rs 320 billion this year. The per capita GDP is expected to be USD 1,372. The average per capita income of Nepalis is estimated to be 1,381 dollars. The department estimates the average per capita income for the previous year was 1,246. This year, total household savings will be 9.3 percent of the GDP.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14933', 'image' => '20220429044433_gdp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 16:43:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15190', 'article_category_id' => '268', 'title' => 'Nepal Exports Tea worth Rs 2 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: Nepal has exported tea worth Rs 2 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year while the country has imported tea worth Rs 80 million during the review period.', '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"">April 29: Nepal has exported tea worth Rs 2 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year while the country has imported tea worth Rs 80 million during the review period.</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"">Nepal, where other goods are imported in large quantities, has made good progress in exporting tea. </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 data of the Department of Customs, Nepal has imported 183 metric tonnes of tea worth Rs 79.3 million in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. During the same period, 9,017 metric tons of tea worth Rs 2.36 billion was exported. </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"">As Nepal's tea is considered to be of high quality, its demand is high in various countries like India, China, Sri Lanka, the USA, Australia and Europe. Therefore, the graph of tea export is higher than other commodities, said Dr Bishnu Prasad Bhattarai, executive director of the National Tea and Coffee Development Board. </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"">Even in the previous year, export of tea was better than imports. Nepal imported 218 metric tons of tea worth Rs 77.3 million in FY 2076/77 and exported 11,185 tons of tea worth Rs 2.78 billion. In FY 2077/78, 346 metric tons of tea worth Rs 151.31 million were imported and 11,920 metric tons of tea worth Rs 3.79 billion were exported. </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 says that the export of tea can make a significant contribution to reduce the growing trade deficit if stakeholders focus on the quality of tea.</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 data of the board, tea was cultivated in 16,917 hectares of land in Nepal in the fiscal year 2077/78. A total of 23,745 metric tons of tea was produced during the period. Although the current year's figures are not yet ready, the board estimates that production will increase by about 10 percent. More than 16,000 farmers and more than 60,000 workers are involved in tea farming 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"">Nepali tea is in high demand in the world market and is being sold at a high price. However, more than 90 percent of exports go to India. Tea producers say that they are forced to sell tea at lower prices in India. Due to this, tea farming business has not been profitable 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"">Binay Sharma, project coordinator of Nepal Increase Sustainable Tea Export Project, said that the variety of Nepali tea and technology could not be developed due to lack of research work on production and processing technology. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14932', 'image' => '20220429014709_Tea.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 13:46:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15189', 'article_category_id' => '218', 'title' => 'ICRA Nepal upgrades NMB bank's issuer rating ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: ICRA Nepal has upgraded the issuer rating of NMB Bank Limited (NMB), indicating an adequate degree of safety regarding the timely servicing of financial obligations. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 29: ICRA Nepal has upgraded the issuer rating of NMB Bank Limited (NMB), indicating an adequate degree of safety regarding the timely servicing of financial obligations. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Such issuers carry low credit risk, NMB said in a press statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">ICRA Nepal Limited is the first credit rating agency of Nepal and licensed by the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON). It is a subsidiary of ICRA Limited of India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The rating upgrade indicates the bank’s ability to successfully consolidate its business following a series of mergers/acquisitions, as reflected in the recent improvement in asset quality and delinquencies. The upgrade is a testament to the bank’s exemplary track record and improvement in overall performance even when the economy is reeling under the impact of COVID- 19 pandemic, the statement added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">‘The Banker Magazine’ of The Financial Times, London, has awarded NMB Bank with the prestigious Bank of the Year Asia 2021 award. The bank has also been awarded with Bank of the Year in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021. NMB Bank is currently providing its services through 201 branches, 138 ATMs and 11 extension counters. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14931', 'image' => '20220429012340_20150811023459_cf(8) (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 13:20:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, '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' => '15203', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Daily Wage Workers Compelled to Work on Labour Day', 'sub_title' => 'Many Labourers Unaware about May Day', 'summary' => 'May 2: Julan Majhi, 40, of Kauwa forest in Sakhuwa Prasauni Rural Municipality-3 of Parsa has no idea about the International Labour Day.', '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 2: Julan Majhi, 40, of Kauwa forest in Sakhuwa Prasauni Rural Municipality-3 of Parsa has no idea about the International Labour Day. Majhi, who is busy with daily labor for livelihood, was not given any leave on May Day. He worked on road construction in Rampur of Palpa on May 1, which is the International Labour Day.</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"">He started working as a laborer at the age of 10 and it has already been more than three decades since then. He has already worked in the fields of road construction, building and bridge construction, and transportation of goods. He was busy with his daily work even on the Labour Day. Majhi remarked, “What is Labour Day? We need to work every day. The stove in the house does not light up on days when I don’t work.” He earns a daily wage of Rs 600 and supports his family of 4 including children.</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"">Raju Majhi, 25, of Parsa is also busy with labor. He works hard to blacktop the roads from morning till evening. He was also unaware of Labour Day on Sunday. He said, “There is not enough to eat without work. I cannot expect somebody to earn for me. I need to take care of my wife and children at home.”</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"">Tikaram Pun, 30, of Purtighat in Gulmi's Kali Gandaki Municipality-4 was busy with house construction on the Labour Day. He knows that Labour Day is celebrated on May 1, but it did not make any difference in his routine. He has been working for five years and gets a daily wage of Rs 750. However, if he is late for work even by a single hour, his wage is deducted.</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"">While celebrating the Labour Day, the workers demanded the government to increase the wages on time, provide employment in the villages and create an environment for people compelled to go for foreign employment to stay in the country itself.</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"">Netra Bahadur Rana, 42, of Bahkhola in Rampur Municipality-7 has been earning a living for the past six years. Lately, the election activity in the village is increasing. Leaders and activists are giving him various assurances. But he does not have faith in those leaders and activists as they will not return back after the election.</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"">Most of the workers working in the informal sector are dissatisfied with the government's inability to work for the welfare of the workers. Workers complained that they are not getting even the minimum wage set by the state. They complained that they have to work for wages fixed in the past but the prices of goods and services in the market are constantly rising at present.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14945', 'image' => '20220502055741_Labour Day.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 17:56:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15202', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cooking Oil Industries of Nepal Facing Problems in Importing Raw Materials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional problem.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional problem.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industrialists are in a tight spot after Indonesia halted the export of semi-processed palm oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The price of edible oil has been on the rise since the onset of Covid-19 pandemic. The price increased further due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the two main producers of oil. It disrupted the supply chain of raw materials for cooking oil. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nikhil Chachan, the operator of Birgunj-based Narayani Oil, said that additional problems have surfaced after Indonesia halted the export of semi-processed palm oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Indonesia halted the exports of palm oil since April 28 to control the price of oil in its domestic market. According to Chachan, the traders and importers can do nothing else than wait until Indonesia reviews the decision as per its commitment on May 7.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The domestic industries of Nepal process semi-refined palm oil imported from Indonesia. Most of the oil produced in Nepal is exported to India. Edible oil is the biggest contributor to Nepal's export trade of late. About 2 dozen industries in Nepal produce oil. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prabhudayal Agrawal, manager of Annapurna Vegetable Products said that managing the raw materials is challenging. Agarwal claims that Indonesia controlled its exports a month ago. Agarwal told New Business Age, “Even though the export ban was announced only last week, consignment delivery has been disrupted since the beginning of April.” Russia's military operation, which has been going on for more than two months, has disrupted the supply of unrefined oil to Nepal. Nepal's oil producers used to import more than 80 percent of sunflower and soybean oil from Ukraine prior to the conflict. Russia is also a major supplier of sunflower and mustard to Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importers remarked that the demand for soybean oil is growing as the imports of sunflower and mustard became uncertain. Director of OCB Food Suresh Rungta informed about the hike in price of cooking oil. Prices skyrocketed mainly due to disruption in supply of raw materials. Rungata said, the price of cooking oil, which was Rs 250 per liter two months ago, is now Rs 300.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the industrialists, the production cost of soybean oil has increased. Chachan said, “The price of semi-refined soybean oil, which was 1,900 USD per metric ton before Russia's military action against Ukraine, is now 2,100 USD.” </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14944', 'image' => '20220502031810_oil1501009175_7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 15:17:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15201', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Promotion held in New York', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel Association.', '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 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel Association as well as an organization named Nepal-The Wonderland of Natural, Cultural and Spiritual Beauty. </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 promotion event aimed at imparting the message that Nepal has reopened for travel and tourism after the Covid-19 pandemic and that the country is eager to welcome American tourists.</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"">Amrit Bahadur Rai, Nepal's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, who was the chief guest of the promotional event, said that Nepal's tourism is rich in natural beauty, cultural diversity, yoga, meditation and spirituality. He urged the guests to visit Nepal as tourism and other businesses have returned to normalcy.</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 attendee invited to the programme were given information about the major tourist attractions of Nepal, the services provided by Nepal to the tourists during the Covid-19 pandemic, the recently added tourism infrastructure, facilities and the new travel facilitation measures adopted by 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"">Nepali representatives also urged the invited guests, pilots, travel and tour business communities to consider Nepal as one of their favourite destinations. </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"">Most of the guests and speakers of the programme had travelled to Nepal earlier. They shared their unforgettable travel experience in Nepal. The event was graced by the presence of Seth Sycroff, Chief Executive Officer of the Sir Edmund Hillary Medal Project, British-American mountaineers, Everest climbers, and the first woman to reach the highest and deepest point on Earth.</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 event was organized on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Nepal-US diplomatic relations. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14943', 'image' => '20220502020900_Consulateumb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 14:07:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15200', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '70 Percent Members of Cooperatives Found Saving Money: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their money.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their money. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study conducted by Kathmandu University shows that 70 percent customers join cooperatives with the motive of saving. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The university had conducted the study focused on the contribution of cooperatives in Lumbini and Karnali provinces with the help of National Cooperatives Federation. Unveiling the preliminary report of the study, KU informed that 70 percent of members of cooperatives were found saving money. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the study found that 15 percent members join cooperatives for financial service while another 15 percent become members to get loan. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">At a time when the cooperatives in urban areas are under scrutiny, the study revealed that 86 percent customers in Karnali Province were satisfied with the cooperatives. The report further states that women were more happy with the service of cooperatives than men.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More than half of the respondents of the study conducted by the KU School of Management said they became entrepreneurs after joining cooperatives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Cooperatives have not only helped in developing saving habit but also played a vital role in creating entrepreneurship,” Prof Dr Binod Krishna Shrestha of KUSOM said referring to the preliminary report. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The study has shown that 62 percent of people who joined cooperatives in Lumbini Province and 57 percent in Karnali Province started their own business,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study shows that cooperatives have helped in developing saving habit as well as decision-making capacity, establishment of new businesses, creating employment opportunities, and ensuring financial independence among others. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study has recommended concerned bodies to ensure access of services of cooperatives among extremely poor communities and getting cooperatives involved in social works. Other suggestions of the report include involvement of cooperatives in education and risk management. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14942', 'image' => '20220502115836_362_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 11:57:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15199', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 1.5K Suspicious Transaction Reports under Investigation: NRB ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During this period, 465 reports were reviewed, 265 were documented while 119 were sent to the law enforcement bodies for investigation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the central bank said that the total internal borrowing liability of the government was Rs 60.57 billion till date while internal debt worth Rs 29.24 has been cleared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the central bank said it monitored 15 commercial banks under the guidelines prepared to increase supervisory effectiveness for prevention of money laundering and financial investment in terrorist activities. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14941', 'image' => '20220502110410_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 11:03:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15198', 'article_category_id' => '278', 'title' => 'MCC Compact Published in Nepal Gazette ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: The US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact project has been published in the Nepal Gazette, the government's official bulletin. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 1: The US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact project has been published in the Nepal Gazette, the government's official bulletin. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">With this, the project considered a milestone in the development of energy and infrastructure sector of Nepal has formally come into the implementation process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The $500 million project funded by the US government was ratified by the Federal Parliament on February 27, 2022 along with a 12-point interpretative declaration after a long political dispute and differences. The government and the MCC had signed the agreement on September 14, 2017. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC compact aims to maintain road quality, increase the availability and reliability of electricity, and facilitate cross-border electricity trade between Nepal and India—helping to spur investments, accelerate economic growth, and reduce poverty. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A total 312-kilometre transmission line of 400 kV capacity and nearly 100 kilometres of road would be constructed with the grant assistance under the MCC. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC compact has been ratified in line with Article 279 of the Constitution of Nepal and its authenticated copies in the Nepali and English language have been published in the Nepal Gazette as per Clause 12 of Nepal Treaty Act, 2074 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the agreement, MCC will provide US$ 459.5 million for the project. Apart from the financial management, US government will provide additional US$ 40.5 million to Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Under this project, the 400 kV double circuit transmission line at Nanglebhare of Kathmandu district will link the New Butwal substation in Butwal through Ratmate of Nuwakot and Damauli of Tanahun. Similarly, under the project, another transmission line goes through Galchhi in Dhading district to Hetauda in Makawanpur district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">All the preparedness for the project with a five-year completion deadline has moved forward, according to the MCA Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the process of using the forest lands and the distribution of compensation for acquiring them as per the environment impact assessment report is underway. Land acquisition at Ratmate in Nuwakot has been completed. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14940', 'image' => '20220501075907_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 19:58:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15197', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Gas Dealers to Face action for not Cooperating with Monitoring Team', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent monitoring.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent monitoring.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Director General of the Department Lila Prasad Sharma informed that action was taken against the dealers who denied showing purchase bills and broke the compliance with consumer law during the monitoring. According to him, action was taken against a gas depot of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-34 for not showing the purchase bill. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similar action was taken against one depot of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-32 Subidhanagar for not showing the bill while two depots in Anamnagar were booked for not acting in accordance with the consumer law.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department claims that various actions were taken and fines were slapped for not showing purchase bills during the monitoring in Chandragiri Municipality 14 and 15 and for not cooperating with the monitoring team by a depot of Lalitpur Metropolitan City 12. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department claimed that they have intensified monitoring focused on gas dealers recently after they created an artificial shortage of cooking gas. The department informed that it is imposing a fine of up to Rs 20,000 if the dealers were found to have hidden cooking gas.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14939', 'image' => '20220501065730_gas.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 18:56:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15196', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Upholds Interim Order on NRB Governor Case', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: The Supreme Court has upheld its interim order to allow Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari to resume his duties.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 1: The Supreme Court has upheld its interim order to allow Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari to resume his duties. A division bench of Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Tanka Bahadur Moktan issued a verdict on Friday upholding an earlier decision taken by the apex court over the suspension of the governor.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Governor Adhikari had filed a writ petition on April 17 against the government's decision to form a committee to investigate his alleged role in leaking sensitive information relating to the decisions of the Ministry of Finance and not effectively fulfilling his responsibilities. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 7 had decided to investigative into the alleged role of Governor Adhikari in leaking sensitive information. The cabinet meeting had formed a committee under the coordination of former Supreme Court Justice Purushottam Bhandari to investigate the matter. The committee was asked to submit its report within a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, responding to the writ petition on April 19, a single bench of Justice Hari Prasad Phuyal had issued an interim order against the government's decision. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that the government started probe against the governor without adequate grounds.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The court observed that the government had initiated the probe without any valid basis and the governor was not given any opportunity to defend himself. In this context, the court ruled that the government’s decision was biased and was carried out with mala fide intentions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The court verdict states that the government’s decision to investigate against the governor is against the precedents set in similar cases involving former governors Tilak Rawal and Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A letter handed over to the governor only states that he lacks the capacity to work as the central bank’s governor. However, it does not mention on what grounds did the ministry consider the governor incompetent, reads the verdict.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The court ruling has also upheld the autonomy of the central bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Adhikari was appointed as the governor of NRB by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli. He was praised for adopting a private sector-friendly policy to uplift the economy battered by Covid-19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, after the formation of the new government, it was revealed that he did not enjoy good relation with incumbent Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. Both Sharma and Adhikari had publicly denied their relation had soured.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14938', 'image' => '20220501051817_Supreme Court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 17:17:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15195', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'President's Calls for Ensuring Rights of Labourers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic development. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic development. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a message on the occasion of the International Labour Day (May Day 2022) today, the President made such statement while extending the best wishes for happiness, peace and prosperity to all Nepali working at home and abroad. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Bhandari also urged to ensure labour rights including decent work, proper wages and social security to the workers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"On this occasion, I would like to extend respect to all workers contributing to the nation's prosperity through their investment of labour and skills in different areas, including the country's industry, agriculture, construction and service sectors," read the president's message. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Bhandari reminded the responsibility of all to ensure the rights of the working class people through the implementation of constitutional provisions in order to build a socialism-oriented economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She called upon creating employment opportunities at home to the youth who are forced to leave for foreign jobs President Bhandari also said concerned bodies and stakeholders should make continued efforts to safeguard the human rights of migrant workers. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14937', 'image' => '20220501032203_rastrapati.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 15:21:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15194', 'article_category_id' => '279', 'title' => 'Foreign Investors Pledge Rs 33 Billion in 9 Months ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: Investors from 14 countries have registered industries in Nepal in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY). Compared to last fiscal year, the foreign investment proposal has improved this year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 1: Investors from 14 countries have registered industries in Nepal in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY). Compared to last fiscal year, the foreign investment proposal has improved this year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chinese investors are in the forefront among the investors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Department of Industry, the Chinese businessmen account for 73.21 percent of the total foreign investment proposals. After China, Spain is the second largest investor. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department informed that a total investment of Rs 33.37 billion has been proposed for the current fiscal year. China's share amounts to Rs 24.43 billion. Chinese investors have registered 121 establishments to invest in Nepal's agriculture and forestry sectors, as well as ICT, manufacturing, service and tourism sectors. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chinese investors have made the largest investment proposals in the service sector, along with tourism and manufacturing industries. China has proposed to invest Rs 12 billion in the service sector and Rs 9.45 billion in the tourism industry. According to the department, 7,472 people will get employment as per the investment proposed by China. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, Spain has proposed a foreign investment of around Rs 5 billion. Spain has proposed to invest only in the service sector, and has registered a service-oriented establishment with the department. The country plans to invest Rs 4.85 billion in the business. The Spanish investment will provide employment to 29 people. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After China and Spain, India has offered a lot of investment in manufacturing, service and tourism sectors. Indians have proposed a total investment of Rs 1.77 billion out of whic Rs 1.33 billion is to be invested in the service sector and Rs 390 million in the productive sector, according to the records of the department. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Investors from Singapore have also proposed to invest Rs 1 billion by registering a productive business. Although the investment proposals from the United States are less than these five countries, the area of investment is larger. In these nine months, American investors have registered nine establishments with an offer to invest Rs 400 million. These include ICT, manufacturing, service and tourism sectors. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Australia is the sixth largest investor in Nepal with an investment proposal of Rs 345 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The data of the department has shown that there is a lot of attraction of foreign investors in the tourism and service sector of Nepal. Investors from some countries want to invest only in tourism and service sectors. In addition, investment proposals have come from France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Vietnam and the United Kingdom. Entrepreneurs from nine of these countries want to invest in tourism sector. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14936', 'image' => '20220501010354_Foreign investment.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 13:03:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15193', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor comes to a Grinding Halt', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four days.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">May 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four 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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has announced 12 to 16 hours of load shedding in the industrial areas on a daily basis. However, the industries complain that power supply has been totally cut 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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hari Gautam, vice-president of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the production of industries in the corridor has dropped to zero after the power supply was cut off. The champer estimates that there are 2,000 small and medium scale industries in the region.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the NEA, it has failed to supply electricity to the industries after India halted the supply 500 MW of electricity for the industries. India itself is facing an energy crisis due to the shortage of coal in the wake of Russia-Ukraine war.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">India has stopped exporting electricity to Nepal for its internal supply.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Jitendra Kumar Jha, head of NEA Birgunj Distribution Center, said that 500 MW of electricity coming from India has now dropped to 36 MW. </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:"Arial","sans-serif"">“The supply to industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor has been cut off. At present, electricity is being supplied only to the household consumers. It may take a few more days to provide electricity to the industries,” said Jha.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">The NEA had promised to supply to the industries alternately but the power supply was completely cut off due to the failure to bring electricity from India. </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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Jha also informed that efforts are being made to resume the supply of electricity. "Efforts are being made to supply electricity. Electricity is likely to be supplied to the industries as early as Tuesday,” 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:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEA has informed that 40 percent of the water of Kulekhani project has been consumed. NEA is under pressure to make arrangements for distribution of electricity generated from the remaining 60 percent water. According to the NEA, the shortage of energy will remain unless the flow of water in the rivers increases.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14935', 'image' => '20220501120609_Industries.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 12:04:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15192', 'article_category_id' => '237', 'title' => 'Nepal Telecom to provide e-SIM ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: The state-owned Nepal Telecom (NT) is set to distribute e-SIM to its subscribers. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 29: The state-owned Nepal Telecom (NT) is set to distribute e-SIM to its subscribers. Nepal Telecom has reached an agreement with Monty UK Global to provide e-SIM in the near future. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The agreement was signed recently between the chief business officer of Nepal Telecom Sangeeta Pahadi and Chief Executive Officer of Ultimate Horizon Technologies Private Limited, Aditya Anand. </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"">As per the agreement, Monty UK Global will provide the necessary platform to distribute e-SIM service to the customers of Nepal Telecom. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal Telecom is going to distribute e-SIM in the process of introducing new technology and the necessary work for this will start soon, said Chief Business Officer Pahadi. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">With the availability of e-SIM, there is no need for a physically used SIM card. However, customers need a handset that supports e-SIM. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Apart from mobile sets, e-SIM can also be used on other devices and smart watches and various types of wearable devices. Nepal Telecom has stated that all the existing users can use e-SIM while new users can also get such SIM. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14934', 'image' => '20220429074225_Nepal-Telecom-(NTC-Building).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 19:41:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15191', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal's GDP Projected to reach Rs 4851 Billion this Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). ', '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"">April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). This is based on consumer price estimates. As per the base rate, the size of the economy this year will be equal to Rs 4155 billion.</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 department estimates that the GDP will grow by 5.84 on the basis of consumer prices. The fiscal Year 2067/68 is considered the base year for calculating the growth rate of GDP.</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 department's estimate is more than the 4.1 percent projected by the International Monetary Fund two days ago. However, this is less than the government's target of 7 percent growth in the replacement budget.</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 a projection released by the World Bank last year, Nepal's economy was set to grow by 3.7 percent this year. The Asian Development Bank has projected a growth rate of 3.9 percent.</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 department estimated the economic growth rate for 6 to 9 months of the current fiscal year based on the data and information related to the economic sector, officials from the department said during a press conference held on Thursday. </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 only three months left for the fiscal year to end with no major factors affecting GDP and the impact of COVID-19 also declining, this estimate will be prove to be correct, said Nevin Lal Shrestha, Director General of the bureau.</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 CBS informed that the contribution of service and secondary sector to the GDP has increased in the current fiscal year. However, the contribution of the primary sector has declined. According to the bureau, the overall industrial sector has been divided into three groups-primary, secondary and service sector.</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"">Primary sectors include agro-forestry, fisheries, mining and excavation.</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 primary sector is projected to contribute 24.5 percent to the current year's GDP," the department said. Due to the decline in the production of paddy in the current fiscal year, the growth rate of this sector has been lower than that of the previous fiscal year.</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 CBS has estimated that the contribution of the second sector to the GDP will be 13.7 percent in the current fiscal year.</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 second area includes industry, electricity and gas, water supply and construction. The service sector includes wholesale and retail trade, housing and food services, transportation communication and storage, financial, real estate business, professional and administrative services, public administration and defense, education, health and other services. It is estimated that this sector has contributed 61.8 percent to the GDP in the current fiscal year.</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 bureau estimates that imports will reach Rs 2 trillion and exports Rs 320 billion this year. The per capita GDP is expected to be USD 1,372. The average per capita income of Nepalis is estimated to be 1,381 dollars. The department estimates the average per capita income for the previous year was 1,246. This year, total household savings will be 9.3 percent of the GDP.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14933', 'image' => '20220429044433_gdp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 16:43:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15190', 'article_category_id' => '268', 'title' => 'Nepal Exports Tea worth Rs 2 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: Nepal has exported tea worth Rs 2 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year while the country has imported tea worth Rs 80 million during the review period.', '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"">April 29: Nepal has exported tea worth Rs 2 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year while the country has imported tea worth Rs 80 million during the review period.</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"">Nepal, where other goods are imported in large quantities, has made good progress in exporting tea. </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 data of the Department of Customs, Nepal has imported 183 metric tonnes of tea worth Rs 79.3 million in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. During the same period, 9,017 metric tons of tea worth Rs 2.36 billion was exported. </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"">As Nepal's tea is considered to be of high quality, its demand is high in various countries like India, China, Sri Lanka, the USA, Australia and Europe. Therefore, the graph of tea export is higher than other commodities, said Dr Bishnu Prasad Bhattarai, executive director of the National Tea and Coffee Development Board. </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"">Even in the previous year, export of tea was better than imports. Nepal imported 218 metric tons of tea worth Rs 77.3 million in FY 2076/77 and exported 11,185 tons of tea worth Rs 2.78 billion. In FY 2077/78, 346 metric tons of tea worth Rs 151.31 million were imported and 11,920 metric tons of tea worth Rs 3.79 billion were exported. </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 says that the export of tea can make a significant contribution to reduce the growing trade deficit if stakeholders focus on the quality of tea.</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 data of the board, tea was cultivated in 16,917 hectares of land in Nepal in the fiscal year 2077/78. A total of 23,745 metric tons of tea was produced during the period. Although the current year's figures are not yet ready, the board estimates that production will increase by about 10 percent. More than 16,000 farmers and more than 60,000 workers are involved in tea farming 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"">Nepali tea is in high demand in the world market and is being sold at a high price. However, more than 90 percent of exports go to India. Tea producers say that they are forced to sell tea at lower prices in India. Due to this, tea farming business has not been profitable 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"">Binay Sharma, project coordinator of Nepal Increase Sustainable Tea Export Project, said that the variety of Nepali tea and technology could not be developed due to lack of research work on production and processing technology. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14932', 'image' => '20220429014709_Tea.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 13:46:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15189', 'article_category_id' => '218', 'title' => 'ICRA Nepal upgrades NMB bank's issuer rating ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: ICRA Nepal has upgraded the issuer rating of NMB Bank Limited (NMB), indicating an adequate degree of safety regarding the timely servicing of financial obligations. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 29: ICRA Nepal has upgraded the issuer rating of NMB Bank Limited (NMB), indicating an adequate degree of safety regarding the timely servicing of financial obligations. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Such issuers carry low credit risk, NMB said in a press statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">ICRA Nepal Limited is the first credit rating agency of Nepal and licensed by the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON). It is a subsidiary of ICRA Limited of India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The rating upgrade indicates the bank’s ability to successfully consolidate its business following a series of mergers/acquisitions, as reflected in the recent improvement in asset quality and delinquencies. The upgrade is a testament to the bank’s exemplary track record and improvement in overall performance even when the economy is reeling under the impact of COVID- 19 pandemic, the statement added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">‘The Banker Magazine’ of The Financial Times, London, has awarded NMB Bank with the prestigious Bank of the Year Asia 2021 award. The bank has also been awarded with Bank of the Year in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021. NMB Bank is currently providing its services through 201 branches, 138 ATMs and 11 extension counters. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14931', 'image' => '20220429012340_20150811023459_cf(8) (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 13:20:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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Majhi, who is busy with daily labor for livelihood, was not given any leave on May Day. He worked on road construction in Rampur of Palpa on May 1, which is the International Labour Day.</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"">He started working as a laborer at the age of 10 and it has already been more than three decades since then. He has already worked in the fields of road construction, building and bridge construction, and transportation of goods. He was busy with his daily work even on the Labour Day. Majhi remarked, “What is Labour Day? We need to work every day. The stove in the house does not light up on days when I don’t work.” He earns a daily wage of Rs 600 and supports his family of 4 including children.</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"">Raju Majhi, 25, of Parsa is also busy with labor. He works hard to blacktop the roads from morning till evening. He was also unaware of Labour Day on Sunday. He said, “There is not enough to eat without work. I cannot expect somebody to earn for me. I need to take care of my wife and children at home.”</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"">Tikaram Pun, 30, of Purtighat in Gulmi's Kali Gandaki Municipality-4 was busy with house construction on the Labour Day. He knows that Labour Day is celebrated on May 1, but it did not make any difference in his routine. He has been working for five years and gets a daily wage of Rs 750. However, if he is late for work even by a single hour, his wage is deducted.</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"">While celebrating the Labour Day, the workers demanded the government to increase the wages on time, provide employment in the villages and create an environment for people compelled to go for foreign employment to stay in the country itself.</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"">Netra Bahadur Rana, 42, of Bahkhola in Rampur Municipality-7 has been earning a living for the past six years. Lately, the election activity in the village is increasing. Leaders and activists are giving him various assurances. But he does not have faith in those leaders and activists as they will not return back after the election.</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"">Most of the workers working in the informal sector are dissatisfied with the government's inability to work for the welfare of the workers. Workers complained that they are not getting even the minimum wage set by the state. They complained that they have to work for wages fixed in the past but the prices of goods and services in the market are constantly rising at present.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14945', 'image' => '20220502055741_Labour Day.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 17:56:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15202', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Cooking Oil Industries of Nepal Facing Problems in Importing Raw Materials', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional problem.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 2: The cooking oil industry of Nepal, which is struggling due to the delay in shipment of raw materials due to the Russia-Ukraine war, is now facing an additional problem.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The industrialists are in a tight spot after Indonesia halted the export of semi-processed palm oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The price of edible oil has been on the rise since the onset of Covid-19 pandemic. The price increased further due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the two main producers of oil. It disrupted the supply chain of raw materials for cooking oil. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nikhil Chachan, the operator of Birgunj-based Narayani Oil, said that additional problems have surfaced after Indonesia halted the export of semi-processed palm oil.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Indonesia halted the exports of palm oil since April 28 to control the price of oil in its domestic market. According to Chachan, the traders and importers can do nothing else than wait until Indonesia reviews the decision as per its commitment on May 7.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The domestic industries of Nepal process semi-refined palm oil imported from Indonesia. Most of the oil produced in Nepal is exported to India. Edible oil is the biggest contributor to Nepal's export trade of late. About 2 dozen industries in Nepal produce oil. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prabhudayal Agrawal, manager of Annapurna Vegetable Products said that managing the raw materials is challenging. Agarwal claims that Indonesia controlled its exports a month ago. Agarwal told New Business Age, “Even though the export ban was announced only last week, consignment delivery has been disrupted since the beginning of April.” Russia's military operation, which has been going on for more than two months, has disrupted the supply of unrefined oil to Nepal. Nepal's oil producers used to import more than 80 percent of sunflower and soybean oil from Ukraine prior to the conflict. Russia is also a major supplier of sunflower and mustard to Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Importers remarked that the demand for soybean oil is growing as the imports of sunflower and mustard became uncertain. Director of OCB Food Suresh Rungta informed about the hike in price of cooking oil. Prices skyrocketed mainly due to disruption in supply of raw materials. Rungata said, the price of cooking oil, which was Rs 250 per liter two months ago, is now Rs 300.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the industrialists, the production cost of soybean oil has increased. Chachan said, “The price of semi-refined soybean oil, which was 1,900 USD per metric ton before Russia's military action against Ukraine, is now 2,100 USD.” </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14944', 'image' => '20220502031810_oil1501009175_7.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 15:17:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15201', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Tourism Promotion held in New York', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel Association.', '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 2: New York-based Consulate General of Nepal organized a tourism promotion program in New York in collaboration with the New York chapter of the Asia-Pacific Travel Association as well as an organization named Nepal-The Wonderland of Natural, Cultural and Spiritual Beauty. </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 promotion event aimed at imparting the message that Nepal has reopened for travel and tourism after the Covid-19 pandemic and that the country is eager to welcome American tourists.</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"">Amrit Bahadur Rai, Nepal's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, who was the chief guest of the promotional event, said that Nepal's tourism is rich in natural beauty, cultural diversity, yoga, meditation and spirituality. He urged the guests to visit Nepal as tourism and other businesses have returned to normalcy.</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 attendee invited to the programme were given information about the major tourist attractions of Nepal, the services provided by Nepal to the tourists during the Covid-19 pandemic, the recently added tourism infrastructure, facilities and the new travel facilitation measures adopted by 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"">Nepali representatives also urged the invited guests, pilots, travel and tour business communities to consider Nepal as one of their favourite destinations. </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"">Most of the guests and speakers of the programme had travelled to Nepal earlier. They shared their unforgettable travel experience in Nepal. The event was graced by the presence of Seth Sycroff, Chief Executive Officer of the Sir Edmund Hillary Medal Project, British-American mountaineers, Everest climbers, and the first woman to reach the highest and deepest point on Earth.</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 event was organized on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Nepal-US diplomatic relations. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14943', 'image' => '20220502020900_Consulateumb.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 14:07:56', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15200', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '70 Percent Members of Cooperatives Found Saving Money: Study', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their money.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 2: In contrary to the general belief that people become members of cooperatives to get loans, a recent study has revealed that overwhelming majority of people in rural areas join cooperatives with the objective of saving their money. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study conducted by Kathmandu University shows that 70 percent customers join cooperatives with the motive of saving. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The university had conducted the study focused on the contribution of cooperatives in Lumbini and Karnali provinces with the help of National Cooperatives Federation. Unveiling the preliminary report of the study, KU informed that 70 percent of members of cooperatives were found saving money. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Likewise, the study found that 15 percent members join cooperatives for financial service while another 15 percent become members to get loan. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">At a time when the cooperatives in urban areas are under scrutiny, the study revealed that 86 percent customers in Karnali Province were satisfied with the cooperatives. The report further states that women were more happy with the service of cooperatives than men.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More than half of the respondents of the study conducted by the KU School of Management said they became entrepreneurs after joining cooperatives.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Cooperatives have not only helped in developing saving habit but also played a vital role in creating entrepreneurship,” Prof Dr Binod Krishna Shrestha of KUSOM said referring to the preliminary report. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The study has shown that 62 percent of people who joined cooperatives in Lumbini Province and 57 percent in Karnali Province started their own business,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study shows that cooperatives have helped in developing saving habit as well as decision-making capacity, establishment of new businesses, creating employment opportunities, and ensuring financial independence among others. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The study has recommended concerned bodies to ensure access of services of cooperatives among extremely poor communities and getting cooperatives involved in social works. Other suggestions of the report include involvement of cooperatives in education and risk management. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14942', 'image' => '20220502115836_362_n.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 11:57:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15199', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Over 1.5K Suspicious Transaction Reports under Investigation: NRB ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 2: The Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) said it received reports of 1,556 suspicious financial transactions till mid-March of the current fiscal year. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">During this period, 465 reports were reviewed, 265 were documented while 119 were sent to the law enforcement bodies for investigation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the central bank said that the total internal borrowing liability of the government was Rs 60.57 billion till date while internal debt worth Rs 29.24 has been cleared. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Meanwhile, the central bank said it monitored 15 commercial banks under the guidelines prepared to increase supervisory effectiveness for prevention of money laundering and financial investment in terrorist activities. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-02', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14941', 'image' => '20220502110410_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-02 11:03:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15198', 'article_category_id' => '278', 'title' => 'MCC Compact Published in Nepal Gazette ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: The US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact project has been published in the Nepal Gazette, the government's official bulletin. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 1: The US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact project has been published in the Nepal Gazette, the government's official bulletin. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">With this, the project considered a milestone in the development of energy and infrastructure sector of Nepal has formally come into the implementation process. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The $500 million project funded by the US government was ratified by the Federal Parliament on February 27, 2022 along with a 12-point interpretative declaration after a long political dispute and differences. The government and the MCC had signed the agreement on September 14, 2017. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC compact aims to maintain road quality, increase the availability and reliability of electricity, and facilitate cross-border electricity trade between Nepal and India—helping to spur investments, accelerate economic growth, and reduce poverty. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A total 312-kilometre transmission line of 400 kV capacity and nearly 100 kilometres of road would be constructed with the grant assistance under the MCC. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MCC compact has been ratified in line with Article 279 of the Constitution of Nepal and its authenticated copies in the Nepali and English language have been published in the Nepal Gazette as per Clause 12 of Nepal Treaty Act, 2074 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the agreement, MCC will provide US$ 459.5 million for the project. Apart from the financial management, US government will provide additional US$ 40.5 million to Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Under this project, the 400 kV double circuit transmission line at Nanglebhare of Kathmandu district will link the New Butwal substation in Butwal through Ratmate of Nuwakot and Damauli of Tanahun. Similarly, under the project, another transmission line goes through Galchhi in Dhading district to Hetauda in Makawanpur district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">All the preparedness for the project with a five-year completion deadline has moved forward, according to the MCA Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the process of using the forest lands and the distribution of compensation for acquiring them as per the environment impact assessment report is underway. Land acquisition at Ratmate in Nuwakot has been completed. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14940', 'image' => '20220501075907_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 19:58:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15197', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Gas Dealers to Face action for not Cooperating with Monitoring Team', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent monitoring.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 1: The Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection took action against the gas dealers who did not cooperate as well as misbehaved during recent monitoring.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Director General of the Department Lila Prasad Sharma informed that action was taken against the dealers who denied showing purchase bills and broke the compliance with consumer law during the monitoring. According to him, action was taken against a gas depot of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-34 for not showing the purchase bill. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similar action was taken against one depot of Kathmandu Metropolitan City-32 Subidhanagar for not showing the bill while two depots in Anamnagar were booked for not acting in accordance with the consumer law.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department claims that various actions were taken and fines were slapped for not showing purchase bills during the monitoring in Chandragiri Municipality 14 and 15 and for not cooperating with the monitoring team by a depot of Lalitpur Metropolitan City 12. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department claimed that they have intensified monitoring focused on gas dealers recently after they created an artificial shortage of cooking gas. The department informed that it is imposing a fine of up to Rs 20,000 if the dealers were found to have hidden cooking gas.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14939', 'image' => '20220501065730_gas.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 18:56:55', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15196', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Upholds Interim Order on NRB Governor Case', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: The Supreme Court has upheld its interim order to allow Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari to resume his duties.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">May 1: The Supreme Court has upheld its interim order to allow Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari to resume his duties. A division bench of Justices Sapana Pradhan Malla and Tanka Bahadur Moktan issued a verdict on Friday upholding an earlier decision taken by the apex court over the suspension of the governor.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Governor Adhikari had filed a writ petition on April 17 against the government's decision to form a committee to investigate his alleged role in leaking sensitive information relating to the decisions of the Ministry of Finance and not effectively fulfilling his responsibilities. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 7 had decided to investigative into the alleged role of Governor Adhikari in leaking sensitive information. The cabinet meeting had formed a committee under the coordination of former Supreme Court Justice Purushottam Bhandari to investigate the matter. The committee was asked to submit its report within a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, responding to the writ petition on April 19, a single bench of Justice Hari Prasad Phuyal had issued an interim order against the government's decision. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that the government started probe against the governor without adequate grounds.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The court observed that the government had initiated the probe without any valid basis and the governor was not given any opportunity to defend himself. In this context, the court ruled that the government’s decision was biased and was carried out with mala fide intentions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The court verdict states that the government’s decision to investigate against the governor is against the precedents set in similar cases involving former governors Tilak Rawal and Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">A letter handed over to the governor only states that he lacks the capacity to work as the central bank’s governor. However, it does not mention on what grounds did the ministry consider the governor incompetent, reads the verdict.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The court ruling has also upheld the autonomy of the central bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Adhikari was appointed as the governor of NRB by the then government led by KP Sharma Oli. He was praised for adopting a private sector-friendly policy to uplift the economy battered by Covid-19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">However, after the formation of the new government, it was revealed that he did not enjoy good relation with incumbent Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. Both Sharma and Adhikari had publicly denied their relation had soured.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14938', 'image' => '20220501051817_Supreme Court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 17:17:28', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15195', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'President's Calls for Ensuring Rights of Labourers', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic development. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">May 1: President Bidya Devi Bhandari has underscored the need for a culture to respect labour and highlighted the importance of labour and skill in country's economic development. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a message on the occasion of the International Labour Day (May Day 2022) today, the President made such statement while extending the best wishes for happiness, peace and prosperity to all Nepali working at home and abroad. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Bhandari also urged to ensure labour rights including decent work, proper wages and social security to the workers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"On this occasion, I would like to extend respect to all workers contributing to the nation's prosperity through their investment of labour and skills in different areas, including the country's industry, agriculture, construction and service sectors," read the president's message. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">President Bhandari reminded the responsibility of all to ensure the rights of the working class people through the implementation of constitutional provisions in order to build a socialism-oriented economy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">She called upon creating employment opportunities at home to the youth who are forced to leave for foreign jobs President Bhandari also said concerned bodies and stakeholders should make continued efforts to safeguard the human rights of migrant workers. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14937', 'image' => '20220501032203_rastrapati.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 15:21:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15194', 'article_category_id' => '279', 'title' => 'Foreign Investors Pledge Rs 33 Billion in 9 Months ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: Investors from 14 countries have registered industries in Nepal in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY). Compared to last fiscal year, the foreign investment proposal has improved this year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">May 1: Investors from 14 countries have registered industries in Nepal in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY). Compared to last fiscal year, the foreign investment proposal has improved this year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chinese investors are in the forefront among the investors.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Department of Industry, the Chinese businessmen account for 73.21 percent of the total foreign investment proposals. After China, Spain is the second largest investor. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department informed that a total investment of Rs 33.37 billion has been proposed for the current fiscal year. China's share amounts to Rs 24.43 billion. Chinese investors have registered 121 establishments to invest in Nepal's agriculture and forestry sectors, as well as ICT, manufacturing, service and tourism sectors. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chinese investors have made the largest investment proposals in the service sector, along with tourism and manufacturing industries. China has proposed to invest Rs 12 billion in the service sector and Rs 9.45 billion in the tourism industry. According to the department, 7,472 people will get employment as per the investment proposed by China. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Meanwhile, Spain has proposed a foreign investment of around Rs 5 billion. Spain has proposed to invest only in the service sector, and has registered a service-oriented establishment with the department. The country plans to invest Rs 4.85 billion in the business. The Spanish investment will provide employment to 29 people. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After China and Spain, India has offered a lot of investment in manufacturing, service and tourism sectors. Indians have proposed a total investment of Rs 1.77 billion out of whic Rs 1.33 billion is to be invested in the service sector and Rs 390 million in the productive sector, according to the records of the department. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Investors from Singapore have also proposed to invest Rs 1 billion by registering a productive business. Although the investment proposals from the United States are less than these five countries, the area of investment is larger. In these nine months, American investors have registered nine establishments with an offer to invest Rs 400 million. These include ICT, manufacturing, service and tourism sectors. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Australia is the sixth largest investor in Nepal with an investment proposal of Rs 345 million. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The data of the department has shown that there is a lot of attraction of foreign investors in the tourism and service sector of Nepal. Investors from some countries want to invest only in tourism and service sectors. In addition, investment proposals have come from France, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Vietnam and the United Kingdom. Entrepreneurs from nine of these countries want to invest in tourism sector. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-02', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14936', 'image' => '20220501010354_Foreign investment.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 13:03:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15193', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Production of Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor comes to a Grinding Halt', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'May 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four days.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">May 1: Production of industries along the Bara-Parsa Industrial Corridor has come to a standstill due to the disruption in power supply. Industrial establishments in the area have not been supplied with electricity for four 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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has announced 12 to 16 hours of load shedding in the industrial areas on a daily basis. However, the industries complain that power supply has been totally cut 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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Hari Gautam, vice-president of the Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the production of industries in the corridor has dropped to zero after the power supply was cut off. The champer estimates that there are 2,000 small and medium scale industries in the region.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the NEA, it has failed to supply electricity to the industries after India halted the supply 500 MW of electricity for the industries. India itself is facing an energy crisis due to the shortage of coal in the wake of Russia-Ukraine war.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">India has stopped exporting electricity to Nepal for its internal supply.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Jitendra Kumar Jha, head of NEA Birgunj Distribution Center, said that 500 MW of electricity coming from India has now dropped to 36 MW. </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:"Arial","sans-serif"">“The supply to industries in the Bara-Parsa corridor has been cut off. At present, electricity is being supplied only to the household consumers. It may take a few more days to provide electricity to the industries,” said Jha.</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:"Arial","sans-serif"">The NEA had promised to supply to the industries alternately but the power supply was completely cut off due to the failure to bring electricity from India. </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:"Arial","sans-serif"">Jha also informed that efforts are being made to resume the supply of electricity. "Efforts are being made to supply electricity. Electricity is likely to be supplied to the industries as early as Tuesday,” 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:"Arial","sans-serif"">NEA has informed that 40 percent of the water of Kulekhani project has been consumed. NEA is under pressure to make arrangements for distribution of electricity generated from the remaining 60 percent water. According to the NEA, the shortage of energy will remain unless the flow of water in the rivers increases.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-05-01', 'modified' => '2022-05-01', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14935', 'image' => '20220501120609_Industries.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-05-01 12:04:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15192', 'article_category_id' => '237', 'title' => 'Nepal Telecom to provide e-SIM ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: The state-owned Nepal Telecom (NT) is set to distribute e-SIM to its subscribers. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 29: The state-owned Nepal Telecom (NT) is set to distribute e-SIM to its subscribers. Nepal Telecom has reached an agreement with Monty UK Global to provide e-SIM in the near future. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The agreement was signed recently between the chief business officer of Nepal Telecom Sangeeta Pahadi and Chief Executive Officer of Ultimate Horizon Technologies Private Limited, Aditya Anand. </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"">As per the agreement, Monty UK Global will provide the necessary platform to distribute e-SIM service to the customers of Nepal Telecom. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal Telecom is going to distribute e-SIM in the process of introducing new technology and the necessary work for this will start soon, said Chief Business Officer Pahadi. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">With the availability of e-SIM, there is no need for a physically used SIM card. However, customers need a handset that supports e-SIM. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Apart from mobile sets, e-SIM can also be used on other devices and smart watches and various types of wearable devices. Nepal Telecom has stated that all the existing users can use e-SIM while new users can also get such SIM. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14934', 'image' => '20220429074225_Nepal-Telecom-(NTC-Building).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 19:41:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15191', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Nepal's GDP Projected to reach Rs 4851 Billion this Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). ', '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"">April 29: The size of Nepal's economy (Gross Domestic Product) is projected to reach Rs 4851 billion by the end of the current fiscal year (FY), according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). This is based on consumer price estimates. As per the base rate, the size of the economy this year will be equal to Rs 4155 billion.</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 department estimates that the GDP will grow by 5.84 on the basis of consumer prices. The fiscal Year 2067/68 is considered the base year for calculating the growth rate of GDP.</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 department's estimate is more than the 4.1 percent projected by the International Monetary Fund two days ago. However, this is less than the government's target of 7 percent growth in the replacement budget.</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 a projection released by the World Bank last year, Nepal's economy was set to grow by 3.7 percent this year. The Asian Development Bank has projected a growth rate of 3.9 percent.</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 department estimated the economic growth rate for 6 to 9 months of the current fiscal year based on the data and information related to the economic sector, officials from the department said during a press conference held on Thursday. </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 only three months left for the fiscal year to end with no major factors affecting GDP and the impact of COVID-19 also declining, this estimate will be prove to be correct, said Nevin Lal Shrestha, Director General of the bureau.</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 CBS informed that the contribution of service and secondary sector to the GDP has increased in the current fiscal year. However, the contribution of the primary sector has declined. According to the bureau, the overall industrial sector has been divided into three groups-primary, secondary and service sector.</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"">Primary sectors include agro-forestry, fisheries, mining and excavation.</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 primary sector is projected to contribute 24.5 percent to the current year's GDP," the department said. Due to the decline in the production of paddy in the current fiscal year, the growth rate of this sector has been lower than that of the previous fiscal year.</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 CBS has estimated that the contribution of the second sector to the GDP will be 13.7 percent in the current fiscal year.</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 second area includes industry, electricity and gas, water supply and construction. The service sector includes wholesale and retail trade, housing and food services, transportation communication and storage, financial, real estate business, professional and administrative services, public administration and defense, education, health and other services. It is estimated that this sector has contributed 61.8 percent to the GDP in the current fiscal year.</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 bureau estimates that imports will reach Rs 2 trillion and exports Rs 320 billion this year. The per capita GDP is expected to be USD 1,372. The average per capita income of Nepalis is estimated to be 1,381 dollars. The department estimates the average per capita income for the previous year was 1,246. This year, total household savings will be 9.3 percent of the GDP.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14933', 'image' => '20220429044433_gdp.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 16:43:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15190', 'article_category_id' => '268', 'title' => 'Nepal Exports Tea worth Rs 2 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: Nepal has exported tea worth Rs 2 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year while the country has imported tea worth Rs 80 million during the review period.', '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"">April 29: Nepal has exported tea worth Rs 2 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year while the country has imported tea worth Rs 80 million during the review period.</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"">Nepal, where other goods are imported in large quantities, has made good progress in exporting tea. </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 data of the Department of Customs, Nepal has imported 183 metric tonnes of tea worth Rs 79.3 million in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. During the same period, 9,017 metric tons of tea worth Rs 2.36 billion was exported. </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"">As Nepal's tea is considered to be of high quality, its demand is high in various countries like India, China, Sri Lanka, the USA, Australia and Europe. Therefore, the graph of tea export is higher than other commodities, said Dr Bishnu Prasad Bhattarai, executive director of the National Tea and Coffee Development Board. </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"">Even in the previous year, export of tea was better than imports. Nepal imported 218 metric tons of tea worth Rs 77.3 million in FY 2076/77 and exported 11,185 tons of tea worth Rs 2.78 billion. In FY 2077/78, 346 metric tons of tea worth Rs 151.31 million were imported and 11,920 metric tons of tea worth Rs 3.79 billion were exported. </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 says that the export of tea can make a significant contribution to reduce the growing trade deficit if stakeholders focus on the quality of tea.</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 data of the board, tea was cultivated in 16,917 hectares of land in Nepal in the fiscal year 2077/78. A total of 23,745 metric tons of tea was produced during the period. Although the current year's figures are not yet ready, the board estimates that production will increase by about 10 percent. More than 16,000 farmers and more than 60,000 workers are involved in tea farming 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"">Nepali tea is in high demand in the world market and is being sold at a high price. However, more than 90 percent of exports go to India. Tea producers say that they are forced to sell tea at lower prices in India. Due to this, tea farming business has not been profitable 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"">Binay Sharma, project coordinator of Nepal Increase Sustainable Tea Export Project, said that the variety of Nepali tea and technology could not be developed due to lack of research work on production and processing technology. </span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14932', 'image' => '20220429014709_Tea.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 13:46:21', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15189', 'article_category_id' => '218', 'title' => 'ICRA Nepal upgrades NMB bank's issuer rating ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 29: ICRA Nepal has upgraded the issuer rating of NMB Bank Limited (NMB), indicating an adequate degree of safety regarding the timely servicing of financial obligations. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 29: ICRA Nepal has upgraded the issuer rating of NMB Bank Limited (NMB), indicating an adequate degree of safety regarding the timely servicing of financial obligations. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Such issuers carry low credit risk, NMB said in a press statement. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">ICRA Nepal Limited is the first credit rating agency of Nepal and licensed by the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON). It is a subsidiary of ICRA Limited of India. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The rating upgrade indicates the bank’s ability to successfully consolidate its business following a series of mergers/acquisitions, as reflected in the recent improvement in asset quality and delinquencies. The upgrade is a testament to the bank’s exemplary track record and improvement in overall performance even when the economy is reeling under the impact of COVID- 19 pandemic, the statement added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">‘The Banker Magazine’ of The Financial Times, London, has awarded NMB Bank with the prestigious Bank of the Year Asia 2021 award. The bank has also been awarded with Bank of the Year in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021. NMB Bank is currently providing its services through 201 branches, 138 ATMs and 11 extension counters. </span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-29', 'modified' => '2022-04-29', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14931', 'image' => '20220429012340_20150811023459_cf(8) (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-29 13:20:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => false, 'in_scroller' => false, '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
