April 21: Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) has formally come into operation from today (April…
April 21: Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) has formally come into operation from today (April…
April 21: Bhimdatta Municipality of Kanchanpur is constructing an integrated agriculture market for marketing of agricultural products.…
April 21: India's Energy Minister RK Singh has announced that India will buy all the electricity generated from Nepal's hydropower…
April 21: The Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022 is all set to conclude in the capital on Friday.…
April 21: The Supreme Court’s order has strengthened the autonomy of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank’s Governor, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said after resuming his office on…
April 21: The third BIMSTEC energy ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) concluded on Wednesday with a 12-point joint statement to facilitate power trade, prepare a master plan on ‘grid connection’ and establish power trade…
April 20: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has stated that the country’s economy is not in…
April 20: Nepal Oil Corporation is currently supplying almost double the normal amount of cooking…
April 20: Financial literacy is the need of the hour for women…
April 20: The government has started the national agriculture census from Tuesday by allocating a budget of Rs 100…
April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that he will return to office from Wednesday.…
April 19: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday issued an interim order not to implement the government's decision to form a probe panel against Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari until a final…
April 19: The provision requiring foreign tourists to possess cash for obtaining on-arrival visa at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has been revoked for the time…
April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the…
April 19: Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) and the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal (FHAN) have decided to collaborate with each other for the exports of handicraft items.…
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15142', 'article_category_id' => '228', 'title' => 'Gautam Buddha International Airport comes into Operation ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) has formally come into operation from today (April 21).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 21: Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) has formally come into operation from today (April 21). It is the second international airport of the country after the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Pradip Adhikari, informed that the new runway of the GBIA has formally come into operation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to him, the formal opening of the second international airport is a milestone in the 74-year history of civil aviation in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We would like to offer our special thanks to all those who were directly and indirectly linked with the project," he said. The Director General said that the 1,500 metres long old runway has been closed and the new 3,500 metres runway has become operational. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the new runway of the airport has come into operation from today, international flights would start only from May 16, on the day of Buddha Jayanti festival or the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha. The domestic flights have already started using the new runway from today itself. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Aircraft belonging to international airline companies can now land at the GBIA when the Kathmandu-based TIA is closed or during emergency situations. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Bikram Gautam, joint-coordinator of the Operation Readiness and Airport Transport, said domestic flights have been started from the GBIA from today. He said all the flights would be operated from the new runway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The Bhairahawa airport was operated on 4 July 1958 as a domestic airport. Now, we have declared that it has been brought into operation as an international airport from today," he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Jazeera Air of Kuwait has made all necessary preparations for operating international flights from the Gautam Buddha International Airport. Jazeera Air has so far taken official permission for operating flights from this airport. Other airlines are also in the process of operating flights from here. The airport authorities believe that the other airlines companies will also start their services from here soon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Both narrow body and wide-body aircraft will conduct flights from GBIA. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Officials concerned have described the operation of the GBIA as a new leap forward in the country's aviation history. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Private airlines company, Yeti Airlines, conducted the first flight from the new runway, the airport office said. Other private airlines such as Buddha Air, Yeti Airlines, Shree Airlines, Saurya Airlines have been operating flights from here as well. – RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14885', 'image' => '20220421024305_1650517167.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 14:42:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15143', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Preparations underway to Open Integrated Agriculture Market in Mahendranagar ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: Bhimdatta Municipality of Kanchanpur is constructing an integrated agriculture market for marketing of agricultural products. ', '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 21: Bhimdatta Municipality of Kanchanpur is constructing an integrated agriculture market for marketing of agricultural products. The municipality is constructing the structure with the help of Sundarpur-based Agribusiness Promotion Support and Training Center.</span></span></span></span></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"">Municipal engineer Jayaraj Bhatta said that 150 stalls will be constructed in the integrated agricultural market, among which, the municipality is helping construct 100 shutters in collaboration with the center and the rest with its own resources.</span></span></span></span></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"">Two separate contracts were signed for the construction of the integrated agricultural market structure near the open space of Bhimdutta-4.</span></span></span></span></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"">A contract worth Rs 15 million was signed with MD Construction for 50 shutters. An agreement worth Rs 39.6 million was signed with MK / Niraj JV for the construction of 100 shutters. According to Engineer Bhatta, 50 percent construction of both the projects is completed. The initial plan is to complete the work by May 2023.</span></span></span></span></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 Mayor Surendra Bista, after the construction of the structure, all kinds of agricultural products will be integrated and the market will be managed accordingly. The municipality is working to increase agricultural production including introduction of programmes like one ward one product, pocket area programme, as well as providing support like agricultural subsidy, cooperation with the cooperative sector etc. The internal resources of the municipality as well is expected to increase after the construction of the market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14884', 'image' => '20220421054028_Bhindutta_Municipality.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 17:39:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15141', 'article_category_id' => '224', 'title' => 'India’s Energy Minister Pledges to Purchase Electricity from Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: India's Energy Minister RK Singh has announced that India will buy all the electricity generated from Nepal's hydropower projects.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 21: India's Energy Minister RK Singh has announced that India will buy all the electricity generated from Nepal's hydropower projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Singh made such announcement on Wednesday while addressing a joint energy meeting of the countries affiliated to the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">So far, India has agreed to purchase 364 MW of electricity from Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal, spokesperson of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, India has also announced to buy electricity generated from Bhutan's hydropower projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"The announcement by the Indian energy minister has given us further impetus. If that really happens, it will be a great help to Nepal's hydropower development,” said Bhetuwal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">BIMSTEC includes Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The meeting also decided to facilitate electricity trade between BIMSTEC member countries, connect each other's transmission systems (grid) and establish an energy trade centre. A 12-point joint statement was issued after the meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the meeting, it was agreed to formulate necessary policy and tariff system for electricity trade between BIMSTEC countries. The meeting also decided to form a committee with experts to plan how to trade electricity between BIMSTEC countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It was agreed to set up a 'BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection Coordination Committee' to connect the grids of BIMSTEC countries. With the support of the Asian Development Bank, the committee will draw up a master plan for grid interconnection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Member countries have agreed to establish BIMSTEC Energy Center. The centre will conduct research on energy, exchange experiences and co-operate among member countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The meeting also decided to make an action plan, prepare the structure and prepare the necessary funds for the operation of the trade centre. It has been said that the centre will be brought into operation in time by making an appropriate action plan, roadmap, structure and working methodology.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A meeting of BIMSTEC in 2011 had agreed to set up an energy centre. However, it was not implemented. Now the BIMSTEC countries are committed to implementing it.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Everyone has expressed their commitment to implement it. Let's hope it is implemented," said Bhetwal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Addressing the meeting, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal said that the natural resources of BIMSTEC countries should be used as an alternative to energy generated from fossil fuel. “Energy, environment and economy are important sectors for sustainable development. However, we are constantly using fuels that affect the environment. This tendency to create tension in our environment must end now,” she said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In addition, there is a need to further expand economic cooperation among BIMSTEC countries for energy development, she added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Energy Secretary Devendra Karki said that moving ahead with the process of establishing the BIMSTEC Energy Center was a positive aspect. He said that this would help in the development of the energy sector of BIMSTEC countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"It is expected to be a great help in exchanging information and best practices on energy efficiency and non-conventional energy sources," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also said that Nepal was making progress in the energy sector. "We have made great strides in providing clean and reliable energy to our people. As a result, 93 per cent of our population has access to electricity,” he said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14883', 'image' => '20220421022858_RS_KTM_IMGL6685_04202022.JPG', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 14:28:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15140', 'article_category_id' => '273', 'title' => 'Final Event of ‘Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022’ on Friday', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022 is all set to conclude in the capital on Friday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 21: The Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022 is all set to conclude in the capital on Friday. The programme this year started with two women sharing their entrepreneurial journey. Following the programme, special interactive trainings in hybrid methods on financial literacy, entrepreneurship, time management and capacity development were held in Pokhara, Birgunj and Biratnagar. The final program of this year will be held in Kathmandu on Friday (April 22). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The organizer New Business Age Pvt. Ltd. informed that the best 15 women in 8 categories will be honored in the final programme. Likewise, the best seven women entrepreneurs from each province will be honored with Rs 50,000 each. According to the organizers, the process of selecting women entrepreneurs for the honor had started since May last year. A jury comprising independent experts made the final selection of entrepreneurs from more than 2,000 women entrepreneurs. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NBA has been conducting such programmes to promote entrepreneurship and business since 2013. The programme to honor women entrepreneurs was initiated in 2021. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the run-up to the event, a panel discussion was held with various experts regarding new opportunities for entrepreneurs after Covid-19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Standard Chartered Bank is the main sponsor and Muktinath Bikas Bank Limited is the co-sponsor of the Summit and Awards to be held in Kathmandu on April 22. Likewise, the medical partner for the event is Star Hospital. Center for Leadership and Entrepreneurship is the knowledge partner, Turkish Airlines is the airlines partner, Daraz is the ecommerce partner, NECO Insurance Limited is the insurance partner and Dish Home FiberNet is the internet partner. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the event is also supported by Agriculture Development Bank, Sipradi Trading, Reliable Life Insurance, Progressive Finance Limited, National Life Insurance, Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal (FWEAN), Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and Nepal Rastra Bank. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14882', 'image' => '20220421010649_1650496679.3.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 13:05:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15139', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'SC Order has Strengthened Central Bank’s Autonomy: Governor', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Supreme Court’s order has strengthened the autonomy of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank’s Governor, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said after resuming his office on Wednesday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 21: The Supreme Court’s order has strengthened the autonomy of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank’s Governor, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said after resuming his office on Wednesday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Governor Adhikari resumed his duties and responsibilities after the Supreme Court issued an interim order to overrule the decision of the government to suspend the governor.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He stated that he is determined to ensure the stability of the economy and the financial sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After getting reinstated, Adhikari remarked, “The decision of the Supreme Court has strengthened the autonomy of NRB. I am determined to make the economy and financial sector stable.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Governor Adhikari mentioned that he had no personal ego against anyone and that he would move forward by cooperating with every sector. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The position of governor is not just a person, but an institution as well. Various obstacles surface in the way of fulfilling responsibilities. We are aware to not hold grudges against anyone and move forward with mutual cooperation,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The governor was suspended after the council of ministers formed a committee to probe against him on April 7. Adhikari filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court against the decision of the government on Sunday. Responding to the petition, the court overruled the decision of the government to suspend him by issuing an interim order. The court order also allowed him to resume his responsibilities.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Supreme Court has set the date of next hearing for April 26 to discuss with both the parties about whether or not to extend the interim order. With the decision of the Supreme Court, the probe against Adhikari has been halted till April 26. This automatically released Adhikari from his suspension, enabling him to get back to fulfill his responsibilities.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14881', 'image' => '20220421121201_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 12:11:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15138', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Third BIMSTEC Ministers’ Meeting Agrees to Establish Power Trade Centre ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The third BIMSTEC energy ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) concluded on Wednesday with a 12-point joint statement to facilitate power trade, prepare a master plan on ‘grid connection’ and establish power trade centre. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 21: The third BIMSTEC energy ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) concluded on Wednesday with a 12-point joint statement to facilitate power trade, prepare a master plan on ‘grid connection’ and establish power trade centre. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As stated in the press statement, the virtual meeting agreed to implement grid inter-connection and constitute a ‘BIMSTEC Grid Inter-Connection Coordination Committee’ for preparing necessary work plan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting also agreed to develop a master plan on BIMSTEC Grid Mutual Installation Coordination Committee with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank. Likewise, the meeting agreed to develop policy and tariff system for power trade. Also, the meeting reached an understanding to develop a group with experts to frame a plan of cooperation on power trade among BIMSTEC countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The BIMSTEC energy centre will be established for undertaking research on energy and exchanging experience as well as strengthening collaboration among the member nations. A master plan and action plan will be developed and a fund required for the operation of the center will also be set up, the statement added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Presiding over the meeting, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal said the BIMSTEC countries possess adequate natural resources and stressed that energy and renewable natural resource should be used as energy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stressing the need to make adequate financial investment in energy promotion, she said technology transfer should be promoted in the BIMSTEC region. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14880', 'image' => '20220421081540_-1558975331.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 08:14:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15137', 'article_category_id' => '274', 'title' => 'CNI Study Concludes Nepal’s Economy is not in Crisis', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has stated that the country’s economy is not in crisis.', '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 20: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has stated that the country’s economy is not in crisis.</span></span></span></span></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"">A study conducted by CNI has concluded that the economy is not in crisis. CNI has also released a study report claiming that the economy is not in crisis. Various economists have also commented that the economy is not in crisis.</span></span></span></span></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"">There have been comments that the lack of liquidity in the country's banking system, rising trade deficit and balance of payments deficit, declining foreign exchange reserves, rising inflation, and lack of energy and fuel have all contributed to the crisis. Some have even analyzed that Nepal is facing an economic crisis like Sri Lanka. However, according to the CNI report, Nepal's economy is much better than that of Sri Lanka.</span></span></span></span></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"">CNI claims that data suggest there is no economic crisis. However, the report states that there is a need to move forward with restraint.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At present, the size of Nepal's public debt is 40.5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Sri Lanka's national debt is 111 per cent 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"">Similarly, Nepal has 6.7 months of foreign exchange reserves to support imports of goods and services. Sri Lanka does not have enough foreign exchange reserves to sustain one month of goods and services. Sri Lanka is unable to import even basic commodities.</span></span></span></span></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"">Inflation in Nepal is 7 per cent while it has grown to 25 per cent in Sri Lanka. In this case, Nepal's economy should not be compared with Sri Lanka, the report said. On top of that, CNI claimed that the overall economy is not in crisis. The report states that the economy does not appear to be in crisis in the last three months of 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"">In the first five months of the current fiscal year, the monthly average import was Rs 167 billion. In the following three months it stood at Rs 156 billion in January, February and March. This suggests that imports have declined recently.</span></span></span></span></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"">Similarly, foreign exchange reserves were negative by 3.24 per cent in the first five months of the current fiscal year. In the following three months, foreign exchange reserves declined by only 1.53 per cent.</span></span></span></span></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 capital budget of Rs 28.40 billion was spent in the first five months of the current fiscal year. After that, a capital budget of Rs. 48.70 billion has been spent in the last three months.</span></span></span></span></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 study also showed that the inflow of remittances has increased in the last three months. In the first five months of the current fiscal year, the monthly remittance was Rs 77.70 billion. In the next three months, remittances have reached an average of Rs 80.80 billion per month.</span></span></span></span></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"">Similarly, arrival of tourists has also increased in the last three months. The average monthly tourist arrivals in the first five months of the current fiscal year were 17,757. In the next three months, an average of 26,249 foreign tourists arrived monthly.</span></span></span></span></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 CNI Chairman Bishnu Agrawal, there is no economic crisis in Nepal based on these statistics. However, he acknowledged that the numbers were not enough and we need to be cautious.</span></span></span></span></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"">CNI made the report public at a press conference on Tuesday.</span></span></span></span></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"">It has been said that there is an economic crisis in Nepal. But, looking at the statistics, it doesn't look like that. Foreign countries have reserves enough to sustain imports for three months of imports in foreign countries. Even though we have enough reserves to support imports for more than six months, there are comments that there is an economic crisis, which is not true," Agrawal opined. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At the same time, the steps taken by the government to resolve the crisis have created more problems, he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">CNI concluded that stopping imports is not the answer. It has been said that a special initiative should be taken to increase production, marketing and consumption of domestic goods by managing the import at present. Stating that Nepal is in an economic crisis could create panic and destabilize the market, shared CNI Vice President Anuj Agrawal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14879', 'image' => '20220420051123_ecomonic crisis.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 17:10:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15136', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Where have LPG Cylinders Gone?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: Nepal Oil Corporation is currently supplying almost double the normal amount of cooking gas.', '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"">Prem Chand</span></span></span></span></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"">April 20: Nepal Oil Corporation is currently supplying almost double the normal amount of cooking gas. Under normal circumstances, the state-owned corporation supplies up to 70 bullets of LPG per day, but now, it is supplying up to 135 bullets daily. During monitoring, it was found that the industries have also increased the production of cooking gas. However, there is still a shortage of gas in the market. Consumers have to wait for at least a week to get one cylinder of gas.</span></span></span></span></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 Netra Kafle, the head of the corporation's gas distribution department, it is now off-season in terms of gas consumption. In the past, industrialists used to place Product Delivery Order (PDO) for 70 to 80 bullets of LPG daily as gas consumption is relatively low in summer. There was a problem in gas supply when the gas industrialists did not place the PDO demanding an increase in transportation fare from last March 20. Industrialists who did not issue PDO till April 2 started placing the order from April 3.</span></span></span></span></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"">Since then, they are placing almost twice as many PDOs as usual. According to the corporation, gas industrialists are placing 125 to 135 bullets of PDO daily. However, consumers are not getting cooking gas easily. Shraman Shrestha, who lives in Babarmahal, Kathmandu said that he brought gas from Arubari with the help of personal connections after not getting any gas for a week.</span></span></span></span></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 of Commerce, Supply and Consumer Protection is also receiving complaints on a daily basis of gas not being available. According to Dhaneshwor Poudel, deputy information officer of the department, on an average, 2 to 3 complaints are registered in the department daily for not getting gas.</span></span></span></span></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 corporation also admitted that gas is not easily available in the market. Kafle said there is a shortage of gas because industrialists and gas dealers are not accountable to the consumers. “If the businessmen had been accountable to the consumers, they would have revealed the truth.”</span></span></span></span></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 industrialists also admitted that the corporation has increased gas supply but there is a shortage in the market. Krishna Bhakta Shrestha, general secretary of the LP Gas Industry Association, said that even though the gas supply is above 100 bullets daily, the supply has not eased. </span></span></span></span></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"">“There is no shortage of gas. It's just a little less. Earlier, loading of gas was halted for 8/10 days for not being able to pay for the transportation charge. It seems like there is a shortage due to the gap. But that’s not the case.” He said that under normal circumstances, 70 to 80 bullets of gas were imported daily, but now up to 120 bullets of gas are being imported and all the imported gas is sent to the market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, the dealers say that the number of gas cylinders being supplied is constant and that there has not been any increase. Chandra Thapa, senior vice-president of the Gas Dealers Federation said that under normal circumstances, an average of one vehicle of gas is supplied to the dealer from one industry and it is the same at present as well.</span></span></span></span></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"">Thapa says that there is no difference in the quantity of gas supplied to the dealers from the industry. He said that consumers are trying to keep stocks as there are rumors of rising gas prices and rising crude oil prices in the international market. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There is news of Nepal Oil Corporation being at loss due to LP gas. Consumers try to keep stocks due to the fear of rising prices and shortages, causing difficulty in fulfilling the demand,” he said. Consumer rights activists doubt that the industrialists are buying more gas but not supplying to the sellers in the hope that the NOC will increase the price of LP gas. Consumer rights activist Prem Lal Maharjan accused the industrialists and businessmen of hiding gas with the intention of selling it at increased prices. Maharjan said, “Industrialists and dealers are expecting the prices to go up in the international market and the domestic rates will also go up.”</span></span></span></span></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 of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection has stated that they have started gas-centric monitoring. Deputy Information Officer of the department Poudel said they found during monitoring on Monday that the production of Everest Gas has increased. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Everest Gas has been producing up to 4,000 cylinders of gas per day under normal conditions, but now it is producing up to 6,000 cylinders,” he said, adding, “Since it sent the gas cylinders to the dealers, there are doubts that dealers might be hiding the gas cylinders. We are yet to monitor the dealers yet.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14878', 'image' => '20220420033543_gas.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 15:35:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15135', 'article_category_id' => '273', 'title' => 'Financial Literacy is the Basis of Women Entrepreneurship ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: Financial literacy is the need of the hour for women entrepreneurs.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 20: Financial literacy is the need of the hour for women entrepreneurs. Stakeholders say that the state and private sector should take necessary steps to this end. Participants of an interaction programme under the ‘Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022’ organized in Biratnagar on Tuesday said that doing so will strengthen women entrepreneurs’ contribution to the country’s economy in the future. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the interaction coordinated by Chamber of Industries Morang (CIM), Pratibha Rijal Oli, executive committee member of CIM and coordinator of Women Entrepreneurship Committee, said that women, a part of economic development of the country, have always lagged behind. Stating that financial literacy is indispensable for women entrepreneurs, she said that women will benefit from financial literacy conducted at the grassroots level. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The contribution of women in the economic development of the country is not less and if entrepreneurial literacy is provided to women their contribution in the economy will be even more,” she said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She informed that a majority of women are engaged in business only for livelihood and even though they wanted to expand it, they are unaware about the market and process of taking loan from the bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><img src="https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1HT_JlZkcmHxYWA5-zPPfWiV4aWnfCALy" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Furthermore, she stated that if the training and interaction programme is organized by New Business Age (NBA) regularly, it would be very fruitful for such business women. She says that it is necessary to make women entrepreneurs able to take loans, keep an account of their business and do marketing. She suggested that NBA should hold two such events a year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chairman of the CIM Suyash Raj Pyakurel appreciated NBA for organizing the programme for the development of women entrepreneurship outside the capital. He said that literacy is first and foremost necessary for the development of women entrepreneurship. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Madan Lamsal, chairman and editor-in-chief of NBA, said that the programme has been conducted in different provinces and the selected women entrepreneurs will be honored and prizes will be distributed in the capital. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He informed that they have been working for entrepreneurship since 2013. Stating that economic development of the country is possible only if women are into entrepreneurship, Lamsal said that NBA has been organizing training and interaction for women entrepreneurs annually. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal (FWEAN) Niru Rayamajhi Khatri provided training to the participants on leadership and leadership qualities. She also informed the participants about the pre-requisites to move their business forward. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sita Rai of Luma Home-made Dhaka Industry, who participated in the programme, said that it is much easier for a startup now compared to the difficulties she had while starting her business. She said that organizations like NBA need to train startups to run successful businesses. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sharmila Humagain, branch manager of Standard Chartered Bank, Biratnagar, said that in some cases, women entrepreneurs lack documents required for taking loans. She informed that banks have been providing a concessional loan for women entrepreneurs in case they are able to submit all the documents required for obtaining such loans. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Managers of Agricultural Development Bank and Muktinath Bikas Bank said that they will provide loans if all the documents are provided. In addition, they said that the banks should provide loans for the development of women entrepreneurship but there would be a problem when others try to take loans in the name of women. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14877', 'image' => '20220420014616_1650414801.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 13:45:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15134', 'article_category_id' => '277', 'title' => 'Agriculture Census to Cost Rs 100 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The government has started the national agriculture census from Tuesday by allocating a budget of Rs 100 billion.', '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 20: The government has started the national agriculture census from Tuesday by allocating a budget of Rs 100 billion. The agricultural census started on April 19 and will last for 45 days. It is expected to help identify farmers' complaints, needs and problems in order to seek solutions.</span></span></span></span></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 Central Bureau of Statistics started the agricultural census about six months after the national census was held. The department stated that Rs 100 billion will be spent on data collection, analysis, its preparation, printing of questionnaires, enumerators’ salary and facilities. Badri Kumar Karki, the director of the department said that about Rs 720 million will be spent for data collection alone.</span></span></span></span></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 him, the department will collect data for the agriculture census from all 753 local units. The census is expected to give a clear picture of the total area of cultivable land in the country at present, the main crops cultivated, livestock count, and the use of fertilizers, seeds and pesticides. Similarly, statistics on farmers with agricultural insurance, farmers’ access to agricultural credit, agricultural structure available at every local level, agricultural activities, use of agricultural technology will also be obtained.</span></span></span></span></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"">Karki said that the current state of agriculture will be known from the data collection, which will help in making it more effective by formulating necessary policies and strategies for solving the problems. Apart from this, the census will help the government to bring additional programs for encouraging all those who have been involved in household farming.</span></span></span></span></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 government has been conducted the agriculture census in Nepal since 1961 and is done every ten years. According to the department, about 5,200 enumerators and 1,300 supervisors are deployed in the field to collect the data.</span></span></span></span></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 enumerators will collect data from 350,000 households considering them as representative households. The department said that the details of women-led farming will be collected separately, while keeping the increasing participation of women in the agricultural sector in mind.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14876', 'image' => '20220420120625_20200512091924_20190527010000_Makai.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 12:05:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15133', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'NRB Governor to Resume his Duties from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that he will return to office from Wednesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that he will return to office from Wednesday. He made such remark after the Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an interim order to the government not to implement its decision to probe against the governor.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The respected court has issued an order as per the demands I made in the writ petition,” said Adhikari, adding, “I will resume by duties from Wednesday.”</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14875', 'image' => '20220420114435_maha.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 11:43:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15132', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Issues Interim Order not to Implement the Decision Regarding NRB Governor ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday issued an interim order not to implement the government's decision to form a probe panel against Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari until a final verdict. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 19: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday issued an interim order not to implement the government's decision to form a probe panel against Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari until a final verdict. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A single bench of SC Justice Hari Prasad Phuyal issued the order asking the government not to implement its decision relating to Governor Adhikari citing Article 132 (2) and 304 (1) of the Constitution of Nepal, and Clause 23 (1) of the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2058 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari had filed a writ petition on Sunday demanding the apex court to scrap the government's decision to form a panel to probe against him. Adhikari argued in the petition that the government formed the probe committee without giving him an opportunity for clarification. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Supreme Court issued the order after a preliminary hearing on the writ petition. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The SC has also summoned both the sides on April 26 for discussions. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, a meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 8 had decided to form a panel to probe into Governor Adhikari, leading to this automatic suspension from the post. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14874', 'image' => '20220419082227_Supreme Court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 20:21:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15131', 'article_category_id' => '239', 'title' => 'Provision Requiring Cash for On-Arrival Visa Revoked ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The provision requiring foreign tourists to possess cash for obtaining on-arrival visa at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has been revoked for the time being. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 19: The provision requiring foreign tourists to possess cash for obtaining on-arrival visa at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has been revoked for the time being. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted the Immigration Office at the TIA had issued a notice a few days ago asking tourists to carry cash equivalent to US dollar 200 to obtain on-arrival visa upon landing in Nepal. The office cited that it was facing issues with the electronic payment system and foreign tourists were expected to have cash to get the on-arrival visa. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The notice sparked widespread protest among the public. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The immigration office informed the provision has been removed for the time- being. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">TIA manager Prem Nath Thakur confirmed the previous decision has been revoked. It has been learnt that the airport authorities have initiated the process of installing ATM booths of Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) at the immigration office since Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Immigration office, two ATM booths and two POS machines are to be added at TIA for convenience of foreign tourists. Prior to this, only one ATM booth of Prabhu Bank was available at the TIA to serve the tourists and the problem surfaced as the machine failed to read master cards. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14873', 'image' => '20220419054339_Tourist.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 17:43:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15130', 'article_category_id' => '277', 'title' => 'Farmers affected by Natural Disasters yet to get Relief in Jhapa', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the farmers.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the farmers. Farmers suffer due to floods after rains in the rainy season and suffer due to conditions like drought and wind during the dry season. Farmers who depend on agriculture for their livelihood are troubled the most by the unseasonal hailstorm and windstorm.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Farmers, who were troubled by the unexpected rainfall during mid-October, are now suffering due to wind and hailstorm.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The hailstorm of last week damaged crops grown in Jhapa. Hazrat Ali Miya, 63, of Jhapa Municipality-4 said that crops planted in 4 bigahas of rented land were destroyed by hailstorm. He expressed, “I don't know how to repay the loan now.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He has been cultivating in four bighas of land for the last three years on the condition of giving a certain amount of paddy or maize per bigha annually to the land owner. He said that the maize planted at a cost of Rs 60,000 per bigha is now limited to 10 kathas. He expressed his despair saying that the hailstorm soaked the corn plants so bad that it cannot be even fed to cows. The unexpected rain last October also damaged the paddy right before the harvesting season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Last October, when the paddy was about to ripen, the rain destroyed it,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Farmer Lal Miya of the same locality also leased seven bighas of land to grow maize. However, he shared his sorrow saying that the recent hailstorm and strong winds destroyed everything. He said, “Who should we share about our pain with? There are no helping hands for poor people. There are only listeners and spectators during our hard times.” Last October, his paddy crop was also damaged. However, he complained that he has not received any relief so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Farmer Laxmi Upreti of Jhapa municipality-3 said that her maize were severely damaged.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Under the Prime Minister's Agriculture Modernization Project, maize is cultivated in the district by declaring it the maize zone. Maize farming flourished in the district after the government started providing subsidized fertilizers and seeds as well as agricultural equipment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> According to Rabin Niraula, information officer at the project office, cultivation is being done in 500 hectares of land in Kankai Municipality, Barhadashi, Jhapa and Kachankawal. Niraula said that the office has not received any information about the damage caused to maize due to strong winds.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Currently, maize is being cultivated in an area of about 40,000 hectares in the district. Strong winds and hail storms have also caused severe damage to vegetables.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14872', 'image' => '20220419050528_istockphoto-177522599-612x612.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 17:04:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15129', 'article_category_id' => '268', 'title' => 'NCC to Collaborate with FHAN to Export Handicraft Products', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) and the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal (FHAN) have decided to collaborate with each other for the exports of handicraft items. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 19: Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) and the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal (FHAN) have decided to collaborate with each other for the exports of handicraft items. NCC and FHAN signed an agreement in this regard on Monday. The two parties decided to collaborate with each other in a bid to reduce the country’s trade deficit by promoting export of handicraft items.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NCC and FHAN decided to cooperate with each other to promote exports stating that handicraft materials have played an important role in reducing trade deficit and also established Nepal's identity in the international market. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NCC Chairman Rajendra Malla said that they would work hand in hand with the FHAN to facilitate the export of handicraft items and to remove the problems in customs clearance.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at a program organized at the NCC building at Jamal, Kathmandu to welcome the officials of the federation, Chairman Malla said that he will do his best ensure the entry of Nepali handicraft products in international exhibitions</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Malla said, “Export promotion of handicrafts is the strongest option right now to reduce the huge trade deficit.” He said that the handicraft industry has been creating employment opportunities on a large scale and has been helping in the preservation and promotion of culture through skills and arts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The handicraft industry has not only promoted and protected indigenous skills but also helped establish cultural identity,” he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the NCC, Nepali handicrafts are exported to the United States, European countries, Japan, China, India, Korea and other Asian countries. Malla said that high financial benefits can be reaped if the state provides support with concessions. He said that he would take initiative to facilitate customs clearance for the export of handicraft items, provide relief to businessmen and other policy reforms.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">President of FHAN, Prachanda Shakya said that there are various policy issues including customs clearance for the export of handicrafts produced by them. He complained that even though the government provided relief to the exporting businessmen, the genuine businessmen are still having a hard time.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Shakya requested the NCC to facilitate exports. In response, Malla said that he would do his best to promote handicraft exports. An agreement was reached between the NCC and the FHAN to take initiative with the government for policy reforms before the next budget.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14871', 'image' => '20220419033958_handicraft.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 15:39:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15142', 'article_category_id' => '228', 'title' => 'Gautam Buddha International Airport comes into Operation ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) has formally come into operation from today (April 21).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 21: Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) has formally come into operation from today (April 21). It is the second international airport of the country after the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Pradip Adhikari, informed that the new runway of the GBIA has formally come into operation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to him, the formal opening of the second international airport is a milestone in the 74-year history of civil aviation in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We would like to offer our special thanks to all those who were directly and indirectly linked with the project," he said. The Director General said that the 1,500 metres long old runway has been closed and the new 3,500 metres runway has become operational. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the new runway of the airport has come into operation from today, international flights would start only from May 16, on the day of Buddha Jayanti festival or the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha. The domestic flights have already started using the new runway from today itself. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Aircraft belonging to international airline companies can now land at the GBIA when the Kathmandu-based TIA is closed or during emergency situations. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Bikram Gautam, joint-coordinator of the Operation Readiness and Airport Transport, said domestic flights have been started from the GBIA from today. He said all the flights would be operated from the new runway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The Bhairahawa airport was operated on 4 July 1958 as a domestic airport. Now, we have declared that it has been brought into operation as an international airport from today," he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Jazeera Air of Kuwait has made all necessary preparations for operating international flights from the Gautam Buddha International Airport. Jazeera Air has so far taken official permission for operating flights from this airport. Other airlines are also in the process of operating flights from here. The airport authorities believe that the other airlines companies will also start their services from here soon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Both narrow body and wide-body aircraft will conduct flights from GBIA. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Officials concerned have described the operation of the GBIA as a new leap forward in the country's aviation history. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Private airlines company, Yeti Airlines, conducted the first flight from the new runway, the airport office said. Other private airlines such as Buddha Air, Yeti Airlines, Shree Airlines, Saurya Airlines have been operating flights from here as well. – RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14885', 'image' => '20220421024305_1650517167.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 14:42:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15143', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Preparations underway to Open Integrated Agriculture Market in Mahendranagar ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: Bhimdatta Municipality of Kanchanpur is constructing an integrated agriculture market for marketing of agricultural products. ', '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 21: Bhimdatta Municipality of Kanchanpur is constructing an integrated agriculture market for marketing of agricultural products. The municipality is constructing the structure with the help of Sundarpur-based Agribusiness Promotion Support and Training Center.</span></span></span></span></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"">Municipal engineer Jayaraj Bhatta said that 150 stalls will be constructed in the integrated agricultural market, among which, the municipality is helping construct 100 shutters in collaboration with the center and the rest with its own resources.</span></span></span></span></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"">Two separate contracts were signed for the construction of the integrated agricultural market structure near the open space of Bhimdutta-4.</span></span></span></span></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"">A contract worth Rs 15 million was signed with MD Construction for 50 shutters. An agreement worth Rs 39.6 million was signed with MK / Niraj JV for the construction of 100 shutters. According to Engineer Bhatta, 50 percent construction of both the projects is completed. The initial plan is to complete the work by May 2023.</span></span></span></span></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 Mayor Surendra Bista, after the construction of the structure, all kinds of agricultural products will be integrated and the market will be managed accordingly. The municipality is working to increase agricultural production including introduction of programmes like one ward one product, pocket area programme, as well as providing support like agricultural subsidy, cooperation with the cooperative sector etc. The internal resources of the municipality as well is expected to increase after the construction of the market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14884', 'image' => '20220421054028_Bhindutta_Municipality.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 17:39:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15141', 'article_category_id' => '224', 'title' => 'India’s Energy Minister Pledges to Purchase Electricity from Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: India's Energy Minister RK Singh has announced that India will buy all the electricity generated from Nepal's hydropower projects.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 21: India's Energy Minister RK Singh has announced that India will buy all the electricity generated from Nepal's hydropower projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Singh made such announcement on Wednesday while addressing a joint energy meeting of the countries affiliated to the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">So far, India has agreed to purchase 364 MW of electricity from Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal, spokesperson of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, India has also announced to buy electricity generated from Bhutan's hydropower projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"The announcement by the Indian energy minister has given us further impetus. If that really happens, it will be a great help to Nepal's hydropower development,” said Bhetuwal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">BIMSTEC includes Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The meeting also decided to facilitate electricity trade between BIMSTEC member countries, connect each other's transmission systems (grid) and establish an energy trade centre. A 12-point joint statement was issued after the meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the meeting, it was agreed to formulate necessary policy and tariff system for electricity trade between BIMSTEC countries. The meeting also decided to form a committee with experts to plan how to trade electricity between BIMSTEC countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It was agreed to set up a 'BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection Coordination Committee' to connect the grids of BIMSTEC countries. With the support of the Asian Development Bank, the committee will draw up a master plan for grid interconnection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Member countries have agreed to establish BIMSTEC Energy Center. The centre will conduct research on energy, exchange experiences and co-operate among member countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The meeting also decided to make an action plan, prepare the structure and prepare the necessary funds for the operation of the trade centre. It has been said that the centre will be brought into operation in time by making an appropriate action plan, roadmap, structure and working methodology.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A meeting of BIMSTEC in 2011 had agreed to set up an energy centre. However, it was not implemented. Now the BIMSTEC countries are committed to implementing it.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Everyone has expressed their commitment to implement it. Let's hope it is implemented," said Bhetwal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Addressing the meeting, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal said that the natural resources of BIMSTEC countries should be used as an alternative to energy generated from fossil fuel. “Energy, environment and economy are important sectors for sustainable development. However, we are constantly using fuels that affect the environment. This tendency to create tension in our environment must end now,” she said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In addition, there is a need to further expand economic cooperation among BIMSTEC countries for energy development, she added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Energy Secretary Devendra Karki said that moving ahead with the process of establishing the BIMSTEC Energy Center was a positive aspect. He said that this would help in the development of the energy sector of BIMSTEC countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"It is expected to be a great help in exchanging information and best practices on energy efficiency and non-conventional energy sources," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also said that Nepal was making progress in the energy sector. "We have made great strides in providing clean and reliable energy to our people. As a result, 93 per cent of our population has access to electricity,” he said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14883', 'image' => '20220421022858_RS_KTM_IMGL6685_04202022.JPG', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 14:28:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15140', 'article_category_id' => '273', 'title' => 'Final Event of ‘Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022’ on Friday', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022 is all set to conclude in the capital on Friday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 21: The Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022 is all set to conclude in the capital on Friday. The programme this year started with two women sharing their entrepreneurial journey. Following the programme, special interactive trainings in hybrid methods on financial literacy, entrepreneurship, time management and capacity development were held in Pokhara, Birgunj and Biratnagar. The final program of this year will be held in Kathmandu on Friday (April 22). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The organizer New Business Age Pvt. Ltd. informed that the best 15 women in 8 categories will be honored in the final programme. Likewise, the best seven women entrepreneurs from each province will be honored with Rs 50,000 each. According to the organizers, the process of selecting women entrepreneurs for the honor had started since May last year. A jury comprising independent experts made the final selection of entrepreneurs from more than 2,000 women entrepreneurs. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NBA has been conducting such programmes to promote entrepreneurship and business since 2013. The programme to honor women entrepreneurs was initiated in 2021. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the run-up to the event, a panel discussion was held with various experts regarding new opportunities for entrepreneurs after Covid-19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Standard Chartered Bank is the main sponsor and Muktinath Bikas Bank Limited is the co-sponsor of the Summit and Awards to be held in Kathmandu on April 22. Likewise, the medical partner for the event is Star Hospital. Center for Leadership and Entrepreneurship is the knowledge partner, Turkish Airlines is the airlines partner, Daraz is the ecommerce partner, NECO Insurance Limited is the insurance partner and Dish Home FiberNet is the internet partner. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the event is also supported by Agriculture Development Bank, Sipradi Trading, Reliable Life Insurance, Progressive Finance Limited, National Life Insurance, Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal (FWEAN), Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and Nepal Rastra Bank. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14882', 'image' => '20220421010649_1650496679.3.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 13:05:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15139', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'SC Order has Strengthened Central Bank’s Autonomy: Governor', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Supreme Court’s order has strengthened the autonomy of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank’s Governor, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said after resuming his office on Wednesday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 21: The Supreme Court’s order has strengthened the autonomy of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank’s Governor, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said after resuming his office on Wednesday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Governor Adhikari resumed his duties and responsibilities after the Supreme Court issued an interim order to overrule the decision of the government to suspend the governor.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He stated that he is determined to ensure the stability of the economy and the financial sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After getting reinstated, Adhikari remarked, “The decision of the Supreme Court has strengthened the autonomy of NRB. I am determined to make the economy and financial sector stable.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Governor Adhikari mentioned that he had no personal ego against anyone and that he would move forward by cooperating with every sector. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The position of governor is not just a person, but an institution as well. Various obstacles surface in the way of fulfilling responsibilities. We are aware to not hold grudges against anyone and move forward with mutual cooperation,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The governor was suspended after the council of ministers formed a committee to probe against him on April 7. Adhikari filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court against the decision of the government on Sunday. Responding to the petition, the court overruled the decision of the government to suspend him by issuing an interim order. The court order also allowed him to resume his responsibilities.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Supreme Court has set the date of next hearing for April 26 to discuss with both the parties about whether or not to extend the interim order. With the decision of the Supreme Court, the probe against Adhikari has been halted till April 26. This automatically released Adhikari from his suspension, enabling him to get back to fulfill his responsibilities.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14881', 'image' => '20220421121201_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 12:11:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15138', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Third BIMSTEC Ministers’ Meeting Agrees to Establish Power Trade Centre ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The third BIMSTEC energy ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) concluded on Wednesday with a 12-point joint statement to facilitate power trade, prepare a master plan on ‘grid connection’ and establish power trade centre. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 21: The third BIMSTEC energy ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) concluded on Wednesday with a 12-point joint statement to facilitate power trade, prepare a master plan on ‘grid connection’ and establish power trade centre. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As stated in the press statement, the virtual meeting agreed to implement grid inter-connection and constitute a ‘BIMSTEC Grid Inter-Connection Coordination Committee’ for preparing necessary work plan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting also agreed to develop a master plan on BIMSTEC Grid Mutual Installation Coordination Committee with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank. Likewise, the meeting agreed to develop policy and tariff system for power trade. Also, the meeting reached an understanding to develop a group with experts to frame a plan of cooperation on power trade among BIMSTEC countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The BIMSTEC energy centre will be established for undertaking research on energy and exchanging experience as well as strengthening collaboration among the member nations. A master plan and action plan will be developed and a fund required for the operation of the center will also be set up, the statement added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Presiding over the meeting, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal said the BIMSTEC countries possess adequate natural resources and stressed that energy and renewable natural resource should be used as energy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stressing the need to make adequate financial investment in energy promotion, she said technology transfer should be promoted in the BIMSTEC region. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14880', 'image' => '20220421081540_-1558975331.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 08:14:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15137', 'article_category_id' => '274', 'title' => 'CNI Study Concludes Nepal’s Economy is not in Crisis', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has stated that the country’s economy is not in crisis.', '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 20: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has stated that the country’s economy is not in crisis.</span></span></span></span></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"">A study conducted by CNI has concluded that the economy is not in crisis. CNI has also released a study report claiming that the economy is not in crisis. Various economists have also commented that the economy is not in crisis.</span></span></span></span></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"">There have been comments that the lack of liquidity in the country's banking system, rising trade deficit and balance of payments deficit, declining foreign exchange reserves, rising inflation, and lack of energy and fuel have all contributed to the crisis. Some have even analyzed that Nepal is facing an economic crisis like Sri Lanka. However, according to the CNI report, Nepal's economy is much better than that of Sri Lanka.</span></span></span></span></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"">CNI claims that data suggest there is no economic crisis. However, the report states that there is a need to move forward with restraint.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At present, the size of Nepal's public debt is 40.5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Sri Lanka's national debt is 111 per cent 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"">Similarly, Nepal has 6.7 months of foreign exchange reserves to support imports of goods and services. Sri Lanka does not have enough foreign exchange reserves to sustain one month of goods and services. Sri Lanka is unable to import even basic commodities.</span></span></span></span></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"">Inflation in Nepal is 7 per cent while it has grown to 25 per cent in Sri Lanka. In this case, Nepal's economy should not be compared with Sri Lanka, the report said. On top of that, CNI claimed that the overall economy is not in crisis. The report states that the economy does not appear to be in crisis in the last three months of 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"">In the first five months of the current fiscal year, the monthly average import was Rs 167 billion. In the following three months it stood at Rs 156 billion in January, February and March. This suggests that imports have declined recently.</span></span></span></span></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"">Similarly, foreign exchange reserves were negative by 3.24 per cent in the first five months of the current fiscal year. In the following three months, foreign exchange reserves declined by only 1.53 per cent.</span></span></span></span></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 capital budget of Rs 28.40 billion was spent in the first five months of the current fiscal year. After that, a capital budget of Rs. 48.70 billion has been spent in the last three months.</span></span></span></span></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 study also showed that the inflow of remittances has increased in the last three months. In the first five months of the current fiscal year, the monthly remittance was Rs 77.70 billion. In the next three months, remittances have reached an average of Rs 80.80 billion per month.</span></span></span></span></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"">Similarly, arrival of tourists has also increased in the last three months. The average monthly tourist arrivals in the first five months of the current fiscal year were 17,757. In the next three months, an average of 26,249 foreign tourists arrived monthly.</span></span></span></span></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 CNI Chairman Bishnu Agrawal, there is no economic crisis in Nepal based on these statistics. However, he acknowledged that the numbers were not enough and we need to be cautious.</span></span></span></span></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"">CNI made the report public at a press conference on Tuesday.</span></span></span></span></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"">It has been said that there is an economic crisis in Nepal. But, looking at the statistics, it doesn't look like that. Foreign countries have reserves enough to sustain imports for three months of imports in foreign countries. Even though we have enough reserves to support imports for more than six months, there are comments that there is an economic crisis, which is not true," Agrawal opined. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At the same time, the steps taken by the government to resolve the crisis have created more problems, he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">CNI concluded that stopping imports is not the answer. It has been said that a special initiative should be taken to increase production, marketing and consumption of domestic goods by managing the import at present. Stating that Nepal is in an economic crisis could create panic and destabilize the market, shared CNI Vice President Anuj Agrawal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14879', 'image' => '20220420051123_ecomonic crisis.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 17:10:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15136', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Where have LPG Cylinders Gone?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: Nepal Oil Corporation is currently supplying almost double the normal amount of cooking gas.', '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"">Prem Chand</span></span></span></span></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"">April 20: Nepal Oil Corporation is currently supplying almost double the normal amount of cooking gas. Under normal circumstances, the state-owned corporation supplies up to 70 bullets of LPG per day, but now, it is supplying up to 135 bullets daily. During monitoring, it was found that the industries have also increased the production of cooking gas. However, there is still a shortage of gas in the market. Consumers have to wait for at least a week to get one cylinder of gas.</span></span></span></span></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 Netra Kafle, the head of the corporation's gas distribution department, it is now off-season in terms of gas consumption. In the past, industrialists used to place Product Delivery Order (PDO) for 70 to 80 bullets of LPG daily as gas consumption is relatively low in summer. There was a problem in gas supply when the gas industrialists did not place the PDO demanding an increase in transportation fare from last March 20. Industrialists who did not issue PDO till April 2 started placing the order from April 3.</span></span></span></span></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"">Since then, they are placing almost twice as many PDOs as usual. According to the corporation, gas industrialists are placing 125 to 135 bullets of PDO daily. However, consumers are not getting cooking gas easily. Shraman Shrestha, who lives in Babarmahal, Kathmandu said that he brought gas from Arubari with the help of personal connections after not getting any gas for a week.</span></span></span></span></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 of Commerce, Supply and Consumer Protection is also receiving complaints on a daily basis of gas not being available. According to Dhaneshwor Poudel, deputy information officer of the department, on an average, 2 to 3 complaints are registered in the department daily for not getting gas.</span></span></span></span></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 corporation also admitted that gas is not easily available in the market. Kafle said there is a shortage of gas because industrialists and gas dealers are not accountable to the consumers. “If the businessmen had been accountable to the consumers, they would have revealed the truth.”</span></span></span></span></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 industrialists also admitted that the corporation has increased gas supply but there is a shortage in the market. Krishna Bhakta Shrestha, general secretary of the LP Gas Industry Association, said that even though the gas supply is above 100 bullets daily, the supply has not eased. </span></span></span></span></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"">“There is no shortage of gas. It's just a little less. Earlier, loading of gas was halted for 8/10 days for not being able to pay for the transportation charge. It seems like there is a shortage due to the gap. But that’s not the case.” He said that under normal circumstances, 70 to 80 bullets of gas were imported daily, but now up to 120 bullets of gas are being imported and all the imported gas is sent to the market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, the dealers say that the number of gas cylinders being supplied is constant and that there has not been any increase. Chandra Thapa, senior vice-president of the Gas Dealers Federation said that under normal circumstances, an average of one vehicle of gas is supplied to the dealer from one industry and it is the same at present as well.</span></span></span></span></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"">Thapa says that there is no difference in the quantity of gas supplied to the dealers from the industry. He said that consumers are trying to keep stocks as there are rumors of rising gas prices and rising crude oil prices in the international market. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There is news of Nepal Oil Corporation being at loss due to LP gas. Consumers try to keep stocks due to the fear of rising prices and shortages, causing difficulty in fulfilling the demand,” he said. Consumer rights activists doubt that the industrialists are buying more gas but not supplying to the sellers in the hope that the NOC will increase the price of LP gas. Consumer rights activist Prem Lal Maharjan accused the industrialists and businessmen of hiding gas with the intention of selling it at increased prices. Maharjan said, “Industrialists and dealers are expecting the prices to go up in the international market and the domestic rates will also go up.”</span></span></span></span></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 of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection has stated that they have started gas-centric monitoring. Deputy Information Officer of the department Poudel said they found during monitoring on Monday that the production of Everest Gas has increased. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Everest Gas has been producing up to 4,000 cylinders of gas per day under normal conditions, but now it is producing up to 6,000 cylinders,” he said, adding, “Since it sent the gas cylinders to the dealers, there are doubts that dealers might be hiding the gas cylinders. We are yet to monitor the dealers yet.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14878', 'image' => '20220420033543_gas.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 15:35:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15135', 'article_category_id' => '273', 'title' => 'Financial Literacy is the Basis of Women Entrepreneurship ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: Financial literacy is the need of the hour for women entrepreneurs.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 20: Financial literacy is the need of the hour for women entrepreneurs. Stakeholders say that the state and private sector should take necessary steps to this end. Participants of an interaction programme under the ‘Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022’ organized in Biratnagar on Tuesday said that doing so will strengthen women entrepreneurs’ contribution to the country’s economy in the future. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the interaction coordinated by Chamber of Industries Morang (CIM), Pratibha Rijal Oli, executive committee member of CIM and coordinator of Women Entrepreneurship Committee, said that women, a part of economic development of the country, have always lagged behind. Stating that financial literacy is indispensable for women entrepreneurs, she said that women will benefit from financial literacy conducted at the grassroots level. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The contribution of women in the economic development of the country is not less and if entrepreneurial literacy is provided to women their contribution in the economy will be even more,” she said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She informed that a majority of women are engaged in business only for livelihood and even though they wanted to expand it, they are unaware about the market and process of taking loan from the bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><img src="https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1HT_JlZkcmHxYWA5-zPPfWiV4aWnfCALy" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Furthermore, she stated that if the training and interaction programme is organized by New Business Age (NBA) regularly, it would be very fruitful for such business women. She says that it is necessary to make women entrepreneurs able to take loans, keep an account of their business and do marketing. She suggested that NBA should hold two such events a year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chairman of the CIM Suyash Raj Pyakurel appreciated NBA for organizing the programme for the development of women entrepreneurship outside the capital. He said that literacy is first and foremost necessary for the development of women entrepreneurship. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Madan Lamsal, chairman and editor-in-chief of NBA, said that the programme has been conducted in different provinces and the selected women entrepreneurs will be honored and prizes will be distributed in the capital. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He informed that they have been working for entrepreneurship since 2013. Stating that economic development of the country is possible only if women are into entrepreneurship, Lamsal said that NBA has been organizing training and interaction for women entrepreneurs annually. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal (FWEAN) Niru Rayamajhi Khatri provided training to the participants on leadership and leadership qualities. She also informed the participants about the pre-requisites to move their business forward. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sita Rai of Luma Home-made Dhaka Industry, who participated in the programme, said that it is much easier for a startup now compared to the difficulties she had while starting her business. She said that organizations like NBA need to train startups to run successful businesses. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sharmila Humagain, branch manager of Standard Chartered Bank, Biratnagar, said that in some cases, women entrepreneurs lack documents required for taking loans. She informed that banks have been providing a concessional loan for women entrepreneurs in case they are able to submit all the documents required for obtaining such loans. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Managers of Agricultural Development Bank and Muktinath Bikas Bank said that they will provide loans if all the documents are provided. In addition, they said that the banks should provide loans for the development of women entrepreneurship but there would be a problem when others try to take loans in the name of women. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14877', 'image' => '20220420014616_1650414801.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 13:45:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15134', 'article_category_id' => '277', 'title' => 'Agriculture Census to Cost Rs 100 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The government has started the national agriculture census from Tuesday by allocating a budget of Rs 100 billion.', '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 20: The government has started the national agriculture census from Tuesday by allocating a budget of Rs 100 billion. The agricultural census started on April 19 and will last for 45 days. It is expected to help identify farmers' complaints, needs and problems in order to seek solutions.</span></span></span></span></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 Central Bureau of Statistics started the agricultural census about six months after the national census was held. The department stated that Rs 100 billion will be spent on data collection, analysis, its preparation, printing of questionnaires, enumerators’ salary and facilities. Badri Kumar Karki, the director of the department said that about Rs 720 million will be spent for data collection alone.</span></span></span></span></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 him, the department will collect data for the agriculture census from all 753 local units. The census is expected to give a clear picture of the total area of cultivable land in the country at present, the main crops cultivated, livestock count, and the use of fertilizers, seeds and pesticides. Similarly, statistics on farmers with agricultural insurance, farmers’ access to agricultural credit, agricultural structure available at every local level, agricultural activities, use of agricultural technology will also be obtained.</span></span></span></span></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"">Karki said that the current state of agriculture will be known from the data collection, which will help in making it more effective by formulating necessary policies and strategies for solving the problems. Apart from this, the census will help the government to bring additional programs for encouraging all those who have been involved in household farming.</span></span></span></span></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 government has been conducted the agriculture census in Nepal since 1961 and is done every ten years. According to the department, about 5,200 enumerators and 1,300 supervisors are deployed in the field to collect the data.</span></span></span></span></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 enumerators will collect data from 350,000 households considering them as representative households. The department said that the details of women-led farming will be collected separately, while keeping the increasing participation of women in the agricultural sector in mind.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14876', 'image' => '20220420120625_20200512091924_20190527010000_Makai.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 12:05:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15133', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'NRB Governor to Resume his Duties from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that he will return to office from Wednesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that he will return to office from Wednesday. He made such remark after the Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an interim order to the government not to implement its decision to probe against the governor.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The respected court has issued an order as per the demands I made in the writ petition,” said Adhikari, adding, “I will resume by duties from Wednesday.”</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14875', 'image' => '20220420114435_maha.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 11:43:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15132', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Issues Interim Order not to Implement the Decision Regarding NRB Governor ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday issued an interim order not to implement the government's decision to form a probe panel against Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari until a final verdict. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 19: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday issued an interim order not to implement the government's decision to form a probe panel against Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari until a final verdict. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A single bench of SC Justice Hari Prasad Phuyal issued the order asking the government not to implement its decision relating to Governor Adhikari citing Article 132 (2) and 304 (1) of the Constitution of Nepal, and Clause 23 (1) of the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2058 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari had filed a writ petition on Sunday demanding the apex court to scrap the government's decision to form a panel to probe against him. Adhikari argued in the petition that the government formed the probe committee without giving him an opportunity for clarification. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Supreme Court issued the order after a preliminary hearing on the writ petition. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The SC has also summoned both the sides on April 26 for discussions. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, a meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 8 had decided to form a panel to probe into Governor Adhikari, leading to this automatic suspension from the post. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14874', 'image' => '20220419082227_Supreme Court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 20:21:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15131', 'article_category_id' => '239', 'title' => 'Provision Requiring Cash for On-Arrival Visa Revoked ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The provision requiring foreign tourists to possess cash for obtaining on-arrival visa at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has been revoked for the time being. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 19: The provision requiring foreign tourists to possess cash for obtaining on-arrival visa at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has been revoked for the time being. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted the Immigration Office at the TIA had issued a notice a few days ago asking tourists to carry cash equivalent to US dollar 200 to obtain on-arrival visa upon landing in Nepal. The office cited that it was facing issues with the electronic payment system and foreign tourists were expected to have cash to get the on-arrival visa. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The notice sparked widespread protest among the public. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The immigration office informed the provision has been removed for the time- being. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">TIA manager Prem Nath Thakur confirmed the previous decision has been revoked. It has been learnt that the airport authorities have initiated the process of installing ATM booths of Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) at the immigration office since Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Immigration office, two ATM booths and two POS machines are to be added at TIA for convenience of foreign tourists. Prior to this, only one ATM booth of Prabhu Bank was available at the TIA to serve the tourists and the problem surfaced as the machine failed to read master cards. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14873', 'image' => '20220419054339_Tourist.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 17:43:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15130', 'article_category_id' => '277', 'title' => 'Farmers affected by Natural Disasters yet to get Relief in Jhapa', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the farmers.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the farmers. Farmers suffer due to floods after rains in the rainy season and suffer due to conditions like drought and wind during the dry season. Farmers who depend on agriculture for their livelihood are troubled the most by the unseasonal hailstorm and windstorm.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Farmers, who were troubled by the unexpected rainfall during mid-October, are now suffering due to wind and hailstorm.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The hailstorm of last week damaged crops grown in Jhapa. Hazrat Ali Miya, 63, of Jhapa Municipality-4 said that crops planted in 4 bigahas of rented land were destroyed by hailstorm. He expressed, “I don't know how to repay the loan now.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He has been cultivating in four bighas of land for the last three years on the condition of giving a certain amount of paddy or maize per bigha annually to the land owner. He said that the maize planted at a cost of Rs 60,000 per bigha is now limited to 10 kathas. He expressed his despair saying that the hailstorm soaked the corn plants so bad that it cannot be even fed to cows. The unexpected rain last October also damaged the paddy right before the harvesting season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Last October, when the paddy was about to ripen, the rain destroyed it,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Farmer Lal Miya of the same locality also leased seven bighas of land to grow maize. However, he shared his sorrow saying that the recent hailstorm and strong winds destroyed everything. He said, “Who should we share about our pain with? There are no helping hands for poor people. There are only listeners and spectators during our hard times.” Last October, his paddy crop was also damaged. However, he complained that he has not received any relief so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Farmer Laxmi Upreti of Jhapa municipality-3 said that her maize were severely damaged.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Under the Prime Minister's Agriculture Modernization Project, maize is cultivated in the district by declaring it the maize zone. Maize farming flourished in the district after the government started providing subsidized fertilizers and seeds as well as agricultural equipment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> According to Rabin Niraula, information officer at the project office, cultivation is being done in 500 hectares of land in Kankai Municipality, Barhadashi, Jhapa and Kachankawal. Niraula said that the office has not received any information about the damage caused to maize due to strong winds.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Currently, maize is being cultivated in an area of about 40,000 hectares in the district. Strong winds and hail storms have also caused severe damage to vegetables.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14872', 'image' => '20220419050528_istockphoto-177522599-612x612.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 17:04:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15129', 'article_category_id' => '268', 'title' => 'NCC to Collaborate with FHAN to Export Handicraft Products', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) and the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal (FHAN) have decided to collaborate with each other for the exports of handicraft items. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 19: Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) and the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal (FHAN) have decided to collaborate with each other for the exports of handicraft items. NCC and FHAN signed an agreement in this regard on Monday. The two parties decided to collaborate with each other in a bid to reduce the country’s trade deficit by promoting export of handicraft items.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NCC and FHAN decided to cooperate with each other to promote exports stating that handicraft materials have played an important role in reducing trade deficit and also established Nepal's identity in the international market. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NCC Chairman Rajendra Malla said that they would work hand in hand with the FHAN to facilitate the export of handicraft items and to remove the problems in customs clearance.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at a program organized at the NCC building at Jamal, Kathmandu to welcome the officials of the federation, Chairman Malla said that he will do his best ensure the entry of Nepali handicraft products in international exhibitions</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Malla said, “Export promotion of handicrafts is the strongest option right now to reduce the huge trade deficit.” He said that the handicraft industry has been creating employment opportunities on a large scale and has been helping in the preservation and promotion of culture through skills and arts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The handicraft industry has not only promoted and protected indigenous skills but also helped establish cultural identity,” he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the NCC, Nepali handicrafts are exported to the United States, European countries, Japan, China, India, Korea and other Asian countries. Malla said that high financial benefits can be reaped if the state provides support with concessions. He said that he would take initiative to facilitate customs clearance for the export of handicraft items, provide relief to businessmen and other policy reforms.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">President of FHAN, Prachanda Shakya said that there are various policy issues including customs clearance for the export of handicrafts produced by them. He complained that even though the government provided relief to the exporting businessmen, the genuine businessmen are still having a hard time.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Shakya requested the NCC to facilitate exports. In response, Malla said that he would do his best to promote handicraft exports. An agreement was reached between the NCC and the FHAN to take initiative with the government for policy reforms before the next budget.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14871', 'image' => '20220419033958_handicraft.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 15:39:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15142', 'article_category_id' => '228', 'title' => 'Gautam Buddha International Airport comes into Operation ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) has formally come into operation from today (April 21).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 21: Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) has formally come into operation from today (April 21). It is the second international airport of the country after the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Pradip Adhikari, informed that the new runway of the GBIA has formally come into operation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to him, the formal opening of the second international airport is a milestone in the 74-year history of civil aviation in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We would like to offer our special thanks to all those who were directly and indirectly linked with the project," he said. The Director General said that the 1,500 metres long old runway has been closed and the new 3,500 metres runway has become operational. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the new runway of the airport has come into operation from today, international flights would start only from May 16, on the day of Buddha Jayanti festival or the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha. The domestic flights have already started using the new runway from today itself. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Aircraft belonging to international airline companies can now land at the GBIA when the Kathmandu-based TIA is closed or during emergency situations. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Bikram Gautam, joint-coordinator of the Operation Readiness and Airport Transport, said domestic flights have been started from the GBIA from today. He said all the flights would be operated from the new runway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The Bhairahawa airport was operated on 4 July 1958 as a domestic airport. Now, we have declared that it has been brought into operation as an international airport from today," he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Jazeera Air of Kuwait has made all necessary preparations for operating international flights from the Gautam Buddha International Airport. Jazeera Air has so far taken official permission for operating flights from this airport. Other airlines are also in the process of operating flights from here. The airport authorities believe that the other airlines companies will also start their services from here soon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Both narrow body and wide-body aircraft will conduct flights from GBIA. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Officials concerned have described the operation of the GBIA as a new leap forward in the country's aviation history. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Private airlines company, Yeti Airlines, conducted the first flight from the new runway, the airport office said. Other private airlines such as Buddha Air, Yeti Airlines, Shree Airlines, Saurya Airlines have been operating flights from here as well. – RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14885', 'image' => '20220421024305_1650517167.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 14:42:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15143', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Preparations underway to Open Integrated Agriculture Market in Mahendranagar ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: Bhimdatta Municipality of Kanchanpur is constructing an integrated agriculture market for marketing of agricultural products. ', '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 21: Bhimdatta Municipality of Kanchanpur is constructing an integrated agriculture market for marketing of agricultural products. The municipality is constructing the structure with the help of Sundarpur-based Agribusiness Promotion Support and Training Center.</span></span></span></span></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"">Municipal engineer Jayaraj Bhatta said that 150 stalls will be constructed in the integrated agricultural market, among which, the municipality is helping construct 100 shutters in collaboration with the center and the rest with its own resources.</span></span></span></span></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"">Two separate contracts were signed for the construction of the integrated agricultural market structure near the open space of Bhimdutta-4.</span></span></span></span></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"">A contract worth Rs 15 million was signed with MD Construction for 50 shutters. An agreement worth Rs 39.6 million was signed with MK / Niraj JV for the construction of 100 shutters. According to Engineer Bhatta, 50 percent construction of both the projects is completed. The initial plan is to complete the work by May 2023.</span></span></span></span></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 Mayor Surendra Bista, after the construction of the structure, all kinds of agricultural products will be integrated and the market will be managed accordingly. The municipality is working to increase agricultural production including introduction of programmes like one ward one product, pocket area programme, as well as providing support like agricultural subsidy, cooperation with the cooperative sector etc. The internal resources of the municipality as well is expected to increase after the construction of the market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14884', 'image' => '20220421054028_Bhindutta_Municipality.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 17:39:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15141', 'article_category_id' => '224', 'title' => 'India’s Energy Minister Pledges to Purchase Electricity from Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: India's Energy Minister RK Singh has announced that India will buy all the electricity generated from Nepal's hydropower projects.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 21: India's Energy Minister RK Singh has announced that India will buy all the electricity generated from Nepal's hydropower projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Singh made such announcement on Wednesday while addressing a joint energy meeting of the countries affiliated to the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">So far, India has agreed to purchase 364 MW of electricity from Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal, spokesperson of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, India has also announced to buy electricity generated from Bhutan's hydropower projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"The announcement by the Indian energy minister has given us further impetus. If that really happens, it will be a great help to Nepal's hydropower development,” said Bhetuwal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">BIMSTEC includes Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The meeting also decided to facilitate electricity trade between BIMSTEC member countries, connect each other's transmission systems (grid) and establish an energy trade centre. A 12-point joint statement was issued after the meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the meeting, it was agreed to formulate necessary policy and tariff system for electricity trade between BIMSTEC countries. The meeting also decided to form a committee with experts to plan how to trade electricity between BIMSTEC countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It was agreed to set up a 'BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection Coordination Committee' to connect the grids of BIMSTEC countries. With the support of the Asian Development Bank, the committee will draw up a master plan for grid interconnection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Member countries have agreed to establish BIMSTEC Energy Center. The centre will conduct research on energy, exchange experiences and co-operate among member countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The meeting also decided to make an action plan, prepare the structure and prepare the necessary funds for the operation of the trade centre. It has been said that the centre will be brought into operation in time by making an appropriate action plan, roadmap, structure and working methodology.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A meeting of BIMSTEC in 2011 had agreed to set up an energy centre. However, it was not implemented. Now the BIMSTEC countries are committed to implementing it.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Everyone has expressed their commitment to implement it. Let's hope it is implemented," said Bhetwal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Addressing the meeting, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal said that the natural resources of BIMSTEC countries should be used as an alternative to energy generated from fossil fuel. “Energy, environment and economy are important sectors for sustainable development. However, we are constantly using fuels that affect the environment. This tendency to create tension in our environment must end now,” she said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In addition, there is a need to further expand economic cooperation among BIMSTEC countries for energy development, she added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Energy Secretary Devendra Karki said that moving ahead with the process of establishing the BIMSTEC Energy Center was a positive aspect. He said that this would help in the development of the energy sector of BIMSTEC countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"It is expected to be a great help in exchanging information and best practices on energy efficiency and non-conventional energy sources," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also said that Nepal was making progress in the energy sector. "We have made great strides in providing clean and reliable energy to our people. As a result, 93 per cent of our population has access to electricity,” he said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14883', 'image' => '20220421022858_RS_KTM_IMGL6685_04202022.JPG', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 14:28:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15140', 'article_category_id' => '273', 'title' => 'Final Event of ‘Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022’ on Friday', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022 is all set to conclude in the capital on Friday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 21: The Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022 is all set to conclude in the capital on Friday. The programme this year started with two women sharing their entrepreneurial journey. Following the programme, special interactive trainings in hybrid methods on financial literacy, entrepreneurship, time management and capacity development were held in Pokhara, Birgunj and Biratnagar. The final program of this year will be held in Kathmandu on Friday (April 22). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The organizer New Business Age Pvt. Ltd. informed that the best 15 women in 8 categories will be honored in the final programme. Likewise, the best seven women entrepreneurs from each province will be honored with Rs 50,000 each. According to the organizers, the process of selecting women entrepreneurs for the honor had started since May last year. A jury comprising independent experts made the final selection of entrepreneurs from more than 2,000 women entrepreneurs. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NBA has been conducting such programmes to promote entrepreneurship and business since 2013. The programme to honor women entrepreneurs was initiated in 2021. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the run-up to the event, a panel discussion was held with various experts regarding new opportunities for entrepreneurs after Covid-19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Standard Chartered Bank is the main sponsor and Muktinath Bikas Bank Limited is the co-sponsor of the Summit and Awards to be held in Kathmandu on April 22. Likewise, the medical partner for the event is Star Hospital. Center for Leadership and Entrepreneurship is the knowledge partner, Turkish Airlines is the airlines partner, Daraz is the ecommerce partner, NECO Insurance Limited is the insurance partner and Dish Home FiberNet is the internet partner. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the event is also supported by Agriculture Development Bank, Sipradi Trading, Reliable Life Insurance, Progressive Finance Limited, National Life Insurance, Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal (FWEAN), Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and Nepal Rastra Bank. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14882', 'image' => '20220421010649_1650496679.3.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 13:05:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15139', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'SC Order has Strengthened Central Bank’s Autonomy: Governor', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Supreme Court’s order has strengthened the autonomy of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank’s Governor, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said after resuming his office on Wednesday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 21: The Supreme Court’s order has strengthened the autonomy of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank’s Governor, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said after resuming his office on Wednesday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Governor Adhikari resumed his duties and responsibilities after the Supreme Court issued an interim order to overrule the decision of the government to suspend the governor.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He stated that he is determined to ensure the stability of the economy and the financial sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After getting reinstated, Adhikari remarked, “The decision of the Supreme Court has strengthened the autonomy of NRB. I am determined to make the economy and financial sector stable.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Governor Adhikari mentioned that he had no personal ego against anyone and that he would move forward by cooperating with every sector. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The position of governor is not just a person, but an institution as well. Various obstacles surface in the way of fulfilling responsibilities. We are aware to not hold grudges against anyone and move forward with mutual cooperation,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The governor was suspended after the council of ministers formed a committee to probe against him on April 7. Adhikari filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court against the decision of the government on Sunday. Responding to the petition, the court overruled the decision of the government to suspend him by issuing an interim order. The court order also allowed him to resume his responsibilities.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Supreme Court has set the date of next hearing for April 26 to discuss with both the parties about whether or not to extend the interim order. With the decision of the Supreme Court, the probe against Adhikari has been halted till April 26. This automatically released Adhikari from his suspension, enabling him to get back to fulfill his responsibilities.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14881', 'image' => '20220421121201_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 12:11:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15138', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Third BIMSTEC Ministers’ Meeting Agrees to Establish Power Trade Centre ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The third BIMSTEC energy ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) concluded on Wednesday with a 12-point joint statement to facilitate power trade, prepare a master plan on ‘grid connection’ and establish power trade centre. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 21: The third BIMSTEC energy ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) concluded on Wednesday with a 12-point joint statement to facilitate power trade, prepare a master plan on ‘grid connection’ and establish power trade centre. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As stated in the press statement, the virtual meeting agreed to implement grid inter-connection and constitute a ‘BIMSTEC Grid Inter-Connection Coordination Committee’ for preparing necessary work plan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting also agreed to develop a master plan on BIMSTEC Grid Mutual Installation Coordination Committee with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank. Likewise, the meeting agreed to develop policy and tariff system for power trade. Also, the meeting reached an understanding to develop a group with experts to frame a plan of cooperation on power trade among BIMSTEC countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The BIMSTEC energy centre will be established for undertaking research on energy and exchanging experience as well as strengthening collaboration among the member nations. A master plan and action plan will be developed and a fund required for the operation of the center will also be set up, the statement added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Presiding over the meeting, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal said the BIMSTEC countries possess adequate natural resources and stressed that energy and renewable natural resource should be used as energy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stressing the need to make adequate financial investment in energy promotion, she said technology transfer should be promoted in the BIMSTEC region. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14880', 'image' => '20220421081540_-1558975331.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 08:14:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15137', 'article_category_id' => '274', 'title' => 'CNI Study Concludes Nepal’s Economy is not in Crisis', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has stated that the country’s economy is not in crisis.', '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 20: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has stated that the country’s economy is not in crisis.</span></span></span></span></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"">A study conducted by CNI has concluded that the economy is not in crisis. CNI has also released a study report claiming that the economy is not in crisis. Various economists have also commented that the economy is not in crisis.</span></span></span></span></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"">There have been comments that the lack of liquidity in the country's banking system, rising trade deficit and balance of payments deficit, declining foreign exchange reserves, rising inflation, and lack of energy and fuel have all contributed to the crisis. Some have even analyzed that Nepal is facing an economic crisis like Sri Lanka. However, according to the CNI report, Nepal's economy is much better than that of Sri Lanka.</span></span></span></span></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"">CNI claims that data suggest there is no economic crisis. However, the report states that there is a need to move forward with restraint.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At present, the size of Nepal's public debt is 40.5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Sri Lanka's national debt is 111 per cent 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"">Similarly, Nepal has 6.7 months of foreign exchange reserves to support imports of goods and services. Sri Lanka does not have enough foreign exchange reserves to sustain one month of goods and services. Sri Lanka is unable to import even basic commodities.</span></span></span></span></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"">Inflation in Nepal is 7 per cent while it has grown to 25 per cent in Sri Lanka. In this case, Nepal's economy should not be compared with Sri Lanka, the report said. On top of that, CNI claimed that the overall economy is not in crisis. The report states that the economy does not appear to be in crisis in the last three months of 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"">In the first five months of the current fiscal year, the monthly average import was Rs 167 billion. In the following three months it stood at Rs 156 billion in January, February and March. This suggests that imports have declined recently.</span></span></span></span></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"">Similarly, foreign exchange reserves were negative by 3.24 per cent in the first five months of the current fiscal year. In the following three months, foreign exchange reserves declined by only 1.53 per cent.</span></span></span></span></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 capital budget of Rs 28.40 billion was spent in the first five months of the current fiscal year. After that, a capital budget of Rs. 48.70 billion has been spent in the last three months.</span></span></span></span></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 study also showed that the inflow of remittances has increased in the last three months. In the first five months of the current fiscal year, the monthly remittance was Rs 77.70 billion. In the next three months, remittances have reached an average of Rs 80.80 billion per month.</span></span></span></span></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"">Similarly, arrival of tourists has also increased in the last three months. The average monthly tourist arrivals in the first five months of the current fiscal year were 17,757. In the next three months, an average of 26,249 foreign tourists arrived monthly.</span></span></span></span></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 CNI Chairman Bishnu Agrawal, there is no economic crisis in Nepal based on these statistics. However, he acknowledged that the numbers were not enough and we need to be cautious.</span></span></span></span></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"">CNI made the report public at a press conference on Tuesday.</span></span></span></span></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"">It has been said that there is an economic crisis in Nepal. But, looking at the statistics, it doesn't look like that. Foreign countries have reserves enough to sustain imports for three months of imports in foreign countries. Even though we have enough reserves to support imports for more than six months, there are comments that there is an economic crisis, which is not true," Agrawal opined. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At the same time, the steps taken by the government to resolve the crisis have created more problems, he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">CNI concluded that stopping imports is not the answer. It has been said that a special initiative should be taken to increase production, marketing and consumption of domestic goods by managing the import at present. Stating that Nepal is in an economic crisis could create panic and destabilize the market, shared CNI Vice President Anuj Agrawal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14879', 'image' => '20220420051123_ecomonic crisis.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 17:10:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15136', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Where have LPG Cylinders Gone?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: Nepal Oil Corporation is currently supplying almost double the normal amount of cooking gas.', '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"">Prem Chand</span></span></span></span></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"">April 20: Nepal Oil Corporation is currently supplying almost double the normal amount of cooking gas. Under normal circumstances, the state-owned corporation supplies up to 70 bullets of LPG per day, but now, it is supplying up to 135 bullets daily. During monitoring, it was found that the industries have also increased the production of cooking gas. However, there is still a shortage of gas in the market. Consumers have to wait for at least a week to get one cylinder of gas.</span></span></span></span></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 Netra Kafle, the head of the corporation's gas distribution department, it is now off-season in terms of gas consumption. In the past, industrialists used to place Product Delivery Order (PDO) for 70 to 80 bullets of LPG daily as gas consumption is relatively low in summer. There was a problem in gas supply when the gas industrialists did not place the PDO demanding an increase in transportation fare from last March 20. Industrialists who did not issue PDO till April 2 started placing the order from April 3.</span></span></span></span></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"">Since then, they are placing almost twice as many PDOs as usual. According to the corporation, gas industrialists are placing 125 to 135 bullets of PDO daily. However, consumers are not getting cooking gas easily. Shraman Shrestha, who lives in Babarmahal, Kathmandu said that he brought gas from Arubari with the help of personal connections after not getting any gas for a week.</span></span></span></span></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 of Commerce, Supply and Consumer Protection is also receiving complaints on a daily basis of gas not being available. According to Dhaneshwor Poudel, deputy information officer of the department, on an average, 2 to 3 complaints are registered in the department daily for not getting gas.</span></span></span></span></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 corporation also admitted that gas is not easily available in the market. Kafle said there is a shortage of gas because industrialists and gas dealers are not accountable to the consumers. “If the businessmen had been accountable to the consumers, they would have revealed the truth.”</span></span></span></span></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 industrialists also admitted that the corporation has increased gas supply but there is a shortage in the market. Krishna Bhakta Shrestha, general secretary of the LP Gas Industry Association, said that even though the gas supply is above 100 bullets daily, the supply has not eased. </span></span></span></span></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"">“There is no shortage of gas. It's just a little less. Earlier, loading of gas was halted for 8/10 days for not being able to pay for the transportation charge. It seems like there is a shortage due to the gap. But that’s not the case.” He said that under normal circumstances, 70 to 80 bullets of gas were imported daily, but now up to 120 bullets of gas are being imported and all the imported gas is sent to the market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, the dealers say that the number of gas cylinders being supplied is constant and that there has not been any increase. Chandra Thapa, senior vice-president of the Gas Dealers Federation said that under normal circumstances, an average of one vehicle of gas is supplied to the dealer from one industry and it is the same at present as well.</span></span></span></span></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"">Thapa says that there is no difference in the quantity of gas supplied to the dealers from the industry. He said that consumers are trying to keep stocks as there are rumors of rising gas prices and rising crude oil prices in the international market. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There is news of Nepal Oil Corporation being at loss due to LP gas. Consumers try to keep stocks due to the fear of rising prices and shortages, causing difficulty in fulfilling the demand,” he said. Consumer rights activists doubt that the industrialists are buying more gas but not supplying to the sellers in the hope that the NOC will increase the price of LP gas. Consumer rights activist Prem Lal Maharjan accused the industrialists and businessmen of hiding gas with the intention of selling it at increased prices. Maharjan said, “Industrialists and dealers are expecting the prices to go up in the international market and the domestic rates will also go up.”</span></span></span></span></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 of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection has stated that they have started gas-centric monitoring. Deputy Information Officer of the department Poudel said they found during monitoring on Monday that the production of Everest Gas has increased. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Everest Gas has been producing up to 4,000 cylinders of gas per day under normal conditions, but now it is producing up to 6,000 cylinders,” he said, adding, “Since it sent the gas cylinders to the dealers, there are doubts that dealers might be hiding the gas cylinders. We are yet to monitor the dealers yet.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14878', 'image' => '20220420033543_gas.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 15:35:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15135', 'article_category_id' => '273', 'title' => 'Financial Literacy is the Basis of Women Entrepreneurship ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: Financial literacy is the need of the hour for women entrepreneurs.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 20: Financial literacy is the need of the hour for women entrepreneurs. Stakeholders say that the state and private sector should take necessary steps to this end. Participants of an interaction programme under the ‘Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022’ organized in Biratnagar on Tuesday said that doing so will strengthen women entrepreneurs’ contribution to the country’s economy in the future. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the interaction coordinated by Chamber of Industries Morang (CIM), Pratibha Rijal Oli, executive committee member of CIM and coordinator of Women Entrepreneurship Committee, said that women, a part of economic development of the country, have always lagged behind. Stating that financial literacy is indispensable for women entrepreneurs, she said that women will benefit from financial literacy conducted at the grassroots level. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The contribution of women in the economic development of the country is not less and if entrepreneurial literacy is provided to women their contribution in the economy will be even more,” she said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She informed that a majority of women are engaged in business only for livelihood and even though they wanted to expand it, they are unaware about the market and process of taking loan from the bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><img src="https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1HT_JlZkcmHxYWA5-zPPfWiV4aWnfCALy" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Furthermore, she stated that if the training and interaction programme is organized by New Business Age (NBA) regularly, it would be very fruitful for such business women. She says that it is necessary to make women entrepreneurs able to take loans, keep an account of their business and do marketing. She suggested that NBA should hold two such events a year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chairman of the CIM Suyash Raj Pyakurel appreciated NBA for organizing the programme for the development of women entrepreneurship outside the capital. He said that literacy is first and foremost necessary for the development of women entrepreneurship. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Madan Lamsal, chairman and editor-in-chief of NBA, said that the programme has been conducted in different provinces and the selected women entrepreneurs will be honored and prizes will be distributed in the capital. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He informed that they have been working for entrepreneurship since 2013. Stating that economic development of the country is possible only if women are into entrepreneurship, Lamsal said that NBA has been organizing training and interaction for women entrepreneurs annually. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal (FWEAN) Niru Rayamajhi Khatri provided training to the participants on leadership and leadership qualities. She also informed the participants about the pre-requisites to move their business forward. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sita Rai of Luma Home-made Dhaka Industry, who participated in the programme, said that it is much easier for a startup now compared to the difficulties she had while starting her business. She said that organizations like NBA need to train startups to run successful businesses. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sharmila Humagain, branch manager of Standard Chartered Bank, Biratnagar, said that in some cases, women entrepreneurs lack documents required for taking loans. She informed that banks have been providing a concessional loan for women entrepreneurs in case they are able to submit all the documents required for obtaining such loans. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Managers of Agricultural Development Bank and Muktinath Bikas Bank said that they will provide loans if all the documents are provided. In addition, they said that the banks should provide loans for the development of women entrepreneurship but there would be a problem when others try to take loans in the name of women. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14877', 'image' => '20220420014616_1650414801.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 13:45:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15134', 'article_category_id' => '277', 'title' => 'Agriculture Census to Cost Rs 100 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The government has started the national agriculture census from Tuesday by allocating a budget of Rs 100 billion.', '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 20: The government has started the national agriculture census from Tuesday by allocating a budget of Rs 100 billion. The agricultural census started on April 19 and will last for 45 days. It is expected to help identify farmers' complaints, needs and problems in order to seek solutions.</span></span></span></span></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 Central Bureau of Statistics started the agricultural census about six months after the national census was held. The department stated that Rs 100 billion will be spent on data collection, analysis, its preparation, printing of questionnaires, enumerators’ salary and facilities. Badri Kumar Karki, the director of the department said that about Rs 720 million will be spent for data collection alone.</span></span></span></span></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 him, the department will collect data for the agriculture census from all 753 local units. The census is expected to give a clear picture of the total area of cultivable land in the country at present, the main crops cultivated, livestock count, and the use of fertilizers, seeds and pesticides. Similarly, statistics on farmers with agricultural insurance, farmers’ access to agricultural credit, agricultural structure available at every local level, agricultural activities, use of agricultural technology will also be obtained.</span></span></span></span></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"">Karki said that the current state of agriculture will be known from the data collection, which will help in making it more effective by formulating necessary policies and strategies for solving the problems. Apart from this, the census will help the government to bring additional programs for encouraging all those who have been involved in household farming.</span></span></span></span></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 government has been conducted the agriculture census in Nepal since 1961 and is done every ten years. According to the department, about 5,200 enumerators and 1,300 supervisors are deployed in the field to collect the data.</span></span></span></span></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 enumerators will collect data from 350,000 households considering them as representative households. The department said that the details of women-led farming will be collected separately, while keeping the increasing participation of women in the agricultural sector in mind.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14876', 'image' => '20220420120625_20200512091924_20190527010000_Makai.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 12:05:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15133', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'NRB Governor to Resume his Duties from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that he will return to office from Wednesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that he will return to office from Wednesday. He made such remark after the Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an interim order to the government not to implement its decision to probe against the governor.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The respected court has issued an order as per the demands I made in the writ petition,” said Adhikari, adding, “I will resume by duties from Wednesday.”</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14875', 'image' => '20220420114435_maha.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 11:43:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15132', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Issues Interim Order not to Implement the Decision Regarding NRB Governor ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday issued an interim order not to implement the government's decision to form a probe panel against Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari until a final verdict. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 19: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday issued an interim order not to implement the government's decision to form a probe panel against Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari until a final verdict. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A single bench of SC Justice Hari Prasad Phuyal issued the order asking the government not to implement its decision relating to Governor Adhikari citing Article 132 (2) and 304 (1) of the Constitution of Nepal, and Clause 23 (1) of the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2058 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari had filed a writ petition on Sunday demanding the apex court to scrap the government's decision to form a panel to probe against him. Adhikari argued in the petition that the government formed the probe committee without giving him an opportunity for clarification. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Supreme Court issued the order after a preliminary hearing on the writ petition. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The SC has also summoned both the sides on April 26 for discussions. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, a meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 8 had decided to form a panel to probe into Governor Adhikari, leading to this automatic suspension from the post. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14874', 'image' => '20220419082227_Supreme Court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 20:21:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15131', 'article_category_id' => '239', 'title' => 'Provision Requiring Cash for On-Arrival Visa Revoked ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The provision requiring foreign tourists to possess cash for obtaining on-arrival visa at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has been revoked for the time being. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 19: The provision requiring foreign tourists to possess cash for obtaining on-arrival visa at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has been revoked for the time being. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted the Immigration Office at the TIA had issued a notice a few days ago asking tourists to carry cash equivalent to US dollar 200 to obtain on-arrival visa upon landing in Nepal. The office cited that it was facing issues with the electronic payment system and foreign tourists were expected to have cash to get the on-arrival visa. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The notice sparked widespread protest among the public. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The immigration office informed the provision has been removed for the time- being. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">TIA manager Prem Nath Thakur confirmed the previous decision has been revoked. It has been learnt that the airport authorities have initiated the process of installing ATM booths of Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) at the immigration office since Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Immigration office, two ATM booths and two POS machines are to be added at TIA for convenience of foreign tourists. Prior to this, only one ATM booth of Prabhu Bank was available at the TIA to serve the tourists and the problem surfaced as the machine failed to read master cards. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14873', 'image' => '20220419054339_Tourist.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 17:43:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15130', 'article_category_id' => '277', 'title' => 'Farmers affected by Natural Disasters yet to get Relief in Jhapa', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the farmers.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the farmers. Farmers suffer due to floods after rains in the rainy season and suffer due to conditions like drought and wind during the dry season. Farmers who depend on agriculture for their livelihood are troubled the most by the unseasonal hailstorm and windstorm.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Farmers, who were troubled by the unexpected rainfall during mid-October, are now suffering due to wind and hailstorm.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The hailstorm of last week damaged crops grown in Jhapa. Hazrat Ali Miya, 63, of Jhapa Municipality-4 said that crops planted in 4 bigahas of rented land were destroyed by hailstorm. He expressed, “I don't know how to repay the loan now.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He has been cultivating in four bighas of land for the last three years on the condition of giving a certain amount of paddy or maize per bigha annually to the land owner. He said that the maize planted at a cost of Rs 60,000 per bigha is now limited to 10 kathas. He expressed his despair saying that the hailstorm soaked the corn plants so bad that it cannot be even fed to cows. The unexpected rain last October also damaged the paddy right before the harvesting season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Last October, when the paddy was about to ripen, the rain destroyed it,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Farmer Lal Miya of the same locality also leased seven bighas of land to grow maize. However, he shared his sorrow saying that the recent hailstorm and strong winds destroyed everything. He said, “Who should we share about our pain with? There are no helping hands for poor people. There are only listeners and spectators during our hard times.” Last October, his paddy crop was also damaged. However, he complained that he has not received any relief so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Farmer Laxmi Upreti of Jhapa municipality-3 said that her maize were severely damaged.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Under the Prime Minister's Agriculture Modernization Project, maize is cultivated in the district by declaring it the maize zone. Maize farming flourished in the district after the government started providing subsidized fertilizers and seeds as well as agricultural equipment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> According to Rabin Niraula, information officer at the project office, cultivation is being done in 500 hectares of land in Kankai Municipality, Barhadashi, Jhapa and Kachankawal. Niraula said that the office has not received any information about the damage caused to maize due to strong winds.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Currently, maize is being cultivated in an area of about 40,000 hectares in the district. Strong winds and hail storms have also caused severe damage to vegetables.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14872', 'image' => '20220419050528_istockphoto-177522599-612x612.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 17:04:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15129', 'article_category_id' => '268', 'title' => 'NCC to Collaborate with FHAN to Export Handicraft Products', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) and the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal (FHAN) have decided to collaborate with each other for the exports of handicraft items. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 19: Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) and the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal (FHAN) have decided to collaborate with each other for the exports of handicraft items. NCC and FHAN signed an agreement in this regard on Monday. The two parties decided to collaborate with each other in a bid to reduce the country’s trade deficit by promoting export of handicraft items.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NCC and FHAN decided to cooperate with each other to promote exports stating that handicraft materials have played an important role in reducing trade deficit and also established Nepal's identity in the international market. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NCC Chairman Rajendra Malla said that they would work hand in hand with the FHAN to facilitate the export of handicraft items and to remove the problems in customs clearance.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at a program organized at the NCC building at Jamal, Kathmandu to welcome the officials of the federation, Chairman Malla said that he will do his best ensure the entry of Nepali handicraft products in international exhibitions</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Malla said, “Export promotion of handicrafts is the strongest option right now to reduce the huge trade deficit.” He said that the handicraft industry has been creating employment opportunities on a large scale and has been helping in the preservation and promotion of culture through skills and arts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The handicraft industry has not only promoted and protected indigenous skills but also helped establish cultural identity,” he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the NCC, Nepali handicrafts are exported to the United States, European countries, Japan, China, India, Korea and other Asian countries. Malla said that high financial benefits can be reaped if the state provides support with concessions. He said that he would take initiative to facilitate customs clearance for the export of handicraft items, provide relief to businessmen and other policy reforms.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">President of FHAN, Prachanda Shakya said that there are various policy issues including customs clearance for the export of handicrafts produced by them. He complained that even though the government provided relief to the exporting businessmen, the genuine businessmen are still having a hard time.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Shakya requested the NCC to facilitate exports. In response, Malla said that he would do his best to promote handicraft exports. An agreement was reached between the NCC and the FHAN to take initiative with the government for policy reforms before the next budget.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14871', 'image' => '20220419033958_handicraft.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 15:39:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15142', 'article_category_id' => '228', 'title' => 'Gautam Buddha International Airport comes into Operation ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) has formally come into operation from today (April 21).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 21: Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport (GBIA) has formally come into operation from today (April 21). It is the second international airport of the country after the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), Pradip Adhikari, informed that the new runway of the GBIA has formally come into operation. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to him, the formal opening of the second international airport is a milestone in the 74-year history of civil aviation in Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"We would like to offer our special thanks to all those who were directly and indirectly linked with the project," he said. The Director General said that the 1,500 metres long old runway has been closed and the new 3,500 metres runway has become operational. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Although the new runway of the airport has come into operation from today, international flights would start only from May 16, on the day of Buddha Jayanti festival or the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha. The domestic flights have already started using the new runway from today itself. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Aircraft belonging to international airline companies can now land at the GBIA when the Kathmandu-based TIA is closed or during emergency situations. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Bikram Gautam, joint-coordinator of the Operation Readiness and Airport Transport, said domestic flights have been started from the GBIA from today. He said all the flights would be operated from the new runway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"The Bhairahawa airport was operated on 4 July 1958 as a domestic airport. Now, we have declared that it has been brought into operation as an international airport from today," he added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Jazeera Air of Kuwait has made all necessary preparations for operating international flights from the Gautam Buddha International Airport. Jazeera Air has so far taken official permission for operating flights from this airport. Other airlines are also in the process of operating flights from here. The airport authorities believe that the other airlines companies will also start their services from here soon. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Both narrow body and wide-body aircraft will conduct flights from GBIA. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Officials concerned have described the operation of the GBIA as a new leap forward in the country's aviation history. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Private airlines company, Yeti Airlines, conducted the first flight from the new runway, the airport office said. Other private airlines such as Buddha Air, Yeti Airlines, Shree Airlines, Saurya Airlines have been operating flights from here as well. – RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14885', 'image' => '20220421024305_1650517167.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 14:42:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15143', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Preparations underway to Open Integrated Agriculture Market in Mahendranagar ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: Bhimdatta Municipality of Kanchanpur is constructing an integrated agriculture market for marketing of agricultural products. ', '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 21: Bhimdatta Municipality of Kanchanpur is constructing an integrated agriculture market for marketing of agricultural products. The municipality is constructing the structure with the help of Sundarpur-based Agribusiness Promotion Support and Training Center.</span></span></span></span></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"">Municipal engineer Jayaraj Bhatta said that 150 stalls will be constructed in the integrated agricultural market, among which, the municipality is helping construct 100 shutters in collaboration with the center and the rest with its own resources.</span></span></span></span></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"">Two separate contracts were signed for the construction of the integrated agricultural market structure near the open space of Bhimdutta-4.</span></span></span></span></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"">A contract worth Rs 15 million was signed with MD Construction for 50 shutters. An agreement worth Rs 39.6 million was signed with MK / Niraj JV for the construction of 100 shutters. According to Engineer Bhatta, 50 percent construction of both the projects is completed. The initial plan is to complete the work by May 2023.</span></span></span></span></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 Mayor Surendra Bista, after the construction of the structure, all kinds of agricultural products will be integrated and the market will be managed accordingly. The municipality is working to increase agricultural production including introduction of programmes like one ward one product, pocket area programme, as well as providing support like agricultural subsidy, cooperation with the cooperative sector etc. The internal resources of the municipality as well is expected to increase after the construction of the market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14884', 'image' => '20220421054028_Bhindutta_Municipality.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 17:39:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15141', 'article_category_id' => '224', 'title' => 'India’s Energy Minister Pledges to Purchase Electricity from Nepal', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: India's Energy Minister RK Singh has announced that India will buy all the electricity generated from Nepal's hydropower projects.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 21: India's Energy Minister RK Singh has announced that India will buy all the electricity generated from Nepal's hydropower projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Singh made such announcement on Wednesday while addressing a joint energy meeting of the countries affiliated to the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">So far, India has agreed to purchase 364 MW of electricity from Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Madhu Prasad Bhetuwal, spokesperson of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, India has also announced to buy electricity generated from Bhutan's hydropower projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"The announcement by the Indian energy minister has given us further impetus. If that really happens, it will be a great help to Nepal's hydropower development,” said Bhetuwal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">BIMSTEC includes Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The meeting also decided to facilitate electricity trade between BIMSTEC member countries, connect each other's transmission systems (grid) and establish an energy trade centre. A 12-point joint statement was issued after the meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the meeting, it was agreed to formulate necessary policy and tariff system for electricity trade between BIMSTEC countries. The meeting also decided to form a committee with experts to plan how to trade electricity between BIMSTEC countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">It was agreed to set up a 'BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection Coordination Committee' to connect the grids of BIMSTEC countries. With the support of the Asian Development Bank, the committee will draw up a master plan for grid interconnection.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Member countries have agreed to establish BIMSTEC Energy Center. The centre will conduct research on energy, exchange experiences and co-operate among member countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The meeting also decided to make an action plan, prepare the structure and prepare the necessary funds for the operation of the trade centre. It has been said that the centre will be brought into operation in time by making an appropriate action plan, roadmap, structure and working methodology.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A meeting of BIMSTEC in 2011 had agreed to set up an energy centre. However, it was not implemented. Now the BIMSTEC countries are committed to implementing it.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Everyone has expressed their commitment to implement it. Let's hope it is implemented," said Bhetwal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Addressing the meeting, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal said that the natural resources of BIMSTEC countries should be used as an alternative to energy generated from fossil fuel. “Energy, environment and economy are important sectors for sustainable development. However, we are constantly using fuels that affect the environment. This tendency to create tension in our environment must end now,” she said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In addition, there is a need to further expand economic cooperation among BIMSTEC countries for energy development, she added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Energy Secretary Devendra Karki said that moving ahead with the process of establishing the BIMSTEC Energy Center was a positive aspect. He said that this would help in the development of the energy sector of BIMSTEC countries.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"It is expected to be a great help in exchanging information and best practices on energy efficiency and non-conventional energy sources," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He also said that Nepal was making progress in the energy sector. "We have made great strides in providing clean and reliable energy to our people. As a result, 93 per cent of our population has access to electricity,” he said.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14883', 'image' => '20220421022858_RS_KTM_IMGL6685_04202022.JPG', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 14:28:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15140', 'article_category_id' => '273', 'title' => 'Final Event of ‘Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022’ on Friday', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022 is all set to conclude in the capital on Friday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 21: The Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022 is all set to conclude in the capital on Friday. The programme this year started with two women sharing their entrepreneurial journey. Following the programme, special interactive trainings in hybrid methods on financial literacy, entrepreneurship, time management and capacity development were held in Pokhara, Birgunj and Biratnagar. The final program of this year will be held in Kathmandu on Friday (April 22). </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The organizer New Business Age Pvt. Ltd. informed that the best 15 women in 8 categories will be honored in the final programme. Likewise, the best seven women entrepreneurs from each province will be honored with Rs 50,000 each. According to the organizers, the process of selecting women entrepreneurs for the honor had started since May last year. A jury comprising independent experts made the final selection of entrepreneurs from more than 2,000 women entrepreneurs. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NBA has been conducting such programmes to promote entrepreneurship and business since 2013. The programme to honor women entrepreneurs was initiated in 2021. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">During the run-up to the event, a panel discussion was held with various experts regarding new opportunities for entrepreneurs after Covid-19. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Standard Chartered Bank is the main sponsor and Muktinath Bikas Bank Limited is the co-sponsor of the Summit and Awards to be held in Kathmandu on April 22. Likewise, the medical partner for the event is Star Hospital. Center for Leadership and Entrepreneurship is the knowledge partner, Turkish Airlines is the airlines partner, Daraz is the ecommerce partner, NECO Insurance Limited is the insurance partner and Dish Home FiberNet is the internet partner. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Similarly, the event is also supported by Agriculture Development Bank, Sipradi Trading, Reliable Life Insurance, Progressive Finance Limited, National Life Insurance, Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal (FWEAN), Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and Nepal Rastra Bank. </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14882', 'image' => '20220421010649_1650496679.3.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 13:05:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15139', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'SC Order has Strengthened Central Bank’s Autonomy: Governor', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The Supreme Court’s order has strengthened the autonomy of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank’s Governor, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said after resuming his office on Wednesday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 21: The Supreme Court’s order has strengthened the autonomy of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank’s Governor, Maha Prasad Adhikari, said after resuming his office on Wednesday.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Governor Adhikari resumed his duties and responsibilities after the Supreme Court issued an interim order to overrule the decision of the government to suspend the governor.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He stated that he is determined to ensure the stability of the economy and the financial sector.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">After getting reinstated, Adhikari remarked, “The decision of the Supreme Court has strengthened the autonomy of NRB. I am determined to make the economy and financial sector stable.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Governor Adhikari mentioned that he had no personal ego against anyone and that he would move forward by cooperating with every sector. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The position of governor is not just a person, but an institution as well. Various obstacles surface in the way of fulfilling responsibilities. We are aware to not hold grudges against anyone and move forward with mutual cooperation,” he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The governor was suspended after the council of ministers formed a committee to probe against him on April 7. Adhikari filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court against the decision of the government on Sunday. Responding to the petition, the court overruled the decision of the government to suspend him by issuing an interim order. The court order also allowed him to resume his responsibilities.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Supreme Court has set the date of next hearing for April 26 to discuss with both the parties about whether or not to extend the interim order. With the decision of the Supreme Court, the probe against Adhikari has been halted till April 26. This automatically released Adhikari from his suspension, enabling him to get back to fulfill his responsibilities.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14881', 'image' => '20220421121201_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 12:11:18', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15138', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Third BIMSTEC Ministers’ Meeting Agrees to Establish Power Trade Centre ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 21: The third BIMSTEC energy ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) concluded on Wednesday with a 12-point joint statement to facilitate power trade, prepare a master plan on ‘grid connection’ and establish power trade centre. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 21: The third BIMSTEC energy ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) concluded on Wednesday with a 12-point joint statement to facilitate power trade, prepare a master plan on ‘grid connection’ and establish power trade centre. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As stated in the press statement, the virtual meeting agreed to implement grid inter-connection and constitute a ‘BIMSTEC Grid Inter-Connection Coordination Committee’ for preparing necessary work plan. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting also agreed to develop a master plan on BIMSTEC Grid Mutual Installation Coordination Committee with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank. Likewise, the meeting agreed to develop policy and tariff system for power trade. Also, the meeting reached an understanding to develop a group with experts to frame a plan of cooperation on power trade among BIMSTEC countries. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The BIMSTEC energy centre will be established for undertaking research on energy and exchanging experience as well as strengthening collaboration among the member nations. A master plan and action plan will be developed and a fund required for the operation of the center will also be set up, the statement added. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Presiding over the meeting, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal said the BIMSTEC countries possess adequate natural resources and stressed that energy and renewable natural resource should be used as energy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stressing the need to make adequate financial investment in energy promotion, she said technology transfer should be promoted in the BIMSTEC region. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-21', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14880', 'image' => '20220421081540_-1558975331.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-21 08:14:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15137', 'article_category_id' => '274', 'title' => 'CNI Study Concludes Nepal’s Economy is not in Crisis', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has stated that the country’s economy is not in crisis.', '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 20: The Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) has stated that the country’s economy is not in crisis.</span></span></span></span></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"">A study conducted by CNI has concluded that the economy is not in crisis. CNI has also released a study report claiming that the economy is not in crisis. Various economists have also commented that the economy is not in crisis.</span></span></span></span></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"">There have been comments that the lack of liquidity in the country's banking system, rising trade deficit and balance of payments deficit, declining foreign exchange reserves, rising inflation, and lack of energy and fuel have all contributed to the crisis. Some have even analyzed that Nepal is facing an economic crisis like Sri Lanka. However, according to the CNI report, Nepal's economy is much better than that of Sri Lanka.</span></span></span></span></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"">CNI claims that data suggest there is no economic crisis. However, the report states that there is a need to move forward with restraint.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At present, the size of Nepal's public debt is 40.5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Sri Lanka's national debt is 111 per cent 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"">Similarly, Nepal has 6.7 months of foreign exchange reserves to support imports of goods and services. Sri Lanka does not have enough foreign exchange reserves to sustain one month of goods and services. Sri Lanka is unable to import even basic commodities.</span></span></span></span></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"">Inflation in Nepal is 7 per cent while it has grown to 25 per cent in Sri Lanka. In this case, Nepal's economy should not be compared with Sri Lanka, the report said. On top of that, CNI claimed that the overall economy is not in crisis. The report states that the economy does not appear to be in crisis in the last three months of 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"">In the first five months of the current fiscal year, the monthly average import was Rs 167 billion. In the following three months it stood at Rs 156 billion in January, February and March. This suggests that imports have declined recently.</span></span></span></span></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"">Similarly, foreign exchange reserves were negative by 3.24 per cent in the first five months of the current fiscal year. In the following three months, foreign exchange reserves declined by only 1.53 per cent.</span></span></span></span></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 capital budget of Rs 28.40 billion was spent in the first five months of the current fiscal year. After that, a capital budget of Rs. 48.70 billion has been spent in the last three months.</span></span></span></span></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 study also showed that the inflow of remittances has increased in the last three months. In the first five months of the current fiscal year, the monthly remittance was Rs 77.70 billion. In the next three months, remittances have reached an average of Rs 80.80 billion per month.</span></span></span></span></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"">Similarly, arrival of tourists has also increased in the last three months. The average monthly tourist arrivals in the first five months of the current fiscal year were 17,757. In the next three months, an average of 26,249 foreign tourists arrived monthly.</span></span></span></span></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 CNI Chairman Bishnu Agrawal, there is no economic crisis in Nepal based on these statistics. However, he acknowledged that the numbers were not enough and we need to be cautious.</span></span></span></span></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"">CNI made the report public at a press conference on Tuesday.</span></span></span></span></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"">It has been said that there is an economic crisis in Nepal. But, looking at the statistics, it doesn't look like that. Foreign countries have reserves enough to sustain imports for three months of imports in foreign countries. Even though we have enough reserves to support imports for more than six months, there are comments that there is an economic crisis, which is not true," Agrawal opined. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">At the same time, the steps taken by the government to resolve the crisis have created more problems, he added.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">CNI concluded that stopping imports is not the answer. It has been said that a special initiative should be taken to increase production, marketing and consumption of domestic goods by managing the import at present. Stating that Nepal is in an economic crisis could create panic and destabilize the market, shared CNI Vice President Anuj Agrawal.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-21', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14879', 'image' => '20220420051123_ecomonic crisis.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 17:10:38', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15136', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Where have LPG Cylinders Gone?', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: Nepal Oil Corporation is currently supplying almost double the normal amount of cooking gas.', '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"">Prem Chand</span></span></span></span></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"">April 20: Nepal Oil Corporation is currently supplying almost double the normal amount of cooking gas. Under normal circumstances, the state-owned corporation supplies up to 70 bullets of LPG per day, but now, it is supplying up to 135 bullets daily. During monitoring, it was found that the industries have also increased the production of cooking gas. However, there is still a shortage of gas in the market. Consumers have to wait for at least a week to get one cylinder of gas.</span></span></span></span></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 Netra Kafle, the head of the corporation's gas distribution department, it is now off-season in terms of gas consumption. In the past, industrialists used to place Product Delivery Order (PDO) for 70 to 80 bullets of LPG daily as gas consumption is relatively low in summer. There was a problem in gas supply when the gas industrialists did not place the PDO demanding an increase in transportation fare from last March 20. Industrialists who did not issue PDO till April 2 started placing the order from April 3.</span></span></span></span></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"">Since then, they are placing almost twice as many PDOs as usual. According to the corporation, gas industrialists are placing 125 to 135 bullets of PDO daily. However, consumers are not getting cooking gas easily. Shraman Shrestha, who lives in Babarmahal, Kathmandu said that he brought gas from Arubari with the help of personal connections after not getting any gas for a week.</span></span></span></span></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 of Commerce, Supply and Consumer Protection is also receiving complaints on a daily basis of gas not being available. According to Dhaneshwor Poudel, deputy information officer of the department, on an average, 2 to 3 complaints are registered in the department daily for not getting gas.</span></span></span></span></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 corporation also admitted that gas is not easily available in the market. Kafle said there is a shortage of gas because industrialists and gas dealers are not accountable to the consumers. “If the businessmen had been accountable to the consumers, they would have revealed the truth.”</span></span></span></span></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 industrialists also admitted that the corporation has increased gas supply but there is a shortage in the market. Krishna Bhakta Shrestha, general secretary of the LP Gas Industry Association, said that even though the gas supply is above 100 bullets daily, the supply has not eased. </span></span></span></span></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"">“There is no shortage of gas. It's just a little less. Earlier, loading of gas was halted for 8/10 days for not being able to pay for the transportation charge. It seems like there is a shortage due to the gap. But that’s not the case.” He said that under normal circumstances, 70 to 80 bullets of gas were imported daily, but now up to 120 bullets of gas are being imported and all the imported gas is sent to the market.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, the dealers say that the number of gas cylinders being supplied is constant and that there has not been any increase. Chandra Thapa, senior vice-president of the Gas Dealers Federation said that under normal circumstances, an average of one vehicle of gas is supplied to the dealer from one industry and it is the same at present as well.</span></span></span></span></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"">Thapa says that there is no difference in the quantity of gas supplied to the dealers from the industry. He said that consumers are trying to keep stocks as there are rumors of rising gas prices and rising crude oil prices in the international market. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“There is news of Nepal Oil Corporation being at loss due to LP gas. Consumers try to keep stocks due to the fear of rising prices and shortages, causing difficulty in fulfilling the demand,” he said. Consumer rights activists doubt that the industrialists are buying more gas but not supplying to the sellers in the hope that the NOC will increase the price of LP gas. Consumer rights activist Prem Lal Maharjan accused the industrialists and businessmen of hiding gas with the intention of selling it at increased prices. Maharjan said, “Industrialists and dealers are expecting the prices to go up in the international market and the domestic rates will also go up.”</span></span></span></span></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 of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection has stated that they have started gas-centric monitoring. Deputy Information Officer of the department Poudel said they found during monitoring on Monday that the production of Everest Gas has increased. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Everest Gas has been producing up to 4,000 cylinders of gas per day under normal conditions, but now it is producing up to 6,000 cylinders,” he said, adding, “Since it sent the gas cylinders to the dealers, there are doubts that dealers might be hiding the gas cylinders. We are yet to monitor the dealers yet.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14878', 'image' => '20220420033543_gas.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 15:35:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15135', 'article_category_id' => '273', 'title' => 'Financial Literacy is the Basis of Women Entrepreneurship ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: Financial literacy is the need of the hour for women entrepreneurs.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 20: Financial literacy is the need of the hour for women entrepreneurs. Stakeholders say that the state and private sector should take necessary steps to this end. Participants of an interaction programme under the ‘Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022’ organized in Biratnagar on Tuesday said that doing so will strengthen women entrepreneurs’ contribution to the country’s economy in the future. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking at the interaction coordinated by Chamber of Industries Morang (CIM), Pratibha Rijal Oli, executive committee member of CIM and coordinator of Women Entrepreneurship Committee, said that women, a part of economic development of the country, have always lagged behind. Stating that financial literacy is indispensable for women entrepreneurs, she said that women will benefit from financial literacy conducted at the grassroots level. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“The contribution of women in the economic development of the country is not less and if entrepreneurial literacy is provided to women their contribution in the economy will be even more,” she said. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">She informed that a majority of women are engaged in business only for livelihood and even though they wanted to expand it, they are unaware about the market and process of taking loan from the bank. </span></span></span></p> <p><img src="https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1HT_JlZkcmHxYWA5-zPPfWiV4aWnfCALy" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Furthermore, she stated that if the training and interaction programme is organized by New Business Age (NBA) regularly, it would be very fruitful for such business women. She says that it is necessary to make women entrepreneurs able to take loans, keep an account of their business and do marketing. She suggested that NBA should hold two such events a year. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chairman of the CIM Suyash Raj Pyakurel appreciated NBA for organizing the programme for the development of women entrepreneurship outside the capital. He said that literacy is first and foremost necessary for the development of women entrepreneurship. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Madan Lamsal, chairman and editor-in-chief of NBA, said that the programme has been conducted in different provinces and the selected women entrepreneurs will be honored and prizes will be distributed in the capital. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He informed that they have been working for entrepreneurship since 2013. Stating that economic development of the country is possible only if women are into entrepreneurship, Lamsal said that NBA has been organizing training and interaction for women entrepreneurs annually. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal (FWEAN) Niru Rayamajhi Khatri provided training to the participants on leadership and leadership qualities. She also informed the participants about the pre-requisites to move their business forward. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sita Rai of Luma Home-made Dhaka Industry, who participated in the programme, said that it is much easier for a startup now compared to the difficulties she had while starting her business. She said that organizations like NBA need to train startups to run successful businesses. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Sharmila Humagain, branch manager of Standard Chartered Bank, Biratnagar, said that in some cases, women entrepreneurs lack documents required for taking loans. She informed that banks have been providing a concessional loan for women entrepreneurs in case they are able to submit all the documents required for obtaining such loans. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Managers of Agricultural Development Bank and Muktinath Bikas Bank said that they will provide loans if all the documents are provided. In addition, they said that the banks should provide loans for the development of women entrepreneurship but there would be a problem when others try to take loans in the name of women. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14877', 'image' => '20220420014616_1650414801.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 13:45:14', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15134', 'article_category_id' => '277', 'title' => 'Agriculture Census to Cost Rs 100 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: The government has started the national agriculture census from Tuesday by allocating a budget of Rs 100 billion.', '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 20: The government has started the national agriculture census from Tuesday by allocating a budget of Rs 100 billion. The agricultural census started on April 19 and will last for 45 days. It is expected to help identify farmers' complaints, needs and problems in order to seek solutions.</span></span></span></span></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 Central Bureau of Statistics started the agricultural census about six months after the national census was held. The department stated that Rs 100 billion will be spent on data collection, analysis, its preparation, printing of questionnaires, enumerators’ salary and facilities. Badri Kumar Karki, the director of the department said that about Rs 720 million will be spent for data collection alone.</span></span></span></span></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 him, the department will collect data for the agriculture census from all 753 local units. The census is expected to give a clear picture of the total area of cultivable land in the country at present, the main crops cultivated, livestock count, and the use of fertilizers, seeds and pesticides. Similarly, statistics on farmers with agricultural insurance, farmers’ access to agricultural credit, agricultural structure available at every local level, agricultural activities, use of agricultural technology will also be obtained.</span></span></span></span></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"">Karki said that the current state of agriculture will be known from the data collection, which will help in making it more effective by formulating necessary policies and strategies for solving the problems. Apart from this, the census will help the government to bring additional programs for encouraging all those who have been involved in household farming.</span></span></span></span></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 government has been conducted the agriculture census in Nepal since 1961 and is done every ten years. According to the department, about 5,200 enumerators and 1,300 supervisors are deployed in the field to collect the data.</span></span></span></span></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 enumerators will collect data from 350,000 households considering them as representative households. The department said that the details of women-led farming will be collected separately, while keeping the increasing participation of women in the agricultural sector in mind.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14876', 'image' => '20220420120625_20200512091924_20190527010000_Makai.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 12:05:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15133', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'NRB Governor to Resume his Duties from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that he will return to office from Wednesday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 20: Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has said that he will return to office from Wednesday. He made such remark after the Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an interim order to the government not to implement its decision to probe against the governor.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The respected court has issued an order as per the demands I made in the writ petition,” said Adhikari, adding, “I will resume by duties from Wednesday.”</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-20', 'modified' => '2022-04-20', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14875', 'image' => '20220420114435_maha.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-20 11:43:39', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15132', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'Supreme Court Issues Interim Order not to Implement the Decision Regarding NRB Governor ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday issued an interim order not to implement the government's decision to form a probe panel against Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari until a final verdict. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 19: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday issued an interim order not to implement the government's decision to form a probe panel against Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari until a final verdict. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A single bench of SC Justice Hari Prasad Phuyal issued the order asking the government not to implement its decision relating to Governor Adhikari citing Article 132 (2) and 304 (1) of the Constitution of Nepal, and Clause 23 (1) of the Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2058 BS. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari had filed a writ petition on Sunday demanding the apex court to scrap the government's decision to form a panel to probe against him. Adhikari argued in the petition that the government formed the probe committee without giving him an opportunity for clarification. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Supreme Court issued the order after a preliminary hearing on the writ petition. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The SC has also summoned both the sides on April 26 for discussions. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier, a meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 8 had decided to form a panel to probe into Governor Adhikari, leading to this automatic suspension from the post. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14874', 'image' => '20220419082227_Supreme Court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 20:21:24', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15131', 'article_category_id' => '239', 'title' => 'Provision Requiring Cash for On-Arrival Visa Revoked ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The provision requiring foreign tourists to possess cash for obtaining on-arrival visa at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has been revoked for the time being. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 19: The provision requiring foreign tourists to possess cash for obtaining on-arrival visa at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) has been revoked for the time being. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">It may be noted the Immigration Office at the TIA had issued a notice a few days ago asking tourists to carry cash equivalent to US dollar 200 to obtain on-arrival visa upon landing in Nepal. The office cited that it was facing issues with the electronic payment system and foreign tourists were expected to have cash to get the on-arrival visa. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The notice sparked widespread protest among the public. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The immigration office informed the provision has been removed for the time- being. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">TIA manager Prem Nath Thakur confirmed the previous decision has been revoked. It has been learnt that the airport authorities have initiated the process of installing ATM booths of Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB) at the immigration office since Monday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the Immigration office, two ATM booths and two POS machines are to be added at TIA for convenience of foreign tourists. Prior to this, only one ATM booth of Prabhu Bank was available at the TIA to serve the tourists and the problem surfaced as the machine failed to read master cards. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14873', 'image' => '20220419054339_Tourist.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 17:43:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15130', 'article_category_id' => '277', 'title' => 'Farmers affected by Natural Disasters yet to get Relief in Jhapa', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the farmers.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 19: Natural disasters occurring one after another have started taking a toll on the farmers. Farmers suffer due to floods after rains in the rainy season and suffer due to conditions like drought and wind during the dry season. Farmers who depend on agriculture for their livelihood are troubled the most by the unseasonal hailstorm and windstorm.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Farmers, who were troubled by the unexpected rainfall during mid-October, are now suffering due to wind and hailstorm.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The hailstorm of last week damaged crops grown in Jhapa. Hazrat Ali Miya, 63, of Jhapa Municipality-4 said that crops planted in 4 bigahas of rented land were destroyed by hailstorm. He expressed, “I don't know how to repay the loan now.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He has been cultivating in four bighas of land for the last three years on the condition of giving a certain amount of paddy or maize per bigha annually to the land owner. He said that the maize planted at a cost of Rs 60,000 per bigha is now limited to 10 kathas. He expressed his despair saying that the hailstorm soaked the corn plants so bad that it cannot be even fed to cows. The unexpected rain last October also damaged the paddy right before the harvesting season.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“Last October, when the paddy was about to ripen, the rain destroyed it,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Farmer Lal Miya of the same locality also leased seven bighas of land to grow maize. However, he shared his sorrow saying that the recent hailstorm and strong winds destroyed everything. He said, “Who should we share about our pain with? There are no helping hands for poor people. There are only listeners and spectators during our hard times.” Last October, his paddy crop was also damaged. However, he complained that he has not received any relief so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Farmer Laxmi Upreti of Jhapa municipality-3 said that her maize were severely damaged.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Under the Prime Minister's Agriculture Modernization Project, maize is cultivated in the district by declaring it the maize zone. Maize farming flourished in the district after the government started providing subsidized fertilizers and seeds as well as agricultural equipment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> According to Rabin Niraula, information officer at the project office, cultivation is being done in 500 hectares of land in Kankai Municipality, Barhadashi, Jhapa and Kachankawal. Niraula said that the office has not received any information about the damage caused to maize due to strong winds.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Currently, maize is being cultivated in an area of about 40,000 hectares in the district. Strong winds and hail storms have also caused severe damage to vegetables.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14872', 'image' => '20220419050528_istockphoto-177522599-612x612.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 17:04:41', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15129', 'article_category_id' => '268', 'title' => 'NCC to Collaborate with FHAN to Export Handicraft Products', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) and the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal (FHAN) have decided to collaborate with each other for the exports of handicraft items. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 19: Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) and the Federation of Handicraft Associations of Nepal (FHAN) have decided to collaborate with each other for the exports of handicraft items. NCC and FHAN signed an agreement in this regard on Monday. The two parties decided to collaborate with each other in a bid to reduce the country’s trade deficit by promoting export of handicraft items.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NCC and FHAN decided to cooperate with each other to promote exports stating that handicraft materials have played an important role in reducing trade deficit and also established Nepal's identity in the international market. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NCC Chairman Rajendra Malla said that they would work hand in hand with the FHAN to facilitate the export of handicraft items and to remove the problems in customs clearance.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Speaking at a program organized at the NCC building at Jamal, Kathmandu to welcome the officials of the federation, Chairman Malla said that he will do his best ensure the entry of Nepali handicraft products in international exhibitions</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Malla said, “Export promotion of handicrafts is the strongest option right now to reduce the huge trade deficit.” He said that the handicraft industry has been creating employment opportunities on a large scale and has been helping in the preservation and promotion of culture through skills and arts. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The handicraft industry has not only promoted and protected indigenous skills but also helped establish cultural identity,” he added. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the NCC, Nepali handicrafts are exported to the United States, European countries, Japan, China, India, Korea and other Asian countries. Malla said that high financial benefits can be reaped if the state provides support with concessions. He said that he would take initiative to facilitate customs clearance for the export of handicraft items, provide relief to businessmen and other policy reforms.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">President of FHAN, Prachanda Shakya said that there are various policy issues including customs clearance for the export of handicrafts produced by them. He complained that even though the government provided relief to the exporting businessmen, the genuine businessmen are still having a hard time.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Shakya requested the NCC to facilitate exports. In response, Malla said that he would do his best to promote handicraft exports. An agreement was reached between the NCC and the FHAN to take initiative with the government for policy reforms before the next budget.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14871', 'image' => '20220419033958_handicraft.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 15:39:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
