April 19: The prices of fruits and green vegetables have skyrocketed due to the increase in freight charge, weak market monitoring and inflation in India, the source of these consumable…
April 19: The prices of fruits and green vegetables have skyrocketed due to the increase in freight charge, weak market monitoring and inflation in India, the source of these consumable…
April 19: The tourism entrepreneurs have drawn the government's attention to facilitate the arrival of foreign…
April 19: The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has issued a directive to different ministries, government bodies and public agencies to reduce fuel consumption by 20 percent.…
April 18: Rajan Jaiswal bought two piggy banks from Chandranigahapur market last…
April 18: After their demands were not met, the Federation of Contractors’ Association Nepal (FCAN) announced protest programme to get their voices heard.…
April 18: Commercial banks have not opened LCs for import of vehicles since April 7 under the directive of the central bank.…
April 18: The participants of an interaction program under the 'Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Summit and Awards 2022' held in Birgunj on Sunday stated that promotion of women entrepreneurship is necessary to uplift the…
April 18: Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) will be operating round the clock from May 29 following a decline in Covid-19…
April 18: The suspended Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court on Sunday (April 17) challenging the decision of the Council of Ministers to suspend…
April 17: The government has decided to construct the Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project with domestic investment after cancelling the contract with China Gejuwa Group Corporation…
April 17: The new 3,000-metre runway of Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport will come into operation later this week starting from April…
April 17: The board meeting of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has become uncertain as the posts of half of the board members have become vacant due to various reasons.…
April 17: The government has decided to accept financial assistance of about Rs 98 billion (including loans and grants) from two separate…
April 17: The construction of the Nagdhunga Tunnel has been halted for five days due to the obstruction created by the locals.…
April 17: The Immigration Office at the Tribhuvan International Airport has urged foreign tourists visiting Nepal to pay their on-arrival visa fee in cash after facing problems in electronic transaction.…
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Transportation fares have reportedly skyrocketed due to the price hike of fuel. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Board (KFVMDB), the prices of fruits including bananas, apples, papaya, watermelons, grapes and oranges have skyrocketed in the last one month. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bananas, which were available at Rs 100 a dozen a month ago, are now priced at Rs 200. Likewise, the price of Fuji apple, which was available at Rs 250 per kg, has reached Rs 275 per kg in the wholesale market. The retail price of this apple ranges from Rs 350 to Rs 380. Similarly, the wholesale price of black grapes, which was Rs 190 per kg is now Rs 220. Traders in the retail market arbitrarily charge anything between Rs 250 to Rs 280 for black grapes. The price of green grapes, which was Rs 100 per kg a month ago, has now reached Rs 145. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The price of lemon has increased the most. The wholesale price of lemon, which was Rs 250 per kg a month ago, has now reached Rs 325. Consumers have complained that they have to pay up to Rs 500 in the retail market. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Entrepreneur Harish Sharma, who has been importing lemons from India, said that the demand for lemons in the Indian market has increased with the onset of summer but they have to pay more due to declining production. “The price of freight has gone up and on top of that the price of lemon has gone up in India itself,” Sharma said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data of the board, until a month ago, around 15 tons of lemons used to arrive at Kalimati daily. Now, only 5-6 tons of lemons arrive in Kalimati. The government statistics show that lemon is cultivated in 5,445 hectares of land in Nepal, and the domestic production is 46,118 tons per annum. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the prices of the green vegetables have also surged. The price of local cauliflower has gone up by Rs 70 per kg, from Rs 15 to Rs 85 in a month. The price of carrots, which was Rs 15 per kg, has gone up to Rs 30. Likewise, the price of beans, which was Rs 70 per kg, has reached Rs 85. The price of peas has increased from Rs 50 to Rs 70. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Consumer rights activists have a different story to share regarding inflation. They say that employees of the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection, the body responsible for monitoring the market, have been deployed in outlying districts in preparation for the upcoming election. Due to the lack of proper monitoring, the traders have increased the prices arbitrarily. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14870', 'image' => '20220419011256_fruit.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 13:12:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15127', 'article_category_id' => '239', 'title' => 'Tourism Entrepreneurs urge Government to Facilitate Tourists', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The tourism entrepreneurs have drawn the government's attention to facilitate the arrival of foreign tourists.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 19: The tourism entrepreneurs have drawn the government's attention to facilitate the arrival of foreign tourists. They expressed concern that the notice issued by the Immigration Department has shown inconvenience and hassle in the service delivery to the tourists. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a joint press statement on Monday, the tourism associations argued that the notice issued by the department would earn negative reputation of the country in the international arena. The Immigration Department had issued the notice on Sunday stating that foreign tourists had to bring dollars physically for on-arrival visa, saying that ATM Lounge at Tribhuvan International Airport was not functional. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Instead of introducing reforms and correcting weaknesses in the tourism sector for its recovery, the recent notice to the foreign tourists would cause a backlash and build negative image of the country, the tourism stakeholders argued. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">They urged the government to immediately make arrangements to facilitate the foreign tourists.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The tourism associations that issued the joint statement include Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents, Hotel Association Nepal, Trekking Agency Association of Nepal, Nepal Mountaineering Association, and Nepal Association of Rafting Agencies. -RSS</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14869', 'image' => '20220419120312_Tourism pokhara.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 12:02:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15126', 'article_category_id' => '274', 'title' => 'Finance Ministry Issues Directive to Reduce Budget for Fuel by 20 Percent ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has issued a directive to different ministries, government bodies and public agencies to reduce fuel consumption by 20 percent. ', '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 Ministry of Finance (MoF) has issued a directive to different ministries, government bodies and public agencies to reduce fuel consumption by 20 percent. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a notice on Monday, the Ministry of Finance directed the concerned government agencies to reduce the budget allocated under the heading of fuel for the current fiscal year by 20 percent. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MoF clarified that the measure taken to reduce fuel consumption would however not be applicable for development projects, to maintain law and order, and for most essential services as well as the upcoming local level election. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that the growing trade deficit, decline in inflow of remittance and foreign currency reserves have mounted pressure on national economy, the ministry said that the government on April 13 decided to cut budget allocated under the heading of fuel consumption. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the ministry, the government decided to reduce the budget allocated under the heading of administration and fuel consumption by 10 percent each to promote the consumption of clean energy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The measure to cut-off fuel would remain effective up to July 15, informed Finance Ministry Spokesperson Dhundi Prasad Niraula. The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration would monitor whether the decision has been implemented or not. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14868', 'image' => '20220419080850_Finmin.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 08:08:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15125', 'article_category_id' => '219', 'title' => 'Children attracted to piggy bank saving', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: Rajan Jaiswal bought two piggy banks from Chandranigahapur market last Friday.', 'content' => '<p>Dipesh Poudel</p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 18: Rajan Jaiswal bought two piggy banks from Chandranigahapur market last Friday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that he bought two piggy banks made of clay, one for himself and the other for his sister. Rajan, who is studying in class 8 at Janajyoti Secondary School, has been saving Rs 10 to Rs 100 daily in the piggy bank. With the money saved, he plans to buy sports equipment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I just bought a piggy bank from the market. My sister also saves money in her piggy bank and uses the saved money to buy stationary,” he said. His sister Nandani has been saving the change money given by her parents.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The children save some of the money given by their parents for lunch in their piggy banks. There is a great attraction of young students studying in private and government schools towards the piggy bank savings.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prince Mishra, who is studying in the same school, said that he also saves the money given by his parents for lunch. He said that he uses the money saved to buy stationery and sports equipment. Only a few months ago, he bought a bicycle using savings from his piggy bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Parents are also happy with their children’s habit of saving money. Basanti Jaiswal, a parent from Chandranigahapur said that her son deposits money left after having lunch in piggy bank after returning from school. She said, “My son has developed a habit of saving money in a piggy bank. He uses the saved money to buy stationery and sports equipment. It has been financially easier for us since we have to pay the monthly fees only.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Aradhya Poudel, who is studying in class 2, says that she also started saving money in a piggy bank after seeing all her friends save money. At present, more than a dozen students of private and government schools in Chandranigahapur save money in piggy bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Madhu Poudel, a teacher at the local Janajyoti Secondary School said that the students have developed the habit of saving. He said that parents and teachers should motivate their children to save regularly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Cooperatives as well as banks have also come up with various schemes to attract children towards piggy bank savings. Bibhu Pokharel, chairman of Sankalpa Savings and Cooperative said that children who save in the piggy bank savings are given gifts on their birthdays. He said that the children's access to the bank will gradually progress from the piggy bank saving scheme and their habit of saving will further develop.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14867', 'image' => '20220418070053_1650260270.खुत्रुके_बचतमा_बालबालिकाको_आकर्षण.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 19:00:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15124', 'article_category_id' => '278', 'title' => 'FCAN Announces Protest Programme', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: After their demands were not met, the Federation of Contractors’ Association Nepal (FCAN) announced protest programme to get their voices heard. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 18: After their demands were not met, the Federation of Contractors’ Association Nepal (FCAN) announced protest programme to get their voices heard. On Sunday, the federation revealed that it will be holding sit-ins at government offices starting from April 21. The protests will be held at the Public Procurement Monitoring Office and the Insurance Board.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A team led by the president of the federation, Ravi Singh handed over a memorandum to the Public Procurement Monitoring Office and the Insurance Board on Sunday in this regard.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The federation handed over the memorandum to Madhusudan Burlakoti, secretary of the Public Procurement Monitoring Office, urging them to address their demands. Stating that no attention was paid to the demands of FCAN so far, President Singh said that they would hold a sit-in if a resolution is not reached within April 21.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The FCAN has been demanding that the government address the issue of price hike of construction materials, the deadline of contracts should be extended, and some provisions in the Public Procurement (Eleventh Amendment) Rules-2078 BS, Insurance Directive-2078 BS should be amended / annulled. The federation said that despite making those requests repeatedly, the issues were not addressed at all.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Roshan Dahal, general secretary of the federation said that even though the federation gave enough time to resolve the problems of the construction industry, it was not addressed. Similarly, in a memorandum submitted to the Insurance Board by the federation, it has demanded scrapping of the Insurance Directive-2078 issued by the board. The federation has been saying that the alternative of scrapping the directive could be addressed through amendment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the federation, the decision to increase the premium rate by the insurance companies four to five times is unreasonable. Similarly, the federation said that the provision of not settling 70 to 80 percent of the claims by the insurance companies in the past to the insurers is also not acceptable.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14866', 'image' => '20220418055544_fcan-building.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 17:55:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15123', 'article_category_id' => '236', 'title' => 'Automobile Business in Crisis after Banks Stop Opening LCs for Importing Vehicles', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: Commercial banks have not opened LCs for import of vehicles since April 7 under the directive of the central bank. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 18: Commercial banks have not opened LCs for import of vehicles since April 7 under the directive of the central bank. Automobile dealers are making efforts to reverse the decision stating that their entire business has been affected due to the decision. However, the central bank's unannounced ban on LCs is not expected to be lifted immediately.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials of the NADA Automobiles Association of Nepal, an umbrella body of automobile dealers, met with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba last week urging him to direct Nepal Rastra Bank to allow banks to open an LC for importing vehicles. On Sunday, the representatives of NADA also met Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. Despite meeting high-ranking government officials, the automobile dealers complained that they have not received anything but assurance so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the association, investors have poured more than Rs 350 billion in the automobile business. This sector contributes more than Rs 150 billion in revenue every year. Entrepreneurs have complained that the area which has provided direct employment to more than 98,000 people has become chaotic due to the suspension of LC.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President of the association Dhruba Thapa said it was not appropriate to restrict opening LCs on the grounds that foreign exchange reserves were low. "No other country does that, but it has been done in Nepal," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the meeting, Finance Minister Sharma made it clear to NADA officials that the government was not in favour of stopping imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NADA officials had requested the finance minister to lift the ban on LC for importing vehicles. NADA Vice President Rajan Babu Shrestha had briefed Finance Minister Sharma about the possible impacts of stopping the import of vehicles into the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Entrepreneurs say that the automobile sector, which has invested heavily, is in crisis after commercial banks stopped opening LCs for importing automobiles that are listed as luxury items. The banks did so upon the verbal instructions of NRB. According to NADA Chairman Thapa, even the vehicles ordered earlier are stuck at this time.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When the association raised the issue on April 9, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba assured to take appropriate measures after looking into the matter.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, entrepreneurs are disappointed that the LC has not been opened even a week after the Prime Minister's assurance. Entrepreneurs say that the auto business will collapse if the government does not eases import of vehicles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prime Minister Deuba had also suggested the businessmen take up the issue with the finance minister. Accordingly, the businessmen met the finance minister. They said that they only got assurance from the finance minister during the meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Sharma asked the traders to be patient. The association is also preparing to meet Officiating Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Neelam Dhungana Timsina to raise the issue. Entrepreneurs argue that the recent policy of the NRB has put the business in crisis and have requested facilitation in opening LC.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14865', 'image' => '20220418022912_nada.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 14:28:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15122', 'article_category_id' => '273', 'title' => 'Innovation and Financial Literacy are the Base of Women Entrepreneurship ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: The participants of an interaction program under the 'Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Summit and Awards 2022' held in Birgunj on Sunday stated that promotion of women entrepreneurship is necessary to uplift the economy.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 18: The participants of an interaction program under the 'Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Summit and Awards 2022' held in Birgunj on Sunday stated that promotion of women entrepreneurship is necessary to uplift the economy. The award function is to be held in Kathmandu on Friday, April 22. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking on the occasion, Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj Customs Harihar Poudel said that financial literacy and innovation should be emphasised for the promotion of women entrepreneurship. Stating that the finished product of one enterprise can be the raw material of another, Poudel said that innovation would widen the scope of entrepreneurship. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Poudel stressed on the need for effective policy and its implementation to involve more women in the enterprise and to uplift those who are already active in the enterprise. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Skill development training is not enough for women. We have to see whether the learned skills are used or not," he said. Madan Lamsal, president and editor-in-chief of New Business Age Pvt Ltd, said the country would not prosper unless women are empowered. </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:"Times New Roman","serif"">He stated that the award and recognition programme is being organised to encourage women towards entrepreneurship. “The private sector should lead the economic development,” said Lamsal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Reema Shah, chief of the Cottage and Small Industries Office, Parsa, said that women in rural areas have not been able to move towards entrepreneurship. She urged the inclusion of women from rural areas in the women entrepreneurship promotion programme. She also said that there is low participation of women from rural areas in skill-based training. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rajan Dev Bhattarai, director of Nepal Rastra Bank Regional Office, Birgunj, claimed that women entrepreneurs still lack financial literacy. Director Bhattarai said that despite the government budget being spent in the name of making women self-employed and to involve them in entrepreneurship, the expected outcome has not been observed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that women entrepreneurs have complained of not being able to get concessional loans easily, Bhattarai said that the loan without any collateral should be disbursed to them through projects. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dr Subodh Kumar Gupta claimed that only 10 percent women were entrepreneurs and argued that men were also to blame for the failure of women. He said that men should help in promoting women entrepreneurship. He claimed that women are more honest than men in any profession and business. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Participants of the interactive training held in the run-up to the award program, sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank and co-sponsored Muktinath Development Bank, complained that the results of entrepreneurship is not seen due to the problems such as lack of marketing, access to technology and credit. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14864', 'image' => '20220418125406_1650236386.4.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 12:51:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15121', 'article_category_id' => '228', 'title' => 'Int'l Airports to Provide Round-the-Clock Service ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) will be operating round the clock from May 29 following a decline in Covid-19 infection. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 18: Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) will be operating round the clock from May 29 following a decline in Covid-19 infection. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has made preparation to bring international airports into operation round the clock to manage the increasing flow of passengers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport and under construction Pokhara Regional International Airport will also operate round the clock, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, CAAN Director General, Pradeep Adhikari, confirmed that the TIA would provide 24-hour service from May 29 coinciding with the Republic Day of Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"CAAN has released a new plan following repeated directives from Tourism Minister Prem Bahadur Ale," said Director General Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Flow of passengers at international airport and domestic airports has increased after COVID pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> "There is a need to improve infrastructures in all international and domestic airports as well as standardization of service. It is also necessary to give a message that the Nepalese sky is safe. So we have been involved in effective management of airports," RSS quoted Adhikari as saying. </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier in 2075 BS, the then Tourism Minister late Rabindra Adhikari had brought the TIA into operation for 21 hours from 18 hours. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Gautam Buddha International Airport is considered as an alternative airport to TIA. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari mentioned that though the runway of Gautam Buddha International Airport would come into operation from April 21, the airport would start international flight from May 16 on the day of Buddha Jayanti festival. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> In the meantime, CAAN has also decided to operate domestic airports till midnight. The CAAN has decided to bring Bhadrapur, Janakpur, Simara, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi airports into operation till midnight. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14863', 'image' => '20220418082422_2009-03_Kathmandu_10.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 08:23:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15120', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'Suspended Governor Files Petition against Government Decision', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: The suspended Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court on Sunday (April 17) challenging the decision of the Council of Ministers to suspend him.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 18: The suspended Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court on Sunday (April 17) challenging the decision of the Council of Ministers to suspend him. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Supreme Court's Spokesperson Bimal Poudel confirmed that Adhikari’s writ petition was registered at the apex court. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In his petition, Adhikari has demanded the court to scrap the government's decision to form a probe committee without prior information. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Hearing on the petition would be conducted on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government had recently formed a panel under the leadership of former SC Justice Purushottam Bhandari to probe alleged irregularities of Adhikari, leading to his suspension from the post of the central bank’s governor. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14862', 'image' => '20220418080057_Maha-Prasad-Adhikari.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 08:00:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15119', 'article_category_id' => '224', 'title' => 'Government Lacks Modality to Build Budhi Gandaki Hydro Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The government has decided to construct the Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project with domestic investment after cancelling the contract with China Gejuwa Group Corporation (CGGC).', '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 17: The government has decided to construct the Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project with domestic investment after cancelling the contract with China Gejuwa Group Corporation (CGGC). However, the government does not have the plan and modality to build the 1,200 MW project with domestic investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Last year, the cabinet meeting had decided to take the Budhi Gandaki project from CGGC and build it with domestic investment. In this case, the government should have a separate plan and modality for how to build the project. However, no plan or modality has been formulated in this regard so far. It seems that the government has decided to take over the project from CGGC only for the sake of popularity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stakeholders say that this project has been politicized. Some years ago, when the Chairman of the Maoist Center, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, was the prime minister, it was decided to allow CGGC to build the project in the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Financing (EPCF) model.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Later, when Sher Bahadur Deuba became the prime minister in five years ago, the project was snatched from CGGC. After UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli became the prime minister, it was decided to allow CGGC to construct the project again. Now that Deuba is leading the government again, the project contract with CGGC has been terminated again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation said that it has been decided to build it with domestic investment but no modality has been decided on how to build it.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 said that the decision was made because of legal complications in allowing the CGGC to build the project. The government has also accused the CGGC of delaying construction. Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Energy Chiranjeevi Chataut said that the modality of constructing the Budhi Gandaki project has not been prepared yet. "Currently, it has been decided to take the project away from CGGC and build it with domestic investment. The plan and modalities of how to build it have not been decided yet. We are studying it,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Budhi Gandaki is a big project. It was earlier estimated that it would cost around Rs 300 billion. It is currently being re-evaluated. This project is considered equally risky. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“As it is a big project, the risk of investment is also high,” said Chataut.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 issue of how to raise investment is also challenging. There had been various attempts to raise investment in the past as well. However, they did not succeed. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 private sector also said that the project should be constructed soon. Nepal has been buying electricity at high prices from India in winter due to a lack of adequate reservoir projects.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 reservoir project is needed to end that situation. On top of that, Budhi Gandaki is technically ready to go into construction. Therefore, the private sector is of the view that the construction of this project should not be delayed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Other reservoir projects identified in Nepal are in the phase of survey and study. The survey of some projects has not been done 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"">The work of the DPR of Budhigandaki, approval of the environmental impact assessment report, and distribution of compensation have been almost completed. Now all that is left is to go into construction.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 private sector is also ready to invest in it. Chairman of the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN) Krishna Prasad Acharya said that the private sector is ready to invest in Budhi Gandaki in partnership with the government. However, he said that the government should guarantee a return on investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 private sector is ready to invest in the project in collaboration with the government. But, the government should guarantee the return. Expenditure should not be increased as in other government projects,” he said, adding, “If the government does not include investment for the transmission line, compensation distribution, and road construction in the project cost, we are ready to invest.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 issue of the construction of the Budhi Gandaki project is being looked at with utmost importance. Its construction is estimated to cost more than Rs 300 billion. The government had started levying a tax of Rs 5 per liter on petrol, diesel, kerosene, and aviation fuel from the fiscal year 2072/73 for the construction of Budhi Gandaki project with domestic investment. It had been collecting Rs 10 per liter since February 2010.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14861', 'image' => '20220417055058_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 17:50:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15118', 'article_category_id' => '228', 'title' => 'Gautam Buddha Int'l Airport to Operate New Runway from April 21 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The new 3,000-metre runway of Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport will come into operation later this week starting from 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 17: The new 3,000-metre runway of Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport will come into operation later this week starting from April 21. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Until now, the airport has been operating the 1,500-metre runaway. Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale recently instructed the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to operate the new runway at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minister also instructed the authorities make arrangements to run the airport round-the-clock, informed CAAN director-general Pradeep Kumar Adhikari. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Sources at CAAN informed that the new runway will be used for domestic flights in the first phase.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Adhikari, the airport will operate international flights from May 16, coinciding with the Buddha Jayanti festival. (With inputs from RSS)</span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14860', 'image' => '20220417053452_gautam-buddha-international-airport-blueprint-1536x629.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 17:33:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15117', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'Board Meeting of NRB becomes Uncertain due to Lack of Quorum', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The board meeting of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has become uncertain as the posts of half of the board members have become vacant due to various reasons. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 17: The board meeting of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has become uncertain as the posts of half of the board members have become vacant due to various reasons. NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has been suspended while the terms of other two board members Dr Shree Ram Poudyal and Ramji Regmi have expired. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Governor Adhikari has been suspended since the government formed a probe committee on April 7 to investigate alleged irregularities of the governor. Meanwhile, the terms of Dr Poudyal and Regmi expired on Friday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the Nepal Rastra Bank Act 2058, a board meeting of the central bank requires the presence of board chair and at least three board members. Due to the suspension of the governor and end of terms of two board members, the central bank currently has four board members. The central bank board meeting couldn’t be held after another board member and expert Dr Subodh Kumar Karna is unavailable to attend the meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Karna Sir hasn’t attended the board meeting ever since he was accused of financial irregularity,” said a high-ranking NRB official. “The board meeting cannot be held officially until he attends the meeting or other board members are appointed,” added the source requesting anonymity.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The source informed that the government is yet to take any action against Karna. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The board meeting currently lacks quorum. Only Deputy Governor Dr Neelam Dhungana Timsina, Finance Secretary Madjhu Kumar Marasini and Deputy Governor Bam Bahadur Mishra are currently available to attend the meeting. There is a provision to have seven members in the board meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per section 14 of Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2002, the Board of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) will comprise of seven members: four ex officio members – the Governor (who is the Chairman), the Secretary, Ministry of Finance and two Deputy Governors and three other Directors, each of whom are appointed from amongst the persons renowned in the field of Economics, Monetary, Banking, Finance and Commercial Laws.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It is mandatory for the presence of three board members including an expert to attend the board meeting of NRB chaired by the governor. Although the board meeting is held as per the need, there is a legal provision for holding such meeting at least once a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As the board meeting takes policy-level decision, it is essential to have the board meeting for the review of the monetary policy as well as to formulate policies for the upcoming monetary policy.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14859', 'image' => '20220417045301_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 16:52:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15116', 'article_category_id' => '274', 'title' => 'Government Agrees to Accept Financial Assistance of Rs 98 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The government has decided to accept financial assistance of about Rs 98 billion (including loans and grants) from two separate donors.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 17: The government has decided to accept financial assistance of about Rs 98 billion (including loans and grants) from two separate donors. The government has decided to accept USD 659 million (about Rs 80 billion) from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and a concessional loan of USD 150 million (about Rs 18 billion) from the World Bank Group's International Development Association.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Ministry of Finance informed that the government has already started its homework to receive the US grant. The grant will be received by Nepal within 5 years to be spent in various sectors. According to a Finance Ministry official, the government and USAID are preparing to sign the agreement after the cabinet decided to accept the grant.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the International Financial Assistance Coordination Division of the Ministry of Finance, the grant will be spent mainly on education, health, sustainable energy, agriculture and capacity building of the private sector. The projects are yet to be finalized even though the area for spending the grant that Nepal is about to receive has already been decided.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ishwori Aryal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance, said that the grant agreement will be signed between the two sides after the government and the USAID decide on the projects. According to Aryal, work is underway to select relevant projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The grant amount will be received within five years at the rate of 132 million dollars (about Rs 16 billion) per year. If the agreement is signed this year, the grant will start coming from the next fiscal year and the full grant will come by 2027.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">USAID spent 683 million dollars in Nepal from 2016 to 2021. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although some analysts say that the current economic crisis will be alleviated if the government accepts such large loans and grants, finance ministry officials contradict the viewpoint.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Ministry of Finance, this loan is agreed upon to support the programs in the budget. Its interest rate will be less than 1 percent per annum.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The loan, which is planned to be spent on sectors including institutional capacity improvement and implementation of federalism, will be credited to the country’s finance as soon as the agreement is signed. The government will make expenditures from the credited amount accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the officials of the ministry of finance, as only the decision to accept grants and loans is made, this amount will not come to the market immediately. They added that although its effects will be long lasting, it will not help to resolve the immediate crisis.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14858', 'image' => '20220417031556_finance_ministry_copy1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 15:15:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15115', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Construction of Nagdhunga Tunnel Uncertain due to Obstruction by Locals', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The construction of the Nagdhunga Tunnel has been halted for five days due to the obstruction created by the locals. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 17: The construction of the Nagdhunga Tunnel has been halted for five days due to the obstruction created by the locals. The construction of the project has become uncertain after locals affected by the project staged protests demanding compensation for land, construction of blacktopped road, and a football stadium. Locals residing towards Kathmandu from the project site also vandalized the project office.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Locals of Totipakha in Kathmandu to the east side of the tunnel started protest on April 11 stating that their demands have not been met. Japanese construction company Hajma Ando Corporation stopped work after locals of Chandragiri Municipality-2 attacked the project office following a protest. Project Chief Nareshman Shakya said that the company has demanded action against the culprits and will stop work until security is guaranteed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He said that the construction work has been stopped now, and the construction itself is uncertain. On Sunday (today), the District Administration Office invited the project officials and the locals for discussion. Shakya said that the construction can be started only if there is an agreement, or it will remain uncertain. "We will not work until we get security assurance," Shakya said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More than 500 Nepalese and Japanese workers were working in the tunnel. He said that the Japanese company has been claiming Rs 15 million daily in fines since April 11 for the onstruction in construction work. Nepal has to pay the amount daily due to obstruction in the project being constructed with the help of Japanese loan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"The state has a to incur a daily loss of Rs 15 million for 10 tankers of water," he said, adding that the amount claimed by the company has reached Rs 75 million as of Saturday. The construction company claimed that the amount should be paid by Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although the construction works were delayed due to Covid-19, the company has been digging 10 meters of tunnel of late. The project deadline has been extended for three months due to a halt in work because of Covid-19.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The locals claim that the water level in the area has dropped due to the project and have also demanded proper management of water.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Shakya claimed that the decline in water level was due to drought. Nevertheless, the project was planning to provide 5 tankers of water to the locals daily. “However, they suddenly came and vandalized the office,” said Shakya, adding, “Besides, they have made demands unrelated to the project. The project cannot meet those demands. The demand within the project will be addressed,” said Shakya.' </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The project had agreed to distribute water, but now the locals are demanding that water pipes be installed in every house, said Shakya.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">To address the demand of the locals for connecting the pipeline through the municipality, a budget has been requested from the Ministry of Finance. "Rs 800,000 has been disbursed for this purpose alone on Friday," said Shakya.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">At present, the tunnel work is 48 percent complete. As the finishing work has been taken along with it, about 36 percent of the work of the project has been completed. According to Shakya, the problem of land compensation in Balambu has been resolved by 70 percent and now the locals are demolishing private houses.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Shakya claims that the project has been fulfilling the reasonable demands of the locals based on their information. However, he clarified that the demands that do not fall within the scope of the project cannot be addressed just because they resort to vandalism.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The project is being undertaken with the concessional loan provided by the Government of Japan. The total investment for the project is estimated to be around Rs 22 billion. JICA will invest Rs 16 billion while the Government of Nepal will contribute Rs 6 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The tunnel will be of 2.7 kilometers long and will have two flyovers. The project will also cover 3 kilometers of road.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Thankot-Naubise road section is currently 9 kilometers long. The distance will be shortened to 5.7 kilometers once the tunnel is constructed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The foundation stone of the project was laid on October 21, 2019. As per the agreement signed with the Department of Roads, the contractor must complete the project within 42 months.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14857', 'image' => '20220417021920_20201105124818_20200308111704_adahjj.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 14:18:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15114', 'article_category_id' => '239', 'title' => 'Foreign Tourists Urged to Pay for On-Arrival Visa in Cash due to Technical Glitches', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The Immigration Office at the Tribhuvan International Airport has urged foreign tourists visiting Nepal to pay their on-arrival visa fee in cash after facing problems in electronic transaction. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 17: The Immigration Office at the Tribhuvan International Airport has urged foreign tourists visiting Nepal to pay their on-arrival visa fee in cash after facing problems in electronic transaction. The airport authorities said e-payment was cumbersome and sometimes there were technical glitches in the system. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA)’s Manager Prem Nath Thakur informed that tourists visiting Nepal had to stay in queue for three to four hours to pay their on-arrival visa fee due to malfunctioning of the software time and again. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Due to such hassles, the airport urged the Department of Immigration to make arrangements for the visiting foreigners to pay the fees in cash. Now, a notice in this regard has already been published, said Manager Thakur. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">At present, a large number of foreign tourists are visiting Nepal and there is only one ATM machine at the TIA, RSS further reported. Besides, technical problems were detected in course of e-payment through different medium. To avoid difficulties faced by the visiting foreign tourists, they have been asked to pay their on-arrival visa fee in cash. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Each visiting foreign tourist has to pay US$ 200 as fee for the on-arrival visa. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14856', 'image' => '20220417112619_Tourist.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 11:24:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15128', 'article_category_id' => '277', 'title' => 'Prices of Fruits and Vegetables Skyrocketing ahead of Elections ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The prices of fruits and green vegetables have skyrocketed due to the increase in freight charge, weak market monitoring and inflation in India, the source of these consumable goods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 19: The prices of fruits and green vegetables have skyrocketed due to the increase in freight charge, weak market monitoring and inflation in India, the source of these consumable goods. Transportation fares have reportedly skyrocketed due to the price hike of fuel. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Board (KFVMDB), the prices of fruits including bananas, apples, papaya, watermelons, grapes and oranges have skyrocketed in the last one month. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bananas, which were available at Rs 100 a dozen a month ago, are now priced at Rs 200. Likewise, the price of Fuji apple, which was available at Rs 250 per kg, has reached Rs 275 per kg in the wholesale market. The retail price of this apple ranges from Rs 350 to Rs 380. Similarly, the wholesale price of black grapes, which was Rs 190 per kg is now Rs 220. Traders in the retail market arbitrarily charge anything between Rs 250 to Rs 280 for black grapes. The price of green grapes, which was Rs 100 per kg a month ago, has now reached Rs 145. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The price of lemon has increased the most. The wholesale price of lemon, which was Rs 250 per kg a month ago, has now reached Rs 325. Consumers have complained that they have to pay up to Rs 500 in the retail market. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Entrepreneur Harish Sharma, who has been importing lemons from India, said that the demand for lemons in the Indian market has increased with the onset of summer but they have to pay more due to declining production. “The price of freight has gone up and on top of that the price of lemon has gone up in India itself,” Sharma said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data of the board, until a month ago, around 15 tons of lemons used to arrive at Kalimati daily. Now, only 5-6 tons of lemons arrive in Kalimati. The government statistics show that lemon is cultivated in 5,445 hectares of land in Nepal, and the domestic production is 46,118 tons per annum. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the prices of the green vegetables have also surged. The price of local cauliflower has gone up by Rs 70 per kg, from Rs 15 to Rs 85 in a month. The price of carrots, which was Rs 15 per kg, has gone up to Rs 30. Likewise, the price of beans, which was Rs 70 per kg, has reached Rs 85. The price of peas has increased from Rs 50 to Rs 70. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Consumer rights activists have a different story to share regarding inflation. They say that employees of the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection, the body responsible for monitoring the market, have been deployed in outlying districts in preparation for the upcoming election. Due to the lack of proper monitoring, the traders have increased the prices arbitrarily. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14870', 'image' => '20220419011256_fruit.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 13:12:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15127', 'article_category_id' => '239', 'title' => 'Tourism Entrepreneurs urge Government to Facilitate Tourists', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The tourism entrepreneurs have drawn the government's attention to facilitate the arrival of foreign tourists.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 19: The tourism entrepreneurs have drawn the government's attention to facilitate the arrival of foreign tourists. They expressed concern that the notice issued by the Immigration Department has shown inconvenience and hassle in the service delivery to the tourists. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a joint press statement on Monday, the tourism associations argued that the notice issued by the department would earn negative reputation of the country in the international arena. The Immigration Department had issued the notice on Sunday stating that foreign tourists had to bring dollars physically for on-arrival visa, saying that ATM Lounge at Tribhuvan International Airport was not functional. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Instead of introducing reforms and correcting weaknesses in the tourism sector for its recovery, the recent notice to the foreign tourists would cause a backlash and build negative image of the country, the tourism stakeholders argued. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">They urged the government to immediately make arrangements to facilitate the foreign tourists.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The tourism associations that issued the joint statement include Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents, Hotel Association Nepal, Trekking Agency Association of Nepal, Nepal Mountaineering Association, and Nepal Association of Rafting Agencies. -RSS</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14869', 'image' => '20220419120312_Tourism pokhara.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 12:02:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15126', 'article_category_id' => '274', 'title' => 'Finance Ministry Issues Directive to Reduce Budget for Fuel by 20 Percent ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has issued a directive to different ministries, government bodies and public agencies to reduce fuel consumption by 20 percent. ', '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 Ministry of Finance (MoF) has issued a directive to different ministries, government bodies and public agencies to reduce fuel consumption by 20 percent. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a notice on Monday, the Ministry of Finance directed the concerned government agencies to reduce the budget allocated under the heading of fuel for the current fiscal year by 20 percent. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MoF clarified that the measure taken to reduce fuel consumption would however not be applicable for development projects, to maintain law and order, and for most essential services as well as the upcoming local level election. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that the growing trade deficit, decline in inflow of remittance and foreign currency reserves have mounted pressure on national economy, the ministry said that the government on April 13 decided to cut budget allocated under the heading of fuel consumption. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the ministry, the government decided to reduce the budget allocated under the heading of administration and fuel consumption by 10 percent each to promote the consumption of clean energy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The measure to cut-off fuel would remain effective up to July 15, informed Finance Ministry Spokesperson Dhundi Prasad Niraula. The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration would monitor whether the decision has been implemented or not. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14868', 'image' => '20220419080850_Finmin.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 08:08:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15125', 'article_category_id' => '219', 'title' => 'Children attracted to piggy bank saving', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: Rajan Jaiswal bought two piggy banks from Chandranigahapur market last Friday.', 'content' => '<p>Dipesh Poudel</p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 18: Rajan Jaiswal bought two piggy banks from Chandranigahapur market last Friday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that he bought two piggy banks made of clay, one for himself and the other for his sister. Rajan, who is studying in class 8 at Janajyoti Secondary School, has been saving Rs 10 to Rs 100 daily in the piggy bank. With the money saved, he plans to buy sports equipment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I just bought a piggy bank from the market. My sister also saves money in her piggy bank and uses the saved money to buy stationary,” he said. His sister Nandani has been saving the change money given by her parents.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The children save some of the money given by their parents for lunch in their piggy banks. There is a great attraction of young students studying in private and government schools towards the piggy bank savings.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prince Mishra, who is studying in the same school, said that he also saves the money given by his parents for lunch. He said that he uses the money saved to buy stationery and sports equipment. Only a few months ago, he bought a bicycle using savings from his piggy bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Parents are also happy with their children’s habit of saving money. Basanti Jaiswal, a parent from Chandranigahapur said that her son deposits money left after having lunch in piggy bank after returning from school. She said, “My son has developed a habit of saving money in a piggy bank. He uses the saved money to buy stationery and sports equipment. It has been financially easier for us since we have to pay the monthly fees only.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Aradhya Poudel, who is studying in class 2, says that she also started saving money in a piggy bank after seeing all her friends save money. At present, more than a dozen students of private and government schools in Chandranigahapur save money in piggy bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Madhu Poudel, a teacher at the local Janajyoti Secondary School said that the students have developed the habit of saving. He said that parents and teachers should motivate their children to save regularly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Cooperatives as well as banks have also come up with various schemes to attract children towards piggy bank savings. Bibhu Pokharel, chairman of Sankalpa Savings and Cooperative said that children who save in the piggy bank savings are given gifts on their birthdays. He said that the children's access to the bank will gradually progress from the piggy bank saving scheme and their habit of saving will further develop.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14867', 'image' => '20220418070053_1650260270.खुत्रुके_बचतमा_बालबालिकाको_आकर्षण.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 19:00:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15124', 'article_category_id' => '278', 'title' => 'FCAN Announces Protest Programme', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: After their demands were not met, the Federation of Contractors’ Association Nepal (FCAN) announced protest programme to get their voices heard. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 18: After their demands were not met, the Federation of Contractors’ Association Nepal (FCAN) announced protest programme to get their voices heard. On Sunday, the federation revealed that it will be holding sit-ins at government offices starting from April 21. The protests will be held at the Public Procurement Monitoring Office and the Insurance Board.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A team led by the president of the federation, Ravi Singh handed over a memorandum to the Public Procurement Monitoring Office and the Insurance Board on Sunday in this regard.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The federation handed over the memorandum to Madhusudan Burlakoti, secretary of the Public Procurement Monitoring Office, urging them to address their demands. Stating that no attention was paid to the demands of FCAN so far, President Singh said that they would hold a sit-in if a resolution is not reached within April 21.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The FCAN has been demanding that the government address the issue of price hike of construction materials, the deadline of contracts should be extended, and some provisions in the Public Procurement (Eleventh Amendment) Rules-2078 BS, Insurance Directive-2078 BS should be amended / annulled. The federation said that despite making those requests repeatedly, the issues were not addressed at all.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Roshan Dahal, general secretary of the federation said that even though the federation gave enough time to resolve the problems of the construction industry, it was not addressed. Similarly, in a memorandum submitted to the Insurance Board by the federation, it has demanded scrapping of the Insurance Directive-2078 issued by the board. The federation has been saying that the alternative of scrapping the directive could be addressed through amendment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the federation, the decision to increase the premium rate by the insurance companies four to five times is unreasonable. Similarly, the federation said that the provision of not settling 70 to 80 percent of the claims by the insurance companies in the past to the insurers is also not acceptable.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14866', 'image' => '20220418055544_fcan-building.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 17:55:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15123', 'article_category_id' => '236', 'title' => 'Automobile Business in Crisis after Banks Stop Opening LCs for Importing Vehicles', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: Commercial banks have not opened LCs for import of vehicles since April 7 under the directive of the central bank. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 18: Commercial banks have not opened LCs for import of vehicles since April 7 under the directive of the central bank. Automobile dealers are making efforts to reverse the decision stating that their entire business has been affected due to the decision. However, the central bank's unannounced ban on LCs is not expected to be lifted immediately.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials of the NADA Automobiles Association of Nepal, an umbrella body of automobile dealers, met with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba last week urging him to direct Nepal Rastra Bank to allow banks to open an LC for importing vehicles. On Sunday, the representatives of NADA also met Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. Despite meeting high-ranking government officials, the automobile dealers complained that they have not received anything but assurance so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the association, investors have poured more than Rs 350 billion in the automobile business. This sector contributes more than Rs 150 billion in revenue every year. Entrepreneurs have complained that the area which has provided direct employment to more than 98,000 people has become chaotic due to the suspension of LC.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President of the association Dhruba Thapa said it was not appropriate to restrict opening LCs on the grounds that foreign exchange reserves were low. "No other country does that, but it has been done in Nepal," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the meeting, Finance Minister Sharma made it clear to NADA officials that the government was not in favour of stopping imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NADA officials had requested the finance minister to lift the ban on LC for importing vehicles. NADA Vice President Rajan Babu Shrestha had briefed Finance Minister Sharma about the possible impacts of stopping the import of vehicles into the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Entrepreneurs say that the automobile sector, which has invested heavily, is in crisis after commercial banks stopped opening LCs for importing automobiles that are listed as luxury items. The banks did so upon the verbal instructions of NRB. According to NADA Chairman Thapa, even the vehicles ordered earlier are stuck at this time.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When the association raised the issue on April 9, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba assured to take appropriate measures after looking into the matter.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, entrepreneurs are disappointed that the LC has not been opened even a week after the Prime Minister's assurance. Entrepreneurs say that the auto business will collapse if the government does not eases import of vehicles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prime Minister Deuba had also suggested the businessmen take up the issue with the finance minister. Accordingly, the businessmen met the finance minister. They said that they only got assurance from the finance minister during the meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Sharma asked the traders to be patient. The association is also preparing to meet Officiating Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Neelam Dhungana Timsina to raise the issue. Entrepreneurs argue that the recent policy of the NRB has put the business in crisis and have requested facilitation in opening LC.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14865', 'image' => '20220418022912_nada.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 14:28:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15122', 'article_category_id' => '273', 'title' => 'Innovation and Financial Literacy are the Base of Women Entrepreneurship ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: The participants of an interaction program under the 'Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Summit and Awards 2022' held in Birgunj on Sunday stated that promotion of women entrepreneurship is necessary to uplift the economy.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 18: The participants of an interaction program under the 'Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Summit and Awards 2022' held in Birgunj on Sunday stated that promotion of women entrepreneurship is necessary to uplift the economy. The award function is to be held in Kathmandu on Friday, April 22. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking on the occasion, Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj Customs Harihar Poudel said that financial literacy and innovation should be emphasised for the promotion of women entrepreneurship. Stating that the finished product of one enterprise can be the raw material of another, Poudel said that innovation would widen the scope of entrepreneurship. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Poudel stressed on the need for effective policy and its implementation to involve more women in the enterprise and to uplift those who are already active in the enterprise. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Skill development training is not enough for women. We have to see whether the learned skills are used or not," he said. Madan Lamsal, president and editor-in-chief of New Business Age Pvt Ltd, said the country would not prosper unless women are empowered. </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:"Times New Roman","serif"">He stated that the award and recognition programme is being organised to encourage women towards entrepreneurship. “The private sector should lead the economic development,” said Lamsal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Reema Shah, chief of the Cottage and Small Industries Office, Parsa, said that women in rural areas have not been able to move towards entrepreneurship. She urged the inclusion of women from rural areas in the women entrepreneurship promotion programme. She also said that there is low participation of women from rural areas in skill-based training. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rajan Dev Bhattarai, director of Nepal Rastra Bank Regional Office, Birgunj, claimed that women entrepreneurs still lack financial literacy. Director Bhattarai said that despite the government budget being spent in the name of making women self-employed and to involve them in entrepreneurship, the expected outcome has not been observed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that women entrepreneurs have complained of not being able to get concessional loans easily, Bhattarai said that the loan without any collateral should be disbursed to them through projects. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dr Subodh Kumar Gupta claimed that only 10 percent women were entrepreneurs and argued that men were also to blame for the failure of women. He said that men should help in promoting women entrepreneurship. He claimed that women are more honest than men in any profession and business. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Participants of the interactive training held in the run-up to the award program, sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank and co-sponsored Muktinath Development Bank, complained that the results of entrepreneurship is not seen due to the problems such as lack of marketing, access to technology and credit. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14864', 'image' => '20220418125406_1650236386.4.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 12:51:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15121', 'article_category_id' => '228', 'title' => 'Int'l Airports to Provide Round-the-Clock Service ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) will be operating round the clock from May 29 following a decline in Covid-19 infection. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 18: Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) will be operating round the clock from May 29 following a decline in Covid-19 infection. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has made preparation to bring international airports into operation round the clock to manage the increasing flow of passengers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport and under construction Pokhara Regional International Airport will also operate round the clock, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, CAAN Director General, Pradeep Adhikari, confirmed that the TIA would provide 24-hour service from May 29 coinciding with the Republic Day of Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"CAAN has released a new plan following repeated directives from Tourism Minister Prem Bahadur Ale," said Director General Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Flow of passengers at international airport and domestic airports has increased after COVID pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> "There is a need to improve infrastructures in all international and domestic airports as well as standardization of service. It is also necessary to give a message that the Nepalese sky is safe. So we have been involved in effective management of airports," RSS quoted Adhikari as saying. </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier in 2075 BS, the then Tourism Minister late Rabindra Adhikari had brought the TIA into operation for 21 hours from 18 hours. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Gautam Buddha International Airport is considered as an alternative airport to TIA. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari mentioned that though the runway of Gautam Buddha International Airport would come into operation from April 21, the airport would start international flight from May 16 on the day of Buddha Jayanti festival. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> In the meantime, CAAN has also decided to operate domestic airports till midnight. The CAAN has decided to bring Bhadrapur, Janakpur, Simara, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi airports into operation till midnight. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14863', 'image' => '20220418082422_2009-03_Kathmandu_10.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 08:23:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15120', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'Suspended Governor Files Petition against Government Decision', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: The suspended Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court on Sunday (April 17) challenging the decision of the Council of Ministers to suspend him.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 18: The suspended Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court on Sunday (April 17) challenging the decision of the Council of Ministers to suspend him. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Supreme Court's Spokesperson Bimal Poudel confirmed that Adhikari’s writ petition was registered at the apex court. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In his petition, Adhikari has demanded the court to scrap the government's decision to form a probe committee without prior information. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Hearing on the petition would be conducted on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government had recently formed a panel under the leadership of former SC Justice Purushottam Bhandari to probe alleged irregularities of Adhikari, leading to his suspension from the post of the central bank’s governor. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14862', 'image' => '20220418080057_Maha-Prasad-Adhikari.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 08:00:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15119', 'article_category_id' => '224', 'title' => 'Government Lacks Modality to Build Budhi Gandaki Hydro Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The government has decided to construct the Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project with domestic investment after cancelling the contract with China Gejuwa Group Corporation (CGGC).', '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 17: The government has decided to construct the Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project with domestic investment after cancelling the contract with China Gejuwa Group Corporation (CGGC). However, the government does not have the plan and modality to build the 1,200 MW project with domestic investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Last year, the cabinet meeting had decided to take the Budhi Gandaki project from CGGC and build it with domestic investment. In this case, the government should have a separate plan and modality for how to build the project. However, no plan or modality has been formulated in this regard so far. It seems that the government has decided to take over the project from CGGC only for the sake of popularity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stakeholders say that this project has been politicized. Some years ago, when the Chairman of the Maoist Center, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, was the prime minister, it was decided to allow CGGC to build the project in the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Financing (EPCF) model.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Later, when Sher Bahadur Deuba became the prime minister in five years ago, the project was snatched from CGGC. After UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli became the prime minister, it was decided to allow CGGC to construct the project again. Now that Deuba is leading the government again, the project contract with CGGC has been terminated again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation said that it has been decided to build it with domestic investment but no modality has been decided on how to build it.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 said that the decision was made because of legal complications in allowing the CGGC to build the project. The government has also accused the CGGC of delaying construction. Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Energy Chiranjeevi Chataut said that the modality of constructing the Budhi Gandaki project has not been prepared yet. "Currently, it has been decided to take the project away from CGGC and build it with domestic investment. The plan and modalities of how to build it have not been decided yet. We are studying it,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Budhi Gandaki is a big project. It was earlier estimated that it would cost around Rs 300 billion. It is currently being re-evaluated. This project is considered equally risky. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“As it is a big project, the risk of investment is also high,” said Chataut.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 issue of how to raise investment is also challenging. There had been various attempts to raise investment in the past as well. However, they did not succeed. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 private sector also said that the project should be constructed soon. Nepal has been buying electricity at high prices from India in winter due to a lack of adequate reservoir projects.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 reservoir project is needed to end that situation. On top of that, Budhi Gandaki is technically ready to go into construction. Therefore, the private sector is of the view that the construction of this project should not be delayed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Other reservoir projects identified in Nepal are in the phase of survey and study. The survey of some projects has not been done 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"">The work of the DPR of Budhigandaki, approval of the environmental impact assessment report, and distribution of compensation have been almost completed. Now all that is left is to go into construction.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 private sector is also ready to invest in it. Chairman of the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN) Krishna Prasad Acharya said that the private sector is ready to invest in Budhi Gandaki in partnership with the government. However, he said that the government should guarantee a return on investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 private sector is ready to invest in the project in collaboration with the government. But, the government should guarantee the return. Expenditure should not be increased as in other government projects,” he said, adding, “If the government does not include investment for the transmission line, compensation distribution, and road construction in the project cost, we are ready to invest.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 issue of the construction of the Budhi Gandaki project is being looked at with utmost importance. Its construction is estimated to cost more than Rs 300 billion. The government had started levying a tax of Rs 5 per liter on petrol, diesel, kerosene, and aviation fuel from the fiscal year 2072/73 for the construction of Budhi Gandaki project with domestic investment. It had been collecting Rs 10 per liter since February 2010.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14861', 'image' => '20220417055058_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 17:50:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15118', 'article_category_id' => '228', 'title' => 'Gautam Buddha Int'l Airport to Operate New Runway from April 21 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The new 3,000-metre runway of Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport will come into operation later this week starting from 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 17: The new 3,000-metre runway of Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport will come into operation later this week starting from April 21. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Until now, the airport has been operating the 1,500-metre runaway. Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale recently instructed the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to operate the new runway at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minister also instructed the authorities make arrangements to run the airport round-the-clock, informed CAAN director-general Pradeep Kumar Adhikari. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Sources at CAAN informed that the new runway will be used for domestic flights in the first phase.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Adhikari, the airport will operate international flights from May 16, coinciding with the Buddha Jayanti festival. (With inputs from RSS)</span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14860', 'image' => '20220417053452_gautam-buddha-international-airport-blueprint-1536x629.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 17:33:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15117', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'Board Meeting of NRB becomes Uncertain due to Lack of Quorum', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The board meeting of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has become uncertain as the posts of half of the board members have become vacant due to various reasons. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 17: The board meeting of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has become uncertain as the posts of half of the board members have become vacant due to various reasons. NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has been suspended while the terms of other two board members Dr Shree Ram Poudyal and Ramji Regmi have expired. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Governor Adhikari has been suspended since the government formed a probe committee on April 7 to investigate alleged irregularities of the governor. Meanwhile, the terms of Dr Poudyal and Regmi expired on Friday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the Nepal Rastra Bank Act 2058, a board meeting of the central bank requires the presence of board chair and at least three board members. Due to the suspension of the governor and end of terms of two board members, the central bank currently has four board members. The central bank board meeting couldn’t be held after another board member and expert Dr Subodh Kumar Karna is unavailable to attend the meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Karna Sir hasn’t attended the board meeting ever since he was accused of financial irregularity,” said a high-ranking NRB official. “The board meeting cannot be held officially until he attends the meeting or other board members are appointed,” added the source requesting anonymity.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The source informed that the government is yet to take any action against Karna. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The board meeting currently lacks quorum. Only Deputy Governor Dr Neelam Dhungana Timsina, Finance Secretary Madjhu Kumar Marasini and Deputy Governor Bam Bahadur Mishra are currently available to attend the meeting. There is a provision to have seven members in the board meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per section 14 of Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2002, the Board of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) will comprise of seven members: four ex officio members – the Governor (who is the Chairman), the Secretary, Ministry of Finance and two Deputy Governors and three other Directors, each of whom are appointed from amongst the persons renowned in the field of Economics, Monetary, Banking, Finance and Commercial Laws.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It is mandatory for the presence of three board members including an expert to attend the board meeting of NRB chaired by the governor. Although the board meeting is held as per the need, there is a legal provision for holding such meeting at least once a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As the board meeting takes policy-level decision, it is essential to have the board meeting for the review of the monetary policy as well as to formulate policies for the upcoming monetary policy.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14859', 'image' => '20220417045301_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 16:52:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15116', 'article_category_id' => '274', 'title' => 'Government Agrees to Accept Financial Assistance of Rs 98 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The government has decided to accept financial assistance of about Rs 98 billion (including loans and grants) from two separate donors.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 17: The government has decided to accept financial assistance of about Rs 98 billion (including loans and grants) from two separate donors. The government has decided to accept USD 659 million (about Rs 80 billion) from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and a concessional loan of USD 150 million (about Rs 18 billion) from the World Bank Group's International Development Association.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Ministry of Finance informed that the government has already started its homework to receive the US grant. The grant will be received by Nepal within 5 years to be spent in various sectors. According to a Finance Ministry official, the government and USAID are preparing to sign the agreement after the cabinet decided to accept the grant.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the International Financial Assistance Coordination Division of the Ministry of Finance, the grant will be spent mainly on education, health, sustainable energy, agriculture and capacity building of the private sector. The projects are yet to be finalized even though the area for spending the grant that Nepal is about to receive has already been decided.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ishwori Aryal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance, said that the grant agreement will be signed between the two sides after the government and the USAID decide on the projects. According to Aryal, work is underway to select relevant projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The grant amount will be received within five years at the rate of 132 million dollars (about Rs 16 billion) per year. If the agreement is signed this year, the grant will start coming from the next fiscal year and the full grant will come by 2027.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">USAID spent 683 million dollars in Nepal from 2016 to 2021. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although some analysts say that the current economic crisis will be alleviated if the government accepts such large loans and grants, finance ministry officials contradict the viewpoint.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Ministry of Finance, this loan is agreed upon to support the programs in the budget. Its interest rate will be less than 1 percent per annum.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The loan, which is planned to be spent on sectors including institutional capacity improvement and implementation of federalism, will be credited to the country’s finance as soon as the agreement is signed. The government will make expenditures from the credited amount accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the officials of the ministry of finance, as only the decision to accept grants and loans is made, this amount will not come to the market immediately. They added that although its effects will be long lasting, it will not help to resolve the immediate crisis.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14858', 'image' => '20220417031556_finance_ministry_copy1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 15:15:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15115', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Construction of Nagdhunga Tunnel Uncertain due to Obstruction by Locals', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The construction of the Nagdhunga Tunnel has been halted for five days due to the obstruction created by the locals. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 17: The construction of the Nagdhunga Tunnel has been halted for five days due to the obstruction created by the locals. The construction of the project has become uncertain after locals affected by the project staged protests demanding compensation for land, construction of blacktopped road, and a football stadium. Locals residing towards Kathmandu from the project site also vandalized the project office.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Locals of Totipakha in Kathmandu to the east side of the tunnel started protest on April 11 stating that their demands have not been met. Japanese construction company Hajma Ando Corporation stopped work after locals of Chandragiri Municipality-2 attacked the project office following a protest. Project Chief Nareshman Shakya said that the company has demanded action against the culprits and will stop work until security is guaranteed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He said that the construction work has been stopped now, and the construction itself is uncertain. On Sunday (today), the District Administration Office invited the project officials and the locals for discussion. Shakya said that the construction can be started only if there is an agreement, or it will remain uncertain. "We will not work until we get security assurance," Shakya said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More than 500 Nepalese and Japanese workers were working in the tunnel. He said that the Japanese company has been claiming Rs 15 million daily in fines since April 11 for the onstruction in construction work. Nepal has to pay the amount daily due to obstruction in the project being constructed with the help of Japanese loan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"The state has a to incur a daily loss of Rs 15 million for 10 tankers of water," he said, adding that the amount claimed by the company has reached Rs 75 million as of Saturday. The construction company claimed that the amount should be paid by Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although the construction works were delayed due to Covid-19, the company has been digging 10 meters of tunnel of late. The project deadline has been extended for three months due to a halt in work because of Covid-19.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The locals claim that the water level in the area has dropped due to the project and have also demanded proper management of water.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Shakya claimed that the decline in water level was due to drought. Nevertheless, the project was planning to provide 5 tankers of water to the locals daily. “However, they suddenly came and vandalized the office,” said Shakya, adding, “Besides, they have made demands unrelated to the project. The project cannot meet those demands. The demand within the project will be addressed,” said Shakya.' </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The project had agreed to distribute water, but now the locals are demanding that water pipes be installed in every house, said Shakya.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">To address the demand of the locals for connecting the pipeline through the municipality, a budget has been requested from the Ministry of Finance. "Rs 800,000 has been disbursed for this purpose alone on Friday," said Shakya.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">At present, the tunnel work is 48 percent complete. As the finishing work has been taken along with it, about 36 percent of the work of the project has been completed. According to Shakya, the problem of land compensation in Balambu has been resolved by 70 percent and now the locals are demolishing private houses.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Shakya claims that the project has been fulfilling the reasonable demands of the locals based on their information. However, he clarified that the demands that do not fall within the scope of the project cannot be addressed just because they resort to vandalism.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The project is being undertaken with the concessional loan provided by the Government of Japan. The total investment for the project is estimated to be around Rs 22 billion. JICA will invest Rs 16 billion while the Government of Nepal will contribute Rs 6 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The tunnel will be of 2.7 kilometers long and will have two flyovers. The project will also cover 3 kilometers of road.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Thankot-Naubise road section is currently 9 kilometers long. The distance will be shortened to 5.7 kilometers once the tunnel is constructed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The foundation stone of the project was laid on October 21, 2019. As per the agreement signed with the Department of Roads, the contractor must complete the project within 42 months.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14857', 'image' => '20220417021920_20201105124818_20200308111704_adahjj.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 14:18:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15114', 'article_category_id' => '239', 'title' => 'Foreign Tourists Urged to Pay for On-Arrival Visa in Cash due to Technical Glitches', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The Immigration Office at the Tribhuvan International Airport has urged foreign tourists visiting Nepal to pay their on-arrival visa fee in cash after facing problems in electronic transaction. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 17: The Immigration Office at the Tribhuvan International Airport has urged foreign tourists visiting Nepal to pay their on-arrival visa fee in cash after facing problems in electronic transaction. The airport authorities said e-payment was cumbersome and sometimes there were technical glitches in the system. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA)’s Manager Prem Nath Thakur informed that tourists visiting Nepal had to stay in queue for three to four hours to pay their on-arrival visa fee due to malfunctioning of the software time and again. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Due to such hassles, the airport urged the Department of Immigration to make arrangements for the visiting foreigners to pay the fees in cash. Now, a notice in this regard has already been published, said Manager Thakur. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">At present, a large number of foreign tourists are visiting Nepal and there is only one ATM machine at the TIA, RSS further reported. Besides, technical problems were detected in course of e-payment through different medium. To avoid difficulties faced by the visiting foreign tourists, they have been asked to pay their on-arrival visa fee in cash. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Each visiting foreign tourist has to pay US$ 200 as fee for the on-arrival visa. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14856', 'image' => '20220417112619_Tourist.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 11:24:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15128', 'article_category_id' => '277', 'title' => 'Prices of Fruits and Vegetables Skyrocketing ahead of Elections ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The prices of fruits and green vegetables have skyrocketed due to the increase in freight charge, weak market monitoring and inflation in India, the source of these consumable goods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 19: The prices of fruits and green vegetables have skyrocketed due to the increase in freight charge, weak market monitoring and inflation in India, the source of these consumable goods. Transportation fares have reportedly skyrocketed due to the price hike of fuel. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Board (KFVMDB), the prices of fruits including bananas, apples, papaya, watermelons, grapes and oranges have skyrocketed in the last one month. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bananas, which were available at Rs 100 a dozen a month ago, are now priced at Rs 200. Likewise, the price of Fuji apple, which was available at Rs 250 per kg, has reached Rs 275 per kg in the wholesale market. The retail price of this apple ranges from Rs 350 to Rs 380. Similarly, the wholesale price of black grapes, which was Rs 190 per kg is now Rs 220. Traders in the retail market arbitrarily charge anything between Rs 250 to Rs 280 for black grapes. The price of green grapes, which was Rs 100 per kg a month ago, has now reached Rs 145. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The price of lemon has increased the most. The wholesale price of lemon, which was Rs 250 per kg a month ago, has now reached Rs 325. Consumers have complained that they have to pay up to Rs 500 in the retail market. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Entrepreneur Harish Sharma, who has been importing lemons from India, said that the demand for lemons in the Indian market has increased with the onset of summer but they have to pay more due to declining production. “The price of freight has gone up and on top of that the price of lemon has gone up in India itself,” Sharma said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data of the board, until a month ago, around 15 tons of lemons used to arrive at Kalimati daily. Now, only 5-6 tons of lemons arrive in Kalimati. The government statistics show that lemon is cultivated in 5,445 hectares of land in Nepal, and the domestic production is 46,118 tons per annum. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the prices of the green vegetables have also surged. The price of local cauliflower has gone up by Rs 70 per kg, from Rs 15 to Rs 85 in a month. The price of carrots, which was Rs 15 per kg, has gone up to Rs 30. Likewise, the price of beans, which was Rs 70 per kg, has reached Rs 85. The price of peas has increased from Rs 50 to Rs 70. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Consumer rights activists have a different story to share regarding inflation. They say that employees of the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection, the body responsible for monitoring the market, have been deployed in outlying districts in preparation for the upcoming election. Due to the lack of proper monitoring, the traders have increased the prices arbitrarily. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14870', 'image' => '20220419011256_fruit.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 13:12:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15127', 'article_category_id' => '239', 'title' => 'Tourism Entrepreneurs urge Government to Facilitate Tourists', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The tourism entrepreneurs have drawn the government's attention to facilitate the arrival of foreign tourists.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 19: The tourism entrepreneurs have drawn the government's attention to facilitate the arrival of foreign tourists. They expressed concern that the notice issued by the Immigration Department has shown inconvenience and hassle in the service delivery to the tourists. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a joint press statement on Monday, the tourism associations argued that the notice issued by the department would earn negative reputation of the country in the international arena. The Immigration Department had issued the notice on Sunday stating that foreign tourists had to bring dollars physically for on-arrival visa, saying that ATM Lounge at Tribhuvan International Airport was not functional. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Instead of introducing reforms and correcting weaknesses in the tourism sector for its recovery, the recent notice to the foreign tourists would cause a backlash and build negative image of the country, the tourism stakeholders argued. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">They urged the government to immediately make arrangements to facilitate the foreign tourists.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The tourism associations that issued the joint statement include Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents, Hotel Association Nepal, Trekking Agency Association of Nepal, Nepal Mountaineering Association, and Nepal Association of Rafting Agencies. -RSS</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14869', 'image' => '20220419120312_Tourism pokhara.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 12:02:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15126', 'article_category_id' => '274', 'title' => 'Finance Ministry Issues Directive to Reduce Budget for Fuel by 20 Percent ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has issued a directive to different ministries, government bodies and public agencies to reduce fuel consumption by 20 percent. ', '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 Ministry of Finance (MoF) has issued a directive to different ministries, government bodies and public agencies to reduce fuel consumption by 20 percent. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a notice on Monday, the Ministry of Finance directed the concerned government agencies to reduce the budget allocated under the heading of fuel for the current fiscal year by 20 percent. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MoF clarified that the measure taken to reduce fuel consumption would however not be applicable for development projects, to maintain law and order, and for most essential services as well as the upcoming local level election. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that the growing trade deficit, decline in inflow of remittance and foreign currency reserves have mounted pressure on national economy, the ministry said that the government on April 13 decided to cut budget allocated under the heading of fuel consumption. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the ministry, the government decided to reduce the budget allocated under the heading of administration and fuel consumption by 10 percent each to promote the consumption of clean energy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The measure to cut-off fuel would remain effective up to July 15, informed Finance Ministry Spokesperson Dhundi Prasad Niraula. The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration would monitor whether the decision has been implemented or not. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14868', 'image' => '20220419080850_Finmin.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 08:08:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15125', 'article_category_id' => '219', 'title' => 'Children attracted to piggy bank saving', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: Rajan Jaiswal bought two piggy banks from Chandranigahapur market last Friday.', 'content' => '<p>Dipesh Poudel</p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 18: Rajan Jaiswal bought two piggy banks from Chandranigahapur market last Friday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that he bought two piggy banks made of clay, one for himself and the other for his sister. Rajan, who is studying in class 8 at Janajyoti Secondary School, has been saving Rs 10 to Rs 100 daily in the piggy bank. With the money saved, he plans to buy sports equipment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I just bought a piggy bank from the market. My sister also saves money in her piggy bank and uses the saved money to buy stationary,” he said. His sister Nandani has been saving the change money given by her parents.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The children save some of the money given by their parents for lunch in their piggy banks. There is a great attraction of young students studying in private and government schools towards the piggy bank savings.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prince Mishra, who is studying in the same school, said that he also saves the money given by his parents for lunch. He said that he uses the money saved to buy stationery and sports equipment. Only a few months ago, he bought a bicycle using savings from his piggy bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Parents are also happy with their children’s habit of saving money. Basanti Jaiswal, a parent from Chandranigahapur said that her son deposits money left after having lunch in piggy bank after returning from school. She said, “My son has developed a habit of saving money in a piggy bank. He uses the saved money to buy stationery and sports equipment. It has been financially easier for us since we have to pay the monthly fees only.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Aradhya Poudel, who is studying in class 2, says that she also started saving money in a piggy bank after seeing all her friends save money. At present, more than a dozen students of private and government schools in Chandranigahapur save money in piggy bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Madhu Poudel, a teacher at the local Janajyoti Secondary School said that the students have developed the habit of saving. He said that parents and teachers should motivate their children to save regularly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Cooperatives as well as banks have also come up with various schemes to attract children towards piggy bank savings. Bibhu Pokharel, chairman of Sankalpa Savings and Cooperative said that children who save in the piggy bank savings are given gifts on their birthdays. He said that the children's access to the bank will gradually progress from the piggy bank saving scheme and their habit of saving will further develop.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14867', 'image' => '20220418070053_1650260270.खुत्रुके_बचतमा_बालबालिकाको_आकर्षण.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 19:00:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15124', 'article_category_id' => '278', 'title' => 'FCAN Announces Protest Programme', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: After their demands were not met, the Federation of Contractors’ Association Nepal (FCAN) announced protest programme to get their voices heard. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 18: After their demands were not met, the Federation of Contractors’ Association Nepal (FCAN) announced protest programme to get their voices heard. On Sunday, the federation revealed that it will be holding sit-ins at government offices starting from April 21. The protests will be held at the Public Procurement Monitoring Office and the Insurance Board.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A team led by the president of the federation, Ravi Singh handed over a memorandum to the Public Procurement Monitoring Office and the Insurance Board on Sunday in this regard.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The federation handed over the memorandum to Madhusudan Burlakoti, secretary of the Public Procurement Monitoring Office, urging them to address their demands. Stating that no attention was paid to the demands of FCAN so far, President Singh said that they would hold a sit-in if a resolution is not reached within April 21.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The FCAN has been demanding that the government address the issue of price hike of construction materials, the deadline of contracts should be extended, and some provisions in the Public Procurement (Eleventh Amendment) Rules-2078 BS, Insurance Directive-2078 BS should be amended / annulled. The federation said that despite making those requests repeatedly, the issues were not addressed at all.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Roshan Dahal, general secretary of the federation said that even though the federation gave enough time to resolve the problems of the construction industry, it was not addressed. Similarly, in a memorandum submitted to the Insurance Board by the federation, it has demanded scrapping of the Insurance Directive-2078 issued by the board. The federation has been saying that the alternative of scrapping the directive could be addressed through amendment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the federation, the decision to increase the premium rate by the insurance companies four to five times is unreasonable. Similarly, the federation said that the provision of not settling 70 to 80 percent of the claims by the insurance companies in the past to the insurers is also not acceptable.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14866', 'image' => '20220418055544_fcan-building.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 17:55:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15123', 'article_category_id' => '236', 'title' => 'Automobile Business in Crisis after Banks Stop Opening LCs for Importing Vehicles', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: Commercial banks have not opened LCs for import of vehicles since April 7 under the directive of the central bank. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 18: Commercial banks have not opened LCs for import of vehicles since April 7 under the directive of the central bank. Automobile dealers are making efforts to reverse the decision stating that their entire business has been affected due to the decision. However, the central bank's unannounced ban on LCs is not expected to be lifted immediately.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials of the NADA Automobiles Association of Nepal, an umbrella body of automobile dealers, met with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba last week urging him to direct Nepal Rastra Bank to allow banks to open an LC for importing vehicles. On Sunday, the representatives of NADA also met Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. Despite meeting high-ranking government officials, the automobile dealers complained that they have not received anything but assurance so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the association, investors have poured more than Rs 350 billion in the automobile business. This sector contributes more than Rs 150 billion in revenue every year. Entrepreneurs have complained that the area which has provided direct employment to more than 98,000 people has become chaotic due to the suspension of LC.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President of the association Dhruba Thapa said it was not appropriate to restrict opening LCs on the grounds that foreign exchange reserves were low. "No other country does that, but it has been done in Nepal," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the meeting, Finance Minister Sharma made it clear to NADA officials that the government was not in favour of stopping imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NADA officials had requested the finance minister to lift the ban on LC for importing vehicles. NADA Vice President Rajan Babu Shrestha had briefed Finance Minister Sharma about the possible impacts of stopping the import of vehicles into the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Entrepreneurs say that the automobile sector, which has invested heavily, is in crisis after commercial banks stopped opening LCs for importing automobiles that are listed as luxury items. The banks did so upon the verbal instructions of NRB. According to NADA Chairman Thapa, even the vehicles ordered earlier are stuck at this time.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When the association raised the issue on April 9, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba assured to take appropriate measures after looking into the matter.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, entrepreneurs are disappointed that the LC has not been opened even a week after the Prime Minister's assurance. Entrepreneurs say that the auto business will collapse if the government does not eases import of vehicles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prime Minister Deuba had also suggested the businessmen take up the issue with the finance minister. Accordingly, the businessmen met the finance minister. They said that they only got assurance from the finance minister during the meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Sharma asked the traders to be patient. The association is also preparing to meet Officiating Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Neelam Dhungana Timsina to raise the issue. Entrepreneurs argue that the recent policy of the NRB has put the business in crisis and have requested facilitation in opening LC.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14865', 'image' => '20220418022912_nada.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 14:28:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15122', 'article_category_id' => '273', 'title' => 'Innovation and Financial Literacy are the Base of Women Entrepreneurship ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: The participants of an interaction program under the 'Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Summit and Awards 2022' held in Birgunj on Sunday stated that promotion of women entrepreneurship is necessary to uplift the economy.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 18: The participants of an interaction program under the 'Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Summit and Awards 2022' held in Birgunj on Sunday stated that promotion of women entrepreneurship is necessary to uplift the economy. The award function is to be held in Kathmandu on Friday, April 22. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking on the occasion, Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj Customs Harihar Poudel said that financial literacy and innovation should be emphasised for the promotion of women entrepreneurship. Stating that the finished product of one enterprise can be the raw material of another, Poudel said that innovation would widen the scope of entrepreneurship. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Poudel stressed on the need for effective policy and its implementation to involve more women in the enterprise and to uplift those who are already active in the enterprise. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Skill development training is not enough for women. We have to see whether the learned skills are used or not," he said. Madan Lamsal, president and editor-in-chief of New Business Age Pvt Ltd, said the country would not prosper unless women are empowered. </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:"Times New Roman","serif"">He stated that the award and recognition programme is being organised to encourage women towards entrepreneurship. “The private sector should lead the economic development,” said Lamsal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Reema Shah, chief of the Cottage and Small Industries Office, Parsa, said that women in rural areas have not been able to move towards entrepreneurship. She urged the inclusion of women from rural areas in the women entrepreneurship promotion programme. She also said that there is low participation of women from rural areas in skill-based training. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rajan Dev Bhattarai, director of Nepal Rastra Bank Regional Office, Birgunj, claimed that women entrepreneurs still lack financial literacy. Director Bhattarai said that despite the government budget being spent in the name of making women self-employed and to involve them in entrepreneurship, the expected outcome has not been observed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that women entrepreneurs have complained of not being able to get concessional loans easily, Bhattarai said that the loan without any collateral should be disbursed to them through projects. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dr Subodh Kumar Gupta claimed that only 10 percent women were entrepreneurs and argued that men were also to blame for the failure of women. He said that men should help in promoting women entrepreneurship. He claimed that women are more honest than men in any profession and business. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Participants of the interactive training held in the run-up to the award program, sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank and co-sponsored Muktinath Development Bank, complained that the results of entrepreneurship is not seen due to the problems such as lack of marketing, access to technology and credit. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14864', 'image' => '20220418125406_1650236386.4.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 12:51:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15121', 'article_category_id' => '228', 'title' => 'Int'l Airports to Provide Round-the-Clock Service ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) will be operating round the clock from May 29 following a decline in Covid-19 infection. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 18: Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) will be operating round the clock from May 29 following a decline in Covid-19 infection. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has made preparation to bring international airports into operation round the clock to manage the increasing flow of passengers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport and under construction Pokhara Regional International Airport will also operate round the clock, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, CAAN Director General, Pradeep Adhikari, confirmed that the TIA would provide 24-hour service from May 29 coinciding with the Republic Day of Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"CAAN has released a new plan following repeated directives from Tourism Minister Prem Bahadur Ale," said Director General Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Flow of passengers at international airport and domestic airports has increased after COVID pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> "There is a need to improve infrastructures in all international and domestic airports as well as standardization of service. It is also necessary to give a message that the Nepalese sky is safe. So we have been involved in effective management of airports," RSS quoted Adhikari as saying. </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier in 2075 BS, the then Tourism Minister late Rabindra Adhikari had brought the TIA into operation for 21 hours from 18 hours. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Gautam Buddha International Airport is considered as an alternative airport to TIA. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari mentioned that though the runway of Gautam Buddha International Airport would come into operation from April 21, the airport would start international flight from May 16 on the day of Buddha Jayanti festival. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> In the meantime, CAAN has also decided to operate domestic airports till midnight. The CAAN has decided to bring Bhadrapur, Janakpur, Simara, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi airports into operation till midnight. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14863', 'image' => '20220418082422_2009-03_Kathmandu_10.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 08:23:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15120', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'Suspended Governor Files Petition against Government Decision', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: The suspended Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court on Sunday (April 17) challenging the decision of the Council of Ministers to suspend him.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 18: The suspended Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court on Sunday (April 17) challenging the decision of the Council of Ministers to suspend him. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Supreme Court's Spokesperson Bimal Poudel confirmed that Adhikari’s writ petition was registered at the apex court. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In his petition, Adhikari has demanded the court to scrap the government's decision to form a probe committee without prior information. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Hearing on the petition would be conducted on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government had recently formed a panel under the leadership of former SC Justice Purushottam Bhandari to probe alleged irregularities of Adhikari, leading to his suspension from the post of the central bank’s governor. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14862', 'image' => '20220418080057_Maha-Prasad-Adhikari.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 08:00:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15119', 'article_category_id' => '224', 'title' => 'Government Lacks Modality to Build Budhi Gandaki Hydro Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The government has decided to construct the Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project with domestic investment after cancelling the contract with China Gejuwa Group Corporation (CGGC).', '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 17: The government has decided to construct the Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project with domestic investment after cancelling the contract with China Gejuwa Group Corporation (CGGC). However, the government does not have the plan and modality to build the 1,200 MW project with domestic investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Last year, the cabinet meeting had decided to take the Budhi Gandaki project from CGGC and build it with domestic investment. In this case, the government should have a separate plan and modality for how to build the project. However, no plan or modality has been formulated in this regard so far. It seems that the government has decided to take over the project from CGGC only for the sake of popularity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stakeholders say that this project has been politicized. Some years ago, when the Chairman of the Maoist Center, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, was the prime minister, it was decided to allow CGGC to build the project in the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Financing (EPCF) model.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Later, when Sher Bahadur Deuba became the prime minister in five years ago, the project was snatched from CGGC. After UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli became the prime minister, it was decided to allow CGGC to construct the project again. Now that Deuba is leading the government again, the project contract with CGGC has been terminated again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation said that it has been decided to build it with domestic investment but no modality has been decided on how to build it.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 said that the decision was made because of legal complications in allowing the CGGC to build the project. The government has also accused the CGGC of delaying construction. Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Energy Chiranjeevi Chataut said that the modality of constructing the Budhi Gandaki project has not been prepared yet. "Currently, it has been decided to take the project away from CGGC and build it with domestic investment. The plan and modalities of how to build it have not been decided yet. We are studying it,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Budhi Gandaki is a big project. It was earlier estimated that it would cost around Rs 300 billion. It is currently being re-evaluated. This project is considered equally risky. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“As it is a big project, the risk of investment is also high,” said Chataut.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 issue of how to raise investment is also challenging. There had been various attempts to raise investment in the past as well. However, they did not succeed. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 private sector also said that the project should be constructed soon. Nepal has been buying electricity at high prices from India in winter due to a lack of adequate reservoir projects.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 reservoir project is needed to end that situation. On top of that, Budhi Gandaki is technically ready to go into construction. Therefore, the private sector is of the view that the construction of this project should not be delayed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Other reservoir projects identified in Nepal are in the phase of survey and study. The survey of some projects has not been done 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"">The work of the DPR of Budhigandaki, approval of the environmental impact assessment report, and distribution of compensation have been almost completed. Now all that is left is to go into construction.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 private sector is also ready to invest in it. Chairman of the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN) Krishna Prasad Acharya said that the private sector is ready to invest in Budhi Gandaki in partnership with the government. However, he said that the government should guarantee a return on investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 private sector is ready to invest in the project in collaboration with the government. But, the government should guarantee the return. Expenditure should not be increased as in other government projects,” he said, adding, “If the government does not include investment for the transmission line, compensation distribution, and road construction in the project cost, we are ready to invest.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 issue of the construction of the Budhi Gandaki project is being looked at with utmost importance. Its construction is estimated to cost more than Rs 300 billion. The government had started levying a tax of Rs 5 per liter on petrol, diesel, kerosene, and aviation fuel from the fiscal year 2072/73 for the construction of Budhi Gandaki project with domestic investment. It had been collecting Rs 10 per liter since February 2010.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14861', 'image' => '20220417055058_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 17:50:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15118', 'article_category_id' => '228', 'title' => 'Gautam Buddha Int'l Airport to Operate New Runway from April 21 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The new 3,000-metre runway of Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport will come into operation later this week starting from 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 17: The new 3,000-metre runway of Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport will come into operation later this week starting from April 21. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Until now, the airport has been operating the 1,500-metre runaway. Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale recently instructed the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to operate the new runway at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minister also instructed the authorities make arrangements to run the airport round-the-clock, informed CAAN director-general Pradeep Kumar Adhikari. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Sources at CAAN informed that the new runway will be used for domestic flights in the first phase.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Adhikari, the airport will operate international flights from May 16, coinciding with the Buddha Jayanti festival. (With inputs from RSS)</span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14860', 'image' => '20220417053452_gautam-buddha-international-airport-blueprint-1536x629.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 17:33:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15117', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'Board Meeting of NRB becomes Uncertain due to Lack of Quorum', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The board meeting of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has become uncertain as the posts of half of the board members have become vacant due to various reasons. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 17: The board meeting of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has become uncertain as the posts of half of the board members have become vacant due to various reasons. NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has been suspended while the terms of other two board members Dr Shree Ram Poudyal and Ramji Regmi have expired. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Governor Adhikari has been suspended since the government formed a probe committee on April 7 to investigate alleged irregularities of the governor. Meanwhile, the terms of Dr Poudyal and Regmi expired on Friday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the Nepal Rastra Bank Act 2058, a board meeting of the central bank requires the presence of board chair and at least three board members. Due to the suspension of the governor and end of terms of two board members, the central bank currently has four board members. The central bank board meeting couldn’t be held after another board member and expert Dr Subodh Kumar Karna is unavailable to attend the meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Karna Sir hasn’t attended the board meeting ever since he was accused of financial irregularity,” said a high-ranking NRB official. “The board meeting cannot be held officially until he attends the meeting or other board members are appointed,” added the source requesting anonymity.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The source informed that the government is yet to take any action against Karna. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The board meeting currently lacks quorum. Only Deputy Governor Dr Neelam Dhungana Timsina, Finance Secretary Madjhu Kumar Marasini and Deputy Governor Bam Bahadur Mishra are currently available to attend the meeting. There is a provision to have seven members in the board meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per section 14 of Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2002, the Board of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) will comprise of seven members: four ex officio members – the Governor (who is the Chairman), the Secretary, Ministry of Finance and two Deputy Governors and three other Directors, each of whom are appointed from amongst the persons renowned in the field of Economics, Monetary, Banking, Finance and Commercial Laws.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It is mandatory for the presence of three board members including an expert to attend the board meeting of NRB chaired by the governor. Although the board meeting is held as per the need, there is a legal provision for holding such meeting at least once a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As the board meeting takes policy-level decision, it is essential to have the board meeting for the review of the monetary policy as well as to formulate policies for the upcoming monetary policy.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14859', 'image' => '20220417045301_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 16:52:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15116', 'article_category_id' => '274', 'title' => 'Government Agrees to Accept Financial Assistance of Rs 98 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The government has decided to accept financial assistance of about Rs 98 billion (including loans and grants) from two separate donors.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 17: The government has decided to accept financial assistance of about Rs 98 billion (including loans and grants) from two separate donors. The government has decided to accept USD 659 million (about Rs 80 billion) from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and a concessional loan of USD 150 million (about Rs 18 billion) from the World Bank Group's International Development Association.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Ministry of Finance informed that the government has already started its homework to receive the US grant. The grant will be received by Nepal within 5 years to be spent in various sectors. According to a Finance Ministry official, the government and USAID are preparing to sign the agreement after the cabinet decided to accept the grant.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the International Financial Assistance Coordination Division of the Ministry of Finance, the grant will be spent mainly on education, health, sustainable energy, agriculture and capacity building of the private sector. The projects are yet to be finalized even though the area for spending the grant that Nepal is about to receive has already been decided.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ishwori Aryal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance, said that the grant agreement will be signed between the two sides after the government and the USAID decide on the projects. According to Aryal, work is underway to select relevant projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The grant amount will be received within five years at the rate of 132 million dollars (about Rs 16 billion) per year. If the agreement is signed this year, the grant will start coming from the next fiscal year and the full grant will come by 2027.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">USAID spent 683 million dollars in Nepal from 2016 to 2021. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although some analysts say that the current economic crisis will be alleviated if the government accepts such large loans and grants, finance ministry officials contradict the viewpoint.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Ministry of Finance, this loan is agreed upon to support the programs in the budget. Its interest rate will be less than 1 percent per annum.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The loan, which is planned to be spent on sectors including institutional capacity improvement and implementation of federalism, will be credited to the country’s finance as soon as the agreement is signed. The government will make expenditures from the credited amount accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the officials of the ministry of finance, as only the decision to accept grants and loans is made, this amount will not come to the market immediately. They added that although its effects will be long lasting, it will not help to resolve the immediate crisis.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14858', 'image' => '20220417031556_finance_ministry_copy1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 15:15:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15115', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Construction of Nagdhunga Tunnel Uncertain due to Obstruction by Locals', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The construction of the Nagdhunga Tunnel has been halted for five days due to the obstruction created by the locals. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 17: The construction of the Nagdhunga Tunnel has been halted for five days due to the obstruction created by the locals. The construction of the project has become uncertain after locals affected by the project staged protests demanding compensation for land, construction of blacktopped road, and a football stadium. Locals residing towards Kathmandu from the project site also vandalized the project office.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Locals of Totipakha in Kathmandu to the east side of the tunnel started protest on April 11 stating that their demands have not been met. Japanese construction company Hajma Ando Corporation stopped work after locals of Chandragiri Municipality-2 attacked the project office following a protest. Project Chief Nareshman Shakya said that the company has demanded action against the culprits and will stop work until security is guaranteed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He said that the construction work has been stopped now, and the construction itself is uncertain. On Sunday (today), the District Administration Office invited the project officials and the locals for discussion. Shakya said that the construction can be started only if there is an agreement, or it will remain uncertain. "We will not work until we get security assurance," Shakya said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More than 500 Nepalese and Japanese workers were working in the tunnel. He said that the Japanese company has been claiming Rs 15 million daily in fines since April 11 for the onstruction in construction work. Nepal has to pay the amount daily due to obstruction in the project being constructed with the help of Japanese loan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"The state has a to incur a daily loss of Rs 15 million for 10 tankers of water," he said, adding that the amount claimed by the company has reached Rs 75 million as of Saturday. The construction company claimed that the amount should be paid by Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although the construction works were delayed due to Covid-19, the company has been digging 10 meters of tunnel of late. The project deadline has been extended for three months due to a halt in work because of Covid-19.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The locals claim that the water level in the area has dropped due to the project and have also demanded proper management of water.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Shakya claimed that the decline in water level was due to drought. Nevertheless, the project was planning to provide 5 tankers of water to the locals daily. “However, they suddenly came and vandalized the office,” said Shakya, adding, “Besides, they have made demands unrelated to the project. The project cannot meet those demands. The demand within the project will be addressed,” said Shakya.' </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The project had agreed to distribute water, but now the locals are demanding that water pipes be installed in every house, said Shakya.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">To address the demand of the locals for connecting the pipeline through the municipality, a budget has been requested from the Ministry of Finance. "Rs 800,000 has been disbursed for this purpose alone on Friday," said Shakya.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">At present, the tunnel work is 48 percent complete. As the finishing work has been taken along with it, about 36 percent of the work of the project has been completed. According to Shakya, the problem of land compensation in Balambu has been resolved by 70 percent and now the locals are demolishing private houses.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Shakya claims that the project has been fulfilling the reasonable demands of the locals based on their information. However, he clarified that the demands that do not fall within the scope of the project cannot be addressed just because they resort to vandalism.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The project is being undertaken with the concessional loan provided by the Government of Japan. The total investment for the project is estimated to be around Rs 22 billion. JICA will invest Rs 16 billion while the Government of Nepal will contribute Rs 6 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The tunnel will be of 2.7 kilometers long and will have two flyovers. The project will also cover 3 kilometers of road.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Thankot-Naubise road section is currently 9 kilometers long. The distance will be shortened to 5.7 kilometers once the tunnel is constructed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The foundation stone of the project was laid on October 21, 2019. As per the agreement signed with the Department of Roads, the contractor must complete the project within 42 months.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14857', 'image' => '20220417021920_20201105124818_20200308111704_adahjj.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 14:18:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15114', 'article_category_id' => '239', 'title' => 'Foreign Tourists Urged to Pay for On-Arrival Visa in Cash due to Technical Glitches', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The Immigration Office at the Tribhuvan International Airport has urged foreign tourists visiting Nepal to pay their on-arrival visa fee in cash after facing problems in electronic transaction. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 17: The Immigration Office at the Tribhuvan International Airport has urged foreign tourists visiting Nepal to pay their on-arrival visa fee in cash after facing problems in electronic transaction. The airport authorities said e-payment was cumbersome and sometimes there were technical glitches in the system. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA)’s Manager Prem Nath Thakur informed that tourists visiting Nepal had to stay in queue for three to four hours to pay their on-arrival visa fee due to malfunctioning of the software time and again. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Due to such hassles, the airport urged the Department of Immigration to make arrangements for the visiting foreigners to pay the fees in cash. Now, a notice in this regard has already been published, said Manager Thakur. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">At present, a large number of foreign tourists are visiting Nepal and there is only one ATM machine at the TIA, RSS further reported. Besides, technical problems were detected in course of e-payment through different medium. To avoid difficulties faced by the visiting foreign tourists, they have been asked to pay their on-arrival visa fee in cash. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Each visiting foreign tourist has to pay US$ 200 as fee for the on-arrival visa. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14856', 'image' => '20220417112619_Tourist.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 11:24:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
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' => '15128', 'article_category_id' => '277', 'title' => 'Prices of Fruits and Vegetables Skyrocketing ahead of Elections ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The prices of fruits and green vegetables have skyrocketed due to the increase in freight charge, weak market monitoring and inflation in India, the source of these consumable goods.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 19: The prices of fruits and green vegetables have skyrocketed due to the increase in freight charge, weak market monitoring and inflation in India, the source of these consumable goods. Transportation fares have reportedly skyrocketed due to the price hike of fuel. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Kalimati Fruits and Vegetables Market Development Board (KFVMDB), the prices of fruits including bananas, apples, papaya, watermelons, grapes and oranges have skyrocketed in the last one month. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Bananas, which were available at Rs 100 a dozen a month ago, are now priced at Rs 200. Likewise, the price of Fuji apple, which was available at Rs 250 per kg, has reached Rs 275 per kg in the wholesale market. The retail price of this apple ranges from Rs 350 to Rs 380. Similarly, the wholesale price of black grapes, which was Rs 190 per kg is now Rs 220. Traders in the retail market arbitrarily charge anything between Rs 250 to Rs 280 for black grapes. The price of green grapes, which was Rs 100 per kg a month ago, has now reached Rs 145. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The price of lemon has increased the most. The wholesale price of lemon, which was Rs 250 per kg a month ago, has now reached Rs 325. Consumers have complained that they have to pay up to Rs 500 in the retail market. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Entrepreneur Harish Sharma, who has been importing lemons from India, said that the demand for lemons in the Indian market has increased with the onset of summer but they have to pay more due to declining production. “The price of freight has gone up and on top of that the price of lemon has gone up in India itself,” Sharma said. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the data of the board, until a month ago, around 15 tons of lemons used to arrive at Kalimati daily. Now, only 5-6 tons of lemons arrive in Kalimati. The government statistics show that lemon is cultivated in 5,445 hectares of land in Nepal, and the domestic production is 46,118 tons per annum. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, the prices of the green vegetables have also surged. The price of local cauliflower has gone up by Rs 70 per kg, from Rs 15 to Rs 85 in a month. The price of carrots, which was Rs 15 per kg, has gone up to Rs 30. Likewise, the price of beans, which was Rs 70 per kg, has reached Rs 85. The price of peas has increased from Rs 50 to Rs 70. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Consumer rights activists have a different story to share regarding inflation. They say that employees of the Department of Commerce, Supplies and Consumer Protection, the body responsible for monitoring the market, have been deployed in outlying districts in preparation for the upcoming election. Due to the lack of proper monitoring, the traders have increased the prices arbitrarily. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14870', 'image' => '20220419011256_fruit.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 13:12:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15127', 'article_category_id' => '239', 'title' => 'Tourism Entrepreneurs urge Government to Facilitate Tourists', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The tourism entrepreneurs have drawn the government's attention to facilitate the arrival of foreign tourists.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 19: The tourism entrepreneurs have drawn the government's attention to facilitate the arrival of foreign tourists. They expressed concern that the notice issued by the Immigration Department has shown inconvenience and hassle in the service delivery to the tourists. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Issuing a joint press statement on Monday, the tourism associations argued that the notice issued by the department would earn negative reputation of the country in the international arena. The Immigration Department had issued the notice on Sunday stating that foreign tourists had to bring dollars physically for on-arrival visa, saying that ATM Lounge at Tribhuvan International Airport was not functional. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Instead of introducing reforms and correcting weaknesses in the tourism sector for its recovery, the recent notice to the foreign tourists would cause a backlash and build negative image of the country, the tourism stakeholders argued. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">They urged the government to immediately make arrangements to facilitate the foreign tourists.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The tourism associations that issued the joint statement include Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents, Hotel Association Nepal, Trekking Agency Association of Nepal, Nepal Mountaineering Association, and Nepal Association of Rafting Agencies. -RSS</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14869', 'image' => '20220419120312_Tourism pokhara.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 12:02:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15126', 'article_category_id' => '274', 'title' => 'Finance Ministry Issues Directive to Reduce Budget for Fuel by 20 Percent ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 19: The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has issued a directive to different ministries, government bodies and public agencies to reduce fuel consumption by 20 percent. ', '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 Ministry of Finance (MoF) has issued a directive to different ministries, government bodies and public agencies to reduce fuel consumption by 20 percent. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Issuing a notice on Monday, the Ministry of Finance directed the concerned government agencies to reduce the budget allocated under the heading of fuel for the current fiscal year by 20 percent. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The MoF clarified that the measure taken to reduce fuel consumption would however not be applicable for development projects, to maintain law and order, and for most essential services as well as the upcoming local level election. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Stating that the growing trade deficit, decline in inflow of remittance and foreign currency reserves have mounted pressure on national economy, the ministry said that the government on April 13 decided to cut budget allocated under the heading of fuel consumption. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the ministry, the government decided to reduce the budget allocated under the heading of administration and fuel consumption by 10 percent each to promote the consumption of clean energy. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The measure to cut-off fuel would remain effective up to July 15, informed Finance Ministry Spokesperson Dhundi Prasad Niraula. The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration would monitor whether the decision has been implemented or not. -- RSS</span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-19', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14868', 'image' => '20220419080850_Finmin.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-19 08:08:19', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15125', 'article_category_id' => '219', 'title' => 'Children attracted to piggy bank saving', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: Rajan Jaiswal bought two piggy banks from Chandranigahapur market last Friday.', 'content' => '<p>Dipesh Poudel</p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 18: Rajan Jaiswal bought two piggy banks from Chandranigahapur market last Friday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He said that he bought two piggy banks made of clay, one for himself and the other for his sister. Rajan, who is studying in class 8 at Janajyoti Secondary School, has been saving Rs 10 to Rs 100 daily in the piggy bank. With the money saved, he plans to buy sports equipment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“I just bought a piggy bank from the market. My sister also saves money in her piggy bank and uses the saved money to buy stationary,” he said. His sister Nandani has been saving the change money given by her parents.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The children save some of the money given by their parents for lunch in their piggy banks. There is a great attraction of young students studying in private and government schools towards the piggy bank savings.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prince Mishra, who is studying in the same school, said that he also saves the money given by his parents for lunch. He said that he uses the money saved to buy stationery and sports equipment. Only a few months ago, he bought a bicycle using savings from his piggy bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Parents are also happy with their children’s habit of saving money. Basanti Jaiswal, a parent from Chandranigahapur said that her son deposits money left after having lunch in piggy bank after returning from school. She said, “My son has developed a habit of saving money in a piggy bank. He uses the saved money to buy stationery and sports equipment. It has been financially easier for us since we have to pay the monthly fees only.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Aradhya Poudel, who is studying in class 2, says that she also started saving money in a piggy bank after seeing all her friends save money. At present, more than a dozen students of private and government schools in Chandranigahapur save money in piggy bank.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Madhu Poudel, a teacher at the local Janajyoti Secondary School said that the students have developed the habit of saving. He said that parents and teachers should motivate their children to save regularly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Cooperatives as well as banks have also come up with various schemes to attract children towards piggy bank savings. Bibhu Pokharel, chairman of Sankalpa Savings and Cooperative said that children who save in the piggy bank savings are given gifts on their birthdays. He said that the children's access to the bank will gradually progress from the piggy bank saving scheme and their habit of saving will further develop.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14867', 'image' => '20220418070053_1650260270.खुत्रुके_बचतमा_बालबालिकाको_आकर्षण.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 19:00:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15124', 'article_category_id' => '278', 'title' => 'FCAN Announces Protest Programme', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: After their demands were not met, the Federation of Contractors’ Association Nepal (FCAN) announced protest programme to get their voices heard. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 18: After their demands were not met, the Federation of Contractors’ Association Nepal (FCAN) announced protest programme to get their voices heard. On Sunday, the federation revealed that it will be holding sit-ins at government offices starting from April 21. The protests will be held at the Public Procurement Monitoring Office and the Insurance Board.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">A team led by the president of the federation, Ravi Singh handed over a memorandum to the Public Procurement Monitoring Office and the Insurance Board on Sunday in this regard.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The federation handed over the memorandum to Madhusudan Burlakoti, secretary of the Public Procurement Monitoring Office, urging them to address their demands. Stating that no attention was paid to the demands of FCAN so far, President Singh said that they would hold a sit-in if a resolution is not reached within April 21.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The FCAN has been demanding that the government address the issue of price hike of construction materials, the deadline of contracts should be extended, and some provisions in the Public Procurement (Eleventh Amendment) Rules-2078 BS, Insurance Directive-2078 BS should be amended / annulled. The federation said that despite making those requests repeatedly, the issues were not addressed at all.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Roshan Dahal, general secretary of the federation said that even though the federation gave enough time to resolve the problems of the construction industry, it was not addressed. Similarly, in a memorandum submitted to the Insurance Board by the federation, it has demanded scrapping of the Insurance Directive-2078 issued by the board. The federation has been saying that the alternative of scrapping the directive could be addressed through amendment.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the federation, the decision to increase the premium rate by the insurance companies four to five times is unreasonable. Similarly, the federation said that the provision of not settling 70 to 80 percent of the claims by the insurance companies in the past to the insurers is also not acceptable.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-19', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14866', 'image' => '20220418055544_fcan-building.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 17:55:03', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15123', 'article_category_id' => '236', 'title' => 'Automobile Business in Crisis after Banks Stop Opening LCs for Importing Vehicles', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: Commercial banks have not opened LCs for import of vehicles since April 7 under the directive of the central bank. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 18: Commercial banks have not opened LCs for import of vehicles since April 7 under the directive of the central bank. Automobile dealers are making efforts to reverse the decision stating that their entire business has been affected due to the decision. However, the central bank's unannounced ban on LCs is not expected to be lifted immediately.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials of the NADA Automobiles Association of Nepal, an umbrella body of automobile dealers, met with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba last week urging him to direct Nepal Rastra Bank to allow banks to open an LC for importing vehicles. On Sunday, the representatives of NADA also met Finance Minister Janardan Sharma. Despite meeting high-ranking government officials, the automobile dealers complained that they have not received anything but assurance so far.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the association, investors have poured more than Rs 350 billion in the automobile business. This sector contributes more than Rs 150 billion in revenue every year. Entrepreneurs have complained that the area which has provided direct employment to more than 98,000 people has become chaotic due to the suspension of LC.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President of the association Dhruba Thapa said it was not appropriate to restrict opening LCs on the grounds that foreign exchange reserves were low. "No other country does that, but it has been done in Nepal," he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">During the meeting, Finance Minister Sharma made it clear to NADA officials that the government was not in favour of stopping imports.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NADA officials had requested the finance minister to lift the ban on LC for importing vehicles. NADA Vice President Rajan Babu Shrestha had briefed Finance Minister Sharma about the possible impacts of stopping the import of vehicles into the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Entrepreneurs say that the automobile sector, which has invested heavily, is in crisis after commercial banks stopped opening LCs for importing automobiles that are listed as luxury items. The banks did so upon the verbal instructions of NRB. According to NADA Chairman Thapa, even the vehicles ordered earlier are stuck at this time.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">When the association raised the issue on April 9, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba assured to take appropriate measures after looking into the matter.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">However, entrepreneurs are disappointed that the LC has not been opened even a week after the Prime Minister's assurance. Entrepreneurs say that the auto business will collapse if the government does not eases import of vehicles.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Prime Minister Deuba had also suggested the businessmen take up the issue with the finance minister. Accordingly, the businessmen met the finance minister. They said that they only got assurance from the finance minister during the meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Finance Minister Sharma asked the traders to be patient. The association is also preparing to meet Officiating Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Neelam Dhungana Timsina to raise the issue. Entrepreneurs argue that the recent policy of the NRB has put the business in crisis and have requested facilitation in opening LC.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14865', 'image' => '20220418022912_nada.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 14:28:31', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15122', 'article_category_id' => '273', 'title' => 'Innovation and Financial Literacy are the Base of Women Entrepreneurship ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: The participants of an interaction program under the 'Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Summit and Awards 2022' held in Birgunj on Sunday stated that promotion of women entrepreneurship is necessary to uplift the economy.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 18: The participants of an interaction program under the 'Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Summit and Awards 2022' held in Birgunj on Sunday stated that promotion of women entrepreneurship is necessary to uplift the economy. The award function is to be held in Kathmandu on Friday, April 22. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Speaking on the occasion, Chief Customs Officer of Birgunj Customs Harihar Poudel said that financial literacy and innovation should be emphasised for the promotion of women entrepreneurship. Stating that the finished product of one enterprise can be the raw material of another, Poudel said that innovation would widen the scope of entrepreneurship. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Poudel stressed on the need for effective policy and its implementation to involve more women in the enterprise and to uplift those who are already active in the enterprise. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"Skill development training is not enough for women. We have to see whether the learned skills are used or not," he said. Madan Lamsal, president and editor-in-chief of New Business Age Pvt Ltd, said the country would not prosper unless women are empowered. </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:"Times New Roman","serif"">He stated that the award and recognition programme is being organised to encourage women towards entrepreneurship. “The private sector should lead the economic development,” said Lamsal. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Reema Shah, chief of the Cottage and Small Industries Office, Parsa, said that women in rural areas have not been able to move towards entrepreneurship. She urged the inclusion of women from rural areas in the women entrepreneurship promotion programme. She also said that there is low participation of women from rural areas in skill-based training. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Rajan Dev Bhattarai, director of Nepal Rastra Bank Regional Office, Birgunj, claimed that women entrepreneurs still lack financial literacy. Director Bhattarai said that despite the government budget being spent in the name of making women self-employed and to involve them in entrepreneurship, the expected outcome has not been observed. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stating that women entrepreneurs have complained of not being able to get concessional loans easily, Bhattarai said that the loan without any collateral should be disbursed to them through projects. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">President of Birgunj Chamber of Commerce and Industry Dr Subodh Kumar Gupta claimed that only 10 percent women were entrepreneurs and argued that men were also to blame for the failure of women. He said that men should help in promoting women entrepreneurship. He claimed that women are more honest than men in any profession and business. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Participants of the interactive training held in the run-up to the award program, sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank and co-sponsored Muktinath Development Bank, complained that the results of entrepreneurship is not seen due to the problems such as lack of marketing, access to technology and credit. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14864', 'image' => '20220418125406_1650236386.4.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 12:51:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15121', 'article_category_id' => '228', 'title' => 'Int'l Airports to Provide Round-the-Clock Service ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) will be operating round the clock from May 29 following a decline in Covid-19 infection. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 18: Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) will be operating round the clock from May 29 following a decline in Covid-19 infection. </span></span></span><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has made preparation to bring international airports into operation round the clock to manage the increasing flow of passengers. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport and under construction Pokhara Regional International Airport will also operate round the clock, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to RSS, CAAN Director General, Pradeep Adhikari, confirmed that the TIA would provide 24-hour service from May 29 coinciding with the Republic Day of Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">"CAAN has released a new plan following repeated directives from Tourism Minister Prem Bahadur Ale," said Director General Adhikari. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Flow of passengers at international airport and domestic airports has increased after COVID pandemic. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> "There is a need to improve infrastructures in all international and domestic airports as well as standardization of service. It is also necessary to give a message that the Nepalese sky is safe. So we have been involved in effective management of airports," RSS quoted Adhikari as saying. </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Earlier in 2075 BS, the then Tourism Minister late Rabindra Adhikari had brought the TIA into operation for 21 hours from 18 hours. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Gautam Buddha International Airport is considered as an alternative airport to TIA. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Adhikari mentioned that though the runway of Gautam Buddha International Airport would come into operation from April 21, the airport would start international flight from May 16 on the day of Buddha Jayanti festival. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif""> In the meantime, CAAN has also decided to operate domestic airports till midnight. The CAAN has decided to bring Bhadrapur, Janakpur, Simara, Bhairahawa, Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi airports into operation till midnight. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14863', 'image' => '20220418082422_2009-03_Kathmandu_10.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 08:23:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15120', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'Suspended Governor Files Petition against Government Decision', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 18: The suspended Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court on Sunday (April 17) challenging the decision of the Council of Ministers to suspend him.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 18: The suspended Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Maha Prasad Adhikari filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court on Sunday (April 17) challenging the decision of the Council of Ministers to suspend him. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Supreme Court's Spokesperson Bimal Poudel confirmed that Adhikari’s writ petition was registered at the apex court. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">In his petition, Adhikari has demanded the court to scrap the government's decision to form a probe committee without prior information. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Hearing on the petition would be conducted on Tuesday. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The government had recently formed a panel under the leadership of former SC Justice Purushottam Bhandari to probe alleged irregularities of Adhikari, leading to his suspension from the post of the central bank’s governor. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-18', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14862', 'image' => '20220418080057_Maha-Prasad-Adhikari.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-18 08:00:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15119', 'article_category_id' => '224', 'title' => 'Government Lacks Modality to Build Budhi Gandaki Hydro Project', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The government has decided to construct the Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project with domestic investment after cancelling the contract with China Gejuwa Group Corporation (CGGC).', '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 17: The government has decided to construct the Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project with domestic investment after cancelling the contract with China Gejuwa Group Corporation (CGGC). However, the government does not have the plan and modality to build the 1,200 MW project with domestic investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Last year, the cabinet meeting had decided to take the Budhi Gandaki project from CGGC and build it with domestic investment. In this case, the government should have a separate plan and modality for how to build the project. However, no plan or modality has been formulated in this regard so far. It seems that the government has decided to take over the project from CGGC only for the sake of popularity.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Stakeholders say that this project has been politicized. Some years ago, when the Chairman of the Maoist Center, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, was the prime minister, it was decided to allow CGGC to build the project in the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Financing (EPCF) model.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Later, when Sher Bahadur Deuba became the prime minister in five years ago, the project was snatched from CGGC. After UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli became the prime minister, it was decided to allow CGGC to construct the project again. Now that Deuba is leading the government again, the project contract with CGGC has been terminated again.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Officials of the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation said that it has been decided to build it with domestic investment but no modality has been decided on how to build it.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 said that the decision was made because of legal complications in allowing the CGGC to build the project. The government has also accused the CGGC of delaying construction. Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Energy Chiranjeevi Chataut said that the modality of constructing the Budhi Gandaki project has not been prepared yet. "Currently, it has been decided to take the project away from CGGC and build it with domestic investment. The plan and modalities of how to build it have not been decided yet. We are studying it,” he said.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Budhi Gandaki is a big project. It was earlier estimated that it would cost around Rs 300 billion. It is currently being re-evaluated. This project is considered equally risky. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">“As it is a big project, the risk of investment is also high,” said Chataut.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 issue of how to raise investment is also challenging. There had been various attempts to raise investment in the past as well. However, they did not succeed. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 private sector also said that the project should be constructed soon. Nepal has been buying electricity at high prices from India in winter due to a lack of adequate reservoir projects.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 reservoir project is needed to end that situation. On top of that, Budhi Gandaki is technically ready to go into construction. Therefore, the private sector is of the view that the construction of this project should not be delayed.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Other reservoir projects identified in Nepal are in the phase of survey and study. The survey of some projects has not been done 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"">The work of the DPR of Budhigandaki, approval of the environmental impact assessment report, and distribution of compensation have been almost completed. Now all that is left is to go into construction.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 private sector is also ready to invest in it. Chairman of the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN) Krishna Prasad Acharya said that the private sector is ready to invest in Budhi Gandaki in partnership with the government. However, he said that the government should guarantee a return on investment.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 private sector is ready to invest in the project in collaboration with the government. But, the government should guarantee the return. Expenditure should not be increased as in other government projects,” he said, adding, “If the government does not include investment for the transmission line, compensation distribution, and road construction in the project cost, we are ready to invest.”</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="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 issue of the construction of the Budhi Gandaki project is being looked at with utmost importance. Its construction is estimated to cost more than Rs 300 billion. The government had started levying a tax of Rs 5 per liter on petrol, diesel, kerosene, and aviation fuel from the fiscal year 2072/73 for the construction of Budhi Gandaki project with domestic investment. It had been collecting Rs 10 per liter since February 2010.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14861', 'image' => '20220417055058_hydro.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 17:50:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15118', 'article_category_id' => '228', 'title' => 'Gautam Buddha Int'l Airport to Operate New Runway from April 21 ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The new 3,000-metre runway of Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport will come into operation later this week starting from 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 17: The new 3,000-metre runway of Bhairahawa-based Gautam Buddha International Airport will come into operation later this week starting from April 21. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Until now, the airport has been operating the 1,500-metre runaway. Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale recently instructed the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to operate the new runway at the earliest. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The minister also instructed the authorities make arrangements to run the airport round-the-clock, informed CAAN director-general Pradeep Kumar Adhikari. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Sources at CAAN informed that the new runway will be used for domestic flights in the first phase.</span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to Adhikari, the airport will operate international flights from May 16, coinciding with the Buddha Jayanti festival. (With inputs from RSS)</span><br /> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-18', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14860', 'image' => '20220417053452_gautam-buddha-international-airport-blueprint-1536x629.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 17:33:13', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15117', 'article_category_id' => '267', 'title' => 'Board Meeting of NRB becomes Uncertain due to Lack of Quorum', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The board meeting of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has become uncertain as the posts of half of the board members have become vacant due to various reasons. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 17: The board meeting of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has become uncertain as the posts of half of the board members have become vacant due to various reasons. NRB Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari has been suspended while the terms of other two board members Dr Shree Ram Poudyal and Ramji Regmi have expired. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Governor Adhikari has been suspended since the government formed a probe committee on April 7 to investigate alleged irregularities of the governor. Meanwhile, the terms of Dr Poudyal and Regmi expired on Friday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per the Nepal Rastra Bank Act 2058, a board meeting of the central bank requires the presence of board chair and at least three board members. Due to the suspension of the governor and end of terms of two board members, the central bank currently has four board members. The central bank board meeting couldn’t be held after another board member and expert Dr Subodh Kumar Karna is unavailable to attend the meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Karna Sir hasn’t attended the board meeting ever since he was accused of financial irregularity,” said a high-ranking NRB official. “The board meeting cannot be held officially until he attends the meeting or other board members are appointed,” added the source requesting anonymity.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The source informed that the government is yet to take any action against Karna. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The board meeting currently lacks quorum. Only Deputy Governor Dr Neelam Dhungana Timsina, Finance Secretary Madjhu Kumar Marasini and Deputy Governor Bam Bahadur Mishra are currently available to attend the meeting. There is a provision to have seven members in the board meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As per section 14 of Nepal Rastra Bank Act, 2002, the Board of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) will comprise of seven members: four ex officio members – the Governor (who is the Chairman), the Secretary, Ministry of Finance and two Deputy Governors and three other Directors, each of whom are appointed from amongst the persons renowned in the field of Economics, Monetary, Banking, Finance and Commercial Laws.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">It is mandatory for the presence of three board members including an expert to attend the board meeting of NRB chaired by the governor. Although the board meeting is held as per the need, there is a legal provision for holding such meeting at least once a month.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As the board meeting takes policy-level decision, it is essential to have the board meeting for the review of the monetary policy as well as to formulate policies for the upcoming monetary policy.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14859', 'image' => '20220417045301_Nepal_Rastra_Bank2 2.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 16:52:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15116', 'article_category_id' => '274', 'title' => 'Government Agrees to Accept Financial Assistance of Rs 98 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The government has decided to accept financial assistance of about Rs 98 billion (including loans and grants) from two separate donors.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">April 17: The government has decided to accept financial assistance of about Rs 98 billion (including loans and grants) from two separate donors. The government has decided to accept USD 659 million (about Rs 80 billion) from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and a concessional loan of USD 150 million (about Rs 18 billion) from the World Bank Group's International Development Association.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The Ministry of Finance informed that the government has already started its homework to receive the US grant. The grant will be received by Nepal within 5 years to be spent in various sectors. According to a Finance Ministry official, the government and USAID are preparing to sign the agreement after the cabinet decided to accept the grant.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the International Financial Assistance Coordination Division of the Ministry of Finance, the grant will be spent mainly on education, health, sustainable energy, agriculture and capacity building of the private sector. The projects are yet to be finalized even though the area for spending the grant that Nepal is about to receive has already been decided.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Ishwori Aryal, joint secretary at the Ministry of Finance, said that the grant agreement will be signed between the two sides after the government and the USAID decide on the projects. According to Aryal, work is underway to select relevant projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The grant amount will be received within five years at the rate of 132 million dollars (about Rs 16 billion) per year. If the agreement is signed this year, the grant will start coming from the next fiscal year and the full grant will come by 2027.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">USAID spent 683 million dollars in Nepal from 2016 to 2021. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Although some analysts say that the current economic crisis will be alleviated if the government accepts such large loans and grants, finance ministry officials contradict the viewpoint.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the Ministry of Finance, this loan is agreed upon to support the programs in the budget. Its interest rate will be less than 1 percent per annum.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The loan, which is planned to be spent on sectors including institutional capacity improvement and implementation of federalism, will be credited to the country’s finance as soon as the agreement is signed. The government will make expenditures from the credited amount accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the officials of the ministry of finance, as only the decision to accept grants and loans is made, this amount will not come to the market immediately. They added that although its effects will be long lasting, it will not help to resolve the immediate crisis.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14858', 'image' => '20220417031556_finance_ministry_copy1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 15:15:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15115', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Construction of Nagdhunga Tunnel Uncertain due to Obstruction by Locals', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The construction of the Nagdhunga Tunnel has been halted for five days due to the obstruction created by the locals. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">April 17: The construction of the Nagdhunga Tunnel has been halted for five days due to the obstruction created by the locals. The construction of the project has become uncertain after locals affected by the project staged protests demanding compensation for land, construction of blacktopped road, and a football stadium. Locals residing towards Kathmandu from the project site also vandalized the project office.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Locals of Totipakha in Kathmandu to the east side of the tunnel started protest on April 11 stating that their demands have not been met. Japanese construction company Hajma Ando Corporation stopped work after locals of Chandragiri Municipality-2 attacked the project office following a protest. Project Chief Nareshman Shakya said that the company has demanded action against the culprits and will stop work until security is guaranteed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He said that the construction work has been stopped now, and the construction itself is uncertain. On Sunday (today), the District Administration Office invited the project officials and the locals for discussion. Shakya said that the construction can be started only if there is an agreement, or it will remain uncertain. "We will not work until we get security assurance," Shakya said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">More than 500 Nepalese and Japanese workers were working in the tunnel. He said that the Japanese company has been claiming Rs 15 million daily in fines since April 11 for the onstruction in construction work. Nepal has to pay the amount daily due to obstruction in the project being constructed with the help of Japanese loan.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">"The state has a to incur a daily loss of Rs 15 million for 10 tankers of water," he said, adding that the amount claimed by the company has reached Rs 75 million as of Saturday. The construction company claimed that the amount should be paid by Nepal.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although the construction works were delayed due to Covid-19, the company has been digging 10 meters of tunnel of late. The project deadline has been extended for three months due to a halt in work because of Covid-19.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The locals claim that the water level in the area has dropped due to the project and have also demanded proper management of water.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Shakya claimed that the decline in water level was due to drought. Nevertheless, the project was planning to provide 5 tankers of water to the locals daily. “However, they suddenly came and vandalized the office,” said Shakya, adding, “Besides, they have made demands unrelated to the project. The project cannot meet those demands. The demand within the project will be addressed,” said Shakya.' </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The project had agreed to distribute water, but now the locals are demanding that water pipes be installed in every house, said Shakya.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">To address the demand of the locals for connecting the pipeline through the municipality, a budget has been requested from the Ministry of Finance. "Rs 800,000 has been disbursed for this purpose alone on Friday," said Shakya.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">At present, the tunnel work is 48 percent complete. As the finishing work has been taken along with it, about 36 percent of the work of the project has been completed. According to Shakya, the problem of land compensation in Balambu has been resolved by 70 percent and now the locals are demolishing private houses.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Shakya claims that the project has been fulfilling the reasonable demands of the locals based on their information. However, he clarified that the demands that do not fall within the scope of the project cannot be addressed just because they resort to vandalism.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The project is being undertaken with the concessional loan provided by the Government of Japan. The total investment for the project is estimated to be around Rs 22 billion. JICA will invest Rs 16 billion while the Government of Nepal will contribute Rs 6 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The tunnel will be of 2.7 kilometers long and will have two flyovers. The project will also cover 3 kilometers of road.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The Thankot-Naubise road section is currently 9 kilometers long. The distance will be shortened to 5.7 kilometers once the tunnel is constructed.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The foundation stone of the project was laid on October 21, 2019. As per the agreement signed with the Department of Roads, the contractor must complete the project within 42 months.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14857', 'image' => '20220417021920_20201105124818_20200308111704_adahjj.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 14:18:23', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '15114', 'article_category_id' => '239', 'title' => 'Foreign Tourists Urged to Pay for On-Arrival Visa in Cash due to Technical Glitches', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'April 17: The Immigration Office at the Tribhuvan International Airport has urged foreign tourists visiting Nepal to pay their on-arrival visa fee in cash after facing problems in electronic transaction. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">April 17: The Immigration Office at the Tribhuvan International Airport has urged foreign tourists visiting Nepal to pay their on-arrival visa fee in cash after facing problems in electronic transaction. The airport authorities said e-payment was cumbersome and sometimes there were technical glitches in the system. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">According to the state-owned national news agency RSS, Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA)’s Manager Prem Nath Thakur informed that tourists visiting Nepal had to stay in queue for three to four hours to pay their on-arrival visa fee due to malfunctioning of the software time and again. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Due to such hassles, the airport urged the Department of Immigration to make arrangements for the visiting foreigners to pay the fees in cash. Now, a notice in this regard has already been published, said Manager Thakur. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">At present, a large number of foreign tourists are visiting Nepal and there is only one ATM machine at the TIA, RSS further reported. Besides, technical problems were detected in course of e-payment through different medium. To avoid difficulties faced by the visiting foreign tourists, they have been asked to pay their on-arrival visa fee in cash. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Each visiting foreign tourist has to pay US$ 200 as fee for the on-arrival visa. </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-04-17', 'modified' => '2022-04-17', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14856', 'image' => '20220417112619_Tourist.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-04-17 11:24:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
