February 14: The Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) of Nepal Police has warned the public not to get involved in illegal online business involving cryptocurrency, hyper fund and digital networking among…
February 14: The Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) of Nepal Police has warned the public not to get involved in illegal online business involving cryptocurrency, hyper fund and digital networking among…
February 14: The Department of Co-operatives has tightened the investment of cooperatives in private…
February 14: The private sector has protested against the increase in interest rates on deposits and loans by banks and financial…
February 14: Banks and Financial Institutions (BFIs) will have to analyze the risk posed by climate change from now…
February 14: The lawmakers of the ruling political parties have stated 21 accusations against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana in the impeachment motion registered at the federal parliament secretariat on Sunday.…
February 14: Lawmakers of the ruling parties have registered an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana at the parliament…
February 13: The government has increased the limit for awarding contracts to domestic construction companies to Rs 3…
February 13: A delegation of women entrepreneurs met with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba recently and handed over a memorandum requesting government’s help for establishing a Women’s Industrial Park in the country.…
February 13: Deprived sector lending of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have reached around Rs 350…
February 13: The extended deadline to endorse the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is fast approaching but the political parties are yet to budge from their stance.…
February 13: Former finance ministers of Nepal discussed the economic problems such as liquidity crunch in banking and financial institutes, and the issues related the upcoming budget during a meeting of the Former Finance Ministers' Forum on Saturday (February…
February 13: Educational institutes and nighttime businesses such as hotels and restaurants closed in the wake of third wave of COVID-19 will be reopening from today (February…
February 11: The government has downsized the budget for the current fiscal year following a half-yearly review of the…
February 11: As interest rates on deposits have risen, so have interest rates on…
February 11: Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has decided to reopen the Pashupatinath Temple from today (February 11).…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">February 14: </span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) of Nepal Police has warned the public not to get involved in illegal online business involving cryptocurrency, hyper fund and digital networking among others. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Issuing a notice on Sunday, the CBI stated that it is minutely monitoring such businesses which is banned in the country. The CBI said that investigation has been conducted against those involved in such illegal business and actions are also being taken. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Urging one and all not to get involved in the transaction of such businesses, the CBI shared that online transaction under cryptocurrency and digital networking business have been declared illegal recently. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CBI has also requested the public to inform the police if they find anyone involved in running such illegal business. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Prior to this, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) had recently termed networking business illegal and had also urged the general public to remain cautious about transactions involving cryptocurrency.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The central bank said that such transactions were not only vulnerable to the country's economy but also for the investors. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the NRB, virtual currency lacks ‘legal tender status’ and ‘state backing’ and is considered as ‘speculative assets’.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, networking business, according to the NRB, involves pyramid scheme which has high chances of customers being duped.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Use of cryptocurrency could lead to illegal activities, especially forgery and tax evasion and the networking marketing is also illegal economic act leading to negative impact on revenue collection, the central bank stated. (With inputs from RSS) </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14508', 'image' => '20220214020518_Cryptoshutterstock_1434643079.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 14:03:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14764', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt tightens Investment of Cooperatives in Private Sector', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The Department of Co-operatives has tightened the investment of cooperatives in private sectors.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">February 14: The Department of Co-operatives has tightened the investment of cooperatives in private sectors.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Issuing a unified directive on Sunday, the department has made it mandatory for the cooperatives to have provision in their organisation’s statute and regulation if they want to invest in private sector organisations such as hydropower projects, hospitals, schools, campuses, hotels, petrol pumps etc.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even though the organision’s statute has such provision, it is necessary that the investment in such sectors should be under full ownership of the cooperative and only five percent external loan can be taken while the savings of the members of cooperatives cannot be invested.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Also, the general assembly of the cooperative must endorse the decision to invest in private companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department has tightened the investment after the operators of cooperatives started mobilizing the funds arbitrarily by setting up their own companies. Cooperatives have been investing in housing, schools and even colleges. Similarly, the department has directed the cooperatives to invest 51 percent of their total investment in productive sector such as agriculture and forestry, water resources, education, health, labor and skill development programmes.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department issued the unified directive for the first time on Sunday after issuing the Cooperatives Act 2074. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The directive has also instructed that the cooperatives will not be allowed to distribute dividends without allocating certain amount for the risk management and a minimum of 10 percent for liquidity management.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is also a provision that only 49 percent of the board members of the cooperatives can take loan and the monthly details of the loan investment have to be submitted to the department. Similarly, the members will not be allowed to charge more than 0.50 percent while renewing loan. Cooperatives have been charging the same fees as new loan investments when renewing loans.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the directive, the cooperatives are not allowed to buy and sell shares of private companies as well as invest in real estate. In addition, they are also not allowed to advertise different offers for collecting savings through social media.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Moreover, the cooperatives are not allowed to get involved in inter-cooperative transaction. In addition, cooperatives are allowed to collect savings only from non-profit organisations, local guthi clubs, community schools and government agencies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, it is mentioned in the directive that the cooperatives are not allowed to invest by keeping gold, silver and shares as collateral and cannot invest the loan even with the pledge of a third party.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14507', 'image' => '20220214015629_Cooperative dept.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 13:55:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14763', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Private Sector Cry Foul over the Hike in Interest Rates', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The private sector has protested against the increase in interest rates on deposits and loans by banks and financial institutions.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">February 14: The private sector has protested against the increase in interest rates on deposits and loans by banks and financial institutions. Private sector organizations such as the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) have strongly protested the hike in interest rates and have demanded that the rates be brought down to previous level.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Commercial banks, development banks, and finance companies have raised interest rates with effect from Sunday. The private sector has objected that the interest rate on loans gets increased only after the banks increase the interest rate on deposits intending to increase deposits.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The private sector has demanded immediate reconsideration of interest rates. The private sector organizations say the rise in interest rates has hit the industrial sector hard at a time when it has just begun to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The FNCCI issued a statement on Friday demanding postponement of the decision of the Nepal Bankers Association to raise the interest rates. The CNI and the NCC have also objected to the interest rate hike after banks and financial institutions published notice on Saturday stating that the interest rates will be increased from February 13.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"If the interest rates on deposits continue to rise every quarter, it will not be possible to do business in the country," the statement said. The FNCCI has said that the country will not be able to estimate business costs while the interest rates remain volatile.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The CNI has said that the rise in interest rates has increased the risk to the economy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The confederation said that the increase in interest rates would put the economy at greater risk at a time when the government, the Nepal Rastra Bank, and the private sector were trying to resolve the existing problems of the economy. The confederation has suggested that a policy be introduced to change interest rates on a quarterly basis rather than monthly basis.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The NCC said that raising interest rates would only benefit the banking sector and hurt the industrial sector. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chairman of Nepal Bankers Association Anil Kumar Upadhyaya, on the other hand, said that the interest rates have been increased as per the demand of the market. "There is still a lack of liquidity in the banking sector. In such a case, we have increased the interest rate so that the deposit will increase,” he said. He says there is no need to panic due to the rise in interest rates. "This is not always the case," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank's Executive Director and Spokesperson Dr Gunakar Bhatta said that the central bank has not intervened in determining the interest rates. "Interest rates are set by the market. And, the banks have fixed the interest rates within the limits set by the NRB as per the market demand,” he said, adding, “NRB has no hand in this.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banking expert Analraj Bhattarai said the decision to raise interest rates was immature. "In the current scenario, it would have been better to raise interest rates and capital charges on loans to unproductive sectors than to raise interest rates on deposits," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former Governor Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri, on the other hand, welcomed the decision to increase the interest rates. "Interest rates are a more effective factor in managing financial resources than using other financial tools. At a time when there is lack of liquidity in the market, there is no alternative but to raise interest rates,” he said. He said that the flow of credit to unproductive sectors should also be discouraged.</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 /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14506', 'image' => '20220214013728_interest-rates-e1541025967190.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 13:36:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14762', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFIs Urged to Analyze Climate Change Risk', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: Banks and Financial Institutions (BFIs) will have to analyze the risk posed by climate change from now onwards.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">February 14: Banks and Financial Institutions (BFIs) will have to analyze the risk posed by climate change from now onwards.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Amending the Guidelines on Environment and Social Risk Management (ESRM) for Banks and Financial Institutions on Sunday, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has made it mandatory for BFIs to analyze such risks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A notice issued by the central bank states that commercial banks, development banks and finance companies need to analyze the risk posed by climate change.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Prior to this, banks had to analyze only the environmental and social risks. Now, they have been instructed to make assessment of risk posed by climate change as well, informed Dev Kumar Dhakal, executive director of Nepal Rastra Bank.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Of late, lots of incidents related to climate change are occurring in Nepal. Taking this into consideration, the central bank has instructed BFIs to make assessment of risk posed by climate change.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Climate change has had negative impact on hydropower projects and agriculture sector of Nepal. Flash floods triggered by climate change have been damaging infrastructures of hydropower projects. Similar problems have surfaced in the agriculture sector. BFIs have been providing considerable amount of loans to these sectors. Therefore, the central bank argues that BFIs need to make proper assessment of risk posed by climate change.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14505', 'image' => '20220214112837_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 11:27:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14761', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '21 Accusations against Chief Justice Rana ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The lawmakers of the ruling political parties have stated 21 accusations against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana in the impeachment motion registered at the federal parliament secretariat on Sunday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 14: The lawmakers of the ruling political parties have stated 21 accusations against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana in the impeachment motion registered at the federal parliament secretariat on Sunday. A total of 98 lawmakers signed for the impeachment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">They have accused CJ Rana of being incompetent to uphold democracy, human rights, rule of law, constitutional supremacy and independence of judiciary. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the lawmakers, anomalies and aberration, corruption and brokering thrived in the judiciary during his term and misuse of authority went unchecked. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Another accusation is that the arbitrary use of constitutional rights and responsibility ruined the image of entire judiciary in the country. The CJ was slow to ensure the rule of law in the country, the charge sheet states. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">CJ Rana's activities and decisions invited severe criticisms as he worked against code of conduct and against law, the MPs said. He failed to maintain checks and balance between the state organs, the accusations went on. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He even did not exhibit moral ground to retain public trust on judiciary, and became incompetent to contribute for long term importance from the view point of jurisprudence, among others. -- RSS </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14504', 'image' => '20220214075435_1644732023.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 07:53:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14760', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Impeachment Motion Registered against Chief Justice Rana', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: Lawmakers of the ruling parties have registered an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana at the parliament secretariat.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 14: Lawmakers of the ruling parties have registered an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana at the parliament secretariat. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Altogether 98 MPs of the ruling coalition registered the impeachment motion at the parliament secretariat on Sunday (February 13) in accordance with Article 101 of the Constitution. The MPs from Nepali C ongress, CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist) have accused CJ Rana of being incompetent. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The impeachment motion was initiated by Nepali Congress lawmaker Dr Pushpa Bhushal, CPN (Maoist Centre) lawmaker Dev Prasad Gurung and CPN (Unified Socialist) lawmaker Jiban Ram Shrestha and was backed by 95 lawmakers including Nepali Congress lawmaker Dr Minendra Rijal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Dilendra Prasad Badu had also reached the parliament secretariat to register the impeachment motion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Minister Badu argued that the court proceedings have been disrupted for almost four months due to the chief justice.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“The government did not have the right to intervene in judicial matters due to the independence of judiciary and separation of power in line with the principle of check and balance,” said Minister Badu. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As per the constitutional provision, after the commencement of impeachment proceedings, the chief justice shall not be allowed to discharge the duties of his office. This is a kind of suspension from the office until the case is settled. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Article 101 (2) states one fourth of the total members of the House of Representatives may file a motion of impeachment against the chief justice or a judge of the Supreme Court, member of the Judicial Council, chief or official of a constitutional body on the ground of his or her failure to fulfil his or her duties because of serious violation of this constitution and law, incompetence or misconduct or failure to discharge the duties of office honestly or serious violation of the code of conduct. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">If the motion is passed by at least two-thirds majority of MPs, the chief justice shall be relieved of his duties. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The constitution, however, guarantees a person charged with impeachment with a reasonable opportunity to defend himself/herself. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Supreme Court’s senior-most justice Deepak Kumar Karki has been appointed as the acting chief justice with the registration of the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Rana.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The main opposition party CPN (UML) has termed the impeachment motion against the chief justice as a conspiracy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A meeting of the party's secretariat held at the residence of Chairman KP Sharma Oli on Sunday evening concluded that the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana was an attack on the court and democracy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">UML general secretary Shankar Pokharel said the party has decided to challenge the move. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Pokharel also stated that the recent step was a conspiracy to destabilise the relations between the ruling and opposition parties. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14503', 'image' => '20220214075153_Supreme Court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 07:50:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14759', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Only a Handful of Companies meet Criteria to Bag Contracts of Rs 3 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: The government has increased the limit for awarding contracts to domestic construction companies to Rs 3 billion.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 13: The government has increased the limit for awarding contracts to domestic construction companies to Rs 3 billion. However, there are only a handful of companies that have the capacity to meet this criteria.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There are more than 17,000 construction companies officially registered with the Federation of Contractors Association of Nepal (FCAN). However, only a dozen of them meet the criteria to bag contracts of up to Rs 3 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government had amended the limit from Rs 1 billion to Rs 3 billion. That means foreign companies cannot bid for projects of less than Rs 3 billion. This provision has made it easy for the domestic companies to bag such contracts. However, there are only 10 to 12 such companies that meet the criteria. Chairman of FCAN Ravi Singh believes this provision has increased the possibility of carteling</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Chairman Singh, the number of such companies can be increased to 40 by taking into consideration 60 percent experience and giving 40 percent weightage to their certificate.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“There are limited number of companies that can bag contracts up to Rs 3 billion. This will benefit only a handful of companies,” said Singh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Side by side, the government has also introduced a provision that one company cannot be given more than five projects. This provision will nevertheless discourage carteling,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He further said that the delay in completion of projects mainly due to a single company being awarded 40 projects at once will no longer exist. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“This will help in fair distribution of projects to all companies and thereby ensure timely completion of work,” added Singh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Singh further said that big construction companies used to take even small projects in the past. But that trend will now come to an end and small contractors will also get projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Former general secretary of FCAN Ram Sharan Deuja says this is a positive development as it helps Nepali construction companies get the projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The only fear we have is that the government might combine several small projects and announce a single project of Rs 3 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He reminded that the Public Procurement Act still has a provision that a construction company cannot be awarded more than seven projects. However, Deuja argues that this provision has never been implemented till date.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14502', 'image' => '20220213061905_20210112122909_Clipboard01.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 18:18:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14758', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Women Entrepreneurs Seek Govt Help in Establishing Women’s Industrial Park', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: A delegation of women entrepreneurs met with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba recently and handed over a memorandum requesting government’s help for establishing a Women’s Industrial Park in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">February 13: A delegation of women entrepreneurs met with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba recently and handed over a memorandum requesting government’s help for establishing a Women’s Industrial Park in the country. The delegation believes that establishing such park would help foster women’s entrepreneurship. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The Government of Nepal has a provision for industrial villages in all 77 districts of Nepal but the government has not declared any industrial park exclusively for women entrepreneurs under the Procedure for Declaration and Operation of Industrial Village, 2075, reads a statement issued by the women entrepreneurs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">According to the statement, Section 8.1 of the procedure states that “The Government of Nepal may declare women entrepreneurs as special industrial villages in accordance with the provisions of this procedure in order to attract and encourage them to enter the industry.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">South Asian Women's Development Forum (SAWDF) in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies and Panchkhal Municipality has initiated the First Women Entrepreneurs Green Industrial Park project under PPP model to promote green industrial concept in Nepal with well-integrated climate change adaptation measures. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The women entrepreneurs requested the government to declare the First Women Entrepreneurs Green Industrial Park and one green woman entrepreneurial industrial park in all the six provinces under the Procedure for Declaration and Operation of Industrial Village. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The ongoing project of green industrial park will be promoted as Agri-Tourism Green Industrial Park with the establishment of 50-60 small industries. The master plan and the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the project has been completed, the statement added. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The project contributes to Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) locally and to Nepal’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The delegation included Pramila Acharya Rijal, president of South Asian Women Development Forum; Shobha Gyawali, senior vice president of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Associations of Nepal; Reeta Simha, chairperson of the Women Entrepreneurs Committee of FNCCI; Chhaya Sharma, convener of the Women Entrepreneur Forum, CNI; and Sharada Rijal, chairperson of the Women’s Entrepreneurs Green Industrial Park Committee.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">।</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14501', 'image' => '20220213053535_picture.JPG', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 17:33:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14757', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Deprived Sector Lending of BFIs Crosses Minimum Requirement', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: Deprived sector lending of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have reached around Rs 350 billion.', 'content' => '<p><em><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Photo Courtesy: dcgf.gov.np</span></span></em></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">February 13: Deprived sector lending of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have reached around Rs 350 billion. Revised data show that the loan flow to the deprived sector is more than the minimum requirement set by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). The data were revised after the central bank changed the method of calculating the loan flow to the deprived sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the NRB, the banks and financial institutions have disbursed Rs 343 billion loan to the deprived sector as of mid-January of the current fiscal year. Out of the total loans of Rs 4.66 trillion disbursed by banks during this period, the share of loans disbursed to the deprived sector stands at 7.36 percent. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, banks had disbursed loans amounting to Rs 243.27 billion or 6.64 percent of the total loans to the deprived sector. During the review period, deprived sector lending has increased by 17.1 percent compared to in the corresponding period of last fiscal year. As per the NRB directive, banks are required to disburse at least 5 percent of their total loan (including purchase of bills and discounts) to the deprived sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Since last year, the NRB has included certain types of loans that receive government’s grant on interest as deprived sector lending. Such loans include up to Rs 1 million for commercial agriculture and livestock farming, up to Rs 1.5 million for women entrepreneurship and other concessional loans, loan of up to Rs 1.5 million to the agriculture, industry and up to Rs 1 million to the small and cottage industries. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, loans of up to Rs 1.5 million for self-employment of persons who have lost their jobs in the tourism sector due to COVID-19, loans of up to Rs 2.5 million to buy means of transportation for self-employment, and up to Rs 2 million for women entrepreneurs are also categorized as the loans for deprived sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NRB has defined women from low income and socially backward families, indigenous people, Dalits, people with disability, marginalized communities and small farmers, laborers and landless as people from the deprived class. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banks and financial institutions themselves have been disbursing loans to the poor directly and indirectly through microfinance institutions. However, in recent times, it has been criticized that the loans of the poor class are being used by the upper class. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is a provision that if the banks do not disburse the minimum amount of loan set by the central bank to the poor, they will have to pay fine equal to the maximum interest on the amount that has not been disbursed to the targeted groups.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14500', 'image' => '20220213031150_service_1543560160.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 15:10:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14756', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Leaders yet to Forge Consensus Regarding MCC', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: The extended deadline to endorse the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is fast approaching but the political parties are yet to budge from their stance. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 13: The extended deadline to endorse the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is fast approaching but the political parties are yet to budge from their stance. There is only two weeks left to endorse the MCC as per the deadline set by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. However, there are no signs that the MCC agreement will be presented to the parliament for endorsement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The ruling Nepali Congress is in favour of endorsing the MCC through parliament immediately but other coalition partners including Maoist Centre and CPN Unified Socialist are not in favour of passing the MCC in its current form. They are of the view that the MCC must be presented to the parliament only after amending some controversial provisions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Due to the stance taken by the political parties, the government has not been able to initiate the process to endorse the grant agreement.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepali Congress President Deuba, who is facing strong criticism from within the party for his decision to endorse MCC, has continued efforts to forge consensus regarding this issue. He held discussion with Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN Unified Socialist Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal on Saturday to solicit their support to endorse MCC from parliament. During the meeting, Deuba proposed presenting the MCC grant agreement in the upcoming session of parliament for endorsement. However, the two leaders said that the MCC cannot be forwarded in its present form.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The prime minister proposed presenting the MCC grant agreement in parliament. However, Chairman Dahal said it is not possible without national consensus or amendment of controversial provisions,” Dahal’s secretariat said after the meeting. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Dahal’s secretariat, Chairman Dahal and Nepal urged the prime minister to summon parliament meeting on February 16 after learning that the main opposition party CPN UML was ready to boycott the house meeting called for February 14. The House of Representatives meeting has been called for Monday, February 14. PM Deuba is in favour of presenting the MCC grant agreement for discussion during the parliament meeting on Monday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NC Spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat argues that there is no time to discuss the issue so it has to be discussed in parliament itself.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14499', 'image' => '20220213123700_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 12:36:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14755', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Former Finance Ministers Discuss Liquidity Crisis ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: Former finance ministers of Nepal discussed the economic problems such as liquidity crunch in banking and financial institutes, and the issues related the upcoming budget during a meeting of the Former Finance Ministers' Forum on Saturday (February 12). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 13: Former finance ministers of Nepal discussed the economic problems such as liquidity crunch in banking and financial institutes, and the issues related the upcoming budget during a meeting of the Former Finance Ministers' Forum on Saturday (February 12). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting was hosted by the Confederation of Banking and Financial Institutes' Nepal (CBFIN). According to CBFIN, meeting stressed on increasing remittance, capital expenditure and investment in productive sectors, decreasing imports, creating new jobs with augmentation of production, and encouraging entrepreneurship for sustainable economic development of the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting was attended by former finance ministers Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, Surendra Pande, Barshaman Pun and Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14498', 'image' => '20220213113020_Liquidity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 11:29:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14754', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Educational Institutes Reopening from Today', 'sub_title' => 'Night-time Businesses to Run till 10 pm', 'summary' => 'February 13: Educational institutes and nighttime businesses such as hotels and restaurants closed in the wake of third wave of COVID-19 will be reopening from today (February 13).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 13: Educational institutes and nighttime businesses such as hotels and restaurants closed in the wake of third wave of COVID-19 will be reopening from today (February 13). However, the government has instructed strict implementation of health and safety protocol for the operation of schools and other institutions. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the decision of the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC) , universities, schools, tuition centres, training and other educational activities, dance bars, restaurants, pubs, cinema halls, health clubs, gyms, swimming pools, and futsals will be allowed to open till 10:00 pm effective from today. The CCMC has however made safety protocol mandatory. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the CCMC had recommended the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to make arrangement of regular classes for the students above 12 year and classes on alternate days for those under 12 years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, only 50 percent of viewers are allowed for sports activities. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14497', 'image' => '20220213111333_school.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 11:12:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14753', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Downsizes Budget to Rs 1.54 Trillion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 11: The government has downsized the budget for the current fiscal year following a half-yearly review of the budget.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 11: The government has downsized the budget for the current fiscal year following a half-yearly review of the budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The incumbent government had announced a budget of Rs 1632.82 billion for the current fiscal year through the replacement bill. Unveiling the half-yearly review report of the budget on Thursday, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said that the budget has been downsized by Rs 86.54 billion to Rs 1546.28 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has been able to spend only Rs 507 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year out of which capital expenditure stands at 16.39 percent. Minister Sharma informed that the government decided to downsize the budget after realizing that the remaining budget could not be spent within the deadline.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has mostly reduced budget allocated for capital expenses targeting development works.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government had allocated Rs 378 billion for capital expenditure for the current fiscal year, which has now been reduced by Rs 38 billion. Following the review of budget, the capital expenditure now stands at Rs 340 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As of mid-January 2022, the government has been able to spend only Rs 50.8 billion of the budget allocated for capital expenditure. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Sharma claimed that the government will now meet the revised target of budget expenditure. He had earlier claimed that the government will spend 10 percent of capital expenses every month but could not keep his words.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The finance minister said that the poor spending was mainly due to three reasons – inclusion of projects in the budget without securing source of investment, inclusion of programmes under political pressure and finally legal hurdles in spending.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini claimed that the budget expenditure will increase towards to end of the fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although the government has reduced the size of budget, it has not changed its target for revenue collection. The government aims to collect revenue of Rs 11.8 billion in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-11', 'modified' => '2022-02-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14496', 'image' => '20220211055644_Budget.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-11 17:56:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14751', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Interest Rates on Loans Rising Again', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 11: As interest rates on deposits have risen, so have interest rates on loans.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">February 11: As interest rates on deposits have risen, so have interest rates on loans. Due to the liquidity crunch, banks are collecting deposits at high-interest rates. The rise of interest rates on deposits of commercial banks has also had a direct impact on the base rate and interest rates on loans.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Nepal Rastra Bank, the interest rate on loans extended by commercial banks has increased by 0.35 percentage points in one year. The weighted average interest rate on loans was 9.09 percent in January / February of last fiscal year (FY 2020/21). The weighted average interest rate on loans disbursed by commercial banks has reached 9.44 percent in the corresponding period of the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the opening of business in the current fiscal year, the demand for loans has started rising. As the demand for credit has increased, so have the interest rates of banks.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Nara Bahadur Thapa says that the increase in interest rate helps maintain financial stability. He said that the increase in interest rates would have a direct impact on industry and trade, but would also help reduce the trade deficit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"As interest rates on deposits rise, so does the cost of funds, and so does business loans. However, the trade deficit will not be reduced if interest rates are not raised as much as required,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">If interest rates rise, the capital market will stop declining, Thapa said. According to him, the capital market has gone down in Nepal due to the low interest rates. Thapa said that it would be necessary to increase the interest rate of the banks to help the capital market to rise.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The weighted average interest rate on deposits of commercial banks has also increased by 1.37 percentage points in one year. The interest rate on deposits was 5 percent in December last year. The interest rate on deposits has risen to 6.37 percent in December this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Along with the rise in interest rates, the base rate of banks has also gone up. The base rate of commercial banks has increased by 1.25 percentage points in the current fiscal year compared to the previous fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-11', 'modified' => '2022-02-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14495', 'image' => '20220211031847_interest-rates-e1541025967190.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-11 15:17:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14752', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PADT Decides to Reopen Pashupatinath Temple from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 11: Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has decided to reopen the Pashupatinath Temple from today (February 11). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 11: Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has decided to reopen the Pashupatinath Temple from today (February 11). The temple was closed since January 19 due to the third wave of coronavirus.</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 a notice issued by the Trust on Thursday, the temple is being opened as per the order of the District Administration Office, Kathmandu, on February 7, that allows worship, meditation or prayers in places like monasteries, temples, mosques, and churches by observing public health standards. </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"">Although the temple was closed for the public, the priests had given continuity to regular worship by adopting safety standards, PADT Member </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Dr Ghanashyam Khatiwada</span> had announced earlier. <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Prior to this, </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">the Pashupatinath Temple was closed for devotees during March, 2020 when the first wave of COVID-19 hit the country. The temple was reopened after nine months. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">When the second wave hit during last April, the temple authorities again closed the temple owing to the risk of Delta variant of COVID-19. The temple was reopened after nearly five months as the number of COVID-19 cases began to decline in the country. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-11', 'modified' => '2022-02-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14494', 'image' => '20220211034759_20220119043423_Nepal_Aug11_mymiFBv.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-11 15:46:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/indexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14765', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CBI Warns against Illegal Online Businesses involving Cryptocurrency ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) of Nepal Police has warned the public not to get involved in illegal online business involving cryptocurrency, hyper fund and digital networking among others. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">February 14: </span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) of Nepal Police has warned the public not to get involved in illegal online business involving cryptocurrency, hyper fund and digital networking among others. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Issuing a notice on Sunday, the CBI stated that it is minutely monitoring such businesses which is banned in the country. The CBI said that investigation has been conducted against those involved in such illegal business and actions are also being taken. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Urging one and all not to get involved in the transaction of such businesses, the CBI shared that online transaction under cryptocurrency and digital networking business have been declared illegal recently. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CBI has also requested the public to inform the police if they find anyone involved in running such illegal business. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Prior to this, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) had recently termed networking business illegal and had also urged the general public to remain cautious about transactions involving cryptocurrency.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The central bank said that such transactions were not only vulnerable to the country's economy but also for the investors. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the NRB, virtual currency lacks ‘legal tender status’ and ‘state backing’ and is considered as ‘speculative assets’.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, networking business, according to the NRB, involves pyramid scheme which has high chances of customers being duped.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Use of cryptocurrency could lead to illegal activities, especially forgery and tax evasion and the networking marketing is also illegal economic act leading to negative impact on revenue collection, the central bank stated. (With inputs from RSS) </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14508', 'image' => '20220214020518_Cryptoshutterstock_1434643079.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 14:03:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14764', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt tightens Investment of Cooperatives in Private Sector', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The Department of Co-operatives has tightened the investment of cooperatives in private sectors.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">February 14: The Department of Co-operatives has tightened the investment of cooperatives in private sectors.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Issuing a unified directive on Sunday, the department has made it mandatory for the cooperatives to have provision in their organisation’s statute and regulation if they want to invest in private sector organisations such as hydropower projects, hospitals, schools, campuses, hotels, petrol pumps etc.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even though the organision’s statute has such provision, it is necessary that the investment in such sectors should be under full ownership of the cooperative and only five percent external loan can be taken while the savings of the members of cooperatives cannot be invested.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Also, the general assembly of the cooperative must endorse the decision to invest in private companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department has tightened the investment after the operators of cooperatives started mobilizing the funds arbitrarily by setting up their own companies. Cooperatives have been investing in housing, schools and even colleges. Similarly, the department has directed the cooperatives to invest 51 percent of their total investment in productive sector such as agriculture and forestry, water resources, education, health, labor and skill development programmes.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department issued the unified directive for the first time on Sunday after issuing the Cooperatives Act 2074. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The directive has also instructed that the cooperatives will not be allowed to distribute dividends without allocating certain amount for the risk management and a minimum of 10 percent for liquidity management.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is also a provision that only 49 percent of the board members of the cooperatives can take loan and the monthly details of the loan investment have to be submitted to the department. Similarly, the members will not be allowed to charge more than 0.50 percent while renewing loan. Cooperatives have been charging the same fees as new loan investments when renewing loans.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the directive, the cooperatives are not allowed to buy and sell shares of private companies as well as invest in real estate. In addition, they are also not allowed to advertise different offers for collecting savings through social media.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Moreover, the cooperatives are not allowed to get involved in inter-cooperative transaction. In addition, cooperatives are allowed to collect savings only from non-profit organisations, local guthi clubs, community schools and government agencies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, it is mentioned in the directive that the cooperatives are not allowed to invest by keeping gold, silver and shares as collateral and cannot invest the loan even with the pledge of a third party.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14507', 'image' => '20220214015629_Cooperative dept.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 13:55:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14763', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Private Sector Cry Foul over the Hike in Interest Rates', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The private sector has protested against the increase in interest rates on deposits and loans by banks and financial institutions.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">February 14: The private sector has protested against the increase in interest rates on deposits and loans by banks and financial institutions. Private sector organizations such as the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) have strongly protested the hike in interest rates and have demanded that the rates be brought down to previous level.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Commercial banks, development banks, and finance companies have raised interest rates with effect from Sunday. The private sector has objected that the interest rate on loans gets increased only after the banks increase the interest rate on deposits intending to increase deposits.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The private sector has demanded immediate reconsideration of interest rates. The private sector organizations say the rise in interest rates has hit the industrial sector hard at a time when it has just begun to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The FNCCI issued a statement on Friday demanding postponement of the decision of the Nepal Bankers Association to raise the interest rates. The CNI and the NCC have also objected to the interest rate hike after banks and financial institutions published notice on Saturday stating that the interest rates will be increased from February 13.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"If the interest rates on deposits continue to rise every quarter, it will not be possible to do business in the country," the statement said. The FNCCI has said that the country will not be able to estimate business costs while the interest rates remain volatile.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The CNI has said that the rise in interest rates has increased the risk to the economy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The confederation said that the increase in interest rates would put the economy at greater risk at a time when the government, the Nepal Rastra Bank, and the private sector were trying to resolve the existing problems of the economy. The confederation has suggested that a policy be introduced to change interest rates on a quarterly basis rather than monthly basis.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The NCC said that raising interest rates would only benefit the banking sector and hurt the industrial sector. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chairman of Nepal Bankers Association Anil Kumar Upadhyaya, on the other hand, said that the interest rates have been increased as per the demand of the market. "There is still a lack of liquidity in the banking sector. In such a case, we have increased the interest rate so that the deposit will increase,” he said. He says there is no need to panic due to the rise in interest rates. "This is not always the case," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank's Executive Director and Spokesperson Dr Gunakar Bhatta said that the central bank has not intervened in determining the interest rates. "Interest rates are set by the market. And, the banks have fixed the interest rates within the limits set by the NRB as per the market demand,” he said, adding, “NRB has no hand in this.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banking expert Analraj Bhattarai said the decision to raise interest rates was immature. "In the current scenario, it would have been better to raise interest rates and capital charges on loans to unproductive sectors than to raise interest rates on deposits," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former Governor Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri, on the other hand, welcomed the decision to increase the interest rates. "Interest rates are a more effective factor in managing financial resources than using other financial tools. At a time when there is lack of liquidity in the market, there is no alternative but to raise interest rates,” he said. He said that the flow of credit to unproductive sectors should also be discouraged.</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 /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14506', 'image' => '20220214013728_interest-rates-e1541025967190.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 13:36:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14762', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFIs Urged to Analyze Climate Change Risk', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: Banks and Financial Institutions (BFIs) will have to analyze the risk posed by climate change from now onwards.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">February 14: Banks and Financial Institutions (BFIs) will have to analyze the risk posed by climate change from now onwards.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Amending the Guidelines on Environment and Social Risk Management (ESRM) for Banks and Financial Institutions on Sunday, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has made it mandatory for BFIs to analyze such risks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A notice issued by the central bank states that commercial banks, development banks and finance companies need to analyze the risk posed by climate change.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Prior to this, banks had to analyze only the environmental and social risks. Now, they have been instructed to make assessment of risk posed by climate change as well, informed Dev Kumar Dhakal, executive director of Nepal Rastra Bank.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Of late, lots of incidents related to climate change are occurring in Nepal. Taking this into consideration, the central bank has instructed BFIs to make assessment of risk posed by climate change.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Climate change has had negative impact on hydropower projects and agriculture sector of Nepal. Flash floods triggered by climate change have been damaging infrastructures of hydropower projects. Similar problems have surfaced in the agriculture sector. BFIs have been providing considerable amount of loans to these sectors. Therefore, the central bank argues that BFIs need to make proper assessment of risk posed by climate change.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14505', 'image' => '20220214112837_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 11:27:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14761', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '21 Accusations against Chief Justice Rana ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The lawmakers of the ruling political parties have stated 21 accusations against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana in the impeachment motion registered at the federal parliament secretariat on Sunday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 14: The lawmakers of the ruling political parties have stated 21 accusations against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana in the impeachment motion registered at the federal parliament secretariat on Sunday. A total of 98 lawmakers signed for the impeachment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">They have accused CJ Rana of being incompetent to uphold democracy, human rights, rule of law, constitutional supremacy and independence of judiciary. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the lawmakers, anomalies and aberration, corruption and brokering thrived in the judiciary during his term and misuse of authority went unchecked. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Another accusation is that the arbitrary use of constitutional rights and responsibility ruined the image of entire judiciary in the country. The CJ was slow to ensure the rule of law in the country, the charge sheet states. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">CJ Rana's activities and decisions invited severe criticisms as he worked against code of conduct and against law, the MPs said. He failed to maintain checks and balance between the state organs, the accusations went on. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He even did not exhibit moral ground to retain public trust on judiciary, and became incompetent to contribute for long term importance from the view point of jurisprudence, among others. -- RSS </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14504', 'image' => '20220214075435_1644732023.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 07:53:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14760', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Impeachment Motion Registered against Chief Justice Rana', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: Lawmakers of the ruling parties have registered an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana at the parliament secretariat.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 14: Lawmakers of the ruling parties have registered an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana at the parliament secretariat. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Altogether 98 MPs of the ruling coalition registered the impeachment motion at the parliament secretariat on Sunday (February 13) in accordance with Article 101 of the Constitution. The MPs from Nepali C ongress, CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist) have accused CJ Rana of being incompetent. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The impeachment motion was initiated by Nepali Congress lawmaker Dr Pushpa Bhushal, CPN (Maoist Centre) lawmaker Dev Prasad Gurung and CPN (Unified Socialist) lawmaker Jiban Ram Shrestha and was backed by 95 lawmakers including Nepali Congress lawmaker Dr Minendra Rijal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Dilendra Prasad Badu had also reached the parliament secretariat to register the impeachment motion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Minister Badu argued that the court proceedings have been disrupted for almost four months due to the chief justice.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“The government did not have the right to intervene in judicial matters due to the independence of judiciary and separation of power in line with the principle of check and balance,” said Minister Badu. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As per the constitutional provision, after the commencement of impeachment proceedings, the chief justice shall not be allowed to discharge the duties of his office. This is a kind of suspension from the office until the case is settled. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Article 101 (2) states one fourth of the total members of the House of Representatives may file a motion of impeachment against the chief justice or a judge of the Supreme Court, member of the Judicial Council, chief or official of a constitutional body on the ground of his or her failure to fulfil his or her duties because of serious violation of this constitution and law, incompetence or misconduct or failure to discharge the duties of office honestly or serious violation of the code of conduct. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">If the motion is passed by at least two-thirds majority of MPs, the chief justice shall be relieved of his duties. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The constitution, however, guarantees a person charged with impeachment with a reasonable opportunity to defend himself/herself. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Supreme Court’s senior-most justice Deepak Kumar Karki has been appointed as the acting chief justice with the registration of the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Rana.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The main opposition party CPN (UML) has termed the impeachment motion against the chief justice as a conspiracy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A meeting of the party's secretariat held at the residence of Chairman KP Sharma Oli on Sunday evening concluded that the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana was an attack on the court and democracy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">UML general secretary Shankar Pokharel said the party has decided to challenge the move. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Pokharel also stated that the recent step was a conspiracy to destabilise the relations between the ruling and opposition parties. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14503', 'image' => '20220214075153_Supreme Court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 07:50:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14759', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Only a Handful of Companies meet Criteria to Bag Contracts of Rs 3 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: The government has increased the limit for awarding contracts to domestic construction companies to Rs 3 billion.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 13: The government has increased the limit for awarding contracts to domestic construction companies to Rs 3 billion. However, there are only a handful of companies that have the capacity to meet this criteria.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There are more than 17,000 construction companies officially registered with the Federation of Contractors Association of Nepal (FCAN). However, only a dozen of them meet the criteria to bag contracts of up to Rs 3 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government had amended the limit from Rs 1 billion to Rs 3 billion. That means foreign companies cannot bid for projects of less than Rs 3 billion. This provision has made it easy for the domestic companies to bag such contracts. However, there are only 10 to 12 such companies that meet the criteria. Chairman of FCAN Ravi Singh believes this provision has increased the possibility of carteling</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Chairman Singh, the number of such companies can be increased to 40 by taking into consideration 60 percent experience and giving 40 percent weightage to their certificate.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“There are limited number of companies that can bag contracts up to Rs 3 billion. This will benefit only a handful of companies,” said Singh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Side by side, the government has also introduced a provision that one company cannot be given more than five projects. This provision will nevertheless discourage carteling,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He further said that the delay in completion of projects mainly due to a single company being awarded 40 projects at once will no longer exist. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“This will help in fair distribution of projects to all companies and thereby ensure timely completion of work,” added Singh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Singh further said that big construction companies used to take even small projects in the past. But that trend will now come to an end and small contractors will also get projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Former general secretary of FCAN Ram Sharan Deuja says this is a positive development as it helps Nepali construction companies get the projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The only fear we have is that the government might combine several small projects and announce a single project of Rs 3 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He reminded that the Public Procurement Act still has a provision that a construction company cannot be awarded more than seven projects. However, Deuja argues that this provision has never been implemented till date.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14502', 'image' => '20220213061905_20210112122909_Clipboard01.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 18:18:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14758', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Women Entrepreneurs Seek Govt Help in Establishing Women’s Industrial Park', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: A delegation of women entrepreneurs met with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba recently and handed over a memorandum requesting government’s help for establishing a Women’s Industrial Park in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">February 13: A delegation of women entrepreneurs met with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba recently and handed over a memorandum requesting government’s help for establishing a Women’s Industrial Park in the country. The delegation believes that establishing such park would help foster women’s entrepreneurship. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The Government of Nepal has a provision for industrial villages in all 77 districts of Nepal but the government has not declared any industrial park exclusively for women entrepreneurs under the Procedure for Declaration and Operation of Industrial Village, 2075, reads a statement issued by the women entrepreneurs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">According to the statement, Section 8.1 of the procedure states that “The Government of Nepal may declare women entrepreneurs as special industrial villages in accordance with the provisions of this procedure in order to attract and encourage them to enter the industry.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">South Asian Women's Development Forum (SAWDF) in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies and Panchkhal Municipality has initiated the First Women Entrepreneurs Green Industrial Park project under PPP model to promote green industrial concept in Nepal with well-integrated climate change adaptation measures. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The women entrepreneurs requested the government to declare the First Women Entrepreneurs Green Industrial Park and one green woman entrepreneurial industrial park in all the six provinces under the Procedure for Declaration and Operation of Industrial Village. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The ongoing project of green industrial park will be promoted as Agri-Tourism Green Industrial Park with the establishment of 50-60 small industries. The master plan and the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the project has been completed, the statement added. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The project contributes to Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) locally and to Nepal’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The delegation included Pramila Acharya Rijal, president of South Asian Women Development Forum; Shobha Gyawali, senior vice president of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Associations of Nepal; Reeta Simha, chairperson of the Women Entrepreneurs Committee of FNCCI; Chhaya Sharma, convener of the Women Entrepreneur Forum, CNI; and Sharada Rijal, chairperson of the Women’s Entrepreneurs Green Industrial Park Committee.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">।</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14501', 'image' => '20220213053535_picture.JPG', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 17:33:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14757', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Deprived Sector Lending of BFIs Crosses Minimum Requirement', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: Deprived sector lending of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have reached around Rs 350 billion.', 'content' => '<p><em><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Photo Courtesy: dcgf.gov.np</span></span></em></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">February 13: Deprived sector lending of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have reached around Rs 350 billion. Revised data show that the loan flow to the deprived sector is more than the minimum requirement set by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). The data were revised after the central bank changed the method of calculating the loan flow to the deprived sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the NRB, the banks and financial institutions have disbursed Rs 343 billion loan to the deprived sector as of mid-January of the current fiscal year. Out of the total loans of Rs 4.66 trillion disbursed by banks during this period, the share of loans disbursed to the deprived sector stands at 7.36 percent. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, banks had disbursed loans amounting to Rs 243.27 billion or 6.64 percent of the total loans to the deprived sector. During the review period, deprived sector lending has increased by 17.1 percent compared to in the corresponding period of last fiscal year. As per the NRB directive, banks are required to disburse at least 5 percent of their total loan (including purchase of bills and discounts) to the deprived sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Since last year, the NRB has included certain types of loans that receive government’s grant on interest as deprived sector lending. Such loans include up to Rs 1 million for commercial agriculture and livestock farming, up to Rs 1.5 million for women entrepreneurship and other concessional loans, loan of up to Rs 1.5 million to the agriculture, industry and up to Rs 1 million to the small and cottage industries. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, loans of up to Rs 1.5 million for self-employment of persons who have lost their jobs in the tourism sector due to COVID-19, loans of up to Rs 2.5 million to buy means of transportation for self-employment, and up to Rs 2 million for women entrepreneurs are also categorized as the loans for deprived sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NRB has defined women from low income and socially backward families, indigenous people, Dalits, people with disability, marginalized communities and small farmers, laborers and landless as people from the deprived class. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banks and financial institutions themselves have been disbursing loans to the poor directly and indirectly through microfinance institutions. However, in recent times, it has been criticized that the loans of the poor class are being used by the upper class. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is a provision that if the banks do not disburse the minimum amount of loan set by the central bank to the poor, they will have to pay fine equal to the maximum interest on the amount that has not been disbursed to the targeted groups.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14500', 'image' => '20220213031150_service_1543560160.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 15:10:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14756', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Leaders yet to Forge Consensus Regarding MCC', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: The extended deadline to endorse the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is fast approaching but the political parties are yet to budge from their stance. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 13: The extended deadline to endorse the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is fast approaching but the political parties are yet to budge from their stance. There is only two weeks left to endorse the MCC as per the deadline set by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. However, there are no signs that the MCC agreement will be presented to the parliament for endorsement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The ruling Nepali Congress is in favour of endorsing the MCC through parliament immediately but other coalition partners including Maoist Centre and CPN Unified Socialist are not in favour of passing the MCC in its current form. They are of the view that the MCC must be presented to the parliament only after amending some controversial provisions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Due to the stance taken by the political parties, the government has not been able to initiate the process to endorse the grant agreement.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepali Congress President Deuba, who is facing strong criticism from within the party for his decision to endorse MCC, has continued efforts to forge consensus regarding this issue. He held discussion with Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN Unified Socialist Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal on Saturday to solicit their support to endorse MCC from parliament. During the meeting, Deuba proposed presenting the MCC grant agreement in the upcoming session of parliament for endorsement. However, the two leaders said that the MCC cannot be forwarded in its present form.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The prime minister proposed presenting the MCC grant agreement in parliament. However, Chairman Dahal said it is not possible without national consensus or amendment of controversial provisions,” Dahal’s secretariat said after the meeting. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Dahal’s secretariat, Chairman Dahal and Nepal urged the prime minister to summon parliament meeting on February 16 after learning that the main opposition party CPN UML was ready to boycott the house meeting called for February 14. The House of Representatives meeting has been called for Monday, February 14. PM Deuba is in favour of presenting the MCC grant agreement for discussion during the parliament meeting on Monday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NC Spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat argues that there is no time to discuss the issue so it has to be discussed in parliament itself.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14499', 'image' => '20220213123700_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 12:36:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14755', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Former Finance Ministers Discuss Liquidity Crisis ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: Former finance ministers of Nepal discussed the economic problems such as liquidity crunch in banking and financial institutes, and the issues related the upcoming budget during a meeting of the Former Finance Ministers' Forum on Saturday (February 12). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 13: Former finance ministers of Nepal discussed the economic problems such as liquidity crunch in banking and financial institutes, and the issues related the upcoming budget during a meeting of the Former Finance Ministers' Forum on Saturday (February 12). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting was hosted by the Confederation of Banking and Financial Institutes' Nepal (CBFIN). According to CBFIN, meeting stressed on increasing remittance, capital expenditure and investment in productive sectors, decreasing imports, creating new jobs with augmentation of production, and encouraging entrepreneurship for sustainable economic development of the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting was attended by former finance ministers Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, Surendra Pande, Barshaman Pun and Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14498', 'image' => '20220213113020_Liquidity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 11:29:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14754', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Educational Institutes Reopening from Today', 'sub_title' => 'Night-time Businesses to Run till 10 pm', 'summary' => 'February 13: Educational institutes and nighttime businesses such as hotels and restaurants closed in the wake of third wave of COVID-19 will be reopening from today (February 13).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 13: Educational institutes and nighttime businesses such as hotels and restaurants closed in the wake of third wave of COVID-19 will be reopening from today (February 13). However, the government has instructed strict implementation of health and safety protocol for the operation of schools and other institutions. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the decision of the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC) , universities, schools, tuition centres, training and other educational activities, dance bars, restaurants, pubs, cinema halls, health clubs, gyms, swimming pools, and futsals will be allowed to open till 10:00 pm effective from today. The CCMC has however made safety protocol mandatory. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the CCMC had recommended the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to make arrangement of regular classes for the students above 12 year and classes on alternate days for those under 12 years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, only 50 percent of viewers are allowed for sports activities. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14497', 'image' => '20220213111333_school.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 11:12:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14753', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Downsizes Budget to Rs 1.54 Trillion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 11: The government has downsized the budget for the current fiscal year following a half-yearly review of the budget.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 11: The government has downsized the budget for the current fiscal year following a half-yearly review of the budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The incumbent government had announced a budget of Rs 1632.82 billion for the current fiscal year through the replacement bill. Unveiling the half-yearly review report of the budget on Thursday, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said that the budget has been downsized by Rs 86.54 billion to Rs 1546.28 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has been able to spend only Rs 507 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year out of which capital expenditure stands at 16.39 percent. Minister Sharma informed that the government decided to downsize the budget after realizing that the remaining budget could not be spent within the deadline.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has mostly reduced budget allocated for capital expenses targeting development works.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government had allocated Rs 378 billion for capital expenditure for the current fiscal year, which has now been reduced by Rs 38 billion. Following the review of budget, the capital expenditure now stands at Rs 340 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As of mid-January 2022, the government has been able to spend only Rs 50.8 billion of the budget allocated for capital expenditure. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Sharma claimed that the government will now meet the revised target of budget expenditure. He had earlier claimed that the government will spend 10 percent of capital expenses every month but could not keep his words.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The finance minister said that the poor spending was mainly due to three reasons – inclusion of projects in the budget without securing source of investment, inclusion of programmes under political pressure and finally legal hurdles in spending.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini claimed that the budget expenditure will increase towards to end of the fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although the government has reduced the size of budget, it has not changed its target for revenue collection. The government aims to collect revenue of Rs 11.8 billion in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-11', 'modified' => '2022-02-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14496', 'image' => '20220211055644_Budget.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-11 17:56:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14751', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Interest Rates on Loans Rising Again', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 11: As interest rates on deposits have risen, so have interest rates on loans.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">February 11: As interest rates on deposits have risen, so have interest rates on loans. Due to the liquidity crunch, banks are collecting deposits at high-interest rates. The rise of interest rates on deposits of commercial banks has also had a direct impact on the base rate and interest rates on loans.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Nepal Rastra Bank, the interest rate on loans extended by commercial banks has increased by 0.35 percentage points in one year. The weighted average interest rate on loans was 9.09 percent in January / February of last fiscal year (FY 2020/21). The weighted average interest rate on loans disbursed by commercial banks has reached 9.44 percent in the corresponding period of the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the opening of business in the current fiscal year, the demand for loans has started rising. As the demand for credit has increased, so have the interest rates of banks.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Nara Bahadur Thapa says that the increase in interest rate helps maintain financial stability. He said that the increase in interest rates would have a direct impact on industry and trade, but would also help reduce the trade deficit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"As interest rates on deposits rise, so does the cost of funds, and so does business loans. However, the trade deficit will not be reduced if interest rates are not raised as much as required,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">If interest rates rise, the capital market will stop declining, Thapa said. According to him, the capital market has gone down in Nepal due to the low interest rates. Thapa said that it would be necessary to increase the interest rate of the banks to help the capital market to rise.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The weighted average interest rate on deposits of commercial banks has also increased by 1.37 percentage points in one year. The interest rate on deposits was 5 percent in December last year. The interest rate on deposits has risen to 6.37 percent in December this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Along with the rise in interest rates, the base rate of banks has also gone up. The base rate of commercial banks has increased by 1.25 percentage points in the current fiscal year compared to the previous fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-11', 'modified' => '2022-02-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14495', 'image' => '20220211031847_interest-rates-e1541025967190.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-11 15:17:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14752', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PADT Decides to Reopen Pashupatinath Temple from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 11: Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has decided to reopen the Pashupatinath Temple from today (February 11). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 11: Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has decided to reopen the Pashupatinath Temple from today (February 11). The temple was closed since January 19 due to the third wave of coronavirus.</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 a notice issued by the Trust on Thursday, the temple is being opened as per the order of the District Administration Office, Kathmandu, on February 7, that allows worship, meditation or prayers in places like monasteries, temples, mosques, and churches by observing public health standards. </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"">Although the temple was closed for the public, the priests had given continuity to regular worship by adopting safety standards, PADT Member </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Dr Ghanashyam Khatiwada</span> had announced earlier. <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Prior to this, </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">the Pashupatinath Temple was closed for devotees during March, 2020 when the first wave of COVID-19 hit the country. The temple was reopened after nine months. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">When the second wave hit during last April, the temple authorities again closed the temple owing to the risk of Delta variant of COVID-19. The temple was reopened after nearly five months as the number of COVID-19 cases began to decline in the country. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-11', 'modified' => '2022-02-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14494', 'image' => '20220211034759_20220119043423_Nepal_Aug11_mymiFBv.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-11 15:46:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 60 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Notice (8): Undefined variable: file [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14765', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CBI Warns against Illegal Online Businesses involving Cryptocurrency ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) of Nepal Police has warned the public not to get involved in illegal online business involving cryptocurrency, hyper fund and digital networking among others. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">February 14: </span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) of Nepal Police has warned the public not to get involved in illegal online business involving cryptocurrency, hyper fund and digital networking among others. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Issuing a notice on Sunday, the CBI stated that it is minutely monitoring such businesses which is banned in the country. The CBI said that investigation has been conducted against those involved in such illegal business and actions are also being taken. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Urging one and all not to get involved in the transaction of such businesses, the CBI shared that online transaction under cryptocurrency and digital networking business have been declared illegal recently. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CBI has also requested the public to inform the police if they find anyone involved in running such illegal business. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Prior to this, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) had recently termed networking business illegal and had also urged the general public to remain cautious about transactions involving cryptocurrency.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The central bank said that such transactions were not only vulnerable to the country's economy but also for the investors. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the NRB, virtual currency lacks ‘legal tender status’ and ‘state backing’ and is considered as ‘speculative assets’.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, networking business, according to the NRB, involves pyramid scheme which has high chances of customers being duped.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Use of cryptocurrency could lead to illegal activities, especially forgery and tax evasion and the networking marketing is also illegal economic act leading to negative impact on revenue collection, the central bank stated. (With inputs from RSS) </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14508', 'image' => '20220214020518_Cryptoshutterstock_1434643079.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 14:03:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14764', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt tightens Investment of Cooperatives in Private Sector', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The Department of Co-operatives has tightened the investment of cooperatives in private sectors.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">February 14: The Department of Co-operatives has tightened the investment of cooperatives in private sectors.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Issuing a unified directive on Sunday, the department has made it mandatory for the cooperatives to have provision in their organisation’s statute and regulation if they want to invest in private sector organisations such as hydropower projects, hospitals, schools, campuses, hotels, petrol pumps etc.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even though the organision’s statute has such provision, it is necessary that the investment in such sectors should be under full ownership of the cooperative and only five percent external loan can be taken while the savings of the members of cooperatives cannot be invested.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Also, the general assembly of the cooperative must endorse the decision to invest in private companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department has tightened the investment after the operators of cooperatives started mobilizing the funds arbitrarily by setting up their own companies. Cooperatives have been investing in housing, schools and even colleges. Similarly, the department has directed the cooperatives to invest 51 percent of their total investment in productive sector such as agriculture and forestry, water resources, education, health, labor and skill development programmes.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department issued the unified directive for the first time on Sunday after issuing the Cooperatives Act 2074. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The directive has also instructed that the cooperatives will not be allowed to distribute dividends without allocating certain amount for the risk management and a minimum of 10 percent for liquidity management.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is also a provision that only 49 percent of the board members of the cooperatives can take loan and the monthly details of the loan investment have to be submitted to the department. Similarly, the members will not be allowed to charge more than 0.50 percent while renewing loan. Cooperatives have been charging the same fees as new loan investments when renewing loans.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the directive, the cooperatives are not allowed to buy and sell shares of private companies as well as invest in real estate. In addition, they are also not allowed to advertise different offers for collecting savings through social media.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Moreover, the cooperatives are not allowed to get involved in inter-cooperative transaction. In addition, cooperatives are allowed to collect savings only from non-profit organisations, local guthi clubs, community schools and government agencies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, it is mentioned in the directive that the cooperatives are not allowed to invest by keeping gold, silver and shares as collateral and cannot invest the loan even with the pledge of a third party.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14507', 'image' => '20220214015629_Cooperative dept.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 13:55:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14763', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Private Sector Cry Foul over the Hike in Interest Rates', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The private sector has protested against the increase in interest rates on deposits and loans by banks and financial institutions.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">February 14: The private sector has protested against the increase in interest rates on deposits and loans by banks and financial institutions. Private sector organizations such as the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) have strongly protested the hike in interest rates and have demanded that the rates be brought down to previous level.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Commercial banks, development banks, and finance companies have raised interest rates with effect from Sunday. The private sector has objected that the interest rate on loans gets increased only after the banks increase the interest rate on deposits intending to increase deposits.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The private sector has demanded immediate reconsideration of interest rates. The private sector organizations say the rise in interest rates has hit the industrial sector hard at a time when it has just begun to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The FNCCI issued a statement on Friday demanding postponement of the decision of the Nepal Bankers Association to raise the interest rates. The CNI and the NCC have also objected to the interest rate hike after banks and financial institutions published notice on Saturday stating that the interest rates will be increased from February 13.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"If the interest rates on deposits continue to rise every quarter, it will not be possible to do business in the country," the statement said. The FNCCI has said that the country will not be able to estimate business costs while the interest rates remain volatile.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The CNI has said that the rise in interest rates has increased the risk to the economy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The confederation said that the increase in interest rates would put the economy at greater risk at a time when the government, the Nepal Rastra Bank, and the private sector were trying to resolve the existing problems of the economy. The confederation has suggested that a policy be introduced to change interest rates on a quarterly basis rather than monthly basis.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The NCC said that raising interest rates would only benefit the banking sector and hurt the industrial sector. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chairman of Nepal Bankers Association Anil Kumar Upadhyaya, on the other hand, said that the interest rates have been increased as per the demand of the market. "There is still a lack of liquidity in the banking sector. In such a case, we have increased the interest rate so that the deposit will increase,” he said. He says there is no need to panic due to the rise in interest rates. "This is not always the case," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank's Executive Director and Spokesperson Dr Gunakar Bhatta said that the central bank has not intervened in determining the interest rates. "Interest rates are set by the market. And, the banks have fixed the interest rates within the limits set by the NRB as per the market demand,” he said, adding, “NRB has no hand in this.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banking expert Analraj Bhattarai said the decision to raise interest rates was immature. "In the current scenario, it would have been better to raise interest rates and capital charges on loans to unproductive sectors than to raise interest rates on deposits," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former Governor Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri, on the other hand, welcomed the decision to increase the interest rates. "Interest rates are a more effective factor in managing financial resources than using other financial tools. At a time when there is lack of liquidity in the market, there is no alternative but to raise interest rates,” he said. He said that the flow of credit to unproductive sectors should also be discouraged.</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 /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14506', 'image' => '20220214013728_interest-rates-e1541025967190.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 13:36:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14762', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFIs Urged to Analyze Climate Change Risk', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: Banks and Financial Institutions (BFIs) will have to analyze the risk posed by climate change from now onwards.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">February 14: Banks and Financial Institutions (BFIs) will have to analyze the risk posed by climate change from now onwards.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Amending the Guidelines on Environment and Social Risk Management (ESRM) for Banks and Financial Institutions on Sunday, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has made it mandatory for BFIs to analyze such risks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A notice issued by the central bank states that commercial banks, development banks and finance companies need to analyze the risk posed by climate change.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Prior to this, banks had to analyze only the environmental and social risks. Now, they have been instructed to make assessment of risk posed by climate change as well, informed Dev Kumar Dhakal, executive director of Nepal Rastra Bank.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Of late, lots of incidents related to climate change are occurring in Nepal. Taking this into consideration, the central bank has instructed BFIs to make assessment of risk posed by climate change.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Climate change has had negative impact on hydropower projects and agriculture sector of Nepal. Flash floods triggered by climate change have been damaging infrastructures of hydropower projects. Similar problems have surfaced in the agriculture sector. BFIs have been providing considerable amount of loans to these sectors. Therefore, the central bank argues that BFIs need to make proper assessment of risk posed by climate change.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14505', 'image' => '20220214112837_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 11:27:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14761', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '21 Accusations against Chief Justice Rana ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The lawmakers of the ruling political parties have stated 21 accusations against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana in the impeachment motion registered at the federal parliament secretariat on Sunday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 14: The lawmakers of the ruling political parties have stated 21 accusations against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana in the impeachment motion registered at the federal parliament secretariat on Sunday. A total of 98 lawmakers signed for the impeachment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">They have accused CJ Rana of being incompetent to uphold democracy, human rights, rule of law, constitutional supremacy and independence of judiciary. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the lawmakers, anomalies and aberration, corruption and brokering thrived in the judiciary during his term and misuse of authority went unchecked. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Another accusation is that the arbitrary use of constitutional rights and responsibility ruined the image of entire judiciary in the country. The CJ was slow to ensure the rule of law in the country, the charge sheet states. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">CJ Rana's activities and decisions invited severe criticisms as he worked against code of conduct and against law, the MPs said. He failed to maintain checks and balance between the state organs, the accusations went on. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He even did not exhibit moral ground to retain public trust on judiciary, and became incompetent to contribute for long term importance from the view point of jurisprudence, among others. -- RSS </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14504', 'image' => '20220214075435_1644732023.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 07:53:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14760', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Impeachment Motion Registered against Chief Justice Rana', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: Lawmakers of the ruling parties have registered an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana at the parliament secretariat.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 14: Lawmakers of the ruling parties have registered an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana at the parliament secretariat. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Altogether 98 MPs of the ruling coalition registered the impeachment motion at the parliament secretariat on Sunday (February 13) in accordance with Article 101 of the Constitution. The MPs from Nepali C ongress, CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist) have accused CJ Rana of being incompetent. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The impeachment motion was initiated by Nepali Congress lawmaker Dr Pushpa Bhushal, CPN (Maoist Centre) lawmaker Dev Prasad Gurung and CPN (Unified Socialist) lawmaker Jiban Ram Shrestha and was backed by 95 lawmakers including Nepali Congress lawmaker Dr Minendra Rijal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Dilendra Prasad Badu had also reached the parliament secretariat to register the impeachment motion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Minister Badu argued that the court proceedings have been disrupted for almost four months due to the chief justice.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“The government did not have the right to intervene in judicial matters due to the independence of judiciary and separation of power in line with the principle of check and balance,” said Minister Badu. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As per the constitutional provision, after the commencement of impeachment proceedings, the chief justice shall not be allowed to discharge the duties of his office. This is a kind of suspension from the office until the case is settled. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Article 101 (2) states one fourth of the total members of the House of Representatives may file a motion of impeachment against the chief justice or a judge of the Supreme Court, member of the Judicial Council, chief or official of a constitutional body on the ground of his or her failure to fulfil his or her duties because of serious violation of this constitution and law, incompetence or misconduct or failure to discharge the duties of office honestly or serious violation of the code of conduct. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">If the motion is passed by at least two-thirds majority of MPs, the chief justice shall be relieved of his duties. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The constitution, however, guarantees a person charged with impeachment with a reasonable opportunity to defend himself/herself. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Supreme Court’s senior-most justice Deepak Kumar Karki has been appointed as the acting chief justice with the registration of the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Rana.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The main opposition party CPN (UML) has termed the impeachment motion against the chief justice as a conspiracy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A meeting of the party's secretariat held at the residence of Chairman KP Sharma Oli on Sunday evening concluded that the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana was an attack on the court and democracy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">UML general secretary Shankar Pokharel said the party has decided to challenge the move. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Pokharel also stated that the recent step was a conspiracy to destabilise the relations between the ruling and opposition parties. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14503', 'image' => '20220214075153_Supreme Court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 07:50:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14759', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Only a Handful of Companies meet Criteria to Bag Contracts of Rs 3 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: The government has increased the limit for awarding contracts to domestic construction companies to Rs 3 billion.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 13: The government has increased the limit for awarding contracts to domestic construction companies to Rs 3 billion. However, there are only a handful of companies that have the capacity to meet this criteria.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There are more than 17,000 construction companies officially registered with the Federation of Contractors Association of Nepal (FCAN). However, only a dozen of them meet the criteria to bag contracts of up to Rs 3 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government had amended the limit from Rs 1 billion to Rs 3 billion. That means foreign companies cannot bid for projects of less than Rs 3 billion. This provision has made it easy for the domestic companies to bag such contracts. However, there are only 10 to 12 such companies that meet the criteria. Chairman of FCAN Ravi Singh believes this provision has increased the possibility of carteling</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Chairman Singh, the number of such companies can be increased to 40 by taking into consideration 60 percent experience and giving 40 percent weightage to their certificate.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“There are limited number of companies that can bag contracts up to Rs 3 billion. This will benefit only a handful of companies,” said Singh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Side by side, the government has also introduced a provision that one company cannot be given more than five projects. This provision will nevertheless discourage carteling,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He further said that the delay in completion of projects mainly due to a single company being awarded 40 projects at once will no longer exist. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“This will help in fair distribution of projects to all companies and thereby ensure timely completion of work,” added Singh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Singh further said that big construction companies used to take even small projects in the past. But that trend will now come to an end and small contractors will also get projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Former general secretary of FCAN Ram Sharan Deuja says this is a positive development as it helps Nepali construction companies get the projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The only fear we have is that the government might combine several small projects and announce a single project of Rs 3 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He reminded that the Public Procurement Act still has a provision that a construction company cannot be awarded more than seven projects. However, Deuja argues that this provision has never been implemented till date.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14502', 'image' => '20220213061905_20210112122909_Clipboard01.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 18:18:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14758', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Women Entrepreneurs Seek Govt Help in Establishing Women’s Industrial Park', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: A delegation of women entrepreneurs met with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba recently and handed over a memorandum requesting government’s help for establishing a Women’s Industrial Park in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">February 13: A delegation of women entrepreneurs met with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba recently and handed over a memorandum requesting government’s help for establishing a Women’s Industrial Park in the country. The delegation believes that establishing such park would help foster women’s entrepreneurship. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The Government of Nepal has a provision for industrial villages in all 77 districts of Nepal but the government has not declared any industrial park exclusively for women entrepreneurs under the Procedure for Declaration and Operation of Industrial Village, 2075, reads a statement issued by the women entrepreneurs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">According to the statement, Section 8.1 of the procedure states that “The Government of Nepal may declare women entrepreneurs as special industrial villages in accordance with the provisions of this procedure in order to attract and encourage them to enter the industry.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">South Asian Women's Development Forum (SAWDF) in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies and Panchkhal Municipality has initiated the First Women Entrepreneurs Green Industrial Park project under PPP model to promote green industrial concept in Nepal with well-integrated climate change adaptation measures. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The women entrepreneurs requested the government to declare the First Women Entrepreneurs Green Industrial Park and one green woman entrepreneurial industrial park in all the six provinces under the Procedure for Declaration and Operation of Industrial Village. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The ongoing project of green industrial park will be promoted as Agri-Tourism Green Industrial Park with the establishment of 50-60 small industries. The master plan and the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the project has been completed, the statement added. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The project contributes to Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) locally and to Nepal’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The delegation included Pramila Acharya Rijal, president of South Asian Women Development Forum; Shobha Gyawali, senior vice president of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Associations of Nepal; Reeta Simha, chairperson of the Women Entrepreneurs Committee of FNCCI; Chhaya Sharma, convener of the Women Entrepreneur Forum, CNI; and Sharada Rijal, chairperson of the Women’s Entrepreneurs Green Industrial Park Committee.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">।</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14501', 'image' => '20220213053535_picture.JPG', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 17:33:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14757', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Deprived Sector Lending of BFIs Crosses Minimum Requirement', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: Deprived sector lending of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have reached around Rs 350 billion.', 'content' => '<p><em><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Photo Courtesy: dcgf.gov.np</span></span></em></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">February 13: Deprived sector lending of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have reached around Rs 350 billion. Revised data show that the loan flow to the deprived sector is more than the minimum requirement set by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). The data were revised after the central bank changed the method of calculating the loan flow to the deprived sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the NRB, the banks and financial institutions have disbursed Rs 343 billion loan to the deprived sector as of mid-January of the current fiscal year. Out of the total loans of Rs 4.66 trillion disbursed by banks during this period, the share of loans disbursed to the deprived sector stands at 7.36 percent. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, banks had disbursed loans amounting to Rs 243.27 billion or 6.64 percent of the total loans to the deprived sector. During the review period, deprived sector lending has increased by 17.1 percent compared to in the corresponding period of last fiscal year. As per the NRB directive, banks are required to disburse at least 5 percent of their total loan (including purchase of bills and discounts) to the deprived sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Since last year, the NRB has included certain types of loans that receive government’s grant on interest as deprived sector lending. Such loans include up to Rs 1 million for commercial agriculture and livestock farming, up to Rs 1.5 million for women entrepreneurship and other concessional loans, loan of up to Rs 1.5 million to the agriculture, industry and up to Rs 1 million to the small and cottage industries. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, loans of up to Rs 1.5 million for self-employment of persons who have lost their jobs in the tourism sector due to COVID-19, loans of up to Rs 2.5 million to buy means of transportation for self-employment, and up to Rs 2 million for women entrepreneurs are also categorized as the loans for deprived sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NRB has defined women from low income and socially backward families, indigenous people, Dalits, people with disability, marginalized communities and small farmers, laborers and landless as people from the deprived class. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banks and financial institutions themselves have been disbursing loans to the poor directly and indirectly through microfinance institutions. However, in recent times, it has been criticized that the loans of the poor class are being used by the upper class. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is a provision that if the banks do not disburse the minimum amount of loan set by the central bank to the poor, they will have to pay fine equal to the maximum interest on the amount that has not been disbursed to the targeted groups.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14500', 'image' => '20220213031150_service_1543560160.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 15:10:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14756', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Leaders yet to Forge Consensus Regarding MCC', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: The extended deadline to endorse the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is fast approaching but the political parties are yet to budge from their stance. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 13: The extended deadline to endorse the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is fast approaching but the political parties are yet to budge from their stance. There is only two weeks left to endorse the MCC as per the deadline set by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. However, there are no signs that the MCC agreement will be presented to the parliament for endorsement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The ruling Nepali Congress is in favour of endorsing the MCC through parliament immediately but other coalition partners including Maoist Centre and CPN Unified Socialist are not in favour of passing the MCC in its current form. They are of the view that the MCC must be presented to the parliament only after amending some controversial provisions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Due to the stance taken by the political parties, the government has not been able to initiate the process to endorse the grant agreement.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepali Congress President Deuba, who is facing strong criticism from within the party for his decision to endorse MCC, has continued efforts to forge consensus regarding this issue. He held discussion with Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN Unified Socialist Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal on Saturday to solicit their support to endorse MCC from parliament. During the meeting, Deuba proposed presenting the MCC grant agreement in the upcoming session of parliament for endorsement. However, the two leaders said that the MCC cannot be forwarded in its present form.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The prime minister proposed presenting the MCC grant agreement in parliament. However, Chairman Dahal said it is not possible without national consensus or amendment of controversial provisions,” Dahal’s secretariat said after the meeting. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Dahal’s secretariat, Chairman Dahal and Nepal urged the prime minister to summon parliament meeting on February 16 after learning that the main opposition party CPN UML was ready to boycott the house meeting called for February 14. The House of Representatives meeting has been called for Monday, February 14. PM Deuba is in favour of presenting the MCC grant agreement for discussion during the parliament meeting on Monday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NC Spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat argues that there is no time to discuss the issue so it has to be discussed in parliament itself.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14499', 'image' => '20220213123700_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 12:36:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14755', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Former Finance Ministers Discuss Liquidity Crisis ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: Former finance ministers of Nepal discussed the economic problems such as liquidity crunch in banking and financial institutes, and the issues related the upcoming budget during a meeting of the Former Finance Ministers' Forum on Saturday (February 12). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 13: Former finance ministers of Nepal discussed the economic problems such as liquidity crunch in banking and financial institutes, and the issues related the upcoming budget during a meeting of the Former Finance Ministers' Forum on Saturday (February 12). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting was hosted by the Confederation of Banking and Financial Institutes' Nepal (CBFIN). According to CBFIN, meeting stressed on increasing remittance, capital expenditure and investment in productive sectors, decreasing imports, creating new jobs with augmentation of production, and encouraging entrepreneurship for sustainable economic development of the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting was attended by former finance ministers Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, Surendra Pande, Barshaman Pun and Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14498', 'image' => '20220213113020_Liquidity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 11:29:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14754', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Educational Institutes Reopening from Today', 'sub_title' => 'Night-time Businesses to Run till 10 pm', 'summary' => 'February 13: Educational institutes and nighttime businesses such as hotels and restaurants closed in the wake of third wave of COVID-19 will be reopening from today (February 13).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 13: Educational institutes and nighttime businesses such as hotels and restaurants closed in the wake of third wave of COVID-19 will be reopening from today (February 13). However, the government has instructed strict implementation of health and safety protocol for the operation of schools and other institutions. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the decision of the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC) , universities, schools, tuition centres, training and other educational activities, dance bars, restaurants, pubs, cinema halls, health clubs, gyms, swimming pools, and futsals will be allowed to open till 10:00 pm effective from today. The CCMC has however made safety protocol mandatory. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the CCMC had recommended the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to make arrangement of regular classes for the students above 12 year and classes on alternate days for those under 12 years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, only 50 percent of viewers are allowed for sports activities. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14497', 'image' => '20220213111333_school.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 11:12:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14753', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Downsizes Budget to Rs 1.54 Trillion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 11: The government has downsized the budget for the current fiscal year following a half-yearly review of the budget.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 11: The government has downsized the budget for the current fiscal year following a half-yearly review of the budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The incumbent government had announced a budget of Rs 1632.82 billion for the current fiscal year through the replacement bill. Unveiling the half-yearly review report of the budget on Thursday, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said that the budget has been downsized by Rs 86.54 billion to Rs 1546.28 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has been able to spend only Rs 507 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year out of which capital expenditure stands at 16.39 percent. Minister Sharma informed that the government decided to downsize the budget after realizing that the remaining budget could not be spent within the deadline.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has mostly reduced budget allocated for capital expenses targeting development works.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government had allocated Rs 378 billion for capital expenditure for the current fiscal year, which has now been reduced by Rs 38 billion. Following the review of budget, the capital expenditure now stands at Rs 340 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As of mid-January 2022, the government has been able to spend only Rs 50.8 billion of the budget allocated for capital expenditure. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Sharma claimed that the government will now meet the revised target of budget expenditure. He had earlier claimed that the government will spend 10 percent of capital expenses every month but could not keep his words.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The finance minister said that the poor spending was mainly due to three reasons – inclusion of projects in the budget without securing source of investment, inclusion of programmes under political pressure and finally legal hurdles in spending.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini claimed that the budget expenditure will increase towards to end of the fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although the government has reduced the size of budget, it has not changed its target for revenue collection. The government aims to collect revenue of Rs 11.8 billion in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-11', 'modified' => '2022-02-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14496', 'image' => '20220211055644_Budget.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-11 17:56:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14751', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Interest Rates on Loans Rising Again', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 11: As interest rates on deposits have risen, so have interest rates on loans.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">February 11: As interest rates on deposits have risen, so have interest rates on loans. Due to the liquidity crunch, banks are collecting deposits at high-interest rates. The rise of interest rates on deposits of commercial banks has also had a direct impact on the base rate and interest rates on loans.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Nepal Rastra Bank, the interest rate on loans extended by commercial banks has increased by 0.35 percentage points in one year. The weighted average interest rate on loans was 9.09 percent in January / February of last fiscal year (FY 2020/21). The weighted average interest rate on loans disbursed by commercial banks has reached 9.44 percent in the corresponding period of the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the opening of business in the current fiscal year, the demand for loans has started rising. As the demand for credit has increased, so have the interest rates of banks.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Nara Bahadur Thapa says that the increase in interest rate helps maintain financial stability. He said that the increase in interest rates would have a direct impact on industry and trade, but would also help reduce the trade deficit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"As interest rates on deposits rise, so does the cost of funds, and so does business loans. However, the trade deficit will not be reduced if interest rates are not raised as much as required,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">If interest rates rise, the capital market will stop declining, Thapa said. According to him, the capital market has gone down in Nepal due to the low interest rates. Thapa said that it would be necessary to increase the interest rate of the banks to help the capital market to rise.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The weighted average interest rate on deposits of commercial banks has also increased by 1.37 percentage points in one year. The interest rate on deposits was 5 percent in December last year. The interest rate on deposits has risen to 6.37 percent in December this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Along with the rise in interest rates, the base rate of banks has also gone up. The base rate of commercial banks has increased by 1.25 percentage points in the current fiscal year compared to the previous fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-11', 'modified' => '2022-02-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14495', 'image' => '20220211031847_interest-rates-e1541025967190.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-11 15:17:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14752', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PADT Decides to Reopen Pashupatinath Temple from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 11: Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has decided to reopen the Pashupatinath Temple from today (February 11). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 11: Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has decided to reopen the Pashupatinath Temple from today (February 11). The temple was closed since January 19 due to the third wave of coronavirus.</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 a notice issued by the Trust on Thursday, the temple is being opened as per the order of the District Administration Office, Kathmandu, on February 7, that allows worship, meditation or prayers in places like monasteries, temples, mosques, and churches by observing public health standards. </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"">Although the temple was closed for the public, the priests had given continuity to regular worship by adopting safety standards, PADT Member </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Dr Ghanashyam Khatiwada</span> had announced earlier. <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Prior to this, </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">the Pashupatinath Temple was closed for devotees during March, 2020 when the first wave of COVID-19 hit the country. The temple was reopened after nine months. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">When the second wave hit during last April, the temple authorities again closed the temple owing to the risk of Delta variant of COVID-19. The temple was reopened after nearly five months as the number of COVID-19 cases began to decline in the country. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-11', 'modified' => '2022-02-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14494', 'image' => '20220211034759_20220119043423_Nepal_Aug11_mymiFBv.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-11 15:46:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falseinclude - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
Warning (2): simplexml_load_file() [<a href='http://php.net/function.simplexml-load-file'>function.simplexml-load-file</a>]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "" [APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133]file not found!Code Context// $file = 'http://aabhiyan:QUVLg8Wzs2F7G9N7@nepalstock.com.np/api/subindexdata.xml';if(!$xml = simplexml_load_file($file)){$viewFile = '/var/www/html/newbusinessage.com/app/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp' $dataForView = array( 'articles' => array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( [maximum depth reached] ) ) ), 'current_user' => null, 'logged_in' => false ) $articles = array( (int) 0 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14765', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'CBI Warns against Illegal Online Businesses involving Cryptocurrency ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) of Nepal Police has warned the public not to get involved in illegal online business involving cryptocurrency, hyper fund and digital networking among others. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">February 14: </span><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) of Nepal Police has warned the public not to get involved in illegal online business involving cryptocurrency, hyper fund and digital networking among others. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Issuing a notice on Sunday, the CBI stated that it is minutely monitoring such businesses which is banned in the country. The CBI said that investigation has been conducted against those involved in such illegal business and actions are also being taken. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Urging one and all not to get involved in the transaction of such businesses, the CBI shared that online transaction under cryptocurrency and digital networking business have been declared illegal recently. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">CBI has also requested the public to inform the police if they find anyone involved in running such illegal business. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Prior to this, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) had recently termed networking business illegal and had also urged the general public to remain cautious about transactions involving cryptocurrency.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The central bank said that such transactions were not only vulnerable to the country's economy but also for the investors. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">According to the NRB, virtual currency lacks ‘legal tender status’ and ‘state backing’ and is considered as ‘speculative assets’.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, networking business, according to the NRB, involves pyramid scheme which has high chances of customers being duped.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Use of cryptocurrency could lead to illegal activities, especially forgery and tax evasion and the networking marketing is also illegal economic act leading to negative impact on revenue collection, the central bank stated. (With inputs from RSS) </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14508', 'image' => '20220214020518_Cryptoshutterstock_1434643079.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 14:03:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14764', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Govt tightens Investment of Cooperatives in Private Sector', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The Department of Co-operatives has tightened the investment of cooperatives in private sectors.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">February 14: The Department of Co-operatives has tightened the investment of cooperatives in private sectors.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Issuing a unified directive on Sunday, the department has made it mandatory for the cooperatives to have provision in their organisation’s statute and regulation if they want to invest in private sector organisations such as hydropower projects, hospitals, schools, campuses, hotels, petrol pumps etc.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Even though the organision’s statute has such provision, it is necessary that the investment in such sectors should be under full ownership of the cooperative and only five percent external loan can be taken while the savings of the members of cooperatives cannot be invested.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Also, the general assembly of the cooperative must endorse the decision to invest in private companies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department has tightened the investment after the operators of cooperatives started mobilizing the funds arbitrarily by setting up their own companies. Cooperatives have been investing in housing, schools and even colleges. Similarly, the department has directed the cooperatives to invest 51 percent of their total investment in productive sector such as agriculture and forestry, water resources, education, health, labor and skill development programmes.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The department issued the unified directive for the first time on Sunday after issuing the Cooperatives Act 2074. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The directive has also instructed that the cooperatives will not be allowed to distribute dividends without allocating certain amount for the risk management and a minimum of 10 percent for liquidity management.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is also a provision that only 49 percent of the board members of the cooperatives can take loan and the monthly details of the loan investment have to be submitted to the department. Similarly, the members will not be allowed to charge more than 0.50 percent while renewing loan. Cooperatives have been charging the same fees as new loan investments when renewing loans.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the directive, the cooperatives are not allowed to buy and sell shares of private companies as well as invest in real estate. In addition, they are also not allowed to advertise different offers for collecting savings through social media.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Moreover, the cooperatives are not allowed to get involved in inter-cooperative transaction. In addition, cooperatives are allowed to collect savings only from non-profit organisations, local guthi clubs, community schools and government agencies.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, it is mentioned in the directive that the cooperatives are not allowed to invest by keeping gold, silver and shares as collateral and cannot invest the loan even with the pledge of a third party.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14507', 'image' => '20220214015629_Cooperative dept.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 13:55:49', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14763', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Private Sector Cry Foul over the Hike in Interest Rates', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The private sector has protested against the increase in interest rates on deposits and loans by banks and financial institutions.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">February 14: The private sector has protested against the increase in interest rates on deposits and loans by banks and financial institutions. Private sector organizations such as the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), and the Nepal Chamber of Commerce (NCC) have strongly protested the hike in interest rates and have demanded that the rates be brought down to previous level.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Commercial banks, development banks, and finance companies have raised interest rates with effect from Sunday. The private sector has objected that the interest rate on loans gets increased only after the banks increase the interest rate on deposits intending to increase deposits.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The private sector has demanded immediate reconsideration of interest rates. The private sector organizations say the rise in interest rates has hit the industrial sector hard at a time when it has just begun to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The FNCCI issued a statement on Friday demanding postponement of the decision of the Nepal Bankers Association to raise the interest rates. The CNI and the NCC have also objected to the interest rate hike after banks and financial institutions published notice on Saturday stating that the interest rates will be increased from February 13.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"If the interest rates on deposits continue to rise every quarter, it will not be possible to do business in the country," the statement said. The FNCCI has said that the country will not be able to estimate business costs while the interest rates remain volatile.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The CNI has said that the rise in interest rates has increased the risk to the economy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The confederation said that the increase in interest rates would put the economy at greater risk at a time when the government, the Nepal Rastra Bank, and the private sector were trying to resolve the existing problems of the economy. The confederation has suggested that a policy be introduced to change interest rates on a quarterly basis rather than monthly basis.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The NCC said that raising interest rates would only benefit the banking sector and hurt the industrial sector. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Chairman of Nepal Bankers Association Anil Kumar Upadhyaya, on the other hand, said that the interest rates have been increased as per the demand of the market. "There is still a lack of liquidity in the banking sector. In such a case, we have increased the interest rate so that the deposit will increase,” he said. He says there is no need to panic due to the rise in interest rates. "This is not always the case," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Nepal Rastra Bank's Executive Director and Spokesperson Dr Gunakar Bhatta said that the central bank has not intervened in determining the interest rates. "Interest rates are set by the market. And, the banks have fixed the interest rates within the limits set by the NRB as per the market demand,” he said, adding, “NRB has no hand in this.”</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banking expert Analraj Bhattarai said the decision to raise interest rates was immature. "In the current scenario, it would have been better to raise interest rates and capital charges on loans to unproductive sectors than to raise interest rates on deposits," he said.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former Governor Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri, on the other hand, welcomed the decision to increase the interest rates. "Interest rates are a more effective factor in managing financial resources than using other financial tools. At a time when there is lack of liquidity in the market, there is no alternative but to raise interest rates,” he said. He said that the flow of credit to unproductive sectors should also be discouraged.</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 /> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14506', 'image' => '20220214013728_interest-rates-e1541025967190.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 13:36:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14762', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'BFIs Urged to Analyze Climate Change Risk', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: Banks and Financial Institutions (BFIs) will have to analyze the risk posed by climate change from now onwards.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">February 14: Banks and Financial Institutions (BFIs) will have to analyze the risk posed by climate change from now onwards.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Amending the Guidelines on Environment and Social Risk Management (ESRM) for Banks and Financial Institutions on Sunday, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has made it mandatory for BFIs to analyze such risks.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">A notice issued by the central bank states that commercial banks, development banks and finance companies need to analyze the risk posed by climate change.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Prior to this, banks had to analyze only the environmental and social risks. Now, they have been instructed to make assessment of risk posed by climate change as well, informed Dev Kumar Dhakal, executive director of Nepal Rastra Bank.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Of late, lots of incidents related to climate change are occurring in Nepal. Taking this into consideration, the central bank has instructed BFIs to make assessment of risk posed by climate change.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""><span style="font-size:15.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Climate change has had negative impact on hydropower projects and agriculture sector of Nepal. Flash floods triggered by climate change have been damaging infrastructures of hydropower projects. Similar problems have surfaced in the agriculture sector. BFIs have been providing considerable amount of loans to these sectors. Therefore, the central bank argues that BFIs need to make proper assessment of risk posed by climate change.</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14505', 'image' => '20220214112837_Banks - Copy.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 11:27:25', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14761', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '21 Accusations against Chief Justice Rana ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: The lawmakers of the ruling political parties have stated 21 accusations against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana in the impeachment motion registered at the federal parliament secretariat on Sunday. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 14: The lawmakers of the ruling political parties have stated 21 accusations against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana in the impeachment motion registered at the federal parliament secretariat on Sunday. A total of 98 lawmakers signed for the impeachment. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">They have accused CJ Rana of being incompetent to uphold democracy, human rights, rule of law, constitutional supremacy and independence of judiciary. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to the lawmakers, anomalies and aberration, corruption and brokering thrived in the judiciary during his term and misuse of authority went unchecked. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Another accusation is that the arbitrary use of constitutional rights and responsibility ruined the image of entire judiciary in the country. The CJ was slow to ensure the rule of law in the country, the charge sheet states. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">CJ Rana's activities and decisions invited severe criticisms as he worked against code of conduct and against law, the MPs said. He failed to maintain checks and balance between the state organs, the accusations went on. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He even did not exhibit moral ground to retain public trust on judiciary, and became incompetent to contribute for long term importance from the view point of jurisprudence, among others. -- RSS </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""> </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14504', 'image' => '20220214075435_1644732023.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 07:53:51', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14760', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Impeachment Motion Registered against Chief Justice Rana', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 14: Lawmakers of the ruling parties have registered an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana at the parliament secretariat.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">February 14: Lawmakers of the ruling parties have registered an impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana at the parliament secretariat. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Altogether 98 MPs of the ruling coalition registered the impeachment motion at the parliament secretariat on Sunday (February 13) in accordance with Article 101 of the Constitution. The MPs from Nepali C ongress, CPN (Maoist Centre) and CPN (Unified Socialist) have accused CJ Rana of being incompetent. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The impeachment motion was initiated by Nepali Congress lawmaker Dr Pushpa Bhushal, CPN (Maoist Centre) lawmaker Dev Prasad Gurung and CPN (Unified Socialist) lawmaker Jiban Ram Shrestha and was backed by 95 lawmakers including Nepali Congress lawmaker Dr Minendra Rijal.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Dilendra Prasad Badu had also reached the parliament secretariat to register the impeachment motion.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Minister Badu argued that the court proceedings have been disrupted for almost four months due to the chief justice.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">“The government did not have the right to intervene in judicial matters due to the independence of judiciary and separation of power in line with the principle of check and balance,” said Minister Badu. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">As per the constitutional provision, after the commencement of impeachment proceedings, the chief justice shall not be allowed to discharge the duties of his office. This is a kind of suspension from the office until the case is settled. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Article 101 (2) states one fourth of the total members of the House of Representatives may file a motion of impeachment against the chief justice or a judge of the Supreme Court, member of the Judicial Council, chief or official of a constitutional body on the ground of his or her failure to fulfil his or her duties because of serious violation of this constitution and law, incompetence or misconduct or failure to discharge the duties of office honestly or serious violation of the code of conduct. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">If the motion is passed by at least two-thirds majority of MPs, the chief justice shall be relieved of his duties. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The constitution, however, guarantees a person charged with impeachment with a reasonable opportunity to defend himself/herself. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Supreme Court’s senior-most justice Deepak Kumar Karki has been appointed as the acting chief justice with the registration of the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Rana.</span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The main opposition party CPN (UML) has termed the impeachment motion against the chief justice as a conspiracy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A meeting of the party's secretariat held at the residence of Chairman KP Sharma Oli on Sunday evening concluded that the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana was an attack on the court and democracy. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">UML general secretary Shankar Pokharel said the party has decided to challenge the move. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Pokharel also stated that the recent step was a conspiracy to destabilise the relations between the ruling and opposition parties. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-14', 'modified' => '2022-02-14', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14503', 'image' => '20220214075153_Supreme Court.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-14 07:50:30', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14759', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Only a Handful of Companies meet Criteria to Bag Contracts of Rs 3 Billion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: The government has increased the limit for awarding contracts to domestic construction companies to Rs 3 billion.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 13: The government has increased the limit for awarding contracts to domestic construction companies to Rs 3 billion. However, there are only a handful of companies that have the capacity to meet this criteria.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">There are more than 17,000 construction companies officially registered with the Federation of Contractors Association of Nepal (FCAN). However, only a dozen of them meet the criteria to bag contracts of up to Rs 3 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government had amended the limit from Rs 1 billion to Rs 3 billion. That means foreign companies cannot bid for projects of less than Rs 3 billion. This provision has made it easy for the domestic companies to bag such contracts. However, there are only 10 to 12 such companies that meet the criteria. Chairman of FCAN Ravi Singh believes this provision has increased the possibility of carteling</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Chairman Singh, the number of such companies can be increased to 40 by taking into consideration 60 percent experience and giving 40 percent weightage to their certificate.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“There are limited number of companies that can bag contracts up to Rs 3 billion. This will benefit only a handful of companies,” said Singh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“Side by side, the government has also introduced a provision that one company cannot be given more than five projects. This provision will nevertheless discourage carteling,” he added.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He further said that the delay in completion of projects mainly due to a single company being awarded 40 projects at once will no longer exist. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“This will help in fair distribution of projects to all companies and thereby ensure timely completion of work,” added Singh.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Singh further said that big construction companies used to take even small projects in the past. But that trend will now come to an end and small contractors will also get projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Former general secretary of FCAN Ram Sharan Deuja says this is a positive development as it helps Nepali construction companies get the projects.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The only fear we have is that the government might combine several small projects and announce a single project of Rs 3 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">He reminded that the Public Procurement Act still has a provision that a construction company cannot be awarded more than seven projects. However, Deuja argues that this provision has never been implemented till date.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14502', 'image' => '20220213061905_20210112122909_Clipboard01.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 18:18:16', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14758', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Women Entrepreneurs Seek Govt Help in Establishing Women’s Industrial Park', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: A delegation of women entrepreneurs met with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba recently and handed over a memorandum requesting government’s help for establishing a Women’s Industrial Park in the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">February 13: A delegation of women entrepreneurs met with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba recently and handed over a memorandum requesting government’s help for establishing a Women’s Industrial Park in the country. The delegation believes that establishing such park would help foster women’s entrepreneurship. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The Government of Nepal has a provision for industrial villages in all 77 districts of Nepal but the government has not declared any industrial park exclusively for women entrepreneurs under the Procedure for Declaration and Operation of Industrial Village, 2075, reads a statement issued by the women entrepreneurs.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">According to the statement, Section 8.1 of the procedure states that “The Government of Nepal may declare women entrepreneurs as special industrial villages in accordance with the provisions of this procedure in order to attract and encourage them to enter the industry.” </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">South Asian Women's Development Forum (SAWDF) in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies and Panchkhal Municipality has initiated the First Women Entrepreneurs Green Industrial Park project under PPP model to promote green industrial concept in Nepal with well-integrated climate change adaptation measures. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The women entrepreneurs requested the government to declare the First Women Entrepreneurs Green Industrial Park and one green woman entrepreneurial industrial park in all the six provinces under the Procedure for Declaration and Operation of Industrial Village. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The ongoing project of green industrial park will be promoted as Agri-Tourism Green Industrial Park with the establishment of 50-60 small industries. The master plan and the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the project has been completed, the statement added. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The project contributes to Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) locally and to Nepal’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Kokila","sans-serif"">The delegation included Pramila Acharya Rijal, president of South Asian Women Development Forum; Shobha Gyawali, senior vice president of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Associations of Nepal; Reeta Simha, chairperson of the Women Entrepreneurs Committee of FNCCI; Chhaya Sharma, convener of the Women Entrepreneur Forum, CNI; and Sharada Rijal, chairperson of the Women’s Entrepreneurs Green Industrial Park Committee.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Nirmala UI","sans-serif"">।</span></span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14501', 'image' => '20220213053535_picture.JPG', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 17:33:32', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14757', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Deprived Sector Lending of BFIs Crosses Minimum Requirement', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: Deprived sector lending of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have reached around Rs 350 billion.', 'content' => '<p><em><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif""> Photo Courtesy: dcgf.gov.np</span></span></em></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">February 13: Deprived sector lending of banks and financial institutions (BFIs) have reached around Rs 350 billion. Revised data show that the loan flow to the deprived sector is more than the minimum requirement set by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). The data were revised after the central bank changed the method of calculating the loan flow to the deprived sector.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to the NRB, the banks and financial institutions have disbursed Rs 343 billion loan to the deprived sector as of mid-January of the current fiscal year. Out of the total loans of Rs 4.66 trillion disbursed by banks during this period, the share of loans disbursed to the deprived sector stands at 7.36 percent. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">In the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, banks had disbursed loans amounting to Rs 243.27 billion or 6.64 percent of the total loans to the deprived sector. During the review period, deprived sector lending has increased by 17.1 percent compared to in the corresponding period of last fiscal year. As per the NRB directive, banks are required to disburse at least 5 percent of their total loan (including purchase of bills and discounts) to the deprived sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Since last year, the NRB has included certain types of loans that receive government’s grant on interest as deprived sector lending. Such loans include up to Rs 1 million for commercial agriculture and livestock farming, up to Rs 1.5 million for women entrepreneurship and other concessional loans, loan of up to Rs 1.5 million to the agriculture, industry and up to Rs 1 million to the small and cottage industries. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Similarly, loans of up to Rs 1.5 million for self-employment of persons who have lost their jobs in the tourism sector due to COVID-19, loans of up to Rs 2.5 million to buy means of transportation for self-employment, and up to Rs 2 million for women entrepreneurs are also categorized as the loans for deprived sector. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">NRB has defined women from low income and socially backward families, indigenous people, Dalits, people with disability, marginalized communities and small farmers, laborers and landless as people from the deprived class. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Banks and financial institutions themselves have been disbursing loans to the poor directly and indirectly through microfinance institutions. However, in recent times, it has been criticized that the loans of the poor class are being used by the upper class. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">There is a provision that if the banks do not disburse the minimum amount of loan set by the central bank to the poor, they will have to pay fine equal to the maximum interest on the amount that has not been disbursed to the targeted groups.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14500', 'image' => '20220213031150_service_1543560160.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 15:10:43', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14756', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Leaders yet to Forge Consensus Regarding MCC', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: The extended deadline to endorse the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is fast approaching but the political parties are yet to budge from their stance. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 13: The extended deadline to endorse the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is fast approaching but the political parties are yet to budge from their stance. There is only two weeks left to endorse the MCC as per the deadline set by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. However, there are no signs that the MCC agreement will be presented to the parliament for endorsement. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The ruling Nepali Congress is in favour of endorsing the MCC through parliament immediately but other coalition partners including Maoist Centre and CPN Unified Socialist are not in favour of passing the MCC in its current form. They are of the view that the MCC must be presented to the parliament only after amending some controversial provisions.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Due to the stance taken by the political parties, the government has not been able to initiate the process to endorse the grant agreement.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Nepali Congress President Deuba, who is facing strong criticism from within the party for his decision to endorse MCC, has continued efforts to forge consensus regarding this issue. He held discussion with Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN Unified Socialist Chairman Madhav Kumar Nepal on Saturday to solicit their support to endorse MCC from parliament. During the meeting, Deuba proposed presenting the MCC grant agreement in the upcoming session of parliament for endorsement. However, the two leaders said that the MCC cannot be forwarded in its present form.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">“The prime minister proposed presenting the MCC grant agreement in parliament. However, Chairman Dahal said it is not possible without national consensus or amendment of controversial provisions,” Dahal’s secretariat said after the meeting. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">According to Dahal’s secretariat, Chairman Dahal and Nepal urged the prime minister to summon parliament meeting on February 16 after learning that the main opposition party CPN UML was ready to boycott the house meeting called for February 14. The House of Representatives meeting has been called for Monday, February 14. PM Deuba is in favour of presenting the MCC grant agreement for discussion during the parliament meeting on Monday.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">NC Spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat argues that there is no time to discuss the issue so it has to be discussed in parliament itself.</span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14499', 'image' => '20220213123700_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 12:36:20', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14755', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Former Finance Ministers Discuss Liquidity Crisis ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 13: Former finance ministers of Nepal discussed the economic problems such as liquidity crunch in banking and financial institutes, and the issues related the upcoming budget during a meeting of the Former Finance Ministers' Forum on Saturday (February 12). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 13: Former finance ministers of Nepal discussed the economic problems such as liquidity crunch in banking and financial institutes, and the issues related the upcoming budget during a meeting of the Former Finance Ministers' Forum on Saturday (February 12). </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting was hosted by the Confederation of Banking and Financial Institutes' Nepal (CBFIN). According to CBFIN, meeting stressed on increasing remittance, capital expenditure and investment in productive sectors, decreasing imports, creating new jobs with augmentation of production, and encouraging entrepreneurship for sustainable economic development of the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The meeting was attended by former finance ministers Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, Surendra Pande, Barshaman Pun and Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14498', 'image' => '20220213113020_Liquidity.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 11:29:35', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14754', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Educational Institutes Reopening from Today', 'sub_title' => 'Night-time Businesses to Run till 10 pm', 'summary' => 'February 13: Educational institutes and nighttime businesses such as hotels and restaurants closed in the wake of third wave of COVID-19 will be reopening from today (February 13).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 13: Educational institutes and nighttime businesses such as hotels and restaurants closed in the wake of third wave of COVID-19 will be reopening from today (February 13). However, the government has instructed strict implementation of health and safety protocol for the operation of schools and other institutions. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">As per the decision of the COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC) , universities, schools, tuition centres, training and other educational activities, dance bars, restaurants, pubs, cinema halls, health clubs, gyms, swimming pools, and futsals will be allowed to open till 10:00 pm effective from today. The CCMC has however made safety protocol mandatory. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, the CCMC had recommended the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to make arrangement of regular classes for the students above 12 year and classes on alternate days for those under 12 years. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Similarly, only 50 percent of viewers are allowed for sports activities. -- RSS </span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-13', 'modified' => '2022-02-13', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14497', 'image' => '20220213111333_school.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-13 11:12:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14753', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Downsizes Budget to Rs 1.54 Trillion', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 11: The government has downsized the budget for the current fiscal year following a half-yearly review of the budget.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">February 11: The government has downsized the budget for the current fiscal year following a half-yearly review of the budget. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The incumbent government had announced a budget of Rs 1632.82 billion for the current fiscal year through the replacement bill. Unveiling the half-yearly review report of the budget on Thursday, Finance Minister Janardan Sharma said that the budget has been downsized by Rs 86.54 billion to Rs 1546.28 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has been able to spend only Rs 507 billion in the first six months of the current fiscal year out of which capital expenditure stands at 16.39 percent. Minister Sharma informed that the government decided to downsize the budget after realizing that the remaining budget could not be spent within the deadline.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government has mostly reduced budget allocated for capital expenses targeting development works.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The government had allocated Rs 378 billion for capital expenditure for the current fiscal year, which has now been reduced by Rs 38 billion. Following the review of budget, the capital expenditure now stands at Rs 340 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">As of mid-January 2022, the government has been able to spend only Rs 50.8 billion of the budget allocated for capital expenditure. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Minister Sharma claimed that the government will now meet the revised target of budget expenditure. He had earlier claimed that the government will spend 10 percent of capital expenses every month but could not keep his words.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">The finance minister said that the poor spending was mainly due to three reasons – inclusion of projects in the budget without securing source of investment, inclusion of programmes under political pressure and finally legal hurdles in spending.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Meanwhile, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini claimed that the budget expenditure will increase towards to end of the fiscal year. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif"">Although the government has reduced the size of budget, it has not changed its target for revenue collection. The government aims to collect revenue of Rs 11.8 billion in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-11', 'modified' => '2022-02-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14496', 'image' => '20220211055644_Budget.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-11 17:56:09', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14751', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Interest Rates on Loans Rising Again', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 11: As interest rates on deposits have risen, so have interest rates on loans.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">February 11: As interest rates on deposits have risen, so have interest rates on loans. Due to the liquidity crunch, banks are collecting deposits at high-interest rates. The rise of interest rates on deposits of commercial banks has also had a direct impact on the base rate and interest rates on loans.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">According to Nepal Rastra Bank, the interest rate on loans extended by commercial banks has increased by 0.35 percentage points in one year. The weighted average interest rate on loans was 9.09 percent in January / February of last fiscal year (FY 2020/21). The weighted average interest rate on loans disbursed by commercial banks has reached 9.44 percent in the corresponding period of the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">With the opening of business in the current fiscal year, the demand for loans has started rising. As the demand for credit has increased, so have the interest rates of banks.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Former Executive Director of Nepal Rastra Bank Nara Bahadur Thapa says that the increase in interest rate helps maintain financial stability. He said that the increase in interest rates would have a direct impact on industry and trade, but would also help reduce the trade deficit.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">"As interest rates on deposits rise, so does the cost of funds, and so does business loans. However, the trade deficit will not be reduced if interest rates are not raised as much as required,” he said.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">If interest rates rise, the capital market will stop declining, Thapa said. According to him, the capital market has gone down in Nepal due to the low interest rates. Thapa said that it would be necessary to increase the interest rate of the banks to help the capital market to rise.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The weighted average interest rate on deposits of commercial banks has also increased by 1.37 percentage points in one year. The interest rate on deposits was 5 percent in December last year. The interest rate on deposits has risen to 6.37 percent in December this year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Along with the rise in interest rates, the base rate of banks has also gone up. The base rate of commercial banks has increased by 1.25 percentage points in the current fiscal year compared to the previous fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-11', 'modified' => '2022-02-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14495', 'image' => '20220211031847_interest-rates-e1541025967190.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-11 15:17:50', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14752', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PADT Decides to Reopen Pashupatinath Temple from Today', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'February 11: Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has decided to reopen the Pashupatinath Temple from today (February 11). ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">February 11: Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) has decided to reopen the Pashupatinath Temple from today (February 11). The temple was closed since January 19 due to the third wave of coronavirus.</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 a notice issued by the Trust on Thursday, the temple is being opened as per the order of the District Administration Office, Kathmandu, on February 7, that allows worship, meditation or prayers in places like monasteries, temples, mosques, and churches by observing public health standards. </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"">Although the temple was closed for the public, the priests had given continuity to regular worship by adopting safety standards, PADT Member </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Dr Ghanashyam Khatiwada</span> had announced earlier. <br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Prior to this, </span><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">the Pashupatinath Temple was closed for devotees during March, 2020 when the first wave of COVID-19 hit the country. The temple was reopened after nine months. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">When the second wave hit during last April, the temple authorities again closed the temple owing to the risk of Delta variant of COVID-19. The temple was reopened after nearly five months as the number of COVID-19 cases began to decline in the country. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2022-02-11', 'modified' => '2022-02-11', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '14494', 'image' => '20220211034759_20220119043423_Nepal_Aug11_mymiFBv.jpg', 'article_date' => '2022-02-11 15:46:45', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ) ) $current_user = null $logged_in = false $xml = falsesimplexml_load_file - [internal], line ?? include - APP/View/Elements/side_bar.ctp, line 133 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::_renderElement() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 1224 View::element() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 418 include - APP/View/Articles/index.ctp, line 157 View::_evaluate() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 971 View::_render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 933 View::render() - CORE/Cake/View/View.php, line 473 Controller::render() - CORE/Cake/Controller/Controller.php, line 968 Dispatcher::_invoke() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 200 Dispatcher::dispatch() - CORE/Cake/Routing/Dispatcher.php, line 167 [main] - APP/webroot/index.php, line 117
| Currency | Unit |
Buy | Sell |
| U.S. Dollar | 1 | 121.23 | 121.83 |
| European Euro | 1 | 131.65 | 132.31 |
| UK Pound Sterling | 1 | 142.47 | 143.18 |
| Swiss Franc | 1 | 124.29 | 124.90 |
| Australian Dollar | 1 | 71.69 | 72.05 |
| Canadian Dollar | 1 | 83.90 | 84.32 |
| Japanese Yen | 10 | 10.94 | 11.00 |
| Chinese Yuan | 1 | 17.17 | 17.26 |
| Saudi Arabian Riyal | 1 | 32.27 | 32.43 |
| UAE Dirham | 1 | 33.01 | 33.17 |
| Malaysian Ringgit | 1 | 27.36 | 27.50 |
| South Korean Won | 100 | 9.77 | 9.82 |
Update: 2020-03-25 | Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB)
| Fine Gold | 1 tola | 77000.00 |
| Tejabi Gold | 1 tola | 76700.00 |
| Silver | 1 tola | 720.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
Source: Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association
| Petrol | 1 Liter | 106.00 |
| Diesel | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| Kerosene | 1 Liter | 95.00 |
| LP Gas | 1 Cylinder | 1375.00 |
Update : 2020-03-25
