October 26: The government has appointed Rabidra Ghimire as the chairman of Nepal Reinsurance Company Limited.…
October 26: The government has appointed Rabidra Ghimire as the chairman of Nepal Reinsurance Company Limited.…
October 25: The prices of garlands are expected to increase during the festival of Tihar this year.…
October 25: The monsoon-induced disaster including the recent post-monsoon rains have created a loss of around Rs 4 billion due to the damages caused on roads and bridges across the country in the current fiscal…
October 25: The 14th Chrysanthemum Flower Expo is all set to kick off in Lalitpur from this…
October 25: A total of 26 districts have been badly affected by the post-monsoon disaster triggered by torrential rainfall since October…
October 25: Chief Justice Cholendra SJB Rana, who has courted controversy for seeking a quota to appoint a minister, is in deep crisis after 14 justices decided to boycott a full court meeting called by the chief justice for October…
October 25: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has assured of relief assistance to the survivors of recent incidents of water-induced disasters across the…
October 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has launched its services to the hill districts of Far Western…
October 24: Foreign Minister Dr Narayan Khadka has said that the ratification of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is not possible without the consensus among political…
October 24: Foreign investors have pledged a total investment of Rs 150 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, according to the quarterly report published by the Department of Industry…
October 24: Continuous rainfall during last week resulted in floods and landslides in many places of the country.…
October 24: The National Vigilance Centre lacks budget and technical staff to carry out technical assessment of its development projects, the state-owned national news agency RSS…
October 24: The 35-kilometer Jayanagar-Kurta cross-border narrow gauge railway has been upgraded to broad gauge with the financial assistance of the Indian…
October 24: Many domestic tourists visiting Mugu district on the occasion of Dashain festival have been stranded as flights to and from the district have been suspended due to rain since October…
October 22: Commercial banks have lowered the interest rate on fixed deposits to single digit following the intervention of Nepal Rastra…
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 26: The government has appointed Rabidra Ghimire as the chairman of Nepal Reinsurance Company Limited. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday (October 25) appointed Ghimire to the post for a four-year term.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, who is also the spokesperson of the government, confirmed that the cabinet meeting on Monday appointed Ghimire as the chairman of the company.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ghimire is a professor at the Pokhara University School of Business as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, Madan Pokharel has been appointed to the position of director of the company. Nepal Reinsurance Company is a government-owned company.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The cabinet meeting also approved the resignation of the chairman of Nepal Airlines Corporation Sushil Ghimire and appointed Yubaraj Adhikari as the Acting chairman of the state-owned airline company.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sushil Ghimire had resigned on moral grounds after the change in government. He was reportedly appointed chairman of NAC upon the recommendation of former minister Yogesh Bhattarai.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13930', 'image' => '20211026111845_20210315114314_20200630093335_Reinsurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 11:18:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14184', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Globe Amaranth Garland to Cost up to Rs 100 during Upcoming Tihar', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: The prices of garlands are expected to increase during the festival of Tihar this year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 25: The prices of garlands are expected to increase during the festival of Tihar this year. The retail price of garland made up of Makhamali flower (globe amaranth) per piece is expected to reach up to Rs 100.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The main reason for the hike in the prices of garlands is the decline in production of flowers in the country. Lately, the floriculture business has been greatly hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the unseasonal rain. This has resulted in a decline of flower production.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the Floriculture Association of Nepal, the price of 1 meter long Makhamali (globe amaranth) garland is expected to cost up to Rs 100, which is Rs 20 more as compared to the price of last year. The price of the same garland was Rs 80 last year. The price of garland is generally determined by its length.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the preliminary data of the association, the floriculture sector has sustained damage between 30 to 35 percent damage due to the recent unseasonal rainfall. Similarly, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, about 22 percent florists have given up on flower business causing a decline in the overall production. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to Bishwa Mani Pokharel, general secretary of the association, the unseasonal rainfall has caused severe damage to floriculture in Chitwan, Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Dang, Kathmandu, Dhading, Nuwakot and Kavrepalanchok districts. He added that 85 percent of the demand for Makhamali (globe amaranth) flower during the festival would be supplied by the domestic production and the remaining 15 percent would be imported into the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Despite the increase in the price of garlands compared to last year, the association has estimated that around 1.8 million garlands will be consumed in the country this year. As per the estimation, 1.5 million garlands of marigold flowers, 300,000 garlands of globe amaranth flower and 15,000 garlands of Indian<strong> </strong>chrysanthemum will be consumed during this Tihar festival.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The floriculture business is spread over 43 districts of the country. The total investment on floriculture is around Rs 6 billion. Altogether 700 entrepreneurs are involved in the business, which has given employment to more than 40,000 people. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13929', 'image' => '20211025012454_Globe-Amaranth-x538.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 13:24:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14183', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Floods, Landslides Inflict Damage worth Rs 4 Billion to Roads', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: The monsoon-induced disaster including the recent post-monsoon rains have created a loss of around Rs 4 billion due to the damages caused on roads and bridges across the country in the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 25: The monsoon-induced disaster including the recent post-monsoon rains have created a loss of around Rs 4 billion due to the damages caused on roads and bridges across the country in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Due to the continuous rainfall for some days since October 17, the country has incurred an estimated loss of Rs 1.5 billion since mid-October alone. The Department of Roads estimates that this amount will further increase as more details of the damage are yet to be collected.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Spokesperson of the department Shiva Prasad Nepal said that the details of the damage are still being collected from some places and the extent of damage is likely to increase. Earlier, rainfall since mid-June had caused damage worth Rs 2.40 billion. During this time, more than 100 roads and 26 bridges have been damaged.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“This year the loss is expected to reach close to Rs 4 billion,” he said, adding, “Our team has not been able to reach Bajhang and other areas in western Nepal. Due to this, the total extent of damage will increase by the time the full details are available.” The Meteorological Forecasting Department informed this was the first time that such a massive rainfall occurred in October in almost 80 years.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Experts believe that climate change has altered the pattern of rainfall. Spokesperson Nepal says that the roads and transport infrastructure have been severely damaged due to the haphazard digging of roads. “Recently, the rising water level in the river touched the bridges,” he said, “As plotting is done in Terai by blocking the natural flow of the water, Terai will now always be flooded.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Stating that more and more roads are being built in the Terai, he said that it is necessary to control and manage the natural flow of rivers and streams.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The incessant rain in the first few days of after mid-October have damaged roads in 19 places across the country while bridges have also collapsed. According to the Department of Roads, during this period, there has been a loss of more than Rs 1 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Roads in Kalikot, Sindhuli, Manang, Salyan, Pyuthan, Dhankuta, Bajhang, Darchula, Okhaldhunga, Syangja, Doti, Dadeldhura and Baitadi districts have been damaged due to the rain. Of these, the Dumre-Beshisahar-Chame road section has been damaged at three places in Manang district is still blocked. These roads have been blocked since October 19.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Heavy rains have damaged the Siddhartha Highway as well as Dhangadhi-Sahajpur-Budar-Syaule, Satbanjha-Thaktoli-Darchula-Tinker roads of Mid-Hills Highway. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13928', 'image' => '20211025010101_20211020080208_SBS_Kanchanpur-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 13:00:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14181', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Flower Expo to Kick off on Friday', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: The 14th Chrysanthemum Flower Expo is all set to kick off in Lalitpur from this Friday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 25: The 14th Chrysanthemum Flower Expo is all set to kick off in Lalitpur from this Friday. The exhibition is scheduled to be held from October 29 to November 1 at Jawlakhel Sports Ground. The flower expo is being organized by Floriculture Association Nepal with support from the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Directorate of Agriculture Development, Floriculture Development Center, Bagmati Province.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The expo is being organized on the occasion of Tihar festival, during which the trade of flowers is highest. The association hopes that the event would help revive the flower business that has been hampered greatly by the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The entrance fee has been fixed at Rs 100 for the general public and Rs 50 for students. The organisers are expecting more than 35,000 people to visit the exhibition. The association is hopeful of transaction of flowers worth Rs 5 million during the exhibition, said Bishwa Mani Pokharel, general secretary of the association.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13927', 'image' => '20211025114950_flower.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 11:49:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14182', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '117 Die in Post-Monsoon Disaster, 26 Districts Affected ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: A total of 26 districts have been badly affected by the post-monsoon disaster triggered by torrential rainfall since October 17.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><em><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A flood victim of Bhimdutta Municipality of Mahendranagar points out to his hut damaged by the recent post-monsoon disaster. Photo: RSS</span></em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">October 25: A total of 26 districts have been badly affected by the post-monsoon disaster triggered by torrential rainfall since October 17. According to the government authorities, floods and landslides in different parts of the country have so far claimed the lives of 117 people. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">The post-monsoon rainfall was caused by the combined effect of the wind from the Bay of Bengal and the westerly wind. It resulted in floods, landslides and inundation in 26 districts, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. <br /> Province-1 was the worst affected by the disaster. It recorded the maximum number of casualties followed by Sudurpachim Province.<br /> In the first two days (October 17 and 18), Sudurpaschim Province recorded huge loss of lives and properties, which later shifted to Province-1. Comparatively, other provinces were less affected. <br /> The data shared by the Home Ministry on Sunday (October 24) confirmed the deaths of 117 people due to the post-monsoon disaster. <br /> In the last 36 hours, five bodies of those missing were recovered, while 32 others are still missing, RSS reported citing the chief of the Disaster Management Division at the Home Ministry, Humkala Pande. <br /> Of the killed ones, 56 are men, 35 women and 25 children. Similarly, among those missing are 13 are men, 7 women and 12 children. <br /> Meanwhile, 44 persons have been injured by the floods and landslides while some of them have returned home after treatment, Pande added. <br /> The Home Ministry further stated that 118 houses were destroyed and 30 houses were partially damaged. <br /> According to RSS, climate change expert Dr Ngamindra Dahal said that such torrential rainfall caused after monsoon could be linked to climate change. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Rainfall has largely subsided while the Meterological Forecasting Division has forecast generally cloudy weather in different parts of the country.</span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13926', 'image' => '20211025120700_RPP-Kanchanpur-BadhiPidita.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 12:06:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14180', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Chief Justice in Crisis after 14 Justices Decide to Boycott Full Court Meeting', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: Chief Justice Cholendra SJB Rana, who has courted controversy for seeking a quota to appoint a minister, is in deep crisis after 14 justices decided to boycott a full court meeting called by the chief justice for October 25.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 25: Chief Justice Cholendra SJB Rana, who has courted controversy for seeking a quota to appoint a minister, is in deep crisis after 14 justices decided to boycott a full court meeting called by the chief justice for October 25. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A meeting of the 14 justices of the Supreme Court on Sunday (October 24) decided to boycott the full court meeting summoned by the CJ. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The chief justice is under pressure to resign from his post after the justices decided not to show up at the full court. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Justices Deepak Kumar Karki, Meera Khadka, Hari Krishna Karki, Bishwanbhar Prasad Shrestha, Ananda Mohan Bhattarai, Prakash Man Singh Raut, Bam Kumar Shrestha, Tanka Bahadur Moktan, Prakash Kumar Dhungana, Sushma Lata Mathema, Kumar Regmi, Hari Prasad Fuyal, Manoj Kumar Sharma and Nahakul Subedi were present during Sunday’s meeting that decided to boycott the full court.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Justice Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada is in the United States for an official visit while other four justices – Sapana Malla Pradhan, Kumar Sinha, Tej Bahadur KC and Kumar Chudal were outside the Kathmandu Valley during Sunday’s meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The 14 justices had convened a meeting after their lunch break instead of returning to their respective benches on Sunday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Meanwhile, CJ Rana held meeting with office bearers of Nepal Bar Association the same day and decided to call the full court meeting. However, the full court meeting has become uncertain after the justices decided not to attend it.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">CJ Rana defended himself during his meeting with the officials of the bar association stating that the media reports regarding his involvement in seeking a share in cabinet is not true. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13925', 'image' => '20211025111744_20201127115547_20200417094838_CKC_ktm.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 11:17:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14179', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Reassures of Relief to Survivors of Floods and Landslides ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has assured of relief assistance to the survivors of recent incidents of water-induced disasters across the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 25: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has assured of relief assistance to the survivors of recent incidents of water-induced disasters across the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Talking to media persons briefly at Biratnagar Airport on Sunday, the Prime Minister Deuba said that the government would ensure food and proper shelter for the affected households. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Expressing sorrow over the losses of valuable lives and properties to the incidents of floods and landslides, the head of the government thanked security personnel engaged in the rescue and relief efforts in the disaster-hit areas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Prime Minister said that the Council of Ministers would soon meet to take necessary decisions for providing relief to the survivors. He also took time to say that the government would work in a planned way for the prevention and mitigation of possible floods and landslides in the future. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He pledged to provide immediate relief to the victims by making a short and long term plans. On the occasion, Chief District Officer, Morang, Kashi Raj Dahal apprised the PM of the losses caused by flooding and landslides. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">PM Deuba also inspected the affected areas of Ilam and Panchthar districts the same day, said assistant CDO Mahesh Timsina. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The PM was accompanied by Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal and Vice President of the Nepali Congress Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13924', 'image' => '20211025081428_1629027828.pm deuba.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 08:13:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14178', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC Starts Test Flights to Doti, Bajhang ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has launched its services to the hill districts of Far Western Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has launched its services to the hill districts of Far Western Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The national flag-carrier has extended the services to the hill destinations of the Far West bearing in mind the inconvenience to the people caused by the current obstruction of roadways because of the recent rainfall. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NAC has made Dhangadhi Airport in Kailali as its base for the service. Test flights have been launched for Bajhang and Doti districts from Sunday, October 24, informed Airport Chief Ram Krishna Bhatta. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The charge for the Dhangadhi-Doti flight has been fixed at Rs 2,615 per person and the return fare is Rs 5,515. Likewise, Rs 3,995 has been fixed as the air fare for the Dhangadhi-Bajhang flight and Rs 3,895 for the return ticket, according to Bhatta. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Locals have demanded regular operation of NAC flights for the convenience of the people living in these districts. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13923', 'image' => '20211025080455_244505921.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 08:04:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14177', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'No Ratification of MCC Compact without Political Consensus: Foreign Minister Khadka', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: Foreign Minister Dr Narayan Khadka has said that the ratification of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is not possible without the consensus among political parties.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 24: Foreign Minister Dr Narayan Khadka has said that the ratification of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is not possible without the consensus among political parties.</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"">Talking to media persons at Biratnagar Airport on Saturday, Minister Khadka said that the government was trying to reach a consensus among all political parties to endorse the MCC. “We are trying to reach a consensus. It is not possible to pass the MCC without consensus among the parties,” 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"">Stating that there was no doubt that the parties would move forward by forging an agreement, Foreign Minister Khadka said that the government would do everything possible for consensus. He informed that the party would take a decision on the leadership of the provincial government through consensus among the coalition partners. He said that the government will move forward through a package agreement including the formation of the provincial government and said that the final decision on the leadership of the provincial government has not been taken yet.</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"">As there is a need to strike a balance between the coalition parties, Minister Khadka clarified that Nepali Congress will be flexible regarding the leadership of provincial governments.</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"">On a different note, Minister Khadka also informed that the government will discuss issues about resolving the issue of Nepal’s territory as per the map of Nepal.</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, Minister Khadka said that the government would not go for early elections without the consent of the parties represented in the government. He said that if the coalition partners reach an agreement, they can go for early elections.</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"">Khadka also said that the general convention of the Nepali Congress is not possible until December as the ward conventions could not be held in some districts while municipal conventions and district conventions are still pending.</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"">Stating that the government is serious about the loss of huge amounts of property and crops due to the recent floods and landslides, Minister Khadka informed that the government is planning to provide relief to the victims. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13922', 'image' => '20211024012540_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 13:24:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14176', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Investors Pledge FDI of Rs 150 Billion in First Quarter of Current Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: Foreign investors have pledged a total investment of Rs 150 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, according to the quarterly report published by the Department of Industry (DoI).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 24: Foreign investors have pledged a total investment of Rs 150 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, according to the quarterly report published by the Department of Industry (DoI).</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 data of the department shows new industries with total investment of Rs 146 billion have been registered in the last three months. Until mid-October of the current fiscal year (FY 2021/22), altogether 26 large industries, 34 medium and 27 small industries with domestic investment of Rs 122 billion have been registered. In the same period, 107 foreign industries worth Rs 24 billion were also registered.</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 data shows the number of registered industries has declined in recent years, while pledges of foreign investment have relatively increased.</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"">In the first three months of the fiscal year 2017/18, 139 industries were registered with investment pledges of Rs 73.67 billion. In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, eighty seven industries have been registered with the investment pledges of Rs 122.18 billion.</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"">In the fiscal year 2018/19, investment of Rs 68.35 billion was pledged for 175 industries while an investment pledge of Rs 52.24 billion was made for 83 industries in the fiscal year 2019/20. And in the first quarter of 2020/21, fifty nine industries were registered with the investment pledge of Rs 62.37 billion.</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"">Officials of the department said the investment-friendly environment created by the government is inviting more foreign investment. Gyanendra Parajuli, director of the department, said, "After COVID-19, the government has embraced liberal policy which is having positive impact on investment commitment."</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 domestic and foreign industrial projects are expected to provide employment to 15,329 people, of which 8,134 will be employed by the domestic industry and 7,195 will be employed by the foreign industry.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13921', 'image' => '20211024011531_20160513034506_editor.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 13:14:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14175', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Floods, Landslides Damage 258,000 Metric Tons of Paddy', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: Continuous rainfall during last week resulted in floods and landslides in many places of the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 24: Continuous rainfall during last week resulted in floods and landslides in many places of the country. The natural disaster has been harsh upon the farmers, especially during the harvesting season. The floods and landslides caused by the unseasonal rainfall damaged 258,000 metric tons of paddy in different parts of the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the preliminary data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, a total of 258,092 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 7.22 billion have been damaged in Province 1, Lumbini Province and Far Western Province.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The incessant rainfall since October 17 caused floods and landslides at many places. Lumbini Province, Province 1 and Far Western Provinces were the most affected by the natural disaster. The government has so far compiled the preliminary data of only these three provinces. The ministry has stated that other regions have not faced much impact and that the compiled data would be collected by Tuesday, October 26.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the ministry, Lumbini Province was the worst-hit area by the floods and the least impacted area was Province 1. A total of 161,223 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 4.51 billion planted on 42,427 hectares of land in Lumbini have been damaged. In the Far-Western Province, 68,400 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 1.91 billion planted on 18,000 hectares of land have been completely damaged.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, 28,469 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 800 million planted on 7,492 hectares of land in Province 1 have been damaged. Banke, Bardiya, Kapilvastu, Rupandehi in Lumbini Province, Kailali and Kanchanpur in the Far-Western Province, Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari districts in Province 1 have suffered the most damage.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to Prakash Kumar Sanjel, joint secretary and spokesperson of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the figures released by the ministry are only the preliminary data. Full details of the damage in other districts would be released on Tuesday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“The ministry will decide on the relief and compensation to be provided to the affected farmers only after receiving the exact figures of the damage,” he told New Business Age.</span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/ArunYadav_Rajbiraj_RSS_17_a.jpg" style="height:598px; width:800px" /></p> <p><em>Photo: Rss</em></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13920', 'image' => '20211024123835_640px-Rice_Plants_(IRRI).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 12:37:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14174', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Human Resource, Budget Crunch Hit Technical Evaluation of Development Projects ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: The National Vigilance Centre lacks budget and technical staff to carry out technical assessment of its development projects, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 24: The National Vigilance Centre lacks budget and technical staff to carry out technical assessment of its development projects, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported.<br /> The post of Chief of Technical Division of the National Vigilance Centre under the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has remained vacant from mid-June 2019. <br /> Spokesperson of the National Vigilance Centre, Gyan Raj Subedi, told RSS that they are facing problem in carrying out test to assure the quality of development projects due to lack of human resources. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/National-vigilance-center.jpg" style="height:259px; width:550px" /></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although there is a quota for five technical under-secretaries at the Technical Division of the </span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">National Vigilance Centre, there are only two engineers available. <br /> The National Vigilance Centre has been conducting technical tests of projects of national pride and priority. Such activities have been hampered as technical staff hesitate to work for the National Vigilance Centre. <br /> Subedi further said that although the government in its annual policy and programmes promises to increase scope of technical test of development projects every year, it allocates minimal amount of budget for the purpose. <br /> According to RSS, only Rs 8.5 million has been allocated for technical tests of development projects in the current fiscal year. There is no situation to carry out technical tests of the development projects due to lack of budget and human resources, the National Vigilance Centre stated. </span></span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13919', 'image' => '20211024115216_20210831033034_20201206012152_1607211371.Clipboard13.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 11:51:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14173', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Hands Over Jayanagar-Kurta Cross-Border Railway to Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: The 35-kilometer Jayanagar-Kurta cross-border narrow gauge railway has been upgraded to broad gauge with the financial assistance of the Indian government. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 24: The 35-kilometer Jayanagar-Kurta cross-border narrow gauge railway has been upgraded to broad gauge with the financial assistance of the Indian government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">With the completion of the construction, the Indian government has also handed over the broad gauge to Nepal government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">At a function organized in the capital on Friday, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra handed over documents related to the ownership of the railway to Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Renu Kumari Yadav. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ownership of the railway has been transferred to the Nepal Railway Company Limited on October 22. The railway which was constructed at a cost of Rs 8.77 billion under the financial assistance of the Indian government is a part of the 68.72-km Jayanagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas railway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The operation of the railway is expected to enhance Nepal-India trade and commerce and further improve people-to-people relations and communications. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13918', 'image' => '20211024081756_20210421044248_20190325112130_Clipboard43-5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 08:17:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14172', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Scores of Tourists Stranded in Mugu due to Flight Suspension ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: Many domestic tourists visiting Mugu district on the occasion of Dashain festival have been stranded as flights to and from the district have been suspended due to rain since October 18. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 24: Many domestic tourists visiting Mugu district on the occasion of Dashain festival have been stranded as flights to and from the district have been suspended due to rain since October 18. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Road way in the district is troublesome and tedious and many roads in the district have now been damaged due to flooding and landslides thus bringing transportation to a complete halt. </span></span></span><br /> <img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Tourists%20Mugu%20%284%29%281%29.jpg" style="height:533px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Srijan Khatri of Nepalgunj along with her eight friends reached Mugu on motorcycles from Kathmandu . However, the motorcycle she was riding broke down on the way. She has been waiting for a flight for the past three days to reach Nepalgunj, but to no avail. </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"">"We have been stranded at Talcha Airport. We are short of money. We have called for rescue efforts, but to no avail so far," she shared her predicaments. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">To make the matter worse, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology predicted bad weather from Saturday, which means the probability to suspend flights. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">More than 100 passengers have been stranded at the airport, she said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Problems have taken place due to suspension of flights since a week due to rain, said the airport chief Bishal Barun. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal Airline Corporation, Summit Air, Tara Air and Sita Air had been operating flights to the district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief District Officer Rom Mahat said that a letter has been sent to the concerned authorities and aviation service providers to rescue the stranded people. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Tourists%20Mugu%20%286%29%281%29.jpg" style="height:490px; width:800px" /></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13917', 'image' => '20211024080701_Tourists Mugu (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 08:05:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14170', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Interest Rates on Deposits Come Down to Single Digit', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 22: Commercial banks have lowered the interest rate on fixed deposits to single digit following the intervention of Nepal Rastra Bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 22: Commercial banks have lowered the interest rate on fixed deposits to single digit following the intervention of Nepal Rastra Bank.</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"">Not only commercial banks but also development banks and finance companies have reduced the interest rates on fixed deposits to single digit, effective from October 21.</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"">As per the revised interest rate, commercial banks will now provide a maximum of 9.36% interest on deposits. Similarly, development banks and finance companies have set a maximum interest rate of 9.5% and 9.6% respectively.</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"">Seven commercial banks had maintained interest rates in double digits to resolve the problem of liquidity crisis. Sunrise Bank had raised the interest rate on deposits to 11.10%. Likewise, some other commercial banks, development banks and finance companies had also raised interest rates to double digits. </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"">In fact banks had started raising interest rates since September due to the liquidity crunch. In September, Sunrise Bank had raised the interest rate to 10.07%. Though Sunrise Bank had lowered the interest rate in October, majority of banks had raised it to double digits. </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"">Following the reckless increase of interest rates, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) had BFIs to revise the interest rate fixed for October. The central bank also made telephone calls to the chief executive oficers of banks and financial institutions on Wednesday and asked them to revise the interest rate limit.</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"">Bhuwan Dahal, President of the Nepal Bankers' Association said that the interest rate on deposits has been lowered to single digit as per the policy of the central bank. “As banks started to raise interest rates, discussion over interest rate stability ensued. And banks were also pressurized to make changes to interest rates after NRB issued the directive,” said Dahal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He added that with the reduction in interest rates, it will be easier for entrepreneurs to conduct business. "As interest rate on deposits falls, so does the interest rate on loans." In this case, it will be more convenient for those who do business on loans,” 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"">Dahal further said that drop in interest rates would challenge some banks to maintain the CD ratio at 90 percent. "Banks with a CD ratio of above 90% may face problems after interest rates fall. In such a situation, NRB needs to provide support to those banks and other banks and financial institutions may also have to help by buying loans," Dahal said. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-22', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13916', 'image' => '20211022121629_Banks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-22 12:15:47', '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
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 26: The government has appointed Rabidra Ghimire as the chairman of Nepal Reinsurance Company Limited. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday (October 25) appointed Ghimire to the post for a four-year term.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, who is also the spokesperson of the government, confirmed that the cabinet meeting on Monday appointed Ghimire as the chairman of the company.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ghimire is a professor at the Pokhara University School of Business as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, Madan Pokharel has been appointed to the position of director of the company. Nepal Reinsurance Company is a government-owned company.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The cabinet meeting also approved the resignation of the chairman of Nepal Airlines Corporation Sushil Ghimire and appointed Yubaraj Adhikari as the Acting chairman of the state-owned airline company.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sushil Ghimire had resigned on moral grounds after the change in government. He was reportedly appointed chairman of NAC upon the recommendation of former minister Yogesh Bhattarai.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13930', 'image' => '20211026111845_20210315114314_20200630093335_Reinsurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 11:18:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14184', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Globe Amaranth Garland to Cost up to Rs 100 during Upcoming Tihar', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: The prices of garlands are expected to increase during the festival of Tihar this year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 25: The prices of garlands are expected to increase during the festival of Tihar this year. The retail price of garland made up of Makhamali flower (globe amaranth) per piece is expected to reach up to Rs 100.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The main reason for the hike in the prices of garlands is the decline in production of flowers in the country. Lately, the floriculture business has been greatly hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the unseasonal rain. This has resulted in a decline of flower production.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the Floriculture Association of Nepal, the price of 1 meter long Makhamali (globe amaranth) garland is expected to cost up to Rs 100, which is Rs 20 more as compared to the price of last year. The price of the same garland was Rs 80 last year. The price of garland is generally determined by its length.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the preliminary data of the association, the floriculture sector has sustained damage between 30 to 35 percent damage due to the recent unseasonal rainfall. Similarly, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, about 22 percent florists have given up on flower business causing a decline in the overall production. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to Bishwa Mani Pokharel, general secretary of the association, the unseasonal rainfall has caused severe damage to floriculture in Chitwan, Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Dang, Kathmandu, Dhading, Nuwakot and Kavrepalanchok districts. He added that 85 percent of the demand for Makhamali (globe amaranth) flower during the festival would be supplied by the domestic production and the remaining 15 percent would be imported into the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Despite the increase in the price of garlands compared to last year, the association has estimated that around 1.8 million garlands will be consumed in the country this year. As per the estimation, 1.5 million garlands of marigold flowers, 300,000 garlands of globe amaranth flower and 15,000 garlands of Indian<strong> </strong>chrysanthemum will be consumed during this Tihar festival.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The floriculture business is spread over 43 districts of the country. The total investment on floriculture is around Rs 6 billion. Altogether 700 entrepreneurs are involved in the business, which has given employment to more than 40,000 people. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13929', 'image' => '20211025012454_Globe-Amaranth-x538.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 13:24:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14183', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Floods, Landslides Inflict Damage worth Rs 4 Billion to Roads', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: The monsoon-induced disaster including the recent post-monsoon rains have created a loss of around Rs 4 billion due to the damages caused on roads and bridges across the country in the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 25: The monsoon-induced disaster including the recent post-monsoon rains have created a loss of around Rs 4 billion due to the damages caused on roads and bridges across the country in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Due to the continuous rainfall for some days since October 17, the country has incurred an estimated loss of Rs 1.5 billion since mid-October alone. The Department of Roads estimates that this amount will further increase as more details of the damage are yet to be collected.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Spokesperson of the department Shiva Prasad Nepal said that the details of the damage are still being collected from some places and the extent of damage is likely to increase. Earlier, rainfall since mid-June had caused damage worth Rs 2.40 billion. During this time, more than 100 roads and 26 bridges have been damaged.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“This year the loss is expected to reach close to Rs 4 billion,” he said, adding, “Our team has not been able to reach Bajhang and other areas in western Nepal. Due to this, the total extent of damage will increase by the time the full details are available.” The Meteorological Forecasting Department informed this was the first time that such a massive rainfall occurred in October in almost 80 years.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Experts believe that climate change has altered the pattern of rainfall. Spokesperson Nepal says that the roads and transport infrastructure have been severely damaged due to the haphazard digging of roads. “Recently, the rising water level in the river touched the bridges,” he said, “As plotting is done in Terai by blocking the natural flow of the water, Terai will now always be flooded.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Stating that more and more roads are being built in the Terai, he said that it is necessary to control and manage the natural flow of rivers and streams.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The incessant rain in the first few days of after mid-October have damaged roads in 19 places across the country while bridges have also collapsed. According to the Department of Roads, during this period, there has been a loss of more than Rs 1 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Roads in Kalikot, Sindhuli, Manang, Salyan, Pyuthan, Dhankuta, Bajhang, Darchula, Okhaldhunga, Syangja, Doti, Dadeldhura and Baitadi districts have been damaged due to the rain. Of these, the Dumre-Beshisahar-Chame road section has been damaged at three places in Manang district is still blocked. These roads have been blocked since October 19.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Heavy rains have damaged the Siddhartha Highway as well as Dhangadhi-Sahajpur-Budar-Syaule, Satbanjha-Thaktoli-Darchula-Tinker roads of Mid-Hills Highway. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13928', 'image' => '20211025010101_20211020080208_SBS_Kanchanpur-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 13:00:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14181', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Flower Expo to Kick off on Friday', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: The 14th Chrysanthemum Flower Expo is all set to kick off in Lalitpur from this Friday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 25: The 14th Chrysanthemum Flower Expo is all set to kick off in Lalitpur from this Friday. The exhibition is scheduled to be held from October 29 to November 1 at Jawlakhel Sports Ground. The flower expo is being organized by Floriculture Association Nepal with support from the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Directorate of Agriculture Development, Floriculture Development Center, Bagmati Province.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The expo is being organized on the occasion of Tihar festival, during which the trade of flowers is highest. The association hopes that the event would help revive the flower business that has been hampered greatly by the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The entrance fee has been fixed at Rs 100 for the general public and Rs 50 for students. The organisers are expecting more than 35,000 people to visit the exhibition. The association is hopeful of transaction of flowers worth Rs 5 million during the exhibition, said Bishwa Mani Pokharel, general secretary of the association.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13927', 'image' => '20211025114950_flower.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 11:49:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14182', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '117 Die in Post-Monsoon Disaster, 26 Districts Affected ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: A total of 26 districts have been badly affected by the post-monsoon disaster triggered by torrential rainfall since October 17.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><em><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A flood victim of Bhimdutta Municipality of Mahendranagar points out to his hut damaged by the recent post-monsoon disaster. Photo: RSS</span></em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">October 25: A total of 26 districts have been badly affected by the post-monsoon disaster triggered by torrential rainfall since October 17. According to the government authorities, floods and landslides in different parts of the country have so far claimed the lives of 117 people. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">The post-monsoon rainfall was caused by the combined effect of the wind from the Bay of Bengal and the westerly wind. It resulted in floods, landslides and inundation in 26 districts, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. <br /> Province-1 was the worst affected by the disaster. It recorded the maximum number of casualties followed by Sudurpachim Province.<br /> In the first two days (October 17 and 18), Sudurpaschim Province recorded huge loss of lives and properties, which later shifted to Province-1. Comparatively, other provinces were less affected. <br /> The data shared by the Home Ministry on Sunday (October 24) confirmed the deaths of 117 people due to the post-monsoon disaster. <br /> In the last 36 hours, five bodies of those missing were recovered, while 32 others are still missing, RSS reported citing the chief of the Disaster Management Division at the Home Ministry, Humkala Pande. <br /> Of the killed ones, 56 are men, 35 women and 25 children. Similarly, among those missing are 13 are men, 7 women and 12 children. <br /> Meanwhile, 44 persons have been injured by the floods and landslides while some of them have returned home after treatment, Pande added. <br /> The Home Ministry further stated that 118 houses were destroyed and 30 houses were partially damaged. <br /> According to RSS, climate change expert Dr Ngamindra Dahal said that such torrential rainfall caused after monsoon could be linked to climate change. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Rainfall has largely subsided while the Meterological Forecasting Division has forecast generally cloudy weather in different parts of the country.</span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13926', 'image' => '20211025120700_RPP-Kanchanpur-BadhiPidita.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 12:06:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14180', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Chief Justice in Crisis after 14 Justices Decide to Boycott Full Court Meeting', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: Chief Justice Cholendra SJB Rana, who has courted controversy for seeking a quota to appoint a minister, is in deep crisis after 14 justices decided to boycott a full court meeting called by the chief justice for October 25.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 25: Chief Justice Cholendra SJB Rana, who has courted controversy for seeking a quota to appoint a minister, is in deep crisis after 14 justices decided to boycott a full court meeting called by the chief justice for October 25. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A meeting of the 14 justices of the Supreme Court on Sunday (October 24) decided to boycott the full court meeting summoned by the CJ. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The chief justice is under pressure to resign from his post after the justices decided not to show up at the full court. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Justices Deepak Kumar Karki, Meera Khadka, Hari Krishna Karki, Bishwanbhar Prasad Shrestha, Ananda Mohan Bhattarai, Prakash Man Singh Raut, Bam Kumar Shrestha, Tanka Bahadur Moktan, Prakash Kumar Dhungana, Sushma Lata Mathema, Kumar Regmi, Hari Prasad Fuyal, Manoj Kumar Sharma and Nahakul Subedi were present during Sunday’s meeting that decided to boycott the full court.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Justice Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada is in the United States for an official visit while other four justices – Sapana Malla Pradhan, Kumar Sinha, Tej Bahadur KC and Kumar Chudal were outside the Kathmandu Valley during Sunday’s meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The 14 justices had convened a meeting after their lunch break instead of returning to their respective benches on Sunday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Meanwhile, CJ Rana held meeting with office bearers of Nepal Bar Association the same day and decided to call the full court meeting. However, the full court meeting has become uncertain after the justices decided not to attend it.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">CJ Rana defended himself during his meeting with the officials of the bar association stating that the media reports regarding his involvement in seeking a share in cabinet is not true. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13925', 'image' => '20211025111744_20201127115547_20200417094838_CKC_ktm.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 11:17:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14179', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Reassures of Relief to Survivors of Floods and Landslides ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has assured of relief assistance to the survivors of recent incidents of water-induced disasters across the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 25: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has assured of relief assistance to the survivors of recent incidents of water-induced disasters across the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Talking to media persons briefly at Biratnagar Airport on Sunday, the Prime Minister Deuba said that the government would ensure food and proper shelter for the affected households. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Expressing sorrow over the losses of valuable lives and properties to the incidents of floods and landslides, the head of the government thanked security personnel engaged in the rescue and relief efforts in the disaster-hit areas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Prime Minister said that the Council of Ministers would soon meet to take necessary decisions for providing relief to the survivors. He also took time to say that the government would work in a planned way for the prevention and mitigation of possible floods and landslides in the future. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He pledged to provide immediate relief to the victims by making a short and long term plans. On the occasion, Chief District Officer, Morang, Kashi Raj Dahal apprised the PM of the losses caused by flooding and landslides. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">PM Deuba also inspected the affected areas of Ilam and Panchthar districts the same day, said assistant CDO Mahesh Timsina. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The PM was accompanied by Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal and Vice President of the Nepali Congress Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13924', 'image' => '20211025081428_1629027828.pm deuba.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 08:13:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14178', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC Starts Test Flights to Doti, Bajhang ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has launched its services to the hill districts of Far Western Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has launched its services to the hill districts of Far Western Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The national flag-carrier has extended the services to the hill destinations of the Far West bearing in mind the inconvenience to the people caused by the current obstruction of roadways because of the recent rainfall. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NAC has made Dhangadhi Airport in Kailali as its base for the service. Test flights have been launched for Bajhang and Doti districts from Sunday, October 24, informed Airport Chief Ram Krishna Bhatta. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The charge for the Dhangadhi-Doti flight has been fixed at Rs 2,615 per person and the return fare is Rs 5,515. Likewise, Rs 3,995 has been fixed as the air fare for the Dhangadhi-Bajhang flight and Rs 3,895 for the return ticket, according to Bhatta. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Locals have demanded regular operation of NAC flights for the convenience of the people living in these districts. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13923', 'image' => '20211025080455_244505921.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 08:04:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14177', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'No Ratification of MCC Compact without Political Consensus: Foreign Minister Khadka', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: Foreign Minister Dr Narayan Khadka has said that the ratification of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is not possible without the consensus among political parties.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 24: Foreign Minister Dr Narayan Khadka has said that the ratification of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is not possible without the consensus among political parties.</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"">Talking to media persons at Biratnagar Airport on Saturday, Minister Khadka said that the government was trying to reach a consensus among all political parties to endorse the MCC. “We are trying to reach a consensus. It is not possible to pass the MCC without consensus among the parties,” 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"">Stating that there was no doubt that the parties would move forward by forging an agreement, Foreign Minister Khadka said that the government would do everything possible for consensus. He informed that the party would take a decision on the leadership of the provincial government through consensus among the coalition partners. He said that the government will move forward through a package agreement including the formation of the provincial government and said that the final decision on the leadership of the provincial government has not been taken yet.</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"">As there is a need to strike a balance between the coalition parties, Minister Khadka clarified that Nepali Congress will be flexible regarding the leadership of provincial governments.</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"">On a different note, Minister Khadka also informed that the government will discuss issues about resolving the issue of Nepal’s territory as per the map of Nepal.</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, Minister Khadka said that the government would not go for early elections without the consent of the parties represented in the government. He said that if the coalition partners reach an agreement, they can go for early elections.</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"">Khadka also said that the general convention of the Nepali Congress is not possible until December as the ward conventions could not be held in some districts while municipal conventions and district conventions are still pending.</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"">Stating that the government is serious about the loss of huge amounts of property and crops due to the recent floods and landslides, Minister Khadka informed that the government is planning to provide relief to the victims. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13922', 'image' => '20211024012540_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 13:24:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14176', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Investors Pledge FDI of Rs 150 Billion in First Quarter of Current Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: Foreign investors have pledged a total investment of Rs 150 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, according to the quarterly report published by the Department of Industry (DoI).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 24: Foreign investors have pledged a total investment of Rs 150 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, according to the quarterly report published by the Department of Industry (DoI).</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 data of the department shows new industries with total investment of Rs 146 billion have been registered in the last three months. Until mid-October of the current fiscal year (FY 2021/22), altogether 26 large industries, 34 medium and 27 small industries with domestic investment of Rs 122 billion have been registered. In the same period, 107 foreign industries worth Rs 24 billion were also registered.</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 data shows the number of registered industries has declined in recent years, while pledges of foreign investment have relatively increased.</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"">In the first three months of the fiscal year 2017/18, 139 industries were registered with investment pledges of Rs 73.67 billion. In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, eighty seven industries have been registered with the investment pledges of Rs 122.18 billion.</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"">In the fiscal year 2018/19, investment of Rs 68.35 billion was pledged for 175 industries while an investment pledge of Rs 52.24 billion was made for 83 industries in the fiscal year 2019/20. And in the first quarter of 2020/21, fifty nine industries were registered with the investment pledge of Rs 62.37 billion.</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"">Officials of the department said the investment-friendly environment created by the government is inviting more foreign investment. Gyanendra Parajuli, director of the department, said, "After COVID-19, the government has embraced liberal policy which is having positive impact on investment commitment."</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 domestic and foreign industrial projects are expected to provide employment to 15,329 people, of which 8,134 will be employed by the domestic industry and 7,195 will be employed by the foreign industry.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13921', 'image' => '20211024011531_20160513034506_editor.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 13:14:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14175', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Floods, Landslides Damage 258,000 Metric Tons of Paddy', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: Continuous rainfall during last week resulted in floods and landslides in many places of the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 24: Continuous rainfall during last week resulted in floods and landslides in many places of the country. The natural disaster has been harsh upon the farmers, especially during the harvesting season. The floods and landslides caused by the unseasonal rainfall damaged 258,000 metric tons of paddy in different parts of the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the preliminary data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, a total of 258,092 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 7.22 billion have been damaged in Province 1, Lumbini Province and Far Western Province.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The incessant rainfall since October 17 caused floods and landslides at many places. Lumbini Province, Province 1 and Far Western Provinces were the most affected by the natural disaster. The government has so far compiled the preliminary data of only these three provinces. The ministry has stated that other regions have not faced much impact and that the compiled data would be collected by Tuesday, October 26.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the ministry, Lumbini Province was the worst-hit area by the floods and the least impacted area was Province 1. A total of 161,223 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 4.51 billion planted on 42,427 hectares of land in Lumbini have been damaged. In the Far-Western Province, 68,400 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 1.91 billion planted on 18,000 hectares of land have been completely damaged.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, 28,469 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 800 million planted on 7,492 hectares of land in Province 1 have been damaged. Banke, Bardiya, Kapilvastu, Rupandehi in Lumbini Province, Kailali and Kanchanpur in the Far-Western Province, Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari districts in Province 1 have suffered the most damage.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to Prakash Kumar Sanjel, joint secretary and spokesperson of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the figures released by the ministry are only the preliminary data. Full details of the damage in other districts would be released on Tuesday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“The ministry will decide on the relief and compensation to be provided to the affected farmers only after receiving the exact figures of the damage,” he told New Business Age.</span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/ArunYadav_Rajbiraj_RSS_17_a.jpg" style="height:598px; width:800px" /></p> <p><em>Photo: Rss</em></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13920', 'image' => '20211024123835_640px-Rice_Plants_(IRRI).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 12:37:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14174', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Human Resource, Budget Crunch Hit Technical Evaluation of Development Projects ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: The National Vigilance Centre lacks budget and technical staff to carry out technical assessment of its development projects, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 24: The National Vigilance Centre lacks budget and technical staff to carry out technical assessment of its development projects, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported.<br /> The post of Chief of Technical Division of the National Vigilance Centre under the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has remained vacant from mid-June 2019. <br /> Spokesperson of the National Vigilance Centre, Gyan Raj Subedi, told RSS that they are facing problem in carrying out test to assure the quality of development projects due to lack of human resources. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/National-vigilance-center.jpg" style="height:259px; width:550px" /></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although there is a quota for five technical under-secretaries at the Technical Division of the </span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">National Vigilance Centre, there are only two engineers available. <br /> The National Vigilance Centre has been conducting technical tests of projects of national pride and priority. Such activities have been hampered as technical staff hesitate to work for the National Vigilance Centre. <br /> Subedi further said that although the government in its annual policy and programmes promises to increase scope of technical test of development projects every year, it allocates minimal amount of budget for the purpose. <br /> According to RSS, only Rs 8.5 million has been allocated for technical tests of development projects in the current fiscal year. There is no situation to carry out technical tests of the development projects due to lack of budget and human resources, the National Vigilance Centre stated. </span></span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13919', 'image' => '20211024115216_20210831033034_20201206012152_1607211371.Clipboard13.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 11:51:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14173', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Hands Over Jayanagar-Kurta Cross-Border Railway to Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: The 35-kilometer Jayanagar-Kurta cross-border narrow gauge railway has been upgraded to broad gauge with the financial assistance of the Indian government. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 24: The 35-kilometer Jayanagar-Kurta cross-border narrow gauge railway has been upgraded to broad gauge with the financial assistance of the Indian government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">With the completion of the construction, the Indian government has also handed over the broad gauge to Nepal government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">At a function organized in the capital on Friday, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra handed over documents related to the ownership of the railway to Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Renu Kumari Yadav. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ownership of the railway has been transferred to the Nepal Railway Company Limited on October 22. The railway which was constructed at a cost of Rs 8.77 billion under the financial assistance of the Indian government is a part of the 68.72-km Jayanagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas railway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The operation of the railway is expected to enhance Nepal-India trade and commerce and further improve people-to-people relations and communications. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13918', 'image' => '20211024081756_20210421044248_20190325112130_Clipboard43-5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 08:17:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14172', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Scores of Tourists Stranded in Mugu due to Flight Suspension ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: Many domestic tourists visiting Mugu district on the occasion of Dashain festival have been stranded as flights to and from the district have been suspended due to rain since October 18. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 24: Many domestic tourists visiting Mugu district on the occasion of Dashain festival have been stranded as flights to and from the district have been suspended due to rain since October 18. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Road way in the district is troublesome and tedious and many roads in the district have now been damaged due to flooding and landslides thus bringing transportation to a complete halt. </span></span></span><br /> <img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Tourists%20Mugu%20%284%29%281%29.jpg" style="height:533px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Srijan Khatri of Nepalgunj along with her eight friends reached Mugu on motorcycles from Kathmandu . However, the motorcycle she was riding broke down on the way. She has been waiting for a flight for the past three days to reach Nepalgunj, but to no avail. </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"">"We have been stranded at Talcha Airport. We are short of money. We have called for rescue efforts, but to no avail so far," she shared her predicaments. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">To make the matter worse, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology predicted bad weather from Saturday, which means the probability to suspend flights. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">More than 100 passengers have been stranded at the airport, she said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Problems have taken place due to suspension of flights since a week due to rain, said the airport chief Bishal Barun. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal Airline Corporation, Summit Air, Tara Air and Sita Air had been operating flights to the district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief District Officer Rom Mahat said that a letter has been sent to the concerned authorities and aviation service providers to rescue the stranded people. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Tourists%20Mugu%20%286%29%281%29.jpg" style="height:490px; width:800px" /></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13917', 'image' => '20211024080701_Tourists Mugu (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 08:05:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14170', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Interest Rates on Deposits Come Down to Single Digit', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 22: Commercial banks have lowered the interest rate on fixed deposits to single digit following the intervention of Nepal Rastra Bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 22: Commercial banks have lowered the interest rate on fixed deposits to single digit following the intervention of Nepal Rastra Bank.</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"">Not only commercial banks but also development banks and finance companies have reduced the interest rates on fixed deposits to single digit, effective from October 21.</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"">As per the revised interest rate, commercial banks will now provide a maximum of 9.36% interest on deposits. Similarly, development banks and finance companies have set a maximum interest rate of 9.5% and 9.6% respectively.</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"">Seven commercial banks had maintained interest rates in double digits to resolve the problem of liquidity crisis. Sunrise Bank had raised the interest rate on deposits to 11.10%. Likewise, some other commercial banks, development banks and finance companies had also raised interest rates to double digits. </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"">In fact banks had started raising interest rates since September due to the liquidity crunch. In September, Sunrise Bank had raised the interest rate to 10.07%. Though Sunrise Bank had lowered the interest rate in October, majority of banks had raised it to double digits. </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"">Following the reckless increase of interest rates, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) had BFIs to revise the interest rate fixed for October. The central bank also made telephone calls to the chief executive oficers of banks and financial institutions on Wednesday and asked them to revise the interest rate limit.</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"">Bhuwan Dahal, President of the Nepal Bankers' Association said that the interest rate on deposits has been lowered to single digit as per the policy of the central bank. “As banks started to raise interest rates, discussion over interest rate stability ensued. And banks were also pressurized to make changes to interest rates after NRB issued the directive,” said Dahal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He added that with the reduction in interest rates, it will be easier for entrepreneurs to conduct business. "As interest rate on deposits falls, so does the interest rate on loans." In this case, it will be more convenient for those who do business on loans,” 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"">Dahal further said that drop in interest rates would challenge some banks to maintain the CD ratio at 90 percent. "Banks with a CD ratio of above 90% may face problems after interest rates fall. In such a situation, NRB needs to provide support to those banks and other banks and financial institutions may also have to help by buying loans," Dahal said. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-22', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13916', 'image' => '20211022121629_Banks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-22 12:15:47', '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' => '14186', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Government Appoints Rabindra Ghimire as Chairman of Nepal Reinsurance Company', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 26: The government has appointed Rabidra Ghimire as the chairman of Nepal Reinsurance Company Limited. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 26: The government has appointed Rabidra Ghimire as the chairman of Nepal Reinsurance Company Limited. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday (October 25) appointed Ghimire to the post for a four-year term.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, who is also the spokesperson of the government, confirmed that the cabinet meeting on Monday appointed Ghimire as the chairman of the company.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ghimire is a professor at the Pokhara University School of Business as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, Madan Pokharel has been appointed to the position of director of the company. Nepal Reinsurance Company is a government-owned company.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The cabinet meeting also approved the resignation of the chairman of Nepal Airlines Corporation Sushil Ghimire and appointed Yubaraj Adhikari as the Acting chairman of the state-owned airline company.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sushil Ghimire had resigned on moral grounds after the change in government. He was reportedly appointed chairman of NAC upon the recommendation of former minister Yogesh Bhattarai.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13930', 'image' => '20211026111845_20210315114314_20200630093335_Reinsurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 11:18:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14184', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Globe Amaranth Garland to Cost up to Rs 100 during Upcoming Tihar', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: The prices of garlands are expected to increase during the festival of Tihar this year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 25: The prices of garlands are expected to increase during the festival of Tihar this year. The retail price of garland made up of Makhamali flower (globe amaranth) per piece is expected to reach up to Rs 100.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The main reason for the hike in the prices of garlands is the decline in production of flowers in the country. Lately, the floriculture business has been greatly hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the unseasonal rain. This has resulted in a decline of flower production.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the Floriculture Association of Nepal, the price of 1 meter long Makhamali (globe amaranth) garland is expected to cost up to Rs 100, which is Rs 20 more as compared to the price of last year. The price of the same garland was Rs 80 last year. The price of garland is generally determined by its length.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the preliminary data of the association, the floriculture sector has sustained damage between 30 to 35 percent damage due to the recent unseasonal rainfall. Similarly, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, about 22 percent florists have given up on flower business causing a decline in the overall production. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to Bishwa Mani Pokharel, general secretary of the association, the unseasonal rainfall has caused severe damage to floriculture in Chitwan, Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Dang, Kathmandu, Dhading, Nuwakot and Kavrepalanchok districts. He added that 85 percent of the demand for Makhamali (globe amaranth) flower during the festival would be supplied by the domestic production and the remaining 15 percent would be imported into the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Despite the increase in the price of garlands compared to last year, the association has estimated that around 1.8 million garlands will be consumed in the country this year. As per the estimation, 1.5 million garlands of marigold flowers, 300,000 garlands of globe amaranth flower and 15,000 garlands of Indian<strong> </strong>chrysanthemum will be consumed during this Tihar festival.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The floriculture business is spread over 43 districts of the country. The total investment on floriculture is around Rs 6 billion. Altogether 700 entrepreneurs are involved in the business, which has given employment to more than 40,000 people. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13929', 'image' => '20211025012454_Globe-Amaranth-x538.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 13:24:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14183', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Floods, Landslides Inflict Damage worth Rs 4 Billion to Roads', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: The monsoon-induced disaster including the recent post-monsoon rains have created a loss of around Rs 4 billion due to the damages caused on roads and bridges across the country in the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 25: The monsoon-induced disaster including the recent post-monsoon rains have created a loss of around Rs 4 billion due to the damages caused on roads and bridges across the country in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Due to the continuous rainfall for some days since October 17, the country has incurred an estimated loss of Rs 1.5 billion since mid-October alone. The Department of Roads estimates that this amount will further increase as more details of the damage are yet to be collected.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Spokesperson of the department Shiva Prasad Nepal said that the details of the damage are still being collected from some places and the extent of damage is likely to increase. Earlier, rainfall since mid-June had caused damage worth Rs 2.40 billion. During this time, more than 100 roads and 26 bridges have been damaged.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“This year the loss is expected to reach close to Rs 4 billion,” he said, adding, “Our team has not been able to reach Bajhang and other areas in western Nepal. Due to this, the total extent of damage will increase by the time the full details are available.” The Meteorological Forecasting Department informed this was the first time that such a massive rainfall occurred in October in almost 80 years.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Experts believe that climate change has altered the pattern of rainfall. Spokesperson Nepal says that the roads and transport infrastructure have been severely damaged due to the haphazard digging of roads. “Recently, the rising water level in the river touched the bridges,” he said, “As plotting is done in Terai by blocking the natural flow of the water, Terai will now always be flooded.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Stating that more and more roads are being built in the Terai, he said that it is necessary to control and manage the natural flow of rivers and streams.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The incessant rain in the first few days of after mid-October have damaged roads in 19 places across the country while bridges have also collapsed. According to the Department of Roads, during this period, there has been a loss of more than Rs 1 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Roads in Kalikot, Sindhuli, Manang, Salyan, Pyuthan, Dhankuta, Bajhang, Darchula, Okhaldhunga, Syangja, Doti, Dadeldhura and Baitadi districts have been damaged due to the rain. Of these, the Dumre-Beshisahar-Chame road section has been damaged at three places in Manang district is still blocked. These roads have been blocked since October 19.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Heavy rains have damaged the Siddhartha Highway as well as Dhangadhi-Sahajpur-Budar-Syaule, Satbanjha-Thaktoli-Darchula-Tinker roads of Mid-Hills Highway. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13928', 'image' => '20211025010101_20211020080208_SBS_Kanchanpur-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 13:00:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14181', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Flower Expo to Kick off on Friday', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: The 14th Chrysanthemum Flower Expo is all set to kick off in Lalitpur from this Friday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 25: The 14th Chrysanthemum Flower Expo is all set to kick off in Lalitpur from this Friday. The exhibition is scheduled to be held from October 29 to November 1 at Jawlakhel Sports Ground. The flower expo is being organized by Floriculture Association Nepal with support from the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Directorate of Agriculture Development, Floriculture Development Center, Bagmati Province.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The expo is being organized on the occasion of Tihar festival, during which the trade of flowers is highest. The association hopes that the event would help revive the flower business that has been hampered greatly by the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The entrance fee has been fixed at Rs 100 for the general public and Rs 50 for students. The organisers are expecting more than 35,000 people to visit the exhibition. The association is hopeful of transaction of flowers worth Rs 5 million during the exhibition, said Bishwa Mani Pokharel, general secretary of the association.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13927', 'image' => '20211025114950_flower.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 11:49:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14182', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '117 Die in Post-Monsoon Disaster, 26 Districts Affected ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: A total of 26 districts have been badly affected by the post-monsoon disaster triggered by torrential rainfall since October 17.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><em><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A flood victim of Bhimdutta Municipality of Mahendranagar points out to his hut damaged by the recent post-monsoon disaster. Photo: RSS</span></em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">October 25: A total of 26 districts have been badly affected by the post-monsoon disaster triggered by torrential rainfall since October 17. According to the government authorities, floods and landslides in different parts of the country have so far claimed the lives of 117 people. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">The post-monsoon rainfall was caused by the combined effect of the wind from the Bay of Bengal and the westerly wind. It resulted in floods, landslides and inundation in 26 districts, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. <br /> Province-1 was the worst affected by the disaster. It recorded the maximum number of casualties followed by Sudurpachim Province.<br /> In the first two days (October 17 and 18), Sudurpaschim Province recorded huge loss of lives and properties, which later shifted to Province-1. Comparatively, other provinces were less affected. <br /> The data shared by the Home Ministry on Sunday (October 24) confirmed the deaths of 117 people due to the post-monsoon disaster. <br /> In the last 36 hours, five bodies of those missing were recovered, while 32 others are still missing, RSS reported citing the chief of the Disaster Management Division at the Home Ministry, Humkala Pande. <br /> Of the killed ones, 56 are men, 35 women and 25 children. Similarly, among those missing are 13 are men, 7 women and 12 children. <br /> Meanwhile, 44 persons have been injured by the floods and landslides while some of them have returned home after treatment, Pande added. <br /> The Home Ministry further stated that 118 houses were destroyed and 30 houses were partially damaged. <br /> According to RSS, climate change expert Dr Ngamindra Dahal said that such torrential rainfall caused after monsoon could be linked to climate change. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Rainfall has largely subsided while the Meterological Forecasting Division has forecast generally cloudy weather in different parts of the country.</span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13926', 'image' => '20211025120700_RPP-Kanchanpur-BadhiPidita.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 12:06:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14180', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Chief Justice in Crisis after 14 Justices Decide to Boycott Full Court Meeting', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: Chief Justice Cholendra SJB Rana, who has courted controversy for seeking a quota to appoint a minister, is in deep crisis after 14 justices decided to boycott a full court meeting called by the chief justice for October 25.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 25: Chief Justice Cholendra SJB Rana, who has courted controversy for seeking a quota to appoint a minister, is in deep crisis after 14 justices decided to boycott a full court meeting called by the chief justice for October 25. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A meeting of the 14 justices of the Supreme Court on Sunday (October 24) decided to boycott the full court meeting summoned by the CJ. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The chief justice is under pressure to resign from his post after the justices decided not to show up at the full court. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Justices Deepak Kumar Karki, Meera Khadka, Hari Krishna Karki, Bishwanbhar Prasad Shrestha, Ananda Mohan Bhattarai, Prakash Man Singh Raut, Bam Kumar Shrestha, Tanka Bahadur Moktan, Prakash Kumar Dhungana, Sushma Lata Mathema, Kumar Regmi, Hari Prasad Fuyal, Manoj Kumar Sharma and Nahakul Subedi were present during Sunday’s meeting that decided to boycott the full court.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Justice Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada is in the United States for an official visit while other four justices – Sapana Malla Pradhan, Kumar Sinha, Tej Bahadur KC and Kumar Chudal were outside the Kathmandu Valley during Sunday’s meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The 14 justices had convened a meeting after their lunch break instead of returning to their respective benches on Sunday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Meanwhile, CJ Rana held meeting with office bearers of Nepal Bar Association the same day and decided to call the full court meeting. However, the full court meeting has become uncertain after the justices decided not to attend it.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">CJ Rana defended himself during his meeting with the officials of the bar association stating that the media reports regarding his involvement in seeking a share in cabinet is not true. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13925', 'image' => '20211025111744_20201127115547_20200417094838_CKC_ktm.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 11:17:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14179', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Reassures of Relief to Survivors of Floods and Landslides ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has assured of relief assistance to the survivors of recent incidents of water-induced disasters across the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 25: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has assured of relief assistance to the survivors of recent incidents of water-induced disasters across the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Talking to media persons briefly at Biratnagar Airport on Sunday, the Prime Minister Deuba said that the government would ensure food and proper shelter for the affected households. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Expressing sorrow over the losses of valuable lives and properties to the incidents of floods and landslides, the head of the government thanked security personnel engaged in the rescue and relief efforts in the disaster-hit areas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Prime Minister said that the Council of Ministers would soon meet to take necessary decisions for providing relief to the survivors. He also took time to say that the government would work in a planned way for the prevention and mitigation of possible floods and landslides in the future. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He pledged to provide immediate relief to the victims by making a short and long term plans. On the occasion, Chief District Officer, Morang, Kashi Raj Dahal apprised the PM of the losses caused by flooding and landslides. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">PM Deuba also inspected the affected areas of Ilam and Panchthar districts the same day, said assistant CDO Mahesh Timsina. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The PM was accompanied by Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal and Vice President of the Nepali Congress Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13924', 'image' => '20211025081428_1629027828.pm deuba.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 08:13:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14178', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC Starts Test Flights to Doti, Bajhang ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has launched its services to the hill districts of Far Western Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has launched its services to the hill districts of Far Western Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The national flag-carrier has extended the services to the hill destinations of the Far West bearing in mind the inconvenience to the people caused by the current obstruction of roadways because of the recent rainfall. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NAC has made Dhangadhi Airport in Kailali as its base for the service. Test flights have been launched for Bajhang and Doti districts from Sunday, October 24, informed Airport Chief Ram Krishna Bhatta. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The charge for the Dhangadhi-Doti flight has been fixed at Rs 2,615 per person and the return fare is Rs 5,515. Likewise, Rs 3,995 has been fixed as the air fare for the Dhangadhi-Bajhang flight and Rs 3,895 for the return ticket, according to Bhatta. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Locals have demanded regular operation of NAC flights for the convenience of the people living in these districts. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13923', 'image' => '20211025080455_244505921.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 08:04:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14177', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'No Ratification of MCC Compact without Political Consensus: Foreign Minister Khadka', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: Foreign Minister Dr Narayan Khadka has said that the ratification of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is not possible without the consensus among political parties.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 24: Foreign Minister Dr Narayan Khadka has said that the ratification of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is not possible without the consensus among political parties.</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"">Talking to media persons at Biratnagar Airport on Saturday, Minister Khadka said that the government was trying to reach a consensus among all political parties to endorse the MCC. “We are trying to reach a consensus. It is not possible to pass the MCC without consensus among the parties,” 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"">Stating that there was no doubt that the parties would move forward by forging an agreement, Foreign Minister Khadka said that the government would do everything possible for consensus. He informed that the party would take a decision on the leadership of the provincial government through consensus among the coalition partners. He said that the government will move forward through a package agreement including the formation of the provincial government and said that the final decision on the leadership of the provincial government has not been taken yet.</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"">As there is a need to strike a balance between the coalition parties, Minister Khadka clarified that Nepali Congress will be flexible regarding the leadership of provincial governments.</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"">On a different note, Minister Khadka also informed that the government will discuss issues about resolving the issue of Nepal’s territory as per the map of Nepal.</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, Minister Khadka said that the government would not go for early elections without the consent of the parties represented in the government. He said that if the coalition partners reach an agreement, they can go for early elections.</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"">Khadka also said that the general convention of the Nepali Congress is not possible until December as the ward conventions could not be held in some districts while municipal conventions and district conventions are still pending.</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"">Stating that the government is serious about the loss of huge amounts of property and crops due to the recent floods and landslides, Minister Khadka informed that the government is planning to provide relief to the victims. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13922', 'image' => '20211024012540_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 13:24:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14176', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Investors Pledge FDI of Rs 150 Billion in First Quarter of Current Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: Foreign investors have pledged a total investment of Rs 150 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, according to the quarterly report published by the Department of Industry (DoI).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 24: Foreign investors have pledged a total investment of Rs 150 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, according to the quarterly report published by the Department of Industry (DoI).</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 data of the department shows new industries with total investment of Rs 146 billion have been registered in the last three months. Until mid-October of the current fiscal year (FY 2021/22), altogether 26 large industries, 34 medium and 27 small industries with domestic investment of Rs 122 billion have been registered. In the same period, 107 foreign industries worth Rs 24 billion were also registered.</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 data shows the number of registered industries has declined in recent years, while pledges of foreign investment have relatively increased.</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"">In the first three months of the fiscal year 2017/18, 139 industries were registered with investment pledges of Rs 73.67 billion. In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, eighty seven industries have been registered with the investment pledges of Rs 122.18 billion.</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"">In the fiscal year 2018/19, investment of Rs 68.35 billion was pledged for 175 industries while an investment pledge of Rs 52.24 billion was made for 83 industries in the fiscal year 2019/20. And in the first quarter of 2020/21, fifty nine industries were registered with the investment pledge of Rs 62.37 billion.</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"">Officials of the department said the investment-friendly environment created by the government is inviting more foreign investment. Gyanendra Parajuli, director of the department, said, "After COVID-19, the government has embraced liberal policy which is having positive impact on investment commitment."</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 domestic and foreign industrial projects are expected to provide employment to 15,329 people, of which 8,134 will be employed by the domestic industry and 7,195 will be employed by the foreign industry.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13921', 'image' => '20211024011531_20160513034506_editor.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 13:14:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14175', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Floods, Landslides Damage 258,000 Metric Tons of Paddy', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: Continuous rainfall during last week resulted in floods and landslides in many places of the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 24: Continuous rainfall during last week resulted in floods and landslides in many places of the country. The natural disaster has been harsh upon the farmers, especially during the harvesting season. The floods and landslides caused by the unseasonal rainfall damaged 258,000 metric tons of paddy in different parts of the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the preliminary data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, a total of 258,092 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 7.22 billion have been damaged in Province 1, Lumbini Province and Far Western Province.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The incessant rainfall since October 17 caused floods and landslides at many places. Lumbini Province, Province 1 and Far Western Provinces were the most affected by the natural disaster. The government has so far compiled the preliminary data of only these three provinces. The ministry has stated that other regions have not faced much impact and that the compiled data would be collected by Tuesday, October 26.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the ministry, Lumbini Province was the worst-hit area by the floods and the least impacted area was Province 1. A total of 161,223 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 4.51 billion planted on 42,427 hectares of land in Lumbini have been damaged. In the Far-Western Province, 68,400 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 1.91 billion planted on 18,000 hectares of land have been completely damaged.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, 28,469 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 800 million planted on 7,492 hectares of land in Province 1 have been damaged. Banke, Bardiya, Kapilvastu, Rupandehi in Lumbini Province, Kailali and Kanchanpur in the Far-Western Province, Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari districts in Province 1 have suffered the most damage.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to Prakash Kumar Sanjel, joint secretary and spokesperson of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the figures released by the ministry are only the preliminary data. Full details of the damage in other districts would be released on Tuesday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“The ministry will decide on the relief and compensation to be provided to the affected farmers only after receiving the exact figures of the damage,” he told New Business Age.</span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/ArunYadav_Rajbiraj_RSS_17_a.jpg" style="height:598px; width:800px" /></p> <p><em>Photo: Rss</em></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13920', 'image' => '20211024123835_640px-Rice_Plants_(IRRI).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 12:37:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14174', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Human Resource, Budget Crunch Hit Technical Evaluation of Development Projects ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: The National Vigilance Centre lacks budget and technical staff to carry out technical assessment of its development projects, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 24: The National Vigilance Centre lacks budget and technical staff to carry out technical assessment of its development projects, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported.<br /> The post of Chief of Technical Division of the National Vigilance Centre under the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has remained vacant from mid-June 2019. <br /> Spokesperson of the National Vigilance Centre, Gyan Raj Subedi, told RSS that they are facing problem in carrying out test to assure the quality of development projects due to lack of human resources. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/National-vigilance-center.jpg" style="height:259px; width:550px" /></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although there is a quota for five technical under-secretaries at the Technical Division of the </span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">National Vigilance Centre, there are only two engineers available. <br /> The National Vigilance Centre has been conducting technical tests of projects of national pride and priority. Such activities have been hampered as technical staff hesitate to work for the National Vigilance Centre. <br /> Subedi further said that although the government in its annual policy and programmes promises to increase scope of technical test of development projects every year, it allocates minimal amount of budget for the purpose. <br /> According to RSS, only Rs 8.5 million has been allocated for technical tests of development projects in the current fiscal year. There is no situation to carry out technical tests of the development projects due to lack of budget and human resources, the National Vigilance Centre stated. </span></span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13919', 'image' => '20211024115216_20210831033034_20201206012152_1607211371.Clipboard13.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 11:51:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14173', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Hands Over Jayanagar-Kurta Cross-Border Railway to Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: The 35-kilometer Jayanagar-Kurta cross-border narrow gauge railway has been upgraded to broad gauge with the financial assistance of the Indian government. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 24: The 35-kilometer Jayanagar-Kurta cross-border narrow gauge railway has been upgraded to broad gauge with the financial assistance of the Indian government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">With the completion of the construction, the Indian government has also handed over the broad gauge to Nepal government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">At a function organized in the capital on Friday, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra handed over documents related to the ownership of the railway to Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Renu Kumari Yadav. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ownership of the railway has been transferred to the Nepal Railway Company Limited on October 22. The railway which was constructed at a cost of Rs 8.77 billion under the financial assistance of the Indian government is a part of the 68.72-km Jayanagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas railway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The operation of the railway is expected to enhance Nepal-India trade and commerce and further improve people-to-people relations and communications. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13918', 'image' => '20211024081756_20210421044248_20190325112130_Clipboard43-5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 08:17:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14172', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Scores of Tourists Stranded in Mugu due to Flight Suspension ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: Many domestic tourists visiting Mugu district on the occasion of Dashain festival have been stranded as flights to and from the district have been suspended due to rain since October 18. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 24: Many domestic tourists visiting Mugu district on the occasion of Dashain festival have been stranded as flights to and from the district have been suspended due to rain since October 18. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Road way in the district is troublesome and tedious and many roads in the district have now been damaged due to flooding and landslides thus bringing transportation to a complete halt. </span></span></span><br /> <img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Tourists%20Mugu%20%284%29%281%29.jpg" style="height:533px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Srijan Khatri of Nepalgunj along with her eight friends reached Mugu on motorcycles from Kathmandu . However, the motorcycle she was riding broke down on the way. She has been waiting for a flight for the past three days to reach Nepalgunj, but to no avail. </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"">"We have been stranded at Talcha Airport. We are short of money. We have called for rescue efforts, but to no avail so far," she shared her predicaments. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">To make the matter worse, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology predicted bad weather from Saturday, which means the probability to suspend flights. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">More than 100 passengers have been stranded at the airport, she said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Problems have taken place due to suspension of flights since a week due to rain, said the airport chief Bishal Barun. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal Airline Corporation, Summit Air, Tara Air and Sita Air had been operating flights to the district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief District Officer Rom Mahat said that a letter has been sent to the concerned authorities and aviation service providers to rescue the stranded people. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Tourists%20Mugu%20%286%29%281%29.jpg" style="height:490px; width:800px" /></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13917', 'image' => '20211024080701_Tourists Mugu (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 08:05:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14170', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Interest Rates on Deposits Come Down to Single Digit', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 22: Commercial banks have lowered the interest rate on fixed deposits to single digit following the intervention of Nepal Rastra Bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 22: Commercial banks have lowered the interest rate on fixed deposits to single digit following the intervention of Nepal Rastra Bank.</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"">Not only commercial banks but also development banks and finance companies have reduced the interest rates on fixed deposits to single digit, effective from October 21.</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"">As per the revised interest rate, commercial banks will now provide a maximum of 9.36% interest on deposits. Similarly, development banks and finance companies have set a maximum interest rate of 9.5% and 9.6% respectively.</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"">Seven commercial banks had maintained interest rates in double digits to resolve the problem of liquidity crisis. Sunrise Bank had raised the interest rate on deposits to 11.10%. Likewise, some other commercial banks, development banks and finance companies had also raised interest rates to double digits. </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"">In fact banks had started raising interest rates since September due to the liquidity crunch. In September, Sunrise Bank had raised the interest rate to 10.07%. Though Sunrise Bank had lowered the interest rate in October, majority of banks had raised it to double digits. </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"">Following the reckless increase of interest rates, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) had BFIs to revise the interest rate fixed for October. The central bank also made telephone calls to the chief executive oficers of banks and financial institutions on Wednesday and asked them to revise the interest rate limit.</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"">Bhuwan Dahal, President of the Nepal Bankers' Association said that the interest rate on deposits has been lowered to single digit as per the policy of the central bank. “As banks started to raise interest rates, discussion over interest rate stability ensued. And banks were also pressurized to make changes to interest rates after NRB issued the directive,” said Dahal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He added that with the reduction in interest rates, it will be easier for entrepreneurs to conduct business. "As interest rate on deposits falls, so does the interest rate on loans." In this case, it will be more convenient for those who do business on loans,” 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"">Dahal further said that drop in interest rates would challenge some banks to maintain the CD ratio at 90 percent. "Banks with a CD ratio of above 90% may face problems after interest rates fall. In such a situation, NRB needs to provide support to those banks and other banks and financial institutions may also have to help by buying loans," Dahal said. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-22', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13916', 'image' => '20211022121629_Banks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-22 12:15:47', '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
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', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 26: The government has appointed Rabidra Ghimire as the chairman of Nepal Reinsurance Company Limited. A meeting of the Council of Ministers on Monday (October 25) appointed Ghimire to the post for a four-year term.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, who is also the spokesperson of the government, confirmed that the cabinet meeting on Monday appointed Ghimire as the chairman of the company.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Ghimire is a professor at the Pokhara University School of Business as well.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Similarly, Madan Pokharel has been appointed to the position of director of the company. Nepal Reinsurance Company is a government-owned company.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The cabinet meeting also approved the resignation of the chairman of Nepal Airlines Corporation Sushil Ghimire and appointed Yubaraj Adhikari as the Acting chairman of the state-owned airline company.</span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Sushil Ghimire had resigned on moral grounds after the change in government. He was reportedly appointed chairman of NAC upon the recommendation of former minister Yogesh Bhattarai.</span></span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-26', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13930', 'image' => '20211026111845_20210315114314_20200630093335_Reinsurance.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-26 11:18:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 1 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14184', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Globe Amaranth Garland to Cost up to Rs 100 during Upcoming Tihar', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: The prices of garlands are expected to increase during the festival of Tihar this year. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 25: The prices of garlands are expected to increase during the festival of Tihar this year. The retail price of garland made up of Makhamali flower (globe amaranth) per piece is expected to reach up to Rs 100.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The main reason for the hike in the prices of garlands is the decline in production of flowers in the country. Lately, the floriculture business has been greatly hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the unseasonal rain. This has resulted in a decline of flower production.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the Floriculture Association of Nepal, the price of 1 meter long Makhamali (globe amaranth) garland is expected to cost up to Rs 100, which is Rs 20 more as compared to the price of last year. The price of the same garland was Rs 80 last year. The price of garland is generally determined by its length.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the preliminary data of the association, the floriculture sector has sustained damage between 30 to 35 percent damage due to the recent unseasonal rainfall. Similarly, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, about 22 percent florists have given up on flower business causing a decline in the overall production. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to Bishwa Mani Pokharel, general secretary of the association, the unseasonal rainfall has caused severe damage to floriculture in Chitwan, Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, Dang, Kathmandu, Dhading, Nuwakot and Kavrepalanchok districts. He added that 85 percent of the demand for Makhamali (globe amaranth) flower during the festival would be supplied by the domestic production and the remaining 15 percent would be imported into the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Despite the increase in the price of garlands compared to last year, the association has estimated that around 1.8 million garlands will be consumed in the country this year. As per the estimation, 1.5 million garlands of marigold flowers, 300,000 garlands of globe amaranth flower and 15,000 garlands of Indian<strong> </strong>chrysanthemum will be consumed during this Tihar festival.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:12pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The floriculture business is spread over 43 districts of the country. The total investment on floriculture is around Rs 6 billion. Altogether 700 entrepreneurs are involved in the business, which has given employment to more than 40,000 people. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-26', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13929', 'image' => '20211025012454_Globe-Amaranth-x538.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 13:24:17', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 2 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14183', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Floods, Landslides Inflict Damage worth Rs 4 Billion to Roads', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: The monsoon-induced disaster including the recent post-monsoon rains have created a loss of around Rs 4 billion due to the damages caused on roads and bridges across the country in the current fiscal year.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 25: The monsoon-induced disaster including the recent post-monsoon rains have created a loss of around Rs 4 billion due to the damages caused on roads and bridges across the country in the current fiscal year.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Due to the continuous rainfall for some days since October 17, the country has incurred an estimated loss of Rs 1.5 billion since mid-October alone. The Department of Roads estimates that this amount will further increase as more details of the damage are yet to be collected.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Spokesperson of the department Shiva Prasad Nepal said that the details of the damage are still being collected from some places and the extent of damage is likely to increase. Earlier, rainfall since mid-June had caused damage worth Rs 2.40 billion. During this time, more than 100 roads and 26 bridges have been damaged.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“This year the loss is expected to reach close to Rs 4 billion,” he said, adding, “Our team has not been able to reach Bajhang and other areas in western Nepal. Due to this, the total extent of damage will increase by the time the full details are available.” The Meteorological Forecasting Department informed this was the first time that such a massive rainfall occurred in October in almost 80 years.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Experts believe that climate change has altered the pattern of rainfall. Spokesperson Nepal says that the roads and transport infrastructure have been severely damaged due to the haphazard digging of roads. “Recently, the rising water level in the river touched the bridges,” he said, “As plotting is done in Terai by blocking the natural flow of the water, Terai will now always be flooded.”</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Stating that more and more roads are being built in the Terai, he said that it is necessary to control and manage the natural flow of rivers and streams.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The incessant rain in the first few days of after mid-October have damaged roads in 19 places across the country while bridges have also collapsed. According to the Department of Roads, during this period, there has been a loss of more than Rs 1 billion.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Roads in Kalikot, Sindhuli, Manang, Salyan, Pyuthan, Dhankuta, Bajhang, Darchula, Okhaldhunga, Syangja, Doti, Dadeldhura and Baitadi districts have been damaged due to the rain. Of these, the Dumre-Beshisahar-Chame road section has been damaged at three places in Manang district is still blocked. These roads have been blocked since October 19.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Heavy rains have damaged the Siddhartha Highway as well as Dhangadhi-Sahajpur-Budar-Syaule, Satbanjha-Thaktoli-Darchula-Tinker roads of Mid-Hills Highway. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13928', 'image' => '20211025010101_20211020080208_SBS_Kanchanpur-1.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 13:00:10', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 3 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14181', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Flower Expo to Kick off on Friday', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: The 14th Chrysanthemum Flower Expo is all set to kick off in Lalitpur from this Friday.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 25: The 14th Chrysanthemum Flower Expo is all set to kick off in Lalitpur from this Friday. The exhibition is scheduled to be held from October 29 to November 1 at Jawlakhel Sports Ground. The flower expo is being organized by Floriculture Association Nepal with support from the Ministry of Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Directorate of Agriculture Development, Floriculture Development Center, Bagmati Province.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The expo is being organized on the occasion of Tihar festival, during which the trade of flowers is highest. The association hopes that the event would help revive the flower business that has been hampered greatly by the Covid-19 pandemic.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The entrance fee has been fixed at Rs 100 for the general public and Rs 50 for students. The organisers are expecting more than 35,000 people to visit the exhibition. The association is hopeful of transaction of flowers worth Rs 5 million during the exhibition, said Bishwa Mani Pokharel, general secretary of the association.</span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13927', 'image' => '20211025114950_flower.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 11:49:04', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 4 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14182', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => '117 Die in Post-Monsoon Disaster, 26 Districts Affected ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: A total of 26 districts have been badly affected by the post-monsoon disaster triggered by torrential rainfall since October 17.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><em><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">A flood victim of Bhimdutta Municipality of Mahendranagar points out to his hut damaged by the recent post-monsoon disaster. Photo: RSS</span></em></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">October 25: A total of 26 districts have been badly affected by the post-monsoon disaster triggered by torrential rainfall since October 17. According to the government authorities, floods and landslides in different parts of the country have so far claimed the lives of 117 people. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">The post-monsoon rainfall was caused by the combined effect of the wind from the Bay of Bengal and the westerly wind. It resulted in floods, landslides and inundation in 26 districts, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported. <br /> Province-1 was the worst affected by the disaster. It recorded the maximum number of casualties followed by Sudurpachim Province.<br /> In the first two days (October 17 and 18), Sudurpaschim Province recorded huge loss of lives and properties, which later shifted to Province-1. Comparatively, other provinces were less affected. <br /> The data shared by the Home Ministry on Sunday (October 24) confirmed the deaths of 117 people due to the post-monsoon disaster. <br /> In the last 36 hours, five bodies of those missing were recovered, while 32 others are still missing, RSS reported citing the chief of the Disaster Management Division at the Home Ministry, Humkala Pande. <br /> Of the killed ones, 56 are men, 35 women and 25 children. Similarly, among those missing are 13 are men, 7 women and 12 children. <br /> Meanwhile, 44 persons have been injured by the floods and landslides while some of them have returned home after treatment, Pande added. <br /> The Home Ministry further stated that 118 houses were destroyed and 30 houses were partially damaged. <br /> According to RSS, climate change expert Dr Ngamindra Dahal said that such torrential rainfall caused after monsoon could be linked to climate change. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:18px">Rainfall has largely subsided while the Meterological Forecasting Division has forecast generally cloudy weather in different parts of the country.</span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13926', 'image' => '20211025120700_RPP-Kanchanpur-BadhiPidita.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 12:06:07', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 5 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14180', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Chief Justice in Crisis after 14 Justices Decide to Boycott Full Court Meeting', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: Chief Justice Cholendra SJB Rana, who has courted controversy for seeking a quota to appoint a minister, is in deep crisis after 14 justices decided to boycott a full court meeting called by the chief justice for October 25.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">October 25: Chief Justice Cholendra SJB Rana, who has courted controversy for seeking a quota to appoint a minister, is in deep crisis after 14 justices decided to boycott a full court meeting called by the chief justice for October 25. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">A meeting of the 14 justices of the Supreme Court on Sunday (October 24) decided to boycott the full court meeting summoned by the CJ. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The chief justice is under pressure to resign from his post after the justices decided not to show up at the full court. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Justices Deepak Kumar Karki, Meera Khadka, Hari Krishna Karki, Bishwanbhar Prasad Shrestha, Ananda Mohan Bhattarai, Prakash Man Singh Raut, Bam Kumar Shrestha, Tanka Bahadur Moktan, Prakash Kumar Dhungana, Sushma Lata Mathema, Kumar Regmi, Hari Prasad Fuyal, Manoj Kumar Sharma and Nahakul Subedi were present during Sunday’s meeting that decided to boycott the full court.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Justice Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada is in the United States for an official visit while other four justices – Sapana Malla Pradhan, Kumar Sinha, Tej Bahadur KC and Kumar Chudal were outside the Kathmandu Valley during Sunday’s meeting.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The 14 justices had convened a meeting after their lunch break instead of returning to their respective benches on Sunday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Meanwhile, CJ Rana held meeting with office bearers of Nepal Bar Association the same day and decided to call the full court meeting. However, the full court meeting has become uncertain after the justices decided not to attend it.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">CJ Rana defended himself during his meeting with the officials of the bar association stating that the media reports regarding his involvement in seeking a share in cabinet is not true. </span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13925', 'image' => '20211025111744_20201127115547_20200417094838_CKC_ktm.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 11:17:00', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 6 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14179', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'PM Reassures of Relief to Survivors of Floods and Landslides ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has assured of relief assistance to the survivors of recent incidents of water-induced disasters across the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 25: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has assured of relief assistance to the survivors of recent incidents of water-induced disasters across the country. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Talking to media persons briefly at Biratnagar Airport on Sunday, the Prime Minister Deuba said that the government would ensure food and proper shelter for the affected households. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Expressing sorrow over the losses of valuable lives and properties to the incidents of floods and landslides, the head of the government thanked security personnel engaged in the rescue and relief efforts in the disaster-hit areas. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The Prime Minister said that the Council of Ministers would soon meet to take necessary decisions for providing relief to the survivors. He also took time to say that the government would work in a planned way for the prevention and mitigation of possible floods and landslides in the future. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">He pledged to provide immediate relief to the victims by making a short and long term plans. On the occasion, Chief District Officer, Morang, Kashi Raj Dahal apprised the PM of the losses caused by flooding and landslides. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">PM Deuba also inspected the affected areas of Ilam and Panchthar districts the same day, said assistant CDO Mahesh Timsina. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The PM was accompanied by Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal and Vice President of the Nepali Congress Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13924', 'image' => '20211025081428_1629027828.pm deuba.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 08:13:59', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 7 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14178', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'NAC Starts Test Flights to Doti, Bajhang ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has launched its services to the hill districts of Far Western Nepal. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 25: Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has launched its services to the hill districts of Far Western Nepal. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The national flag-carrier has extended the services to the hill destinations of the Far West bearing in mind the inconvenience to the people caused by the current obstruction of roadways because of the recent rainfall. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The NAC has made Dhangadhi Airport in Kailali as its base for the service. Test flights have been launched for Bajhang and Doti districts from Sunday, October 24, informed Airport Chief Ram Krishna Bhatta. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The charge for the Dhangadhi-Doti flight has been fixed at Rs 2,615 per person and the return fare is Rs 5,515. Likewise, Rs 3,995 has been fixed as the air fare for the Dhangadhi-Bajhang flight and Rs 3,895 for the return ticket, according to Bhatta. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Locals have demanded regular operation of NAC flights for the convenience of the people living in these districts. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-25', 'modified' => '2021-10-25', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13923', 'image' => '20211025080455_244505921.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-25 08:04:22', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 8 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14177', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'No Ratification of MCC Compact without Political Consensus: Foreign Minister Khadka', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: Foreign Minister Dr Narayan Khadka has said that the ratification of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is not possible without the consensus among political parties.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 24: Foreign Minister Dr Narayan Khadka has said that the ratification of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant agreement is not possible without the consensus among political parties.</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"">Talking to media persons at Biratnagar Airport on Saturday, Minister Khadka said that the government was trying to reach a consensus among all political parties to endorse the MCC. “We are trying to reach a consensus. It is not possible to pass the MCC without consensus among the parties,” 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"">Stating that there was no doubt that the parties would move forward by forging an agreement, Foreign Minister Khadka said that the government would do everything possible for consensus. He informed that the party would take a decision on the leadership of the provincial government through consensus among the coalition partners. He said that the government will move forward through a package agreement including the formation of the provincial government and said that the final decision on the leadership of the provincial government has not been taken yet.</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"">As there is a need to strike a balance between the coalition parties, Minister Khadka clarified that Nepali Congress will be flexible regarding the leadership of provincial governments.</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"">On a different note, Minister Khadka also informed that the government will discuss issues about resolving the issue of Nepal’s territory as per the map of Nepal.</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, Minister Khadka said that the government would not go for early elections without the consent of the parties represented in the government. He said that if the coalition partners reach an agreement, they can go for early elections.</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"">Khadka also said that the general convention of the Nepali Congress is not possible until December as the ward conventions could not be held in some districts while municipal conventions and district conventions are still pending.</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"">Stating that the government is serious about the loss of huge amounts of property and crops due to the recent floods and landslides, Minister Khadka informed that the government is planning to provide relief to the victims. </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13922', 'image' => '20211024012540_MCC.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 13:24:52', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 9 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14176', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Investors Pledge FDI of Rs 150 Billion in First Quarter of Current Fiscal Year', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: Foreign investors have pledged a total investment of Rs 150 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, according to the quarterly report published by the Department of Industry (DoI).', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 24: Foreign investors have pledged a total investment of Rs 150 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, according to the quarterly report published by the Department of Industry (DoI).</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 data of the department shows new industries with total investment of Rs 146 billion have been registered in the last three months. Until mid-October of the current fiscal year (FY 2021/22), altogether 26 large industries, 34 medium and 27 small industries with domestic investment of Rs 122 billion have been registered. In the same period, 107 foreign industries worth Rs 24 billion were also registered.</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 data shows the number of registered industries has declined in recent years, while pledges of foreign investment have relatively increased.</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"">In the first three months of the fiscal year 2017/18, 139 industries were registered with investment pledges of Rs 73.67 billion. In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, eighty seven industries have been registered with the investment pledges of Rs 122.18 billion.</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"">In the fiscal year 2018/19, investment of Rs 68.35 billion was pledged for 175 industries while an investment pledge of Rs 52.24 billion was made for 83 industries in the fiscal year 2019/20. And in the first quarter of 2020/21, fifty nine industries were registered with the investment pledge of Rs 62.37 billion.</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"">Officials of the department said the investment-friendly environment created by the government is inviting more foreign investment. Gyanendra Parajuli, director of the department, said, "After COVID-19, the government has embraced liberal policy which is having positive impact on investment commitment."</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 domestic and foreign industrial projects are expected to provide employment to 15,329 people, of which 8,134 will be employed by the domestic industry and 7,195 will be employed by the foreign industry.</span></span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13921', 'image' => '20211024011531_20160513034506_editor.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 13:14:47', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 10 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14175', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Floods, Landslides Damage 258,000 Metric Tons of Paddy', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: Continuous rainfall during last week resulted in floods and landslides in many places of the country. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">October 24: Continuous rainfall during last week resulted in floods and landslides in many places of the country. The natural disaster has been harsh upon the farmers, especially during the harvesting season. The floods and landslides caused by the unseasonal rainfall damaged 258,000 metric tons of paddy in different parts of the country.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the preliminary data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, a total of 258,092 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 7.22 billion have been damaged in Province 1, Lumbini Province and Far Western Province.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The incessant rainfall since October 17 caused floods and landslides at many places. Lumbini Province, Province 1 and Far Western Provinces were the most affected by the natural disaster. The government has so far compiled the preliminary data of only these three provinces. The ministry has stated that other regions have not faced much impact and that the compiled data would be collected by Tuesday, October 26.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to the ministry, Lumbini Province was the worst-hit area by the floods and the least impacted area was Province 1. A total of 161,223 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 4.51 billion planted on 42,427 hectares of land in Lumbini have been damaged. In the Far-Western Province, 68,400 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 1.91 billion planted on 18,000 hectares of land have been completely damaged.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Similarly, 28,469 metric tons of paddy worth Rs 800 million planted on 7,492 hectares of land in Province 1 have been damaged. Banke, Bardiya, Kapilvastu, Rupandehi in Lumbini Province, Kailali and Kanchanpur in the Far-Western Province, Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari districts in Province 1 have suffered the most damage.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">According to Prakash Kumar Sanjel, joint secretary and spokesperson of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, the figures released by the ministry are only the preliminary data. Full details of the damage in other districts would be released on Tuesday. </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“The ministry will decide on the relief and compensation to be provided to the affected farmers only after receiving the exact figures of the damage,” he told New Business Age.</span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/ArunYadav_Rajbiraj_RSS_17_a.jpg" style="height:598px; width:800px" /></p> <p><em>Photo: Rss</em></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13920', 'image' => '20211024123835_640px-Rice_Plants_(IRRI).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 12:37:58', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 11 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14174', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Human Resource, Budget Crunch Hit Technical Evaluation of Development Projects ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: The National Vigilance Centre lacks budget and technical staff to carry out technical assessment of its development projects, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">October 24: The National Vigilance Centre lacks budget and technical staff to carry out technical assessment of its development projects, the state-owned national news agency RSS reported.<br /> The post of Chief of Technical Division of the National Vigilance Centre under the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has remained vacant from mid-June 2019. <br /> Spokesperson of the National Vigilance Centre, Gyan Raj Subedi, told RSS that they are facing problem in carrying out test to assure the quality of development projects due to lack of human resources. </span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/National-vigilance-center.jpg" style="height:259px; width:550px" /></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Although there is a quota for five technical under-secretaries at the Technical Division of the </span></span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">National Vigilance Centre, there are only two engineers available. <br /> The National Vigilance Centre has been conducting technical tests of projects of national pride and priority. Such activities have been hampered as technical staff hesitate to work for the National Vigilance Centre. <br /> Subedi further said that although the government in its annual policy and programmes promises to increase scope of technical test of development projects every year, it allocates minimal amount of budget for the purpose. <br /> According to RSS, only Rs 8.5 million has been allocated for technical tests of development projects in the current fiscal year. There is no situation to carry out technical tests of the development projects due to lack of budget and human resources, the National Vigilance Centre stated. </span></span></span></span><br /> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13919', 'image' => '20211024115216_20210831033034_20201206012152_1607211371.Clipboard13.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 11:51:12', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 12 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14173', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'India Hands Over Jayanagar-Kurta Cross-Border Railway to Nepal ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: The 35-kilometer Jayanagar-Kurta cross-border narrow gauge railway has been upgraded to broad gauge with the financial assistance of the Indian government. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 24: The 35-kilometer Jayanagar-Kurta cross-border narrow gauge railway has been upgraded to broad gauge with the financial assistance of the Indian government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">With the completion of the construction, the Indian government has also handed over the broad gauge to Nepal government. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">At a function organized in the capital on Friday, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra handed over documents related to the ownership of the railway to Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Renu Kumari Yadav. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The ownership of the railway has been transferred to the Nepal Railway Company Limited on October 22. The railway which was constructed at a cost of Rs 8.77 billion under the financial assistance of the Indian government is a part of the 68.72-km Jayanagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas railway. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">The operation of the railway is expected to enhance Nepal-India trade and commerce and further improve people-to-people relations and communications. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13918', 'image' => '20211024081756_20210421044248_20190325112130_Clipboard43-5.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 08:17:36', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => null, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 13 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14172', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Scores of Tourists Stranded in Mugu due to Flight Suspension ', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 24: Many domestic tourists visiting Mugu district on the occasion of Dashain festival have been stranded as flights to and from the district have been suspended due to rain since October 18. ', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">October 24: Many domestic tourists visiting Mugu district on the occasion of Dashain festival have been stranded as flights to and from the district have been suspended due to rain since October 18. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Road way in the district is troublesome and tedious and many roads in the district have now been damaged due to flooding and landslides thus bringing transportation to a complete halt. </span></span></span><br /> <img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Tourists%20Mugu%20%284%29%281%29.jpg" style="height:533px; width:800px" /></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="font-family:Calibri,"sans-serif""><span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Srijan Khatri of Nepalgunj along with her eight friends reached Mugu on motorcycles from Kathmandu . However, the motorcycle she was riding broke down on the way. She has been waiting for a flight for the past three days to reach Nepalgunj, but to no avail. </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"">"We have been stranded at Talcha Airport. We are short of money. We have called for rescue efforts, but to no avail so far," she shared her predicaments. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">To make the matter worse, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology predicted bad weather from Saturday, which means the probability to suspend flights. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">More than 100 passengers have been stranded at the airport, she said. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Problems have taken place due to suspension of flights since a week due to rain, said the airport chief Bishal Barun. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Nepal Airline Corporation, Summit Air, Tara Air and Sita Air had been operating flights to the district. </span><br /> <span style="font-family:"Arial Unicode MS","sans-serif"">Chief District Officer Rom Mahat said that a letter has been sent to the concerned authorities and aviation service providers to rescue the stranded people. -- RSS </span></span></span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/app/webroot/userfiles/images/Tourists%20Mugu%20%286%29%281%29.jpg" style="height:490px; width:800px" /></p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-24', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13917', 'image' => '20211024080701_Tourists Mugu (1).jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-24 08:05:05', 'homepage' => false, 'breaking_news' => false, 'main_news' => true, 'in_scroller' => false, 'user_id' => '34' ) ), (int) 14 => array( 'Article' => array( 'id' => '14170', 'article_category_id' => '1', 'title' => 'Interest Rates on Deposits Come Down to Single Digit', 'sub_title' => '', 'summary' => 'October 22: Commercial banks have lowered the interest rate on fixed deposits to single digit following the intervention of Nepal Rastra Bank.', 'content' => '<p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">October 22: Commercial banks have lowered the interest rate on fixed deposits to single digit following the intervention of Nepal Rastra Bank.</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"">Not only commercial banks but also development banks and finance companies have reduced the interest rates on fixed deposits to single digit, effective from October 21.</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"">As per the revised interest rate, commercial banks will now provide a maximum of 9.36% interest on deposits. Similarly, development banks and finance companies have set a maximum interest rate of 9.5% and 9.6% respectively.</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"">Seven commercial banks had maintained interest rates in double digits to resolve the problem of liquidity crisis. Sunrise Bank had raised the interest rate on deposits to 11.10%. Likewise, some other commercial banks, development banks and finance companies had also raised interest rates to double digits. </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"">In fact banks had started raising interest rates since September due to the liquidity crunch. In September, Sunrise Bank had raised the interest rate to 10.07%. Though Sunrise Bank had lowered the interest rate in October, majority of banks had raised it to double digits. </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"">Following the reckless increase of interest rates, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) had BFIs to revise the interest rate fixed for October. The central bank also made telephone calls to the chief executive oficers of banks and financial institutions on Wednesday and asked them to revise the interest rate limit.</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"">Bhuwan Dahal, President of the Nepal Bankers' Association said that the interest rate on deposits has been lowered to single digit as per the policy of the central bank. “As banks started to raise interest rates, discussion over interest rate stability ensued. And banks were also pressurized to make changes to interest rates after NRB issued the directive,” said Dahal. </span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">He added that with the reduction in interest rates, it will be easier for entrepreneurs to conduct business. "As interest rate on deposits falls, so does the interest rate on loans." In this case, it will be more convenient for those who do business on loans,” 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"">Dahal further said that drop in interest rates would challenge some banks to maintain the CD ratio at 90 percent. "Banks with a CD ratio of above 90% may face problems after interest rates fall. In such a situation, NRB needs to provide support to those banks and other banks and financial institutions may also have to help by buying loans," Dahal said. </span></span></span></p> <p> </p> ', 'published' => true, 'created' => '2021-10-22', 'modified' => '2021-10-24', 'keywords' => '', 'description' => '', 'sortorder' => '13916', 'image' => '20211022121629_Banks.jpg', 'article_date' => '2021-10-22 12:15:47', '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
