FNCCI stresses smooth operation of businesses

The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) has said that economic activities should be allowed to run by adopting safety measures during the prohibitory order citing that the main responsibility of the government and the private sector is to make the economy run smoothly.

Nepal’s economy to grow by 3.1% in 2020/21

Nepal’s economy is anticipated to grow by 3.1 per cent in the current fiscal year 2020/21 from a contraction of 1.9 per cent in last fiscal year 2019/20, said Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2021, the flagship economic publication of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

CIAA-filed cases fall sharply following SC verdict

The Supreme Court’s (SC) verdict that prevented the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) from conducting a sting operation to arrest bribe takers has resulted in a sharp drop of cases filed by the authority charging them with corruption. “We are now unable to arrest bribe takers. So, we are devising new ways to arrest them,” said Narayan Risal, spokesperson for CIAA. Although the CIAA had been arresting those taking kickbacks through the sting operation according to...

Tackling Economic Crisis

We are now seeing the repeat of the nasty events that rocked the nation last year.  With its new variant, the COVID-19 has again swept across the country, exposing our complacency and the weak preparations to fight its second wave. The coronavirus cases are rising at an alarming rate. So is the number of deaths of infected persons. In order to break the virus chain, a two-week long tough prohibitory order is being enforced in the Kathmandu Valley from Thursday. This is the ri

Fighting Corruption In Time Of Pandemic

A parliamentary committee looking after the state affairs and governance issues advised the government, the other day to step up vigilance against the risks of corruption and irregularities at this critical time of pandemic surge. Although the needs shall arise to divert and transfer resources from the general development coffers to fund the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, it gives rise to very possibility of significant risks of corruption and massive irregularities. This has been illustrated...

Hotel Industry Takes A Knock

We are in the midst of a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. People have been again panicked by the new surge of virus. The government has imposed a 15-day prohibitory order in the Kathmandu Valley to break the chain of virus. Similarly, places which have become hotspots of the virus, strong restrictive measures have been enforced to save the lives of people. Like many other sectors, the hospitality industry is aff

KMC to provide free ambulance to patients

Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has decided to provide free ambulances to transport patients of COVID-19 and other diseases to and from hospitals. At a special meeting held by the city to discuss ways to control COVID-19 in Kathmandu, Mayor Bidhya Sundar Shakya informed that the infected people could dial number 102 to avail ambulance services and that another 10 ambulances would be managed in various areas for people with other medical conditions.  

Restriction order in Valley from today

The Cabinet meeting decided to impose a 15-day restriction order in three districts of Kathmandu Valley - Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, with effect from 6:00 am on April 29 to May 13. Making public the Cabinet decisions, government spokesperson and Minister for Information and Communication Parbat Gurung said the Cabinet meeting held on April 26 had given authority to every district administration officer to impose reasonable restriction order for up to 15 days and additional days if necessary,...

Gandaki Provincial Assembly meet put off after a lawmaker goes missing

Provincial lawmaker Khim Bikram Shahi who represented Rastriya Janamorcha, was reported to have gone missing by the party whip Piyari Thapa. Thapa had written to the assembly to put off the meeting and help make public the whereabouts of lawmaker Shahi.

Vaccination against COVID-19 paused in Kathmandu

Dr. Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson of the MoHP, informed that the vaccination against COVID-19 is paused bearing in mind the purpose of prohibitory order, which is to limit the mobility of the people and decrease the rate of SARS-CoV-2 spread by breaking infection chain.