Page 13 - Nepal

Nepal PM Prachanda will embark on US and China visit in September

Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda will visit the US and China, towards the end of September. Prachanda will first visit the US to participate in the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations, which is scheduled to take place towards the third week of September. After his address to the UN General Assembly, Prachanda will leave for China, according to informed sources close to the prime minister. Next, Prachanda will embark on a visit to Nepal's northern neighbour China as part of the Himalayan nation's delegation in the 19th Asian Games. He will meet high-ranking Chinese officials during the visit. The prime minister will likely leave Kathmandu for New York on September 20, said PM's Press Coordinator Surya Kiran Sharma. However, the Foreign Ministry is yet to make a formal announcement of the visits. Earlier this month, Foreign Minister N P Saud said the prime minister would pay an official visit to China towards the third or fourth week of ...

Asia Cup 2023: Rohit Paudel, Sandeep Lamichhane key names in Nepal squad

Nepal on Monday announced a 17-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup with all-rounder Rohit Paudel as captain of a team that also features former Delhi Capitals spinner Sandeep Lamichhane. The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) took to its social media handles to announce the squad for the tournament that will be jointly organised by Sri Lanka and Pakistan. CAN also said that the team would be undergoing a week-long preparatory camp in Pakistan, where it would be playing matches against PCB-designated teams. The tournament will be played between August 30-September 17. It will comprise six teams, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh and India. Nepal has been clubbed in Group A, alongside India and Pakistan. It plays its opening game against the hosts on the first day of the competition in Multan before playing India on September 4 in Kandy. The event will be played in the One-Day International format and would act as a dress rehearsal for the Asian teams ahead of the 2023 ICC World

Nepal considers raising Mt Everest climbing fee to $15,000 for foreigners

The Nepal government on Monday said it is contemplating hiking the royalty fee to obtain permission to climb Mount Everest by USD 4,000 to USD 15,000, effective from 2025. Presently, foreign climbers seeking to conquer the world's tallest mountain, standing at 8,848.86 metres, are required to pay a royalty fee of USD 11,000. Nepali climbers are subject to a fee of NRs 75,000. The government had last revised the royalty fee in January 2015. The Department of Tourism has proposed a new royalty fee of USD 15,000 per foreign national desirous to climb Mt Everest from 2025," department spokesperson Yuvaraj Khatiwada said. The new fee will be applicable once the proposal is endorsed by the Cabinet. The current fee structure enables any foreign climber to ascend Mt Everest from the South Face (Nepal side) upon payment of USD 11,000. Prior to 2015, group expeditions, consisting of a maximum of 15 members, incurred a cost of USD 10,000 per person. However, the group provision was later ...

Nepal ready to supply tomatoes to India, seeks easier access to market

Nepal is ready to export tomatoes to India in bulk on a long-term basis to quell the skyrocketing prices but has sought easy access to the market and other necessary facilities. The neighbouring country's assurance came after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Parliament on Thursday that India has started importing tomatoes from Nepal amid a record-high spike in prices in the country. India is importing tomatoes for the first time due to high retail prices of around Rs 242 per kg amid supply disruptions caused by heavy rains. Nepal is desirous to export vegetables, such as tomatoes, on a long-term basis to India, but for that India has to provide easy access to its market and other necessary facilities, Agriculture Ministry spokesperson Shabnam Shivakoti told PTI here on Friday. Though Nepal has already started exporting tomatoes to India through official channels a week ago, it is not in big quantities, she said. Arrangements are yet to be made for large-scale export of ...

Nepal wants access to Indian market to export tomatoes on long-term basis

The Nepal government on Friday said it wants to export tomatoes in bulk and on a long-term basis to India but for that, it needs to have easy access to the market and other necessary facilities. The neighbouring country's plea came a day after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Parliament that India has started importing tomatoes from Nepal amid a record-high spike in prices in the country. India is importing tomatoes for the first time due to high retail prices which were as high as Rs 242 per kg on Friday amid supply disruptions caused by heavy rains. Nepal is desirous to export vegetables, such as tomatoes, on a long-term basis to India, but for that India has to provide easy access to its market and other necessary facilities, Agriculture Ministry spokesperson Shabnam Shivakoti told PTI here. Though Nepal has already started exporting tomatoes to India through official channels a week ago, it is not in big quantities, she said. Arrangements are yet to be made for large s

India starts importing tomatoes from Nepal amid record spike in prices

The first lot of imports are likely to reach by Friday in Varanasi, Lucknow and Kanpur cities in northern India, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the parliament

India trails Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh on internet resilience: Report

India trails neighbours like Bhutan, Bangladesh and even Nepal on internet resilience, a report by a global non-profit said on Tuesday. A resilient internet connection is one that maintains an acceptable level of service in the face of faults and challenges to normal operation, the Internet Society said, adding connectivity is essential for a country's economy. India achieved an overall score of 43 per cent and is ranked sixth in South Asia behind Bhutan (58 per cent), Bangladesh (51 per cent), Maldives (50 per cent), Sri Lanka (47 per cent) and Nepal (43 per cent), the report said. However, the country is ranked ahead of Pakistan, the report, which looked at infrastructure, performance, security, and market readiness, said. India's security is ranked above average, attributed to having the highest IPv6 (the newest Internet Protocol to accommodate growing networks) adoption in the world. Market readiness - the ability of India's Internet market to self-regulate and provide ...

IC-814 hijacking: How pilot scared Lahore ATC to get permission to land

Twenty-four years after the shocking hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 from Kathmandu in Nepal, its pilot Captain Devi Sharan has revealed that he had made a secret plan to scare the Air Traffic Control at Lahore by pretending to crash land the aircraft on a highway. Till date, it was understood that Capt Saran, his co-pilot Rajinder Kumar and flight engineer AK Jaggia had decided to land the aircraft at the Lahore airport against the decision of the Pakistani authorities, and while doing so, they mistook a highway for the runway as lights on the runway were switched off. It was a narrow escape as the aircraft was about to touch the highway when they realised it and pulled it up immediately. Way back in 2003-04, Jaggia, while narrating the IC-814 hijacking story to the media, said that when ATC refused them permission to land at the airport and switched off the runway and airport lights, they had no option but to grope in the dark to locate the runway as the aircraft was ..

Nepal's PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda to visit China in September end

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' will visit China in September end, Foreign Minister N P Saud said on Sunday, a trip aimed at maintaining a balance in ties with both the neighbours - China and India. This will be Prachanda's second foreign trip after assuming the office in December last year. The 68-year-old Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre (CPN-MC) leader visited India in June as his first foreign trip after assuming office for the third time. Foreign Minister Saud said the prime minister would pay an official visit to the northern neighbour towards the third or fourth week of September. "Preparations are almost complete for the prime minister's upcoming visit to China," Saud said while speaking at a Ministry of Foreign Affairs programme to mark the digitalised verification of the police clearance certificate at the Consular Service Office here. He said that the present government was committed to strengthening cordial relations with friendly countries, ..

PM Modi speaks with Nepalese counterpart, reviews aspects of cooperation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with his Nepalese counterpart Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Saturday and reviewed various aspects of the India-Nepal cooperation to strengthen the deep bonds of friendship between the two countries. The telephone conversation between Modi and Prachanda continues the tradition of high level exchanges between the two countries. "The two leaders reviewed various aspects of the India-Nepal bilateral cooperation and followed-up on discussions held during Prime Minister Prachanda's recent visit to India from 31 May to 3 June 2023, so as to advance the bilateral partnership and to further strengthen the deep bonds of friendship between the two countries," a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office here said. Nepal, a close and friendly neighbour, is a key partner in India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy, it said.

Meet in Delhi later this month on successful implementation of NEP'20: MoS

Union Minister of State for Education Rajkumar Ranjan Singh on Saturday said to observe the "successful implementation" of National Education Policy 2020, a meet will be held on July 29-30 in Delhi which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Participants ranging from schools to the highest level of research institutes will participate in the meet where usage of green hydrogen and presenting driverless car will be among the highlights along with other innovations, he told PTI on the sidelines of a meet on education organised by ASSOCHAM. "We will show how certain innovations can be linked up with industry," he said. National Education Policy envisages linking industry with research and innovation, to transform and strengthen our education system as the NEP wishes to all focus on developing essential skills, the union minister said. "We wish to internationalise our education system. NEP aims at harnessing the creative potential of each individual, enabling the creative

EAM meets counterparts from Nepal, Bangladesh; discusses ongoing bilateral

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday met his counterparts from Nepal and Bangladesh here and agreed to work closely to implement the agenda of cooperation set out by the leaderships and exchanged views on regional issues. Jaishankar is here in the capital of Thailand and participated in the BIMSTEC retreat. The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional grouping that comprises India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan. The seven countries are home to 1.73 billion people and have a combined gross domestic product of more than USD 4 trillion. "Good meeting with Nepal Foreign Minister Narayan Prakash Saud. Agreed to work closely to implement the agenda of cooperation set out by our leaderships. Look forward to remaining in touch," Jaishankar tweeted along with pictures. The minister also met Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abdul Momen. "Pleased to meet Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abdul Momen.

Nepal forms 4-member committee to probe helicopter crash near Mt. Everest

The Nepal government has formed a four-member panel to probe the deadly helicopter crash near Mount Everest in the country's eastern region, authorities said on Wednesday. The Manang Air helicopter 9N-AMV crashed on Tuesday, killing all six people on board, including five members of a Mexican family. The probe committee is headed by Budhisagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation, according to the ministry sources. The helicopter took off from Surke Airport in Solukhumbu district at 10.04 am for Kathmandu and suddenly lost contact at an altitude above 12,000 feet at 10.13 am. The helicopter crashed in the Lamjura area of Likhupike Rural Municipality in the remote mountainous Solukhumbu district. A meeting of the Council of Ministers convened at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers at Singha Durbar on Tuesday expressed sorrow over the loss of lives in the crash and decided to form a committee to probe it, cabinet source

5 out of 6 bodies recovered from Manang helicopter crash site in Nepal

A Manang Air helicopter with six people aboard went missing near Mount Everest in Nepal on Tuesday, aviation authorities said. According to Tribhuvan International Airport General Manager Pratap Babu Tiwari, the chopper, with call sign 9N-AMV, went contactless 15 minutes into the flight. The chopper had taken off from Surki in Solukhumbu for the capital Kathmandu at 9:45 am, the Kathmandu Post newspaper quoted Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal Information Officer Gyanendra Bhul as saying. According to initial reports, the helicopter was carrying a total of six individuals. It was piloted by Senior Captain Chet Gurung, the Himalayan Times newspaper quoted a source as saying.

Nepal PM Prachanda acknowledges mistakes regarding controversial remarks

Dahal acknowledged the mistake while making controversial remarks during a book launch on July 2. Addressing the parliament, he pledged to exercise greater caution while expressing personal emotions

Nepal needs to further strengthen relations with India, China: FM Saud

Nepal's Foreign Minister N P Saud on Monday underlined the need for further strengthening the Himalayan nation's ties with India and China as he asserted that the relations with one neighbour should not be compared with another. "Both our neighbours are rising economic powers and their influence is increasing... Nepal enjoys a traditional friendship with both the neighbours," which needs to be further nurtured, Foreign Minister Saud said while speaking at the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives. He said the relationship with one neighbour should not be compared with another neighbour, according to his office. "So far as Nepal's relations with the neighbouring countries are concerned, we should not feel psychological pressure and we need to put our concern in a transparent manner," he added. Nepal's relations with India are historical and special, he said, noting that "owing to our open border, two-third trade links and transit facilities, our relations

Nepal, India to finalise detailed project report of Pancheshwar power plant

Nepal and India have agreed to hold a meeting of experts to "iron out the differences" and finalise the detailed project report of the much-awaited 6,480 megawatt Pancheshwar Multipurpose bi-national power plant to be developed on the bordering Mahakali river, according to a media report on Saturday. The understanding was reached during a meeting of the governing council of the Pancheshwar Development Authority held in Pokhara in Nepal on Thursday and Friday, The Kathmandu Post newspaper reported. The meeting decided to extend the term of the team of experts which expired in March, the report quoted Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation ministry spokesperson Madhu Bhetuwal as saying. The two sides also agreed to hold the next meeting of the team of experts within 10 days to iron out the differences over the DPR (detailed project report) and make a move towards concluding the DPR, he said. Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project (PMP) is a bi-national hydropower project to be developed on

Prachanda's remark on India stirs up storm in Nepal, Oppn demands resign

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda's stunning remarks that an Indian businessman settled here "once made efforts" to make him the premier has stirred up a storm in the Himalayan Nation with the Opposition demanding his resignation. Prachanda also said that Sardar Pritam Singh, a pioneer trucking entrepreneur in Nepal, played a special and historic role in enhancing Nepal-India relations. Prachanda made these remarks on Monday while addressing a function to launch the book, Roads to the Valley: The Legacy of Sardar Pritam Singh in Nepal' He (Singh) had once made efforts to make me the prime minister, Prachanda said. He travelled to Delhi several times and held multiple rounds of talks with political leaders in Kathmandu to make me the prime minister, the Prime Minister said. Prachanda also said that Singh has played a special and historic role in enhancing Nepal-India relations. The remarks have stirred up a storm and drawn criticism from several quarters. The main

ADB approves $50 million loan to help Nepal in making policy reforms

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday said it has approved a USD 50 million loan to the Nepal government to support the implementation of policy reforms and help improve the Himalayan nation's domestic and international trade with its key economic partners like India and Bangladesh. The development of the trade and industry sector will boost competitiveness and help steer the country toward sustainable economic growth, said ADB South Asia Department's Director of Regional Cooperation and Operations Coordination, Thiam Hee Ng. Furthermore, improved trade facilitation can boost exports and help address Nepal's balance of payment, he said. In fiscal year 2022, trade and industry contributed 14.1 per cent to Nepal's gross domestic product (GDP). The Nepal government is pushing to increase the contribution of trade to the country's GDP by improving the trade and export promotion environment and strengthening the supply chain of primary products, according to an ADB press ...

Nepal's Supreme Court issues order to govt to register same-sex marriage

Nepal's Supreme Court on Wednesday issued an interim order to the government to temporarily register same-sex marriage, a notice by the apex court said. A single bench of Justice Til Prasad Shrestha issued the order to the government to make necessary arrangements for registering the marriage of sexual and gender minority couples if they demand so, the directive said. Seven people, including activist Pinky Gurung on behalf of Blue Diamond Society (BDS), an LGBTI rights organisation, filed a writ to the Prime Minister and the Office of the Council of Ministers to legalise same-sex marriage. In the order, the apex court has also asked the opponents to furnish a written reply on the issue within 15 days. The petitioners said that they filed the writ as the Nepalese law has obstructed same-sex marriage despite a Supreme Court decision, which allowed such marriages 15 years ago. Citing that Clause 69 (1) of the National Civil Code 2017 mentions that each individual citizen has the free