Page 21 - Nepal

'Pained by tragic plane crash in Nepal', tweets PM Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said he was pained by the tragic air crash in Nepal in which precious lives have been lost, including Indian nationals. At least 68 people were killed when a Nepalese passenger plane with 72 people onboard, including five Indians, crashed into a river gorge while landing at the newly-opened airport in central Nepal's resort city of Pokhara on Sunday in the Himalayan nation's deadliest aviation accident in over 30 years. Yeti Airlines' 9N-ANC ATR-72 aircraft took off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 am and crashed on the bank of the Seti River between the old airport and the new airport minutes before landing, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). "Pained by the tragic air crash in Nepal in which precious lives have been lost, including Indian nationals. In this hour of grief, my thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families," Modi said in a tweet and tagged Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal

System malfunctioning, human error likely caused Nepal plane crash: Experts

Mishandling, malfunctioning of aircraft system or pilot fatigue could be among the factors that caused the deadly plane crash in Nepal that killed at least 68 people on Sunday, according to pilots and an aircraft accident investigation expert. They also said the exact reasons that led to the accident will be known only after a detailed investigation. Nepal, which has witnessed quite a few aircraft accidents in recent years, on Sunday witnessed the crash of an ATR-72 aircraft, operated by Yeti Airlines, that was flying from Kathmandu to Pokhara. Going by the video clips on social media purportedly showing the plane's trajectory seconds before it crashed, it was a clear sky and the weather was not bad. An aircraft accident investigator told PTI that going by one of the video clips, the nose of the aircraft slightly went up and the wings drooped to the left side before the crash happened, and there could have been a stall. While the exact factors for the crash will be known only afte

Deeply grieved on hearing about air crash in Nepal's Pokhara: S Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressed grief over an air crash in Nepal's Pokhara on Sunday and said "our thoughts are with the affected families". A Nepalese passenger plane with 72 people on board, including five Indians, crashed into a river gorge while landing at the newly-opened airport in central Nepal's resort city of Pokhara on Sunday, killing at least 32 people. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the Yeti Airlines' 9N-ANC ATR-72 aircraft had taken off from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport at 10:33 am. Pokhara is a major tourist destination in the Himalayan nation. "Deeply grieved on hearing about the air crash in Pokhara, Nepal. Our thoughts are with the affected families," Jaishankar said in a tweet. Five Indians were among the 10 foreign nationals onboard the plane, the Indian Embassy said in a tweet. Their fate is not immediately known.

Nepal's Pokhara airport inaugurated 2 weeks ago, built with Chinese support

The Pokhara International Airport, which witnessed the fatal crash of a Nepalese passenger plane with 72 people onboard on Sunday, was inaugurated two weeks ago by Nepal's newly-appointed Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda' and built with Chinese assistance. Built in the backdrop of the pristine Annapurna Mountain Range, the airport was officially inaugurated on January 1, 2023. The flagship project was part of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation. The Nepal government signed a USD 215.96 million soft loan agreement with China in March 2016 for the construction of the airport in this tourist hub, according to Kathmandu Post newspaper. Last year, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi handed over the Pokhara Regional International Airport to the then Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, during a courtesy call held at Baluwatar. Speaking at the airport's inauguration ceremony, Prachanda said aerial connectivity is the most effective means of connectivity for a .

Plane carrying 72 people, including 5 Indians, crashes in Nepal's Pokhara

Five Indians were among the 68 passengers aboard the ATR 72 aircraft operated by Yeti Airlines

Nepal PM to visit India soon; Prachanda's first foreign trip after polls

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has said that he will visit India soon on his first foreign trip after assuming the top executive post of the country for the third time. The 68-year-old CPN-Maoist Centre leader was sworn in as the Prime Minister for the third time on December 26 last year after he dramatically walked out of the pre-poll alliance led by the Nepali Congress and joined hands with opposition leader K P Sharma Oli. I will be visiting India soon, Prachanda told senior editors on Saturday during his first interaction with select journalists after winning the vote of confidence on Tuesday. He said that preparations are going on at the diplomatic level for the same. The concerned embassies are making preparations for my visit, he told the journalists at Baluwatar, the official residence of the Prime Minister. However, the Nepal government is yet to officially announce the Prime Minister's visit to India. The date and itinerary of the visit are yet to be

Indian Railways to run tourist train between Ayodhya and Nepal's Janakpur

Indian Railways is going to run its Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist Train on a very special tour "Shri Ram-Janaki YatraThe tourist train will start from Delhi on February 17, 2023 and this initiative will strengthen the bilateral relations and also promote the cultural relations between the two countries.The tourist train will include the visit of Nandigram, Sitamarhi, Kashi and Prayagraj as added attractions in the tour. There will be a two-night stay in the hotels, one each at Janakpur and Varanasi respectively, while the visit to Ayodhya, Sitamarhi and Prayagraj will be covered in the day halt at the destination.The State of Art Deluxe AC Tourist Train has a host of astounding features including two fine dining restaurants, a modern kitchen, shower cubicles in coaches, sensor-based washroom functions, foot massager. The fully air-conditioned train provides two types of accommodation viz. 1st AC and 2nd AC. The train has enhanced security features of CCTV cameras and Security Guards

Nepal's PM 'Prachanda' to take vote of confidence in parliament today

Nepal's newly-appointed Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' would seek a vote of confidence in the parliament on Tuesday, amid uncertainty over the support from his allies. The 68-year-old CPN-Maoist Centre leader was sworn in as the Prime Minister for the third time on December 26 after he dramatically walked out of the pre-poll alliance led by the Nepali Congress and joined hands with opposition leader K P Sharma Oli. Nepal's first Parliament session after the appointment of Prime Minister Prachanda began here on Monday. The Nepali Congress - the largest political party in parliament - is likely to vote in support of Prime Minister Prachanda while staying on the opposition bench, My Republica newspaper reported. Prime Minister Prachanda on Monday met Nepali Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba and sought his support in parliament, the paper said. "Deuba has said that our party will take a decision whether to support the new government after the parliamentary party meeting

Collective effort essential for achieving prosperity, says Nepal's PM

Nepal's newly-appointed Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' said on Monday that collective effort was essential for achieving prosperity as he exuded confidence that the new parliament will be successful in meeting the expectations of the people. Speaking at the first meeting of the House of Representatives after the November general elections, Prime Minister Prachanda also said that the parliament should be taken as an "examination centre" by the lawmakers. President Bidya Devi Bhandari had called the first session of the new Parliament on January 9. Prachanda told the lawmakers that the people had elected them on the condition that "we deliver good governance and prosperity, and to make it meaningful, parliament should be taken as an examination centre," My Republica newspaper reported. He stated that all political parties should stand together to fulfill the common promises of good governance and prosperity made to the people during the elections. He also made it clea

Nepal's first Parliament session after PM Prachanda's win begins today

Nepal's first Parliament session after the appointment of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' will begin here on Monday, with the focus on elections of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. The session will also focus on Prime Minister Prachanda's vote of confidence. The first meeting will be chaired by the senior-most member of the House, Pashupati Shamsher JB Rana, according to The Rising Nepal newspaper. As per the call of President Bidya Devi Bhandari, the meeting of both the Houses will began at 1 pm on Monday, the report said. Top leaders of the major political parties will address the first meeting of the House of Representatives (HoR), which is scheduled to take place at the Parliament Building here. Last month, Nepal President Bhandari called the first session of the new Parliament on January 9 after the country went to polls on November 20. Prachanda, the 68-year-old CPN-Maoist Centre leader was sworn in as the Prime Minister for

China's new envoy vows to further enhance bilateral ties with Nepal

China is willing to work with Nepal to stay true to their original aspirations, join forces to seek common development and build a closer community with a shared future in the new era, the new Chinese ambassador here said on Sunday. Ambassador Chen Song, one of the senior diplomats in China, also vowed to work to write a new chapter of the strategic partnership between the two countries. Chen was appointed as ambassador to Nepal in November. However, Chen's arrival in Nepal was delayed after he and his wife got infected with Covid-19. He replaces Hou Yanqi, who returned to China after completing her four-year tenure in October. I stand ready to work closely with Nepali friends from all walks of life, gather wisdom and pool strength to bring more benefits to the two peoples, and jointly write a new chapter of the China-Nepal strategic partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship for development and prosperity, Chen was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post ...

Making efforts to activate eight-member regional group SAARC: Nepal

Nepal on Sunday said it was making efforts to activate the eight-member regional grouping SAARC, which has not been very effective since 2016. Speaking at a meeting of the National Concern and Coordination Committee under the National Assembly, Secretary and spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bharat Raj Paudel said the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) could not be made effective due to the lack of consensus among all member states. Nepal is trying to make it active, he was quoted as saying by My Republica newspaper. "We are chairing the SAARC. However, there are places where processes have not progressed. This multilateralism and regionalism have certain constants. One of them is that when we formed SAARC, we agreed on a fundamental principle while defining the charter of SAARC. That means nothing moves forward until everyone agrees on a topic. Basically, it cannot be the same. The role of the chair of SAARC is nothing special. We are only one

The New Year looks decidedly gloomy in India's political neighbourhood

Three key countries with which India has economic ties - Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal - are facing risks that appear to be worsening

India emerges as Nepal's top inbound tourist market in 2022, shows data

India has emerged as Nepal's top inbound tourist market in 2022, the tourism authority here said on Monday, as the key sector in the Himalayan nation is gradually witnessing recovery from the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic. Of the total 614,148 foreign visitors from January to December last year, 209,105 were from India, followed by the US with 77,009 and the UK 44,781, according to data published by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). Australia is in fourth place with 26,874 inbound visitors, while Bangladesh with 25,384 tourists ranked fifth in the list. The arrival of 614,148 tourists last year indicates a significant recovery in the Nepal tourism sector, NTB CEO Dhananjay Regmi said. In 2021, the country witnessed only 150,962 tourist footfall, while it was 230,085 in 2020, according to the data. Before the pandemic hit the tourism industry, Nepal received 1.2 million tourists in 2019. The highest number of 88,582 tourists entered Nepal via air routes in October 2022. Of the

Nepal's newly-appointed PM 'Prachanda' to take vote of confidence on Jan 10

Nepal's newly-appointed Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' has decided to take the vote of confidence in the Parliament on January 10, an official said on Monday. The 68-year-old CPN-Maoist Centre leader was sworn in as the Prime Minister for the third time on December 26 after he dramatically walked out of the pre-poll alliance led by the Nepali Congress and joined hands with opposition leader K P Sharma Oli. Prachanda on Monday requested the parliament secretariat to arrange to table the agenda of the vote of confidence in parliament on January 10. "The Prime Minister has sent a letter to include the subject of vote of confidence on the agenda of the Parliament on the 10th of January," said Rojnath Pandey, the spokesperson of the Parliament Secretariat. There is a constitutional provision that a person who has become the Prime Minister should take a vote of confidence within one month of swearing into office. President Bidhya Devi Bhandari called the first session of

Int'l airport built with Chinese assistance, donations inaugurated in Nepal

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Sunday inaugurated the country's third international airport, built in the backdrop of the Annapurna Mountain Range with Chinese loans and donations.The third International airport of the Himalayan nation has been inaugurated in the tourist valley as the previous airport had no proper infrastructure and also failed to provide an air route via India. The airport had inadequate hotels in the surroundings for stay and no proper transport.Nepal earlier in 2022 had inaugurated another airport, the Gautam Buddha International Airport built in Siddharthanagar near the Indian border. The airport is barely getting international fliers though it was expected to act as a supplement to Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA) in the capital Kathmandu.While inaugurating the airport amid a ceremony, the Prime Minister claimed that airports would connect the land-locked nation with the rest of the world, working as effective means of transportation."The ...

Indian envoy hands over PM Modi's message to Nepal counterpart Prachanda

Modi was the first foreign head of the government to congratulate Prachanda upon his election as the Prime Minister of Nepal on December 25

Political turbulence in 2022 turned rivals into allies in Nepal

Nepal witnessed political turbulence in 2022 that dramatically turned rivals into allies and throned former guerrilla leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" as the Prime Minister for a third time, as Kathmandu made efforts to balance ties with immediate neighbours India and China with high-profile talks and visits. Prachanda, the 68-year-old CPN-Maoist Centre chairman, surprisingly left his pre-poll alliance with the Nepali Congress and joined hands with rival CPN-UML led by former premier K P Sharma Oli and five other smaller parties to become prime minister. Elections to the lower house and seven provincial assemblies were held last month to end the prolonged political instability that had plagued the Himalayan nation. However, the polls resulted in a hung parliament, with the Nepali Congress emerging as the single largest party, followed by CPN-UML and Prachanda's CPN-Maoist. No party in the 275-member House of Representatives got 138 seats required to form a government. The whee

Third force: The tightrope walk that awaits Prachanda, Nepal's new PM

On Christmas day, Dahal became prime minister of Nepal for the third time - with Oli's assistance. The story of how he achieved this is a riveting one

Nepal's power sector may lose competitive advantage to India's new policy

Nepal's power sector fears that they will lose the competitive advantage in the Indian market following New Delhi's recent decision to waive off the Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) charges to India's hydropower projects, a move they say will severely hit their exports. On December 2, India's Power Ministry announced a waiver of ISTS charges on wheeling electricity for 18 years for new hydropower projects. The waiver is already available to solar and wind power projects. The government has set an ambitious plan to have 500 GW of generation capacity from non-fossil energy-based sources by 2030. The waiver is applicable exclusively to domestic Indian power producers and power exported from Nepal is not entitled to this concession. In essence, this will make hydropower generated by Indian companies cheaper than what is being produced by Nepal, according to hydropower experts here. The waiver is already available for wind and solar projects. "This is an internal matter of Indi