Nepal

[nepaltrekkingguide]

In Nepal, the driving roads/streets are small & innumemerable bendings- either peoples to walk & to drive us the same roads/streets.

Taxis, bikes,bycycles, & buses driving and peoples walking is on the same road.

Peoples must take good care when they are walking in the roads/streets.

[~MELVINDONESIA~]

The pics?

[Johson]

pics please

[hakz2007]

Nepal to introduce telecom projects to increase service

KATHMANDU, March 23 (PNA/Bernama) -- The Nepali government is preparing to introduce three telecom pilot projects to infrastructure sharing as an effort to increase telecommunication service coverage in rural areas.

Citing Tuesday's The Kathmandu Post daily, Xinhua news agency said that the plan comes at a time when telecom service operators have asked the government to introduce guidelines, for infrastructure sharing at the earliest, to speed up development in the telecommunication sector in a cost effective way.

This project which is aimed at building infrastructure enhancement and boosting telecom services through sharing will be carried out through grant assistance provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under Information and Communication Technology Development Project to be completed by June 2014.

The government will spend US$ 7 million provided by the ADB, according to Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), the regulator of telecom sector.

"Our study on telecom infrastructure sharing will propose three districts, one each from mountain, hill and Terai to initiate the pilot projects," said Bhesh Raj Kanel, chairman of NTA.

"We will evaluate the districts on the basis of required base tower stations and needs. We will select one district from each region to carry out pilot projects."

The regulatory body has already started the process of selecting a consultant to carry out the study and recommend modalities on telecom infrastructure sharing to increase rural telecom density and to develop guidelines for infrastructure sharing to the government. (PNA/Bernama)

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=...d=4&rid=265942

[hakz2007]

Nepal scraps passport deal

KATHMANDU: After facing immense criticism and controversies from various political parties for giving the contract to print machine readable passports to an Indian company, the Nepal government has scrapped the deal.

The decision to scrap the deal with Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited and start a fresh tender was taken by the Cabinet late on Sunday evening.

Though the government had invited global bidding in December 2009, it cancelled it in January. The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament had asked the government to resume the bid in February but the government awarded the contract to the Indian company in March.

Last week, the Supreme Court issued an interim order not to execute the deal until April 12 based on two petitions.

Meanwhile, various political parties including the ruling CPN-(UML) condemned the government decision. The opposition Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) had called a nationwide general strike on Monday but withdrew it after the Cabinet scrapped the deal. The party said the deal was against Nepal's national interest.

http://www.thehindu.com/2010/04/13/s...1357421700.htm

[India101]

Downtown Apartments, 15fl x 2, Kathmandu

[IMG]http://i44.************/qyd8om.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://i42.************/2weiefp.jpg[/IMG]

Site Pic from Google Earth:

[IMG]http://i39.************/de6vsl.png[/IMG]

Link

[India101]

City View, Kathmandu

[IMG]http://i41.************/2wna3dg.gif[/IMG]

Location:
[IMG]http://i41.************/nwkcra.gif[/IMG]

Link

[hakz2007]

Europe-bound passengers forced to stay in Kathmandu due to volcanic ash cloud

KATHMANDU, April 17 (PNA/Xinhua) -- A number of Europe-bound passengers were compelled to stay in the Nepali capital Kathmandu since flights into European airspace have been suspended due to a volcanic ash cloud.

TIA (Tribhuvan International Airport) in Nepal Manager Dinesh Prasad Shrestha told The Himalayan Times daily on Saturday that a number of passengers of international airlines returned from the airport after airspace over several European countries remained closed.

The restrictions have been put in place since volcanic ash drifted across Europe from Iceland on Thursday. Officials of the international carriers, including Gulf Air, Qatar Airways and Jet Airways said Europe-bound passengers were told to stay in Kathmandu until the European airspace opened for flights. (PNA/Xinhua)

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=...d=6&rid=270317

[hakz2007]

Nepal and Australia mark 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties

The diplomatic relations between Nepal and Australia reached the 50th year on Monday (April 26).

Australian Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, in Nepal to attend the functions marking the 50 anniversary of the bilateral ties.

"Over the last five decades, the relationship between Australia and Nepal has grown considerably, to the benefit of both countries," a press statement issued by Australian embassy in Kathmandu quoted McMullan as saying.

In 1984 Australia established a diplomatic mission in Nepal, then in 2007 Nepal cemented bilateral ties with the establishment of a diplomatic mission in Australia.

During a series of discussions with political leaders, Constituent Assembly members, and United Nations officials, McMullan underlined Australia's support to Nepal's peace process and for its progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, the embassy said.

"As part of his visit, McMullan was advised of progress on the drafting of the constitution and integration and rehabilitation of the PLA. Political consensus is needed for these important issues to be resolved quickly and without further danger of brinkmanship."

"As a country with more than 100 years' experience as a federal parliamentary democracy, Australia stands ready to support Nepal through this transition," said McMullan.

He also urged the Government of Nepal and political parties to take steps to end the culture of impunity in Nepal, and ensure justice for victims of the conflict.

To mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, Australia will provide A$800,000 to establish an Electoral Resource Centre at the Election Commission in Kathmandu. The Centre will increase community understanding of the electoral process and help entrench democracy in Nepal.

McMullan today also announced additional Australia Awards scholarships for high achieving Nepali students to study in Australia, and support to establish an Alumni network to strengthen ongoing links between Nepali and Australian students and graduates. Since 1995, Australia has provided more than 200 scholarships to Nepali students.

Australia has almost doubled its assistance to Nepal over the last two years to A$17 million in 2009-10.

http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index....atic-ties.html

US Navy commander visiting Nepal from Tuesday

Commander of the Pacific Command of the US Navy, Admiral Robert F Willard, is arriving in Kathmandu on Tuesday at the invitation of Chief of Army Staff Chhatraman Singh Gurung.

During his visit, Admial Willard will meet Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Defence Minister Bidhya Bhandari, Home Minister Bhim Rawal, and CoAS Gurung, a press statement issued by NA's Diractorate of the Public Relations (DPR) said.

The US admiral will visit Afghanistan from April 29 and will be back to Kathmandu May 2. He will wrap up the trip on May 3.

http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index....m-tuesday.html

Outflow of Nepali migrant labourers posts sound growth

During the first nine months of the current fiscal year (FY) 2066/67 B.S, there has been a remarkable growth in the number of Nepali workers leaving for abroad employment.

During the period, some 202,794 migrant workers left the country for foreign jobs while the figure stood at 157,859 in the corresponding period of the last FY, according to Department of Foreign Employment.

Amongst those flying for abroad works in this year, the number of female is 9,328.

Malaysia tops the list in terms of absorbing the number of Nepali labour.

During the said period of the current FY, 78,876 left for Malaysia, 44,281 for Saudi Arab, 42,535 for Qatar and the remaining for other popular labour destinations.

Some 25,728 left for UAE entirely on a personal initiative rather than institutional.

In the last month of Chaitra alone, a whopping 29,555 flied to work in foreign lands.

Of course, the inflow of remittances is largely helping the country's shaky economy afloat.

However, some economic experts caution that the increasing exodus of the country's productive segment will not bode well to the country's wellbeing in the long run.

"There is a great need for the government to come up with a separate mechanism to funnel the remittances into productive sectors. This step should also be gravitated towards creating more job opportunities at home," said Ragav Dwoj Pant, a noted economist adding," The generation of employment avenues in the country is important to mitigate the growing dependence on remittances."

http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index....nd-growth.html

[hakz2007]

Strike hits Nepal's tourism industry

KATHMANDU, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The Nepali tourism industry has been affected badly, by the indefinite nationwide strike of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist which lasted for the past six days.

According to Saturday's The Rising Nepal daily, although the UCPN-M has allowed tourist vehicles to operate in and outside the Kathmandu Valley, visiting tourists are reported to have been stranded in some parts of the country.

Khada Nanda Dhakal, Chief of the Immigration Office at the Tribhuvan International Airport, informed that tourist arrivals have decreased by three folds as compared to the departure figures due to the strike.

According to Dhakal, around 400 tourists have been coming to Nepal by air daily, while the number of tourists leaving the country is about 1,500 every day.

Despite such a situation, no international airlines have canceled their services, so far. "If the state of uncertainty does not end immediately, tourist arrivals are likely to decline considerably soon," he said.

Tour operators say that only the tourists, who had booked earlier, have been visiting Nepal. According to them, they have stopped receiving any booking with the start of Maoist's strike.

Many tourists have begun shortening their stay in the country. "As they are facing problems of transportation, they are forced to shorten their stay," Ashok Pokharel, President of Nepal Association of Tour Operators, said.

He said that tourists have been deprived of food at restaurants and hotels at Thamel, a major tourist hub in the capital.

He said that present economic crisis would affect not only the hotel industry but also all other sectors.

"As multinational tourism industry is very fragile, the strike is sure to have long- term effects on this sector," he said.

Similarly, the strike has affected both domestic and international flights.

Domestic airlines have been forced to decrease the number of their scheduled flights due to the strike. (PNA/Xinhua)

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=...d=4&rid=274282

[hakz2007]

INDIA PLEDGES RS 81.9 MILLION FOR 2 PROJECTS IN NEPAL

KATHMANDU, May 13 (NNN-PTI) -- India today pledged financial assistance of Rs 81.9 million for construction of a college building and a cold storage in Nepal.

Two separate MoUs were signed in this regard between the Indian embassy and Nepalese authorities here, said a statement from the mission.

Under the Indian assistance, Nepali Rs 3.74 crore will be spent on the construction of 'Himalaya Campus' for a college at Khandwari in Sankhuwasabha district in eastern Nepal, which would include a triple-storey building, boundary wall and provision for furniture.

The college is currently providing bachelor level education to over 1,200 students, about half of whom are girls.

Separately, Nepali Rs 4.45 crore will be spent on the construction of a cold storage building with a boundary wall and provision of machinery and equipment in Bhadrapur Municipality in Jhapa district, also in eastern Nepal.

http://namnewsnetwork.org/v2/read.php?id=120209

[India101]

Dhaka to let Bhutan, Nepal use its ports

State Minister for Environment Dr Hasan Mahmud Thursday said the government wants to give Chittagong and Mongla seaports for use by all its neighbouring countries, not just by India, Bhutan and Myanmar.

He, however, said some policy-guidelines are needed in this regard.

[India101]

Jindal Power plans to set up hydro-power project in Nepal

The report stated that the company has received a license and we are doing the due diligence and are looking to install a 220-MW hydro-power project in Chainpur Seti, Nepal.




Naveen Jindal-led Jindal Power is planning to set up a hydro-power project in Nepal at an estimated cost of Rs 15bn as part of its multi-billion dollar programme in the energy space, according to a report.

The report stated that the company has received a license and we are doing the due diligence and are looking to install a 220-MW hydro-power project in Chainpur Seti, Nepal.

[hakz2007]

NEPALI PM MADHAV KUMAR TO RESIGN, PAVING WAY FOR NEW UNITY GOVERNMENT

KATMANDU, May 29 (NNN-Bernama) -- Bowing to pressure from the Maoist party, Nepal's Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has agreed to step down within days, paving the way for a new unity government to take power, reported China's Xinhua news agency.

Madhav Kumar agreed to resign after the former communist rebels supported his proposal to extend the term of parliament so it can draft a new constitution to end years of civil war and strife.

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar told reporters early Saturday he would resign soon, but did not elaborate.

Three main political parties had agreed that the prime minister would resign within days, and a new national government would take power.

Maoists, the ex-rebels, have been protesting both in parliament and on the street for months demanding the prime minister's resignation.

The Maoists control most seats in the assembly, and their support was required to get the two-third majority to pass the government proposal.

The lawmakers approved the proposal just after midnight Friday.

It was not yet decided who would succeed the prime minister, but the main political parties have also agreed to hold talks to form a national government that would include most political parties in the assembly.

The two-year term of the Constituent Assembly was set to end Saturday. The assembly intends to draft a new constitution to help guide Nepal out of years of civil war and upheaval, but has achieved little due to political bickering.

The Maoists ended their decade-old rebellion in 2006 and joined a peace process. Since then they have confined their fighters to U.N.-monitored camps and joined mainstream politics.

They won 2008 elections and formed a government, but it later fell in a dispute with the nation's president over the Maoists' attempt to replace the army chief.

The United Nations, which played a key role in the peace process, has expressed concern over the political situation in Nepal.

http://namnewsnetwork.org/v2/read.php?id=121901

[hakz2007]

NEPSE gains 1.14 pts

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) benchmark index on Thursday-the last trading day of the week- saw a gain of 1.14 points to end at 481.62 points.

Amongst the six groups whose shares were traded in today's session, three moved up while the remaining three lost.

The hydropower lost the most as it shed 32.83 points to end at 714.77 points. Similarly, the others and finance fell by 15.27 points and 5.69 points to close at 542.83 points and 432.03 points respectively.

On the other hand, the commercial banks, heavyweight in NEPSE, inclined by 8.25 points to close at 462.8 points. The insurance and development banks rose by 6.3 points and 3.79 points to end at 501.6 points and 571.26 points respectively.

The sensitive index, that measures the performance of Group A companies, also gained a meagre 0.17 points to end at 117.67 points.

The NEPSE today traded 77,680 units of shares worth Rs 35,935,698 in 630 transactions.

http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index....s-114-pts.html

Oman Air to fly in Nepali skies

The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation has granted permission to Oman Air to operate direct flights between Oman and Nepal, reports RSS.

An agreement to this effect was signed between the governments of the two countries in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

Oman Air is planning to operate Oman-Kathmandu flights from the third week of June. It plans to operate seven flights a week.

The ministry said direct Oman-Kathmandu flights will help Nepal Tourism Year 2011, besides facilitating Nepali workers going to Oman for jobs. Nepal government is planning to attract more international airlines for the success of Nepal Tourism Year 2011.

http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index....ali-skies.html

[hakz2007]

NEPAL BECOMES MAJOR TOURISM DESTINATION FOR ASIAN TRAVELLERS

KATHMANDU, June 15 (NNN-Bernama) -- Nepal is becoming a major tourism destination for Asian travellers, a local media reported Tuesday, citing a report.

The World Bank South Asia Economic Update 2010 reveals that travellers from East Asia made up 26.5 percent of the total tourist arrivals in Nepal, China's Xinhua news agency quoted The Kathmandu Post daily as saying.

The statistics of the Nepal Tourism Board, reflecting a similar trend, said the tourists arrivals from China, South Korea and Thailand have been increasing in the past few years.

The number of Chinese arrivals in Nepal has increased by 185.97 percent in from 2006 to 2009. Around 19,000 Chinese tourists visited Nepal in 2009.

In the same period, tourist arrivals from South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia have soared by 68.40 percent, 164.26 percent, 83.48 percent and 46.32 percent, respectively.

Travel trade analysts attribute the increment in East Asian arrivals to their rising income levels, desire to visit the birthplace of the Buddha and better air connectivity.

Currently, four Chinese airlines operate flights to Nepal with China Eastern Airlines being the latest entrant last year.

The growth in inbound from East Asia has prompted the concerned stakeholders to pay special attention to the region.

Nepal is expecting 100,000 tourists from China during Nepal Tourism Year 2011 while it has targeted a 20 percent increment in tourist arrivals from other Asian countries.

http://namnewsnetwork.org/v2/read.php?id=123821

[hakz2007]

Tourist arrivals in Nepal up 30 pct in first quarter

KATHMANDU, June 17 (PNA/Xinhua) -- International visitor arrivals in Nepal witnessed a substantial growth of 30 percent in the first quarter of 2010, local media reported on Thursday.

According to eKantipur.com report, of the total growth registered, visitors from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) increased by 20.98 percent to 25,160 while its share in overall tourist arrivals stood at 24.19 percent. In the same period last year, there were 20,796 tourists from SAARC countries, according to the arrival statistics compiled by the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).

Similarly, visitors from East Asia increased by 38.61 percent to 24,855 and the share contribution of these countries in total arrivals was recorded at 23.90 percent. In the first three months last year, 17,931 tourists from East Asia visited Nepal.

Nepal is becoming a major tourism destination for Asian travelers. The World Bank South Asia Economic Update 2010 reveals that travelers from East Asia made up 26.5 percent of the total tourist arrivals in Nepal.

The statistics of the NTB also reflect a similar trend. Tourist arrivals from China, South Korea and Thailand have been increasing in the past few years.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=...d=6&rid=282113

[Carver02]

Is this thread the only presence Nepal has on SSC?

[hakz2007]

You can check this one too - NEPAL | Kathmandu

[hakz2007]

SC stays Energy Minister's decision to scrap key appointment at Upper Tamakoshi

The Supreme Court on Friday issued an interim order against the decision of Energy Minister Prakash Saran Mahat to revoke the appointment of Arjun Karki as the chairman of Upper Tamakoshi hydropower project.

A single bench of justice Rana Bahadur Bam issued the stay order in a writ petition filed by Karki, who is a former managing director of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), challenging the minister's decision to scrap his appointment.

The SC ordered the defendants not to implement the decision until the next ruling. The court will hear the case on 26 August.

Mahat's personal secretariat had handed a letter to Karki, informing about the scrapping of his appointment to the post of the chairman of the hydropower project.

http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index....tamakoshi.html

Maintenance of Kulekhani hydropower plants complete; no change in load shedding hours

Maintenance works in Kulekhani Hydropower plants that begun a few months ago has completed this week enabling the 92 MW project to produce power in full capacity.

Chief of Kulekhani hydropower project Sachinanda Mishra said, both the units will run in full capacity from Monday, following the maintenance.

The project was producing only half its capacity due to some complications in the plants. The project has two units with installed capacity of 60 MW and 32 MW.

Technicians from Japan completed the maintenance of the power plants this week.

However, the increase in power production will not affect the present load shedding hours.

According to Sher Singh Bhat, chief of load dispatch centre at Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), load shedding hours will not be changed as the production in Kulekhani fluctuates with the water level in the reservoir.

Kulekhani is the only reservoir-based hydropower project in Nepal.

NEA is imposing a load shedding of two hours a day at present.

http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index....ing-hours.html