SURKHET: A passenger bus has caught fire due to short-circuit in the district on Saturday afternoon. The bus was heading to Kalikot from district headquarters Birendranagar when the incident took place.
According to DSP Pardip Bahadur Chhetri of District Police Office, Surkhet, the bus caught fire due to short-circuit at Hudke of Barahtal Rural Municipality at 12 pm today.
However, no casualties took place due to timely evacuation of the passengers. Chhetri said they have started investigation into the case.
PALPA: Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba today urged the agitating Netra Bikram Chand-led Nepal Communist Party to join talks by ending violence.
The government must take initiatives in this regard, he said at a press conference organized here in the district by the Press Union Palpa branch.
On a different note, he said the government encroachment on press freedom was no longer tolerable. Saying the NC and democracy are synonymous, the former Prime Minister clarified that the party was in favor of Hindu religion and follows the constitution.
Meanwhile, he also criticized the incumbent government for failing to live up to the people’s expectation.
KATHMANDU: Politburo member of Nepal Communist Party led by Netra Bikram Chand aka Biplav, Mohan Karki has been arrested in Lalitpur.
According to Karki’s family sources, Karki was arrested from Lalitpur yesterday evening. It is the most high-profile arrest made ever following the ban on the Biplav outfit imposed by the government.
The government put a ban on the activities of the Biplav-led party after it carried out a series of bomb explosions in various places including the one in Bhainsepati, in which a man was killed and two others sustained injures.
Police have launched a ‘search and arrest’ operation against Biplav’s activities following the government’s decision.
As many as 411 leaders and cadres of Biplav group were arrested in the last 11 months, 73 in the last one month alone.
Most of the Biplav cadres and leaders have gone underground since the police imposed this operation.
DANG: A fire broke out in a fabric industry at Ghorahi Sub-metropolitan City-10 in the district, destroying property worth approximately Rs 1.5 million, said the police.
A short-circuit is blamed for the fire. Property like manufactured quilts, wool and machines were burnt down, said the industry owner Anil Gurung of Megang Rural Municipality-3, Nuwakot district.
The fire was doused with the help of the police, local people and a fire engine.
KATHMANDU: The Nepal government has deployed as many 59 security personal in view of the security threat to Nepal Communist Party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal after he reported that he was facing death threats from Biplav outfit, a report in Nagarik daily said.
According to the report, 29 police personnel have been deployed under the command of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and 30 others under the command of the other DSP for the security of Dahal.
Earlier, Dahal, in a party meeting at Perisdanda, said that he had been the first target of Biplav among high-profile killings.
Sources at the Home Ministry said there is a security threat to Dahal from Biplav group as it is the splinter of the Maoist party, that waged a 10-year-long insurgency in Nepal together with Dahal, and might use disgruntled individuals against Dahal.
KATHMANDU: The Nepal government has decided to grant 15 days as public holidays in the coming Nepali new year 2076 BS.
The government made its decision on national holidays (except Saturdays) public in the national gazette issued on Friday.
According to the decision, national holidays include April 14 (Nepali New Year), May 1 (Labor Day), May 18 (Buddha Jayanti), September 3 (Constitution Day), October 5 – 9 (Dashain), October 27-29 (Tihar), February 21, 2020 (Shivaratri), March 9, 2020 (Holi/Hill), March 10, 2020 (Holi/Tarai), March 11, 2020 (Women Day).
The government had slashed 13 public holidays in the year 2075 BS. Various ethnic communities protested against the government’s decision to cut public holidays. Following the protest, the government had formed a review task-force on public holidays under the coordination Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa.
However, the government has given continuity to its previous decision, rejecting the task-force’s recommendation. The task-force had recommended to add 12 public holidays on January 3, 2019.
KATHMANDU: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has appointed Prof Dr Dev Narayan Saha as the Vice-Chancellor of the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS).
The appointment was made on Friday as per the recommendation of Pro-Chancellor of NAMS, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health and Population, Upendra Yadav.
Similarly, DPM Yadav appointed other office-bearers of NAMS on Friday itself at recommendation of Vice-Chancellor Saha.
Prof Dr Subodh Kumar Adhikari has been appointed as Rector while Prof Pramila Dewan, Prof Dr Piyush Dahal have been appointed as Registrar and Dean respectively.
Similarly, Dr Kedar Prasad Century has been appointed as Director of Bir Hospital. They have been appointed for four years’ term.
DPM Yadav administered the oath of office and secretary to the Vice Chancellor and others in the presence of the Prime Minister.
After administering the oath of office and secrecy, PM Oli directed the NAMS to expedite the construction of Bir Hospital in Bhaktapur.
The oldest hospital in the country will be relocated to Bhaktapur, and modern and well equipped buildings for the Hospital will be constructed across 500 ropanis of land. According to the PM, Bir Hospital would be operated as the City Hospital.
PM Oli also directed the Hospital officials to break the ill trend of the senior doctors not attending to the patients. He is of the view that the patients would be highly benefitted if the senior doctor examines them. The PM also stressed change in behavior and treatment towards the patients.
KATHMANDU: Buddha Air is operating flights to Kolkata, India from May-end. Buddha Air will operate its flights to Kolkata with the ATR 72-500 aircraft. It will operate three regular flights a week. The flights would be operated on Monday, Wednesday and Friday every week.
Buddha Holidays, sister organisation of Buddha Air, will launch various religious and holiday packages for Indian passengers, and Kolkata tour package and Gangasagar and Jagannath temple worship package for Nepali passengers.
The Air has total 11 aircraft into operation (including six ATR 72-500 and three ATR 42-320). Another ATR-72 aircraft will operate from the next month, said the company.
Earlier, Buddha Air had planned to start flights to the east Indian city from mid-April. It changed its flight dates considering the parliamentary elections in India.
KATHMANDU: Various visa related complications have deterred foreign nationals into investing in Nepal, according to a study revealed at a program by the Institute for Strategic and Socio-Economic Research (ISSR) at the Pavilion Hall, Durbarmarg today.
Dr. Govinda Nepal presented a paper on issues involving complications on visa procedures faced by foreign investors at the program.
He presented a number of visa related problems that foreign investors other than Indian nationals face in Nepal. Of the problems, he noted that visa procedure is long, tedious and complex.
The procedure involves a lot of paper work requiring one to sign documents as many as 32-38 times. Besides, the rules and acts governing visa are unclear thereby confusing a stakeholder and delaying the visa procedure, according to Dr. Nepal who is also the Acting Chairperson of Pavilion Group.
Another major issue facing visa issue is the time length. While the minimum time period involved in visa processing is 6 weeks, the maximum time for the same is 32 weeks.
Likewise, complexity surrounding visa has complicated the recruitment of skilled employees (by 100 percent) thereby adversely affecting the investment decision, said Dr. Nepal.
Dr. Nepal suggested among many other measures, in shorting out the visa related problems by initiating online visa processing system and a one window policy in issuing visa and work permits.
“The government will definitely consider these issues and work towards easing visa issuance procedures through coordination among concerned ministries,” remarked Gokarna Bista, Minister for Labor, Employment and Social Security.
MOSCOW: A Moscow-bound Boeing 737-800 was forced to make an emergency landing in northern Russia. Engine failure is suspected to be the cause behind the incident, officials on the ground said.
The aircraft was carrying 157 passengers and six crew members on board. It was traveling from the small city of Mirny, Siberia to Moscow when the pilots were forced to divert the plane to Syktyvkar in northern Russia.
It is not immediately clear what caused the problem, but early data indicates that one of the plane’s engines stopped working mid-air, officials on the ground said.
The airliner belonged to Russian diamond-mining giant, Alrosa. The incident comes as Boeing faces scrutiny after two air craft of its newest 737 MAX 8 series crashed in Indonesia and Ethiopia, killing everyone on board. This led many nations around the globe to ground their entire fleets of 737 MAX 8 planes.
(agencies)