KANCHANPUR: Police on Wednesday arrested five people for vandalizing the temporary police post at Bedkot Municipality – Chamfapur.

The arrested are Bikash Bista, Dhirendra Chand, Ishwor Chatauht, Direndra Rawal and Hari Bohara. They were arrested for vandalism at the police post after the law enforcement agency tried to send them home following a hooliganism.

All the arrested have been sent to police custody at District Police Office.

KATHMANDU: Foreign Secretary of India Vijaya Keshav Gokhale is arriving Nepal on Thursday. He is arriving on Nepal on a two-day official visit.

Gokhale is scheduled to meet and discuss with his counterpart Shankar Das Bairagi about all aspects of Nepal-India relations same day, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He is also slated to pay separate courtesy calls on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali. He will be accompanied by joint secretary of India Sudhakar Dalela.

KATHMANDU: Showcasing a total of 77 different projects worth $31.93 billion in various sectors, the government is all set to host the Nepal Investment Summit on March 29 and 30 in Kathmandu.

Themed ‘A Promising Investment Destination’, the two-day summit, aimed at demonstrating the country’s improved business atmosphere to potential foreign investors, will showcase 50 government-owned projects and 27 other projects from the private sector, according to the Investment Board Nepal (IBN).

The IBN said around 600 investors from 40 countries will participate in the summit. The summit is also aimed at attracting and convincing the foreign investors to invest in Nepal at a time when it has a stable government.

The summit will also include deliberations on investment opportunities in the above-mentioned sectors besides focusing on opinions from experts and investors to bring in investment here in areas of physical infrastructure, energy, information technology, agriculture, industry, health and education, and tourism.

The country’s Federal Parliament has already endorsed the Public-Private Partnership and Investment Bill with an aim to creating an easy and smooth environment to foreign investors.

A total of 25 energy and infrastructure-related projects, 17 projects related to tourism and 11 related to the transportation sector will also be presented during the summit to realize the government’s goal of “Prosperous Nepal, Happy Nepali”.

Similarly, the summit will be showcasing a total of eight agricultural projects, seven projects related to urban development, and six industrial sector-related projects. Likewise, the government will also put forth three projects relating to education and the health sector.

The IBN said the main objective in the summit will be to demonstrate the improved business climate of the country in recent years to potential investors. “The summit will focus on transforming the political and policy stability into trust among the domestic and international business society.”

The summit will also include deliberations on investment opportunities in the above-mentioned sectors besides focusing on opinions from experts and investors to bring in investment here in areas of physical infrastructure, energy, information technology, agriculture, industry, health and education, and tourism.

The summit to be inaugurated by Prime Minister KP Oli on Friday will see ministers of different ministries briefing about the country’s current favorable investment climate.

Maha Prasad Adhikari, CEO at the IBN informed that rather than sharing information on theoretical aspects, they would provide a complete package about projects to the potential investors.

The IBN, which coordinates the summit, has listed and finalized several projects worth Rs 3.1 trillion such as West Seti, AR-6; Sunkoshi II and III, Lower Arun, Nalgadh Hydropower Project, Tamor Water Reservoir Project, and SR-6 for joint-venture.

Likewise, projects such as Kathmandu-Pokhara Railway, East-West Electric Rail, Kathmandu Metro Rail, and Gautam Buddha International Maternity Hospital, would also be showcased in the summit.

To be inaugurated by Prime Minister KP Oli on Friday, the summit will see ministers of different ministries apprising participants of the country’s current favorable investment climate.

It should be noted that the first summit held in 2017 bringing around 250 international investors, succeeded in securing Letters of Intent (LoIs) worth Rs. 13.74 billion from foreign investors.

KATHMANDU: Three vice presidents from the World Bank (WB) group said they will be participating in Nepal Investment Summit to be held on March 29-30.

Hartwig Schafer, Vice President for World Bank for the South Asia Region; Keiko Honda, the CEO of Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and Hans Peter Lankes, the Vice President of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), are visiting Nepal.

Schafer said that he will be discussing about investment options during the Summit. He is hopeful that the Summit will attract private investment and attract more investment in Nepal, which help to create jobs, to be the engine of growth, help Nepal prosper.

Likewise, Honda said that the Summit will be a significant milestone to achieve government’s vision. She labeled Nepal as a ‘rising star’ of South Asia, with Foreign Direct Investment flows reaching a record high. “This confirms Nepal’s efforts to improve its investment climate,” Honda said on a social platform.

Similarly, Lankes said they were working closely with the Government of Nepal to identify key sectors with strong potential for economic growth. “Some of our recent recommendations focus on important cross-cutting policy reforms, including land, regulatory, and access to finance areas as well as investment in public goods that could stimulate development,” said Lankes.

BANKE: District Police Office, Banke has arrested three leaders of the Netra Bikram Chand-led Biplav outfit.

SP Arun Paudel at District Police Office, Banke informed that they were arrested on Monday and Tuesday. According to him, the arrested are ‘people’s government’s chief’, military chief and In-charge of judicial committee of the party. Among them, some are accused of bomb attack at Ncell tower.

Banke Police have kept close tabs on leaders and cadres of Biplav outfit after the government banned their activities.  Police have started vigilance to prevent any untoward incidents, Paudel said.

CHITWAN: Police have arrested seven district leaders of Nepal Communist Party led by Netra Bikram Chand ‘Biplav’. Six among those arrested got their remand extended while one was held this morning.

According to DSP Durga Raj Regmi, Biplav cadres have been arrested from various districts. Police started arresting them since March 13.

District secretariat member Raj Kumar Timalsina, who is considered close to Bipalv, Bikram Neupane, president of All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union (Revolutionary), Birendra Multiple Campus unit, Gunaraj Shrestha of Rapti Municipality Janasarkar, District Member Bir Bahadur Tamang, and area in-charge of Chitwan 1 Jaya Bahadur Kunwar are among those arrested.

The details of those arrested this morning will be unveiled later as the investigation is still underway, said Regmi.

He further said police are searching 15 other cadres who are on the run after being charged for their involvement in the explosion carried out at the office of Bharatpur Metropolitan City-5.

SARLAHI: Three persons died in separate accidents in Sarlahi.

The deceased have been identified as Shambhu Mahato of Arnaha at Balara Municipality-5, Mosatakima Khatun, 65, of Haripur Municipality- 2, and Kajal Shah of Ishworpur Municiplaity-15 of the district, police said.

Mahato was found lying dead below a tractor neat the Mahalaxmi Sugar Industry of Bagadaha in Godaita Municipality-6. Police said he was sleeping below the tractor –Na 1 Ta 6666 – and was found dead. His head has been trampled.

According to police, Mahato’s head seem to be crushed by other vehicles as he was sleeping below the tractor with his head popped out of the tractor’s trailer.

Meanwhile, Mosatakima died when the motorcycle — Na 3 Pa 554 — he was travelling met with an accident at Sarlahi Camp. He died while undergoing treatment at the Shree Ram Hospital, according to police.

Similarly, 5-year-old Kajal Shah died when she fell off the buffalo. Police said the incident occurred when a buffalo attacked her.

KATHMANDU: Kathmandu has been placed in the 19th position out of 25 best-rated destinations in the world, according to TripAdvisor’s annual Travelers’ choice.

The winners were determined based on algorithm that analyses the millions of reviews and ratings for hotels, restaurants and attractions collected in a single year from TripAdvisor travelers worldwide.

London bags the first spot this year, followed by Paris while Rome comes third in line among top-rated holiday destinations.

Trip adviser’s top-rated holiday destinations

1. London

2. Paris

3. Rome

4. Crete

5. Bali

6. Phuket

7. Barcelona

8. Istanbul

9. Marrakech

10. Dubai

11. Prague

12. Siem Reap

13. New York City

14. Jamaica

15. Hanoi

16. Tokyo

17. Playa del Carmen

18. Lisbon

19. Kathmandu

20. Jaipur

21. Hurghada

22. Hong Kong

23. Cusco

24. Sydney

25. Tel Aviv

KATHMANDU: Chairman of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Pushpa Kamal Dahal is arriving home with his wife Sita Dahal from America. According to sources at the Dahal’s secretariat, he left America today and will arrive tomorrow.

On March 17, Dahal had left for the United States of America (USA) for the treatment of his wife Sita Dahal along with their daughter Ganga and son-in-law. Sita’s health condition had deteriorated after their only son Prakash Dahal died due to cardiac arrest in November, 2017.

She was treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. She had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and other mental and physical ailments.

DADELDHURA: With the change in weather condition, the number of patients suffering from viral fever has gone up in  Dadeldhura.