News Analysis India

Tag: Nepal

  • 16 killed, 35 injured in bus accident in Nepal’s Madhesh province

    By PTI

    KATHMANDU: At least 16 people were killed and 35 others injured on Thursday in a bus accident in Nepal’s Madhesh province, police said.

    The bus was heading towards Birgunj from Narayangadh when it skidded off road and fell into a river in Bara district, media reports said.

    Superintendent of Police, Bamdev Gautam, blamed the bus’ high speed for the accident.

    The injured were taken to Hetauda, Chure Hill, and Sancho Hospital for treatment, The Rising Nepal newspaper reported.

    On October 2 two people were killed and 36 others injured in a bus accident along the East-West Highway.

    KATHMANDU: At least 16 people were killed and 35 others injured on Thursday in a bus accident in Nepal’s Madhesh province, police said.

    The bus was heading towards Birgunj from Narayangadh when it skidded off road and fell into a river in Bara district, media reports said.

    Superintendent of Police, Bamdev Gautam, blamed the bus’ high speed for the accident.

    The injured were taken to Hetauda, Chure Hill, and Sancho Hospital for treatment, The Rising Nepal newspaper reported.

    On October 2 two people were killed and 36 others injured in a bus accident along the East-West Highway.

  • National Food Laboratory set up to test food products imported from Nepal

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The central government has set up a National Food Laboratory under the Indo-Nepal bilateral agreement, which will make it easier and quicker to test food products being brought into the country from Nepal.

    Earlier, all the imported samples with legal sanctity were sent to National Food Laboratory, Kolkata, for testing.

    The National Food Laboratory of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), a statutory body under the union health ministry, was inaugurated by Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya on Sunday in Bihar’s Raxaul, situated at the Indo-Nepal border.

    Officials said the laboratory had been established under the Indo-Nepal bilateral agreement to reduce the time to test imported food samples brought into Raxaul from Nepal.

    Now the exporters from Nepal would find it easier to export more and more food products into India, the minister said.

    The laboratory is likely to get the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accreditation by July-August this year.

    They will test and analyse all the imported samples under the product categories of cereal and cereal products, fat and oil, spices and condiments, fruits and vegetable products and packaged drinking.

    The minister also said that India is willing to provide any assistance needed to get NABL accreditation to the Kathmandu food lab.

  • No info yet on when bodies of Thane residents who died in Nepal plane crash will arrive: Police

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Police have not yet received any communication on when the bodies of Thane resident Vaibhavi Bandekar Tripathy, her husband and two children, who died in a plane crash in Nepal on Sunday, will arrive in the adjoining city, an official said on Tuesday.

    According to the Thane police official, after receiving the news of the plane crash, they contacted Vaibhavi Tripathy’s elder sister.

    However, since then no relative of Vaibhavi Tripathy (51), who worked in a senior position at a financial firm at BKC in Mumbai, has approached the Kapurbawadi police station under whose jurisdiction the family’s residence is located.

    “All information about the dead bodies will be coming through the district collector’s office. So far, we have not received any intimation,” the official added.

    Vaibhavi Tripathy, who had separated from her estranged husband, resided in the Rustomjee Athena housing society in the Balkum area of Thane city along with their two children, son Dhanush (22) and daughter Ritika (15).

    Her husband Ashok Tripathy (54) runs a company in Odisha and her 80-year-old mother, who is in poor health, is the only person left at the family’s home, the official said.

    The couple had separated following court orders.

    According to terms of their separation, the family was to be together for 10 days in a year and this year they had planned a trip to Nepal.

    Their plane, belonging to private Tara Air, crashed in Nepal’s mountainous Mustang district minutes after taking off from the tourist city of Pokhara on Sunday morning, Nepalese officials have said.

    Besides the four Indian nationals, the Canadian-built turboprop Twin Otter 9N-AET plane was carrying two Germans and 13 Nepali passengers, besides a three-member Nepali crew, and there were no survivors.

    All the 22 bodies have been recovered and brought to Kathmandu where the mortal remains would be handed over to their families after the post-mortem on Tuesday, the officials have said.

  • Nepal plane crash: Driver says he had dropped Tripathi family at Mumbai airport two days back

    By PTI

    THANE: For 29-year-old Ashish Sawant, it came as a big shock when he heard that four members of the Tripathi family, for whom he works as a driver here, were on board the plane that crashed in Nepal on Sunday, as recalled dropping them to the Mumbai airport just two days back.

    “I have lost everything,” he said with tears rolling down his cheeks even as the fate of the Tripathi family and 18 others on board the ill-fated plane remained unclear as bad weather made it difficult to locate the aircraft that went missing in the mountainous region of Nepal minutes after taking off on Sunday morning.

    According to the police here, Ashok Kumar Tripathi (54), his wife Vaibhavi (Bandekar) Tripathi, their 22-year-old son Dhanush and 15-year-old daughter Ritika were on board the Nepalese plane.

    Sawant, who resides at Diva in Thane, said he has been working as the Tripathi family’s driver for the last seven years and used to drop Vaibhavi Tripathi to her office in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai.

    “It was just two days back that I had dropped the family to the Mumbai international airport and today I received this shocking news,” he said.

    After learning that the Tripathi family was travelling in the plane in Nepal, he rushed to their house in Rustomjee Athena apartment located in Balkum area of the city, to enquire about them.

    He also said that it was just two months back they had purchased a new car.

    The watchman of the building, 55-year-old Sunil Chalke, said the Tripathi family members were very loving.

    “It is sad that they part of this tragedy,” he said.

    The turboprop Twin Otter 9N-AET plane belonging to Tara Air took off at 10.15 am from Pokhara in Nepal to Jomsom, another popular tourist town.

    The aircraft lost contact with the control tower 15 minutes later, according to an airline spokesperson.

    The missing plane could possibly be located on Monday, officials have said.

  • IRCTC to run its first Bharat Gaurav Tourist train on June 21; Nepal’s Janakpur in itinerary

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: IRCTC will run its first Bharat Gaurav Tourist train on June 21, which would include a stop at Nepal’s Janakpur, the Railways’ catering and ticketing arm said on Wednesday.

    This train will run on the Ramayana Circuit identified under Swadesh Darshan scheme covering prominent places associated with life of Lord Shri Rama, including the Ram Janaki temple in Janakpur located in Nepal.

    The proposed 18-day Bharat Gaurav Tourist train tour has its first stop at Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Rama, where tourists will visit Shri Ram Janmabhumi temple and Hanuman temple and additionally Bharat Mandir at Nandigram, dedicated to Lord Ram’s younger brother Bharat.

    After Ayodhya, the next destination is Buxar in Bihar where the tourists will be shown the hermitage of Maharishi Vishwamitra and the Ramrekha Ghat where the guests can take a holy dip in the Ganga.

    From here the train moves to Sitamarhi for the visit of Sita’s birth place and proceed by road to Janakpur (Nepal).

    Tourists will stay overnight at hotels in Janakpur and visit famous Ram-Janaki Temple there.

    After Sitamarhi, train proceeds to the oldest living city of the world, Varanasi.

    While at Kashi, tourists will walk around the temples at Varanasi, ‘Sita Samahit Sthal’, Prayag., Shringverpur and Chitrakoot will be covered by road.

    Night stay at hotels will be provided at Varanasi, Prayag and Chitrakoot.

    The train is fitted with a well equipped pantry car for rustling up freshly made vegetarian meal for the tourists.

    Infotainment system, CCTV camera, security guard services shall also be available on board.

    The train journey on the next leg moves to Nasik for overnight stay at hotels.

    Visit of Trayambakeshwar temple and Panchvati will be covered.

    After Nasik, the next destination is the ancient city of Krishkindha, Hampi, with overnight stay at hotels.

    Here the guests will visit the temple believed to be the birth place of Shri Hanuman atop the Anjaneyadri Hills and other heritage and religious sites.

    Rameshwaram is the next destination of this train tour wherein Ramanathaswamy temple and Dhanushkodi will be covered along with overnight stay at hotels.

    The train’s next destination is Kanchipuram where Shiv Kanchi, Vishnu Kanchi and Kamakhshi temples are on the day’s excursion.

    From here,the last destination that the train touches in this tour is Bhadrachalam in Telengana state which is also widely referred to as the Ayodhya of the south.

    After this, the train will return to Delhi on the 18th day of its journey covering roughly a distance of around 8000 Kms in this entire Ramayana tour.

    “From clean toilets to enhanced security features of CCTV Cameras and security Guards for each coach have also been provided for the tourists. Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train launch is in line with the Government of India initiative “Dekho Apna Desh” to promote domestic tourism,” IRCTC said.

    At a price range starting from Rs 62,370/- per person, the IRCTC tourist train will be a 18 days all inclusive tour package.

    IRCTC also offers 10% discount for early 100 bookings as special promotions.

  • India, Nepal vow to further expand bilateral ties

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday inaugurated a cross-border railway network, a power transmission line and launched India’s RuPay payment card in Nepal after they held wide-ranging talks.

    The two sides also inked four pacts to expand cooperation in areas of railways and energy while vowing to further broad-base cooperation in a range of areas.

    In his media statement, Modi said the friendly ties between India and Nepal are unique and such a relationship is not seen anywhere else in the world.

    He said India has been and will continue to remain a firm companion in Nepal’s journey for peace, prosperity and development.

    Modi said the joint vision statement between the two sides on power cooperation will prove to be a blueprint for future cooperation in the sector.

    It was agreed on the greater participation of Indian companies in Nepal’s hydropower development plans, he said.

    Deuba on his part said Nepal’s relations with India is “highly important.

    The Nepalese prime minister, accompanied by a high-level delegation, arrived in New Delhi on Friday on a three-day visit.

    It is Deuba’s first bilateral visit abroad after becoming prime minister in July last year for a fifth time following a spell of political turmoil in Kathmandu.

    Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region, and the leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old “Roti Beti” relationship.

  • India trails Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh on hunger index due to government’s lack of efforts: Akhilesh Yadav

    Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav's remark came in the backdrop of India slipping to 101st position in the GHI 2021 of 116 countries.

  • Nepal proposes mutual seasonal power exchange with Bihar

    Express News Service

    PATNA: Bihar and neighbouring Nepal are moving to herald a new relationship in the energy sector through mutual ‘Seasonal Energy Exchange’.

    A move that may further relations between India and Nepal, a 3-member delegation of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), headed by KulMan Ghising, met the CMD of Bihar State Electricity Department Sanjeev Hans on Thursday.

    The Nepal delegation, also comprising Pranab Adhikari (director of NEA) and Raju Maharajan (Water Resources department of Nepal govt), made a presentation on the proposal offered for the Seasonal Energy Exchange modalities.

    The CMD of the Bihar energy department Sanjeev Hans assured the Nepali delegation that the state would take a fruitful decision in the next fortnight considering all the factors of the proposal. 

    The Nepal Electricity Authority generates ample hydro energy but during a few months every year, the consumption of hydro energy goes unspent.

    According to Sanjeev Hans, the meeting had a fruitful discussion with seniors of NEA on the power exchange plan and other water-related issues.

    “We hope the discussion will go a long way in strengthening ties with our neighbour,” Hans said.

    Senior protocol officer of Bihar state energy department Khwaja Jamal said that the NEA has expressed its proposal for making a mutual transaction of unspent hydro energy with Bihar during the months of reduced consumption.

    Jamal added that seasonal exchange of around 150 to 200 MW energy would be finalized in near future between Nepal and India via the Bihar electricity department. Officials of both sides assured one another to cooperate in mitigating the related issues.

    The Nepal Electricity Authority has power transmission lines in Nepal side along the Indo-Nepal border in the Bihar sides including the Raxaul side.

  • Bihar SPTCL gears up to provide better power transmission to Nepal

    Express News Service
    PATNA: The Bihar State Power Transmission Company Limited, (BSPTCL) which has earned a reputation for executing many power projects in the state, has geared up to ensure better power transmission to Nepal in an international move. 

    The construction of two power transmission lines is being carried out by the BSPTCL at the cost of Rs 3.19 crore at-Kataya Kushsha for 132 KV. 

    The second transmission line of 132 kV load capacity is under construction at Raxaul-Parvanipur at the cost of Rs 24.55 crore. 

    Senior protocol officer of BSPTCL Khawaja Jamal quoted official details and said that the transmission lines were being built following the request of the Nepal government.

    “For this, the Energy Ministry of the union government and the Central Electricity Authority has provided consent to take on this project”, Jamal said, adding that State energy minister Vijendra Yadav has appreciated the BSPTCL performances. 

    The minister has also claimed that the BSPTCL has done many remarkable works in past years in energy transmission fields. 

    Energy secretary Sanjeev Hans is continuously monitoring the project works to complete it within the stipulated time frame for starting the transmission to Nepal. 

    At present, the state continues the transmission of 441 megawatts of electricity to Nepal interrupted through the Bihar State Power Transmission Company Limited.

  • Tension grips border in UP’s Pilibhit after Nepal cops kill Indian youth

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: Tension gripped Indo-Nepal border near Hajara area in Pilibhit district in the Terai region of Uttar Pradesh when Nepal Police opened fire at Indian civilians killing one and leaving another injured.

    The victim, identified as Govinda Singh, had crossed over to Nepal with his friends Gurmej Singh, Pappu Singh and Resham Singh allegedly for shopping on Thursday. All were residents of Raghav Puri village situated on border in Pilibhit. On their return, they had an altercation with Nepal Police jawans who opened fire killing Govinda on the spot and causing a bullet injury to Gurmej. They alsotook Govinda’s body along with them.

    Three others – Gurmej, Pappu and Resham – tried to escape the firepower of Nepal police but one of them, Gurmej, received a bullet on his chest.

    Subsequently, both Pappu and Resham made Gurmej sit in between them on the mobike parked on the Indian side and narrated the incident to the SSB jawans deployed at the border before rushing Gurmej to a hospital in Palia in adjoining Lakhimpur Kheri district, 28 km from Pilibhit. Later Gurmej was shifted to KGMU in Lucknow in a critical condition.

    Meanwhile, tension prevailed on the border when irate residents in Indian side threatened to take revenge. The villagers claimed that all four had gone to work in the field on the other side and the Nepal police chased them for no fault. It is a usual practice on Indo-Nepal border that residents of both the countries cross over to each other’s territory to work in fields, shop, study or even to vote.

    In fact, under the impact of the pandemic, the Indo-Nepal border has been lying closed since March last year. However, villagers continue to cross over stealthily.

    Pilibhit has around 52-km porous border with neighbouring Nepal guarded by Seema Surakhsha Bal (SSB) round the clock. Nepalis usually cross over to India to work as farm labourers.

    After the firing incident, residents of border villages including Raghavpuri, Kambojnagar, Bamanpur, Bhagirath and Bailha are agitated.

    As per the sources, after the incident, the Nepal Police took Govinda’s body to the government hospital in Belauri which is around five km away from border in the Nepal side. The Nepal police claimed it to be an encounter killing.

    However, Pilibhit District Magistrate Pulkit Khare and SP Jai Prakash are camping in the area along with heavy force to monitor the situation.

    Tension escalated further when the Indian side spotted Nepal Army patrolling the border. The ADG Zone Avinash Chandra rushed to the border on learning about the prevailing tension. The district administration has sent a report on the incident and situation prevailing to the External Affairs ministry.

    After intervention by the External Affairs ministry, a meeting of senior officers from both sides took place at the border to reduce tension on Friday.

    Following the high level talks between senior officers of the two sides, Nepal Police agreed to hand over the body of Govinda to the SSB at Gaurifanta, the international border between the two countries.