Category: Nepal

The closure of the Tiptala pass has affected people’s socioeconomic life. Exports from the villages have been hampered…reports Asian Lite News

Tiptala pass along the Nepal-China border in the Taplejung district has remained closed for three years. The closure of the Tiptala pass has been causing inconvenience to the people living in border areas and putting an additional financial burden on them, EPardafas reported.

Tiptala pass along the Nepal-China border was closed by China due to the COVID-19 pandemic three years back. People of Olangchung Gola, Yanga, and Ghunsa have been impacted majorly by the closure of transit points as they majorly depend on the imports of food products, garments, and daily consumables from the Tibetan Riu market, according to EPardafas report. After the closure of the border, people of the region have switched to the supply from Phungling, which is the district headquarters, as per the EPardafas report. The imports from the district headquarters have caused an additional financial burden on the people as it increased the transport cost. The iodized salt in Phungling is sold at Rs 30 per kilogram and it reaches Rs 100 after it is imported in Olangchung Gola.

The closure of the Tiptala pass has affected people’s socioeconomic life. Exports from the villages have been hampered. Olangchung Gola outgoing ward chair Chheten Sherpa has said that villagers before the pandemic used to supply medicinal herbs, Nepali carpets and livestock to Tibet. He said that the transport cost from Phungling to Olangchung Gola is at least Rs 60 per kilogram and it will increase if it needs to be transported up to Yanga, according ot the EPardafas report.

As per the news report, Yanga, Ghunsa, and Olangchung Gola are yet to be connected with a road network. Major occupations of the people in the region are animal husbandry, herb collection, and carpet production, as per the EPardafas report. Prior to the closure of the border, the people used to supply dairy products such as ghee and cheese from their houses, as per the EPardafas report. However, their trade has been majorly affected and the carpet business is totally down.

Furthermore, medicinal herbs gathered by farmers and suppliers in Ilam and Panchthar districts were exported to Tibet, as per the news report. These two districts now supply medicinal herbs to domestic markets through the Birtamod of Jhapa. The people in Tiptala expect the government to take measures to reopen the border to normalize their life. (ANI)

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Nepal’s Supreme Court on Friday disqualified Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane from his posts..reports Asian Lite News

The Nepal Home Ministry will remain under the jurisdiction of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal after the resignation of Rabi Lamichhane following Supreme Court’s verdict to sack him, said a statement from the President Office.

Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari’s decision comes after the country’s home minister on January 27 tendered his resignation to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda after the Supreme Court’s decision. In the statement, Nepal’s President said that Lamichanne has resigned from the minister post in accordance with Clause (a) of Article 77 of the Constitution of Nepal and Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been asked to take over.

Nepal’s Supreme Court on Friday disqualified Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane from his posts after he was found guilty of producing an ‘invalid’ citizenship certificate to contest the recent general elections. After the verdict of the apex court, Nepal’s Home Minister submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

The verdict was announced by a Constitutional Bench of the Nepal SC headed by Acting Chief Justice Hari Krishna Karki. The other Justices on the bench were Justice Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha, Ishwar Khatiwada, Ananda Mohan Bhattarai and Anil Sinha.

“As Rabi Lamichhane has not completed the process for reacquiring his Nepali citizenship after renouncing his American citizenship, he cannot be a candidate for the position of a member of the House of Representatives or be elected to that position,” read the Supreme Court verdict on Friday.”

After giving up the US citizenship, Lamichhane was not found adhering to the legal process to acquire Nepali citizenship again. So, he did not deserve to be the candidate of the member of the House of Representatives nor could hold the lawmaker’s post,” the Bench ruled further.

The Nepal Court further said, “With this, a certiorari order is issued as per Article 133 (b and c) and Article 137 of the Constitution of Nepal by scrapping all activities making Lamichhane an election candidate, announcing his election victory, and conferring him the certificate.”

Speaking to reporters on Friday evening while walking out of the Ministry of Home Affairs, post the Supreme Court verdict, Lamichhane said, “As a noncitizen, I have nothing left to say.” However, he said he welcomes the decision of the country’s apex court.” I welcome and accept the SC’s decision,” he said.

He said he had absolutely no idea what his status and the future move would be. He also added that he no longer was the Chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party. A television personality-turned-politician, Lamichhane was declared stateless as he does not have any official documents to attest to his nationality.

After the verdict, Lamichhane also lost his post of chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), along with that of the Deputy Prime Minister, Home minister and a lawmaker. Lamichhane was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister on December 25 last year.

While pronouncing the verdict on Friday, the SC said Lamichhane can reacquire citizenship by following due process, which requires filling out an application before the District Administration Office.

On December 14, advocates Yubaraj Poudel and Rabiraj Basaula filed a writ petition with the Supreme Court arguing that Lamichhane cannot remain a member of parliament as he does not have Nepalese citizenship. The petitioners demanded that Lamichhane be removed from the post of party chief.

They petitioners said that only Nepalese citizens have a constitutional right to vote in the elections, become candidates or launch a political party in the country. The petitioners further contended that Lamichhane’s posts as a member of the lower House of the parliament and the party president were illegal. (ANI)

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Ghimire, who won from Jhapa-2, is a UML standing committee member and party in charge of Province 1. He was elected to the National Assembly in 1999….reports Asian Lite News

Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) lawmaker, Dev Raj Ghimire has been elected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives as he received 167 votes, The Kathmandu Post reported.

According to The Kathmandu Post, the proposal to elect the CPN-UML lawmaker received 167 votes. At least 100 votes were cast against him, while one lawmaker abstained. Just 138 votes were required for a win in the 275-strong Lower House.

“I declare the proposal to elect Ghimire as Speaker has been endorsed through a majority,” said the oldest parliamentarian Pashupati Shumsher Rana, who chaired the meeting as a Speaker.

Ghimire’s candidacy was proposed by UML vice-chair Subas Nembang and seconded by CPN (Maoist Centre) lawmaker Hitraj Pandey, Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane and Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Rajendra Lingden, as per The Kathmandu Post.

Ghimire, who won from Jhapa-2, is a UML standing committee member and party in charge of Province 1. He was elected to the National Assembly in 1999.

Another candidate, Ishwari Neupane from Nepali Congress, had also filed their nomination for the post.

Neupane’s candidacy was proposed by Congress lawmaker Bishwa Prakash Sharma and was endorsed by Prakash Jwala of the CPN (Unified Socialist).

This comes as the two candidates are in the fray.

The Congress and the Unified Socialist, who had voted for Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal during a floor test in Parliament on January 10, had earlier decided to field their own candidate against the ruling alliance’s candidate for Speaker.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari on December 25 appointed Maoist Centre chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal as prime minister after he showed his support for 169 lawmakers including those from the JSP.

The constitution makes it mandatory to elect the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives within 15 days of the House’s first meeting. The first meeting of the lower house, elected through the November 20 elections, was held on January 9.

As per Article 91 (2) of the Constitution, either the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker must be a woman and the occupants of the two posts should be from different parties. The secretariat on Thursday will publish the schedule for the election of the Deputy Speaker which is likely on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the election for the Deputy Speaker of the House is expected to take place on January 21. (ANI)

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The government has also formed a five-member team to investigate the plane crash, in which most of the passengers are presumed dead….reports Asian Lite News

The Nepal government has announced a national mourning on Monday over a plane crash in Nepal’s Kaski district that claimed 35 lives.

The Cabinet has announced a public holiday on Monday to mourn the national tragedy, Deputy Prime Minister Bishnu Poudel said.

The government has also formed a five-member team to investigate the plane crash, in which most of the passengers are presumed dead.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal also left for Pokhara on Sunday evening to asses the search and rescue operation.

The aircraft contacted the control tower at 10.50 a.m. before it went off the radar.

A total of 68 passengers and four crew members were on board the aircraft that crashed between the old airport and the Pokhara International Airport, Sudarshan Bartaula, spokesperson of Yeti Airlines, said.

Among the passengers are three infants, three children and 62 adults. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, the passengers included 53 Nepalis, five Indians, four Russians, one Irish, one Australian, one Argentinian, two Koreans and one French. Two helicopters were deployed from Pokhara airport while additional choppers are on standby in Kathmandu, CAAN said in a press release.

Following the crash, the Pokhara International Airport has been closed for today for all inbound and outbound flights, Teknath Sitaula, Spokesperson for Pokhara airport told Rastriya Samachar Samiti.

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The plane caught fire while it was about to land at newly-built Pokhara airport….reports Asian Lite News

At least 35 people were killed and three rescued after a passenger plane crashed in Nepal on Sunday.

Guru Datta Dhakal, Assistant Chief District Officer of Kaski district, said the rescued were rushed to hospitals for treatment.

“However, their identities are not known. Scores of people are feared dead after an ATR 72 aircraft of Yeti Airlines with a call sign 9N-ANC that took off to Pokhara from Kathmandu at 10.32 a.m. crashed at Nayagaun of the city famous among tourists this morning,” Dhakal said.

The plane caught fire while it was about to land at newly-built Pokhara airport.

Rescuers have so far pulled out 35 bodies from a Yeti Airlines crash site in Pokhara of Kaski district.

Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police Rudra Thapa confirmed with the Kathmandu Post that 25 bodies have been taken to different hospitals in Pokhara for post-mortem. Thapa said the police came to know about the crash at around 11 a.m.

Police Inspector Gyan Bahadur Khadka at Kaski District Police Office said the rescue operation is underway in a full-swing.

The aircraft contacted the control tower at 10.50 a.m. before it went off the radar.

A total of 68 passengers and four crew members were on board the aircraft that crashed between the old airport and the Pokhara International Airport, Sudarshan Bartaula, spokesperson of Yeti Airlines, told the Post.

Among the passengers are three infants, three children and 62 adults.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the passengers included 53 Nepalis, five Indians, four Russians, one Irish, one Australian, one Argentinian, two Koreans and one French.

Two helicopters were deployed from Pokhara airport while additional choppers are on standby in Kathmandu, CAAN said in a statement.

Following the crash, the Pokhara International Airport has been closed for flight operations today, Teknath Sitaula, Spokesperson for Pokhara airport told Rastriya Samachar Samiti.

The details of the crash are awaited. Security personnel along with locals are carrying out rescue operations at the crash site. Images and videos posted on social media platforms showed plumes of smoke billowing from the crash site.

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