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Deuba fails to expand his Cabinet

As per the Constitutional provisions, he can’t expand the Cabinet beyond 25 members…reports Asian Lite News

One week after he was sworn-in as the Prime Minister of Nepal, Sher Bahadur Deuba, who’s also the President of Nepali Congress, has failed to give full shape to his Cabinet.

Deuba, who was backed by his own party Nepali Congress, Nepal Communist Party (Maoist Centre), Janata Samajbadi Party, Janamorcha Nepal, 22 lawmakers belonging to the opposition, and Nepal Communist Party-UML, is struggling to expand his five-member Cabinet.

On July 13, Deuba, after being sworn-in as the Prime Minister, had formed a five-member Cabinet. Now there is pressure on him to expand it, but due to large number of aspirants for ministerial posts, he is increasingly feeling the heat and struggling to decide whom to accommodate and whom to not.

As per the Constitutional provisions, he can’t expand the Cabinet beyond 25 members.

The Maoist Centre, a key alliance of Nepali Congress, on Wednesday decided to chart out a common minimum programme and policy between the alliance partners to successfully run the government.

A task force of the alliance partners will chart out such common minimum programmes and policies, party spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha said.

“The Standing Committee meeting of the party didn’t discuss joining the Deuba government. We will discuss with the other alliance partners before joining the government,” said Shrestha.

Another alliance, Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), is a divided house. The party is divided into two factions, one led by Upendra Yadav and another by Mahantha Thakur. Known as the Madhesi party, the JSP has 32 lawmakers in the 275-member House.

Earlier, the Thakur faction had secured the majority and joined the KP Sharma Oli government while the Yadav faction stayed in the opposition. After Oli’s government was toppled by the Supreme Court and Deuba became the Prime Minister after court overturned Oli’s decision to dissolve the house on May 21, the Yadav faction became stronger and secured the majority inside the party after several lawmakers switched sides.

After the Thakur faction joined the previous Oli government, the warring factions of the party had approached the Election Commission claiming authenticity. The case is under consideration of the poll panel.

After Deuba sought a vote of confidence on Sunday, the Thakur faction plunged into minority and decided to vote for Deuba. On Wednesday, Deuba met Thakur and discussed the party’s demand, including joining the government, but no progress has been made in this front so far.

“We will join the government only after the Election Commission decides the authenticity row of our party,” senior JSP leader Sharat Singh Bhandari said.

ALSO READ: Deuba wins vote of confidence in Nepal Parliament

As the Maoist Centre and the JSP are clearly embroiled in internal disputes, there is also a crisis inside Deuba’s own party. The Nepali Congress too is a divided house as several leaders are vying to join his Cabinet. His rival faction within the party led by Ram Chandra Poudel has demanded one Deputy Prime Minister’s post and two ministerial berths in Deuba’s Cabinet.

Another faction led by Krishna Prasad Situala is demanding at least one ministerial post in the Cabinet. Deuba had appointed two ministers earlier from his own camp and now he has to settle the anguish within his party at the time of Cabinet expansion.

Another roadblock for Deuba for Cabinet expansion is the tussle and division in the main opposition party, UML, where its 22 lawmakers did a mutiny and voted for Deuba on Sunday.

The party whip doesn’t work for any lawmaker if he/she votes for the Prime Ministerial candidate to be elected under Article 76-5 of the Constitution.

And the UML is in deep trouble for one year due to the highhandedness of outgoing Prime Minister Oli. Oli is challenged by former Prime Minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal. Those voted in favour of Deuba on Sunday were the lawmakers from the Nepal camp.

Though the party is not divided yet, there is serious division, discord and distrust between Oli and Nepal. Oli, who is the chairman of the party, on Wednesday sought clarification from all 22 lawmakers who voted for Deuba and warned that they will be removed from the party if their clarifications fail to satisfy the party leadership.

But the Nepal faction has opposed the action, saying that due to the atrocities committed by Oli inside the party, they were forced to vote for Deuba.

If party unity between Oli and Nepal factions does not work, the Nepal camp may join the government, though nothing has been decided yet.

“The way the Oli faction sought clarification from 22 lawmakers, it will hamper the party unity process. Such activities don’t help the party unity process,” senior UML leader Raghuji Pant said.

If the unity process between Oli and Nepal fails, the largest party in Nepal’s Parliament, UML, which has 127 lawmakers, will split.

ALSO READ: New roads, transport corridors could boost India-Nepal ties

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New roads, transport corridors could boost India-Nepal ties

Nepal is also dependent heavily on India for access to ports though Kathmandu has also been granted access to Chinese ports now…..repor Asian Lite News

Improving connectivity will be the focus for India and the landlocked Nepal, which needs to access ports to boost its trade activities.

“India and Nepal must establish a workable mechanism that focuses solely on matters of connectivity– promoting highway, railway and air linkages among others in a systematic fashion. Planning for a five to 15-year horizon is imperative,” Bhaskar Koirala, Director of the Nepal Institute of International and Strategic Studies said.

Koirala added that it cannot be business as usual for the two countries. “Governments must abandon business as usual attitude, instead give priority to crafting a set of policies that are based on a fresh set of ideas, bearing in mind that a sound economic recovery for Nepal would no doubt revolve around a practical and efficient conjoining of self-sufficiency (by boosting domestic production and consumption) with robust engagement to the external environment,” he said.

The South Asian nations are also looking to operationalise the much-awaited Bangladesh-Bhutan-India Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) project, aimed at boosting connectivity in the region. Experts have noted that the BBIN project would be critical for economic recovery in the region.

Nepal is also dependent heavily on India for access to ports though Kathmandu has also been granted access to Chinese ports now.

India accounts for 64 per cent of Kathmandu’s overall trade volume.

At present, a chunk of Nepal’s trade — both imports and exports — are routed through the Haldia and Vishakhapatnam ports. However, sources said that India could open up more ports for Nepal. The country could even be granted access to the deep water Sittwe port.

The Sittwe port is currently being developed by India in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine province.

The port, at the mouth of the Kaladan river, is being developed as part of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project.

Sources also said that a mechanism needs to be put in pace to ensure overall better logistics and which would save time and for movement of goods between Nepal and the Indian ports.

India has agreed to provide Nepal access to Dhamra port in Odisha and Mundra in Gujarat. The two countries have been negotiating to facilitate trade through inland waterways from Haldia to Nepal through rivers Koshi and Gandak.

While China has given access to Nepal to use its ports, negotiations for the same took time and were laced with hiccups.

“Nepal needs Beijing and China has been a good neighbour to us but India will remain special, China cannot replace India,” Udaya Shumsher Rana, former minister of state for finance and a member of Nepali Congress recently said.

The Observer Research Foundation noted that Nepali aspirations have been unshackled and India must recognize this.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

ALSO READ: Deuba wins vote of confidence in Nepal Parliament

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BRO launches bridge in Tawang once taken by the Dalai Lama

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had reiterated the Government’s commitment to the progress of the far-flung areas near the borders of the country…reports Asian Lite News.

In line with the thrust to enhance strategic connectivity along India’s borders, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has launched a 80-feet Double Suspension (DS) Bailey Bridge (BB) on a road in Tawang.

The road is the historical route of the Dalai Lama’s passage to India.

“BRO India launched 80 Feet DS BB on Khinzemane-Zimithang road at an unprecedented pace to restore the stalled traffic movements. The road is important for Army, ITBP and civilians…,” said a tweet from the official BRO handle on Sunday.

“And also the road is historical route of induction of Dalai Lama in India. BRO Karmyogis did a wonderful job by constructing the bridge in a record time,” BRO added.

Earlier in April, the BRO constructed the Daporijo Bridge over Subansiri River also in Arunachal Pradesh so as to connect this strategic Line of Communication in Arunachal Pradesh.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had reiterated the Government’s commitment to the progress of the far-flung areas near the borders of the country.

Speaking on the occasion on the establishment of two Centres of Excellence established by BRO in June, Singh had praised the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) for working tirelessly to increase connectivity in border areas, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Union Budget for the current fiscal 2021-22 had proposed increased funding for Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to boost infrastructure in frontier areas.

Allocation for road development projects in border areas had been raised from Rs 5,586.23 crore to Rs 6,004.08 crore for Financial Year 2021-22.

Rajnath Singh.

The budget for maintenance of border roads has gone up from Rs 750 crore to Rs 850 crore, while the capital works allocation has been revised upwards to Rs 2,500 crore from budgetary provision of Rs 2,300 crore for Financial Year 2020-21.

This increased allocation shall facilitate procurement of modern construction plants, equipment and machinery to enhance the pace of construction warranted by strategic imperatives, the government had said.

A large share of increased funding will be used for better upkeep of strategic roads in the border areas and it will also give a major boost to construction of strategically important roads, tunnels and bridges along the northern and north-eastern borders. (India News Network)

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Deuba wins vote of confidence in Nepal Parliament

Deuba was supported by his own Nepali Congress, the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist Centre), the Janata Samajbadi Party, as well as some lawmakers from main opposition…reports Asian Lite News

Nepal’s new Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Sunday won the vote of confidence in Parliament on Sunday.

House Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota read out the results of the vote, in which Deuba received 165 votes while 84 parliamentarians voted against him. While the lower house currently has 271 members, only 249 lawmakers were present for voting as some boycotted the voting and some were absent.

Deuba was supported by his own Nepali Congress, the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist Centre), the Janata Samajbadi Party, as well as some lawmakers from main opposition Nepal Communist Party-UML whose chair is his predecessor, K.P. Sharma Oli.

The Nepali Congress has 61 seats while coalition partner Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) has 49 seats. Similarly, the Rastriya Janamorcha, with one seat, also decided to vote for Deuba.

But half of the lawmakers of the Janata Samajbadi Party, which has a total of 32 members, also made a volte face on Sunday and suddenly decided to vote for Deuba.

A faction of the party had earlier supported Oli while half of them remained in tge opposition.

After the Supreme Court overturned Oli’s decision to dissolve the house, the party came together and decided to vote for Deuba.

Oli’s own party, Nepal Communist Party-UML remained divided. out of its 127 lawmakers, 22 party lawmakers voted in favour of Deuba and 10 lawmakers were absent.

Deuba was appointed Prime Minister last Tuesday after the Supreme Court overturned Oli’s decision to dissolve the House of Representatives on May 21, and reinstated the house.

The Constitution makes it mandatory that a Prime Minister appointed under Article 76(5) secures a vote of confidence within 30 days of appointment.

ALSO READ: Deuba Takes Oath As Nepal Prime Minister

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Deuba Takes Oath As Nepal Prime Minister

The oath-taking ceremony was delayed after Deuba refused to take the oath saying that a statement issued by the President’s office didn’t mention that he was appointed as per Article 76 (5) of the Constitution, reports Asian Lite News

Nepal’s newly-appointed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba took oath of office and secrecy on Tuesday evening.

Deuba also formed a small cabinet and administered the oath of office and secrecy following the oath taking ceremony at the President’s office.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari administered the oath to Deuba at a special ceremony at Sheetal Niwas, the President’s office.

The oath-taking ceremony was delayed after Deuba refused to take the oath saying that a statement issued by the President’s office didn’t mention that he was appointed as per Article 76 (5) of the Constitution.

An earlier statement issued by the President’s office had stated that Nepali Congress Parliamentary Party leader Deuba has been appointed the Prime Minister in accordance with the July 12 verdict of the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench.

Deuba became ready for the oath after the President’s office corrected the statement, mentioning that Deuba was appointed as per Article 76 (5).

A day after the Supreme Court overturned Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s decision to dissolve the Parliament and the announcement of fresh polls in November, President Bhandari appointed Deuba as the Prime Minister of the country.

Deuba, 75, is former four-time Prime Minister of the country. He is leading an alliance of four parties, his own Nepali Congress, Nepal Communist Party (Maoist Center), Janata Samajbai Party and Rastriya Janamorcha.

The court had ordered the President to appoint Deuba as the Prime Minister by 5 pm on Tuesday. Deuba enjoyed majority votes in the House.

This is Deuba’s fifth term as the Prime Minister. He had previously served four terms as the Prime Minister of Nepal from 1995 to 1997, 2001 to 2002, 2004 to 2005, and 2017 to 2018. Now, Deuba needs to win a vote of confidence motion in the Lower House within 30 days to remain in office.

Along with Deuba, four ministers also took the oath of secrecy, two from his party and two from the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center).

Rajnath congratulates Deuba

Indian Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh on Tuesday congratulated Sher Bahadur Deuba for being appointed as the new Prime Minister of Nepal.

During a telephonic conversation between Singh and Deuba, both the leaders discussed the long-standing bilateral ties between the two countries and the ways to further strengthen them.

Singh was the first foreign leader to congratulate Deuba upon his appointment as the Prime Minister of the Himalayan nation for the fifth time.

Deuba’s immediate challenges would be to revive the sagging economy of the country and control the spread of the Covid 19 pandemic.

India will naturally keep a close watch on the political developments in the neighbouring state. Policy observers said that India must carve out a well “thought-through” and clear foreign policy pertaining to Nepal.

Udaya Shumsher Rana, member of the Nepali Congress and former minister of state for finance, told India Narrative that traditionally his party has always maintained cordial and stable relations with India.

“For the Nepali Congress international relations have never been driven by domestic politics as we have been seeing in the recent past. The thrust will be to maintain good relations with all the neighbours but we will not be anti-one country or the other,” Rana said.

Rana added that Nepal would now work closely with India especially on two fronts�economy and health.

“India and Nepal have an open border policy, so the two neighbours need to work in sync. To tackle the menacing pandemic, we need to battle it out collectively. Until everyone is safe in the region, we will not be able to address the Covid 19 problem. It is, therefore, critical to ensure that the entire Indian and Nepalese population is safe,” Rana said.

For the new government, the issue of expanding connectivity will also be critical, as that will boost economic growth. Sources said that China would be closely watching the developments in Nepal. Oli, in particular, has been trying to warm up to China.

Bhaskar Koirala, Director of the Nepal Institute of International and Strategic Studies pointed out that Indo-Nepal relations going forward are laced with unfulfilled promises.

“It seems to me that this bilateral relationship must also seek to transcend, to whatever extent possible, India’s larger regional policy by fine tuning this policy to focus exclusively on Nepal. In other words, greater emphasis must be placed on harnessing this bilateral relationship within that particular straight-jacket,” he told India Narrative.

In a note, published on Monday, the Observer Research Foundation noted that while India’s policy in South Asia is based on “Neighbourhood First”, the Nepal-India relationship goes further, “not just because of proximity, cultural, and people-to-people relationship but because the two countries have marched together in search of identity, inclusiveness, and a value-based democratic system.”

Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) foreign affairs department in-charge Vijay Chauthaliwale at an event said that India views Nepal as a sovereign nation and the two neighbours have equitable partnership, sharing mutual respect.

He also underlined that India and Nepal have equitable partnership and share mutual respect. “India would like to work with Nepal on three levels: government to government, people to people and cultural relations,” he said.

India now needs to act fast and boost connectivity which also includes people to people contact.

(IANS/indianarrative)

ALSO READ: Nepal signs MoU with India’s SJVN for 679 MW hydel project

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Nepal signs MoU with India’s SJVN for 679 MW hydel project

Pic credit Twtter@SjvnLimited

The Lower Arun Hydropower Project is located in Sankhuwasabha and Bhojpur districts of the Himalayan nation….reports Asian Lite News

Imparting a fresh thrust to India-Nepal trade and investment ties, Nepal investment Board on Sunday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with India’s Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd for the development of 679 MW Lower Arun Hydro Electric Project.

The MoU was signed by Chairman and Managing Director SJVN Ltd, Nand Lal Sharma and CEO, Investment Board of Nepal (IBN), Sushil Bhatta in Kathmandu in presence of Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal, Bishnu Prasad Paudel and India’s Ambassador to Nepal, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, said the IBN in a statement.

The Lower Arun Hydropower Project is located in Sankhuwasabha and Bhojpur districts of the Himalayan nation.

Pic credit Twtter@SjvnLimited

The Lower Arun Hydroelectric Project with an estimated cost of US $ 1.3 billion is yet another milestone of a partnership between Nepal and India on infrastructure development.

The signing of this MoU will prove to be a milestone for business cooperation between Nepal and India, said IBN CEO Bhatta.

ALSO READ: Cabinet nod to pacts with Nepal, Myanmar

The government of Nepal is fully committed to providing all required support to the project, noted Deputy Prime Minister and IBN VC, Bishnu Prasad Paudel.

IBN Chairman and Managing Director Sharma expressed his commitment to accelerate the remaining tasks and complete the development of Lower Arun Hydroelectric Project before its stipulated time.

The signing of the MoU would pave the way for energy infrastructure development and the overall economic prosperity of Nepal, Ambassador of India to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra said.

The project will be built under the build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model, it added.

The project will not have any reservoir or dam and will be a tailrace development of Arun-3 hydro project, which will mean water re-enters the river for the Lower Arun project, said IBN statement.

Earlier, in 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli had jointly laid the foundation stone for the Arun-3 Hydropower Project. (India News Network)

ALSO READ: India privatises Indo-Nepal rail network

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India privatises Indo-Nepal rail network

The agreement was singed in 2004 and the two sides have tried to amend it several times in the past….reports Asian Lite News

In a major boost to the Nepal-India bilateral ties, the two neighbouring countries have revised the Railway Service Agreement on June 30, according to a media report.

According to the revised text of the Letter of Exchange, all authorised private container train operators (Indian as well as Nepali) will be able to utilise the Indian railway network to carry freight containers for Nepal’s imports or exports, ending the monopoly of the Indian government-owned Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), the report published in the Kathmandu Post daily said.

The agreement was singed in 2004 and the two sides have tried to amend it several times in the past.

As the countries are planning to expand and extend more cross-border railway service in both passengers and cargo facilities, the agreement was needed to be revises without any delay, a Nepali official told IANS.

This liberalisation will allow market forces to come up in the rail-container-freight segment in the Himalayan nation, and is likely to reduce transportation costs in the medium term, benefiting the Nepalese consumer, the report added.

Konkan Railways delivers 2 DEMU train sets to Nepal Railways.

The new agreement will come into effect after the Cabinets of the two countries endorse it.

The agreement also allows the Indian Railway’s freight services to bring goods to and take goods from other border points besides Raxaul/Birgunj.

“The scope of the present limited cargo movement and facilities from various Indian ports to bordering Nepali industrial areas has been extended by this agreement,” the Kathmandu Post report said citing Nepali officials as saying.

As Nepal and India are planning to extend more cross-border railway networks, experts and officials said this agreement has opened new vistas of cooperation in bilateral trade and transit sectors.

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Nepali officials, experts and business community have welcomed the revised agreement that Nepal is going to get huge concessions in doing bilateral and third-country trade, the report stated further.

Similarly, after the revised agreement comes into force, all kinds of wagons that can carry freight on Indian Railways network within India can also carry freight to and from Nepal.

Earlier this facility was limited to only certain kinds of wagons.

The liberalisation will particularly reduce transportation costs for automobiles which are carried over special wagons that were not listed in the Railway Service Agreement of 2004, as they did not exist back then.

This new liberal policy also authorised Nepal Railway Company owned rail/wagons to operate Nepal-bound freight (inbound and outbound) over the Indian Railways network as per Indian Railway standards and procedures. Earlier this was only allowed for wagons owned by Indian Railway/CONCOR.

Former Commerce Secretary of Nepal Chandra Ghimire told the newspaper that with the signing of the new agreement, the monopoly of CONCOR has been enjoying since 2014 has ended with this revised agreement.

Since CONCOR was also operating for Indian companies, it paid less attention to our side, Ghimire said.

Nepali traders have long been complaining of difficulties in trading with third countries in the absence of timely evaluation and revision of the Rail Services Agreement with India.

With the increase in trade with other countries, Nepal had been demanding there be an extension of railway services to all the trading points across the country.

After the agreement comes into force, Indian private operators can transport Nepal-bound cargo from Visakhapatnam and Kolkata ports, as well as, more ports allowing Nepal to use Indian sea ports closer to major customs points of western and far-western Nepal for third-country trade as per the Transit Treaty between Nepal and India.

At present rail cargo can be transported only on the Kolkata-Raxaul/Birgunj route.

The new agreement will be more important after the planned four more railway links between the two countries come into operation. These four cross links include Jogbani-Biratnagar, Rupaidiya-Kohalpur, New Jalpaiguri-Kakarbhitta and Nautanwa-Bhairawaha.

A feasibility study for bringing rail up to Kathmandu from Raxaul, India, is also under consideration.

ALSO READ: Cabinet nod to pacts with Nepal, Myanmar

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Cabinet nod to pacts with Nepal, Myanmar

Each party shall fund the components of the research approved under this MoU to be conducted in their country or may apply jointly for third party funding…reports Asian Lite News.

In a testimony to the close collaboration in health sector with its neighbours, India’s Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved agreements signed between Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and its counterparts in Nepal and Myanmar.

The Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ICMR and Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC) that was signed on 17 November 2020 and 4 January 2021 respectively, according to a Cabinet press release.

The objectives of this MoU is collaboration on joint research activities of mutual interest such as cross-border health issues, Ayurveda/traditional medicine and medicinal plants, climate change and health, non-communicable diseases, mental Health, population based cancer registry.

It also includes tropical diseases (vector borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, malaria, JE etc.), influenza, clinical trial registry, health research ethics, capacity building through exchange of knowledge, skills tools and fellows and collaboration for adoption of tools, guidelines, protocols and best practices related to health research.

Union Health & Family Welfare, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Minister Harsh Vardhan addresses at the launch of the National Clinical Registry for COVID-19, Vaccine Web Portal, Mobile Stroke Unit and ICMR-NIN Documents, at ICMR headquarters, in New Delhi on Sep 28, 2020. (Photo: IANS/PIB)

Each party shall fund the components of the research approved under this MoU to be conducted in their country or may apply jointly for third party funding.

For the exchange of scientists under approved collaborative projects, the sending Party shall bear the cost of travel of visiting scientists whereas the receiving Party will provide the accommodation and living expenses of the scientist/researcher, the Cabinet statement informed.

Commitment of funds for workshops/meetings and research projects may be decided from time to time as per the funds available at that time, it said.

According to the Cabinet statement, arrangements to implement and execute all these activities shall be agreed to by the Parties prior to commencement of the activity.

In a separate release, the Cabinet on Wednesday informed of its approval of a MoU signed between ICMR and the Department of Medical Research (DMR), Ministry of Health and Sports of Myanmar.

The objective of this MoU signed in February, 2020 in New Delhi is to build on the health research relationship in the topics of mutual research, it noted.

The main objectives of the agreement with Myanmar are elimination of infectious diseases (to be decided mutually), development of network platform of emerging and viral infections, training /capacity building in research methodology management, clinical trials, ethics etc. and Harmonization of regulatory mechanism.

According to the Cabinet release, as per the MoU with DMR of Myanmar, the Parties shall establish a Joint Working Group (JWG) consisting of delegates from each organization.

JWG sessions shall be held alternatively in India and in Myanmar, it added.

The expenses related to travel, including visa entry, accommodation, per diem, health insurance, local transportation of its JWG members, shall be borne by the Sending Party whereas the organizational expenses of the JWG meetings shall be borne by the Host Party, the release said.

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Nepal unveils digital visa system

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel said thatnew system would pave the way for the issuance of e-visas in the future….reports Asian Lite News

Nepal on Monday launched a digital visa system to replace its 45-year-old hand-written visa regime.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel inaugurated the new system under which visas are produced digitally from the integrated information system of the Department of Immigration, the Xinhua news agency reported.

According to a statement by the Department of Immigration, key features of the digital visa system include hologram and water mark as security features and QR code in visa sticker with details of the visa enabling authorities to determine whether the visa is authentic with the help of QR code readers.

The department said that as the digital system generates visas, their details cannot be tempered. Likewise, the software system itself will generate visa numbers and three visas can be accommodated on a single page of passport.

“With the new system, the security and management of visas is expected to be strengthened,” the department said.

“Currently, we issue visas by writing manually on a printed copy of visa sticker and such visa is pasted on the passport of foreigners,” Jhanka Nath Dhakal, information officer at the Department of Immigration, told Xinhua. “Under the new system, nothing should be done manually to issue the visa.”

He said the new system would pave the way for the issuance of e-visas in the future.

On the day, over 150 digital visas were issued to foreigners, with a Portuguese citizen being the first to receive such a visa, said Dhakal.

The Department of Immigration started the new system at its headquarters, but it aims to introduce it to all of its offices within four months after the new 2021-22 fiscal year begins in mid-July.

While launching the digital visa system, Paudel said it would make Nepali visas more credible and help ensure national security, according to a press statement released by the Home Ministry.

ALSO READ: Nepal expands destinations for resumed int’l flights

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Nepal expands destinations for resumed int’l flights

The move came as the Kathmandu Valley went into lockdown for another week with eased restrictions on Tuesday…reports Asian Lite News

The Nepali government has decided to reopen international flights for more foreign destinations and partially resume domestic flights, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

A cabinet meeting decided on Monday to allow flights to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, said Buddhisagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.

The move came as the Kathmandu Valley went into lockdown for another week with eased restrictions on Tuesday, as new Covid-19 infections have declined for weeks in the Himalayan country amid a second wave of the pandemic, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier, Nepal has reopened flights to India, China, Turkey and Qatar. Flight frequencies to Turkey and Qatar have been increased as per the new decision.

Lamichhane said his ministry would decide on Wednesday when the international flights for the new destinations would be allowed. “Possibly, international flights to new destinations will be allowed later this week or early next week,” he added.

According to Nepal’s cabinet decision, one to four flights a week have been allowed to and from different destinations.

Domestic flights have been suspended in Nepal since early May. Under the cabinet decision, domestic flights will be operated on the basis that no more than half of the total domestic flights in normal days will take place.

“Domestic flights may be allowed to resume from early next week,” said Lamichhane.

In the case of China, the Nepali government has decided to allow two flights a week to Chengdu and Guangzhou respectively. Lamichhane said the destinations may be changed based on consultations with the Chinese side.

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