Tag: NEPAL

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Nepal President Dissolves Parliament, Election In November

Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari reviews the honor guard as she leaves for a visit to China at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal, April 24, 2019. Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari left for a visit to China on Wednesday to attend the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. (Xinhua/Sunil Sharma/IANS)

Nepal President has authenticated the recommendation made by the Cabinet to dissolve the House and declare the snap polls for November 12 and 19, reports Asian Lite News

In a dramatic turn of events, Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Friday midnight dissolved the Parliament as per the recommendation of the government and declared to hold midterm elections on November 12 and 19.

As per the constitutional provision, the President has authenticated the recommendation made by the Cabinet to dissolve the House and declare the snap polls for November 12 and 19, a notice issued by the President Office read.

This is for the second time that the House has been dissolved. Earlier, President Bhandari had dissolved the House on December 20 last year but later it was reinstated on February 23. The decision to dissolve the house came hours after a new government formation bid failed.

Nepal
K P Sharma Oli.

While invalidating both petitions registered by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba staking claim for the post of prime minister, Bhandari has stated that the claims made by the both Oli and Deuba have failed to meet the required provisions and as such, neither Oli or Deuba can form the new government.

On Thursday, President Bhandari had called on to form the new government as per the Article 76-5 of the Constitution. Before the deadline expired, Oli and Deuba claimed the formation of the new government with majority of the signatures.

Later, President Bhandari issued a statement saying that she did not see any reliable reason behind claims made by Oli and Deuba to form the new government and therefore she is not going to appoint a new Prime Minister.

ALSO READ – Nepal confirms new Covid-19 variant

The claim made by both Oli and Deuba was insufficient, a statement by the President Office said, hence the claim made by both leaders could not meet the required numbers. Based on the signatures and claims by the both sides, the President Office said that there is no concrete basis for both the claimants to get a vote of confidence from the Parliament as per the Article 76-5 of the Constitution.

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ASEAN News Asia News Nepal

Top court refuses to issue order on Oli’s controversial oath

Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana led single-bench did not issue any interim order on a writ petition seeking scrapping of the May 14 oath of Prime Minister Oli…reports Asian Lite News

The Supreme Court of Nepal on Tuesday refused to issue an interim order on writ petitions, seeking scrapping of the May 14 oath of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.

Chief Justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana led single-bench did not issue any interim order on a writ petition seeking scrapping of the May 14 oath of Prime Minister Oli, reported The Himalayan Times.

The writ petitions were filed on Sunday by senior advocate Dr Chandra Kanta Gyawali and advocates Keshar Jung KC and Lokendra Oli on reasoning that the process was erroneous, it further reported.

The apex court has told the Office of the President and the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers to come up with written responses within 15 days regarding the oath taken by PM Oli.

“On the oath of the prime minister and ministers, the final decision will be taken after the written response of the defendants so there is no need to issue an interim order now as demanded by the petitioners,” stated the order of the Supreme Court after its preliminary hearing on Tuesday, as per The Kathmandu Post.

K P Sharma Oli.

Four writ petitions have been filed in Nepal’s Supreme Court demanding that PM Oli take oath of office again.

The petitioners have sought directions that Oli should take the oath of office and secrecy again for not uttering the word “I affirm” after being reappointed as Prime Minister last Friday. When President Bidhya Devi Bhandari repeated “I affirm” during the ceremony, the Prime Minister replied “it is not necessary”. The petitions claimed this was “humiliation” of the President.

ALSO READ: Oli regime reinstated in Nepal

The petitions also call for immediate enactment of a federal law on the format of oath to be taken by prime minister and ministers.

The petitioners have also sought dismissal of seven ministers, who they said were reappointed “against the constitution”.

Stating that when a minister is reappointed, the person needs to be a member of federal parliament, the pleas stated that the reappointment “was in violation of the constitution”.

“The Prime Minister has violated Articles 78 (2) and (3) and Article 76 (9) of the Constitution of Nepal by re-appointing them as a minister for the second time as the constitution prohibits it,” the writ petitioners claimed.

A total of seven ministers, who are not members of the federal parliament, had taken the oath of office and secrecy for the second time on Friday against the existing constitutional provisions.

The pleas has also demanded that the Prime Minister should not take any action without taking oath again and not even allow the ministers to take action until the final decision of this writ petition is taken. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Nepal confirms new Covid-19 variant
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Nepal confirms new Covid-19 variant

Nepal

Nepal’s health authorities confirmed that three variants of the virus have been detected so far…reports Asian Lite News

After confirming two variants of coronavirus, Nepal on Tuesday confirmed that there were cases of third variant B.1.617.2 in the country.

Nepal’s Ministry of Health and Population said three variants of the virus have been detected.

“B.1.617.2 is the new variant seen in India while B.1.617.1 is the one seen in the UK. Earlier last year, Nepal reported the variant arising from China. With this, three variants of virus have been detected,” Dr. Sameer Kumar Adhikari, Assistant Spokesperson for ministry stated in release.

“According to result of gene sequencing of samples collected from the patients of 35 districts across the country, B.1.617.2 variant was detected in 97 per cent samples while the B.1.617.1 variant was reported from other three per cent samples,” Adhikari added.

The sequencing was carried out at CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in India, a WHO-recognized center of excellence in genomic sequencing, the release stated.

A health worker is seen at an isolation ward of a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal,

The ministry also urged people to strictly abide by the public health protocols as the new variant is more infectious than the older ones and even deadlier for the people of all age groups.

Nepal on Tuesday recorded as many as 8,203 new cases of COVID-19 along with 6,891 recoveries and 196 deaths.

A total of 20,979 samples were tested till Tuesday afternoon and 8,203 tested positive for COVID-19.

Nepal’s total count of COVID-19 cases stands at 372,354 including 352,414 recoveries and 5,411 deaths.

ALSO READ: Oli regime reinstated in Nepal

There are 107,082 COVID-19 patients in home isolation, 7,447 in institutional isolations, 1,590 in ICUs and 390 on ventilators as of Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Nepal received a second shipment of China-donated oxygen cylinders as the Himalayan country is continuing to face an acute shortage of medical oxygen supply for a growing number of Covid-19 patients.

A Nepal Airlines plane landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu at 2.30 p.m. on Sunday with the oxygen cylinders and concentrators from China, Dim Prasad Poudel, managing director of the airline, told Xinhua news agency.

The first batch had arrived on May 10.

Nepal

According to Nepal’s Ministry of Finance, there is an agreement with China for the delivery of oxygen cylinders on a grant basis, and some of them will be brought by air while the rest will be sent through the land route with Tibet.

Poudel said the Nepal Airlines will send planes to get back the remaining oxygen cylinders from China.

“We are trying to communicate with the Chinese side to know when the cylinders would arrive at the border point,” said Narad Gautam from the bordering Tatopani Customs Office in the Sindhupalchowk district.

Jageshwor Gautam, spokesperson at the Nepali Health Ministry, told Xinhua last week that China-donated oxygen cylinders would be distributed to large government-run hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley, and a few would be sent to the crisis-hit provinces. (ANI/IANS)

ALSO READ: World record as Nepali guide climbs Everest twice

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Asia News Nepal

World record as Nepali guide climbs Everest twice

Sherpa first reached the top of the mountain in the evening of May 7 as a member of a rope-fixing team, and then performed the feat again on the morning of May 11….reports Asian Lite News

Mingma Tenji Sherpa, a Nepali mountain guide, has created a world record by scaling Mt. Everest, the world’s highest peak, twice in the shortest span of time in a season, organisers said on Thursday.

Sherpa first reached the top of the mountain in the evening of May 7 as a member of a rope-fixing team, and then performed the feat again on the morning of May 11, while guiding an expedition team consisting of Bahraini Prince Sheikh Mohammed Hamad Mohammed Al Khalifa, according to the company which organised both expeditions.

“He climbed Mt. Everest twice in the gap of just four days which is a world record,” Mingma Sherpa, chairperson of the Seven Summit Treks, told Xinhua news agency.

“He took nearly 86 hours to do double ascents.”

Previously, Indian mountaineer Anshu Jamsenpa had held the record for fastest dual ascents on Everest, doing so in 118 hours and 15 minutes in 2017.

She however, still holds the record for fastest dual ascent on the peak by a woman.

Mingma Tenji Sherpa has been working as a mountain guide with the Seven Summit Treks.

Other climbers have set their own records on the 8848.86-meter-high Mt. Everest this season from the Nepali side, including Kami Rita Sherpa, a Nepali mountain guide who broke his own record by climbing the mountain for the 25th time on May 8, and three Nepali Sherpa sisters from the same family, who reached the top on May 12.

ALSO READ: ‘Everest is not a tourist mountain’

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Asia News COVID-19 Nepal

14 dead in Lumbini due to oxygen shortage

A health worker is seen at an isolation ward of a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal,

Eleven patients died in Corona Special Hospital in Butwal, while three passed away in Bhairahawa-based Bhim Hospital of Rupandehi district…report Asian Lite News

A total of 14 COVID-19 patients, undergoing treatment at two different hospitals in Nepal’s Lumbini province, died after the hospitals ran out of medical oxygen on Wednesday afternoon.

Eleven patients died in Corona Special Hospital in Butwal, while three passed away in Bhairahawa-based Bhim Hospital of Rupandehi district, Kathmandu Post reported.

One of the health workers at the Bhim Hospital told the Post, that “Covid-19 patients, who lost their lives on Wednesday, were in need of high flow oxygen supplement. But they did not receive high flow oxygen on time. We had to see patients dying in their beds helpless and hear their families’ grief-stricken wails.”

Nepal

This news comes as several hospitals in and around Kathmandu have started turning down patients following the government’s decision to cap the supply of life-saving medical oxygen.

The Crisis Management Center (CCMC) in Nepal has capped the number of oxygen cylinders to each hospital. As per the government figures, demand for oxygen at the hour of pandemic stands at 15,000 cylinders while the supply stands as low as 10,000.

The death rate of Nepal has continued to soar in recent days as hospitals around the nation face a crunch in the supply of life-saving gas.

On Sunday, Nepal recorded 88 deaths due to COVID-19 while on Monday it rose to 139, and on Tuesday it reached 225. On average, one COVID-19 patient is dying every six minutes. (ANI)

ALSO READ:Over 7,115 MT of oxygen delivered by Railways

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Oli regime reinstated in Nepal

Oli, who was reappointed on Monday night, is planning to take the oath of office and secrecy on Friday afternoon, according to his office….reports Asian Lite News

After opposition parties failed to form a coalition government, Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari has reappointed KP Sharma Oli as the 42nd Prime Minister on the basis of leading the largest party in Parliament.

Oli, who was reappointed on Monday night, is planning to take the oath of office and secrecy on Friday afternoon, according to his office.

Sher Bahadur Deuba, leader of the primary opposition Nepali Congress party, was the frontrunner for the post of Prime Minister but he couldn’t garner a majority vote as fourth largest party, Janata Samajbai Party (JSP), was divided to support Oli.

However, the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) could not cobble together the numbers to prove a majority.

A faction of the JSP decided to stay neutral, making it difficult for Deuba to stake claim.

K P Sharma Oli.
ALSO READ:B’desh bans arrivals from Nepal

The Mahantha Thakur-Rajendra Mahato’s 19-member faction of the JSP decided to throw its weight behind Oli. The Party has 32 lawmakers overall.

Oli’s Communist Party of NepaleUML has 121 members in the House.

Since no party commands a majority in the House, as the parliamentary party leader of UML, Oli was elected Prime Minister as per constitutional provision.

He again has to prove his majority in the house within a month.

If he fails to garner a majority, either he will dissolve the House or any other individual lawmaker can stake claim over the post of Prime Minister.

But leaders close to Oli said that he preferred to dissolve the house and was interested in holding early elections.

ALSO READ :Covid-19 crisis worsens in Nepal

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Oli to continue as opposition fails

K P Sharma Oli.

With the Nepali Congress failing to form the new government with the support of opposition parties, Oli will continue as the Prime Minister as the leader of the largest political party…reports Asian Lite News

Nepal’s opposition parties have failed to form a new coalition government by the 9 p.m. Thursday deadline set by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari.

After Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli lost the vote of confidence on Monday, the President, on the same day, called on political parties to form an alternative government. However, they were unable to muster a majority.

“We, the opposition parties, have failed to garner the required votes to form the new government,” Prakash Sharan Mahat, Joint Secretary General of the Nepali Congress, the primary opposition in the house, said after a party meeting.

“As the primary opposition, the Nepali Congress has claimed the leadership of the government and started talks with the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre and the Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal. After the Janata Samajbadi Party refused to support our party President Sher Bahadur Deuba as next Prime Minister, our effort to form the government have come to an end,” he added.

ALSO READ:B’desh bans arrivals from Nepal

With the Nepali Congress failing to form the new government with the support of opposition parties, Oli will continue as the Prime Minister as the leader of the largest political party or will form a coalition government with the Janata Samajbadi Party.

The third largest party in the house, the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre, also concluded that chances of forming the government had come to an end after the Janata Samajbadi Party failed to extend support to Deuba as Prime Minister.

After the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre withdrew the support to the Oli government, he, as per the constitutional provision, proposed to seek a vote of confidence but lost.

Meanwhile, Oli remained busy in political manoeuvres and talks with his party leaders and the dissidents, including Madhav Kumar Nepal. Oli also withdrew the action taken against lawmakers of his Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist on Thursday morning in order to stop them from supporting Deuba as Prime Minister.

On the other hand, Oli was also cultivating one section of the Janata Samajbadi Party to remain in power.

President Bhandari is preparing to re-appoint Oli as Prime Minister on Friday.

ALSO READ:Covid-19 crisis worsens in Nepal

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Covid-19 crisis worsens in Nepal

A health worker is seen at an isolation ward of a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal,

The mortality rate due to novel coronavirus has surged like in India…reports Asian Lite News

Amid an ongoing second wave of the pandemic, Nepal is heading towards an India-like Covid disaster as at least 14 infected patients died in hospitals due to lack in oxygen supply.

The second wave in Nepal has led to under serious oxygen shortages, as well as an unabated spike in the number of daily Covid cases.

The mortality rate is also high like in India.

According to the Kathmandu Post, of the 14 patients, 11 died at the Corona Special Hospital in Butwal, while three others passed away in the Bhairahawa-based Bhim Hospital.

At least a dozen hospitals in Kathmandu have stopped taking in new Covid patients due to shortage of oxygen.

Nepal

“The required oxygen supply is running out, we tried to sustain it yesterday but we are now helpless, we do not have more stock now,” Santosh Poudel, Director at Bir Hospital Trauma Center wrote on Facebook.

The hospital is treating over 105 Covid patients.

ALSO READ:Nepal Oppn Gear Up To Form Govt As Oli Loses Trust Vote

After failing to provide oxygen supply, the government has now fixed a quota system to the hospitals.

The Nepal Medical Association (NMA) on Wednesday warned that the Himalayan nation’s health system is on the brink of collapse and asked the government to issue a “red alert” across the country.

Nepal

“Several patients are unable to come hospitals, those who have reached hospitals are not getting treatment, we are forced to return them back due to lack of bed, ICUs, ventilators and many are dying in hospitals due to the lack of oxygen and other medical facilities,” the NMA said in a letter sent to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and other high-government officials.

Like in India, now people are seeking help and support for bed, ICU, ventilators, oxygen, plasma, medicine on social media platforms.

Nepal has so far reported 422,349 coronavirus cases and 4,252 deaths.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Oli wrote an article for the Guardian, seeking help for Nepal’s fight against Covid.

“As I write this, my country is battling a new and brutal wave of the Covid-19 pandemic… The rise in the number of infections poses a serious challenge to our brave doctors, nurses, other care providers, citizen volunteers and the entire health service system.”

ALSO READ:B’desh bans arrivals from Nepal
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Asia News Bangladesh Nepal

B’desh bans arrivals from Nepal

Bangladesh on Saturday detected its first cases of a highly infectious coronavirus variant first identified in India…Reports Asian Lite News

The Bangladesh government has banned the entry of travellers from Nepal as its neighbouring countries, including India, were reeling from a deadly second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) made the announcement on Sunday saying no passenger from Nepal will be allowed to enter Bangladesh from Monday to limit the spread of the Covid-19, reports Xinhua news agency.

Bangladesh on Saturday detected its first cases of a highly infectious coronavirus variant first identified in India, weeks after it imposed a ban on the entry of travellers from the neighbouring country via land ports on April 25.

The air travel between the two countries was suspended from April 14 following a devastating rise in Covid-19 infections in India.

After weeks of suspension due to the pandemic, international flight operations to and from Bangladesh resumed in a limited scale on May 1.

ALSO READ:Nepal Oppn Gear Up To Form Govt As Oli Loses Trust Vote
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Asia News Nepal

Nepal Oppn Gear Up To Form Govt As Oli Loses Trust Vote

K P Sharma Oli.

Nepal President called on all parties to stake claim to form a majority government after Oli’s failed vote of confidence in the parliament, reports Asian Lite News

Major opposition parties of the Nepali parliament have started preparations to form a new government after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli lost the vote of confidence at Lower House on Monday.

A coalition of more than two parties representing in the parliament, who will form Nepal’s new government, have already started consultations over the next leadership.

“Majority of the lawmakers who were present today have rejected the Prime Minister’s vote of confidence. The House has decided that KP Sharma Oli shall not remain in the post any longer. In order to make a new government, all the political parties would make attempts and we are confident that the nation would get a new Prime Minister,” Bal Krishna Khand, opposition Nepali Congress leader and close aide to NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba told reporters as he exited the parliamentary building.

Three opposition leaders, namely, Deuba, Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Upendra Yadav had called on President Bidya Devi Bhandari to initiate government formation procedure, soon after the commencement of a special session of parliament on Monday.

All leaders from the Nepali Congress, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) and a faction of the Janata Samajwadi party led by Yadav have urged President Bhandari to invoke Article 76 (2) of the Constitution.

ALSO READ: Nepali lawmakers test Covid positive ahead of floor test

Later in the evening, the Nepal President called on all parties to stake claim to form a majority government after Oli’s failed vote of confidence in the parliament.

“She has asked party leaders to come forward with the name of the candidate for the post of Prime Minister by 9 pm, Thursday,” read a statement by Nepali Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Oli lost a vote of confidence in parliament as he could only garner just 93 votes, way less than 136 that he needed to prove the House’s majority. As many as 124 votes were cast against him and 15 lawmakers stood neutral. In the 271-strong House, only 232 lawmakers were present during Monday’s voting.

“Article 76 (2) of the constitution should be exercised now, there is a possibility of a coalition where more than two parties can come forward to form a new government. Today we stand with 124 votes, two others were absent today, so we have 126 votes in our favour and many others are not present here that is why we do not see any problem in crossing majority mark of 136,” Dev Gurung, leader from Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) told reporters after the vote.

Chief Whip of the ruling CPN-(Unified Marxist-Leninist), Bishal Bhattarai has warned of taking stern action against 28 lawmakers who abstained from Monday’s meeting. Terming the action as a violation of the whip, Bhattarai claimed that the absentees would be punished by the party.

“Twenty-eight of the lawmakers remained absent today. It is one of the major incidents in parliamentary history and is a serious matter as political whip has been violated or disobeyed. It is indeed a new incident in Nepali parliamentary record of not voting in favour of the Prime Minister of own party, going against him by either remaining absent or floor cross, the party would make serious decisions over it,” Bhattarai said.

“Our steps would be dependent on its parliamentary legislation as well as of our own and other acts pertaining to political parties,” he added.

Upon the recommendation of the cabinet, President Bhandari has prorogued a special session of the lower house starting from Monday midnight.

The office of the President issued a release on Monday evening announcing the prorogation of the lower house on the recommendation of the cabinet.

“President has exercised the right mentioned in Article 93 (2) which gives her permission to end the house session on recommendation of the cabinet. It would go into effect starting from Monday midnight,” a release from Parliament secretariat announced. (ANI)

ALSO READ:Nepal PM Oli loses vote of confidence