Kathmandu : Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Sunday urged India to recall its troops from Kalapani that belongs to Nepal.
Protests erupted in the Himalayan nation after New Delhi released a political map on 31 October that placed the region of Kalapani inside the Indian border. Nepal claimed that Indian border forces have been illegally occupying Nepali territory since the 1962 India-China War.
Speaking on 17 November, Nepal’s Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli vowed to remove foreign troops from the country’s territory in the event of any encroachment. Oli added that his government was more than capable of defending the country’s territory and that he would not allow a foreign country to take it over.
“We will not let even a single inch of our land encroached on, neither do we need the land of others…I request our neighbour to recall its troops from there (Kalapani),” Prime Minister Oli said while addressing the first meeting of the National Youth Association in Kathmandu.
Oli’s statement comes after a new Indian map showed the region of Kalapani within India, leading to protests across Nepal. Kalapani, a 35-square kilometre area claimed by both India and Nepal, has been embroiled in controversy since the Nepal Parliament ratified the Mahakali Treaty with India in 1996.
Nepal claimed that Indian border forces have been in illegal occupation of the Nepal territory Kalapani since the 1962 India-China War.
The Indian foreign ministry said that the map accurately depicts the sovereign territory of India, but noted that a third party (most likely China) could be attempting to stir up trouble in the area.
“I think it is very important to note that, both sides (India and Nepal) should guard against vested interests who are out there to create some differences between the two countries,” Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on 8 November, the Sputanik writes.
Meanwhile, China expressed hope that Nepal and India will resolve their territorial dispute through negotiations.
Kathmandu — In a tweet Prime Minister of Nepal Oli said “Pleased to meet with @sachin_rt, famous cricket player, and UNICEF goodwill ambassador today.
Pleased to meet with @sachin_rt, famous cricket player, and UNICEF goodwill ambassador today. He appreciated the efforts undertaken by Nepal for the promotion of the rights of the children and their welfare. pic.twitter.com/va9pENNVJd
He appreciated the efforts undertaken by Nepal for the promotion of the rights of the children and their welfare”. Sachin Tendulkar, one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket, arrived in Kathmandu on Friday as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) goodwill ambassador.
He played a friendly cricket match alongside children at Tribhuvan Univeristy Stadium in Kirtipur on Saturday. On this occasion Sachin said “let’s try to better understand the strengths of each child, eat, play and laugh with them more and support them in doing what they love, DD news writes.
Sachin added “Don’t clip their wings, let them fly.” The game was organised by UNICEF and European Union Programme to commemorate 30 years of UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. Sachin also visited famous Pashupatinath temple and offered prayers.
London—A well-known linguist of Nepal, Prof Dr Yogendra Yadava, has said that over 100 languages spoken in the country are endangered.
Addressing the 17thannual Nepal lecture organised by the Britain-Nepal Academic Council (BNAC) at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) on Thursday, Prof Yadava said 96 percent of the total population in Nepal speak 19 major languages while just 4 percent of the population speak 104 languages.
“Most of the languages spoken in Nepal are endangered,” said Yadava adding, there is a need to document and digitise the minority languages.”
Speaking on the theme “Nepal’s contemporary linguistic landscape: Its implications for language endangerment and Mother Tongue-based multilingual education,” Prof. Yadavainformed that digital documentation of three endangered languages—Puma, Chhintang and Baram– has already been completed.
All these three languages are Sino-Tibetan languages. While the digitisation of Puma and Chhintang was completed with German help, SOAS had helped to digitise the Baram language.
“In Gorkha district, people are learning Baram language with the help of the dictionary and text books we have produced,” he added. He also hailed the efforts of the state-owned Gorkhapatra daily that publishes two-page supplement every day with news and articles from 33 languages.
Prof Yadava was, however, not very enthusiastic regarding Nepal’s local bodies’ efforts to introduce endangered languages in school curricula.
“The (central) government hasn’t provided any resources or experts to local bodies. So, it will be very difficult for them to run these programmes on their own,” he added.
Mother Tongue-based Education
Prof Yadava emphasised on the importance of mother-tongue based education for children in early years. “Studies have shown that quality of education will be better and learning will be more effective if delivered in mother tongue. Moreover, it helps preserve culture and also helps in the development of their brain.”
Responding to a query, Prof Yadava recommendedprimary education in mother-tongue for the first few years followed by education in Nepali and English languages. “Start with the mother tongue based education for 3 to 6 years, then gradually switch to link languages like Nepali. We also need English for global communication,” he added.
Yadava heads the Department of Mother Tongues at Nepal Academy and is professor (emeritus) of linguistics at the Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu. He is also honorary member of Linguistic Society of America.
Chair of the BNAC, Dr Krishna Adhikari, thanked all those who were present to listen to Prof Yadava. He said the BNAC will be organising Nepal Study Days in London in the coming summer to deliberate on Nepal facing issues. He also urged students and academicians interested on Nepal to join the Council.
Established in 2000, the Britain-Nepal Academic Council (BNAC) promotes academic and scholarly links between academics based in British universities and other centres of learning and research who have a strong interest in Nepal, and their Nepali counterparts. The BNAC organises occasional lectures by visiting scholars and academics, and meetings to discuss current issues in Nepal. It organises an Annual Lecture, delivered by Nepali and Europe-based speakers in alternate years; and also organises a Nepal Study Day at least once a year for the presentation and discussion of new and ongoing research projects, at a different UK university location each year.
PA, Mumbai — The singer, who appeared at a music festival in Mumbai this week, chatted to Charles as he took part in a BAT advisory board meeting at an exclusive hotel in the city.
The US star said she wanted to know more about the work of the organisation founded in 2007 by Charles and a group of British Asian business leaders.
It aims to tackle widespread poverty, inequality and injustice in south Asia.
She said afterwards: “I heard about the work of the British Asian Trust through a friend in India and really wanted to come along to learn more about it.”
The singer said she shared a similar ethos with the prince on sustainability and climate change.
The trust has four areas of programme work – education, livelihoods, anti-trafficking and mental health, with a strong track record of investing in solutions that work for the long-term and that can be taken to scale.
The organisation has supported more than four million people in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh since its inception.
KATHMANU, Xinhua — Over 50 tourism professionals of Nepal on Friday graduated from a Chinese language training course provided by China.
The six-month training session, the fourth of its kind, was organized by the Chinese embassy in Nepal in coordination with Nepal’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.
The language course has been organized as per an agreement reached between Nepal and China in 2016. According to the agreement, China will provide language training course to 200 tourism professionals of Nepal within five years.
Addressing the graduation ceremony in Kathmandu, Nepali officials expressed hope that the Chinese language training will contribute in promoting tourism industry and will support the Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign.
“Language training will not just enhance communication, but will also strengthen cultural exchanges, tourism promotion and brotherhood,” Suresh Acharya, joint-secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said.
He said the government aims to welcome at least 500,000 Chinese tourists next year, as Nepal has targeted 2 million tourists arrival for Visit Nepal Year 2020.
China is the largest tourism source market for Nepal. The Himalayan country received over 130,000 Chinese travelers in the first 10 months of this year, according to Nepal Tourism Board (NTB).
Deepak Raj Joshi, CEO at NTB, said “Chinese language has high demand in the recent times. I would like to request the Chinese side to extend the language training program in outside of Kathmandu valley as well.”
For his part, Wang Xiaolong, a senior official with the Chinese embassy in Nepal, expressed hope that the training program would be helpful for the tourism development of Nepal.
Akil Upadhyay, a tourism entrepreneur who runs Ability Travels and Tours, is one of the graduates. “Since the number of Chinese tourists is growing significantly, language will help me to communicate with my Chinese clients more effectively. I hope I can serve them better,” Upadhyay told Xinhua.
On the occasion, the graduated professionals showed their language skills through the performance of Chinese song, speech and dance. The fourth phase of training program was launched on March 27 this year.
Dhaka — Nepal emerged as the undefeated champion of the Bangamata Asian Senior Women’s Central Zone Volleyball Championship, the country’s first ever international title, after beating Maldives by 3-0 sets in the final Thursday.
Host Bangladesh finished fourth after losing to Kyrgyzstan by the same margin in the third place decider in the day’s first match at the same venue of Shaheed Suhrawordi Indoor Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka.
Newly formed Bangladesh women’s team concluded the inaugural edition of the tournament with two wins, over Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan, in the round-robin league opening round, Dhaka Tribune reported.
Bangladesh defeated Kyrgyzstan by 3-2 sets in their last match of the group stage the previous day but couldn’t script another comeback yesterday as they lost all three sets by 13-25, 14-25 and 12-25 points.
Nepal head coach Jagadish Prasad was an excited and proud man after the final.
He said, “I’m so happy for winning the first ever international gold medal in Nepal volleyball. This is a historical moment for the country and that came after the game was declared the national sport two years ago. The volleyball activities increased and the performance bettered after it became national sport. Now we are more confident ahead of the SA Games at home.”
Nepal’s Pratibha Mali was adjudged the best attacker of the tournament.
The 18-year old top volleyball player of the country expressed their dream to win gold in the 13th SA Games, scheduled to be held in Kathmandu and Pokhara from December 1-10.
Nepal becomes the fourth host country to be announced for the series, which will ultimately be formed of five stages when it launches in 2021. The race will take place in the Kali Gandak valley, 25km south of the town of Jomsom, the Sportbusiness reports.
Each stage of the Extreme E calendar is intended to draw attention to the impact of climate change and human influence on the natural world. Nepal is intended as the ‘mountain stage’, while Saudi Arabia will host the desert stage, Greenland the Arctic stage and Brazil the rainforest stage. The location of the fifth and final leg, the coastal stage, is yet to be announced.
Extreme E organisers announced their intentions to work with local authorities to ensure the race leaves a positive impact on the region. Consultation has already begun with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), a Kathmandu-based organisation which represents the interests of the local populations of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region.
🇳🇵Location confirmed: we’re heading to Nepal!
🗣 Alejandro: “The Himalayas is a spectacular environment with incredible terrain for off-road racing, providing the sternest of tests to the world’s leading drivers, engineers & teams…”
“The country has a unique natural and cultural diversity and harbours a number of instantly recognisable world landmarks such as Mount Everest – the tallest peak on Earth – and Lumbni – the birthplace of Buddha,” said Yogesh Bhattarai, the Nepalese minister for tourism. “We are confident that hosting this international series will serve to further our global appeal whilst being able to also shine an important spotlight on the climate issues which face our region and their solutions.”
Alejandro Agag, the founder of Extreme E as well as the Formula E series, said that the location was a “spectacular, unique environment with incredible terrain for off-road racing, which will provide the sternest of tests to the world’s leading drivers, engineers and teams”.
HRW , (New York) – The government of Nepal should ensure that forthcoming legislation to regulate social organizations protects the right to freedom of association, Human Rights Watch said. The government should hold open consultations with activists before introducing these laws.
Following previous attempts to impose draconian regulations on nongovernment organizations (NGOs), activists fear that legislation being prepared by the Home Ministry will weaken civil society, including organizations defending human rights. These groups had been supervised by the Social Welfare Council, a government body established in 1992 to “co-ordinate” and “promote” social organizations. But under the current government, the Home Ministry, which is otherwise responsible for internal security and law and order, has been taking over the regulation, registration, and supervision of social organizations.
Human Rights Watch is now on Apple News
“Nongovernmental organizations need to be independent so that they can hold the government accountable, criticize policies, propose alternative ideas, and represent different points of view,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director. “The Nepal government’s recent attempts to place constraints on groups rings alarm bells for democracy and human rights.”
Jitbir Lama, president of NGO Federation Nepal, described activists’ concerns to the Kathmandu Post, saying “We are concerned if the ministry is focusing on controlling nongovernment organizations, instead of regulating and facilitating them.” Achyut Luitel, chairperson of the Association of International NGOs, warned that the government is trying to adopt “controlling measures” to restrict groups that work on human rights.
The government’s 2019 International Development Cooperation Policy states that international aid mobilized through Nepali groups should be in line with government priorities, which it identifies mostly as infrastructure development.
The National Integrity Policy introduced in 2018 placed a number of onerous restrictions on activist groups and on the foreign funding that many rely on for their work. The policy requires groups to seek government permission to receive foreign grants. Once enforced, international nongovernmental organizations will be banned from doing advocacy on policy issues and from making “inappropriate allegations,” “spreading ill will,” or doing anything to “jeopardize the Nepali civilization, culture, social relationships and harmony.” Reports that they send to their home countries must be approved by the government.
These broadly drawn prohibitions could be used to prevent a wide range of activism on issues such as human rights, corruption, and gender and caste discrimination. Since the work of all international groups must be carried out through local partner organizations, the policy severely constrains domestic organizations supported by foreign partners.
A 2018 letter from four United Nations special rapporteurs stated, among numerous concerns, that the National Integrity Policy would “severely hinder the access of funding for associations.” They pointed out that even unregistered organizations are entitled to freedom of expression rights under international law and said that restrictions on activities of these groups under the policy do “not appear to pursue a legitimate objective under international human rights standards.” The special rapporteurs concluded that the policy was “aimed at hindering civil society’s ability to operate, especially NGOs and INGOs that are advocating for the promotion of ideas that are not shared by the Government.”
In June 2018, the government also introduced a directive that all nongovernmental groups must register with Home Ministry officials in each district, include a declaration of the personal property of all officeholders, and amend their statutes to specify just one field in which they would work. Those orders were later rolled back in the face of widespread opposition and threats of legal action.
International law protects freedom of association, including through nongovernmental groups. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) holds that no restrictions may be placed on this right other than those that “are necessary in a democratic society” such as protecting public safety or the rights of others. Any limitations should not destroy or negate the essence of the rights guaranteed in the covenant.
Groups in Nepal accept that some regulation is necessary, for example with relation to financial management. While it is appropriate to regulate and scrutinize the financial affairs of not-for-profit organizations to address corruption, the Nepali government’s approach unnecessarily infringes on the fundamental right of citizens to organize and campaign on issues of their choosing, Human Rights Watch said.
“The government should not be interfering with or constraining which issues organizations can work on, and should listen to activists, including critics, instead of treating them as a threat,” Ganguly said. “In the past, Nepali political parties, including the one currently in office, received the support of groups that backed democracy and human rights, and all members of parliament should ensure that any new regulation is bolstering these groups instead of undermining them.”
UN News — The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has been working with the Government in developing this first-ever national bid to go before the Fund.
Co-funding the initiative, Nepal’s Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoFE) is adding another $8 million for a total of more than $47 million, which will see the project to fruition over the course of seven years.
Communities in the Churia hills region – the southernmost range of the Himalayan foothills, running east-west through Nepal – will be targeted as it provides vital ecosystem functions to the heavily-populated plains downstream where the most fertile agricultural land is located.
Building rural resilience
“This major GCF contribution to FAO’s work in partnership with the Government of Nepal at all levels of federalization, namely, central, provincial and municipal, will benefit more than 200,000 households in the Churia hills”, said Somsak Pipoppinyo, FAO Representative to Nepal, noting that it would help rural families to “become more resilient to the changing environment in which they find themselves”.
Decades of unsustainable use of natural resources have resulted in forest degradation, floods and soil erosion. And the negative effects on downstream communities have been exacerbated by increased droughts and extreme weather events precipitated by the climate crisis.
It is predicted those impacts will intensify in coming years, further threatening food security and livelihoods.
“It will also help them adapt to, and mitigate the effects of, climate and extreme weather events in the years to come,” added Mr. Pipoppinyo.
Kailash Pokharel of Nepal’s Ministry of Finance underscored the region as “a national priority critical to Nepal’s food security and climate change policy” and pledged to ensure that the project “brings transformational change to grassroots communities” and enhances climate resilience.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Designed to directly contribute to Nepal’s nationally determined contribution towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), much of the project’s work will focus on developing infrastructure to move away from unsound and environmentally damaging natural resource management practices.
And its long-term sustainability will rely on building both individual and institutional capacity at all levels.
“The project will work with both government and communities to coordinate actions,” said Ben Vickers, FAO’s lead technical officer. “We anticipate these actions will deliver average annual emission reductions of nearly half-a-million tonnes of CO2 each year.”
The Conversation — Bullshit seems to be the new currency in politics. Around the world, a new breed of politicians is flourishing, for whom lying and bullshitting is part of their everyday routine. This is earning them both popular appeal and widespread revulsion. But what is bullshit and why is it so effective in our time?
Bullshitting is different from lying. The American philosopher Harry Frankfurt, who attempted to build a theory of bullshit, explains this clearly. He argues that whereas the liar cares about the truth – their aim is to prevent others from learning it – the bullshitter does not care about the difference between the truth and falsity of their assertions. They just pick ideas out, or make them up, to suit their purpose.
In the run up to his presidential campaign, Donald Trump, for instance, alleged that Barack Obama was born outside the US. This forced Obama to release his birth certificate. Trump then responded by labelling this birth certificate a forgery. Many would dismiss this as a childish political blunder or an act of political duplicity. But it was very effective in spreading seeds of doubt about Obama’s patriotism and in legitimising “concerns” about his loyalty to the country.
This is now a regular feature of what is referred to as post-truth politics: leaders seeking to shape public opinion by spreading bullshit, a medley of lies, half-truths, innuendos and empty verbiage.
Bullshit artists
A more subtle type of bullshit is practised when leaders facilitate or give credibility to rumours or patent lies. This is often used to de-legitimise political opposition. This is a technique that British prime minister Boris Johnson has used.
For example, when asked by a BBC reporter whether some pro-remain MPs were under investigation for their alleged involvement with foreign powers, he declared: “I think there is a legitimate question to be asked about the generation of this SO24 legislation.” Not only were these allegations untrue, the prime minister knew there was no such investigationtaking place to start with.
Similarly to Trump’s role in the “birther” conspiracy, Johnson simply rebounds the false allegation without providing any evidence and lets the digital echo chambers do their work. What makes this type of bullshit dangerous and difficult to tackle is its diffusion via social media, which evades accountability. Engaging with it or seeking to correct it factually merely adds fuel to the fire, spreading its message still more widely. Repeating a lie, even to debunk it, makes it seem more believable.
Fact checking is now a regular claim of many news media. This is a necessary – but we worry perhaps a futile – endeavour. Such “facts” are often contested and distorted to such a point that the wider public loses any sense of a genuine different between fact and fiction. In post-truth politics, everything sinks to the level of a story. Some are simply more plausible than others, but this will always depend on the observer’s political allegiances, fears and fantasies.
Leaders such as Johnson and Trump are “bullshit artists”, par excellence. Even when seeming spontaneous or artless, their use of language in political power games is the product of sophisticated craftsmanship, but is delivered in a way that gives the opposite impression.
This allows them an enduring ambiguity. Which statements are meant to be taken literally, which taken with a pinch of salt and which regarded as fanciful entertainment is always unclear. This allows them to evade calls for seriousness and discipline in distinguishing between facts and opinion.
Narratives of betrayal
As we have discovered in our research into post-truth narratives, in the digital era bullshit is fuelled by two particular types of narrative that are widely shared nowadays: nostalgia and conspiracy theories. Both of these rely on beliefs rooted in unconscious fears and desires – and, crucially, these are resistant to empirical or scientific evidence, grounded as they are in deeply-seated societal fantasies.
Nostalgic narratives idealise an imaginary past of authenticity, community and fairness. They can be viewed as the flip side of the ideology of progress. When faith in a better future wanes, people are liable to experience nostalgia, which can then define the prevalent mood of a whole period. Today, across the world, nostalgia is fuelling an aggressive, xenophobic type of narrative, in which an idealised past of purity, community, self-reliance and heroism confronts what it casts as the narratives of late modernity – multi-culturalism, diversity, cultural and sexual equality, intellectualism, urban sophistication and so forth.
Conspiracy theories, meanwhile, combine outrageous claims with plausibility, fancy with fact, absurdity with logic. While they have long expressed paranoid anxieties associated with right-wing ideologies, currently they colonise large sections of the internet and can be found across the political spectrum from extreme left to extreme right.
Populist leaders such as Trump have embraced the narrative of conspiracy. Like aggressive nostalgia, conspiracy theories are narratives that hinge on betrayal. Like aggressive nostalgic narrative, conspiracy theories seek to identify the traitors, usually the representatives of metropolitan elites or parasitical newcomers, and “lock them up” or “send them back”.
‘Drain the swamp’
Political bullshit is further augmented by fanciful but catchy metaphors, such as Trump promising to drain the swamp or Johnson describing the attempt by pro-Remain MPs to rule out “no-deal” Brexit as a “surrender act”.
Trump’s metaphor directly feeds the narrative of a corrupt Washington elite ruining the country. Johnson’s metaphor gives credibility to conspiracy theories about how MPs, judges and others conspire, in collaboration with the foreign elites, to frustrate the will of the people. Similarly, Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian prime minister, blamed the wildfires currently ravaging the Amazon on angry NGOs who supposedly turned to arson as part of a plot to embarrass his government.
All this has serious consequences. Lying can be confronted by providing evidence to demonstrate falsity and leave the liar exposed and humiliated. But this is not so easy when it comes to bullshit. Bullshit artists choose their language in ways that contest the boundary between the truth and untruth. Bolstered by fantastical forms, such as nostalgia or conspiracies, bullshit works because it fits with an assemblage of existing lies and prejudices.
Rejecting the bullshit artists who are the leaders of our times requires empowered citizens to get out on the streets and engage in a much-needed social critique to counteract today’s post-truth politics.
Dubai: UAE residents have been warned of fake online surveys that promise to give away hundreds of free tickets from Emirates, Gulfnews Reported.
The Dubai-based carrier issued an alert on Thursday, advising social media users that fraudulent online posts have been doing the rounds in WhatsApp and other platforms, enticing people to participate in competitions or surveys in exchange of a free ticket.
In one of the posts that have gone viral, scammers claim that Emirates is “giving free tickets to 500 people” to celebrate New Year. The same post, bearing an Emirates logo, was later updated on Thursday to read “We are giving free tickets to 500 people to celebrate our anniversary.”
Recipients are then enticed to answer some questions first, a common phishing technique that often tricks people into providing credit card or other personal information.
1.Check the link or URL
Before you share anything or believe in what you’ve just read, check the URL. When you look closely at the address, you may notice that the web link is a little odd. So, if your go-to website is ThisIsMycity.com, you should be very suspicious when you come across a link that’s spelled slightly different.
There could be a small spelling change or registration with a different domain.
2. Don’t just click on every post on your news feed, pop-up windows, suspicious WhatsApp messages or forwarded attachments
Oftentimes, it’s hard not to resist clicking on messages that purportedly offer freebies .
Don’t get too excited and click away, unless you’re certain the post is from a trusted source. Don’t click on the forwarded link or post, go directly to the official site or social media account to verify if it’s true.
3. Fake logos
Most fraudulent posts bear the brand name of a prominent company. Look for any telltale signs you’re seeing a fabricated logo. Emirates’ official account on social media, for example, is marked with a blue tick.
KATHMANDU, Xinhua — The sixth edition of China-South Asia Friendship Organizations’ Forum kicked off here on Tuesday under the theme “The Belt and Road, building a community with a shared future.”
Nepali Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun (C) attends the inaugural session of the sixth China-South Asia Friendship Organizations’ Forum in Kathmandu, Nepal, Nov. 12, 2019. The sixth China-South Asia Friendship Organizations’ Forum kicked off here on Tuesday under the theme “the Belt and Road, building a community with a shared future.” (Photo by Sunil Sharma/Xinhua)
The four-day event was inaugurated by Nepal’s Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun. It attracted over 100 delegates from China and South Asian countries of Nepal, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives. There is also a participation of around 20 friendship organizations from the region and China.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, an official from Nepali foreign ministry said that enhanced level of connectivity is integral among China and South Asian countries.
“China and South Asia together make the largest population in the world. Closer contact and engagement can help us in developing and growing stronger,” said Kali Prasad Pokharel, joint secretary at Nepal’s ministry of foreign affairs.
Appreciating China’s dedication for miraculous development, Pokharel said that China’s investment and expertise on economy and technological advancement can be crucial for development of South Asian countries.
Echoing his statement, Vice President of Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries Lin Yi said that the countries should work more for pragmatic and regional cooperation through regular discussions and collaboration.
“China and South Asian countries should seize opportunities and work together to achieve common development,” Lin said.
On the occasion, President of Nepal-China Executive Council Anoop Ranjan Bhattarai said that the Belt and Road Initiative offers tremendous opportunities in the region and is important for infrastructure development of South Asia.
Stating that the council promotes trade, tourism, culture and investment cooperation with China, Bhattarai said that Nepal can work as a vibrant bridge between China and South Asia.
RSS, Kathmandu : President of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Mohammad Abdul Hamid, arrived here this afternoon on his four-day official goodwill visit at invitation of President Bidya Devi Bhandari. President Bhandari welcomed the Bangladeshi President at the VVIP Lounge of Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).
On the occasion, a group of Panchakanya (five girls) offered him wreaths at the same lounge.
Prior to this, he was received by Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Raghubir Mahaseth upon landing at TIA. The President of Bangladesh was accorded a ceremonial welcome at TIA upon his arrival. A contingent of Nepal Army presented a 21-gun salute to him. Cultural processions featuring art and culture of all seven states were carried out.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishwor Pokhrel, Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa and Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali were also present.
Bangladeshi President Hamid is scheduled to meet President Bhandari at the Office of the President, Sheetal Niwas, on Wednesday afternoon. President Bhandari is hosting a Banquet in honour of her Bangladeshi counterpart and his delegation same day.
Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Chairperson of the National Assembly, Ganesh Prasad Timilsina and Foreign Minister Gyawali will call on President Hamid separately on Wednesday itself.
Similarly, Chairperson of Nepal Communist Party (NCP), Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and senior leaders of different political parties will also pay a courtesy call on the Bangladeshi President.
The Bangladeshi guests will also visit different places including Bhaktapur Durbar area, Pokhara and Chandragiri of Kathmandu during their stay in Nepal.
Kathmandu — Rautahat district – one of the 77 districts of Nepal – may have a reasonably small population (approximately 780,000 people), but is know as the nursery of women’s football in the country. Almost 60 per cent of the players of various age group girls’ teams and the senior women’s team of Nepal hail from this district. Over the past few years, a dozen players from this region have represented Nepal at U-14 women’s national team level while ten have gone on to play for the national women’s team at U-16 level, FIFA writes on its official website.
The senior women’s national team also has a large representation of footballers from this area. The likes of Anu Lama, Anita K.C. and Anjana Rana Magar are role models to the grassroots and youth players of not just Rautahat but the entire nation. Most of the girls come from underprivileged families. In this part of Nepal, football is not just a winner but a bread-winner as well. In recent times, Nepal Armed Police Force and Nepal Army have recruited 12 women footballers each from this district alone while Nepal Police has also provided employment to seven other women.
In order to support the growth and development of women’s football in the country, the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) have constructed the country’s first ever residential girls football academy in Rautahat using FIFA Forward special project funds. The two-storied building has been built across a 6,000 ft² area, and each floor will house 40 of the most talented girls in the U-14 age group who will also train on the natural grass pitch just adjacent to the building.
The building structure has been completed and the interior work of the academy building will be ready early next year. In March 2020, ANFA intends to formally inaugurate the infrastructure. The local government and the district football association have also pledged their whole-hearted support to the project.
Sanjeevan Balasingam, FIFA’s Director Member Associations Asia and Oceania said: “The new ANFA leadership under President Karma Tsering Sherpa has focused on grassroots, youth development and women’s football, with the result that ANFA has undertaken this wonderful infrastructure initiative through FIFA Forward. It will lay the foundation to develop women’s football in Nepal and position football as a tool for empowerment of girls and women.”
Theodore Giannikos, FIFA’s Director of MA Services, who visited the project site on a recent Mission to Nepal with his regional office colleague Prince Rufus, FIFA Regional Office Development Manager South Asia, felt that the infrastructure will infuse a new spirit and enthusiasm in the community that will act as a catalyst to develop football in Nepal.
Karma Tsering Sherpa, ANFA President also felt that construction of this technical centre for girls is the reward to Rautahat district which has produced almost 60 per cent of girls and women players for the Nepal national teams and top clubs.
He thanked all people related to the project and said: “I am thankful to FIFA for the support extended to ANFA for this project. We will make it one of the best examples of football development in future.”
London— Thousands of veterans marched past the Cenotaph in London on ‘Remembrance Sunday’ as Britain paid its respects to the fallen of past conflicts.
The Queen led commemorations at the memorial to “The Glorious Dead” in Whitehall, while services were held at churches, war memorials and cemeteries across the country.
British Prime minister, Boris Johnson, and Labour party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, joined other party leaders in laying wreaths on the 100th anniversary of the first Remembrance Day in 1919.
Nepal, famously, was never colonised by the British and, hence, is not part of the Commonwealth.
But, tens of thousands of Gurkha soldiers died while fighting on behalf of the British during the First and Second World War.
The British government invited Nepali ambassador to pay respect to the fallen soldiers. Nepal’s envoy to the United Kingdom, Dr Durga Bahadur Subedi, laid wreath at the Cenotaph on Sunday amid the special ceremony.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) invited the Nepali ambassador this year in the ceremony. Irish ambassador is being invited for the ceremony since 2014. After the formal event, the Great Royal British Legion parade set off along Whitehall.
Members of the Brigade of Gurkhas also joined the Remembrance Parade at the Cenotaph in London.
The British Gurkha Welfare Society (BGWS)– an Association of ex-Gurkhas in the UK—has been participating in the ceremony for the past several years. Chairman of the BGWS, Major (Retired) Tikendra Dal Dewan, said, “We have been participating on the parade to uphold the Gurkha name so that future generations are made aware of our sacrifice for world peace.”
This year marks the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the Battle of Kohima in India, the Battle of Arnhem in the Netherlands and the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy.
PLondon—A renowned Nepali singer, Amrit Chhetri, and Sneha Shrestha—a trained lawyer and a singer—mesmerized a group of audience in central London on Sunday evening.
Giving a performance at the Lancaster Gate Ballroom on Sunday evening, Amrit and Sneha sang popular Nepali and Hindi songs and ghazals. They started with a Bhajan and then an all-time hit duet “E Kanchha malai sunko tara khasai de una…). Amrit also sang patriotic songs including ‘Nepali hami rahaula kaha Nepali narahe’ which seemed to have gained added significance in the wake of recent border controversy. Amrit also sang songs like ‘timro nai maya lagdachha kanchhi’ by Jhalak Man Gandarbha which became popular recently after an Indian singer, Arko Mukhaerjee, sung it in his own style. Manoj Shiva, from Kerala, India, played Tabla while Bijendra Shrestha played Guitar during the performance.
Welcoming the audience, Nirmal Thapa, Founder President of the Nepal Center, said the Center was organizing a number of activities to promote Nepali arts and culture in the UK and other countries. He urged all to support these activities.
Born in Parbat district, west Nepal, Amrit moved to Chitwan and later to Kathmandu. He is now running a music school in Kathmandu for the last 20 years. Two of his students, Ayush KC and Pritam Acharya, recently performed at the Saregama Pa—a popular Indian reality show.
Saying that music doesn’t have any border, Amrit urged the audience to try their best to promote Nepali culture and music in the UK in whatever way possible.
“What a wonderful performance we had this evening. I got transported to Nepal,” said Manish Tiwari of the Nepal Centre UK.
The programme was organized jointly by Nepal Center UK and Universal Peace Federation UK chapter.
Members of Nepali community, Indian community and British friends of Nepal were present in the programme.
