Former Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Kathmandu:

Lawmakers in both houses of the federal parliament in Nepal on Tuesday raised concerns over the death of Prakriti Lamsal, a Nepalese student in KIIT, Odisha, demanding diplomatic efforts for proper security.

Addressing house sessions of both assemblies, lawmakers drew the attention of the government to immediately start diplomatic and political initiatives to ensure the safety of Nepalese students studying in India.

The lawmakers raised questions about the mysterious death of Lamsal, a B-Tech third-year student studying at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University in the state of Odisha, India, demanding justice. They also demanded the government raise concerns over the treatment of students enrolled in the university following the incident, which resulted in sine die expulsion on Monday.

“Prakriti Lamsal’s mysterious death while staying in Odisha, India, in the course of studies has sent shockwaves across Nepal, communities and students. Fair and factual investigation is required over this issue. We have received reports that students are facing enormous pressure,” Chabilal Bishwokarma, lawmaker from the ruling CPN-UML said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Madhav Sapkota, a lawmaker from the opposition CPN-Maoist Centre, demanded a high-level political dialogue with the Indian authorities over the issue.

“Because of the diplomatic incapacity of the government, the Nepali students there are facing insecurity and humiliating behavior. I offer my condolences on the death of Prakriti Lamsal and my party the (CPN) Maoist Center condemn the incident, demanding for the immediate required actions to be taken by the government on the issue. In order to give justice to the family of deceased Lamsal, I demand the initiation of a high-level political dialogue (with Indian authorities) from the Government of Nepal in search of a solution to the raising issue,” Sapkota stressed.

Other members of Nepal’s lower house–the House of Representatives–Dhruva Bahadur Pradhan and Thakur Gaire also demanded the investigation surrounding the death of the Nepalese student in India.

The National Assembly also raised concerns over the mysterious death of Prakriti Lamsal in India and called for urgent action to ensure the safety of Nepali students studying in India.

National Assembly Chairperson Narayan Dahal brought the issue to the government’s attention, emphasising the serious nature of the case.

“A Nepali student studying in India’s Odisha–the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Prakriti Lamsal’s mysterious death has drawn serious attention from the National Assembly. An impartial, free and fair investigation into the issue and granting her justice and attention from the Government of Nepal is hereby called for to make all possible diplomatic efforts. Along with that, the students studying in the college should be ensured proper security so that they can continue their studies with high spirits; the government is hereby requested to create that environment,” Dahal said.

Lawmaker Renu Chand questioned whether Indian universities have become unsafe for Nepalese students and urged the Nepalese government to immediately address the issue with India. She also expressed anger over the treatment of Nepalese students at KIIT University.

Lawmaker Rukmini Koirala stated that the death of Lamsal appears suspicious and called for the government to take the initiative to investigate and ensure the safety of Nepali students.

Lawmaker Bishnukumari Sapkota emphasised the need for diplomatic efforts to rescue the Nepali student and ensure justice through discussions with India.

The Nepalese Foreign Ministry is constantly following up on the issue. Nepal’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Arzu Rana Deuba, on the social media platform X, announced that the ministry is constantly following up on the issue surrounding Nepalese students and the developments thereafter.

In her latest tweet, the foreign minister made it clear that necessary initiatives are being taken to understand the condition of Nepalese students in the hostels of KIIT University in Odisha, India and to provide a safe environment for Nepali students in the college.

“Two senior officials of Nepal Police from the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi have reached the university today morning. I spoke to them on the phone and directed them to coordinate with the Indian security personnel for a necessary investigation into the incident and with the university administration for necessary assistance to the Nepali students and their safe stay in the hostel. The Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi is already taking necessary initiatives in this regard,” she said.

Nepalese Foreign Affairs Minister Rana has made it clear that following the diplomatic efforts by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately after getting the information, the college has appealed to the students to return to the hostel, while the university has also informed through a public notice that action has been taken against the ‘staff’ who abused Nepali students.

In the context of this development, Foreign Minister Rana said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Nepal in Delhi are working in close coordination with the university administration and the Indian security officials.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Representational Image. File
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Five Russian mountaineers were killed while climbing in Nepal, a tourism official said on Tuesday (October 8, 2024), two days after the team lost contact while on the world’s seventh-highest mountain, Dhaulagiri.

Rakesh Gurung, from Nepal’s tourism department, said the team went missing late on the evening of October 6 during an attempt to summit the 8,167 metre (26,795 feet) high Himalayan peak.

“Five dead bodies were discovered by a helicopter rescue team,” Mr. Gurung told AFP. “They fell from 7,700 meters.”

He said one climber who quit the summit attempt had been rescued from the mountain, and had “been admitted to hospital” in the capital Kathmandu.

Hundreds of people from around the world travel to the Himalayas each year for the autumn climbing season in Nepal.

Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 14 highest peaks and foreign climbers that flock to its mountains are a major source of revenue for the country.

The rapid growth of the climbing industry has created fierce competition among companies for business, and also raised fears that some are cutting corners on safety.

Dhaulagiri’s peak was first scaled in 1960 by a Swiss-Austrian team and has since been climbed by hundreds of people.

New Delhi:

A frightening new video has emerged of the Bombardier CRJ 200 jet that crashed at the Nepal’s Kathmandu airport at 11.15 am (local time). The video captures the final few seconds of the crash.

The clip begins shortly after take-off, with the plane already out-of-control and just a few hundred feet off the ground. Seconds later the plane – a Saurya Airlines service to the tourist hub of Pokhara – which was tilting to the right, jerks to its left and plunges to the ground, exploding in a ball of fire.

There were 19 people – two crew members and 17 staff – of whom 18 have died, authorities said. The lone survivor is the pilot, who has been rushed to a local hospital, a security official at the airport said.

There is no news yet on what caused the crash.

Earlier today an equally shocking video showed the moment the plane hit the ground.

VIDEO | Exact Moment Saurya Airlines Plane Crashed At Kathmandu Airport

The 18-second video, from a CCTV camera at the airport, showed the plane slamming into the runway, skidding along the ground, and bursting into flames.

#BREAKING | Video Shows Exact Moment Plane Crashed At Kathmandu Airport #NepalPlaneCrash#Kathmandu#Nepalpic.twitter.com/saj1eUNN9m

— NDTV (@ndtv) July 24, 2024

Nepal’s aviation sector has boomed recently but the expansion has been marred by poor safety standards, inadequate training, and maintenance issues. As a result, the European Union has banned Nepali carriers from entering its airspace. The Himalayan country’s challenging topography – which sees high-altitude runways surrounded by mountainous terrain – challenge even the most experienced pilots.

The weather in these regions is also notoriously unpredictable, further complicating aviation safety.

READ | Kathmandu Crash: Nepal Home To Some Of World’s Trickiest Runways

In January last year a Yeti Airlines plane crashed while landing in Pokhara, resulting in the death of all 72 on board. That incident was Nepal’s deadliest plane crash since 1992, when a Pakistani jet crashed in Kathmandu, killing all 167 on board. The same year, a Thai Airways flight crashed killing 113.

The Nepal crash has also put the focus on tabletop runways in India and the associated dangers.

Table-top runways are located on top of hills or elevated terrain. This means there is a steep drop on one or more sides, and leaves a very slim margin of error if the plane overshoots the runway.

READ | Nepal Crash Red-Flags Table-Top Runways Risk, India Has 5

Five airports in India have table-top runways – Shimla, Kozhikode, Mangaluru, Lengpui (in Mizoram) and Pakyong (in Sikkim). Of these, those in Kozhikode and Mangaluru have seen big crashes.

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Newly elected Prime Minister K.P. Oli is being sworn in by President Ram Prasad Poudel, unseen, at the Presidential residence in Kathmandu, Nepal on July 15, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Newly-appointed Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on July 18 said that Nepal’s future is “bright”, but its current scenario needs to be changed, amidst frequent political turmoil in the Himalayan nation.

Mr. Oli, who was sworn in on Monday as the Himalayan nation’s Prime Minister for the fourth time, said the country’s current scenario is not good, The Rising Nepal newspaper reported.

Addressing the Engineer Day event, the 72-year-old veteran Communist leader said that though the country is praiseworthy, its situation does not match it.

Nepal has faced frequent political turmoil as the country has seen 14 governments in the past 16 years after the Republican system was introduced.

“There is an issue in the country. If a body is unwell, then it cannot be said that hands are fine. Just like when the fever comes, the whole body suffers; the situation of the country is not good overall, at least not praiseworthy,” Mr. Oli was quoted as saying.

Opinion | ​Unprincipled alliances: On politics in Nepal

“The history of our country is glorious and worth praising, just like the country is. There is no doubt that the future of our country is good, but it is, at present, not in a place of satisfaction. Therefore, it needs to be changed,” he said.

He underscored that the need of the hour was to take the country towards betterment from the present deteriorated condition, Nepal’s state-run RSS news agency reported.

Asserting that the government was involved in resolving the country’s existing problems, Mr. Oli said, “There is no condition of being satisfied. We have to change this condition. There is no doubt that the future of the country is bright.” He expressed commitment that the government would advance, resolving problems surfacing in every sector.

Mr. Oli, who needs to secure a vote of confidence from Parliament within 30 days of appointment, will take a vote of confidence on Sunday.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Embattled Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ has decided not to resign from the post despite an agreement reached between the country’s largest parties – Nepali Congress and CPN-UML – to form a new coalition government.

In a meeting of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) office-bearers held in Baluwatar on Tuesday, Prime Minister Prachanda said he would rather face a vote of confidence in Parliament than resign from the post, the party Secretary Ganesh Shah told PTI.

“The Prime Minister has decided to seek a vote of confidence,” said Mr. Shah.

Mr. Prachanda, 69, has won three votes of confidence in Parliament during his one-and-a-half-year term.

The development came after Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) chairman K.P. Sharma Oli inked a midnight power-sharing deal to form a new ‘national consensus government’ to replace the Prachanda-led coalition government.

Also read | Nepal’s coalition politics, a game of musical chairs 

Nepali Congress, the largest party in the House of Representatives (HoR) has 89 seats at present, while CPN-UML has 78 seats. The combined strength of the two large parties is 167, which is sufficient for a majority of 138 seats in the 275-member HoR.

Mr. Deuba, 78 and Mr. Oli, 72, agreed to share the Prime Ministerial position on a rotation basis for the rest of the term of the Parliament.

Meanwhile, the talks between Prime Minister Prachanda and CPN-UML chief Oli to save the current coalition also failed, according to Maoist sources.

Quoting PM Prachanda, Mr. Shah said that a conspiracy has been hatched to topple the coalition government and create instability in the country.

The conspiracy came at a time when the government focused on ending corruption and introducing good governance, he said.

As per the constitutional provision, the prime minister will have 30 days to seek a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives, which would give PM Prachanda some time for political manoeuvring.

“We will engage in discussions with various parties, including the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Nepali Congress, and CPN-UML, so as to save the coalition,” PM Prachanda was quoted as saying.

Nepali Congress President Deuba briefed party officials about the agreement with the CPN-UML during a meeting of office bearers at his residence in Budhanilkantha on Tuesday morning, according to party sources.

Mr. Deuba discussed the initial power-sharing deal reached with CPN-UML, explaining that the leadership of the government formed under this agreement would alternate between the two parties.

In the meantime, the RSP, one of the key ruling coalition partners, has decided not to participate in the new alliance between the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML.

During a secretariat meeting on Tuesday, the party also decided to withdraw from the current government, party sources said.

The party currently enjoys 21 seats in the House of Representatives.

Nepal has had 13 governments in the last 16 years, indicating the fragile nature of the Himalayan nation’s political system.

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and senior Madhesi leader Upendra Yadav on Monday tendered his resignation and his party pulled out of the government, a setback to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda-led coalition government.

Mr. Yadav, also the Minister for Health and Population, submitted his resignation to Prime Minister “Prachanda” on Monday morning, according to sources close to the Madhesi leader. Along with Mr. Yadav, Minister of State for Forest and Environment Dipak Karki, from the same party, has also submitted his resignation.

The resignation by Yadav, the Chairman of Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal (JSP-Nepal), comes a week after his party split into two groups with senior leader Ashok Rai forming a new party named Janata Samajwadi Party. The new party has been recognised by the Election Commission.

“This morning, I submitted my resignation to Prime Minister Dahal. Given the current political situation, I find it untenable to continue my cooperation with the government,” Mr. Yadav said.

The JSP-Nepal had altogether 12 lawmakers in the House of Representatives (HoR). Now the party’s strength has been reduced to 5 in the HoR as Rai and six other lawmakers and 30 central committee members joined the new party.

The ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Prachanda still holds a majority with 77 seats of the CPN-UML, 32 of the Maoist Centre, 21 of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, seven of the newly formed Janata Samajbadi Party and 10 seats of the CPN-Unified Socialist (CPN-US). The coalition requires at least 138 seats in the 275-member House of Representatives to prove a majority.

“The party’s pull out from the government will not have an immediate impact on the Prachanda-led coalition government,” said Sunil Manandhar, former Environment Minister and central committee member of the ruling CPN-Maoist Centre. However, it may have some repercussions on the stability of the government in the long term, he added.

There are reports that the Opposition Nepali Congress is trying to mobilise JSP-Nepal and CPN-US led by former Prime Minister Madhav Nepal to topple the Prachanda-led government. Nepali Congress is currently obstructing the proceedings of the House of Representatives demanding the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Ravi Lamichhene, who is also the president of the Rastriya Swotantra Party over the issue of cooperative fund misappropriation.

If CPN-US also withdraws support from the government then the Prachanda-led government might need to prove its majority in the House of Representatives, point out political observers.

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ is seeking to hold his third vote of confidence in Parliament by March 13, days after he forged a new alliance with the CPN-UML, a media report said on Saturday.

The third round of vote of confidence comes after Mr. Prachanda, a former guerilla leader, dumped the Nepali Congress and forged a new alliance with the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) – the second-biggest party – led by former premier K.P. Sharma Oli on Monday.

During a parliamentary party meeting held on Saturday, the prime minister discussed the matter with his Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), indicating his readiness to seek a vote of confidence by March 13, Nepalese news portal, khabarhub.com reported.

The CPN (Maoist Centre) also issued a whip to its lawmakers, instructing them not to leave the Kathmandu Valley in the days leading up to the election of the National Assembly Chairman and the anticipated date for Prachanda’s floor test, the report said.

The lower House of Parliament – House of Representatives – has been summoned for a session on March 13.

The party directed its lawmakers that they should be present in Parliament when the prime minister seeks a vote of confidence. According to Nepalese media, the new coalition has enough seats in the 275-member Parliament.

The election for the post of the Chairman of the upper House of Parliament has been scheduled for March 12, according to The Kathmandu Post newspaper.

Mr. Prachanda became the prime minister for the third term with the support of the Nepali Congress on December 25, 2022. His party is the third-largest group in the House of Representatives.

After breaking the alliance with the Nepali Congress –the largest party in the House of Representatives– Prachanda joined hands with Oli, who was regarded as Prachanda’s top critic.

Last year, Mr. Prachanda faced a floor test after the CPN-UML withdrew its support to the Prachanda-led government following a rift over backing the main opposition party’s candidate for the presidential poll.

The CPN-UML secured 78 seats, followed by the Maoist Centre, which got 32 seats.

The RSP, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Janata Samajwadi Party and CPN-Unified Socialist won 20, 14, 12 and 10 seats respectively.

In the 2017 election, Prachanda and Oli merged their parties and secured a comfortable majority. Oli became the prime minister, but their partnership ended halfway following differences between them.

Kanchha Sherpa in Kathmandu, Nepal. He was among the 35 members in the team that put New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay atop Mount Everest
| Photo Credit: AP

The only surviving member of the mountaineering expedition that first conquered Mount Everest said Saturday that the world’s highest peak is too crowded and dirty, and the mountain is a god that needs to be respected.

Kanchha Sherpa, 91, was among the 35 members in the team that put New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay atop the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak on May 29, 1953.

“It would be better for the mountain to reduce the number of climbers,” Mr. Kanchha said in an interview in Kathmandu on Saturday, “Right now there is always a big crowd of people at the summit.”

Since the first conquest, the peak has been climbed thousands of times, and it gets more crowded every year. During the spring climbing season in 2023, 667 climbers scaled the peak, but that brought in thousands of support staff to the base camp between the months of March and May.

Trash generation

There have been concerns about the number of people living on the mountain for months on end, generating trash and waste, but authorities have no plans to cut down on the number of permits they issue to climbers.

There are rules that require climbers to bring down their own trash, equipment and everything they carry to the mountain or risk losing their deposit, but monitoring has not been very effective.

“It is very dirty now. People throw tins and wrappings after eating food. Who is going to pick them up now?” Mr. Kanchha said. “Some climbers just dump their trash in the crevasse, which would be hidden at that time but eventually it will flow down to base camp as the snow melts and carries them downward.”

Qomolangma

For the Sherpas, Everest is Qomolangma or goddess mother of the world, and is revered by their community. They generally perform religious rituals before climbing the peak.

“They should not be dirtying the mountain. It is our biggest god and they should not be dirtying the gods,” he said “Qomolangma is the biggest god for the Sherpas but people smoke and eat meat and throw them on the mountain.”

Mr. Kanchha was just a young man when he joined the Hillary-Tenzing expedition. He was among the three Sherpas to go the last camp on Everest along with Hillary and Tenzing. They could not go any further because they did not have a permit.

They first heard of the successful ascent on the radio, and then were reunited with the summit duo at Camp 2.

“We all gathered at Camp 2 but there was no alcohol so we celebrated with tea and snacks,” he said. “We then collected whatever we could and carried it to base camp.”

The route they opened up from the base camp to the summit is still used by climbers. Only the section from the base camp to Camp 1 over the unstable Khumbu Icefall changes every year.

Mr. Kanchha has four children, eight grandchildren and a 20-month-old great-granddaughter. He lives with family in Namche village in the foothills of Mount Everest, where the family runs a small hotel catering to trekkers and climbers.