Conservationists worried about wildlife selfie craze

NEW DELHI: Worried with reports of deaths due to craze for wildlife selfies, conservationists have raised concerns about enthusiasts risking their lives and endangering animals for photographs.
“The trend is of people clicking selfies when they spot animals or are holding them and upload on social media. No one should die. As long as it’s 3D (someone taking a picture with wildlife in the background) it is okay, but one shouldn’t risk lives. I would suggest don’t do it,” said Pradeep Vyas, West Bengal’s principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden.
Conceding he had received reports of certain deaths which allegedly occurred while clicking selfies, Vyas urged youngsters to refrain from putting themselves at risk, at a discussion on ‘Role of Civil Society in Wildlife Conservation’ organised by Society For Heritage and Ecological Researches (SHER) on May 10.
On the same page, conservationist Bittu Sahgal said one should not go for selfies at locations that are out of bounds or could endanger wildlife.
“If you are sitting in a jeep and taking a selfie, then its fine. There is no harm but risking your life or breaking a rule or endangering animals is not done,” said Sahgal, founding-editor of Sanctuary Asia and member of Maharashtra Board for Wildlife.
In 2015, a councillor was hurled to death by a tusker who charged him as he attempted to click photographs of a herd of elephants at Manikpara in Bengal’s West Midnapore district.
In February, a baby dolphin died after beachgoers in Argentina passed it around for selfies.

Endangered Sumatran rhino gives birth in Indonesia

save the critically endangered species. Photo: Stephen Belcher/Canon/International Rhino Foundation (IRF)/YABI via AP
JAKARTA: A Sumatran rhinoceros has given birth at an Indonesian sanctuary in a success for efforts to save the critically endangered species.
The International Rhino Foundation said the female calf was born on Thursday, weighs about 45 pounds (20 kilograms) and looks healthy and active.
“We haven’t stopped smiling since the moment we were sure she was alive and healthy,” said IRF’s executive director Susie Ellis in a statement. “While one birth does not save the species, it’s one more Sumatran rhino on Earth.”
Only an estimated 100 Sumatran rhinos remain, mostly on the island of Sumatra, and several are in captivity. They are threatened by destruction of tropical forest habitat and poachers who kill the animals for their horns, which are prized for making ornaments and for use in traditional medicine in China and other parts of Asia.
The species was rediscovered in the Indonesian part of Borneo through trails and footprints in 2013.
But one member of the small population on Borneo died in April after a wound from a poacher’s trap became infected.
The calf is the second to its mother Ratu, who gave birth to a male named Andatu in 2012, which was the first rhino birth in captivity in Indonesia in 124 years. The father, Andalas, was born at the Cincinnati Zoo in 2001.
IRF established the rhino sanctuary in the Way Kambas National Park on Sumatra in 1997. It praised the sanctuary’s staff as “top-notch experts” and said the second birth shows that the expertise exists in Indonesia to increase the rhino population.
The foundation said Ratu was given a hormone supplement daily during her pregnancy to help ensure it went to full-term.

Bodies of Sherpas killed on Mt Makalu sent to Kathmandu

BHOJPUR: Bodies of two Sherpa guides who had died of altitude-related sickness on the Mt Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world, were sent to Kathmandu on Friday.
Da Tenji Sherpa of Jubing -1, Solukhumbu and Lakpa Wangel Sherpa from Makalu – 5, Sankhuwasabha had
died at Camp II (6,700 m) on Wednesday morning after they complained of altitude sickness.
Chief of the Sankhuwasabha District Police Office, DSP Gautam Kumar KC, said the bodies were airlifted to the Capital today after the weather cleared.
The bodies would be handed over to the kin after postmortem.
They were part of an 11-member Amical Alpin Makalu Expedition – 2016, locally managed by Thamserku Treks.

Giroud makes France squad, Ben Arfa among reserves

PARIS: France coach Didier Deschamps picked seasoned striker Olivier Giroud on Thursday for his 23-man squad for the European soccer Championship, which France will host, naming in-form forward Hatem Ben Arfa only as a reserve.
Giroud, recovering from a lean spell at Arsenal with a strong finish to the Premier League season, is one of six strikers in the squad alongside Antoine Griezmann, Dimitri Payet, Antony Martial, Kingsley Coman and Andre-Pierre Gignac.
Karim Benzema will miss the June 10-July 10 tournament after a ban for his involvement in an alleged blackmail scandal was upheld by the French federation last month.
The Real Madrid forward was suspended indefinitely last December after being put under formal investigation by a judge for alleged blackmail over a sex video involving France team mate Mathieu Valbuena, who was also left out of the squad announced on Thursday.
Ben Arfa, enjoying the most prolific season of his career with 17 goals for surprise Ligue 1 package Nice, is one of eight reserves who need a player to pull out injured to hope for a place in the final squad, which Deschamps has until May 31 to present to football’s European body UEFA.
“Hatem has had a great season but he’s not the only one in that position,” Deschamps told a news conference after unveiling his squad during the evening news programme on French television channel TF1.
“Giroud, that’s 25 goals in all competitions this season, for Griezmann it’s even more and Martial is on the same level,” he added. “My aim was not to pick the best 23 players but to go for a group capable of going very far in the tournament together.”
Deschamps chose to leave out Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho, who is facing an investigation by UEFA after testing positive for an illegal substance following Liverpool’s Europa League tie against Manchester United on March 17.
France, who kick off their campaign against Romania at Stade de France on June 10, have plenty of young talent up front in Griezmann, Martial and Coman.
Their midfield looks attractive, too, with fine players in Juventus’s Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante, who shone in Leicester City’s shock run to the Premier League title.
France have, however, looked vulnerable at the back in recent outings with Deschamps struggling to find successors to fullbacks Bacary Sagna and Patrice Evra, respectively 33 and 34.
France, who won the 1998 World Cup on home soil and the European Championship two years later with Deschamps as their captain, will also play Albania and Switzerland in the group stage.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Olympique Marseille), Benoit Costil (Stade Rennes)
Defenders: Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Eliaquim Mangala (Manchester City), Jeremy Mathieu (Barcelona), Patrice Evra (Juventus), Bacary Sagna (Manchester City), Lucas Digne (AS Roma), Christophe Jallet (Olympique Lyon)
Midfielders: Paul Pogba (Juventus), Blaise Matuidi (Paris St Germain), Lassana Diarra (Olympique Marseille), N’Golo Kante (Leicester City), Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle United)
Forwards: Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Dimitri Payet (West Ham United), Anthony Martial (Manchester United), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Andre-Pierre Gignac (UANL Tigres)
Reserves: Alphonse Areola (Villarreal), Hatem Ben Arfa (Nice), Kevin Gameiro (Sevilla), Alexandre Lacazette (Olympique Lyon), Adrien Rabiot (Paris St Germain), Morgan Schneiderlin (Manchester United), Djibril Sidibe (Lille), Samuel Umtiti (Olympique Lyon). (Editing by Catherine Evans and Clare Fallon)

Bangladesh Bank remains “compromised” months after cyber heist

DHAKA: Three hacking groups “are still lurking” in the network of Bangladesh’s central bank, putting the bank at risk of further attacks about three months after it lost $81 million in a cyber heist, according to a report by US computer security firms investigating the theft.
“There are some residual risks that the governor and board should understand, namely that Bangladesh Bank network is still not secure, and there exists a possibility of malicious acts by hackers,” said the report from the experts hired by Bangladesh Bank, parts of which were seen by Reuters.
The source who shared the document declined to provide access to its full contents, saying that the release of some details could hamper a multinational effort to catch the criminals and recover funds stolen in the February cyber attack.
Bangladesh Bank has declined comment on pending investigations into the heist. Asked about the report, a spokesman said: “We have engaged forensic experts to investigate the whole thing, including this.” He did not elaborate.
Investigators have determined that one team of hackers, dubbed Group Zero in the report, was responsible for the heist and remained inside the network, the report stated. Group Zero may be seeking to monitor the ongoing cyber investigations or cause other damage, but is unlikely to be able to order fraudulent fund transfers, the investigators wrote.
Two other groups are also inside the bank’s network, which is linked to the SWIFT international transaction system, the report found. One of the two is a “nation-state actor” engaged in stealing information in attacks that are stealthy but “not known to be destructive”, the report said.
The report, which was submitted earlier this month, did not further identify any of the groups.
A spokeswoman for SWIFT said she was unable to comment on the report.
SWIFT warned on Thursday of a malware attack on a commercial bank it did not name, similar to the hack at Bangladesh Bank.
In February, hackers ordered fraudulent fund transfers from Bangladesh Bank’s account at the New York Federal Reserve via the SWIFT system, but the cooperative, owned by member banks and used by 11,000 financial institutions globally, has maintained that the messaging system it controls has not been compromised.
“Group Zero is the identified hacker group that has conducted the cyber attack” against Bangladesh Bank, the investigators said in the report, which they said was based on primary findings.
US-based cyber-security firms World Informatix and FireEye Inc. have been hired by Bangladesh’s central bank to investigate the theft.
A spokesman for FireEye said the firm will not comment on the ongoing investigation. World Informatix could not immediately be reached for comment.
In the attack, the hackers sought to transfer $951 million from Bangladesh Bank’s account at the New York Fed.
Most of the transfers were blocked, but $81 million was sent to bank accounts in the Philippines in one of the largest cyber-heists in history. The money was quickly transferred through a remittance firm to casinos and casino agents and most remains missing.
In the report, the investigators said Group Zero mounted attacks on other banks, but did not elaborate.
The report said investigators knew little about a third group of hackers found inside the network, referred to as Group Two, except that they were using mostly commodity, or off-the-shelf hacking tools.
“Their motivations and activities are unknown, but could be unpredictable with media spotlight,” the report said, without elaborating further.
Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday that investigators had found evidence that two of the three hacker groups in the Bangladesh attack were from Pakistan and North Korea, citing people briefed on the bank’s investigation.

SC quashes writ against nine-point agreement

KATHMANDU: The Supreme Court on Friday quashed a writ which had demanded that the nine-point agreement signed between CPN-UML and UCPN-Maoist be stayed.
A single bench of Acting Chief Justice Sushila Karki quashed the writ filed by five persons reasoning the apex court did not need to intervene into the agreement signed between two political parties.
The petitioners in their writ of certiorari had stated that the two parties’ agreement to withdraw conflict era cases and to accelerate the process of amending the relevant laws within 15 days was against the verdicts delivered by the Supreme Court.

PM responds to comments on govt policy and programme

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli responded to the lawmakers’ comments and queries on the government policy and programme at the Legislature-Parliament this afternoon.
Prime Minister Oli defended the government’s announcement to hold local elections in December, saying there was a void in the local bodies for over 15 years and the constitution envisaged the civic in its transitional provisions. He further urged all political forces to help hold the elections on announced time.
The House conducted deliberations on the government policy and programme, which was presented by President Bidya Devi Bhandari on May 8.

CBS completes data collection of quake damages in 10 districts

KATHMANDU, May 12: Data collection of losses incurred by 10 districts among the 14 worst hit by the last year's earthquake has been completed.
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the 'Gorkha Earthquake' loss data collection had been completed in Sindhupalchwok, Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha, Sindhuli, Dolakha, Kavrepalanchowk, Manwanpur, Okhaldhunga and Ramechhap. The collection started in the first week of January.
International standards were adopted in the loss data collection, said Bureau Director Dhundiraj Lamichhane. The collection of losses incurred by three districts in the capital- Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur- will take place soon, he added. RSS

Canada marks first anniversary of Nepal earthquake

KATHMANDU, April 26: Marie-Claude Bibeau, Canada's Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, on Monday marked the first anniversary of last year's devastating earthquakes in Nepal.
Between April 25 and May 25, 2015, Canadians generously donated a total of $51.7 million to eligible organizations, according to a statement issued by the Canadian High Commissioner's Office in New Delhi.
"Immediately after the earthquakes, Canada provided $27 million for humanitarian assistance to deliver emergency shelter, food and medical assistance, relief supplies, protection and education services, and access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities," it read, adding, "Since then, efforts on the ground have transitioned from short-term relief to recovery and reconstruction. To this end, the Government of Canada has committed $24.7 million from the Relief Fund to support Nepal's rebuilding phase. This includes $10 million that will go to the World Bank's Nepal Rural Housing Reconstruction Program Multi-Donor Trust Fund."
Marie-Claude Bibeau further said Canadians were deeply moved by the destruction caused by the earthquakes that struck Nepal and responded with overwhelming generosity. "The support shown by Canadians strengthens our commitment to continue to help Nepal rebuild, leading to a brighter future for its people."
Likewise, Nadir Patel, High Commissioner for Canada in India said: "A year ago, Canadian officials in the region worked tirelessly with Nepalis and Indian authorities to ensure timely assistance to those affected by the devastating earthquake. This included providing access to food, drinking water, shelter, health and hygiene. A year later, Canada continues to stand by Nepalis in their reconstruction efforts."
The Government of Canada established the Nepal Earthquake Relief Fund to support the humanitarian response and the longer-term recovery and reconstruction efforts following the earthquakes that struck Nepal in April and May 2015. Likewise, Canada has also committed to matching private donations made to eligible Canadian charities in the Nepal Earthquake Relief Fund.

CBS completes data collection of quake damages in 10 districts

KATHMANDU, May 12: Data collection of losses incurred by 10 districts among the 14 worst hit by the last year's earthquake has been completed.
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the 'Gorkha Earthquake' loss data collection had been completed in Sindhupalchwok, Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha, Sindhuli, Dolakha, Kavrepalanchowk, Manwanpur, Okhaldhunga and Ramechhap. The collection started in the first week of January.
International standards were adopted in the loss data collection, said Bureau Director Dhundiraj Lamichhane. The collection of losses incurred by three districts in the capital- Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur- will take place soon, he added. RSS

11 injured in Tanahun bus accident

Tanahun, May 13: At least 11 passengers injured when a bus (Na 4 Kha 7924) en route to Abukhaireni of Tanahun from Mugling of Chitwan met with an accident on Thursday.
Police confirmed that the accident took place when the bus being uncontrolled skidded off the road some 75 metres down nearby Abukhaireni Power House.
Among the injured are Birendra BK, 21, and Bel Bahadur BK, 40, of Rukumkhola-2, Ganimaya Magar, 30, of Bandipur-8, Samundra Bhattarai of Taple-8, Gorkha, Amrit Adhikari, 30, of Bhanu-8, Bikas BK, 27, of Ghansikuwa-3, Kajiman Shrestha, 34, of Byas-2, Arjun BK, 20, of Byas-8 and Hari Kumar Shrestha, 39, of Byas-11.
Likewise other injured are Kamal Narayan Shrestha, 64, of Darechowk, Chitwan and Surendra Prasad Saha, 50, of Birgunj whoc is currently living in Bandipur.
The injured are receiving treatment at B&B Hospital, Lalitpur and Bharatpur Medical College, Chitwan, police said. RSS

Flood-disrupted Mugling road resumes

Chitwan, May 13: The Narayangarh-Mugling road section of Chitwan district that was disrupted due to landslide occurred with heavy rain has come into operation from this morning.
The road had remained obstructed since 10.00 pm last night when the landslide occurred at Panchkilo, Kalikhola and Jalbire.
The road section came into operation from 2.00 am this morning after removal of landslide with the help of dozer, said Chitwan District Police Office.
Due to ongoing road expansion drive on the section the vehicular movement has not been smooth. A brief shower has also triggered landslide on the fragile road that halted the vehicular operation, police said.
The frequent disruption of road has hit hard the people moving to Kathmandu and Pokhara from Chitwan. RSS

Boys Union Club To Select Players Through Open Trial For Upcoming RedBull B Division League

Boys Union Club told GoalNepal that they would select the players through open trial for upcoming RedBull B Division league.
The club is conducting an open trial at Dasrath Stadium on Jestha 2.
Team manager Sugan Tandukar said, "We want good local players to get promoted to A Division. We would like to request all interested players to appear in the trial on Sunday".
The Club said players should bring their own kit while coming to the trial.
ANFA hasn't confirmed the date for B Division league.

Untapped potential

The visit of Nepali prime minister to China has ushered in a new era of cooperation between the two countries
Nepali economy is passing through a critical phase characterized by poverty and stagnation. The economy suffers from sluggish growth, with rising inflation and growing unemployment resulting in ‘stagflation’. With a diminutive size of GNP (US$ 20 billion) and low GNI per capita (US$ 772), Nepal today is the second poorest country in the world. The IMF says even in 2020 Nepal will remain the poorest country in South Asia. ADB and Nepal government recently revised down annual growth rate to between 1.5 and 2 percent. Inflation, too, is hovering at around a troubling 12.1 percent, as of Jan 2016.
The current vulnerable economic situation is attributed to last year’s devastating earthquakes, with the damages from it worth as high as US $10 billion, which is 50 percent of GDP. The economy further suffered during the prolonged protests in the Tarai, followed by India’s blockade, resulting in acute shortage of petroleum products, cooking gas, medicines and other essential commodities.

China flags off first combined transport service to Nepal

KATHMANDU, May 12: China on Wednesday flagged off its first combined transport service to Nepal in the bid to boost supplies to the landlocked country.
People's Daily of China reported that an international freight train departed from Lanzhou, the capital city of northwestern China's Gansu province, and the final destination is Kathmandu. However, rail transport will change over to road transport in Xigaze, Tibet.
The entire journey will take 10 days. It incorporates three sections -- 2,431 kilometers of rail transport from Lanzhou to Xigaze, 564 kilometers of road transport from Xigaze to Geelong Port, and 160 kilometers of road transport from Geelong Port to Kathmandu.
The train has 43 cars and 86 cargo containers carrying essential goods and home appliances, according to China Railway Container Corporation.

Google wants new emojis to represent professional women

CALIFORNIA: Google wants professional women to be better represented in emoji form.
In a proposal to the Unicode Consortium, which controls specifications for emojis, Google says it wants to create a new set “with a goal of highlighting the diversity of women’s careers and empowering girls everywhere.” The proposal says women — and those under 30 in particular — are the most frequent users of emojis.
Sample emojis provided by Google in the proposal show several female characters in professional clothing, including business suits, lab coats, medical scrubs and construction hats. One sample emoji even has a pitchfork and a farmer’s hat. Google has also included sample male versions of the same emojis.
Mountain View, California-based Google wants Unicode to standardize the emojis by the end of the year.

EU, TI Nepal to work together to foster integrity in reconstruction

EU, TI Nepal to work together to foster integrity in reconstruction

KATHMANDU: The European Union and the Transparency International Nepal on Thursday signed an agreement to launch a support programme to foster integrity in the post-earthquake reconstruction campaign.
Head of the Kathmandu-based EU Delegation, Ambassador Rensje Teerink and TI Nepal President Bharat Bahadur Thapa signed the agreement today.
The Euro 1 million project will run for a period of five years to complement the rebuilding campaign with various accountability and transparency activities, the EU said in a statement today.
“This grant is part of a broader package of 105 million euro that the EU will provide to the government for reconstruction efforts,” the statement added.
“Building Back Better Nepal is an opportunity to foster accountability and social cohesion in the country,” the statement quoted Teerink as saying, “With this action launched today on the first anniversary of the second big quake, we underline the pivotal importance of the civil society in the process.”
Thapa also stressed that that disaster situations often exacerbate corruption; hence a more vigilant approach from civil society is crucial.
According to the EU, the project will be implemented at three key levels of the reconstruction process including policy level, implementation level and post-implementation level.

Real Madrid top Forbes’ most valuable teams list

Spanish football giants Real Madrid retained top spot on a list of the world’s most valuable football teams for a fourth consecutive year, according to a Forbes poll released on Wednesday.
The value of the 10-time European champions rose 12 percent to $3.6 billion, making them the world’s second most valuable sports team, surpassed only by the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys ($4 billion), Forbes said in a statement.
Barcelona were second on the list with a value of $3.5 billion, also up 12 percent from last year. Manchester United ($3.3 billion), Bayern Munich ($2.7 billion) and Arsenal ($2 billion) rounded out the top five.
According to Forbes, the 20 most valuable football teams are worth an average of $1.44 billion, a 24 percent jump from last year that was driven by new lucrative television deals.

Sri Lanka’s Perera cleared to play after doping charges dropped

Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Kusal Perera has had all anti-doping charges brought against him dropped by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after the Qatar-based laboratory that conducted the test withdrew its initial finding.
Perera was sent home from Sri Lanka’s tour of New Zealand in December after it was announced he had failed a test during the series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates last July.
He had faced a four-year ban from cricket.
“We wish to make it clear that there is no evidence that Mr Perera has ever used performance-enhancing substances and we wish him well in his future cricketing endeavours,” ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said in a statement.
Sri Lanka are currently in England preparing for the first match of their three-test series in Leeds next week.
Richardson said cricket’s governing body would talk to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which had accredited the laboratory, about the case.
“Whilst I am confident that this is an isolated incident in respect of tests commissioned by the ICC, we are seeking an urgent explanation from WADA and the laboratory in an attempt to understand what has transpired and what will be done to ensure it does not happen again,” Richardson said.

Thapa’s unity with UCPN-M is surrender, says Gajurel

KATHMANDU: CPN-Revolutionary Maoist Vice-Chairman CP Gajurel accused his party’s General Secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa of surrendering to, instead of uniting with, the UCPN-Maoist.
Speaking at an interaction organised at the Reporters’ Club in the Capital on Thursday, he claimed that the purported unity would be the unity among the rightists in the parties of leftists.
He said, “The unity of rightists has polarised the unity of leftists. Badalji (Thapa) has decided to unite with the UCPN-Maoist merely to join the government.”
“The 12-point agreement he signed with the UCPN-Maoist was already rejected by the party,” Gajurel said.
Responding to a query over action against Thap, he questioned, why should we take action against him who had once accused the UCPN-Maoist of being a betrayer.
Announcing that his party would prepare a new people’s revolution, Gajurel said that the party would not raise weapons until the government allowed them to put forth their views in front of people.
Accusing the government of trying to foil the peace process by digging up the issues of conflict era, he warned that the country would head towards a conflict again if the government kept on raising the issues.
Moreover, he made it clear that the possibility of unification with the UCPN-Maoist at present was unlikely.

PM tables reconstruction plan at Parliament

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Thursday tabled the five-year post-earthquake reconstruction plan at the Parliament.
Taking a special time at the Parliament while the House was discussing the government’s policy and programme, Oli said the plan of action would guide the reconstruction campaign in terms of policies, structures, implementation process and financial management.
It would provide a clear road map to the government, non-government organisations and donor agencies, according to the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister informed the House that the plan had estimated that a total of Rs 838 billion would be required for the reconstruction campaig. The amount is slightly more than what the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment carried out by the National Reconstruction Authority had identified earlier.
Oli attributed the increase to the number of affected households affected by the earthquake and needs identified by various ministries for the reconstruction campaign among others.
The plan includes outlines of 20 thematic plans to be carried out for the reconstruction.
The Prime Minister said the plan had tried to develop ownership of government agencies in the reconstruction campaign while earning trust of international donors.

UAE opens embassy in Kathmandu

Kathmandu, May 10
The United Arab Emirates inaugurated its residential embassy amidst a function in Kathmandu today.
Earlier, its embassy based in New Delhi had been concurrently looking after Nepal.
Foreign Minister of UAE, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, inaugurated the embassy in Lazimpat, Kathmandu this afternoon.
Speaking on the occasion, Nahyan said bilateral ties between Nepal and UAE had reached a new height with the establishment of the Gulf nation’s residential mission in Kathmandu.
Deputy Prime Minister Kamal Thapa, who was also present on the occasion, said the establishment of the embassy would facilitate hundreds of thousands Nepali workers seeking employment in the UAE.
Nepal had set up its embassy in Abu Dhabi in 2004. The diplomatic relations between the two countries was established on January 22, 1977.
Saeed Hamdan al Naqbi has been designated as UAE’s first residential ambassador to Nepal.
He will soon present his Letter of Credence to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, according to Deepak Adhikari, joint secretary at the foreign ministry.
UAE is one of top job destinations of Nepali migrant workers. It is estimated that about half a million Nepalis are working there.
Meanwhile, Nahyan also called on President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, separately.
According to the prime minister’s foreign affairs expert Gopal Khanal, the UAE minister urged PM Oli to conclude the proposed Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement and Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between the two countries so that the Gulf country can make more investments in Nepal.
PM Oli urged his UAE counterpart, through Nahyan, for clemency to Amar Bahadur Thapa, a Nepali worker, who faces death penalty in UAE and is in jail since 2003 for his involvement in a murder.
Former prime ministers Baburam Bhattarai and Sushil Koirala had also requested the UAE government to grant clemency to Thapa.
Khanal told The Himalayan Times that the UAE minister stated that as per the law of his country, only the deceased’s family can decide whether or not to grant clemency to Thapa.
He, however, assured that he would do everything possible to ensure that the Nepali worker gets clemency.
Oli also urged Nahyan to encourage UAE’s investors to invest in hydropower projects in Nepal. Earlier, he had held a bilateral meeting with DPM Thapa over lunch.
Minister Nahyan had arrived here on a day-long visit via a special flight and returned home today.