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On one of the busiest streets in Kathmandu’s Thamel tourism hub is a red, three-storey building with a board outside which reads, “Seeing Hands Nepal.” It is the first and only professional massage clinic operated in Nepal by visually impaired people. Recently, either the lobby or the building has been a regular place to visit for visually impaired Amit K C. It is here that he meets people, shares his unique ideas and tries to generate funds for his upcoming ambitious project. The clinic belongs to his friend, who is also visually impaired, Xinhua reports. His talks and daily routine revolve around the 34-year-old’s plans to scale the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest, this spring season. Though Mt Everest has already been conquered by a blind American, Erik Weihenmayer in 2001, Amit will be the first blind climber from the Nepalese community. Being blind by birth, Amit wants to encourage other disabled people to make the effort to access various kinds of resources and opportunities through his expedition. “If I succeeded in this mission, it will inspire all youths and disabled people who have potential but are frustrated by a lack of opportunities. When I will wave the flag of my nation on Mt Everest, the world will know more about Nepal,” said Amit. Originally from a rural village in the western district of Baglung, Amit holds a master’s degree in sociology and served as a teacher in a local primary school for a few years. His monthly salary was $130, which made it hard to take care of his four-member family, but yet he was happy. It was only after meeting with an American motivational trainer a decade back in Nepal that Amit thought of changing his way of life and started dreaming of climbing Everest. To materialise his dream, Amit left teaching five years ago and started preparing for his planned expedition physically, mentally and financially. Initially, he took up rock climbing and mountaineering by generating resources from relatives and friends. In the absence of a fixed household income, his sighted wife Bidhya has been running a beauty parlor to support the family’s livelihood and education of their two children. As to his mountaineering achievements to date, Amit has already scaled two 6,000m peaks as part of physical test. In 2015, he climbed the 6,189m Island Peak and in 2016 he scaled the 6,476m Mera Peak, both of which were huge successes. These achievements worked as a motivational factor for Amit to eye the mountain. However, raising funds has been like climbing another mountain for him. And while his date to leave for the mission is approaching, Amit has yet to meet the financial requirement of around $100,000. “The expedition cost is higher compared to regular climbers due to the requirement of additional manpower and logistics. I have approached all quarters of society and am hopeful that the funds will come through. Let’s see where life leads,” he said. The Nepalese government has provided support equivalent to $15,400 to Amit by providing some cash along with removing its royalty fee and garbage disposal fee among other taxes. Amit is scheduled to leave for the Everest region in mid-April under the guide of expedition company Sherpa Shepherds.

Nepal had to close its only international airport for around half an hour yesterday after a leopard was spotted close to the runway.  A spokesman for the airport in Kathmandu said wildlife and security officers were searching for the animal, believed to be hiding in the drains, after it was spotted by a pilot.  “We closed the airport for about 30 minutes after the incident was reported but we haven’t found the leopard yet,” Prem Nath Thakur said.  “Considering the excessive flight pressure and possible disturbance to the passengers, we have decided to resume the search operation only from midnight,” said the  spokesperson. A team, comprising security forces, forest officials, zoo staff, was involved in the search operation. They have closed both ends of the drain to trace the animal. “The fire fighters even used water cannons inside the drain to exert pressure on the animal but it did not come out,” Thakur said. According to officials, the search mission will start immediately after the single-runway of the airport is closed at 12:00 midnight. One international flight was delayed but no other flight was scheduled during the closure.  Kathmandu is close to forested hills and leopards are occasionally known to stray into the city. In the past, birds have posed serious safety problems at the single-runway airport, although stray cattle and dogs have also been known to  disrupt flights.  In 2016, a plane with nine passengers was forced to make an emergency landing when a bird struck its right wing.  Nineteen people were killed in 2012 when an aircraft hit a bird and crashed shortly after taking off from the airport.  According to TIA, 28 airlines operated 27,118 flights in the Nepali skies in 2016, approximately 75 landings and take-offs per day.

Two people were killed yesterday when they were buried in a landslide that struck a major highway connecting Nepal’s capital Kathmandu with the rest of the  country, local police said. A man in his early 40s, who was driving his motorbike, and an assistant to an oil tanker driver were killed on the spot yesterday, said Ramesh Mishra, a police officer from Chitwan district in southern Nepal. A 15-year-old, who was riding pillion on the motorbike, and the driver of the oil tanker were both injured and were being treated in a hospital in Bharatpur, a town in Chitwan, he said. “A truck was also buried, but the driver was unhurt. The highway was under construction, but there are bends, and the river flows below the road,”  Mishra said. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bimalendra Nidhi directed authorities concerned to facilitate the early rescue of the victims buried in the landslide. Subsequently, personnel of Nepal army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force have been mobilised for the rescue. While a Nepal Army helicopter has been kept on standby, a loader has been sent from Chitwan to open the  obstructed road. Natural disasters are common during the annual monsoon season in largely mountainous Nepal, but Monday’s landslide was a dry one that occurred without any rainfall. More than 400 people were killed in landslides and flooding last year, according to the  Nepal’s Home Ministry.

Former Nepal prime minister and chairman of Naya Shakti Nepal party Baburam Bhattarai was arrested from outside the Election Commission (EC) office yesterday, the media reported. Bhattarai, his wife Hisila Yami, and Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) Maoist Revolutionary leader C P Gajurel, among others, were picked up by police while they were staging a sit-in outside the EC office to protest denial of election symbol to the party, The Kathmandu Post  reported.  According to Bhattarai’s aide Bishwodeep Pandey, police personnel badly treated the leaders by hauling them into a truck after their arrest. Five political parties registered with the EC, including Naya Shakti Nepal, staged a sit-in outside the poll panel’s office in protest against “the election holding body’s refusal to grant election symbol”.  Prior to this, the agitating parties had submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and chief election commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav. While submitting a memorandum in this regard to Dahal on Thursday, Naya Shaki Nepal had issued a 48-hour ultimatum to him demanding allocation of an election symbol for their party.  Naya Shakti, among others parties, staged a two-hour sit-in yesterday outside the EC offices across the nation to press their demand.

A man with tattoo on his face attends the Nepal Tattoo Convention in Kathmandu yesterday.

Devotees play traditional drums as they take part in the Chariot Festival at Ashon in Kathmandu yesterday.

Horses jump through fire rings during the Ghode Jatra, a horse racing festival at Army Pavilion in Tundikhel, near Kathmandu, yesterday.

State-run Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has signed an agreement to supply over 1mn tonnes (MT) of petroleum products annually to Nepal for the next five years, chairman B Ashok said. “The supply agreement signed today is for the period April 2017 to March 2022 and will meet the full requirements, demand and quantities of all the major oil products, including petrol, diesel, kerosene, aviation turbine fuel  and LPG,” Ashok told reporters. IOC will supply Euro-IV grade petrol and diesel to Nepal from next month. While presently the fuel is sent by trucks, a pipeline will be laid from Patna-Motihari-Amlekganj for supply of fuel in future. According to IOC officials, the pipeline will get fuel from IOC’s Barauni refinery in Bihar as well as Haldia refinery in West Bengal. “Every five years, we renew fuel supply agreement with Nepal. Today (Monday), IOC and Nepal Oil Corporation signed agreement for supplying fuels for the next five years,” Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said at the MoU  signing event. The new MoU, he said, is “much better” than the previous ones as “it keeps the interests of both the nations”. “We feel it is the responsibility of India to help Nepal meet its energy requirements, especially after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal in 2014 where in his address to Nepal parliament took responsibility of the Raxaul-Amlekhganj petroleum product pipeline,” he said. Pradhan said work on the pipeline should begin in 2017-18. “Nepal wants to take that pipeline little forward to near Kathmandu which is about 70 kms more and has sought technical help from IOC, though the expenses will be incurred by Nepal,” he said. Pradhan said a high level official committee has been formed to look into preparing feasibility of the pipeline as well as another LPG pipeline from Motihari to Nepal’s  Amlekhganj. India has been a traditional supplier of fuel to Nepal, which receives its entire demand of about 200,000lt of fuel every month by road from IOC.

Nepal should become involved in a Chinese-led trade and infrastructure network dubbed “One Belt, One Road” that aims to connect countries in Eurasia and Africa in a modern-day Silk Road, Chinese President Xi Jinping said yesterday. Xi spoke in Beijing during a visit by Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who came to power in August and is eager to attract Chinese  investment and trade. “China and Nepal should take building One Belt, One Road together as an opportunity to make solid progress on interconnection, free trade agreements, agriculture, production, energy, post-disaster reconstruction and other areas of co-operation,” Xi said, according to state broadcaster CCTV. In a speech at the Beijing Foreign Studies University on Sunday, Dahal said Nepal and China should build upon the legacy of the ancient Silk Road to “create a modern success story.” In his statement to Xi, Dahal thanked China for its support during the nation’s post-disaster reconstruction efforts and said Nepal looks forward to expanding cooperation with China in areas such as trade, investment, infrastructure and tourism. He said Nepal is committed to the “One China” policy, which requires countries that seek diplomatic relations with China to break official relations with Taiwan. Dahal arrived in China on Thursday and met Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli on Friday. He discussed plans to construct railways, fuel storage facilities and transmission lines along the border with Tibet in northern Nepal, Dahal’s  secretariat said. “Our location among the largest economies of Asia brings great prospects of establishing Nepal as a trade hub; a vital link in the global value chain,” Dahal told a gathering of business and government leaders on Saturday. China has sought to increase its influence in Nepal by signing trade and transit agreements and investing in hydropower plants and roads after the Himalayan nation’s ties with India, its powerful neighbour to the south, soured in September 2015 amid a border blockade. Dahal, who led a 10-year Maoist insurgency that ended in 2006, will try to assuage the concerns of Chinese government that he has tilted back towards regional rival India, said Sudheer Sharma, editor in chief of Nepal’s largest-selling Kantipur newspaper. “Dahal seems keen to dispel the misunderstanding in Beijing that he came to power after being backed by New Delhi. He wants to portray himself as a leader who can strike a balance between the two  neighbours,” Sharma said.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will allow exchange of up to Rs4,500 in banned Indian currency notes to each Nepali national, a visiting team of the Indian central bank  hinted yesterday. The Indian proposal has sent waves of nervousness among the Nepali public as India had earlier allowed Nepali citizens to possess up to Indian Rs25,000 each. An RBI team led by Dipali Pant Joshi, executive director, RBI, held talks with a Nepali team, led by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Deputy Governor Chintamani Siwakoti, in Kathmandu and offered to provide exchange facilities up to Rs4,500 in banned Indian currency notes and gave one week’s window to complete the exchange formalities. However, the Nepali side has been pushing to arrange facilities up to Indian Rs25,000 which was earlier allowed to a Nepali citizen to hold legally. If the Indian side remains adamant over the decision, many people who possess banned Indian rupee notes would suffer badly. After both sides stated their respective positions, the next meeting has been scheduled today, said officials at Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank of Nepal. Similarly, the Nepali side has conveyed to the RBI team that it is also impossible to exchange banned Indian notes within a week as the Nepali side is yet to conduct inventory of banned Indian bills  possessed by Nepalis. In response, the RBI team said it was ready to exchange Indian notes held with Nepali banking and financial institutions immediately but currency notes held by individuals should be exchanged through the banking system. The Indian delegation arrived in Kathmandu on Saturday to hold discussions on extending exchange facilities to Nepalis who are holding banned Indian banknotes of Rs500 and Rs1,000  denominations. This is the second time that the Indian team has visited Nepal to hold talks on allowing exchange facilities to Nepalis holding demonetised Indian bank notes. Earlier, the Indian team had expressed fears about Nepal being used as a “clearing house” to channel illegally amassed banknotes into the Indian financial system. The Indian government’s November 8 move to demonetise Rs500 and 1,000 bank notes has caused inconvenience to many Nepalis, especially daily-wage earners and labourers working in India, and those visiting the neighbouring country for medical treatment, studies and purchasing goods from Indian markets in border areas. Nepal’s central bank has been claiming that its financial system is holding Indian Rs 33.6mn at various banks and financial institutions besides NRB itself. But the actual stock of banned Indian notes is expected to be much higher because Nepalis were previously allowed to carry Indian bank notes of Rs500 and Rs1,000 denominations amounting to Indian Rs25,000. Also, those residing in areas bordering India usually keep Indian notes of higher denominations as they have to visit Indian markets frequently to buy essential commodities.

Nepal’s President Bidya Devi Bhandari will begin a state visit to India on April 17, a media report said yesterday. The Nepal president’s office confirmed her India visit, which will be her first foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015, the Kathmandu Post reported. The president will be meeting her Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, leaders from the ruling and opposition parties and top Indian officials on April 18 in New Delhi, said Madan Kumar Bhattarai, foreign relations  adviser to Bhandari. The itinerary of the visit is yet to be finalised, he added. Some minor agreements as a gesture of friendly relations between Nepal and India will likely be sealed during her visit. The president was preparing to visit India in May last year but it was cancelled due to the lack of preparations on the  government’s part. After completing her engagements in Delhi, she will be attending a function at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

Nepal and China have pledged to further develop their ties as Kathmandu expressed its willingness to join China’s Belt and Road initiative. In a meeting with visiting Chinese Defence Minister and State Councillor Chang Wanquan recently, Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal appreciated China’s neighbourhood diplomacy featuring amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness. Dahal also thanked China for its assistance to Nepal’s socio-economic development and defence, especially the Chinese aid for post-quake  reconstruction.  “Nepal is committed to the one-China policy and it will always stand against anti-Chinese activities. Nepal is keen to be a partner of the Belt and Road initiative,” the prime minister said. The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative, known as the Belt and Road initiative, was proposed by China in 2013 with the aim of building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes. For his part, Chang appreciated Nepal’s strong support to China in regard to its “core interest” issues of Taiwan and Tibet. Chang said leaders from both sides have reached consensus on deepening bilateral ties. China is ready to join hands with Nepal to further promote their comprehensive partnership of cooperation to benefit the two peoples, he added. NEPAL REQUESTS INDIA FOR MORE ELECTRICITY:  Nepal has requested India to provide additional power through two newly-built transmission lines. The construction of the 132KV Kushaha-Kataiya and 132KV Raxual-Parwanipur cross-border transmission lines was completed recently, Kathmandu Post reported. The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the state-owned power utility, has requested India to provide 50MW of electricity through each of these transmission lines. The NEA is planning to supply electricity bought from India through industrial corridors in Nepal, such as the one located on the Bara-Parsa stretch. Nepalese ambassador to India Deep Kumar Upadhaya in a meeting with Indian Minister of State for Power, Piyush Goyal, requested New Delhi to expedite the supply of electricity through the new transmission lines. “During the meeting, issues related to supply of additional power through newly built transmission lines, review of tariff at which India is selling power to Nepal, and cooperation in the power sector were discussed,” said Hari Odari, spokesman of the Nepali  embassy. Nepal and India have reached an understanding to arrange a meeting between NEA and the Power Trade Corporation of India to settle all technical issues related to the supply of power. “Goyal has assured that he will instruct concerned agencies in India to expedite the process,” Odari said. Hydropower generation in Nepal has plunged by almost 60% as the water level in most of the river basins has fallen due to onset of the dry season. The NEA is relying heavily on the electricity bought from India to keep the country free from power cuts. To bridge the gap, the Himalayan nation is currently importing around 380MW of electricity from India through various cross-border transmission lines. The country’s peak electricity demand hovers at 1,240MW. Nepal, home to around 6,000 rivers, rivulets and tributaries, has the potential to generate over 40GW of electricity through hydropower. But as of now, the installed capacity of the country stands at less than 1,000MW. There is a big gap in the demand and supply of electricity because Nepal has not been able to build bigger hydropower plants since the 70MW Middle Marsyangdi hydroelectric project in Lamjung came into operation in 2008.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is to leave for China today to attend the Boao Asia Forum in China’s Hainan province during which he will also meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, the foreign ministry announced yesterday. Dahal will travel to Beijing to meet Xi. This is his first official visit to China after becoming the prime minister in August last year.  “The prime minister will meet the Chinese president on March 27 (Monday) at the Great Hall of the People where both leaders will discuss matters of mutual interest,” the foreign ministry said. The Chinese side has already communicated that the meeting between Xi and Dahal will a brief one – no longer than 20 minutes – and Xi had cut short his other engagements to make time for it. As Dahal’s visit to Nepal’s northern neighbour will be keenly followed and watched in New Delhi, it is almost official that no accord or understanding will be signed during the visit, announced Dahal a day ahead of his China visit. “We are not going to sign any deal in this visit,” said Dahal at a CPN (Maoist Centre) Central Office meeting. “My visit will be to lay the ground for the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Nepal and the objective of my China visit is focused on bringing him to Nepal,” he said. Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat also said that Nepal is not going to sign any deal with China but will discuss some crucial bilateral  issues. He said that discussions would take place on matters pertaining to the China-initiated “One Belt One Road” (OBOR) plan and participation of Nepal in China’s flagship foreign policy initiative.  Likewise, issues related to Nepal-China Transit and Transportation Agreement, its protocol and expansion of cross-border transmission line in northern border would be  discussed. On OBOR, the foreign minister said Nepal and China have discussed in length about it and its possible advantage to Nepal, but “we cannot agree on free trade with China as Nepali side is still considering its merits and demerits”, he added. Mahat said Nepal had prepared to sign at least five agreements with China on various issues, but they wouldn’t be signed this time as Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will not be available in Beijing during Dahal’s visit. The Nepali side had prepared to sign agreements on cross-border transmission line, and allowing the Chinese companies to conduct detailed project reports of railway projects that will connect Nepal-China border to the southern plains and Pokhara via Kathmandu.  Other agreements related to harnessing Chinese investment in Nepal on various sectors, establishing cross-border economic zone and capability-enhancing the National Planning Commission.  Dahal will return to Nepal on March 29.

Nepalese girls walk with masks on the streets in Kathmandu yesterday. According to reports, people are mostly affected by air pollution due to reconstruction of houses, road expansion projects, the Melamchi water supply project, and increasing number of vehicles.

Activists affiliated with Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal (RPP-Nepal) fall as they try to escape the batons charged by the riot police personnel during the party’s protest after the election commission rejected their campaigning for monarchy and Hinduism in Kathmandu yesterday.

Nepal will provide GPS tracking devices to some mountaineers who attempt to scale Mount Everest this year to prevent them from making false summit claims and to track climbers in distress, an official said yesterday. Climbers who reach the 8,850m (29,035ft) Everest summit must produce photographs showing them at the top as proof of their ascent, as well as a report from their liaison official who stays at base camp. The government banned an Indian couple from mountaineering in Nepal for 10 years last year after they faked a photograph to show them atop the world’s tallest peak. Tourism department official Durga Dutta Dhakal said some climbers would be equipped with GPS tracking device on a trial basis in the current climbing season to see if this is an effective way to prevent hoax claims. “If this works, we’ll make it mandatory for all climbers to carry the device from next year,” Dhakal told reporters. He said GPS data would be checked once climbers returned to Kathmandu to determine whether they had actually topped the mountain. It will also track their movements and will be useful to send rescue teams if they are in trouble. Tourism and mountain climbing are key sources of income and account for four percent of the gross domestic product of Nepal. The Everest season reaches its climax during a “weather window” that typically opens until May. Climbing is recovering from massive earthquakes in 2015 that triggered avalanches which killed 19 climbers. A year earlier, avalanches killed 16 Sherpa guides virtually closing the mountain for climbers.

An elderly Nepalese man Dilbahadur Maharjan, aged 77, is carried by his grandchildren in a wooden chariot during a Janku procession in Kirtipur, outskirts of Kathmandu, yesterday. Janku is a ritual practice performed by Newar people when a man or a woman turns 77 years old to mark the celebration for long life.

Indian army chief General Bipin Rawat is slated to visit Nepal at the invitation of the Himalayan nation’s government. During his visit from March 28 to 31, the Indian army chief will be conferred the honorary rank of general of the Nepal army by Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, defence spokesman Major General Tara Bahadur Karki said yesterday. President Bhandari will confer the honorary rank on General Rawat on March 29 for his “commendable military prowess and immeasurable contribution to fostering India’s long-standing and friendly ties with Nepal”, the spokesman said. It is a custom and tradition between the Indian and Nepali armies to confer this honour on each other’s chiefs to signify close and special military-to-military ties. General Rawat will also discuss bilateral military ties and other aspects of co-operation during his meeting with Nepali army chief General Rajendra Chhetri.  General Rawat is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Defence Minister Bal Krishna Khand and will visit Pokhara, where India’s biggest pension camp is located, and travel to Muktinath where Nepal army runs a high-altitude military warfare training centre. Other highlights of his visit will be issues related to purchasing military hardware and software for the Nepal army.  Nepal makes almost all military and defence purchases from India, including  helicopters.

Little girls from Newar community attend a Bel Bibaha (child marriage) ceremony in Kavre, on the outskirts of Kathmandu yesterday. Bel Bibaha, or Ihi, is a marriage ceremony in the Newar community of Nepal in which pre-adolescent girls are “married” to the bael fruit (wood apple). Normally Newar girls marry thrice in their life as first marriage with the fruit, second with sun and third with human.

At the break of dawn each day, dozens of women forced to flee their homes during Nepal’s decade-long civil war load their bicycles with vegetables and head to market. The bikes, donated by a foreign charity, have given these women in the Surkhet Valley independence and a livelihood, lifting many out of poverty. Nandukala Basnet, who escaped her village at the height of the war, said her bike transformed her life. “Life is very nice with the bicycle. If my bike breaks, I feel like my life is broken,” the 33-year-old said. The conflict between government forces and Maoist insurgents displaced thousands, mostly in the mid-west where the violence was at its worst. Basnet’s village was in a Maoist stronghold but her husband was a soldier in the Nepali army, fostering suspicions about her allegiances. When an insurgent camp was bombarded by a military helicopter, rumours spread that Basnet had revealed its location, sending rebels out after her. Neighbours urged her to flee. She packed up her meagre belongings and left for Birendranagar, the main town in the Surkhet Valley. “I struggled a lot after I moved here,” she said. “I had no property. I mined sand from the river for money and even hammered stones for a day.” She started selling vegetables but struggled to haul the 30kg (66 pound) baskets to market. Some days she’d take less than Rs100 ($0.90) home. With the bicycle, her business has flourished. Basnet can now carry up to 100kg of vegetables as well as sesame seeds and lentils, and can venture to markets further afield. “This has become my permanent business,” she said, counting out her day’s earnings - about Rs600 - and stashing it carefully inside her cardigan pocket. The sight of women on bicycles has drawn mutters of disapproval in some conservative quarters of Nepal’s deeply superstitious and patriarchal society. Khagisara Regmi, who was widowed and left alone to raise her four children, said villagers hurled insults as she tried to master the bike. “When I finally did, they said, ‘Why is she learning to ride a bicycle, shouldn’t she be ashamed?’” the 40-year-old said. Widows often face abuse and exclusion in Nepal, where they are believed to bring bad luck. But with the help of her bicycle, Regmi has earned enough to put her children through school and replace the straw roof on her house with a sturdy tin one.