Latest news with #Katmandu
Arab News
08-07-2025
- Climate
- Arab News
One dead, 17 missing as Nepal flood destroys China border bridge
Katmandu: Floods triggered by torrential rains in Nepal on Tuesday tore down a Himalayan mountain valley, sweeping away 18 people and destroying a key border bridge with China, a government official said. One person has been confirmed dead and 17 others are listed as missing in the floods on the Bhotekoshi river, said Arjun Paudel, chief district officer of Rasuwa district. The wall of water that hit Tuesday morning also swept away one of the main bridges linking Nepal and China. Eleven Nepalis and six Chinese people are among the missing, Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said. Deadly floods and landslides are common across South Asia during the monsoon season from June to September but experts say climate change is making them worse. The UN's World Meteorological Organization said last year that increasingly intense floods and droughts are a 'distress signal' of what is to come as climate change makes the planet's water cycle ever more unpredictable. The Katmandu-based International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) warned in June that communities face heightened disaster risks this monsoon season. 'Rising temperatures and more extreme rain raise the risk of water-induced disasters such as floods, landslides, and debris flows,' ICIMOD said.
Arab News
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Nepal ex-PM faces graft charge over land deal with Indian yoga guru's firm
KATMANDU: Authorities in Nepal have charged former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal with corruption and demanded a million-dollar fine over the purchase of land by a firm owned by Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev, a court official said on Friday. Nepal, prime minister between 2009 and 2011, faces charges of allowing Patanjali Yogpeeth Nepal's company to purchase more land than it was legally allowed to own for herb production, processing and a hospital in the Himalayan nation 15 years ago. Both Nepal and Patanjali Yogpeeth deny any wrongdoing. The 72-year-old Nepal heads a small opposition group in parliament and his United Socialist Party says the prosecution is an act of 'political vendetta' against him. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), a corruption watchdog, alleged that some of the land, in Kavre district, was later allowed to be swapped with other land, or sold at a higher price, causing a loss to the state. 'I have not done anything illegal nor indulged in any corruption concerning Patanjali land deal causing any loss to the state,' Nepal told the Kantipur daily newspaper. The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority a corruption watchdog, alleged that some of the land, in Kavre district, was later allowed to be swapped with other land, or sold at a higher price, causing a loss to the state. The allegations were set out in a charge sheet filed by the commission on Thursday at the Special Court in Katmandu. The commission demanded Nepal be ordered to pay a fine of 185.85 million Nepali rupees ($1.35 million). If found guilty he could also be sentenced to up to 17 years in jail. A spokesperson for Patanjali in India denied any wrongdoing, saying it bought the land privately through due legal process. 'Patanjali has not acquired any government land. It is unfair to drag our name in local political vendetta actions and proceedings,' S K Tijarawala, Patanjali's spokesperson, told Reuters in a text message. The commission also charged 92 others, including some former ministers and officials, some of whom are already dead. Yaga Raj Regmi, information officer of the court, said Nepal would receive a formal court notice giving him 15 days in which to present himself at court and the hearing would start after that.
Arab News
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
Ukrainian climber released from detention days after record-breaking Everest ascent
'Andrew is now out of custody after a misunderstanding,' said Ushakov's public relations team 'He is currently working to clarify all matters with the relevant authorities'Katmandu: Ukrainian climber Andrew Ushakov, who completed a journey from sea level to the summit of Mount Everest in a record four days, has been released on bail following his arrest for carrying undeclared foreign currency, a Nepali official told Reuters on Tuesday.'He has to face the charges in court,' said Chandi Prasad Ghimire, director general of the Department of Revenue Investigation. 'If he chooses to raise hands (not fight the case in court) he forfeits the bail money.'Ghimire had previously said that the bail was set at $60,000 — three times the amount allegedly carried by Ushakov, 40, when he was taken into custody on Sunday.'Andrew is now out of custody after a misunderstanding,' Ushakov's public relations team told Reuters on Tuesday. 'He is grateful for the support he has received and is currently working to clarify all matters with the relevant authorities.'Ushakov, a structural engineer who lives in the United States, flew from New York to Nepal on May 15 before scaling Everest without the usual period of several weeks of said he did not use Xenon, the gas inhaled by four British former special forces soldiers who scaled Earth's highest mountain last week, in five days, after leaving London. The climbers used Xenon to pre-acclimatize themselves to the low-oxygen environment they would encounter as they journeyed toward the 8,849-meter official Nakul Pokhrel said that the undeclared foreign currency was detected during baggage screening as Ushakov readied to board a plane leaving Katmandu, Nepal's capital carrying foreign currency worth more than $5,000 is required to declare it to the authorities in Nepal.
