Latest news with #Nepalis
Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Visit visa scam: Nepal govt forms probe panel, 2 Opp parties say ‘cover-up' act
Nepal Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, who has rejected the demand for his resignation in what is known as 'visit visa ' scam, on Tuesday announced formation of a seven-member probe committee, but the two main opposition parties outrightly rejected it saying it is nothing but a 'cover-up act'. Lekhak said in the House of Representatives that the government has accepted his proposal and constituted a 7-member team headed by former Chief secretary Shankar Das Bairagi, which will conduct a probe into the alleged rampant extortion of Nepalis traveling on visit visa by the immigration authorities at the Tribhuvan International Airport. Members of two Opposition parties, the Rastriya Swatantra Party and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, walked out of the House in protest alleging that the choice of members in the panel–all serving bureaucrats — was clearly intended to shield Lekhak and others. The opposition parties, including the main Opposition Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), had earlier demanded a probe and resignation of the Home Minister to ensure a fair investigation. However, the CPN (Maoist Centre) changed its stance and agreed to have a probe without the resignation of the minister. CPN (Maoist Centre) chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda justified the party's stand. 'Truth in the visit visa scam should come out,' he said, adding that the other opposition parties would realise later that the stand taken by the patry was the most appropriate one. Tirtha Raj Bhattarai, chief of Immigration, is under suspension and is being investigated for the scam but Lekhak, backed by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and Nepali Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba, has all along said the minister cannot be held accountable for bureaucrats' errors.
India Gazette
5 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
Eleven Nepali nationals being evacuated from Iran, expected to arrive in India tomorrow
Kathmandu [Nepal], June 23 (ANI): Nepal Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba announced that 11 Nepali nationals being evacuated from Iran in the evacuation flight being conducted by India are expected to arrive Southern neighbor by tomorrow. Addressing the parliamentary meeting on Monday, Foreign Minister Deuba informed that a total of 16 Nepali nationals are recorded to be in Iran, out of which 11 are being evacuated for now, as five remain in jail. 'Sixteen Nepali nationals are in Iran; last week, we requested India's Ministry of External Affairs to evacuate our nationals as well while they're evacuating their citizens via Jordan. They've agreed to bring 11 Nepali as well from the evacuation flight, who are now in Mashhad. hopefully, they'll be brought to India by tomorrow, and then they can come to Nepal easily. Out of them, one had to be issued a travel document, and there are five other Nepali citizens who are in jail after going to Iran through illegal migration channels. We are working to bring them back at the same time through this operation,' Foreign Minister Deuba briefed. The Indian Embassy in Tehran had coordinated the evacuation of Nepali nationals who travelled for about 900 kilometers overland from capital Tehran to Mashhad. As tension between Iran and Israel enters the second week, questions were raised about the evacuation and safety of Nepali workers in those war-raged countries. In her address, Foreign Minister Deuba informed lawmakers that over 2,000 Nepalis had gone to Israel under a government-to-government (G2G) agreement, and all relevant data of these individuals is available. The minister noted that Nepal's embassy in Israel is currently non-operational due to conflict, with the ambassador working from a bunker. Additionally, she said three Nepalis stranded in Israel would be brought back via Egypt, as Germany declined to issue travel documents. She also revealed that around 500 Nepalis have settled in Israel through marriage. 'We are in constant consultation with the ILO and IOM about the ongoing situation and the evacuation of workers from there. From June 17, we have operated the online portal through which the details about the Nepali workers who want to be evacuated have been asked to sign in. Till now, 8 hundred and 85 people have filled in their details,' Minister Deuba said. On Saturday, Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba had thanked External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for assisting in the evacuation of Nepali students from conflict-hit Iran, calling it a reflection of the strong Nepal-India ties. In a post on X, Deuba wrote, 'Thank you, External Affairs Minister of India S Jaishankar, for India's swift assistance in helping to evacuate Nepali nationals from Iran. India's support in Nepal's evacuation efforts reflects the strength of Nepal--India ties.' Earlier on Saturday, the Indian Embassy in Iran said that it had made efforts to evacuate citizens of Nepal and Sri Lanka and noted that the efforts were made at the request of the Governments of Nepal and Sri Lanka. The Indian Embassy in Iran posted on X that 'On request of the Governments of Nepal and Sri Lanka, the Indian Embassy's evacuation efforts in Iran will also cover Citizens of Nepal and Sri Lanka. ' The conflict between Israel and Iran entered its eleventh day on Monday. The conflict started after Israel, on June 13, launched a massive airstrike on Iranian military and nuclear sites, dubbed 'Operation Rising Lion'. In response, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a large-scale drone and missile operation, 'Operation True Promise 3', targeting Israeli fighter jet fuel production facilities and energy supply centres. (ANI)
Business Recorder
16-06-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Nepal begins commercial power export to Bangladesh
KATHMANDU: Nepal said Monday it has begun regular commercial electricity exports to Bangladesh, marking its entry into the international power market beyond neighbouring India. The landlocked Himalayan nation started transmitting 40 megawatts (MW) of electricity to Bangladesh via India on Sunday under a five-year agreement. 'Nepal will continue supplying electricity to Bangladesh during the monsoon season from mid-June to mid-November,' Rajan Dhakal, spokesperson at Nepal Electricity Authority, told AFP. In October, the country signed a tripartite power export deal with the Bangladesh Power Development Board and India's NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam, which is facilitating access to the transmission line. The following month, the line was opened for only one day. 'This is just the beginning of Nepal's journey as an energy exporter,' Nepal's energy minister Dipak Khadka said. 'This highlights our energy surplus and commitment to regional energy security,' he posted on X Sunday. Four in five Nepalis did not have access to electricity at the turn of the century, according to the International Energy Agency, but a dam-building spree has since helped connect nearly all its 30 million people to the grid. The country now boasts an installed electricity capacity of more than 3,500 MW, with more power than it can currently consume during the rainy season. Nepal first began exporting electricity to India on a smaller scale in late 2021. Exporting power to Bangladesh comes as the country struggles with energy insecurity. With an electricity grid heavily reliant on fossil fuels, it has faced severe power outages over the past year. Some studies estimate that water-rich Nepal could have a total potential capacity of 72,000 MW, which is about 20 times the size of the current installed capacity. However, conservationists have criticised Nepal's rush to develop its hydro potential, saying that environmental compliance safeguards are sometimes ignored.
The Star
10-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
Japan, Eastern Europe emerge as new labor destinations for Nepalis
KATHMANDU, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Japan and Eastern European countries have emerged as new lucrative destinations for Nepalis seeking employment abroad in recent years, the Nepal Rastra Bank said on Tuesday. Traditionally, neighboring India is the largest labor destination for Nepalis, and in the last two decades, Gulf nations and Malaysia have become key destinations for Nepali migrant workers. The trend now appears to be shifting as the number of Nepalis going to Japan and some Eastern European countries for employment has been rising rapidly, the central bank said in a report. It noted that Nepalis receiving the government's permit to go to Japan for work nearly doubled to 15,247 during the first 10 months of the current 2024-25 fiscal year that began in mid-July 2024. In 2019, Nepal and Japan signed a labor agreement, formally paving the way for "specified and skilled" workers to go to Japan. "Japan needs foreign workers because of demography and we have a lot of aspiring workers who want to go there for relatively higher earnings compared to Gulf nations and Malaysia," Upendra Raj Poudel, director of Nepal's Department of Foreign Employment, told Xinhua. Romania has emerged as another new lucrative destination for Nepali migrant workers, with 18,711 Nepalis permitted to go there during the first 10 months of 2024-25, up from 8,802 during the same period of last fiscal year, according to the bank. Nepal and Romania signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the fields of labor and social protection in October 2023. Likewise, a sizable number of Nepalis have received approval to go to Cyprus and Malta for employment. Nepal has also been sending a good number of workers to South Korea since 2008. Currently, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait are the top four destinations for Nepali migrant workers, according to the central bank.
The Hindu
09-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
U.S. deports 37 illegal Nepali nationals
The U.S. government has deported 37 Nepali nationals who were illegally staying in America, an official said on Monday (June 9, 2025). A chartered flight carrying the illegal Nepali nationals arrived from the U.S. in Kathmandu on Sunday (June 8) evening, an Immigration Department official said. This is the largest number of Nepalis deported by the U.S. in a single day, the official said. They were found to have violated the U.S. immigration laws, the official said. Anjan Neupane, spokesperson for the Immigration Office at Tribhuvan International Airport, said that with Sunday's deportation, 177 Nepali nationals illegally staying in the U.S. had been sent back since President Donald Trump assumed office in January. Hundreds of Nepalese have gone to the U.S. in the past through illegal channels by paying millions of rupees to brokers and risking their lives. The Trump administration is also planning to deport thousands of Nepalis staying in the U.S. under Temporary Protection Status.
