KATHMANDU: Twenty five people were killed when two planes crashed in Nepal recently. In the first incident, a Tara Air plane that took off from Pokhara crashed on a forested mountainside killing all 23 people on board. In the second incident two pilots were killed when an aircraft belonging to the private sector Kasthamandap Air crashed in far western Nepal's Kalikot district, an official said. Pilots Captain Dinesh Neupane and co-pilot Santosh Ranaa were killed when the 9N-AJB chartered flight that took off from Nepalgunj city crashed while landing in a farmer's field near the top of a mountain.
Trump's triumphs causing concerns
Washington: The continuing triumphs of Republican hopeful Donald Trump is raising serious questions about the long term future, especially on the international arena. The question being asked is should Trump triumph?
Trans-Atlantic match making
London: More and more rich singles are falling in love with Trans-Atlantic match making – George and Amal Clooney, Sir Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell, Hugh Dancy and Claire Danes.
Pravin Gordhan launches attack
Pretoria: Pravin Gordhan, South Africa's Finance Minister, launched an extraordinary attack against political enemies who he believes are trying to intimidate him prior to the budget this week.
Nepal lifts fuel restrictions after 5 months
KATHMANDU: Nepal has finally ended its five-month-long rationing of fuel, imposed after protests over the new Constitution saw major blockade of key border trade points and violent protests in the country. Deepak Baral of the state-owned Nepal Oil Corp said drivers would be able to buy as much fuel as they want from Tuesday. “The lifting of the rationing of fuel should end long lines at service stations and end difficulties for consumers,” he said. MoS spokesperson Deepak Subedi said, “We are currently receiving 70 per cent of the demand. The quantum of supply is on the rise.” Supplies from India was restricted as ethnic Madhesis held protests against the new constitution and blocked border points.
10 EU nations agree to bar entry of refugees
BERLIN: As Europe buckles up for another surge of migrants fleeing war and poverty in west Asia, Austria and nine other nations have agreed on different measures to stop the flow of refugees, effectively imposing their own response to the crisis. The practical effect of the steps taken by ministers of the EU countries were agreed on during a meeting in Vienna and will probably be to keep more of the migrants in Greece, primary entry point of the European Union. One of the agreements among the measures was to grant entry to the 10 countries only to those “in proven need of protection”, which would essentially limit passage to Iraqis and Syrians and exclude Afghans and people from countries with economic problems.
Afghanistan invites India to join 6+1 group
KABUL: Afghanistan has invited India to join a new regional consultative mechanism to weigh in on the challenges faced by the war-torn country. A 6+1 group, it will include India, Pakistan, Iran, Russia, the US and China, along with Afghanistan. National Security Advisor Hanif Atmar announced the new group to foreign envoys in Kabul. Since the host country has taken the lead in the new mechanism, it is expected of it to have a bigger say. The group may not be a reserve of the “quadrilateral” as that is dominated by the US and Pakistan. Four former Indian ambassadors to Afghan- Vivek Katju, Rakesh Sood, Jayant Prasad, and Amar Sinha, expressed their apprehension that the Talibans' resurgence in the country was virulent and spreading far beyond the south and south-east.
In Malaysia, 7,000 Hindus listed as Muslims
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has wrongly documented almost 7,000 Hindus as Muslims on their national identity cards, as per a group of NGOs. Malaysia Hindu Sangam presiden Mohan Shan said the problem was widespread throughout Peninsular Malaysia and involved mostly practising Hindus from the lower income group. Eight Hindu NGOs together said they were assisting 500 Hindus, while some 7,000 others throughout the country were affected by the “system failure” in which anybody who wishes to change their official religious status from Islam, must first receive permission from the Shariah Court.
Pak parliament is world's first to run only on solar power
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani parliament has become the world's first solar-powered legislative body. Officials said the panels installed on the roof of the Parliament in Islamabad would generate 80 MW electricity, 62 MW of which the national assembly would consume and the rest would be passed to the national grid. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said, “The parliament's solar plant will not only meet its own energy requirements but will add surplus electricity to the national grid.” The China-funded $55 million project was launched last year by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Nawaz Sharif. Sharif said, “This project is another good example of Pakistan-China friendship. This is the first time since independence that parliament has become self-sufficient in electricity through solar power. Other institutions in private and public sector need to follow it.”
Sikh forced to remove turban at US airport
SAN FRANCISCO: An Indo-Canadian Sikh comedian was asked to take his turban off during a security check, just weeks after a Sikh-American actor was barred from boarding a flight in Mexico for refusing to take off his turban. Popularly known on the internet as 'JusReign', Jasmeet Singh posted about the incident on Twitter saying, “So the (agents) made me take off my turban in extra screening or they said I wouldn't be able to let through to catch my flight.” He further tweeted, “After finding absolutely nothing wrong because a turban is just cloth and the whole thing is stupid I ask for a mirror to tie it back again. The agent tells me there are no mirrors and that I can just walk down to the terminal to the nearest rest room without my turban on.”
In blow to Iran hard-liners, moderates win clerical assembly
TEHRAN: Iran's top moderates President Hassan Rouhani and former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani won seats in the assembly, along with 50 others of their allies in a major blow to the country's hard-liners. The vote for the 88 member Assembly of Experts was held along with the country's Parliament elections. The Interior Ministry, which gave the final results for the clerical assembly, said the moderates won 59 per cent of the seats in the body, however, even in the historic win, several prominent hard-liners, including Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati have been re-elected. The Assembly of Experts serves a function similar to that of the Vatican's College of Cardinals, and will someday have to pick a successor to Iran's current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It also can directly challenge Khamenei's rule, something it has never done before.
Pakistan hangs ex-governor's killer, sparking tensions
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan hanged the convicted killer of a former governor who was shot in 2011 by his bodyguard who accused him of blasphemy. Former police officer Mumtaz Qadri was on guard duty for secular Governor Salman Taseer who was campaigning in support of a Christian woman jailed for years on allegations of desecrating Islam's holy book, the Quran. Qadri repeatedly shot at Tasser at a marketplace, and later told the authorities that he killed the governor because he spoke out against the blasphemy laws. The execution has triggered protests in several cities who denounced the hanging after religious and political leaders, as well as militant groups publicly defended the killer. Schools were closed down in the capital and Rawalpindi in fear of violence by the executed persons' supporters.
