Himalayan News Service

Jajarkot, August 5

Nine persons lost their lives when a landslide struck Thantibazaar in Jajarkot’s Bheri Municipality this morning.

Sources in Jajarkot District Police Office said eight children and a woman were killed when the landslide buried houses belonging to Tirtharaj Bohora and Gopal Sunar at around 7:30 am. One person was rescued alive hours later.

Bohora’s seven-year-old daughter Najma, along with four members of a tenant family, were killed when the landslide struck his house. Lal Bahadur Luhar’s wife Shitalar, 25, and his daughters Ranjana, 10, Manisha, 6, and Bhagawati, 3, died. Originally from Gangatiya in Bheri Municipality, Lal Bahadur’s family had rented rooms in Bohora’s house.

Four others living on rent in an adjoining house also died in the landslide. The deceased have been identified as Narendra Pariyar, 13, and Nabin Pariyar, 11, of Kushe Municipality, and Dasharath Pariyar, 10, and Govind Pariyar, 8, of Nalgad Municipality.

Security personnel of Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Nepali Army, along with locals, carried out the rescue operation and rescued one person, Lal Bahadur, from the rubble. “Difficult terrain and the downpour added to the difficulty of the rescue operation, which lasted for eight hours,” said Inspector Indrajit Sunar.

The eight bodies have been retrieved and sent to the district hospital for post-mortem.

“About one-and-a-half hours after the landslide struck, Lal Bahadur was rescued with serious injuries to his chest, head and legs,” Sunar said, adding that he is undergoing treatment at the district hospital.

Meanwhile, CDO Lalit Bahadur Basnet has called a meeting of District Natural Disaster Rescue Committee for tomorrow. “The meeting will recommend to the home ministry that relief be provided to the victims’ kin,” said the CDO, who is also the coordinator of the panel, adding that the process of providing immediate relief to the victims’ kin was on.

A version of this article appears in print on August 06, 2018 of The Himalayan Times.

Follow The Himalayan Times on Twitter and Facebook</s>KATHMANDU: A landslide killed a woman and at least seven children in Nepal over the weekend as officials issued warnings on Monday of the risk of more landslides and flash floods due to torrential rain.

Working in the downpour, rescuers in Bheri town, about 310 kilometres (193 miles) west of capital Kathmandu, were still searching for a missing boy, having pulled out one survivor.

"Army and police personnel are digging with shovels through mud for a 12-year-old boy who is missing,” Krishna Prasad Khatiwada, a senior government official in Bheri, told Reuters by phone.

The dead children were aged between three and eleven years.

Flash floods and landslides in the June-September monsoon season are common in mostly mountainous Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 highest mountains including Mount Everest.

Samir Shrestha, an official at the weather forecasting office in Kathmandu, said more landslides and flash floods were likely as heavy rains were forecast for hilly areas in central and western Nepal through Tuesday.

Residents in Terai, the southern low lying region bordering India, had been warned to beware of floods as water levels were rising in many rivers, he said.</s>As Nepal and Israel established their diplomatic relations 58 years ago, how do you see the state of their bilateral relations at present?

I am very happy to be here as the Ambassador of Israel to Nepal. This is my second assignment in Nepal. I had served in 1998 for ten months as Charge d'Affaires a.i. My predecessors have contributed in promoting the bilateral relations with their excellent works and I am following them. The relations are excellent and very well kept in both sides. Your ambassador in Israel and I both have been working closely to strengthen our bilateral relations.

How do you see Nepal’s migrant workers in Israel?

We have been employing Nepalese mainly as caregivers. Since last few years, every year 500+ young students are going to Israel to participate in 11 months long advanced agriculture training 'Learn and Earn' in cooperation with Sana Kisan Bikas Bank. The students study and practice in agriculture sector. They go to college once a week and do practical work for 5 days for which they also get paid. They save quite some amount of money when they come back. The most important of this program is that the students learn about the modern Israeli agriculture system. Upon coming back, they form a group and engage in farming using the Israeli know-how and experience.

How do you assess this learn and earn program? As the program provides support to the offspring of poor and marginalized farmers of remote Nepal, how does Israel see it?

Our partner for this project is Sana Kisan Bikas Bank and we are working together excellently. This Bank's only agenda is to help the farmers of Nepal. I see this program is very important for Nepal to retain youths in the country by engaging them in agriculture profession. According to the findings based on a study done by scholars of Israel, from Tel Aviv University, the big challenge of this program is to ensure its follow-up. Once the students come back, it is the responsibility of the Government of Nepal to monitor them whether they are going to farm in their villages and applying the knowhow and knowledge acquired in Israel in over 11 months. This monitoring is very necessary. For this follow-up, the government of Nepal needs to work closely with Sana Kisan Bikas Bank and the Embassy.

What prospects do you see for this program in Nepal?

At a time when one of the big challenges of government of Nepal is to improve the quality and quantity of its agriculture products, this program provides the much needed exposure and skills to Nepalese farmers to grow more. If 2 or 3 percent of population in Israel produce enough food for Israel and even export, Nepal can also do it.

How do you see the policy makers view it?

As 66 percent of Nepalese are involved in the agriculture sector, there is a need to reduce this number to 50 percent within four-five years. This is the ambition, I have found, in Finance Minister Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada. It is very ambitious but it is possible. What you need is good partners and one of them could be Israel with its knowhow for efficient agriculture system. I firmly believe that this program can make some contribution to it.

How do you see the recent visit of Minister of Agriculture to Israel?

The Honourable Minister Chakrapani Khanal visited Israel during Agritech 2018 which was held on 8-10 May 2018. It was an international agriculture fair and Israel holds it every three years. This gives an opportunity to our partners from abroad to see what Israel can offer to them if they need to improve their agriculture. I believe that such a high-level visit can contribute in promoting agriculture development cooperation between the two countries.

How else can Israel help Nepal in its agriculture development?

We have a beautiful project in India under which we are opening excellence centers. We can also do the same in Nepal and copy it here as well. Those projects in India are fully financed and owned by the Indian Government. These projects proved very successful in India to improve the agriculture sector. If the government of Nepal is willing to do it, we are ready to sign a MoU and our main contributions will be transfer of knowhow and capacity building. It is up to the government of Nepal to make the first step and show its willingness to a project like that of India in Nepal.

How do you see the trend of the students?

Not all of them who come back from Israel necessarily engage in farming. Even if we assume 30 to 40 percent return to agricultural profession, it is a great success. By now, 2200 students have already come back and soon there will be five hundred more returnees within a few weeks. There will be 2700 and another 540 going on this year’s quota. We have already signed visa in the Embassy. Can you imagine after ten years of this activity the growing numbers from one year to the other you will have some eight to ten thousand Nepalese who have been in Israel to know about the modern agriculture system using high quality fertilizers, seeds, drip irrigation and green houses, etc. This will certainly make a great difference.

How does this all help Nepal?

The students will definitely help Nepal as they can use all the technologies they learned in Israel in order to enhance their capacity of production not only quantity but also quality. I think in the long-run, Nepal may not have to import agriculture products from India and elsewhere, rather it may export them to India and China as well. Nepal has the potential for this. Nepal has fertile land, hardworking people and good climatic conditions. You may need some kinds of knowhow and innovation that we have already developed in Israel.

Israel has been providing all kinds of necessary support to Nepal at the time of major disaster and crisis including the humanitarian support given during 2015 earthquake, how do you see the possibility of expanding such cooperation between the two countries?

Actually, we do not come here only in urgency. We did similar operations in many other countries and Nepal was a recent case of 2015. Within 72 hours of the earthquake, a full-fledged hospital established by Israeli Defense Forces came into operation to help the victims, which was very much appreciated by the Government and the people of Nepal.

We also help through various capacity building trainings organized by MASHAV-Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We provide courses in Israel as well as in Nepal. Unfortunately, Israel has a lot of experiences of dealing with mass casualties. Following the earthquake, we provided training to Nepalese officials, from Police, Army and para medics in Israel. We understand the importance of preparedness for this kind of situations. If there is a demand from the government to train 20-30 people for a period of 2-3 weeks we can do it and we can also bring Israeli experts to Nepal and choose the time and place to do it.

Since its establishment Israel has been facing terrorism acts and violent threats, how does Nepal respond when such issues come to the international forum?

Since we have a very good relationship in a bilateral level with Nepal, we are expecting that the government of Nepal would be on our side whenever such things may occur. It also happens in international arena, in the United Nations organizations may it be in New York, Geneva, Vienna and Rome and so on. When there are voting on the situation of Middle East, we are hoping that Nepal will take a position which will be more balanced, not being necessarily pro-Israeli, we respect the priority of the government and its ideology and logical positions. We do respect that each and every nation is sovereign and taking decisions according to its interest. There is no doubt about it but we would like to see more friendly and sympathetic position of Nepal towards Israel when it comes to the decision that might put Israel in an embarrassing situation especially in the context of Israeli Arab conflict and Israeli Palestinian relationship.

What more do you expect?

We are expecting Nepal to reflect its excellent bilateral relations with Israel into international arena to show that we are friends. If you cannot vote for us, at least please do not vote against us. If there are possibilities in between either for or against, you can either abstain or absent. Please make use of one of them whenever possible. We appreciate from time to time whenever it is possible, for the Nepali foreign policy to show a more friendly attitude towards Israel on the international arena.

Since Nepal and Israel are both small countries with so many commonalities of interest and hostile global situation in taking risk, how do you look at this?

We never forget in Israel that Nepal was the first country in South Asia to recognize Israel and establish diplomatic relations with us. We highly value it. We know that Nepal belongs to the non-aligned movement and you have other considerations too. But we still believe that there is a margin of tolerance of moving from one side to other, not dramatically like America, Australia, and Canada. We have to be realistic about global politics and we do respect Nepal as a member of non-aligned movement and so on. This is totally clear to us but we still believe that there is a room for some maneuver and come closer to our positions, sometimes. Your policy is friend to all, nobody is enemy. We believe in Jerusalem and here in the Embassy, you can be still more balanced. We don’t want to see your country pro-Israeli or Pro-Palestinian but please show your friendship to us when it comes to the United Nations.

What is the caregiver issue now?

We are under a pilot project to take care givers. There is a goodwill in Jerusalem regarding increasing the numbers of caregivers. Israel is considering signing another pilot agreement with Nepal for taking 500 caregivers under G2G agreement. As many Israeli are getting older, there is the need for more caregivers and Nepalese have won the hearts of Israelis. I can tell you that Israelis say Nepalese caregivers seem to be the best compared to those we are getting from other countries in South Asia and elsewhere. The quality of Nepalese caregivers is excellent as they become the members of the family. They adjust with the family. The image of Nepalese caregivers is so positive that they are asking for more Nepalese caregivers. I can tell you Nepalese caregivers in Israel are earning more than a Nepali working in other countries in the Middle East. We are so thankful for their services. There are lots of possibilities to increase the number.

Israel celebrated 70 years of Independence and 60 years of the Establishment of MASHAV with 'Wheelchairs of Hope', do you have any plan to support Nepal’s people with disability in future as well?

This is one of the initiatives of the Embassy of Israel. Usually most of the cases, we as well as other embassies host national day reception in hotels with formal programs. However, we have decided to use the national receptions budget for humanitarian causes making children with disabilities happy with wheelchairs. We hope that such humanitarian works help further strengthen relations between Nepal and Israel at the people to people level in the long term. For us these forty children will be enjoying with these wheelchairs for years from now. We thought it will be a rather better contribution to the needy people who may not be able to afford those chairs. Our Ministry accepted the Embassy's idea. Hope we will continue this kind of activities in the future too. There are so many humanitarian issues like disabilities, eye ailments, etc. etc. We hope the Embassy can contribute for more such noble works.</s>KATHMANDU: A landslide killed a woman and at least seven children in Nepal over the weekend as officials issued warnings on Monday of the risk of more landslides and flash floods due to torrential rain.

Working in the downpour, rescuers in Bheri town, about 310-km west of capital Kathmandu, were still searching for a missing boy, having pulled out one survivor. "Army and police personnel are digging with shovels through mud for a 12-year-old boy who is missing" Krishna Prasad Khatiwada, a senior government official in Bheri, told Reuters by phone.

The dead children were aged between three and eleven years. Flash floods and landslides in the June-September monsoon season are common in mostly mountainous Nepal, home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains including Mount Everest.</s>Kathmandu, 7 August: Landslides triggered by heavy rains killed scores of people across the country in a week. About two dozen people were killed in Jajarkot, Rasuwa, Bhaktapur and other districts in the landslips and floods caused by heavy rains.

The low land areas in Bhaktapur got inundated twice this week killing a teenager on Monday.

Rajesh Shrestha, 17, died after being swept away by the swollen Hanumante River on Monday.

Shrestha’s body was found in the river near the Dr. Ewamura Hospital.

The incessant rainfall since Saturday night submerged human settlement residing around the low land area in Bhaktapur and Kathmandu have affected the most even on Monday.

Especially, floods occur in Hanumante of Bhaktapur and Bagmati and Manohara of Kathmandu affected locals residing near these rivers.

Radhe Radhe, Sallaghari, Thimi and Sagbari in Bhaktapur submerged due to increased water level in the Hanumante triggered by continuous rains since Saturday.

The Hanumanet had also entered in the residence in Radhe Radhe, Sallaghari, Thimi and Sagbari on Sunday.

Floods also affected life in Dang, where a moving bus was swept away by floods, and Banke.</s>A 25-year-old woman and her three children, all girls aged between 3 and 10, died when a landslide triggered by monsoon rains crushed their home in Jajarkot district, police inspector Indrajit Sunar said.

Police rescued the woman’s 28-year-old husband, who is being treated in a local hospital.

The family had rented rooms in a traditional house in Khalanga, the district’s main town, according to the police officer.

“Their landlord’s 8-year-old daughter was also killed,” he said.

Four children aged between 10 and 12 had gone missing in their neighbour’s house, he added.

The monsoon in Nepal, which lasts from June to September, causes disastrous landslides and flooding every year, killing hundreds of people.</s>Digital Transformation is a significant change that is happening globally and its implementation is mandatory for industrial revolution in Nepal. With digital being the cornerstone to development and sustainable growth, connecting people around the nation with high-speed, affordable and easily accessible internet is imperative. With this prelude, Frost & Sullivan and The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MoCIT) organized a leadership conclave, “Digital Nepal Conference ” in Kathmandu.The theme for this year’s Digital Nepal Conference was “Prosperous Nepal and Happy Nepalis” aimed at accomplishing and prioritizing imperatives such as job creation, acceleration of growth, connected citizens, Smart Cities, affordable and accessible healthcare.Frost & Sullivan is honored to be associated with MoCIT Nepal. Embarking the journey toward digital innovation, Mahendra Man Gurung, Secretary at MoCIT said, “Nepal has been deploying technology in various sectors and the plan to launch digitized national id is one of the examples.”This conference witnessed top industry thought leaders and bureaucrats from diverse verticals converge to discuss how various aspects of Nepal’s business ecosystem can flourish by leveraging "digital" and how "digital" can create an inclusive society, a conducive environment for prosperity, and so on. There were several keynote perspectives, panel discussions, and think tank sessions on digital and business transformation across sectors. The experts addressed various opportunities and challenges on convergence of Business Functions, Digital Ecosystems, and New Business Models.Talking about the first key step to build a Digital Nepal, Aroop Zutshi , Global President and Managing Partner at Frost & Sullivan said, “We were in an industrial age where growth was linear. We are now moving into the digital era, where growth is expected to be exponential and Nepal, as a country, is also ready to accept this change. These changes will bring in opportunities for countries such as Nepal to move up the chain at a rapid pace. Nepali citizens, especially the youth, can play active role in leading the development of the country, whereby Nepal can catapult into the digital era without having to pass through all the phases of economic growth.”With an elite line-up of speakers, the Digital Nepal Conference also provided insights on innovative, futuristic and visionary thinking to embrace innovative technologies to achieve robust economic growth. Key topics discussed included insights on how Nepal can digitally re-imagine businesses across industries, such as:1) Building an Inclusive Economy – Unleashing the power of Digital2) Creating a Conducive Environment for Prosperity and Business Investment3) Harnessing the Potential of Youth and their role in Nation Building4) Opportunities & Challenges in Enabling Finance inclusion in Nepal Digital- How has it helped improve financial inclusion in society?The summit was thought-provoking, unscripted, and had candid industry think tanks, discussing pertinent issues driving Nepal’s future. Frost & Sullivan also recognized Nepal’s 10 most inspiring companies at the Inspiring Stories of Digital Nepal, 2018 Gala.Source: Businesswire</s>Minister for Foreign Affairs, Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said that Nepal has already internalized the SDGs in its policies and programs and is working towards integrating them at local levels, which will necessitate support from all stakeholders—domestic and international.

Launching the Centre, SAWTEE Centre for Sustainable Development, today in Kathmandu, minister Gyawali said that Nepal remains committed to achieve these goals before 2030.

“Building on our experience and relative success in the implementation of MDGs, the Government of Nepal has fully internalized the SDGs into the national policies and plans. It is imperative now to mainstream and integrate them in the provincial and local level plans and programs. We were the first country to prepare national plan of action for SDGs. Nepal participated in Voluntary National Review at the High Level Political Forum last year and we are preparing for the next year's review of the progress after 4 years of the SDGs' adoption,” said Minister Gyawali.

“Implementation of SDGs is critical for Nepal’s ambition of graduating from the LDC status. Progress in SDGs can contribute for smooth and sustainable graduation as we endeavor to raise our performance in income criteria,” said Minister Gyawali.

Chaired by Dr. Posh Raj Pandey, leader of center Gyan Chandra Acharya, leader of center, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations; former High Representative for Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS); and former Foreign Secretary of Nepal sad that the Centre engages economists, development experts, policy analysts and academics, among other stakeholders, from within and outside Nepal.

South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE) launched SAWTEE Centre for Sustainable Development in order to promote monitor inclusive and sustainable development.

The Centre launched will initially focus on economic transformation in line with the Sustainable Development Goals’ principles of inclusiveness, equity, sustainability, gender mainstreaming, multi-stakeholder approach, good governance and global partnership while also looking at all SDGs in an integrated manner, according to former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya, who will be leading the Centre.

During the event, Dr.Prakash Saran Mahat, former foreign minister emphasized that Nepal’s constitution envisages sustainable and inclusive development, however, the goals could be obtained only through rule-based implementation of these laws and rights.

According to a pres release issued by SAWTEE, the Centre will bring together politics, policies and expertise devoid of ideological content and material interest while fully adhering to scientific approach and ensuring non-partisan research, pointed out Dr. Posh Raj Pandey, chairman of SAWTEE during the event.

He added that the activities of the Centre will contribute not only in existing issues and policies but will also provide alternate ideas to decision makers.

SAWTEE Centre for Sustainable Development (SAWTEE-CSD) has been established to promote and monitor inclusive and sustainable development in Nepal. It is an independent, non-partisan research and advocacy institution.

While the government has to take a lead role in the development of a country, it cannot deliver it alone. A multi-stakeholder approach is key to success. In this spirit, the Centre seeks to play the role of a catalyst and contribute—through research, analysis, dialogue and advocacy—to the country’s accelerated development. The accent will be on structural transformation and job creation, also envisioned by SDGs. The fundamental essence of these goals—an integrated, holistic and multi-stakeholder approach, sustainability, gender mainstreaming, leaving no one behind, and global partnership—will guide the Centre’s activities.

The Centre will be collaborating with all stakeholders in carrying out its activities, including political leaders, civil servants, the private sector, development partners, experts, the academia and beneficiaries.

The Centre aims to pursue a bottom-up approach and contribute to developing a coherent national strategy for the structural transformation of Nepal’s economy that is people-centred and sustainable. Nepal’s adoption of a federal, democratic and republican structure warrants this as all the constituent federal units are responsible for economic development and related activities.

Nepal is a least developed, landlocked and post-conflict country. Global support and partnership plays a critical role in its development efforts. The Centre seeks to aid the national leadership in its development efforts, while enabling an enhanced, meaningful and comprehensive global partnership in the spirit of mutual accountability. The Centre also aims to advance regional cooperation among South Asian nations and beyond in their collective pursuit of sustainable development. This is necessitated by Nepal’s geographic location, its role in the creation and promotion of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), its membership in other sub-regional and inter-regional groupings. The regional partnership is part and parcel of the global partnership, as envisioned by SDGs.
Landslides triggered by floods in Nepal kill nine people.