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The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) reportedly dispatched 30 warplanes to the vicinity of the island of Taiwan on Monday, the same day a US senator arrived on the island for a surprise visit, and also at the same time the US Navy was holding dual carrier drills not far away from the region, Global Times reported.

With most of the aircraft involved being fighter jets, the PLA practiced the seizure of air superiority and aerial strikes in a simulation of reunification-by-force, thus warning the parties involved in the US-Taiwan collusion that the PLA has the capacity to launch a lightning-quick assault that would end the Taiwan question once and for all when necessary, experts said on Tuesday.

The 30 PLA warplanes featured in the mission were two KJ-500 early warning aircraft, four Y-8 electronic intelligence aircraft, a Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft, a Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft, six J-16 fighter jets, eight J-11 fighter jets, four J-10 fighter jets, two Su-35 fighter jets and two Su-30 fighter jets. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s self-proclaimed southwest air defense identification zone between the Dongsha Islands and the Taiwan island on Monday, said Taiwan’s defense authority on Monday.@, according to Global Times.

This was the second largest PLA aircraft activity in 2022, after 39 sorties on January 23. It also marked the first time in a long period that the PLA Air Force’s Su-35 has made a public reappearance, observers said.

On the same day, US Senator Tammy Duckworth and her delegation arrived on the island of Taiwan for a surprise three-day visit, media on the island reported. Duckworth is reportedly scheduled to meet with Taiwan’s regional leader Tsai Ing-wen and others on Tuesday.

The PLA warplane activities also came shortly after two US aircraft carriers, the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Ronald Reagan, reportedly held drills on Saturday and Sunday in waters to the southeast of Okinawa, a strategic location analysts said is a main maritime battlefield if the US militarily intervenes in a possible conflict across the Taiwan Straits.

While the PLA aircraft sorties are part of the regular drills, they are also pointed at Taiwan secessionists and external interference forces like the US, analysts said.

Most of the PLA warplanes dispatched in the drills were fighter jets, and the rest were special-mission aircraft. This means the PLA likely rehearsed the seizure of air superiority from the island’s air force and the US carrier-borne aviation force, a Beijing-based military expert told the Global Times on Tuesday, requesting anonymity, Global Times reported.

Some of the fighter jets tend to being pure air superiority fighters, like the J-11 and the Su-35, while some others tend to being more of a multi-role type that can also launch attacks on ground and maritime targets, like the J-16 and the Su-30, the expert said. The expert noted that the special-mission aircraft can provide command and control as well as intelligence and electronic warfare support.

All types of aircraft will join combat, and that is why they all need to train in drills, the expert said.

It is possible that Taiwan’s defense authority failed to identify all PLA aircraft under strong electronic interference or because of stealth capabilities from warplanes like the J-20, observers said.

Flight data released by Taiwan showed that the PLA likely practiced several waves of non-stop aerial strikes, Zheng Jian, director of the National Taiwan Studies Association and chair professor at the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Drills like this tell the island that when the PLA makes a real move, it will likely be a sudden attack that can put an end to the Taiwan question once and for all, Zheng said. If and when that happens, there would be even more warplanes, in addition to forces on the ground, at sea and in cyberspace, he said, according to Global Times.

The PLA staged in May at least two more large-scale drills around the island of Taiwan targeting collusive US-Taiwan activities, according to official announcements made by the PLA.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 7. 19 points to close at 2,130. 73 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 1.16 points to close at 414. 47 points.

A total of 3, 020, 067 units of the shares of 227 companies were traded for Rs 1. 07 billion.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalisation stood at Rs 3.03 trillion.

The Finance Ministry has decided to reduce the infrastructure tax levied on petrol and diesel.

The Ministry has decided to slash the infrastructure tax collected for the Budhigandaki Hydropower Project after the people from various walks of life critized the fuel price hike.

The government had been levying the infrastructure tax on diesel and petrol at the rape of Rs 10.

The price of petrol is Rs 180 and the diesel and kerosene is 163.

The Finance Minister on Tuesday had sent a letter to the Industry Ministry to reduce the tax.

Two persons died in a landslide at Nundhaki in Chainpur Municipality-1 of Sankhuwasabha district on Wednesday.

The deceased have been identified as Raj Kumar Rai (35) of Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City-6, Sunsari and Him Bahadur Magar (20) of Chaudandigadhi Municipality-6, Udayapur. 

Police Inspector Milan Basnet said that the two workers were buried to death in a dry landslide while constructing the Chainpur-Nundhaki road section at around 11 am today.

The Buddha Air plane returned to Kathmandu immediately after taking off from the Tribhuvan International Airport on Wednesday.

The aircraft, which had left for Bhadrapur this morning, returned to Kathmandu after witnessing a problem in one of the rear wheels.

Teknath Sitaula, spokesperson at the Civil Aviation Office in Tribhuvan International Airport, said that the plane returned to Kathmandu after witnessing a problem in one of the rear wheels.

The aircraft, which had left for Bhadrapur at 10: 43 am, returned to Kathmandu at 11:06 am.

There were 73 people including crew members on board the aircraft.

Earlier, a Tara Air aircraft with call sign 9N-AET, which had gone missing since Sunday, was found crashed on Monday morning. The wreckage of the aircraft was found scattered at Sanosware in Mustang district this morning.

There were 22 people including two German nationals, four Indians and 13 Nepali nationals on board the ill-fated aircraft when the incident occurred. No one survived the incident.

A person died in a motorbike accident in Dhankuta Municipality-6 of Dhankuta.

According to the District Police Office, Dhankuta, the deceased has been identified as Puran Rai (24) of Khandbari Municipality-10, Sankhuwasabha currently residing at a rented room in Dhankuta Municipality-6.

The incident occurred when the two-wheeler (Me 6 Pa 1756) was heading towards Dharan from Dhankuta.

Rai, who was found critically injured at around 2 am today, was rushed to a hospital but doctors pronounced him dead on arrival, DSP Chiranjivi Dahal of the District Police Office, Dhankuta said.

Police said that they are looking into the incident.

Police have arrested an Indian national in possession of 4 kg silver ornaments from Itabhatta, Bodebasain Municipality-9 of Saptari.

The arrestee has been identified as Basista Chaudhary (22) of Kamat Tole, Khutaunagram Panchayat-11, Madhubani district, India.

DSP Pradeep Khadka of the Armed Police Force (APF) said that a patrol team arrested Chaudhary with the ornaments during the security check.

The market price of the confiscated silver is around 400, 000.

Singer-composer KK, whose real name was Krishnakumar Kunnath, died in Kolkata on Tuesday at the age of 53. He was in the city for a two-day concert, and took ill during an event at Nazrul Mancha. “He was brought dead to the hospital around 10 pm,” said a CMRI hospital staff. He died of a suspected heart attack, The Indian Express reported.

According to sources, KK felt unwellduring the concert. He complained of uneasiness during the interval but performed till the end of the event. Post that, he was taken to a five-star hotel in Esplanade, where his health deteriorated, and he died before he could reach the hospital. The concert had been organised on behalf of Gurudas College. The singer was in the city for a two-day event. KK also posted photos from the concert hours before his death. “Pulsating gig tonight at Nazrul Mancha. Vivekananda College !! Love you all,” he wrote.

KK is survived by his wife and two children. West Bengal Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Arup Biswas, who rushed to the hospital immediately after KK’s death, told IANS that the body has been sent for post-mortem. “His family members have been informed. They are likely to reach Kolkata early on Wednesday morning,” he said, according The Indian Express.

As soon as the news of his death broke, people from all walks of life paid tribute. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Saddened by the untimely demise of noted singer Krishnakumar Kunnath popularly known as KK. His songs reflected a wide range of emotions as struck a chord with people of all age groups. We will always remember him through his songs. Condolences to his family and fans. Om Shanti.”