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A Bangladeshi plane with 67 passengers on board crashed near Kathmandu airport Monday as it was coming in to land, officials said, as firefighters battled to extinguish the burning wreckage and rescue passengers.

Plumes of black smoke could be seen rising from the football pitch where the plane crashed, to the east of the runway at Nepal's only international airport, in the capital Kathmandu.

"There were 67 passengers and 4 crew members" aboard the plane, said airport spokesman Prem Nath Thakur.

"So far 20 injured have been taken to the hospital. Police and army are trying to cut apart the plane to rescue others," he added.

AFP

Update: 

There were 33 Nepalis on board the aircraft, according to TIA officials. Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has visited the airport following the crash and took stock of the situation.

The real reason for the crash is yet to be ascertained. Eyewitness accounts suggest the crash may have been caused in the course of an aborted landing. The airport has been indefinitely closed.

Update: 

46 people are now confirmed dead. Of them, at least 13 are Nepali nationals.

The TIA that had been shut down earlier has been opened, according to Rastriya Samachar Samiti.  

For the names of all those on board the aircraft go to:

http://annapurnapost.com/news-details/93119

‘Udhyami Nepal’, a business guide portal for Nepali entrepre­neurs, was launched this week by Bikas Udhyami in partnership with the National Youth Coun­cil. The portal aims to provide aspiring and existing entrepre­neurs business information and to connect skilled workers to companies.

The launch program, attended by Vice-Chairman of National Youth Council Madhav Dhungel, also saw the launch of an e-book titled, ‘Social Entrepreneurship in Nepal: Stories of Young Entre­preneurs Changing the Way Busi­ness is Done.’  

Growth Sellers is organizing its annual HR Meet on March 19 and 20. With the ultimate goal of developing and empowering human capital, the theme of the event is ‘HR can change, HR can drive’. The event looks to empha­size the importance of human resources to bring about a posi­tive change in the organization.

The two-day conference will feature prominent international and domestic speakers speaking on HR issues. Tanaya Mishra, managing director of HR of Accenture, and NS Iyer, former HR head of Asian Paints Ltd (India), are the keynote speak­ers, who will be delivering their sessions on ‘The Design Think­ing Way’ and ‘Employee Engage­ment’ respectively.  

Century Commercial Bank Ltd (CCBL) has this week signed an agreement with Sanima Life Insurance (SLI) for ‘Bancassurance’ services.Jeevan Bhattarai, acting chief executive officer of CCBL, and Keshav Raj KC, deputy managing director of SLI, signed the pact.The agreement enables CCBL to sell life insurance policies to its customer from its branches across the country under the arrangement with SLI, according to a press release.  

Samsung Electronics has introduced a new bun­dling offer for its Samsung Galaxy Note 8 smartphone.Customers purchasing the smartphone will now get a Samsung Bottle Speaker, breakage insurance for eight months from Shikhar Insurance and 16GB 4G data, 2GB every month for eight months, from Ncell, in the bundle.Customers also have an option of easy EMI, which is being provided by various partner banks.  

Suzuki Motorcycles Nepal has entered the 150cc cruiser segment with the Intuder and has priced it at Rs 309,900. The 155cc Intruder uses the same mechanical and underpinnings as the Suzuki Gixxer. Features include standard ABS, a fully digital instrumenta­tion panel and SEP engine with superior riding performance. The Intruder which carries forward the company’s Intruder lineage gets flowing character lines, big shrouds and a twin exhaust in a low and long styling comple­mented with a long wheelbase and a low seat. The motorcycle is available in two colors—Metallic Oort/Metallic Matt Black No 2, and Glass Sparkle Black/Metallic Matt Titanium Silver.

Today, the Tamang people live mostly along the Nepal-Tibetan border. They still suffer from a legacy of decades of marginal­ization from Kathmandu. To make matters worse, the Tamang people of Langtang Valley were among the hardest hit by the April 2015 earthquake. Apart from losing many loved ones, the Tamang people of Langtang Valley do not even have proper homes to live in. Life is made more difficult due to inadequate access to healthcare, work, tech­nology and schools. The young ones are moving to Kathmandu for work, leaving an aged population behind. The Tamangs of Langtang are truly a dying breed.

In late February, I set out with my colleague, Victoria Garcia, to the town of Mundu in Langtang Valley to talk to the Tamang people to better understand their hardships.

When we got there, we realized that the biggest problem was not any one of the issues previously mentioned, but rather what all these issues together produced: a loss of hope.

As we came to understand their issues and culture better, we thought of some action that can be taken to revive their lives again. First, we must reinforce these mod­ern buildings with their traditional architecture, and in return, con­tribute to preserving the Tamang culture. We must also teach them the skills necessary to build back their communities and find gainful employment.

Further, we must encourage the younger generation to return from Kathmandu to help, as the elders of villages like Mundu cannot do this alone. Moreover, one major aspect of rebuilding the resilience of this area and culture is the development of tourism. Before the earthquake, Langtang Valley was considered Nepal’s third main trekking site; now the industry is suffering in this area. Proper shel­ters must be built to house trekkers and awareness raised to revitalize this area and open it back to Nepal and to the world.

The Tamangs are as much a part of Nepal as any other people. They have a shared history and have con­tributed to the identity of Nepal as we know it. Nepal needs them as much as they need Nepal. The preservation of Tamang culture can begin with Mundu’s revitalization.

by Sudin KC

Washington, D.C. : Two stone sculptures dating back around 800 years that were sto­len from Nepal and taken to the United States will be repatriated, according to an agreement between officials of the two countries. An agree­ment to this effect was sighed between Daniel H. Weiss, Pres­ident of the New York-based Metropolitan Museum of Art and Consul General of Nepal in New York Madhu Marasini, amid a program in New York. Handing over stolen sculptures to their original owner follows the museum policy of not exhib­iting stolen arts. RSS