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Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is presently on the five-day official visit to Thailand, beginning on April 1 has said the visit has contributed to taking the bilateral relations to a new height.

Speaking at a joint press conference held after the bilateral meeting between the Prime Minister and his counterpart Paetongtarn Shinawatra today, the Prime Minister expressed his belief with the visit, the level of mutual cooperation between the two countries in the areas of culture, tourism, education and energy will further increase in the days to come.

Highlighting on the 65-year-long diplomatic ties between Nepal and Thailand, Prime Minister Oli said the meeting focused on further expanding the bilateral ties including diplomatic and the people-to-people relations. 

He expressed his hope that Nepal's hospitality business and air services would be the priorities of Thailand for its future investment and trade.  "Nepal and Thailand share deeper agricultural, trade, tourism and cultural relations. I call on the business community in Thailand to invest in Nepal," the Prime Minister said.

"Nepal and Thailand have cordial trade and tourism relations. Now, we will work together on an international agenda including climate change," he added.

He said that Thai Prime Minister Shinawatra has been invited to visit Nepal and it will be implemented soon.

The Prime Minister arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday, leading the 21-member entourage to the Sixth Summit of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation. He is the first Prime Minister of Nepal to visit Thailand.

Despite long-standing friendly relations between Nepal and Thailand, the official visit by the Head of Government of Nepal to Thailand had not taken place before.

The then Prime Minister of Thailand Prem Tinsulanonda had visited Nepal in 1983. 

The Prime Minister's entourage includes his spouse Radhika Shakya, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Arzu Rana Deuba, Bishnu Prasad Rimal, the Chief Political Advisor to the Prime Minister, Dr Yuba Raj Khatiwada, Chief Secretary Ek Narayan Aryal and Foreign Ministry's Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai among others.

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) gained 25.31 points to close at 2,701.48 points on Wednesday.

Similarly, the sensitive index surged by 1.59 points to close at 448. 28 points.

A total of 10,442,683-unit shares of 318 companies were traded for Rs 5. 54 billion.

Meanwhile, Bishal Bazar Company Limited (BBC) and Central Finance Co. Ltd. (CFCL) were the top gainers today, with their price surging by 10. 00 percent.

Likewise, Bottlers Nepal (Balaju) Limited (BNL) was the top loser as its price fell by 10.00 percent.

At the end of the day, total market capitalization stood at Rs 4. 48 trillion.

A clash broke out between pro-royalists and security personnel in Sinamangal on Friday, prompting the police to fire tear gas to disperse the protesters. The protesters picked up the tear gas canisters and hurled them toward the Nepal Oil Corporation depot.

The area surrounding the depot was engulfed in smoke. The facility was spared from disaster only because it stored aviation fuel (ATF), Nepal Oil Corporation’s Aviation Fuel Depot Chief Engineer, Pradeep Kumar Yadav, told Annapurna. “Had it been petrol, the depot would have been destroyed.”

Aviation fuel is less flammable than petrol, similar to kerosene, which is why the depot remained safe, Yadav explained. However, the incident has once again raised concerns about the safety of the aviation fuel depot in Sinamangal. “If fire had been thrown toward the depot during Friday’s protest, Tribhuvan International Airport could have been devastated,” said Gyanendra Bhul, Information Officer at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN). Calling the depot a ‘hazard,’ Bhul emphasized the high risk of an accident.

The Sinamangal aviation fuel depot, nearly 50 years old, has a storage capacity of 7,660 kiloliters. Currently, it distributes 400 kiloliters of aviation fuel daily. The facility includes three storage tanks of 1,600 kiloliters, three of 760 kiloliters, and eight of 70 kiloliters. According to Yadav, the depot has the capacity to store aviation fuel for about a month. However, its location within a sensitive area has become a growing concern.

Local residents, highway authorities, and the aviation sector have long voiced their worries about the depot’s location. In response, the Cabinet, in a meeting on 12 Aug 2024, directed that the aviation fuel depot be relocated to a safer and more suitable site within a year.

Meanwhile, CAAN is expanding and upgrading Tribhuvan International Airport, including the construction of a parallel taxiway to improve access to the main runway. According to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards and CAAN’s master plan, the distance between the runway centerline and the taxiway should be 172.5 meters. However, to build the taxiway, nearly half of the Nepal Oil Corporation’s aviation fuel depot must be removed. Regulations dictate that such hazardous storage facilities should not be placed within 75 meters of the airport runway.

“This area is classified as a sensitive zone,” said Bhul. “Flammable depots cannot be located within 150 meters on either side of the runway.” CAAN has repeatedly urged the Oil Corporation to relocate the depot, but the corporation has cited budgetary constraints and a lack of available land as obstacles.

Depot Chief Engineer Yadav acknowledged that relocation is the only viable option. “A depot this close to the airport runway and a major highway is not safe in any way. The government should learn from Friday’s protest and the potential damage it could have caused. This is a serious challenge,” he said.

Following the government’s directive last August, the relocation process has begun. CAAN has allocated 50 ropanis of land in Guhyeshwari, near the Nepal Army Golf Course, northwest of the airport runway, for the new depot. Bhul confirmed that the land transfer to the Oil Corporation has been completed. The estimated cost of the project is around Rs 6bn.

A detailed project report (DPR) is currently being prepared under an agreement signed with Pulchowk Engineering last December, with completion expected within five months. Yadav estimated that the DPR will take about two more months to finalize. The new depot in Guhyeshwari will feature five storage tanks with a capacity of 3,000 kiloliters. An agreement has been reached between the concerned authorities to construct the facility using state-of-the-art technology.

The death toll from the Myanmar earthquakes neared 2,900, while 72 people remain missing in Thailand.

As reported by Myanmar's State Administration Council communications team, the death toll is 2,886, with 4,639 injured and 373 still missing, Xinhua News reported.
In neighboring Thailand, 72 people remain missing in Bangkok, where the search for bodies continues at the site of the collapsed State Audit Office tower block.

Two deadly earthquakes with magnitudes 7.7 and 6.4 shook Myanmar and Thailand last Friday, with the epicenter in the Sagaing region, which apparently experienced the worst damage.
Overnight, Thai and international rescue crews took turns using sniffer dogs and heavy machinery to raise massive concrete blocks to reach the missing people.

A rescue official acknowledged that the teams are restricted in the number of heavy machines they can deploy simultaneously, as doing so could risk shifting large, buried debris.

Around 100 personnel were inside the State Audit Office tower building in Bangkok when it fell on Friday due to tremors from a strong earthquake near Myanmar's Mandalay area.
Several countries provided aid to Myanmar in response to the earthquakes. Japan announced on Wednesday that it was ready to pay $6 million in emergency grants to earthquake victims.

The government has also sent a team of Nepal Army with medical relief after the devastating earthquake in Myanmar last week caused massive loss of human lives.

A person died due to altitude sickness at the Base Camp of Mt Everest.

The District Police Office, Solukhumbu identified the deceased as 55-year-old Lanima Sherpa of Gaurishankar Rural Municipality-9, Dolakha district.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police Dwarika Prasad Ghimire, Sherpa was working at the Base Camp in Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality-4 of the district.

DSP Ghimire said that Sherpa, who fell ill at 7.30 pm on March 30, died at Thukla the next day while being taken to Khumjung Health Post by the horse.

The price of gold has dropped by Rs 600 per tola in the domestic market on Wednesday.

According to the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers' Association, the gold is being traded at Rs 179,100 per tola today. It was Rs 179,700 per tola on Tuesday.

Similarly, the price of silver has also dropped by Rs 15 per tola and is being traded at Rs 2,020 per tola today.

The price of gold in the international market is USD 3,115 US per ounce today, according to the Federation.

Nepal and Thailand have signed two separate Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) related to tourism and culture.

The MoUs were signed in the presence of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and his Thai counterpart Paetongtran Shinawatra.

PM Oli is currently on an official visit to Thailand.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Arzu Rana Deuba signed on the MoUs on behalf Nepal while Minister of Culture Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol signed the MoU related to culture and Minister of Tourism and Sports Sorawong Thienthong the MoU related to tourism cooperation on behalf of Thailand.

Similarly, various MoUs in the non-government sector and related to health, education, and trade and commerce were signed in the witness of the two Prime Ministers.

PM Oli arrived here on Tuesday in connection with an official visit to Thailand and to participate in the Sixth BIMSTEC Summit, leading a Nepali delegation.

Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) have been signed for undertaking 10 High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs) in Nepal under the grant assistance of Government of India in Education, Health, and Culture Sectors at a total cost of Rs 625 million.

The Embassy of India, Kathmandu and the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, Government of Nepal and Project Implementing Agencies of Government of Nepal signed the MoUs on Tuesday, the Embassy of India, Kathmandu stated in a press release.

These 10 projects include construction of Sanba Secondary School, Mikuwa Khola Rural Municipality, Taplejung, Koshi Province; construction of Ngagyur Nyngma Palyul Dhongag Chholing Monastery, Likhu-Pike Rural Municipality, Solukhumbu, Koshi Province;  construction of Nepal-Bharat Maitri E Library at Shree Rastriya Primary School, Bharatpur Metropolitan City, Chitwan, Bagmati Province;  construction of Health Post Building, Ward-3, Indrawati Rural Municipality, Sindhupalchowk, Bagmati Province; and construction of Health Post Building, Ward-6, Indrawati Rural Municipality, Sindhupalchowk, Bagmati Province.

Similarly, MoUs were also signed for construction of Ninyukharka Secondary School, Dhurkot Rural Municipality, Gulmi, Lumbini Province; construction of Naya Gaun Secondary School Building, Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City, Rupandehi, Lumbini Province; construction of Nepal-Bharat Maitri Hospital Building, Chankheli Rural Municipality, Humla, Karnali Province; construction of Siddhanath Secondary School, Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City, Kailali, Sudurpashchim Province; and construction of Shree Satyavadi Secondary School Admin and  Hostel Buildings, Jayaprithivi Municipality, Bajhang, Sudurpashchim Province.

These HICDPs shall be implemented through Local authorities of Government of Nepal i.e., Metropolitan City, Sub-Metropolitan City, Municipalities and Rural Municipalities, according to the Embassy of India.

The implementation of these projects will help provide better educational, healthcare and cultural facilities to the people of Nepal.

Since 2003, India has taken up over 573 HICDPs in Nepal, including the 10 projects whose MoUs have been signed today, and has completed 495 projects in the areas of education, health, road and bridges, river training, drinking water, electrification,  irrigation, culture, social welfare and creation of other public utilities across all 7 provinces of Nepal at the grassroot level. The remaining projects are ongoing at different stages.