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With the goal of embodying transparency, impact, and commitment within the helicopter industry, Simrik Air has launched the inaugural edition of Helicopter Nepal.

It stands as the first and only magazine encompassing diverse dimensions related to helicopters.

“Our goal is to comprehensively showcase the achievements, ongoing efforts, future prospects, and challenges encountered in helicopter operations. Despite the significance of helicopters in Nepal, security challenges persist,” the Simrik Airlines, which has played an integral role in the establishment of the aviation sector, said in a statement.

“However, we are steadfast in our commitment to addressing these challenges with enhanced sophistication. We believe that Helicopter Nepal Magazine will serve as a vital platform for Safety Discussion and Risk Mitigation, ushering in a new era of safety awareness and preparedness,” the statement further reads.

Simrik Air said that featuring helicopter stories will boost the morale of employees and helicopter crews engaged in this industry. The Heli Tours section will serve as a valuable tool for promoting tourism in Nepal.

Ultimately, Helicopter Nepal will be an annual non-commercial publication, gathering news, perspectives, and topics relevant to helicopters. This magazine will play a pivotal role in fostering the growth of heli-tourism and advancing air safety standards, according to the statement.

A day before the formation of the provincial government, Nagarik Unmukti Party took action against one of its Province Assembly members.

The party, which has been dragged into controversy after the change in the ruling coalition, suspended Sudurpaschim Province Assembly member Ghanshyam Chaudhary.

Earlier, the party had also suspended Province Assembly member Indira Giri for violating the party directions.

Chaudhary and Giri were appointed as the ministers in the Kamal Bahadur Shah-led government.

Writing a letter to Sudurpaschim Province Speaker Bhim Bahadur Bhandari, Unmukti Party Chairperson Ranjita Shrestha informed that Province Assembly member Chaudhary has been suspended for three months.

In the letter, it has been mentioned that the party suspended Chaudhary for three months after he did not attend the important meeting despite calling for several times and the explanation furnished by him was also not satisfactory.

In the 53-member Sudurpaschim Province, the province Chief has given time till April 13 to the political parties to form the government after Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah resigned from his post on April 4.

The ACC Men's Premier Cup Cricket Championship is taking place in Oman from today. Nepal are playing against Malaysia under the Championship today itself.

This is the 10th international T-20 match between the two countries. The game is being played at the Al Amerat Cricket Ground in Muscat, the capital of Oman.

Malaysia have won only one match whereas Nepal became victorious in eight games. Ten teams are playing in this Championship to be held in T-20 format.

The teams have been divided into two groups. Nepal is in Group A, including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Bahrain, Cambodia, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are in Group B.

The team winning the Championship will qualify for the Asia Cup.

Hong Kong and Qatar will compete in another match of Group A scheduled for this afternoon. Nepal will play against Qatar tomorrow and against Hong Kong on April 15. Nepal's last match under the group stage will be against Saudi Arabia on April 16.

The Championship will run till April 21.

Rohit Kumar Paudel (Captain), Gulsan Jha, Karan KC, Pratis GC, Kushal Bhurtel, Sundeep Jora, Bibek Yadav, Abinash Bohara, Sompal Kami, Deependra Singh Airee, Lalit Rajbanshi, Kushal Malla, Aasif Sheikh and Anil Sah are in the Nepali team.

One among the three children injured in a forest fire at Tripurasundari Municipality-4 in Dolpa died.

Chief District Officer Tulasi Prasad Dahal informed that 10-year-old Sulas Budha died in the course of the treatment at the District Hospital in Dolpa.

He said preparations were being made to send the remaining two to Kathmandu for further treatment. The incident occurred when they had gone to the nearby community forest to collect mushrooms on Thursday morning.

They were rescued and taken to the district hospital in the evening.

Dr Akhanda Upadhyay said the injured could not be saved despite all possible efforts.

Tripurasundari Municipality has arranged a helicopter to take the injured children to Kathmandu for treatment, Chief Administrative Officer Jagdish Chandra Nepali said.

It may be noted that three of the four Nepal Army personnel who were injured while trying to douse a fire at Masta community forest at Thulibheri Municipality-4 in Dolpa district on Tuesday also lost their lives.

The main opposition party, the Nepali Congress, has been obstructing parliamentary meetings for the past few days demanding the formation of a parliamentary committee to probe the alleged involvement of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs in a cooperative fraud. However, ruling parties do not agree with the NC’s demand, stating that there is no solid evidence of the minister’s involvement in the misappropriation of cooperative funds. 

While political parties have every right to stage protests in the Parliament, they should never forget that rights come with responsibilities attached. In Nepal’s context, major parties have misused this right to protest all too often by holding the parliament hostage for fulfilling their petty interests. In essence, all major parties are responsible for not allowing a smooth, independent and effective functioning of the parliament. This practice seriously hampers the law-making process and deliberations on the people’s agendas.

A case in point: It has been a decade since Nepal formally adopted federalism, but dozens of laws are yet to be formulated, giving successive governments opportunities to rule through ordinances without parliamentary scrutiny. 

Therefore, it’s time for all major parties—the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and the CPN (Maoist Center)—to realize their mistakes and vow to never obstruct the parliament again by keeping in mind that such obstructions have never benefited them as they have to reach a compromise solution sooner than later.  Allowing the parliament to work independently is crucial, especially at a time when voices against the current political system are getting stronger and regressive parties are questioning the relevance of the current political system by pointing toward a dysfunctional parliament. 

The time has come for the parties to put an end to such obstructions once and for all—like they did with Nepal Bandh protests in view of tremendous hardships caused to the people—and allow the House to fulfill its duties, given that several urgent bills, including those related to the 2024 Nepal Investment Summit, remain pending in the House. 

A declining public trust toward the parliament resulting from the tendency of using the sovereign body to make or break a government and pursue various other petty interests should also act as a wake-up call for the main opposition and other parties to end such obstructions and get back to business. The sooner they do it, the better.

The Meteorological Forecasting Division under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has predicted that the weather will be partly cloudy in the hilly regions, including Koshi Province and fair in rest of the parts of the country.

It is due to the partial influence of westerly wind and local wind in the country, the Division claimed.

According to the Division, the weather will be partly cloudy in the hilly region and fair in the rest of the country this afternoon. Light rain with lightning is likely to occur at a few places of the hilly region of Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces and at one or two places of the rest of the hilly regions.

Light snowfall is also likely to occur at some places of the high hilly and mountainous regions. The weather will be partly cloudy in hilly regions, including Koshi Province tonight and fair in the rest of the part.

Light rain accompanied by lightning is predicted to occur at one or two places of the hilly regions of Koshi and Gandaki Provinces. Light snowfall is likely to occur at one or two places of the high hilly and mountainous regions of Koshi and Gandaki provinces.

According to a weather bulletin released by the Division this morning, there is a possibility of light snowfall at a few places of the high hilly and mountainous region of the country. 

The weather change is likely to partially affect daily life as well as agriculture, health, tourism, mountaineering, road and air transport in the region, the Division said, calling for adopting necessary alert measures.

Balkrishna Basnet, President of Press Council Nepal, has been honored with Himdamaru title. The award was conferred to Basnet by the Literary Journalist Association on Thursday.

He was honored for his contribution to the environment by studying and researching mountains and environment and informing people about saving the mountains through journalism. The association felicitated him for his studies on protecting the mountains, environment and the effects of climate change and producing a documentary on the impact of climate change on the Himalayan region. He was honored for his 25 years of dedication for protection of the mountains.

Senior literary figure Rochak Ghimire, senior artist Madan Das Shrestha and Mount Everest climber Tembachiri Sherpa honored Basnet with a certificate and a shawl.

Basnet after receiving the award requested that journalism should be focused on the protection of the mountains and the environment to save the earth. He has also suggested that the concerned bodies should be serious about the fact that the snow in the mountains of Nepal is decreasing because of climate change and this is damaging the entire tourism industry.

“If the mountains survive the water and tourism area remains. Foreigners come to see mountains and therefore we need to save the mountains,” Basnet said.

Ghimire praised Basnet for working for prosperity for a long time through the field of journalism.

Sherpa shared his experiences of working together with Basnet for the last 24 years. He recalled the days when Sherpa first climbed Mt Everest at the age of 14, when Basnet along with a management team had gone to the Everest Base Camp. 

Minister for Forests and Environment Nawal Kishor Sah Sudi has underscored on improving the national economy through the sustainable use of plants.

Addressing a program organized to mark the 64th Anniversary of the Department of Plant Resources and the 25th Plant Day today, he laid emphasis on boosting the economy by means of sustainable utilization of plant resources. The theme of the Anniversary is – 'Indigenous Plants for Local Prosperity'.

Minister Sudi described the plant resources as the backbone for the improvement of the national economy, stating that it is necessary to increase employment by boosting the economy through plant resources.

"Activities related to plant research have been pursued in spite of the limited means and resources. Contributions should be made towards augmenting the national economy by means of the sustainable utilization of plant resources, prioritizing the research activities," the Minister for Forests and Environment suggested.

Secretary at the Ministry, Dr Deepak Kumar Kharal, stressed on reinforcing the economic income and generating the employment opportunities from the plant resources. He pointed out the need of improving the economy by means of promoting medicinal herbs.

Department Director-General Dr Sanjiv Kumar Rai underscored on increasing investment in human resource development in the plant resources research and processing sectors. He stated that since its establishment the Department has dedicated itself to building an economically prosperous nation through identification of plant resources and their utilization, developing the technology for the same. 

Prof Dr Lokesh Ratna Shakya was honored with the 'National Plant Resources Award' in recognition of his contribution to the conservation and promotion of plant resources through long involvement and association in the study, research and teaching of plant resources science in Nepal.

Dr Nirmala Pradhan who was the recipient of the 'National Plant Resources Award -2079 BS' also spoke on the theme of this year's National Plant Resources Day.

On the occasion, Ministry Secretary Kharal launched a book entitled 'Algal Flora of Nepal, Volume 2', co-authored by Prof Dr Shiva Kumar Rai and Sajita Dhakal, and published by the Department's National Herbarium and Plant Laboratory Godavari.