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Nearly 66 percent of airline companies licensed by the government in over seven decades of Nepal’s aviation history have failed.

Experts say financial risks are the major reasons behind the high rate of airline failures in Nepal.

Nepal Airlines Corporation started operations as the national flag carrier on 1 July 1958. Many private companies came up in the Nepali sky after the government adopted a liberal market policy in the 1990s. But many of them couldn’t stay airborne for a long time. According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), 21 airline companies are currently in operation. An airline must have at least three aircraft to start commercial flights in Nepal.

Air service is considered an attractive business. CAAN officials say that having more attraction and competition in this business is good. However, they add that airline companies are shutting down as their financial situation weakens. Gyanendra Bhul, information officer of CAAN, says many airline companies are shutting down due to air accidents and a lack of financial stability. “People find the airline business attractive and pour their money in, but after one or two accidents, they don’t have financial backup to sustain their business. As a result, the businesses fold,” he added.

Some say some airline businesses are failing due to a lack of market study and necessary preparation. Aviation expert Achyut Raj Pahadi says sufficient resources and a qualified workforce are needed for airlines to succeed. “Many companies have shut down because the promoters didn't have good financial backing. Even companies doing well have failed. This is a failure in financial management,” Pahadi added.

Former Senior Captain KB Limbu said many people are starting a business feeling that they would earn good money in a short time. “The aviation sector is not a business; it's an industry in itself. One needs to have strong financial backing, as well as a qualified workforce and necessary parts in stock,” he said, adding: “A lack of long-term planning and a business plan is one of the reasons behind the increasing failure of airline companies in Nepal.”

Former General Manager of Nepal Airlines Corporation, Dim Prasad Poudel, said a lack of a business plan is one of the reasons why Nepali airline companies aren’t sustainable. “Airline companies are failing also because of the involvement of inexperienced people in this business, a decrease in tourist footfall, and inexperienced management,” he added.

He said the government should conduct a study on the number of passengers, how many aircraft can be added in the next five years, how many companies will be sustainable, etc. “We have the tendency of providing a license whenever people apply,” he added.

Former Tourism Secretary Kedar Bahadur Adhikari said the ministry evaluates the business plan, financial statement, type of aircraft, and other technical aspects before issuing a license.

Experts, however, say the ministry doesn’t study whether the company will be viable and how far it can go financially, or whether it can bear the financial risk.

“It is difficult for the companies to survive due to the short runways in the airports. Big aircraft can’t land in many remote airstrips. As a result, they have to operate small aircraft with fewer seats. It hits their profitability,” Adhikari said. Aviation expert Pahadi said CAAN should pay attention as airline companies are failing because of financial risks. “Only the companies that have resources to finance operations for at least a year should be awarded a license,” he added. However, Bhul said CAAN doesn't have any information about the financial aspects of the company. “Our duty is to look after safety and technical aspects only,” he added.

According to CAAN, 21 airline companies have 104 aircraft, including helicopters at present. However, out of 13 aircraft of Nepal Airlines, only six - two Twin Otters, two Airbus A320s, and two Airbus A330s—are in operation. Private carrier Buddha Air has the highest number of aircraft in Nepal. Buddha is a dominant player in the domestic market. Guna Airlines has been grounded by CAAN.

Airline licensing process

Companies interested in starting an aviation business will have to submit their business plan as well as a technical and administration report to the ministry for a permit. After receiving the application, the ministry forms an evaluation committee led by a joint secretary. After evaluating the documents, the committee provides a provisional permit. Then the company will have to apply to the CAAN for an Air Operator Certificate (AOC).

The application process includes five stages - pre-application phase, formal application phase, document evaluation phase, demonstration and inspection phase, and certification phase.

Washington: Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the diplomat with the thick glasses and gravelly voice who dominated foreign policy as the United States extricated itself from Vietnam and broke down barriers with China, died Wednesday, his consulting firm said. He was 100.

With his gruff yet commanding presence and behind-the-scenes manipulation of power, Kissinger exerted uncommon influence on global affairs under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, earning both vilification and the Nobel Peace Prize. Decades later, his name still provoked impassioned debate over foreign policy landmarks long past.

Kissinger’s power grew during the turmoil of Watergate, when the politically attuned diplomat assumed a role akin to co-president to the weakened Nixon.

“No doubt my vanity was piqued,” Kissinger later wrote of his expanding influence. “But the dominant emotion was a premonition of catastrophe.”

A Jew who fled Nazi Germany with his family in his teens, Kissinger in his later years cultivated the reputation of respected statesman, giving speeches, offering advice to Republicans and Democrats alike and managing a global consulting business. He turned up in President Donald Trump’s White House on multiple occasions. But Nixon-era documents and tapes, as they trickled out over the years, brought revelations — many in Kissinger’s own words — that sometimes cast him in a harsh light.

Never without his detractors, Kissinger after he left government was dogged by critics who argued that he should be called to account for his policies on Southeast Asia and support of repressive regimes in Latin America.

For eight restless years—first as national security adviser, later as secretary of state, and for a time in the middle holding both titles—Kissinger ranged across the breadth of major foreign policy issues. He conducted the first “shuttle diplomacy” in the quest for Middle East peace. He used secret channels to pursue ties between the United States and China, ending decades of isolation and mutual hostility.

He initiated the Paris negotiations that ultimately provided a face-saving means — a “decent interval,” he called it — to get the United States out of a costly war in Vietnam. Two years later, Saigon fell to the communists.

And he pursued a policy of detente with the Soviet Union that led to arms control agreements and raised the possibility that the tensions of the Cold War and its nuclear threat did not have to last forever.

At age 99, he was still out on tour for his book on leadership. Asked in July 2022 interview with ABC whether he wished he could take back any of his decisions, Kissinger demurred, saying: “I’ve been thinking about these problems all my life. It’s my hobby as well as my occupation. And so the recommendations I made were the best of which I was then capable.”

Even then, he had mixed thoughts on Nixon’s record, saying “his foreign policy has held up and he was quite effective in domestic policy” while allowing that the disgraced president had “permitted himself to be involved in a number of steps that were inappropriate for a president.”

As Kissinger turned 100 in May 2023, his son David wrote in The Washington Post that his father’s centenary “might have an air of inevitability for anyone familiar with his force of character and love of historical symbolism. Not only has he outlived most of his peers, eminent detractors and students, but he has also remained indefatigably active throughout his 90s.”

Asked during a CBS interview in the leadup to his 100th birthday about those who view his conduct of foreign policy over the years as a kind of “criminality,” Kissinger was nothing but dismissive.

“That’s a reflection of their ignorance,” Kissinger said. “It wasn’t conceived that way. It wasn’t conducted that way.”

Kissinger continued his involvement in global affairs even in his last months. He met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing in July, as bilateral relations were at a low point. And 50 years after his shuttle diplomacy helped end the 1973 Mideast war, when Israel fended off a surprise attack from Egypt and Syria, Kissinger warned of the risks of that conflict repeating itself after Israel faced a surprise assault by Hamas on Oct 7.

Tributes for Kissinger from prominent USofficials poured in immediately upon word of his death. Former President George W Bush said the US “lost one of the most dependable and distinctive voices on foreign affairs” and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Kissinger was “endlessly generous with the wisdom gained over the course of an extraordinary life.”

Kissinger’s consulting firm said he died at his home in Connecticut.

Kissinger was a practitioner of realpolitik — using diplomacy to achieve practical objectives rather than advance lofty ideals. Supporters said his pragmatic bent served U.S. interests; critics saw a Machiavellian approach that ran counter to democratic ideals.

He was castigated for authorizing telephone wiretaps of reporters and his own National Security Council staff to plug news leaks in Nixon’s White House. He was denounced on college campuses for the bombing and allied invasion of Cambodia in April 1970, intended to destroy North Vietnamese supply lines to communist forces in South Vietnam.

That “incursion,” as Nixon and Kissinger called it, was blamed by some for contributing to Cambodia’s fall into the hands of Khmer Rouge insurgents who later slaughtered some 2 million Cambodians.

Kissinger, for his part, made it his mission to debunk what he referred to in 2007 as a “prevalent myth”—that he and Nixon had settled in 1972 for peace terms that had been available in 1969 and thus had needlessly prolonged the Vietnam War at the cost of tens of thousands of American lives.

He insisted that the only way to speed up the withdrawal would have been to agree to Hanoi’s demands that the U.S. overthrow the South Vietnamese government and replace it with communist-dominated leadership.

Pudgy and messy, Kissinger incongruously acquired a reputation as a ladies’ man in the staid Nixon administration. Kissinger, who had divorced his first wife in 1964, called women “a diversion, a hobby.” Jill St. John was a frequent companion. But it turned out his real love interest was Nancy Maginnes, a researcher for Nelson Rockefeller whom he married in 1974.

In a 1972 poll of Playboy Club Bunnies, the man dubbed “Super-K” by Newsweek finished first as “the man I would most like to go out on a date with.”

Kissinger’s explanation: “Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.”

Yet Kissinger was reviled by many Americans for his conduct of wartime diplomacy. He was still a lightning rod decades later: In 2015, an appearance by the 91-year-old Kissinger before the Senate Armed Services Committee was disrupted by protesters demanding his arrest for war crimes and calling out his actions in Southeast Asia, Chile and beyond.

Heinz Alfred Kissinger was born in the Bavarian city of Fuerth on May 27, 1923, the son of a schoolteacher. His family left Nazi Germany in 1938 and settled in Manhattan, where Heinz changed his name to Henry.

Kissinger had two children, Elizabeth and David, from his first marriage.

AP

A gay couple in Nepal on Wednesday became the first in the nation to receive official same-sex marriage status. The Himalayan nation is one of the first in Asia to allow it.

“After 23 years of struggle we got this historic achievement, and finally Maya and Surendra got their marriage registered at the local administration office,” said Sunil Babu Pant, an openly gay former parliamentarian and leading LGBTQ+ rights activist.

Pant was present with Surendra Pandey and Maya Gurung when they registered their marriage at the Dorje village council office, located in the mountains west of the capital, Kathmandu.

Earlier this year, Nepal's supreme court issued an interim order enabling the registration of same-sex marriages for the first time.

Officials had initially refused to register the marriage. The couple and Pant filed cases with the Kathmandu District Court and High Court, but their pleas were rejected.

According to Pant, the Home Ministry this week made changes in the process enabling all local administration offices to register same-sex marriages.

“It was quite unexpected and it was a positive breeze for us,” Pant said by phone from the village where the couple were expected to celebrate later Wednesday.

The couple married six years ago at a temple following Hindu tradition, with a priest conducting the rituals among friends and family. But they had no certificate showing their marriage was legal.

Nepal has undergone a transformation since a court decision in 2007 asked the government to make changes in favor of LGBTQ+ people. People who do not identify as female or male are now able to choose “third gender” on their passports and other government documents. The constitution adopted in 2015 also explicitly states there can be no discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. 

AP

The contribution-based Social Security Fund (SSF) has managed to enroll over 900,000 contributors and more than 18,000 employers in its four years of operation.

The SSF was established on 27 Nov 2018 as per the Contribution- based Social Security Act, 2018, and it operates as per the Contribution-based Social Security Operation Guidelines, 2018. The fund began enrolling contributors and employers from the first day of the fiscal year 2019/20.

Although the SSF had set a target of enrolling 30,000 employers by 2022/23, it only reached 19,439. Likewise, it had set a target of enrolling 500,000 contributors by 2022/23, but it easily surpassed this goal. It has enrolled 928,493 contributors so far.

The number of contributors started increasing after the government made it mandatory for foreign migrant workers to enroll with SSF. So far, the fund has enrolled 466,622 migrant workers. About 90 percent of the migrant workers are contributing regularly to the SSF.

The SSF has mobilized Rs 44.85bn from the contributors, with most of them subscribing to the Old Age Protection Plan of the SSF. According to the fund, it has raised Rs 37.35bn alone from contributors subscribing to the Old Age Protection Plan.

Other schemes offered by the SSF include the Medicine, Health and Maternity Protection Plan; Accident and Disability Safety Plan; and Dependent Family Protection Plan. The SSF has collected Rs 1.29bn from contributors subscribing to the Medicine, Health and Maternity Protection Plan; Rs 2.48bn from the Accident and Disability Safety Plan; and Rs 2.48bn from the Dependent Family Protection Plan. Likewise, it has collected Rs 1.53bn from additional plans. The SSF has earned an income of Rs 2.17bn in the four-year period.

Meanwhile, the SSF has distributed Rs 6.44bn in claims to 219,849 contributors in the four-year period. Likewise, it has disbursed Rs 1.75bn as loans to contributors. According to the SSF, it has disbursed Rs 1.72bn worth of ‘Special Loans’ to 9,744 contributors, Rs 28.9m worth of home loans to 17 contributors, and Rs 2.36m worth of education loans to three contributors.

Contributors who have been contributing funds to the SSF for a minimum of 36 months are eligible for the loans.

The newly constructed classrooms and laboratory of Shree Gautam Buddha Secondary School in Buddhabhumi Municipality, Kapilvastu, were inaugurated on Monday. The buildings were built with the financial aid of Rs 33.23m from the government of India as part of the Nepal-India Development Cooperation. 

Prasanna Shrivastava, deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of India in Kathmandu; Baburam Acharya, chief of the District Coordination Committee in Kapilvastu; and Keshav Kumar Shrestha, mayor of Buddhabhumi Municipality, jointly inaugurated the facilities. 

Local politicians, government officials, social workers, members of the school management, teachers, parents, and students also attended the event.

The financial grant from the government of India under the 'Nepal-India Development Cooperation' was utilized for constructing a double-storied school building, a three-storied laboratory building, and the procurement of furniture and laboratory equipment. This initiative, originally known as Small Development Projects and now operating as High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs), operated under an agreement between the governments of India and Nepal. The District Coordination Committee in Kapilvastu spearheaded the implementation of this project.

Shrivastava emphasized the significance of this project as an integral part of the robust development partnership between India and Nepal. He highlighted the substantial progress made in recent years across various priority sectors identified by the Nepal government. Furthermore, he reiterated the commitment of the government of India to strengthen this developmental partnership, aligning with the priorities set by the government of Nepal.

Since 2003, India has undertaken over 550 HICDPs in Nepal spanning various sectors, successfully completing 488 projects. Among these, 60 projects are situated in Lumbini Province, including five projects in Kapilvastu. Additionally, the Indian government has gifted 974 ambulances and 234 buses to hospitals, health posts, and educational institutions.

The telecommunication landscape is rapidly evolving, enabling information dissemination to every corner of the world. Under the liberalization framework established by the Telecommunications Act, 1996, Nepal Telecom and Ncell currently offer mobile services, while approximately 120 companies provide internet services.

The Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) regulates these service providers. Despite widespread mobile usage, revenue generation, and contributions to the government, there are looming uncertainties in the telecommunication sector.

Of the six telecom companies licensed by the government, only Nepal Telecom and Ncell remain operational. The current discussion in the sector revolves around the affordability and reliability of the services provided, the incorporation of new technologies, and how consumer interests are prioritized in these services. To address these contemporary issues, AP1 HD  organized a day-long discussion on the current status and future trajectory of telecommunications. Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka inaugurated the program. 

Speaking at the discussion, Captain Rameshwar Thapa, chairman of Annapurna Media, said there is a need to assess the present state of the telecommunication sector and plan for the future.

“I am confident that the collaborative discussions involving all stakeholders would guide the telecommunications sector,” Captain Thapa said. “We need to put focus on communication technology to achieve the government's goal of a digital Nepal, contributing not only to the prosperity of the telecommunication sector but also to the overall development of the country.”

Captain Thapa also said embracing technology to enhance accessibility will empower citizens and facilitate responsible governance for the government. “I urged the concerned entities to eliminate policy ambiguities and actively support the expansion of telecommunication services for the benefit of the public,” he added.

Addressing the program, Deputy Prime Minister Khadka said information and communication technology has become a crucial component of power in today's context. He also highlighted the significance of telecommunication in the challenging and remote terrains of Nepal. “Telecommunication holds greater importance than other infrastructures in Nepal,” he said, adding: “The rapid advancement of modern technology in the telecommunication sector and the dynamic changes in its structure is creating new opportunities. The government will prioritize the development and management of the telecommunication sector and ensure secure and accessible telecommunication services for all.”

Khadka said continuous investments in cutting-edge technology and unwavering efforts in innovation are opening new avenues for economic growth, social development, and overall progress. “The government will facilitate the sector by addressing political ambiguities and resolving legal complications in the telecommunication sector,” he added.

Additionally, Finance Secretary Dr. Krishna Hari Pushkar pointed out that the service providers in the telecommunication sector have yet to fully realize their potential, and the experts in the field have not effectively demonstrated their expertise. “The government remains committed to facilitating development, expansion, and business growth of the telecommunication sector. “If you think there are things that the government needs to look into, do inform us in writing. The ministry will promptly address them,” he added. 

Also speaking at the program, former minister and Nepali Congress leader Dr. Minendra Rijal highlighted the transformative impact of telecommunication technology in the Nepali society. “The key challenge in the sector is infrastructure development and expansion. I want to ask the NTA, who will undertake the construction of telecommunication infrastructure, and where will the funding come from? Given global investments in this sector, we need a thorough debate and discussion on this matter,” he added.

The second session of the program comprised four panel discussions. In the first panel discussion, titled “Mobile Telecommunication and Licensing Regime in Nepal,” moderated by telecommunication expert Anand Raj Khanal, Netra Subedi, joint secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, said a new telecommunications bill is in the process of being introduced. He expressed confidence that the new bill would address existing challenges within the telecommunications sector. Similarly, Gorkna Prasad Sitaula, a member of the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA), added that the new bill aims at clarifying the ambiguity surrounding the renewal fees for telecommunications companies.

According to the Telecommunications Act, 1996, licenses must be renewed every 25 years with a renewal fee of Rs 20bn. This implies that Nepal Telecom and Ncell would need to renew their licenses in 2024/25 and 2028/29, respectively.

Sudhir Parajuli, President of the Internet Service Providers Association of Nepal, underlined the need to create an environment favorable not only for mobile phones but also for internet service providers in the new law. Bishal Upadhyay, head of Law and Regulation at Ncell, said that the Act of 1996 is outdated as technology has progressed from 2G to 5G. He said that service providers were increasing their investment with technological advancements.

The second panel discussion, titled ‘Telecommunication and Digital Nepal Framework’, moderated by information technology expert Manohar Bhattarai, featured discussions on the achievements of the Digital Nepal Framework released in 2019. Anil Dutt, joint secretary of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, said that 90 percent of the specified targets had been achieved. He also mentioned that an amendment to the Nepal Telecommunications Act was in progress. Meen Prasad Aryal, director of NTA, shared that infrastructure expansion in rural areas was being funded by utilizing two percent of the amount collected from service providers. Rajesh Lal Nyachhyon of Ncell called for collaboration between the government and the private sector in the telecommunication sector. Sudeep Acharya, Director-General of DisHome Fiber Net, called for reduction of high taxes imposed for Internet service providers.\

The third panel discussion, titled ‘Consumers, Makers, and Quality of Service’, moderated by journalist Sama Thapa, addressed concerns about service quality. Speaking at the discussion, Arjun Ghimire, a director of NTA, said the regulator has been giving strict instructions to service providers to address service sector complaints. Kamal Lamichhane, manager of Nepal Telecom, acknowledged existing problems but assured that service quality was improving gradually. 

Likewise, Jyoti Dahal, customer service manager of Ncell, noted that services are becoming cheaper with improved quality over time. Consumer activist Madhav Timilsina highlighted that there are more complaints about services than goods, particularly in mobile services, urging stakeholders to uphold consumer rights.

The final panel discussion, ‘Role of Spectrum and Infrastructure in Telecommunication’, was moderated by telecommunication expert Anand Raj Khanal. Speaking at the discussion, Rabindra Jha, a board member of the NTA, said that the government determines mobile frequency allocations, and the NTA implements them accordingly. Lena Keshari Kansakar, CTO of Ncell, underlined the need for a frequency policy based on a thorough market study. She said that frequency limitations have hindered telecom operators from expanding into new areas. C Mani Choulagai, a telecommunications expert, however, said that frequency limitations are not a pressing issue as the demand is primarily for 900 and 1800 MHz bands.

The government has decided to conduct an investment summit on 22-23 April 2024, the third of its kind in nine years.

Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat gave this information during a meeting in the Capital on Sunday, which decided to step up preparations for the summit by formulating an immediate plan.

Mahat said the summit aims to float proposals to competent investors soliciting foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments and making sure that the commitments come to fruition. 

Mahat pledged a safe and secure environment for the investors. 

At the meeting, Tourism Minister Sudan Kirati stressed the need to improve the working style and come up with more investment-friendly laws for attracting FDI. Minister Kirati expressed confidence that geopolitical interests will also bring in FDI.

Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari suggested that all seven provinces organize pre-summits (for selection of projects) without further delay, giving local communities a platform to float their investment ideas and projects. 

“Based on experiences, I must say that time for organizing the investment summit (in April) is very short. Most of the projects under consideration for investment are from the energy sector. Studies covering other areas are few and far between,” Adhikari said. Organizing the (investment) summit will be costly, but there’s no question of backtracking from it, he said. 

Ram Kumar Phuyal, a member of the National Planning Commission, stressed the need for a thorough review of earlier summits, pointing that the commission had studied them.

Some of the speakers noted that past investment summits were not that successful, stressing the need to prioritize Nepal’s requirements, protect the interest of investors and provide them facilities as stipulated in relevant laws. 

The first investment summit was held in 2015 after the Gorkha earthquake, followed by the second one in 2019. Despite these summits, FDI flow to Nepal remains dismal even after changes in legal and institutional frameworks to make them more FDI-friendly. 

Beneath the veil of night, my dear moon hides, 

Behind the shroud of clouds, her beauty slides, 

With patience, I’ll await her radiant grace, 

Till she unveils her luminous, timeless face. 

Countless hours I’ve spent in silent reverie, 

A cosmic dance between her and me, 

From earthly realm to the great unknown, 

I'll watch her glow, from life to stone. 

In the stillness of night, our connection is spun, 

Eternal love for the radiant one, 

For in her glow, I find my delight, 

A celestial bond, infinite and bright.

She orbits through my mind, regular everyday, 

A guiding light in the night, in friendship’s shade, 

Oh! What a beautiful thing did god made, 

Hope, her shining beauty will never end. 

Name: Samir Lamsal

Class: 10

School: Oxford Secondary School, Gaindakot 2, Nawalpur