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An aircraft belonging to the Turkish Airlines has overshot in course of its landing at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu.

According to flight radar, the plane, which was scheduled to land at 6:10 am today, landed 20 minutes after overshoot.

The airport office said the aircraft overshot due to 'missed approach'.

According to an air traffic controller (ATC), the aircraft overshot after an 'unstable approach'.

On Monday, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli celebrated a significant milestone for the Kathmandu-Tarai/Madhes Fast Track project, marking the completion of the Ghattepakha-Dhedre Tunnel breakthrough. This expressway is a crucial project for the nation, signifying both pride and strategic importance.

The ceremony took place at Dhedre in Bakaiya Rural Municipality-12, highlighting the 1.728-kilometer tunnel’s completion. This follows the earlier completion of a 1.653-kilometer tunnel segment towards Nijgadh-Kathmandu. With these milestones, the tunnels under package 11 are now fully opened. Prime Minister Oli officially marked the occasion by activating a switch to signify the tunnel’s breakthrough.

The Nepali Army is overseeing the implementation of this project. During the event, Chief of the Army Staff, Prabhu Ram Sharma, briefed the Prime Minister on the progress and challenges faced. He noted that the project is 35.98 percent complete.

Progress has also been made on other tunnel sections. The 1.612-kilometer Lendanda tunnel towards Nijgadh-Kathmandu and the 1.633-kilometer tunnel towards Kathmandu-Nijgadh are both finished. The Mahadevtar Tunnel, measuring 3.322 kilometers towards Nijgadh-Kathmandu, has reached 2.29 kilometers in completion, while the 3.386-kilometer segment towards Kathmandu-Nijgadh is at 2.88 kilometers. Both tracks are expected to open within a year.

The fast track project is divided into 13 packages. Of the 89 bridges planned, 85 are in various stages of construction. However, progress on the remaining four bridges, located in Khokana, Lalitpur, is delayed due to land acquisition issues.

The Nepali Army aims to complete the expressway by mid-April 2027. The road will stretch 70.977 kilometers from Khokana, Lalitpur to Nijgadh, Bara, with widths of 25 meters in hilly areas and 27 meters in the Tarai. Six tunnels totaling 10.399 kilometers will be built, including:

• Devichaur: 1 km
• Sisautar: 0.39 km
• Chandram Bhir: 2.25 km
• Mahadevdanda: 3.355 km
• Dhedre: 1.691 km
• Lendanda: 1.623 km

Additionally, 89 bridges covering 12.885 kilometers will be constructed. The project will also feature rest stops in Budune and interchanges and toll plazas in Khokana, Budune, and Nijgadh.

On 4 May 2017, the Council of Ministers assigned the construction management responsibility to the Nepali Army. The foundation stone was laid by then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on 28 May 2017, in Nijgadh. The project transitioned from the Road Department to the Nepali Army on 11 Aug 2017.

The event was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel, Physical Infrastructure and Transport Minister Devendra Dahal, Defence Minister Manveer Rai, Forest and Environment Minister Ain Bahadur Shahi, and the Ambassadors of China and South Korea to Nepal.

Economic empowerment is a crucial condition for gender equality. While the employment situation of women in Madhes Province has been dire, their participation in the labor force has begun to increase of late.

Rampari Devi (45) never went to school and was married at a young age. After her marriage, she had to rely on others even to fetch goods from the weekly market for nearly 20 years. However, after the male members of the family left for foreign employment, the family’s responsibility fell on Devi’s shoulders. She now has to manage everything, from farming to market activities, alone.

Currently, Devi is cultivating vegetables on about six kattha (approximately 2,000 square meters) of land with her daughters-in-law. She sells the vegetables at the local market herself and her work has significantly contributed to her family’s income.

Until about 15 years ago, Rekhadevi Sah (50) from Dhirapur had not even thought of working in her own fields. Her days were spent doing household chores. But now, Sah has also started farming. “The times were different then. In our society, women were not allowed to go outside the house. When we were newly married, we were even forbidden from laughing or speaking loudly. Times have changed now. We have educated daughters-in-law. Women have also started working in agriculture, business and other sectors,” said Sah. “Madhesi villages are not the same as before. In the past, there was no practice of employing women as laborers in the village, but now both men and women work together.”

Different factors like employment, business property rights and per capita income are considered for economic empowerment. Although women in Madhes are at the bottom of economic empowerment compared to other provinces, they have slowly started to climb the ladder.

Dilkhush Paswan from Matihani in Mahottari had to struggle a lot to go out to work and earn just because she was from the Dalit community. “The biggest problem came from the family itself. If you went out to work or joined women’s groups, they would say you would get spoiled or engage in wrong activities. Some even said they wouldn’t give work if the group included a Dalit woman,” Paswan said, recalling her past. “But after much struggle, I have now been able to do small business in the village. I have also gained respect in the family.”

Paswan has started a small business and is also involved in farming.

Until 10 years ago, it was difficult for women in Madhes to receive equal wages for equal work. There was no practice of involving women in agriculture, animal husbandry or small businesses. However, after the men in the villages started going abroad for jobs, women also started to be accepted as workers. Now, there is equality in wages, says agricultural worker Sangita Sada. “Earlier, they used to give Rs 300 to men and Rs 250 to women for farm work. They would not give us the money, though. Men would go as our guardians and receive the money,” said Sada. “We are paid the same wages as male workers these days.”

Bedanand Jha, who was busy transplanting paddy in his farm, said the number of women is comparatively higher than men in farms these days. “Since most men have started going abroad, women have started taking charge of agriculture,” he said, adding: “If female workers don’t engage in work, agriculture becomes even more difficult.”

Bina Singh, Dhanusha district coordinator of WOREC Nepal, an organization working in the field of women rights, said most of the women in Madhes had to endure violence due to a lack of economic empowerment in the past. “Even today, there is no conducive environment for women and girls to work outside their homes in Madhes. Women, especially from Dalit, Muslim and under-privileged families, are trapped in economic dependence and poverty. But efforts have begun to slowly break all these barriers,” she said. “Now, the trend of educating daughters and involving them in work has started to increase.”

As per the 2021 census, 49 percent, or 3,048,849, of the total population of 6,114,600 in Madhes Province, are women. The literacy rate for women is 54.7 percent, while it is 72.5 percent for men. About 68.7 percent of the cottage enterprises are primarily operated by men and 31.3 percent by women.

Five persons died when a helicopter of Air Dynasty crashed at Suryachaur in Shivapuri Rural Municipality-7, Nuwakot on Wednesday.

Captain Arun Malla and four Chinese nationals died in the incident.

Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal spokesperson Hansaraj Pandey confirmed the death of five persons onboard the chopper.

The deceased Chinese nationals have been identified as Jutad Tang (38), Jie Li (36), Yiyad Wo (31) and Zeming Xie (41).

The helicopter with four Chinese tourists was heading to Syabrubesi of Rasuwa from Kathmandu when the tragedy took place this afternoon.

It has been found that all the Chinese tourists, who lost their lives in the Air Dynasty helicopter crash, had entered Nepal through Kerung, Rasuwa.

They entered Nepal through the Rasuwa border at 9 am on Monday.

The Chinese tourists came to Nepal on multiple entry visas. 

 The reason behind the crash is yet to be established.