KATHMANDU, 16 May 2021. (TON): The Nepalese government has initiated a process to appoint ambassadors for 11 countries, against vacant positions or one those are likely to be vacant soon.Those recommended are subject to processing and receiving agreemos from the receiving countries.

Nirmal Raj Kafle and Jeevan Prakash Shrestha, joint secretaries at the Foreign Ministry, have been recommended as envoys for Austria and Egypt respectively.

Former head of the Central Department of English of Tribhuvan University Krishna Chandra Sharma has been recommended for South Korea, a position that has been vacant for more than two years.

Sumnima Tuladhar, a noted child rights activist, has been recommended for Australia. She is the daughter of well-known human rights activist late Padma Ratna Tuladhar.

The government had recently recalled Mahesh Dahal after he served briefly in Australia as he was close to Pushpa Kamal Dahal, chair of Nepal Communist Party (Maoist Center).

Yubraj Karki, former minister for general administration and who has served in the foreign affairs department of the ruling party, has been recommended for Bahrain. Padam Sundas who is serving there after being appointed from the Maoist Center quota has almost completed his term.

Former mayor of Biratnagar Metropolitan City Ramesh Chandra Poudel has been recommended for Sri Lanka.
Similarly, Narayan Prasad Sangraula has been recommended for Myanmar, Kul Prasad Nepal for Brazil, Sumitra Subedi for Denmark, Meraj Musalman for Saudi Arabia and Janga Bahadur Chauhan for Russia.

Sangraula is a professor of History and Nepal is a former lawmaker of Palpa district from the ruling party. Subedi is a primary school teacher in Jhapa district and a relative of Rajan Bhattarai, foreign relations advisor to the Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, according to Cabinet sources. Musalman is from Kapilvastu district and has been long associated with UML’s Muslim wing of the party. Chauhan is a professor of English at Kathmandu University. Chauhan, who hails from Arghakhanchi district was educated in Russia, according to Bishnu Rijal, member of the UML’s department of foreign relations.

Other than two ambassadors from the foreign service, the other nine have been recommended under the political quota. The serving ambassadors are split equally between the foreign service and political quotas.

These recommendations were made earlier this week and now the names will now be sent to the Parliament Secretariat for parliamentary hearing and then the government will announce the appointments after receiving agreemos from the receiving countries.

JERUSALEM, 15 May 2021, (TON): The Israeli military said more than 3,000 rockets had been fired from Gaza into Israel since the start of the conflict, around half of which were intercepted by missile defence systems and 350 fell into the Gaza Strip. There were reports of Israeli settlers setting fire to Palestinian houses and farm lands.
At least 138 people have been killed in Gaza since 10 May, including 38 children and 22 women, and over thousand others wounded., confirms Palestinian spokesperson.

On the Israeli side 18 Israeli soldiers and one civilian were killed, who were patrolling the Gaza border.                                                                                                                                                                   

Meanwhile, Ahead of a session of the U.N. Security Council on Sunday to discuss the situation, Biden administration envoy Hady Amr, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Israel and Palestinian Affairs, flew in on Friday.

YANGON, 15 May 2021, (TON): At least two people were killed and six others injured in explosions of handmade bombs across Myanmar on Friday. According to the details, two people on a motorbike threw a handmade bomb at security personnel at Ayethaya town of Shan state, killing two civilians on the spot.

On the same day, two explosions of handmade bombs took place near a bank in Myitkyina township, at a township administration office in Moe Mauk township of Kachin state and at a shop in Pakokku township of Magway region, respectively.

Six people including one security personnel were injured in the explosions.
Several incidents handmade bombs and mines explosions recently took place at various places. Accordingly, authorities have imposed martial law orders were imposed in six townships of Yangon region and one in Chin state.

KABUL, 15 May 2021, (TON): An explosion inside a mosque in a northern Kabul neighborhood killed four worshippers and wounded over 20 others on Friday.

Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz confirmed explosion inside the mosque killed killed four worshippers.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the explosion. Kabul police say an investigation is underway.

The explosion comes as Taliban and Afghan government announced a three-day ceasefire following the month of Ramadan to celebrate Eid-al-Fitr.

UNITED NATIONS, 15 May 2021, (TON): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for a unified Security Council over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and regretted the lack of multilateralism.

Asked what the secretary-general expects from Sunday’s emergency meeting of the Security Council on the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian escalation, Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: “What we would like to see is … a strong, unified voice for de-escalation, for a cessation of hostilities and a push to get the parties back on track to find a political solution to this conflict that has been going on and on and on.”

Asked for the secretary-general’s comment on the fact that one single Security Council member blocked the proposal for a Friday meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, just days after all council members pledged support for multilateralism, Dujarric said Guterres is concerned about the state of multilateralism “as we’ve seen it during the pandemic and as we’ve seen it in other aspects.”

“We would like to see member states put to action the ideals that we all have to live up to within this organization,” he added.

With regard to the Security Council, he said the more unified the council is, the stronger its voice and the stronger its impact.

The Security Council on May 7 held a high-level debate on the need to uphold multilateralism and all council members came out in support of it. Yet days later, the United States, an ally of Israel, blocked the proposal for a Friday Security Council meeting, according to diplomats. The Security Council later agreed on such a meeting on Sunday.

LAHORE, 14 May 2021, (TON): The government of Pakistan in serious of reforms made Pakistan a minority influenced country, where there will be full freedom to the minorities. In the latest development, despite curfew like situation due to COVID-19, the government opened for the public the final resting place of the prominent British Executive Engineer of Lahore, a government’s architect, Sir Ganga Ram in Lahore.
Named as the Samadhi of Sir Ganga Ram is located close to the Taxali Gate of the old city of Lahore in Punjab province. Although Sir Ganga Ram died in London on 10th July 1927, his Samadhi is in Lahore and a statue has been errected that stood in a public square on Mall Road. Sir Ganga Ram has on his credit the rebuilding of Lahore, the centuries old provincial capital under the Delhi Sultanate.
Fraz Abbas, the Deputy Director of Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) confirmed, “ETPB has taken back the possession of the land and launched restoration of Sir Ganga Ram’s Samadhi, which will be opened for public this month after completion of restoration work.” He added that an art gallery will also be opened showcasing the work of the great architect, where local Hindus would be invited to its inauguration ceremony and periodic visits.

KHATHMANDU, 14 May 2021, (TON): The Nepalese government has also permitted the evacuation of a number of Indian nationals using Kathmandu as a transit point to escape the flight ban in India.
Nepal on Thursday permitted a number of “special flights” as requested by foreign embassies to evacuate their citizens, a week after it suspended all international flights, except the two weekly bubble services to India, as it fought to check the rising number of Covid-19 cases.
More than 7,000 foreigners are estimated to be stranded in Nepal while Foreign embassies have stepped up efforts to repatriate stranded trekkers and mountaineers. Tourists from abroad have been anxiously waiting to get out of Kathmandu after the government extended the lockdown by two weeks, and cancelled all flights following a surge in coronavirus infections.
Rajan Pokhrel, Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said that the evacuation flights will begin on Friday when Nepali private carrier Shree Airlines will fly several Thai nationals and Nepali students to Bangkok. Around 11 passengers, including Nepali students will avail the facility and on return the aircraft will bring cargo and 24 oxygen concentrator machines gifted by the Thai government and non-resident Nepalis in Thailand.
According to the Department of Immigration, Nepal received 22,450 foreign tourists by air in April. Among the total arrivals, 13,202 came from India, 2,740 from the United States, 803 from China and 685 from Russia.

ALIGARH, 14 May 2021, (TON): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visited Aligarh Muslim University to take stock of the coronavirus situation at the university, where it was claimed that over 44 serving and retired faculty members have died due to COVID or COVID-like symptoms.
The Chief Minister found that there was nothing to get alarmed and the supply of oxygen to the university’s medical college was normal and continuous as hospital has its three liquid oxygen plants. In the same regard, the hospital did not report any deaths due to the shortage of oxygen.
Adityanath expressed grief over the deaths at Aligarh Muslim University’s Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, he said situation is improving the situation. He hoped that the vaccination drive on the campus would be further improving the situation.
Alarmed by the deaths, AMU Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor had written to the Indian Council of Medical Research on 9 May, urging it to study if a particular coronavirus variant is circulating around the university campus.
Congress spokesperson and former Aligarh MLA Vivek Bansal alleged that Adityanath’s visit to AMU was “an attempt to cover up the total breakdown of health services in UP”.

KATHMANDU, 13 May 2021, (TON): Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli  will continue to be Prime Minister of Nepal as Nepal's opposition parties have failed to form a new coalition government by the deadline set by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari as the 9 pm on 13 May 2021.
After Prime Minister Oli lost the vote of confidence on 10 May, the President, on the same day, called on political parties to form an alternative government. However, they were unable to muster a majority.
Meanwhile, Prakash Sharan Mahat, Joint Secretary General of the Nepali Congress, the primary opposition in the house, said after a party meeting said in a statement, "We, the opposition parties, have failed to garner the required votes to form the new government,” The statement said, "As the primary opposition, the Nepali Congress has claimed the leadership of the government and started talks with the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre and the Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal. After the Janata Samajbadi Party refused to support our party President Sher Bahadur Deuba as next Prime Minister, our effort to form the government have come to an end." 
The third largest party in the house, the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Centre, also concluded that chances of forming the government had come to an end after the Janata Samajbadi Party failed to extend support to Deuba as Prime Minister.
With the Nepali Congress failing to form the new government with the support of opposition parties, Oli will continue as the Prime Minister as the leader of the largest political party or will form a coalition government with the Janata Samajbadi Party.

KATHMANDU, 13 May 2021, (TON): An American and a Swiss climbers died on Mt Everest while descending from the mountain, probably due to exhaustion. This is the first casualty of the season on the world’s tallest peak.

Chhang Dawa Sherpa, expedition manager shared their death on Thursday morning that American Puwei Liu died near Camp IV at 7,900 metre and Swiss Abdul Waraich died near the South Summit at an elevation of 8,748 metre. Both suffered from exhaustion.