Indian firm to be called to repaid Kosi barrage in Nepal

September 15th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who Tuesday wound up her two-day Nepal visit with a trip to the revered Pashupatinath temple here, said the Nepal government has reassured her protection for the two newly-appointed Indian priests there. "The government of Nepal has assured me that they have taken all necessary measures to ensure the security and well-being of Indian priests and continuation of regular prayers at the temple," Rao told mediapersons.

July 14th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Within 48 hours of Indian Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal visiting Nepal to inspect the repaired embankment of the Kosi river that had created havoc in both countries last year, India gave Nepal NRs.131.6 million (about $1.6 million) to fight floods. Alok K. Sinha, deputy chief of mission at the Indian embassy in Kathmandu, Tuesday handed over a cheque of NRs.131.6 million to Umakant Jha, secretary at Nepal's irrigation ministry, as India's contribution for the construction of embankments along the Lalbakeya and Bagmati rivers.

July 12th, 2009 KATHMANDU - India's Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal Sunday wound up an inspection of the Kosi river in Nepal, and suggested a high dam as a permanent solution to frequent floods of the river that hit both countries. The minister, who was personally sent by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure that the mighty Kosi does not wreak the disaster it unleashed last monsoon, Sunday inspected the eastern embankment of the river that was breached by swirling waters, killing over 1,000 people in southern Nepal and India's Bihar state.

July 10th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Less than a month after India sent its Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon to Nepal, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources Pawan Kumar Bansal is arriving in Kathmandu on a two-day visit Saturday. Bansal is the first Indian minister to visit Nepal since the fall of the Maoist government in August and the formation of a new coalition led by communist leader Madhav Kumar Nepal.

July 10th, 2009 PATNA - Fearing a repeat of last year's devastating floods, the Bihar government has requested Nepal to deploy armed security forces on embankments of the Kosi river to ensure that there is no breach, officials here said Friday. In a letter to the Nepal government, Bihar's department of water resources has highlighted the need for deployment of security forces to ensure the safety of the embankments on the river that is already in spate.

July 9th, 2009 KATHMANDU - The Nepal government said it would seek better ties with neighbours India and China, as it unveiled policies and programmes for the current financial year Thursday. A 27-page document, presented in parliament by President Ram Baran Yadav, said foreign policy would be conducted "on the principles of the UN Charter, Panchasheela, and Non-alignment keeping national interest on the top".

July 3rd, 2009 PATNA - Major rivers in north Bihar, especially the Kosi, Gandak, Budhi and Bagmati, are in spate following heavy rains in their catchment areas and are posing a threat of floods, officials said Friday. With heavy rainfall recorded in the catchments areas in neighbouring Nepal, the water levels of these rivers have been rising to dangerous levels for the last two days.

June 11th, 2009 KATHMANDU - The Bihar government Thursday sent its Minister of Water Resources Bijendra Prasad Yadav to southern Nepal to inspect the repair of the breached embankment of Himalayan river Kosi known as the "sorrow of Bihar". A joint inspection of the repair of the breached embankment of the river in Sunsari district was carried out by the Indian minister, who was accompanied by the principal secretary in Bihar's department of water resources, Ajay Nayak, and the Indian ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood.

May 25th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Indian Ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood and United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) chief Karen Ladgren have separately met newly elected Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal at the latter's residence, Koteshwor. They congratulated Nepal on his election as the new Prime Minister and extended best wishes for his successful term.

March 9th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Four teenaged students, including three girls, were killed in central Nepal Monday when the boat they were travelling in capsized. Shivaraj Kharel, Rachana Tamang, Ekata Kharel, and Srijana Tamang were drowned in the Kosi river in Timalbesi in Kavre district while heading for a nearby temple, reported a TV channel.

February 24th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Bihar's Central Water Commission (CWC) authorities have asked Nepal's government to provide security after protesters forced work on repairing the flood-damaged Kosi embankment to stop. The CWC Monday sent a letter to the district authorities of Sunsari, the southern area along the India-Nepal border where floods created havoc last monsoon, asking for security after the people displaced by the Kosi river stepped up protests.

February 17th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Before returning to New Delhi at the end of his two-day whirlwind visit to Nepal, Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon Wednesday ruled out sharing Nepal issues with the Himalayan republic's other giant neighbour China. Reacting to the proposal mooted by opposition leader and former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala that China and India should form a joint Nepal mechanism, the Indian envoy said the prime focus of his visit was to review New Delhi's bilateral relationship with Kathmandu and discuss how to strengthen it further.

February 16th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon began his whirlwind assessment visit to Nepal Tuesday with a flurry of consultations, including a 90-minute meeting with Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda. Arriving at the Tribhuvan International Airport in the afternoon after his flight from New Delhi was delayed by bad weather, the Indian envoy told the media that he had come to learn about developments in Nepal's ongoing peace process and the drafting of a new constitution and to reiterate India's support.

February 15th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Three months after he had accompanied Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to Nepal, India's Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon is arriving in Kathmandu Tuesday on a two-day visit. The Indian envoy is scheduled to hold talks with Nepal's Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav and opposition leader and former premier Girija Prasad Koirala.

January 8th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Nepal's state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) Friday said that it has been assured of a quick end to the oil strike in India called by officials of Indian public sector oil companies. Land-locked Nepal, which imports its total fuel requirements from southern neighbour India, has been keenly watching the nationwide strike called by India's Oil Sector Officers' Association that reached the third day Friday with major cities beginning to go dry.