Nation’s leading beauty pageant organizer RK Entertainment Group Pvt. Ltd. has officially announced the audition dates for Miss Grand Nepal 2021.

In the press meet at Hotel Nepalaya, Thamel, organization’s head Lucky Ram K.C. announced Bhadra 15, 2078 as the deadline for the registration to participate in the competition.

According to Ram, the auditions will be held from Shrawan 20 to Bhadra 11, 2078 in the regions,  Nepalgunj, Chitwan, Butwal, Birgunj, Pokhara, Dharan and Jhapa.

Whereas the auditions in Kathmandu and the grand finale are scheduled on Bhadra 20, 2078.

According to the organizing team, Miss Grand Nepal 2021 event finalizes five winners, who will be representing Nepal at five different international beauty pageants.

Also Read: Nepali Beau Garima Wins ‘Miss Nepal America 2021’ Crown!

The international pageants are Miss Tourism International, Miss Landscapes International, Miss Scuba International, and Miss Multinational. The fifth international franchise will be added from this year, which is yet to be revealed.

The winners will be awarded with trophies and cash prizes. Top of these, they will get an opportunity to debut at Nepali cinema.

NepaliSansar Extends Best Wishes to All Aspiring Nepali Beauties!

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The fertilizers were received by the provincial offices of Krishna Samagiri Company in Birgunj, Biratnagar, and Bhairahawa.

Both the Asian countries signed an agreement that would have witnessed Nepal receiving 50,000 metric tonnes of urea. Additionally, Nepal would have already received the complete agriculture delivery.

However, due to the pandemonium caused by the contagion, Bangladesh sent the fertilizers now. The rest of the 5,000 metric tonnes, along with an added 2,000 metric tonnes, will be sent by Bangladesh in a week.

The timing of the fertilizer arrival was apt as the monsoon season has begun. The paddy plantation is initiated by the farmers across Nepal at this point in time.

Stay Tuned to NepaliSansar for Latest Nepal News Updates!

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Issuing a statement on July 14, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) stated that the Nepali Government has taken note of the ‘interpretations’ of the remarks by the PM on the occasion of Bhanu Bhakta Acharya’s birth anniversary.

The MoFA has clarified that PM Oli’s intentions were only to cite the need for further research on related facts about Ayodhya and Rama.

“The remarks made by the Prime Minister are not linked to any political subject and have no intention at all to hurt the feeling and sentiment of anyone,” reads the press statement.

“As there have been several myths and references about Shri Ram and the places associated with him, the Prime Minister was simply highlighting the importance of further studies and research of the vast cultural geography the Ramayana represents to obtain facts about Shri Ram, Ramayana and the various places linked to this rich civilization,” stated MoFA.

“The remarks were not meant to debasing the significance of Ayodhya and the cultural value it bears,” added MoFA.

The Ministry further reiterated the significance of honored cultural affinity between Nepal and India.

Earlier on Monday, PM Oli made an off-the-mark comment claiming that India is manipulating cultural and historical facts by creating a fake Ayodhya, which in fact lies in the west of Birgunj.

PM Oli’s controversial remarks came at a time when the diplomatic relations between Nepal and India were at a delicate stage over border issues.

The post MoFA Clarifies PM Oli’s Controversial Remarks on Ayodhya! appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

With this, the coronavirus cases in the country crossed 5,000-mark to stand at 5,062.

Meanwhile, a 57-year-old man from Malarani Rural Municipality-4 has died from COVID-19 infection, taking the total death tally to 16.

However, 16 patients were discharged from various hospitals after a successful recovery, taking the total recoveries to 877.

In the last 24 hours, the Nepali Government has conducted the PCR test on 5,925 COVID-19 suspects.

So far, 309,914 suspects were tested for coronavirus in Nepal. Of these, 121,862 suspects were tested through the PCR method and 188,052 through the RDT method.

Despite improving testing capacity, the country has been witnessing an exponential rise in coronavirus cases, with around 3,200 infections in the last ten days.

With the sudden spike in cases, the youth across the country protested against the Nepali Government’s apathy towards controlling the coronavirus pandemic.

Demands of the protestors include

• Expenses of the procurement of COVID-19 equipment to be made transparent
• Stopping Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT)
• Withdraw decision to impose an additional tax

People held demonstrations across various locations including Kathmandu, Nepalgunj, Pokhara, Dharan, Chitwan, and Birgunj.

A Glance at COVID-19 in Nepal

• Total Cases – 5,062
• Recovered – 877
• Active Cases – 4,169
• Deaths – 16
• PCR Tests – 121,862
• Quarantine – 158,050

The post Nepal Records Highest Single-day Spike with 448 COVID-19 Cases appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The news comes as a serious concern for Nepal as the country’s imports through sea route majorly happens via the Kolkata Port.

“We are worried. Almost all of Nepal’s imports are routed through this port. The collapse of the bridge is definitely going to impact movement of goods,” stated Eaknarayan Aryal, Consul General of Nepal in Kolkata.

Post his visit to the site, Aryal said the chairman and traffic manager of the port are holding meetings on ways to minimise the impact to the trade traffic.

The collapse of the bridge is leading to the closure of trade traffic for a long period via the Diamond Harbor Road, the route that hosts the Majerhat bridge.

Another key part associated with the bridge is the Kolkata Dock Complex, which witnesses nearly 1,300 trucks for entry and exit per day.

Speaking in detail about the situation, the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) official says that the collapse will have impact on the movement of goods.

“KoPT has dealt with 80,000 containers only for Nepal in 2017-18. This is supposed to go up to 1 lakh this year. There may be some problem in the movement of traffic. However, we are working with the police and local administration to find alternative routes,” says KoPT Spokesperson.

While KoPT is the nearest port for Nepal helping the country in import of goods such as cars, electronic items, general items of routine use, most of the goods are also traded through Bihar and cross the Nepali border at Birgunj.

Vegetables, handicrafts and forest produce are some of the Nepali imports via the Kolkata Port.

While the Spokesperson also clarifies that the trade between Kolkata and Nepal also has rail connectivity as an alternative route.

“Much of our cargo to Nepal goes through the rail route. On an average, we send a train load of goods to Nepal every day. Fortunately, any part of the bridge did not fall on the rail tracks and rail services are running now normally,” says the Spokesperson.

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As the second largest city in Nepal’s Terai region and largest in the Narayana Valley, Birgunj is home to more than 300,000 population comprising of various ethnic groups majorly the ‘Tharus’ and is the second-most populated metropolis of the country.

The region houses some of the significant languages such as Bhojpuri, the most-spoken language of the region, among various others such as Nepali, Maithili, Newari, Marwari and Hindi, mostly of Indo-Nepal origin.

Birgunj has a large number of people from Indian origin majorly from Bihar and Rajasthan, who moved as a result of migration in the time range of 50-200 years back.

History
Initially called as Gahawa, Birgunj derived its name from the name of the 3^rd Rana Prime Minister Bir Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, who founded the city in 1897.

Over the years, the town transformed to become a conglomerate of several villages in and around the Gahawa Mai Temple, the epicentre of the town.

Birgunj saw various transitions over the years! The region was disturbed for more than 10 years and also saw a two-year-long shutdown as a result of unrest caused by Nepal Parliament’s announcement of ‘Nepal as a secular state’ in 2006.

Finally, Birgunj emerged as a sub-metropolitan municipality and moved further to finally become a ‘Metropolitan’ in May 22, 2017, along with Biratnagar.

Birgunj is currently the headquarters of Parsa District in the Narayani Development Zone.

A Strategic Location
Birgunj is present at a strategic location at a distance of 84 km south of the capital city Kathmandu and sharing the border with Raxaul in the Indian state of Bihar.

The town is popularly known as the ‘Gateway of Nepal’ for its strategic position as an entry point to Nepal from Indian cities of Patna and Kolkata.

As a key transit point facilitating Indo-Nepal trade, Birgunj has been enjoying the status of being a continuously-developing vibrant industrial city since more than 60 years.

With a large number of industries set on the Birgunj-Pathlaiya industrial corridor, Birgunj produces a wide range of products such as pharmaceuticals, textiles, vegetable ghee, plastic, steel, plastic, cigarettes, aluminum, among others.

A 29-km distance from Birgunj to Pathlaiya is the busiest highway of Nepal!

Birgunj is also a renowned market for trade of different merchandise and has products that majorly cater to both the domestic consumption and export markets.

A special Customs post adds to the uniqueness of the city as a significant economic center of Nepal. Major proportion of Nepal’s trade with India and third world nations happens through this customs post!

It’s no surprise in saying that Birgunj Customs holds a major contribution in terms of revenue earnings to the government’s treasury.

To improve trade operations, a Dry Port has also been established in the town recently to address the concerns in handling the large volume of goods.

Do you know? 56 percent of Birgunj products are exported to the Indian state of Bihar!

Key Landmarks
Besides being an industry-specific, Birgunj also hosts some key landmarks that add to its significance as a tourism destination.

Shankaracharya Gate, Ghantaghar, Gahawa Mai Temple, Ida Baitha House, Murli Masjid, Bhiswa Hillock, Dry Port and Town Hall are among key places of interest in Birgunj for tourists visiting Nepal.

Sports & Entertainment
Birgunj is home to Nepal’s second largest stadium i.e., Narayani Stadium after Dasarath Rangasala, with a capacity of 15000 seats.

Besides the Narayani stadium, the town also has a cricket ground with high-class outfield and a fantastic pitch. Do you know? Nepal’s first day-night cricket match was held in this ground.

Besides national and regional-level cricket tournaments, the town also hosts T20 Cricket Tournament on a regular basis.

For all these reasons, Birgunj is famous as the cricket hub of Nepal and is home to renowned Nepali cricketers such as Irshad Ahmed hail and Haseem Ansari, among others.

One aspect that speaks the entertainment angle of Birgunj is FM radios. The town has some of the country’s significant FMs including Narayani FM 103.8Mhz, Terai FM, Radio Birgunj, Birgunj Musical FM and Public FM, among others.

In culture perspective, the town also celebrates major Hindu festivals on a grand scale.

Connectivity
Birgunj is the city that closely connects Nepal with India via Kathmandu. Birgunj has a railway station extending up to Raxaul of Bihar, India.

The 47-km railway line connects Birgunj directly to many prominent Indian cities such as Mumbai, Lucknow, Varanasi, Patna, Kolkata, New Delhi, Allahabad, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Bhopal, among others.

With regard to air connectivity, Birgunj is served by Simara Airport, which is 9 km away on the northern side of the town. The town is also awaiting the country’s second international airport at Nijgadh, just 22 km away from Birgunj.

Besides, Birgunj also has a well-established bus facility and horse-driven carts along with a well-established cargo facility that facilitates the region’s trade connectivity.

Birgunj in News
Birgunj has been in news for many landmarks developments. Let’s look at some of them:

• Liaison Office: Birgunj houses the only in-house office of Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since its inception in 2005, this center has been actively facilitating consultation and cooperation between Nepal and India through the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs with regular operations across district-level agencies in matters concerning Indo-Nepal bilateral ties.
• Black Pepper Imports: Nepal’s black pepper imports via Birgunj have grown to a record seven-fold high amounting to Rs 5 billion in revenues in the 2017-18 fiscal. To the government’s surprise, black pepper was among the list of top-ten goods imported via Birgunj, recorded to have seen a dramatic rise compared to the previous years.
• Fast Revenue Targets: Birgunj got featured in news for its fastest rate of revenue collection. The Birgunj Inland Revenue Office (IRO) has reportedly achieved its annual revenue target in the first 10 months of the FY 2017-18. The region met its annual revenue target by mid-May 2018, measured at Rs 5.32 billion.
• India-Nepal Oil Pipeline: The India-Nepal oil pipeline construction that began on March 9, 2018 saw its completion up to 13 km. The 69-km Amlekhgunj-Raxaul oil pipeline connecting the two countries has been laid along the Pathlaiya-Simara-Jitpur, Parwanipur and Birgunj bypass roadway. According to the reports, major part of the pipeline alignment is covered in the Birgunj-Pathlaiya commercial highway.
• ICP Birgunj: Integrated Check Post (ICP) Birgunj is one key aspect that India and Nepal have been discussing since a long period. Finally, in the month of March 2018, the Indian Government informed that it would hand over the check-post to the Nepal Government for its full operations by April 2018. The enhanced ICP will support both the nations in enhanced customs check and immigration services across the borders.
• Ban of 20-yr-old Vehicles: As part of eco-friendly measures, the Government of Nepal has called for ban on movement of vehicles older than 20 years. Birgunj successfully implemented the policy by banning dozen such vehicles on its roads.
• Kathmandu-Birgunj Electric Railway: The Department of Railways has planned to award the feasibility and assessment of the long-awaited Kathmandu-Birgunj Electric Railway to a South Korean firm after placing a bid of Rs 60 million.
• Budget Priority: Birgunj drew special attention in the Budget for FY 2018-19, wherein, the Finance Minister of Nepal said the budget gives top priority to Birgunj’s development. The Finance Minister said the government has high regard to the town because of its contribution to the overall government earnings in the form of revenue collection.

List not exhaustive! There are many such interesting news Birgunj was featured in for over the period.

Overall, Birgunj means a lot for Nepal in terms of trade and revenue earnings. Let’s hope the region would make more strides to become more important to the nation in many other key areas of development! All the Best Birgunj!

Also Read:

• Pokhara – Tourism Capital of Nepal
• Nepal, The Perfect Tourism Destination
• Sarangkot – The Adventure Lover’s Paradise
• Biratnagar – Industrial Capital of Nepal
• Nepal’s Lumbini Among ‘Best in Asia 2018’
• Kathmandu: Nepal’s City of Glory!

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The two-week-long journey that began on December 14, 2017, involving elderly Nepali citizens, is a joint initiative of the Nepal Bharat Friendship Society and the Indian Mission in Nepal.

     The two-week-long journey began on December 14, 2017

As part of the journey, the pilgrims will travel around India and Nepal.

“India has age old relations with Nepal which includes the religious, social and the cultural relations. The culture and the other things are similar between the two sides. Many things in Nepal such as Shraddha (commemorating the deceased ones) do not get completed without the pilgrimage tour in India,” says Prem Lashkery, President of Nepal Bharat Friendship Society.

Entering India through Nepal’s Birgunj, the pilgrims will cover Indian places such as Harihar Kshetra, PunPun, Gaya, Bodh Gaya, Kashi Bishow Nath, Bindhabasini, Chitra Kut, Allahabad, Prayag, Ayodhya Ram Janma Bhumi, Gorakh Nath, Tribeni and Devghat before returning to Kathmandu.

Meanwhile, Bidur KC , a pilgrim traveling with the team, feels that this tour will strengthen the Nepal-India relationship.

“This also shows that the relation between the countries is not confined to political level only, but very good relation exists in the religious sector too,” he added.

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Various popular personalities are part of the expedition team that drive 10 fire engines from across the Himalayas to Kathmandu and finally donate them to the local fire department.

While the former US Ambassador to Nepal Scott DeLisi and the legendary mountaineer and TV personality Russell Brice form the lead team, various other personalities form the volunteer team.

National stars such as Manisha Koirala, Rajesh Hamal and Sunil Thapa, and the internationally-acclaimed actors including Michael Imperioli and Malcolm McDowell are among the key film celebrities.

Music star Chris Adler from Lamb of God, Nuno Bettencourt from the Extreme rock band and the renowned mountaineer Reinhold Messner are among other famous personalities that are part of the drive from Birgunj to Kathmandu.

Besides the intense social media promotion on a global scale, the event will also be filmed as a 90-minute feature film along with a one-hour special video program in US’ PBS.

The event will also feature the handmade travel accessories and luxury fashion items made by the young Nepali women who suffered the risk of human trafficking.

The event supporters also have various takeaways such as an exclusive access to the documentary film, an official expedition mug, and high-end items such as unique travel wallets, official expedition watch and hand-woven cashmere hats, say the organizers.

The events are aimed to inspiring people to visit Nepal, reads a statement.

According to the organizers, the publicity of this event would also offer a needed boost to the Nepali tourism industry.

Through the campaign, the organizers aim at raising a USD 200,000 fund to ship fire trucks and also support the expedition, while also making a promotional feature-length documentary covering the entire expedition program.

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