A day earlier, the country has launched its first-ever telecom satellite project marking its grand entry into the space community.

Before that, the country has also signed a partnership for setting up of an advanced security printing facility at the Information and Technology Park in Banepa, Kavre.

Continuing on those lines, here comes another important update for Nepalis on the country’s hotel and hospitality industry.

In a recent update, India-based hospitality industry giant Oyo has announced its expansion plans in Nepal and India.

Closing in on a USD 1 billion funding received recently, Oyo Hotels & Homes announced that it has decided to make a Rs 1400 crore investment in its businesses across India and Nepal.

The investment will be directed towards infrastructure upgradation and technology development, informed Aditya Ghosh, Oyo CEO, India and South Asia.

Under the plan, Oyo will expand its Nepal operations from the present 3 cities to 15 Nepali cities in the next 10 months period.

By the summer season of the current year, the firm is targeting 10,000 new rooms across Nepali cities.

“We are committing over Rs 1,400 crore for technology investments, renovation, and managing investments for the calendar year, and will provide more, if needed, to help the team ensure continued economically efficient growth,” Founder and Oyo Group CEO Ritesh Agarwal said in an official statement.

Hope this will add to the development of Nepal’s fast-growing hotel and hospitality industry.

The post Oyo Plans New Investment in 15 Nepali Cities appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

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!

The post Birgunj – Trade Gateway to Nepal appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

One such place, in fact the country’s ‘industrial capital’, is none other than ‘Biratnagar’ of Moran District in the eastern-most Terai region of Nepal.

Located 399 km close to the main capital Kathmandu and 6 km away the bordering area to the Indian state of Bihar, Biratnagar is currently the second most-densely populated area with more than 2 lakh population and also the interim capital of Province 1.

Biratnagar holds a special place in the modern history of Nepal as the country’s most politically-active region!

It boasts of having given five prime ministers to the country and hosting the country’s famous revolutionary incidents of the first anti-Rana movement and 1973 Nepal Plane Hijack incident.

For its development, Biratnagar has been declared as the metropolitan in May 22, 2017 and is today the fourth most-populated metropolitan of the country after Kathmandu and Pokhara.

Named After Mahabharata King
Popularly called as the ‘second capital’ and the ‘Capital of the Orient (East)’, Biratnagar has its history dating back to Mahabharata times.

The region was named after King Virata, the in-law of King Arjuna, the central character of the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata.

Initially known as ‘Gograha Bazaar’, the region witnessed a new phase of transformation in 1914 A.D. when the then Governor of Moran District moved all the major infrastructure facilities such as hospitals and many government offices from Rangeli (Morang’s old capital) to Gograha Bazaar.

After five years from then, the then Rana ruler Keshar Shamsher Rana gave the name ‘Biratnagar’ after finding key ancient architectural findings in the region believed to be of King Virat’s period.

Even today, one can find the ruins of destroyed palace and ages-old idols preserved in the southern part of the city at Bhediya of the Buddhanagar Village Development Committee (VDC).

In Nepali, Birat means huge and Nagar means city, so the place can also be called ‘Large City’.

Politically Active
Biratnagar boasts of gifting nearly five prime ministers to the nation and holds a special place in the modern political history of Nepal.

While Krishna Prasad Koirala was the first famous political leader of Biratnagar, his sons Matrika Prasad Koirala and Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala served as the prime ministers of Nepal during the post democracy era.

The region is also home to the Girija Prasad Koirala, the erstwhile prime minister known to have served the position for four times.

Sushil Koirala, Sailaja Acharya, Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Lal Babu Pandit, Amod Prasad Upadhyay, Bharat Mohan Adhikari and Mahesh Acharya are among other popular Nepali political leaders from Biratnagar.

Industrial Capital
Biratnagar is popularly known as the ‘industrial capital’ of Nepal and is home to Biratnagar Jute Mills, the first large-scale industry of Nepal.

The region is also locally known as the economic center of eastern Nepal.

Majorly driven by the country’s today budding start-up culture, Biratnagar is home to Golchha Organization, which was once a small start-up and is now a multi-million house.

Biratnagar is also the second largest Land Port of Nepal and also has a connectivity to major Custom Route with India.

With high concentration of factories and industries and the country’s large-scale industry Birat Jute Mills, the region is home to more than 6000 industries.

Arts & Entertainment
Biratnagar is home to literary experts such as Bhanubhakta Pokhrel Bal Krishna Pokhrel, Biwas Pokhrel, Dev Kumari Thapa, Parshu Pradhan, Kabiraj Neupane, Nawaraj Subba, Sima Avas and Dadhiraj Subedi, among others.

Some of the significant and famous books in Nepali literature were from Biratnagar.

Biratnagar also produced landmark publications in poetry such as Jeevanko Chheubaata by Suman Pokhrel and Bholi Basne Bihan written by Krishna Bhushan Bal.

Biratnagar is famous for Nepal’s two most-sought sports: Football and Cricket.

The city is home to Sahid Rangsala, one of the country’s largest football stadium with more than 10,000 capacity.

A cricket stadium is also being constructed in the outskirts of Biratnagar in Baijanathpur VDC, namely Biratnagar Cricket Ground to host local and national-level cricket tournaments. The city also has lawn tennis and basketball courts.

Entrance to Exciting Destinations

Biratnagar is one of the major tourist attractions of Nepal hosting places of interest for explorers.

Let’s take at some of them:
Baraha Chhetra: This is one of the major religious shrines of Nepal. This is believed to be the exact place where Varaha or Baraha, the third incarnation of Lord Vishnu as a wild boar, killed the demon-king Hiranyaksha. The shrine is located at the meeting point of the two major rivers of Nepal: Saptakoshi and Koka.

Hile: The famous trekking point of the past known to many as the starting point to begin the camping trek to Makalu. However, the place lost its recognition as the trek spot with the advancement of Tumlingtar-Khandbari road and is still known for its natural ambience.

Dhankuta: Popular as the model city of Nepal, Dhankuta is also known for its famous bazaar. The eastern Nepal is popular for its banana, silk and nettle fibers used to make cushion covers, clothing and tablecloths.

Forests: The region is home to some unique greenery on earth with forests of Tinjure, Milke and Jaljale offering a picturesque view. One can enjoy dense deciduous shrubs cover and the shades of red hues upon travel across the 30-km forest area.

Koshi River: This is one of the most sacred rivers in the Hindu mythology. Coming from the major confluence of tributaries from Chatra Gorge, the river presents a serene view surrounded by awesome mountains and terrain areas of Nepal.

Jute Mills: Biratnagar jute mills is one unique aspect of Nepal as the country’s first-scale industry. Known as the country’s oldest industrial establishment, this jute mills was established in 1936 during the tenure of the then Prime Minister Juddha Shamsher.

Dharan: This is another beautiful place of Nepal offering a distinct glimpse of middle-class suburban societies with parks and well-maintained bungalows, among others. The place also has a large Gorkha recruiting area that is heart to the world’s famous Gurkha soldiers.

Ilam, Kali Mandir, Haat Bazaar and Basantapur are among other places of interest in Biratnagar for travel lovers! Interesting right? So, plan your next trip to Biratnagar to witness the region’s unique aspects among other Nepali cities.

Biratnagar in News
It’s no surprise that Biratnagar has been in news in every search for Nepal development!

Here we will see some major news updates that Biratnagar was featured in over the years:

• Fast-paced Development: Do you know? Biratnagar Metropolis has signed in more than 60 developmental projects in just two weeks period during June 15-29, 2018 with at least 5-7 projects signed per day during the period. The Finance Ministry of Province.1 allotted the metropolis a Rs 6.6 million budget for various developmental projects.
• As Britain’s Sister City: In a discussion with Biratnagar Metropolitan City (BMC) Mayor Bhim Parajuli, the British Ambassador to Britain pitched on a proposal for making Biratnagar Metropolitan a sister city of Britain citing BMC’s fast-paced ongoing projects and path towards development.
• Biratnagar Airport: Biratnagar has been in news for quite some time with regard to the master plan for the expansion of Biratnagar airport to international level, for improving Nepal’s air connectivity and drive in more international tourists to the Province 1.
• Being Tech-savvy: This news update introduces you to a different shade of Biratnagar. Biratnagar has reportedly deployed advanced flying robotics to track and monitor all its public development projects. BMC is using ‘video drones’ for filming and mapping of projects’ progress.
• Transit Home:  Established in 1998 at Sainikole, the Transit Home in Biratnagar has been news as the center that protects illicit trafficking of Nepali girls across the border area. Set up by Nepal’s leading organization for women protection Maiti Nepal, the Center has been actively working against girl and women trafficking in the high-risk Nepali border area sharing borders with Indian state of Bihar.
• India-Nepal Air Agreement: Very recently, India has agreed to open four new air entry points to Nepal across the eastern and western parts of the country to facilitate movement of international traffic. Kathmandu-Biratnagar-Dhaka is one of such four routes agreed.
• New Shopping Malls: Biratnagar was featured in news for welcoming new shopping malls that are going to change the city’s urban landscape. With around Rs 3 billion private sector investment, BMC is awaiting three big shopping malls: Nepal Bazaar, Central Mall and Centurion Mall, with Centurion being the first shopping mall of the city.
• As Province. 1 Capital: Biratnagar drew an amazing response in 2017 with regard to a proposal for making Biratnagar as Province. 1 capital. “Biratnagar carries historic significance, so it will be gross injustice to this grand city to consider establishing the provincial capital elsewhere,” says Mayor Parajuli.
• Nepal’s 2^nd Cargo Train Route: India and Nepal launched Nepal’s first cargo train from Kolkata Port to Bathana of Bihar (India) near the Jogbani-Biratnagar bordering point. Through this trial, the two countries planned of creating a second cargo train route linking Nepal with India. The new route is being termed positive in boosting Nepal-India trade ties.

List not exhaustive! Biratnagar is no doubt a one-stop solution if one has to speak about the burgeoning development of Nepal in the recent times.

Also Read:

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

The post Biratnagar – Industrial Capital of Nepal appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

While Kathmandu was ranked fifth in the Global Pollution Index 2017 mid-year survey, the continuous efforts of Kathmandu Metropolitan Traffic Police (KMTP) to ban honking in the city’s traffic turned positive for the country’s development portfolio on a global level.

KMTP’s regulations over sounding of horns in traffic, through fine collection beginning from April 2017, not only transformed Kathmandu into a horn-free city, but also proved the country’s strength in public-policy collaboration.

“In all of South Asia, this is one of the most successful initiatives by the traffic police. This is our pride,” says Madhu Sudan Silwal, a senior police officer who spent most of his time regulating traffic on Kathmandu’s roads as part of duty.

Elated at the transformation, Mingmar Lama, the Chief of KMTP when the horn ban initiative was introduced, says, “I wanted drivers in Kathmandu Valley to be civilized. Now if you blow the horn, people will look at you, just like in a developed country, as if you were uncivilized.”

The ban was first rolled out in Kathmandu in April 2017 marking the start of new Nepali year, and is currently being tested across other cities of the country.

If everything goes as planned, the authorities expect Nepal to become horn-free very soon.

As a country with the least-developed status, Nepal has been striving at its best to prove on a global scale, and the horn ban policy appears as an opportunity for the country.

The Kathmandu Traffic Police feel the horn ban policy is a mark of Nepali society’s sophistication.

“Now all the foreigners feel Nepal’s people are good,” says Sarbendra Khanal, the current Chief of Kathmandu Traffic Police.

The post Nepal Finds Pride in Successful Horn Ban Policy appeared first on Nepali Sansar.