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Posts tagged as “India”

SL in talks to extend $1 bln Indian credit line-report

report in Daily Mirror online Mar 8, 2023Sri Lanka is negotiating with India to extend a $1 billon credit line by a few months, two sources told Reuters. The credit line is to due to expire on March 17 with Sri Lanka having used only about two-thirds of it, mainly for medicines and food, said the sources and another person familiar with the matter. The extension talks come as the economy improves and forex reserves…

Massive protest by some 8000 Lankan fishermen against Minister’s concession to India

By N. Lohathayalan in The Sunday Times, Feb 26, 2023More than forty Jaffna district fishermen’s associations with a membership totalling about 8000 will drag their fishing boats to the road in protest against Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda’s proposal to allow Indian fishermen to engage in fishing in Sri Lankan waters. Fishermen’s association representatives told the Sunday Times there would be a discussion today on the minister’s move to allow ‘small Indian boats’ to engage in…

Afghanistan ‘Desperate’ for Direct Flights to India

By Fidel Rahmati in Khaama Press online, Feb 8, 2023The caretaker authorities in Kabul are optimistic that India will agree to resume direct flights between New Delhi and Kandahar. Afghanistan’s caretaker government hopes for the resumption of flights between New Delhi and Kandahar. The Taliban-run government in Afghanistan are optimistic that India will agree to resume direct flights between New Delhi and Kandahar, reported by Hindustan Times. Last week, the Taliban welcomed India’s budget for…

Nepal to propose two new cross-border transmission lines with India

by Prithvi Man Shrestha in The Kathmandu Post, January 26, 2023Nepal will propose developing two new Nepal-India cross-border transmission lines during the upcoming high-level meetings on energy between the two neighbours. As hydropower production has been growing in the country amid limited consumption, Nepal must sell more power to India to avoid spillage. For this, reliable infrastructure for cross-border transmission of power is necessary, officials say. Nepal plans to discuss constructing two new high capacity…

Chiraito herb hits all-time high of Rs1,000 per kg

by Ananda Gautam in The Kathmandu Post, Jan 25, 2023The price of chiraito, a medicinal herb prized by the pharmaceutical industry, has hit an all-time high of Rs1,000 per kg on soaring demand in India. The plant (Swertia chirayita) grows wild in the forests of the Himalayan foothills, and is also cultivated. Tibet used to be the largest buyer of Nepali chiraito; but after Chinese authorities closed the border in eastern Nepal due to Covid-19,…

India stealing a march on China on rail connectivity with Nepal?

by Prithvi Man Shrestha in The Kathmandu Post, Jan 19, 2023 As a Chinese technical team started a feasibility study for the proposed Kerung-Kathmandu cross-border railway, India has almost completed a detailed feasibility study for the Raxaul-Kathmandu Railway project, officials at the Department of Railways said. The two projects highlight the geopolitical rivalry between the two neighbouring giants who are competing for influence in Nepal. In late December, a six-member Chinese team representing the China…

Dahal to visit India in first foreign trip

by Anil Gir in The Kathmandu Post, Jan 15, 2023.Government officials have started preparations for Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s visit to India in the near future with the prime minister saying on Saturday that he would make New Delhi his first port of call after taking up the executive job in December-end. Speaking with some editors and journalists at Baluwatar, Dahal said the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi was coordinating with relevant offices and officials in…

Ruling parties commit to bring back India-controlled Nepali territories

by Anil Giri in The Kathmandu Post, Jan 10, 2023The ruling alliance has promised to play an effective role to bring back territories encroached by India. According to the ruling coalition’s common minimum programme document unveiled on Monday, the government will try to bring back the territories of Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulek that are currently occupied by India. The government will strengthen territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, according to the common minimum programme of the…

Keheliya admits Health Ministry struggling to procure vital drugs

By Shamindra Ferdinando in The Island, Dec 29, 2022Health Minister Keheliya Rambulwella yesterday (28) said his Ministry was struggling to procure 153 medicines currently in short supply or out of stock in government hospitals despite the availability of a New Delhi credit line to buy the required medicines and surgical items from India. Addressing the media at the Health Ministry auditorium, Rambukwella said that of the 384 medicines, 153 medicines were in short supply. However,…

India’s policy hurts power export prospects of Nepal

by Prithvi Man Shrestha in The Kathmandu Post, Dec 28, 2022In a move that will make hydroelectricity generated by Indian projects cheaper than that produced by Nepal, India’s power ministry starting earlier this month removed the inter-state transmission charges for new Indian hydropower projects. The ministry on December 2 issued the order to waive Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) charges on the transmission of electricity generated by new hydropower projects. The waiver is already available to…

Ponnambalam slams Tamil parties for ‘misusing’ federalism for votes

By Mirudhula Thambiah in The Morning, Dec 16, 2022Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) Leader and Opposition MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam accused the other Tamil political parties yesterday (15) that they use the federal solution for the national ethnic question only to win votes, following which they would commit themselves to legitimising the 13th Amendment to the Constitution because India wants such. “As far as the Tamil parties are concerned, our accusation against these parties is that…