Narendra Modi to hand over trauma centre, helicopter to Nepal

Kathmandu, By Anil Giri 24 November 2014

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will Tuesday hand over a trauma centre built with Indian aid adjacent to the Bir Hospital in the centre of Kathmandu.

Modi will be arriving in Kathmandu Tuesday afternoon to attend the 18th Saarc Summit Nov 26-27.

Similarly, during his Nepal visit, he will also gift an advanced light helicopter (ALH), generically named HAL Dhruv Mark-3, to Nepal.

According to the Nepal Army, Modi will hand over the keys of the helicopter to Prime Minister Sushil Koirala who will then hand them over to Chief of the Nepal Army Gen. Gaurav Sumsher Rana at a function organized at the Nepal Army Pavilion in Tundikhel, in the heart of Kathmandu.

Earlier, Nepal had sought to purchase two ALHs from India at a highly subsidised price during the 11th Bilateral Consultative Group meeting in Kathmandu in July. After lengthy negotiations, the Indian side had agreed to gift one helicopter to Nepal.

The helicopter is designed to meet the requirements of both military and civil operators. Manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the helicopter costs $6.5 million. It has already landed in Kathmandu Saturday.

With sound features, the helicopter has been equipped with rocket, air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles and a gun turret.

Similarly, the 200-bedded trauma centre is a Rs.1.5-billion project of the government of India and it was supposed to come into operation in 2009. But the project got delayed after Nepal’s anti-graft body, National Vigilance Centre, seized some documents for review.

The centre will have 150 beds in the trauma ward, six operation theatres, 14 intensive care units (ICUs), eight resuscitation rooms and beds for emergency observation, 10 examination cubicles in the outpatient department and a triage area.

(Anil Giri can be contacted at girianil@gmail.com)

Minister Flags off Delhi-Kathmandu-Delhi Bus Service on November 25

Minister of Road Transport, Highways & Shipping, Shri Nitin Gadkari will flag off Delhi-Kathmandu-Delhi bus service tomorrow from DTC Bus Terminal at Ambedkar Stadium. Earlier, the Cabinet approved the signing of Bilateral Agreement for the regulation of passenger traffic between India and Nepal on the sidelines of the forthcoming SAARC Summit in Kathmandu. The Cabinet has also authorized the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways to sign similar Bilateral Agreements and Protocols with other SAARC Member States. The Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, also approved the signing and ratifying the SAARC Motor Vehicles Agreement at the Summit.

The SAARC Transport Ministers, at their second meeting in Colombo on 25 July 2009, approved the recommendations of Inter Governmental Group on Transport (IGGT) to set up an Expert Group to negotiate and finalize the text of the draft Regional Agreement on Motor Vehicles for SAARC Member States. The Expert Group on the SAARC Motor Vehicles Agreement, in its third meeting held at Neemrana (Rajasthan) on 7-8 September this year, considered and finalized the draft text of the agreement which was endorsed in the Fifth meeting of the SAARC IGGT held on 30th September in New Delhi attended by delegations from all Member States except Maldives. This Agreement provides for the Member States allowing the vehicles of other Member States to ply in their territory for transportation of cargo and passengers subject to various terms and conditions in the Agreement and obtaining permits for such transport from the Member States as per procedure and protocols prescribed in the Agreement. The Agreement once signed will result in closer regional economic cooperation and integration through enhanced regional connectivity by allowing movement of goods and passengers in the region through road transport.