Holi The Festival of Colours

Holi The Festival of Colours

Happy Holi

Holi is festival of color. This festival is also farewell of winter and welcoming of summer in Southern Asia. Holi is celebrated in full moon day in Phalgun . Hence, Holi is also called Fagu Purnima. Holi is called Dhuli in Sanskrit.

Holi is welcoming of spring and summer. It is also observed to get blessing of God for coming harvests and fertility of the land. This festival is celebrated in most of South Asian counties. Actually Holi is the night of Falgun Krishna Chaturdasi but celebration starts from the very next day on Purnima. Holi is the festival of color, friendships and love.

Holi-Festival-Celebration

The ancient Hindu festival of Holi falls on late February or on early March. Allegedly named after the mythical demoness Holika, it is a day when the feast of colours is celebrated. The festival is of a week. However, it’s only the last day that is observed by all with colours. The ancient Hindu festival of Holi falls on late February or on early March. Allegedly named after the mythical demoness Holika, it is a day when the feast of colours is celebrated.

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The festival is of a week. However it’s only the last day that is observed by all with colours. Phagu is another name for Holi where Phagu means the sacred red powder and Pune is the full moon day, on which the festival ends. People can be seen wandering through the streets either on foot or on some vehicle, with a variety of colours smeared over them. Families and friends get together and celebrate the occasion with a lot of merry making. This spring time celebration is also an outburst of youthful exuberance in which throwing colours and water bolloons (lolas) on passer- by is acceptable. But, the Indian community, that is, the Marwari class who has settled down in Nepal for centuries and the people of Terai celebrate it a day later with more pomp and ceremony.

Happy-Holi

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TICC established

Department of Tourism, under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has started an initiative to gather information about tourists who have gone missing, are dead or injured in the devastating earthquake and the avalanche in the Himalayan region due to the quake. ntb

A meeting held today at the department decided to set up a Tourist Information Coordination Centre (TICC), where people from anywhere in the country can provide information on tourists who are missing, dead or injured at the toll free number ‘1144’. People can inform Tourist Police through that toll free number.

For better coordination, Rukesh Tandukar, in-charge of Tourist Police Unit and Sarad Pradhan (contact number 9851077385) of Nepal Tourism Board will be available at all times to gather information.

The centre will work directly under Director General of the department, Tulasi Prasad Gautam. It will gather information in coordination with Tourist Police, Department of Immigration, Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal, Nepal Mountaineering Association, Nepal Association of Tour and Trekking Agents, and Hotel Association Nepal. TICC will promptly convey the message to the rescue and relief team of the government.

This initiative is expected to address queries of foreign missions in Nepal whose citizens were visiting the country at the time of the devastating earthquake. Thousands of tourists are still unaccounted for, as per various foreign missions.

The European Union (EU) said at least 1,000 EU citizens so far are unaccounted for after the quake. Talking to The Himalayan Times, EU Ambassador to Nepal, Rensje Teerink said they did not know where their citizens are in the country. “Many could have left the country unharmed, however, it hasn’t been brought to our notice.”

source:the himalayan times

1st Indo-Nepal motor rally to kick off next week

1st Indo-Nepal motor rally to kick off next week

The first-ever Indo-Nepal Motor Rally from Odisha to the Nepalese capital will kickstart next week, linking key Buddhist cities in the two countries to boost “spiritual” and “adventure” tourism.

nature-adventure-culture

The rally will begin on February 27 and will conclude in Delhi on March 8, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae told mediapersons here. The rally – aimed at promoting nature, culture and adventure tourism – would be instrumental in strengthening people-to-people contact between the two countries, said Rae. The rally will link Jagannath, Puri and Pashupatinath as well as sister cities Bodhgaya and Lumbini, highlighting age-old cultural and civilisational links between Nepal and India, he pointed out.

The rally will see participation of around 110 people in 30 cars which will cover a total distance of 2,500 km in 10 days. 25 vehicles from India and five vehicles from Nepal will take part in the rally. “The event also aims to give tremendous impetus to tourism, both spiritual and adventure tourism in both the countries. “This venture also attaches great importance to the Buddhist trail, linking Bodhgaya, where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment with Lumbini in Nepal, where Lord Buddha was born,” remarked Rae.

The rally will open up new avenues of tourism in both the countries by encouraging young travellers of the two countries to each other’s territories through the land route, he pointed out. The Nepal-India Motor Vehicle Agreement signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal during the 18th SAARC Summit has helped promote tourism between the two countries through land route, Rae said.

Three Nepalese motor drivers today embarked towards Puri to take part in the rally.The motor rally will enter Nepal at Jogbani customs point at Biratnagar on March 2 and will halt at the picturesque town of Dharan before embarking to Dhulikhel, another scenic town situated in the east of Kathmandu famous for its mountain views.

The rally will reach here on March 4, marking the end of its first leg. On March 5, the second leg of the motor rally will be flagged off by Rae and Nepal’s Minister for Youth and Sports Purushottam Paudel. It will then pass through the beautiful cities of Pokhara, Lumbini and Dhangadhi before reaching Delhi on March 8.

The rally is being jointly organised by Kalinga Motor Sports Club, Bhubaneswar and Nepal Automobile Sports Association with support from the Indian Embassy here and the Nepal government.

Source: News Nation

Nepal, India to jointly promote tourism

Nepal, India to jointly promote tourism

Nepal and India will soon begin joint tourism promotion campaign.

Speaking at the 51st anniversary of Nepal Association of Tour and Travel Agents (NATTA), Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae said that there is a need of mutual cooperation as Nepal and India are jointly promoting tourism.

“As Nepal is a famous religious tourism destination for it has Pashupatinath, Lumbini, Muktinath and Janakpurdham. It should promote these destinations to attract tourists,” said Rae, adding, “Nepal should focus on religious and adventure tourism and it is through this it can bring in quality tourists”.

NATTA-AGM

Prachanda Man Shrestha, former CEO of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) said there is a need of the campaign to promote regional markets. “Nepal needs to move forward giving priority to neighboring countries India and China first to promote tourism and increase tourist arrivals,” said Shrestha.

At the program, NATTA demanded a certain percent from the tourism service fee (TSF) for strengthening the association. “As it the tour operators who bring in tourists, we should get certain percent from the TSF collected by NTB,” said DB Limbu, president of NATTA.

NATTA currently has around 500 members associated with it. It cancels the membership of companies that does not renew its membership for more than a year. Earlier, it used to cancel membership of companies that did not renew membership every six months.

Source: Republica

China raises Nepal aid 5-fold to compete with India

China raises Nepal aid 5-fold to compete with India

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In what appears to be a straight competition for influence with India, China has increased its official aid to Nepal by more than five times. China has also promised to build electricity infrastructure in Nepal worth $1.6 billion to counter an Indian offer of soft loan for the power sector.

Chinese aid to the Himalayan nation will rise from the present level of $24 million to $128 million in 2015-16. The announcement came after talks between Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and his Nepali counterpart Mahendra Bahadur Pandey in Kathmandu on Friday.

Besides, Beijing is building a police academy for Nepal as a special gift. This is probably because Nepalese police help control the flow of Tibetan refugees trying to enter India through Nepal.

READ ALSO: China picking major infrastructure deals in Nepal

“As neighbors China and Nepal have common security needs … we need to work together to crack down on illegal border crossings and transnational crimes,” Wang said.

Nepali elite have for sometime complained that India has taken its relationship with the country for granted, and has not done enough to meet its development aspirations. China appears to be filling in the gap besides competing with Indian companies in Nepal’s power sector.
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The Langtang Mountain range towers over the Kathmandu Valley, hidden under a blanket of cloud, as seen from Bhanjyang on the outskirts of Kathmandu on December 10, 2014. Nepal is located between India to the south and China to the north. Agriculture is the mainstay of the country’s economy (AFP photo)

India has announced a $1 billion soft loan to built the country’s infrastructure including power projects. Nepal’s hydropower sector has a potential to generate up to 42,000MW of electricity.

READ ALSO: Modi woos Saarc nations, pledges slew of investments to counter China
China has responding with a $1.6 billion power project, which will be built by the government-owned Three Gorges International Corp over the Seti River in western Nepal. It is expected to generate 750MW of electricity.

“Nepal has power shortages and electricity is essential for Nepal’s efforts to industrialize, to create more jobs, to build its capacity in independent development and to raise quality of lives of its people,” Wang told reporters in Katmandu, Nepal’s capital.
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The Seti river in Nepal on which China is helping the country to build a hydroelectric power plant. (Getty Images file photo)

Relationship between the two neighbors is expected to further intensify as Chinese president Xi Jinping is due to visit the Himalayan nation next year.

READ ALSO: China schools in Nepal a threat, SSB says
Direct train connection from Nepal to Tibet in China is expected to become a reality in a year or so. China has begun extending the Tibet rail line in the 167km stretch from Lahsa and Xigaze, which brings it closer to the Nepal border.