Sikta Irrigation Project is one of the National Pride Projects of Nepal. [1] The intake is in the Rapti river in western Nepal. There are two canals with the capacity of 50 m3/s each. The length of canal is 45.25 kilometres in the western section and 53 kilometres in the eastern section. The canals are constituted into 3 phases. [2] As of 2019, 60% of the project has been completed.
The feasibility study of the project was done by Lahmeyer International GmbH from Germany in 1980. In 1983, the Department of Hydrology and Metrology revised the study. In 2004, the Irrigation Development Programme under the European Union concluded that the project is feasible which led the government to start the project by its own resources.
The initial project cost in 2005-06 was NPR 12.8 billion and estimated to be completed by 2014–15. The project is still under construction and is estimated to be complete by 2020. The project is expected to rise to NPR 25.02 billion. [3] In 2019, the project completion was 60%. [4]
The contractor for construction is CTC Kalika Joint Venture Pvt Ltd. The project targets to irrigate 42,000 hectares of land in Banke District.
The national Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has lodged a corruption case of over NPR 2 billion in this project. The case was filed against former minister and chief of Kalika Construction Bikram Pandey over the construction of a canal and 20 other staffs. CIAA has made claims of Rs 2.13 billion from Bikram Pandey, NPR 1.56 billion from Dilip Bahadur Karki and NPR 593.45 million from Saroj Chandra Pandit. It also claims Rs 24.05 million from Uddhav Raj Chaulagai, the managing director of the consulting company (ERMC). [8] [9]
Diamer-Bhasha Dam is a concreted-filled gravity dam, in the preliminary stages of construction, on the River Indus between Kohistan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Diamer district in Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan administered Kashmir. Its foundation stone was laid by the then Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1998. The dam site is situated near a place called "Bhasha", hence the name which is 40 km downstream of Chilas town and 315 km from Tarbela Dam. The eight million acre feet (MAF) reservoir with 272-metre height will be the tallest roller compact concrete (RCC) dam in the world.
Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) is the official governing body of cricket in Nepal.
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Events in the year 2018 in Nepal.
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Babai Irrigation Project is an irrigation project in western Nepal which aim to irrigate 36,000 ha of land by using water of Babai River. The project has been listed as the National Pride Projects of Nepal and is implemented by the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation (Nepal). The project aims to irrigate about 21,000 ha and 15,000 ha in the eastern and western side of the river respectively. The project cost is estimated to be about NPR 17,340,000,000.
'Sunkoshi Marin Diversion Project' is one of the National Pride Projects being developed by Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation (Nepal). The project got status of National Pride Projects in 20 January 2020.
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Motihari-Amlekhgunj pipeline is a 69 km (43 mi) long trans-border petrolium pipeline between Amlekhgunj Oil Depot in Parsa of Nepal and Motihari of India. This pipeline transports petroleum from Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC). It is also the first ever trans-national pipeline in the Indian subcontinent. It has an annual capacity of two million metric tonn.
Corruption in Nepal is widespread and extends to every sector from the government to the judiciary, police, health services, and education.
Bikram Pandey is a Nepalese politician belonging to Rastriya Prajatantra Party and constituent assembly member. He was elected to the Pratinidhi Sabha in the 2013 CA election on behalf of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party from Chitwan 5.
The first Lumbini Provincial Assembly was elected by the 2017 provincial elections. 87 members were elected to the assembly, 52 of whom were elected through direct elections and 35 of whom were elected through the party list proportional representation system. The term of the assembly started on 4 February 2018 and ended in September 2022. Shankar Pokharel from the CPN (UML) and Kul Prasad KC from the CPN served as chief ministers during the term of the assembly. Purna Bahadur Gharti served as the speaker of the assembly and Krishni Tharu served as the deputy speaker.