John Tucknott MBE, the UK’s Ambassador to Nepal, opened the new UK visa application centre in Kathmandu. He was joined by Simon Dadd, Regional Manager, UK Border Agency - South Asia, and Ms Kathryn Lefevre, General Manager, UK Operations - South Asia, VFS Global.

“Migration and people to people contact are important strands of the UK-Nepal relationship. Our UK visa operation supports this. It therefore gives me great pleasure to formally open this new visa application centre. One that is bigger, brighter and better for everyone who wishes to apply for a UK visa,” said ambassador John Tucknott. 

 “We are pleased to be working closely with VFS Global, our commercial partner, to ensure an efficient visa service for all customers,” said Simon Dadd

In 2011 the UK Border Agency processed in the region of 12,500 visas made in Nepal, of which about 80% of applications were successful.  According to British Embassy press release, the UK government has made significant changes to study, work and settlement visas in 2011 and 2012.

British Council English & Education Initiatives

British council Nepal launched a portfolio of English and Education initiatives on 16th July 2012 at Hotel Radisson.

The initiatives are developed under a new strategy and will focus on the learning and teaching of English in formats that are not only convenient, interesting and innovative but also affordable, according to a press release issued by the British Council.

A three year schools program 'Connecting Classroom' in partnership with DFID (Department for International Development) is central to these initiatives, states the press release.

 “We want to benefit everybody who wants to learn English in Nepal,” said Dr. Robert Monro, Country Director of the British Council Nepal.

Japan Extends Grant Assistance to Nepal

The Government of Japan has agreed to extend a grant up to four billion, nine hundred and ninety-seven million Japanese Yen (¥4,997,000,000), equivalent to five billion, five hundred and ninety-six million Nepalese Rupees (NRs.5,596,000,000), or approximately sixty-two million, seven hundred and seventy-seven thousand US Dollars (US$62,777,000) to the Government of Nepal for the implementation of two different projects, namely, the Project for Construction of Sindhuli Road Section III and the Project for Countermeasure Construction against the Landslides on Sindhuli Road Section II.

Kunio TAKAHASHI, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, and Krishna Hari Baskota, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, have signed and exchanged two different sets of Notes on behalf of their respective governments for the implementation of the aforementioned two projects. In the meantime, Satoshi FUJII, Senior Representative of JICA, and  Lal Shanker Ghimire, Joint Secretary of the Foreign Aid Coordination Division of the Ministry of Finance, also signed and exchanged two separate Grant Agreements for the implementation of the said two Projects.

Indian Grant To Nawalparasi School

The Embassy of India and District Development Committee, Nawalparasi and Shree Bhimsen Adarsha Higher Secondary Signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for providing Indian grant assistance of NRs. 28.90 millions for construction of a three-storied school building under Nepal-India Economic Cooperation Programme. This is the eighth development project in the Nawalparasi District being undertaken with the Indian assistance under Small Development Projects. 

Chinese Ambassador At Siddhartha Vanasthali

Chinese ambassador to Nepal Yang Houlan attended a program at Siddhartha Vanasthali Institute (SVI) on"Experiencing China".  Ten SVI students shared their experiences of visiting China last year. Madan Regmi, Chairman of China Study Centre, also attended interaction program with the students and teachers.

Chinese ambassador Yang also donated a series of books about China to SVI on behalf of the Chinese Embassy in Nepal. According to Chinese Embassy website, Laxman Rajbanshi, Founder Principal of SVI and Rupak Rajbanshi, Principal of SVI gave their speech respectively.
13 INGOs Take Part In Aid Management Platform

Representatives of 13 INGOs, all of whom are members of the Association of International NGOs (AIN), took part in a three-hour training on Aid Management Platform (AMP) at Hotel Everest on 18th of July. The AMP is an online web-based information system set up at the Ministry of Finance to keep track of bilateral, multilateral and I/NGO aid coming to Nepal.
 
 
Organized by Ministry of Finance, Foreign Aid Coordination Division, the training oriented the participants on the technicalities of information system and on entering the data into the system. The 13 INGOs will enter key information on the amount of resources they bring in Nepal into the information system in coming weeks.