Foreign arrivals surge in Nepal
Foreign tourist arrivals in Nepal have more than tripled in the first 10 months of 2022 than the whole year of 2021, show government figures released on Friday, Xinhua reported. The South Asian country received 473,563 foreign tourists by the end of October, a sharp rise from 150,962 recorded in 2021, according to the Nepal Tourism Board data. "It is clear that we're on the path to recovery," Binayak Shah, first vice-president of Hotel Association Nepal, told Xinhua. "We have received growing inquiries from foreign travel agencies about their clients' visit plans to Nepal," he added. Nepal's tourism sector, hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, has a long way to go before it can repeat the feat of having as many as 1.19 million foreign tourists in 2019, according to Xinhua. Amid rising tourist arrivals, the hotel occupancy rate has climbed to an average of 25 percent nationwide from almost nil last year, according to Shah.
Sherpa bags social service award in India
Serki Lhamu Sherpa, social worker and president of Azizz Foundation, has been awarded with the title of ‘Emerging Woman Leader in Social Service’ by the Women’s Icon, an organization based in Tamil Nadu, India. Sherpa has been involved in social service since 2011. She founded the Aziz Foundation in 2016 which has been helping students and school teachers in remote districts of Nepal.
Pakistan ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan shot and wounded at protest march
Pakistan's former prime minister, Imran Khan, has been shot and wounded in the leg in an attack on his protest march in the eastern city of Wazirabad, BBC reported.
A senior aide told AFP news agency it was "an attempt to kill him", but police are yet to confirm that he was the target.
Members of his PTI party said another four people were hurt in the shooting.
Mr Khan, 70, was leading the march on the capital Islamabad to demand snap elections after he was ousted in April.
The former prime minister was seen being taken to a hospital in Lahore. A party spokesman said he had been hit in the shin.
Another party leader, provincial health minister Yasmeen Rashid, said Mr Khan was in a stable condition.
It is unclear under what conditions the interview was carried out, but in it the man is asked by police why he opened fire, and replies: "He was misguiding the people. I wanted to kill him. I tried to kill him."
Video footage from the scene shows Mr Khan and his supporters riding on top of a shipping container towed by a lorry before a burst of gunfire is heard. Mr Khan is then seen ducking, as those around him try to cover him.
Another video shows a conscious Mr Khan with a bandage on his right leg being taken away in a vehicle after the shooting, according to BBC.
A PTI member is also seen with a bandage on his face and blood on his clothing, saying that people should pray for Mr Khan and all those injured.
"This was an attempt to kill him, to assassinate him," Mr Khan's senior aide Raoof Hasan told AFP.
Mr Khan has been leading a protest march - the second such rally this year - for the past seven days, calling for new elections.
The government has repeatedly said it will hold elections next year, as planned.
Last month, Pakistan's election commission disqualified Mr Khan from holding public office in a case described by the former star cricketer as politically motivated.
He had been accused of incorrectly declaring details of gifts from foreign dignitaries and proceeds from their alleged sale. The gifts included Rolex watches, a ring and a pair of cuff links, BBC reported.
Pakistan has a long history of deadly political violence.
Ballot papers transported to Manang, Mustang
Ballot papers have been transported to the Himalayan districts—Mustang and Manang—for the November 20 elections to the House of Representatives and Province Assembly on Thursday. The Election Commission sent the ballot papers and voters’ ID card among other election materials in a Nepal Army chopper. The ballot papers and election materials were sent under the security of Nepal Army. Election Commission officials Mukunda Pokharel and Baburam Koirala had reached Manang and Mustang to deliver election materials like ballot papers and voter ID cards among others from Kathmandu. In Mustang, they handed over the ballot papers, voter ID cards and other election materials to Chief Election Officer of Mustang Ishwor Parajuli and Chief at the District Election Office, Mustang Madan Aryal. In Manang, they handed over the election materials to District Election Officer Pushpa Raj Sharma and the team of Chief Election Officer’s office.
