Nepal Highlights

Newly appointed Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao is arriving on a two-day visit to Nepal next week. Rao will pay courtesy calls to President Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and foreign minister Sujata Koirala and hold official talks with her counterpart, foreign secretary Gyan Chandra Acharya, during her visit. New Delhi is sending a high-level official to Nepal at a time when the constitution-drafting and peace process has been stalled due to differences among major political parties. The visit was scheduled at the initiation of India rather than on the invitation of Nepal, foreign ministry sources say. Erstwhile Indian foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon had urged the parties to take the peace process to a logical conclusion through consensus during his visit a few months ago. This is Rao’s first visit to Nepal after being appointed foreign secretary on July 31. She will also visit Pashupatinath temple and offer her prayers.

A Nepali national working in Doha, Qatar has died of swine flu, reports say. Shekh Harun, 40, of Narkatiya – 2, Rautahat, who was working in Qatar since past eight years has died of swine flu about three days ago. Supreme Council of Health and Public Health Department of Qatar have confirmed Harun died of H1N1 Pneumonia, swine flu. Harun, working as manager in a charity organisation in Al Khor, some 65-km north-west of capital Doha, died 17 days after he caught flu on August 20. Harun had gone to hospital on August 25 after the medicine he took from a local medicine shop did not improve his condition. Three days later, he was admitted to the hospital. He died seven days after being diagnosed with swine flu. Harun is survived by a wife and three sons back home. Harun was staying with an Ethiopian and a two Sri Lankans. His Ethiopian roommate had caught swine flu, from whom Harun contracted it. This is the first instance a Nepali national has died of swine flu.