Construction of the second international airport to begin by mid-April

Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Ananda Prasad Pokharel said this while speaking at the 10th anniversary of the ‘Samaya Samaj’ national weekly here today.The Civil Aviation Minister claimed the second largest airport will be constructed at Nijgadh as discussions were already held with the Prime Minister regarding the construction of the airport and the Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track.

He stressed on the need of promoting the religious and cultural tourism side by side with the adventure tourism for the country’s development.

In another context, Minister Pokharel said the agreement with the Madhesi Front which was said to be possible by today could not be reached as attempts were made to constrict the natural and inherent rights of the people, no matter how much flexible the government had been in the talks with the Front.

He explained that agreement with the Front became elusive because there were differences with the Front regarding whether any provisions should be made for taking permission from the centre for changing the border of the provinces. “People from any region of the country should have the right to travel to the northern border and to the southern border, which is the fundamental and natural right of the citizens and all should internalise this,” he said.

CPN (UML) leader Mahesh Basnet said although the Prime Minister’s declaration of supplying cooking gas to each house was mocked at, all projects promised by the PM could be realized through collective efforts and commitments.

Press Council Nepal chairman Borna Bahadur Karki, UML central member Som Mishra, RPP central member Rabindra Pratap Shah, Press Chautari Nepal vice-president Upendra KC, among other speakers said that the weeklies and small scale newspapers have played a significant role in the political change in the country.

Gorakhapatra daily’s photo journalist Shekhar Chaulagain was honoured on the occasion.