<article><h2>Up close with Cobweb </h2><figure><amp-img width="1440" height="960" layout="responsive" src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024072513074_a2b179aa7077299551d6ee7be4859418068ae656fee5f3d25fe8e0a17dbfd8cd.jpg"></amp-img></figure>Don’t miss out on this exclusive chance to attend an intimate performance by the band Cobweb. 2 August, 9pm onwards, Ticket: Rs499, Mirage by Escobar, Gairidhara <h2>Sabin Rai and The Pharaoh</h2>Renowned band Sabin Rai and The Pharaoh is joining Lavie Garden’s fourth anniversary. You can book your tickets at Khalti app. 26 July, 4pm onwards, Tickets: Rs999, Lavie Garden, Boudha  <h2>Samir Shrestha Live </h2><figure><amp-img width="1165" height="1013" layout="responsive" src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024072513074_4f8a43b5993e629ac5e157800531660b9752eb88b9403cb72f81181d4d58ba95.jpg"></amp-img></figure>A melodious night with Samir Shrestha and Good Boyz gracing the stage with their contemporary pop music. 27 July, 9pm onwards, Ticket:Rs1,000, Club 10x, Thamel<h2>Melodies and Munchies </h2>A charity event aimed at supporting HIV/AIDS initiatives. Enjoy live music by the band Rockheads Nepal. Also comes with dinner. 26 July, 12pm onwards, Ticket: Rs200-399, Himalayan Whitehouse International College, Putalisadak <h2>Girl’s Night Out </h2><figure><amp-img width="550" height="309" layout="responsive" src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024072513074_b620e65720b51b00ec104670be02f71a114cc94b04198b5e0e29bfa487232458.jpg"></amp-img></figure>Buckle up for an unforgettable night with your girlfriends. Enjoy unlimited happy hour drinks, entertaining live music, and food. 26 July, 6:30pm onwards, Hard Rock Cafe, Durbar Marg, 9801986771</article>

<h2>Up close with Cobweb&nbsp;</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024072513074_a2b179aa7077299551d6ee7be4859418068ae656fee5f3d25fe8e0a17dbfd8cd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024072513074_a2b179aa7077299551d6ee7be4859418068ae656fee5f3d25fe8e0a17dbfd8cd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="960" loading="lazy" alt="AT #1222"> </figure>  Don’t miss out on this exclusive chance to attend an intimate performance by the band Cobweb.&nbsp; 2 August, 9pm onwards, Ticket: Rs499, Mirage by Escobar, Gairidhara&nbsp; <h2>Sabin Rai and The Pharaoh</h2> Renowned band Sabin Rai and The Pharaoh is joining Lavie Garden’s fourth anniversary. You can book your tickets at Khalti app.&nbsp; 26 July, 4pm onwards, Tickets: Rs999, Lavie Garden, Boudha &nbsp; <h2>Samir Shrestha Live&nbsp;</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024072513074_4f8a43b5993e629ac5e157800531660b9752eb88b9403cb72f81181d4d58ba95.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024072513074_4f8a43b5993e629ac5e157800531660b9752eb88b9403cb72f81181d4d58ba95" data-rendition-name="original" width="1165" height="1013" loading="lazy" alt="AT #1222"> </figure>  A melodious night with Samir Shrestha and Good Boyz gracing the stage with their contemporary pop music.&nbsp; 27 July, 9pm onwards, Ticket:Rs1,000, Club 10x, Thamel <h2>Melodies and Munchies&nbsp;</h2> A charity event aimed at supporting HIV/AIDS initiatives. Enjoy live music by the band Rockheads Nepal. Also comes with dinner.&nbsp; 26 July, 12pm onwards, Ticket: Rs200-399, Himalayan Whitehouse International College, Putalisadak&nbsp; <h2>Girl’s Night Out&nbsp;</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024072513074_b620e65720b51b00ec104670be02f71a114cc94b04198b5e0e29bfa487232458.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2024072513074_b620e65720b51b00ec104670be02f71a114cc94b04198b5e0e29bfa487232458" data-rendition-name="original" width="550" height="309" loading="lazy" alt="AT #1222"> </figure>  Buckle up for an unforgettable night with your girlfriends. Enjoy unlimited happy hour drinks, entertaining live music, and food.&nbsp; 26 July, 6:30pm onwards, Hard Rock Cafe, Durbar Marg, 9801986771

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Music

Heritage champion, exponent of women’s empowerment, philanthropist and founder of <a href="https://www.dwarikas.com/our-story/">Dwarika’s Hotel</a>, Ambica Shrestha, passed away in hospital on Thursday after a brief illness. She was 92.&nbsp; Of her many accomplishments, the Dwarika’s Hotel which was named after her late husband Dwarika Das Shrestha stood as a monument to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HM6kNBEbJg">cultural and architectural preservation</a>.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024071811078_4e670c49f82675e42c25ced2adb251f0b8d22e7ddfe024c396d98b23c283de54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2024071811078_4e670c49f82675e42c25ced2adb251f0b8d22e7ddfe024c396d98b23c283de54" data-rendition-name="original" width="1094" height="1424" loading="lazy" alt="Ambica and Dwarika Das Shrestha"> <figcaption>Ambica and Dwarika Das Shrestha in 1972.</figcaption> </figure>  The unique multiple award-winning hotel in Kathmandu used carved wooden windows, columns, eaves and other priceless objects rescued from ancient buildings that were being torn down over the past decades to make way for modern structures. Many of the carved wooden architectural elements in Dwarika's Hotel are therefore museum pieces. The hotel served as a living <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/time-capsule-of-kathmandu">memorial to Kathmandu Valley civilisation</a>, and underlined the importance of heritage conservation among Nepalis. The construction of the hotel also revived Nepal’s ancient wood carving and construction techniques in building and maintaining the property.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240718110712_d83d18d655703d2cfb4b73697f7d73a8029db9dedb4e8962fa5ea874890befc0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240718110712_d83d18d655703d2cfb4b73697f7d73a8029db9dedb4e8962fa5ea874890befc0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="799" loading="lazy" alt="Dwarika's Hotel"> </figure>  Besides the hotel, Ambica Shrestha was the founder of Nepal Heritage Society, a strong proponent of gender empowerment and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/four-years-later-nepals-farmers-rise-from-the-rubble" target="_blank">women in business</a>, and led the <a href="https://www.bpwnepal.org.np/" target="_blank">Federation of Business and Professional Women of Nepal</a> (BPWN). She was the Honorary Consul General of Spain in Nepal, and was conferred the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/business/spain-award" target="_blank">The Order of Isabella</a> medal by the Spanish government in February this year. She also served as Chair since its inception in 1998 of Himalmedia, the company that publishes Nepali Times.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024071811078_346a6328f28b8fc6258a08fa4153b25ef9c8cdd930ae7174ba59ab7fe028bee2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="2024071811078_346a6328f28b8fc6258a08fa4153b25ef9c8cdd930ae7174ba59ab7fe028bee2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1019" loading="lazy" alt="Ambica Shrestha"> </figure>  She and her husband founded Kathmandu Travels and Tours, and entered the tourism business in the 1970s during the coronation of King Birendra, and built Dwarika’s Hotel, expanding it in installments over the years. Today, the company also runs a resort in Dhulikhel. Ambica Shrestha’s family was from Sikkim and she moved to Kathmandu after getting married to Dwarika Das Shrestha in 1955, and had three children. She is survived by two daughters, grand- and great-grandchildren. <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DreZU7utOln0%26fbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR1MZTUnnVTS8VLQPDO00hH_vDCWLBqJwKU_SdGi5R_69E6y9mx1_kDZUv4_aem_nxpD2cG4ruLKtHfqea0jLA&amp;h=AT2f1qT8yFYATI51q6lK-Q3jFOEgCSGNravpZsSZZgxCUxp8_3R1oOjUH33-O97BMVjh-tNpNvngrsWYxUoamkr-ga4e1WJ-EPeD5nx7QmfwlBCkMht3NL4p82CtX4cMajO9Ag">Ambica Shrestha</a> used to say: “There is no shortcut to success, it is a long struggle to preserve our past for the future. And it helps if you ensure that no one in society is left behind.” Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1181">Brick by brick by brick</a>, Aarti Basnyat Farewell and tributes from 8-11AM Saturday 20 July at Dwarika's Hotel.

Ambica Shrestha, 92

A Saurya Airlines aircraft crashed immediately after it took off from Kathmandu airport this morning at 11:11AM. 18 of the 19 people on board died, all of them Saurya Airlines engineers and staff. There was a Yemen national among the dead, as well as the wife and child of an employee of the Airlines.&nbsp; The flight, with call sign 9N-AME, was undergoing a C Check, which is a comprehensive test that a plane has to pass on a regular basis. The plane was headed to a hangar in the Pokhara International Airport for a part check-up.&nbsp; It is unclear why a test flight was carrying so many passengers.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_f2a35a9b1d7f37e675f9b9f0b70508fb5cdaff06cbcb02c6c7d9a776e11f9dbc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240724100712_f2a35a9b1d7f37e675f9b9f0b70508fb5cdaff06cbcb02c6c7d9a776e11f9dbc" data-rendition-name="original" width="1029" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_533614914a383fb4659fe1ae09e617a6301fcdb3e37b05ad40a04fb78508bac5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240724100712_533614914a383fb4659fe1ae09e617a6301fcdb3e37b05ad40a04fb78508bac5" data-rendition-name="original" width="900" height="1267" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>  Footage shows the plane making it about 30 metres high before violently veering right and crashing east of the runway. It plummeted into the ground and burst into flames, skidding ablaze into a container. The plane body was incinerated.&nbsp; According to a press release by Nepal Police, 18 bodies were recovered and taken to Teaching Hospital for post-mortem. Captain Manish Ratna Shakya is the only survivor of the crash. Shakya sustained injuries to his eye and will survive. He is being treated at Kathmandu Medical College in Sinamangal, near the airport.&nbsp; Prime Minister K P Oli got to the accident site for further investigation. Domestic and International flights have since resumed.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_f97a09e697a4a64f4b9ddbe27d40383125e9c567ff2f901cafa2adf5bee8c553.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240724100712_f97a09e697a4a64f4b9ddbe27d40383125e9c567ff2f901cafa2adf5bee8c553" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_b99f25e7685804697067edef6a70198e87db6d92854e963e166a43bc4b529754.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240724100712_b99f25e7685804697067edef6a70198e87db6d92854e963e166a43bc4b529754" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_0ac6451e92c640559eba138e8cb795da97c6b7cb6dab911d89427966d8801ddb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240724100712_0ac6451e92c640559eba138e8cb795da97c6b7cb6dab911d89427966d8801ddb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1728" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_fee5bb0729632e6a1559eb4ef4a01edf5b2fae8bc764b817a1f635d6a333aed0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240724100712_fee5bb0729632e6a1559eb4ef4a01edf5b2fae8bc764b817a1f635d6a333aed0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1728" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_736c2572364c614da34dea93efc076f003f43a353cf37177ca40c4221980605e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20240724100712_736c2572364c614da34dea93efc076f003f43a353cf37177ca40c4221980605e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1728" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_e0115c81cd29196e6650360be19061a222a598883366b165d1ecc8f41967bbfe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240724100712_e0115c81cd29196e6650360be19061a222a598883366b165d1ecc8f41967bbfe" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100712_5813c761b37a734a84dda64b9212f39f2a6cf29e04f98575c0656ead300fb1df.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20240724100712_5813c761b37a734a84dda64b9212f39f2a6cf29e04f98575c0656ead300fb1df" data-rendition-name="original" width="1728" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT 1"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724100752_c8e1494aa39d5b0df5c2620fbc1c341ee0e0202b4f1328ea3f644882e5119e73.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20240724100752_c8e1494aa39d5b0df5c2620fbc1c341ee0e0202b4f1328ea3f644882e5119e73" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines Nepal crash NT "> </figure>  &nbsp;

18 dead in Nepal aircraft crash

It would be a mistake to see this as simply a demand for more jobs. The quota movement, justified as it is, is simply the tip of the iceberg. A rampant government running roughshod over its people for so very long has led to extreme discontent.&nbsp; The quota issue has merely lit the fuse to this tinderbox. As citizens counted the dead and the injured, the prime minister fiddled, advising attendees at an aquaculture and seafood conference on tourism prospects in Cox’s Bazar. The original quota had been designed, shortly after independence in 1972, to be an interim arrangement to acknowledge the contribution of freedom fighters who constituted less than 0.25% of the population.&nbsp; Since a government known to be incredibly corrupt is responsible for creating the list of freedom fighters, over 50 years later the 120-fold allocation through a 30% quota has become an easy back door for party cadres to much sought-after government employment.&nbsp; Confirmation came through senior Awami Leaguers saying, ‘just get through the initial screening and we’ll get you through in the viva’ and more tellingly, ‘government jobs will only go to party people’. The resentment had resulted in protests in 2008 and 2013, but it was in 2018 that it gathered steam. When repressive measures failed to quell that unrest, the prime minister in a moment of rage, overstepped her authority and cancelled the entire system.&nbsp; This had never been a demand of the protesters, who recognised the need for positive discrimination for disadvantaged communities. There are plenty of other reasons for the unrest. The price of essential goods has skyrocketed over the years and people have their backs against the wall.&nbsp; Meanwhile, the Prime Minister herself publicly announces that her peon has amassed $40 million and only travels by helicopter. The peon is not the only one to travel by helicopter. Choppers were sent yesterday to rescue police trapped on a rooftop by angry protesters. 15th July 2024. It was reminiscent of 2018. The police van with water cannons and the long line of policemen standing at the Nilkhet corner on Monday made it abundantly clear that they were prepared. What were they prepared for?&nbsp; Certainly not the defence of unarmed students, or the general public. They failed to lift a finger when the students were being attacked. The armed goons of the Chhatra League (CL, ruling party’s student organisation) had been bussed in the previous night along with, apparently, youth gangs and leaders for hire. Their leaders had openly threatened the protesting students. CL was clearly the ones the police were on standby to defend.&nbsp; It was CL that the quota back doors were designed to favour. As it turned out there was little the unarmed students could do against the helmeted armed pro-government goons who had been left loose and the police were content to let the mayhem continue, stepping in only when the ferocity of people power took the goons aback.&nbsp; We walked past the blood and the strewn sandals in the streets. People stopped us to say the injured had been taken to Dhaka Medical College Emergency Ward. CL goons took positions around the ward where some of the injured were being treated while others marched around the wards, weapons in hand, the police conveniently stayed away. They continued to look away when CL goons went inside the ward to beat up injured students.&nbsp; There was no need to intervene. CL was not in danger. The nation was, democracy was, common decency was, the public was in grave danger, but that was not their concern. The fact that the protection of the public was their primary task, had never been part of the equation. Several were killed all over the country that day. “Justice will take its own course” is a common refrain of the law minister. The separation of the judiciary and the executive has never existed in Bangladesh. With this government, it has merged into one.&nbsp; It is used whenever the government wants to play good cop bad cop. The court enacts government directives. Credit is taken by the government. Blame goes to the court. The quota drama is no exception. Torture cells in public universities. Suppression of all forms of dissent. Jailing of opposition activists. The extra judicial killings, the disappearances. Huge concessions given to India, who have in return, helped prop up this illegal regime are all causes of anger.&nbsp; Abrar Fahad, the bright BUET student who had critiqued Indian hegemony in social media, was bludgeoned to death on campus by party cadres. The same cadres the quotas would provide back doors for. An entire generation of Bangladeshis is growing up hating India and the Boycott India campaign is gaining steam. Hasina is becoming a liability, even for our ‘friendly’ neighbour.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024072104078_3b92c0b66992ac238232667c7b3b83b4795e872e251d5eb03b42d669656d8c6d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024072104078_3b92c0b66992ac238232667c7b3b83b4795e872e251d5eb03b42d669656d8c6d" data-rendition-name="original" width="2226" height="1484" loading="lazy" alt="Bangladesh unrest"> </figure>  16 July 2024&nbsp; In a recent Facebook status, Abu Sayeed the unarmed student of Begum Rokeya University whom police had pumped four rubber bullets into, had written an ode to his favourite teacher Shamsuzzoha, a chemistry teacher at Rajshahi University, who had died in the hands of the Pakistani army in 1971 while trying to save the lives of his students. “Yes, you too will die, but while you are alive don’t be spineless. Support just causes. Come out to the streets. Be a shield for the students. It is then that you’ll be respected and honoured. Don’t fade away in the annals of time, through your death. Stay alive forever. Stay Shamsuzzoha.”&nbsp; No chopper had arrived, or indeed any attempt made at rescuing the hapless student. He became Shamsuzzoha. The televised murder is an indictment of a rogue government that has long lost its right to rule. The defiant outstretched arms of the young man, a televised murder that will remain etched in public memory. His body shudders after the first bullet, yet defiant he stands, then another bullet, and another and yet another. All from close range. The body crouches, then crumples and folds. His outstretched arms as he had faced the police will become the Tiananmen Square moment in Bangladesh’s history. 17 July 2024&nbsp; Border guards of Bangladesh, inept at protecting its citizens from becoming victims of the regular target practiced by Indian Border Security Forces, seem happy to turn their own guns towards unarmed students instead. The police were clearly lying when they claimed they had fired grenades to try and control unruly students.&nbsp; There were only four students at Raju Bhashkorjo. The only ones who had been able to get past the CL and police cordon. They wanted to hold a funeral for Abu Sayeed and other slain friends. When the police started shoving them away, they lay down on the ground in protest. They were surrounded by journalists. The police hurled a sound grenade which sent both the journalists and students scurrying. They then hurled further grenades at the journalists and bystanders left standing. That was when my colleague got hurt.&nbsp; The police were the only ones being violent. The entire space was encircled by hundreds of armed police. There were armoured vehicles. Water cannon trucks and even a prison van. I wonder which country has supplied our police with the 48 mm sound grenades (NF24. NENF24BP. MFG: 2022. Bangladesh Police/BP). The grenade was hurled directly at her. It was the first time she had joined a protest. At least she got to see how brave our police force is. 18 July 2024 A group of feminists who had planned to gather at Shahbag to express solidarity with the quota protesters, should not have posed a major threat. Police and government goons didn't allow them to gather, so they regrouped outside the Naripokkho office in Dhanmondi. They were attacked too. Safia Azim was injured, but did not require hospitalisation.&nbsp; The law minister, known for lying through his teeth, said earlier on BBC, that it was the protesters who instigated the violence. Meanwhile, the state-run &nbsp;BTV, the National Television Station, had been set on fire. Mobile data was blocked. Things were escalating. That night the Internet went down completely.&nbsp; Rumours spread about the military moving in. Fuelled partially by sightings of a convoy of APCs in the streets. Other sightings of 15 helicopters taking off from the Prime Minister’s official residence gave fuel to the rumours that the Prime Minister was trying to make a getaway. The sound of shelling and gunfire rang throughout the night. 19 July 2024 The Net had been down as had BTV the national television station. Over 50 have allegedly been killed. Pro government news outlets describe the protesting students as ‘miscreants’. A throwback to the term used by the Pakistani Army in 1971.&nbsp; There are other similarities. A flailing tyrant is lashing out to survive against an enraged public which has shaken free of its fear of a repressive regime. The attempt to disrupt the morning protest outside the Parliament Building in memory of Abu Sayeed, failed. Far too many protesters had gathered.&nbsp; The Net had been partially restored, but not BTV. That’s when news of attacks all across the country started pouring in. The left leader Zonayed Saki and other party members, had been badly beaten in Purana Paltan. The police backed vigilantes were desperately trying to quell the increasingly angry protesters. The desperate government offered a deal.&nbsp; The court would convene on Sunday, and they were prepared to engage in dialogue. ‘Not over spilled blood’ the students had replied. Fresh rumours of the military having been given magisterial powers and asked to intervene ‘In aid to civil power’, seems ironic. The people have spoken. The end is nigh. Shahidul Alam is an internationally-renowned Bangladeshi photojournalist and founder of Drik Picture Library and Pathshala photography training institute in Dhaka.&nbsp;

The Bangladesh tinderbox

Another deadly air crash in Nepal has once more made headlines around the world, further corroding the country’s poor aviation safety track record, and prompting questions about why these tragedies keep happening. A Saurya Airlines Bombardier CRJ200 on a maintenance ferry flight to Pokhara crashed on takeoff at Kathmandu airport shortly before noon on 24 July, killing 18 of the 19 people on board.&nbsp; The tragedy raised immediate questions about why a plane on a routine C Check ferry flight was carrying staff, including some with families.&nbsp; Initial reports, including videos of the crash show the plane bank steeply to the right after takeoff from runway 02, descend rapidly and just starting to level off before impact on an open space east of the runway.&nbsp; The captain Manish Shakya appears to have survived because the plane broke in two throwing the front of the plane away from the main cabin which exploded in a fireball. The actual reason why the plane spun out of control immediately after takeoff will only be known once Capt Shakya gives his account, and after an investigation.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724150756_f97a09e697a4a64f4b9ddbe27d40383125e9c567ff2f901cafa2adf5bee8c553.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240724150756_f97a09e697a4a64f4b9ddbe27d40383125e9c567ff2f901cafa2adf5bee8c553" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Saurya Airlines plane crash"> <figcaption>Photo: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption> </figure>  Aviation experts say that despite the horrendous loss of life, Wednesday’s crash could have been much worse had the plane veered to the left instead, and hit the international terminal building or the apron which was full of big jets preparing for departure.&nbsp; It was also fortuitous that the plane fell within the airport perimeter in an area where the ground is being levelled for a new international terminal building, and not in the densely populated suburb of Thapagaun east of the runway. The Canadian-built Bombardier CRJ200 of Saurya Airlines with call sign 9N-AME was 21 years old, and the only one flying in the domestic carrier’s fleet. The carrier mainly served trunk routes to Biratnagar and Bhadrapur in eastern Nepal. Among the dead in Wednesday’s crash were most of Saurya’s senior management, and its technical crew, including a Yemeni national. The Saurya Air crash is an outlier in Nepal’s air crash history where most disasters have been blamed on CFIT (Controlled flight Into Terrain, in which a plane hits a mountain hidden in cloud) or pilot error. Nepal’s high terrain, extreme weather and basic navigation facilities make it a challenging place to fly. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/60-years-of-living-dangerously" target="_blank">An analysis by Nepali Times</a> of 74 fatal crashes in Nepal in the past 60 years with data from various sources shows that a total of 960 have been killed. Some domestic carriers have <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-to-make-nepals-skies-safer" target="_blank">lost most of their fleet</a> of aircraft.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240724150756_e3ffc6d8cc2d1e2b3c87fccd95ab06bb0573419e88ecfa3d1fc22362e1a37dff.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240724150756_e3ffc6d8cc2d1e2b3c87fccd95ab06bb0573419e88ecfa3d1fc22362e1a37dff" data-rendition-name="original" width="2778" height="1708" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal aviation accidents map NT"> </figure>  The crash was similar to a Bangladesh airliner that crashed near the runway at Kathmandu airport in 2018, killing 49 and injuring 22. An investigation concluded that the captain of the US Bangla Bombardier Q400 was having an emotional breakdown.&nbsp; A Sita Air Dornier 225 flight to Lukla also crashed soon after takeoff from Kathmandu in 2013, killing 23 mainly foreign trekkers. A probe into that crash showed that one of the causes was that the plane was overloaded. The deadliest international crashes involved Thai and PIA Airbuses on approach to Kathmandu airport within two months of each other in 1992, killing a total of 280 people. <div class="embed-block"><div><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="//cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2F78ZbecJ8BCE%3Fsi%3DEn14tig8xSaohj9C&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;"></iframe></div></div></div> Records show that 201 people have been killed in crashes in Nepal since 2016, 79 of them in three crashes in just the past two years, the most serious being the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/pokhara-bound-flight-crashes-in-nepal" target="_blank">Yeti Airlines disaster on 15 January 2022</a> at Pokhara airport which had been inaugurated just two weeks previously. The Saurya jet was flying to Pokhara for routine check after leasing the hangar there. Saurya used to maintain its aircraft at Buddha Air’s facilities in Kathmandu, but its hangar was not free. The last fatal accident in Nepal was a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/chopper-hits-mountain-near-everest" target="_blank">Manang Air helicopter</a> that went down near Lukla last year which killed six. Nepal’s domestic air travel has seen a boom in the past two years because of the poor state of highways. Most roads have been blocked by landslides and floods during the current monsoon, and there have been a spate of bad highway crashes including a debris flow that swept two intercity buses into the swollen Trisuli River on the Mugling highway on the night of 12 July carrying 65 passengers. The buses have not yet been found.&nbsp;

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