Confusion over the two ends of the runway also reflects a separate tragedy of the mismanagement of Kathmandu airport<img style="max-width: 100%;" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141140/6365169d9c7e80680e02c225jpeg.jpg"/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&amp;v=BBgcC3OlqfQDramatic mobile video emerged on Wednesday showing that BS211 had earlier nearly hit the mountain and crashed at Gagalphedi before turning back south towards the airport. Video: Shikharnews TV/YouTubeThings seem to be going smoothly enough as Co-pilot Prithula Rashid handles cockpit communications with the TIA tower. The aircraft is cleared to descend and land at the southern ‘02’ end of the runway.At one point, however, Capt Abid Sultan takes over even as a female air traffic controller (ATC) comes on to inform the aircraft that it is moving towards the northern ‘20’ side of the airport when he had been given permission to land on ‘02’.There seems to be some confusion in the mind of the pilot about the runway ends 02 (south) and 20 (north). Even as the Dash 8 is on approach, the Nepali pilots of other aircraft are heard warning the ATC that the US-Bangla pilot seems disoriented and that he should be taken out of harm’s way with the help of radar. They point out that the pilot didn’t seem to know where he was and were worried about where he would end up (‘almaliyo jasto chha’, ‘yo kata jaala’).Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/tragedy-at-tia/">Tragedy at TIA</a>, Kanak Mani Dixit<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ashna-isnt-coming-home/">Ashna isn't coming home</a>, Sikuma Rai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/we-had-to-improvise/">We had to improvise</a><a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Air-jam,4196">Air jam</a>, Om astha RaiAn exasperated male ATC comes on to warn the pilot at one point: “I say again, do not proceed towards Runway 20.” Again, he is asked to remain on hold and not to land because there is another Buddha Air aircraft on approach.After that plane lands, the ATC asks the pilot whether he wants to land on Runway 02 or 20, and he chooses the latter. He is then asked if he has the airstrip in sight, to which he replies, “Negative”. Then, immediately thereafter, the pilot reports, “Affirmative”.At that point Capt Sultan announces his understanding: “Cleared to land Runway 02” (even though he had sought permission for 20). The ATC too now clears him to land on 02. Talking to a Nepal Army helicopter (Army 53) which is on hold 15 km away, the ATC says that the Bangladesh aircraft is "on final for 20”.Apparently, this was Capt Sultan’s fifth flight of the day, and he had just sent in his resignation to the US-Bangla management in order to join a Gulf airline.A scary video that came to light on Wednesday shows the Bombardier careening close to the ground below the Shivapuri ridgeline at Gagalphedi, pulling up and climbing southwards without retracting the landing gears. It was a small glimpse of an aircraft that seemed to have lost its way in clear daylight.The question arises why the ATC did not ask the aircraft to move from ‘visual flight rules’ to instrumental flying, after having witnessed this dangerous circuit.The last recorded words of the US-Bangla pilot, spoken calmly, was: “[Unintelligeble ] said sir, are we cleared to land?” After some silence, the ATC, clearly alarmed by the plane banking tightly over the parking bays at TIA, shouts, "I say again…. Turn!”. There is silence, until a fire tender comes on air, indicating that the crash has occurred. Later, a Simrik Air pilot comes on to ask if the runway is closed, and the ATC confirms, “Airport is closed.”The miserably inadequate radio communication leading to the tragedy focused international attention once more on Tribhuvan International Airport – the questions of safety and mismanagement. The fact that the aircraft ploughed into the earth within the perimeter of TIA spared the population of the densely populated city precincts nearby. The plane also dangerously overflew the terminal building, the hangars, and aircraft on the parking bays and taxiways.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_l7F3NNYw4Nothing will bring back those who were killed that fateful afternoon, and while we hope for the rapid recovery of the injured, one expects the airport authorities and government going right up to the Prime Minister’s Office will regard this tragedy as a wakeup call to make improvements so that the sole international airport is no longer an object of national shame.It shows how badly the airport is managed that we rejoice when we find that the toilets actually have water or do not smell.  Yet, lackadaisical attitude of staff in all categories, the chaos at the luggage carousels, the long lines snaking down from the arrivals escalators to get through a single body scanner – all of this add up to give the worst possible first and last impression of the country as a whole.Incongruously, TIA’s ground handling and landing fees are among the highest in the world, and these charges are obviously passed on to hapless passengers. The stacking of aircraft above Bara and Parsa waiting to land is now legendary, and the lack of bays for those airliners when they finally touch down is scandalous.TIA has over the past decade not been able to carry out the simple task of extending the taxiways to the end of the runaway on each side – to expedite takeoffs and landings. There is deep concern among those in the know that the runway tarmac surface is in dire need of repair.But all these issues pale before the tragedy of deaths in the crash on Monday. It exposed the airport’s lack of facilities and personnel for handling such emergencies.Actually, insensitivity is on exhibit in numerous fronts at Nepal’s only international airport. To present the saddest example, no one has thought of providing a separate reception area for the on-average three coffins that arrive every day carrying the bodies of migrant workers.These coffins are treated like just another piece of baggage, and have to be balanced across two to three trolleys and gingerly wheeled out by bereft family members even as voyeuristic eyes devour the scene at the arrivals concourse. Nothing more need be said.‘Tribhuvan’ is the Puranic term referring to the three realms: heaven, hell and earth. From being close to hell on earth, TIA must graduate to something somewhat better.

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20 by 02

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141140/6365169a9c7e80680e02c224jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="918"/>Once more Nepal has hit the international headlines for all the wrong reasons. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/confusion-in-the-cockpit/">The tragic crash</a> of a Bangladeshi airliner on Monday that killed 51 people has been trending worldwide.It was all the more devastating because of the loss of a dozen soon-to-be doctors. Most of them were young women whose families had invested heavily in the medical education of their children. The hopes of many of them, and indeed the nation, went up in flames this week. The tragedy was an uncanny repeat of an Indian Airlines DC-3 crash in 1956 in which 20 Nepali students returning home from boarding school were killed very close to where the Bangladeshi plane came down on Monday.Amidst the debris at the airport were medical text books (see photograph). The bodies of dead MBBS students were taken to the very hospitals where they would have soon started work. A prominent Nepali surgeon, a noted Bangladeshi photographer, successful travel agents, and returning migrant workers were among the dead.Like many accidents, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/us-bangla-airline-crashes-at-tia/11">this one</a> need not have happened. Much larger wide-body jetliners had been landing at Kathmandu airport all day, and in fact surface visibility had actually improved when US-Bangla BS211 started its approach into Kathmandu after an 80-minute flight from Dhaka.As our transcript of the tape of the conversation between the Captain and air traffic controllers show, the pilots made a routine straight-in approach into runway 02 but then pulled up, probably because of misalignment with the threshold. Thereafter, there are indications that Capt Abid Sultan had poor situational awareness, and was confused about the direction of the two ends of the runway. His transmissions from the cockpit are slurred, unintelligible and contradictory.We will have to await the final verdict of the investigation panel, and the testimony of Capt Sultan who survived. But what we do know so far is that after his missed approach, the Bombardier Dash 8 turboprop made three orbits over the airport to allow another aircraft to land from runway 02.Throughout those nine minutes between 0824 and 0833 UTC, there is confusion between the air traffic controller and the captain about which runway to use, where to hold, and whether the runway is visible or not. Other pilots flying in the vicinity comment in Nepali that the Bangladeshi plane appears to be disoriented, and advise the tower to help it safely fly out.While the plane was holding, one eyewitness reported seeing the plane flying unusually low and close to Kapan Monastery to the north of the airport. Another aviation expert who was driving along the Ring Road towards the airport witnessed the last 360 degree turn the plane made, and remembers watching in horror as the Dash 8 nearly clipped the top of the hangars near the domestic apron in a tight left turn. With landing gear down and full flaps, the plane then flew level past the control tower, over two domestic flights waiting at Taxiway E, overflew the runway, impacted and skidded across a football field used by airport security, broke apart and burst into flames.The Fire Station had held a drill at the exact spot when the plane came down, and rescue teams were quickly on hand. But the wreckage was too mangled and the fire too fierce for them to bring out many of the passengers trapped in their seats.Nepali Times spoke to many aviation experts who were in agreement that based on available evidence, the lack of familiarity with approach procedures contributed to confusion and distraction in the cockpit leading to the plane to stall and crash.However, this does not absolve Kathmandu airport management from blame as noted in<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/20-by-02/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> another report in this issue</a>. Although rescuers were promptly at the scene, videos show utter chaos at the crash site. Ground staff, airside ramp drivers, even baggage handlers can be seen running across an active taxiway and runway to the site.The gawkers were joined by the Prime Minister and his entourage which worsened the traffic jam and delayed ambulances. Passengers on other planes that landed just before the crash had to wait three hours for their luggage because the loaders had gone off to take pictures of the crash.It is clear why some people want it to be ‘top secret’ because it exposes flaws in the air traffic controller’s handling of the incident. Not only are they not equipped with adequate English, there is a lack of clear, sharp instructions, and decisiveness to help an obviously befuddled crew.Nepal has a bad<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2011/09/25/once-is-not-enough/"> international reputation</a> for air safety. Kathmandu always tops the list of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Air-jam,4196">ten worst</a> airports in the world. Even though the accident was not so much the airport’s fault, Monday’s tragic loss of life once more highlighted how much further we have to go to revive confidence in Nepal’s aviation sector.Read Also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/20-by-02/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">20 by 02</a>, Kanak Mani Dixit<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ashna-isnt-coming-home/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ashna isn't coming home</a>, Sikuma Rai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/tragedy-at-tia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tragedy at TIA</a>, Kanak Mani DixitRead Also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=2462">Tragedy at TIA</a>: Kanak Mani Dixit20 by 02, Kanak Mani DixitAshna isn'r coming home, Sikuma Rai

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<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221104141140/636516969c7e80680e02c223jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="854"/><figcaption>LAST FAREWELL: A Bangladesh Biman Boeing 737-800 lands at Kathmandu airport on Thursday after a flight from Dhaka, passing the wreckage of US-Bangla BS211. Pic: Gopen Rai</figcaption></figure>Tribhuvan is Nepal’s only international air portal, and it is in disarray -- representing the state of a country wracked by ineptness and inefficiencies caused by political sharing of the spoils.When the US-Bangla Dash 8 turboprop fell from the sky on Monday afternoon, it snuffed out the lives of Bangladeshi tourists, Nepali students, tour operators and others. The crash highlighted once more Nepal’s poor aviation safety record.Here was a country trying to get back to normalcy after natural and political upheavals, hoping for a spike in tourist arrivals, and moving to high end tourism to match the country’s natural and cultural assets. But then came the air crash, making the tourism economy vulnerable once more.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/20-by-02/">20 by 02</a>, Kanak Mani Dixit<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/ashna-isnt-coming-home/">Ashna isn't coming home</a>, Sikuma Rai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/we-had-to-improvise/">We had to improvise</a><a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Air-jam,4196">Air jam</a>, Om astha RaiThe reality is that while flying STOL aircraft into precarious mountain airstrips can be risky, TIA in itself is not a hazardous airport. Its single north-south runway certainly makes it inefficient for flight handling, but the terrain, approach, altitude and general weather conditions do not present great hazards.The US-Bangla crash was the first disaster with multiple fatalities within the airport perimeter. The Airbus 330 runway excursion in 2015 closed the airport for three days, but there were no fatalities. Smaller planes have crashed near the airport, but usually due to pilot error or technical malfunctions.Two wide-bodies crashed within two months of each other in 1992 when they hit terrain outside the Valley in whiteout conditions. Both were ascribed to pilot error (one pilot flying north while thinking he was headed south, the other flying a thousand feet below the prescribed altitude).The heavy loss of life in those two high profile crashes put Kathmandu on an international list of notorious airports. But since the installation of a radar system after the two crashes of 1992, and its upgrade last month to provide all-Nepal coverage, safety safeguards have improved.One of the very first tasks of Prime Minister K P Oli’s new government should be to now improve the services at Tribhuvan International Airport.While we wait for the verdict of the official enquiry in the US-Bangla disaster, certain informed conjectures can be made about what might have transpired based on the tape of the air traffic control (ATC) communication that is available on the net, and the several expert eye witnesses, photos and videos of the plane in its last moments.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_l7F3NNYw4

Tragedy at TIA

In the black and white photograph, General Wangdu smiles broadly in front of the dusty cactus garden in Kathmandu’s Annapurna Hotel. With an ill-fitting jacket and shaggy hair he looks benign enough, but this was the last leader of the Tibetan freedom fighters who led the resistance against the Chinese from their remote mountain hideouts in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a>. Five months later, Wangdu was dead. Snapped in March 1974, I had only recently arrived in Nepal. How did I meet this legendary fighter? Possibly with his devoted camp follower, Lynne Klapecki, and probably in the Om Restaurant near Freak Street which was the preferred <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hippie-trail-nostalgia-in-kathmandu">hippie hang-out</a>. Om Lobsang and his brother Yeshe were <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/earthquake-brings-back-memories-of-camps-for-tibetan-refugees">refugees from East Tibet </a>whose cafe offered a friendly welcome and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/momo-loco"> the best momos</a> - they became my in-laws after I married their eldest brother Tenzin, but that was a decade later.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1583" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption> </figure>  Wangdu’s English was enthusiastically rudimentary, but even riding around town with him on the back of an aging <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-new-motorbike-museum">motorbike</a>, he was a commanding presence. Always flanked by armed outriders, impressive scars marked his forearms and a pistol hung from the cord around his neck. A charismatic guerrilla leader, Wangdu was celebrated by his followers for his tough commitment and respected for his measured pragmatism. He seemed so young to have shouldered such a responsibility of command, leading hundreds of hardened <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/50-years-after-the%20raid-into-Tibet,1012#google_vignette">Khampa combatants </a>through what had been a particularly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heavy-snowfall-over-nepal-himalaya">brutal winter in Mustang</a>, the last bastion to hold out against the Chinese invasion of their Tibetan homeland.&nbsp; The freedom fighters of Tibet, known as the Chushi-Gangdruk, had emerged to resist the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism">Chinese takeover</a> of Tibet during the 1950s. Estimated to be 80,000-strong at the time of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-or-who-after-the-dalai-lama">the Dalai Lama</a>’s final escape to India in 1959, the sheer number of Chinese deployed into Tibet eventually forced the Chushi-Gangdruk to retreat to Mustang, From this high Himalayan stronghold, they continued cross-border raids on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) throughout the 1960s.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Guerrillas known as the Chushi-Gangdruk emerged to resist the Chinese annexation of Tibet during the 1950s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>  Their Kathmandu base was a small discreet lodge in a back lane near Rani Pokhari. Sipping sweet tea from a blue mug with a chipped lid, I sat bemused in a corner of the Mustang Hotel room whilst Wangdu and his cohorts received a battered brown suitcase from their CIA connection, a tousle-haired American in a leather jacket. Heaved onto the dingy bedspread that covered the thin mattress, it was clicked open to reveal piles of neatly stacked dollar bills.&nbsp; I cannot think why Wangdu allowed me to witness this handover but I was clearly no threat, a newly arrived world traveller with no understanding of the stakes nor any Nepali or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/tibetan-music-in-nepals-sacred-valley">Tibetan language</a>. Despite armed guards in the corridor,Wangdu radiated confidence and bravado, and there was a practiced familiarity to the tense transaction. This deadly dance for many years had been funded by the Americans, tolerated by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-kingdom-within-a-republic">Mustang’s residents</a>, and permitted by King Mahendra and the Nepali authorities who it suited to turn a blind eye.&nbsp; But Mahendra died in 1972, and times were changing. Richard Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy thawed the cold war and signalled a fresh entente with China. Nepal’s yet-to-be-crowned <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">King Birendra </a>was under pressure to curb the irritating incursions against the PLA launched from the Nepali territory of Mustang. Keen to appease his northern neighbour, on several occasions the King summoned Wangdu for peace talks but, despite increasingly overwhelming odds, Wangdu refused to surrender.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1055" height="885" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>General Wangdu flanked by two Tibetan resistance fighters in Mustang in the 1970s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31" data-rendition-name="original" width="1044" height="792" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>King Birendra with General Wangdu (right in dark glasses) taken in 1974 possibly in Mustang after one of their few attempts at negotiation. Photo courtesy: RAJRNDRA KUNWAR</figcaption> </figure>  While I naively rode pillion around Kathmandu in the spring sunshine, Wangdu was in the midst of what turned out to be his final round of negotiations with the Nepal government. Refusing to cease hostilities with the Chinese, Wangdu must have suspected the cost of his decision, making his cheerful smile in the photograph all the more poignant and brave. It was only much later that I appreciated the significance of the moment. Wangdu had been sent to replace the first resistance leader in Mustang, Baba Gen Yeshe, a much derided corrupt character who stole money meant for his troops and exploited fleeing refugees by seizing their treasures. Baba Gen Yeshe never forgave Wangdu,and sought revenge in May 1974 by betraying him and his commanders to the Nepal authorities. Renewed Chinese incursions from the north, active PLA collusion with the Nepali forces under the new King, and treachery from within the Chushi-Gangdrukranks combined to seal their fate.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>British television journalists George Patterson and Adrian Cowell embedded themselves with Khampa guerrillas and accompanied them from Tsum Valley on a cross border raid on a Chinese Army convoy in 1964. Photo: ESSAYS ON NEPAL / SAM COWAN</figcaption> </figure>  Mikel Dunham, renowned author of Buddha’s Warriors, writes: ‘It is possible that Wangdu was waiting for some cue from the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. It is equally possible – during that last, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-human-cost-of-nepal-s-yarsa-gold-rush?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR31-Cqw8oyIwMPzf_35e4Skr0ululJvLf3_vDkzHn-AYG2h8uPw2rqqErg_aem_tGVn5coY1-jA7fze_xqhew">desolate winter </a>– that he made the decision to go out in glory rather than admit defeat. Over the last fifteen years, Wangdu had experienced Tibet’s organized resistance being squeezed and shoved around by every conceivable outside force.&nbsp; First they had been pushed out of their own country by the PLA; then they had been refused sanction while on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds?fbclid=IwAR0PpJ5zUEbwdug3g_U3ar6FUugngRY0S8Tl2v_7wqzrsHmXWcXsKjvL4t4">Indian soil</a>; then they were abandoned by the Americans because, apparently, Nixon wanted to make friends with Wangdu’s mortal enemies, the communists; then they had been betrayed by the vampiric Baba Gen Yeshe – a Tibetan and, even worse, a fellow Khampa; and now, finally Wangdu’s army was being evicted by the Nepalis. One thing was certain: Wangdu was a warrior. To imagine Wangdu simply giving up and settling down in the pacific squalor of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">refugee camp </a>was unthinkable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49.jpg" data-media-id="editor_20" data-image-id="2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="746" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>The much derided Baba Gen Yeshe, the first Tibetan resistance leader in Mustang, who betrayed Wangdu for personal gain. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="656" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Aditya SJB Rana of the Royal Nepal Army whose team ambushed Wangdu and his cohorts at the top of Tinker Pass in Darchula, West Nepal. Photo courtesy: GAUTAM SJB RANA</figcaption> </figure>  By August 1974 the game was up. Wangdu and six of his exhausted party were killed on their horses by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7270">the Royal Nepal Army</a> on the brink of escape. The officer in charge, Aditya SJB Rana, cleverly predicted their route into India after they failed to silence a police radio in Yari. A carefully laid ambush trapped them near the summit of the Tinker Pass in Darchula,at 5,000 meters the highest military operation of its time. Wangdu’s body was helicoptered to Kathmandu, and a big show made of the royal Nepal victory.&nbsp; The Tibetan armed insurgency against China had reached its end.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_23" data-image-id="20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> </figure>

The Last Days of the Khampa

Starting 17 September Turkish Airlines will fly daily to Seville, one of Spain’s major tourist draws. This is Turkish’s sixth destination in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Bilbao. Seville is in the Andalusia region on Spain’s south coast with a rich Moor history. There are approximately 30,000 Nepalis living in Spain.&nbsp;

Turkish to Seville

Fenerbahçe Beko won the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi, held 23-25 May, defeating Monaco 81-70 in the final. Olympiacos, who defeated Panathinaikos 97-93, finished the series in third place. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final match, Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbahçe Beko, received a prize of 1,000,000 Miles&amp;Smiles from Turkish Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Ahmet Olmuştur. The carrier has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, a top tier tournament, since 2010.

Turkish Basketball

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

usbangla-crash

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Turkish to Seville

Turkish Basketball

Digital protection for Nepal’s art