Nepal
FIFA Int'l Friendly: Anjan Bista's hattrick guides Nepal to 3-1 victory over Bangladesh
A brilliant hattrick by Anjan Bista guided hosts Nepal to a punishing 3-1 victory over touring Bangladesh in a FIFA International Friendly match at the Dashrath Rangasala International Stadium in Kathmandu Tuesday evening.
It was an embarrassing defeat for the Bangladesh men's football team in Kathmandu when Bangladesh women's team celebrated their first-ever SAFF Women's Championship title with an all-win record outplaying Nepal by 3-1 goals in the final at the same stadium last week.
Read:FIFA Int'l Friendly: Bangladesh to play hosts Nepal on Tuesday
In the day's prestige and pressure match, Bangladesh team were struggling against Himalayan nation for most of the proceeding to suffer a humiliating defeat. All the efforts of Bangladesh's Spanish Head Coach Javier Cabrera again went in vain this year, except a face-saving 1-0 goal victory over Cambodia in their first FIFA International Friendly in Phnom Penh last Thursday. Hosts Nepal comfortably dominated the first half by 3-0 goals with midfielder Anjan Bista making a hattrick scoring all the three goals.
Anjan Bista opened the floodgate for Nepal in the 18th minute by a brilliant header from goalmouth melee, utilizing a free kick (1-0) and he doubled the Nepalese margin in the 26th minute by a rebounder from close that came his way from Bangladesh custodian Anisur Rahman Zico (2-0).
Anjan Bista completed his hattrick in the 37th minute also by a good header from close, off a free kick (3-0).
Forward Sajjad Hossain kept Bangladesh hope alive pulling the margin one back in the 57th minute by a diving header, off a readymade pass of Rakib Hossain from right wing (3-1).
The Bangladesh team managed a few more half chances in the match, but Jamal Bhuyan and Sajjad Hossain spoiled the opportunities.
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Earlier, the Tigers reached Nepal last Friday with a sweet memory of beating Cambodian national team by 1-0 goal in their first FIFA International Friendly in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, but they again failed to overcome their dismal performances like all previous occasions this year, except against Cambodia.
Bangladesh Team: Anisur Rahman Zico, Rahmat Mia, Bishwanath Ghosh, Tutul Hossain Badsha, Jamal Bhuyan, (Captain), Hemonta Vinsent Biswas, Matin Miah, Biplo Ahmed (Sumon Reza), Rakib Hossain, Sajjad Hossen and Rimon Hossain.
FIFA Int'l Friendly: Bangladesh to play hosts Nepal on Tuesday.
Bangladesh National Men's Football team will play hosts Nepal national team in their 2nd and last FIFA International Friendly match on Tuesday.
The match will kick off at 5:45 pm Bangladesh time at the Dashrath Rangasala (Stadium) in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu.
The Tigers will play their Himalayan rivals with a sweet memory of beating Cambodian national team by 1-0 goal in their first FIFA International Friendly in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh last Thursday.
It will be a prestige battle for Bangladesh men's football team following the triumphant victory of Bangladesh women's football team in the seven-nation SAFF Women's Championship in Kathmandu last week.
Read: FIFA Int'l Friendly: Bangladesh Football team makes first practice in Kathmandu
Ahead of Tuesday's match, Bangladesh team held a gym and swimming session at the team hotel Monday morning from 11.30 am to 12:30 pm.
Bangladesh captain Jamal Bhuyan and Spanish Head Javier Cabrera addressed a pre-match press conference at 3 pm before their final practice session Monday afternoon from 4:30;pm to 6 pm at Army Sports ground in Kathmandu.
Dhaka, Kathmandu seek enhanced ties for mutual gains
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has underscored the necessity of further consolidating cooperation in all areas of mutual interest between Bangladesh and Nepal.
He expressed his hope that the ongoing sectoral collaboration will be expanded and pursued during the term of newly appointed Nepalese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ghanshyam Bhandari.
Read:Dhaka-Delhi relations to be strengthened further, hopes Indian President
Ambassador Bhandari met the Foreign Minister at the latter's office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Tuesday.
The envoy said the bilateral cooperation between Bangladesh and Nepal is growing steadily in the sectors such as trade, power, connectivity, education, tourism, and people-to-people contacts.
The Foreign Minister reaffirmed the importance of strong relations between the two countries, mentioning that Bangladesh and Nepal have been maintaining cordial ties since independence, according to the MoFA.
Momen expressed with satisfaction that the two countries recently celebrated their 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties on April 8, 2022.
He expressed gratitude for the support of the people of Nepal during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 and for its early recognition of Bangladesh as an independent country.
Momen recalled the visit of the President of Nepal to Bangladesh on 22-23 March 2021 during the celebration of the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman which added momentum to the bilateral ties between Bangladesh and Nepal.
Read:US looks forward to “growing its defense cooperation” with Bangladesh: Ambassador Haas
Bhandari underscored the necessity of expanding trade and commerce between the two countries and sought the support of Bangladesh in relaxing tariffs on Nepalese commodities.
He emphasized on regular interaction and stressed on holding the next Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between Bangladesh and Nepal at an early date.
The envoy further expressed his desire to work for further deepening the bilateral relations during his tenure.
Bhandari presented his ‘Letters of Credence’ to President Md Abdul Hamid on August 31 at Bangabhaban.
10 artists' 'Spirit of Friendship' showcases Bangladesh in Nepal
Marking 50 years of Nepal-Bangladesh ties, a group exhibition is going on in Baber Mahal.
The modern and multifaceted artworks in this exhibition are offering the local audience a showcasing of Bangladesh and its cultural heritage to generate renewed enthusiasm for Bangladeshi visual arts among the art-loving people of Nepal, according to the organisers.
The "Spirit of Friendship" lifted its curtain on September 2. Ganga Prasad Uprety, chancellor of the Nepal Academy, inaugurated the exhibition curated by renowned Bangladeshi artist Kanak Chapa Chakma.
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The exhibition is featuring the artworks of 10 prominent Bangladeshi artists Azmeer Hossain, Jayatu Chakma, Kanak, Lumbiny Dewan, Mong Mong Sho, Munna Bong, Nomosta Rema, Pingcu Tripura, Sourav Choudhury, and Sudhip Chakma.
This year's April marked 50 years of diplomatic relations between Nepal and Bangladesh. As part of the milestone's extended celebration, the Bangladesh Embassy in Nepal, in collaboration with Siddhartha Art Gallery, Baber Mahal, is jointly hosting the exhibition.
The exhibition will continue till September 12.
SAFF Women's Champs: .Bangladesh team leaves for Nepal Saturday
A 34-member Bangladesh Women's Football team will leave here for Nepal on Saturday to compete in the seven-nation SAFF Women's Championship' 2022 beginning in Kathmandu on Tuesday( Sept 6).
Bangladesh team was placed in tough Group A along with giant India, Maldives and Pakistan while Group B team comprises hosts Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.
Experienced booter Sabina Khatun was made the captain of the Bangladesh national women's football team consisting of 23 booters and eleven officials, while Maria Manda made her deputy.
BFF officials disclosed the details of the meet at a press conference at the BFF conference room Thursday afternoon.
FIFA council member, AFC and BFF member Mahfuza Akhter Kiron, Bangladesh team leader Zakir Hossain Chowdhury, team manager Amirul Islam Babu 'Head Coach Golam Rabbani Choton and captain Sabina Khatun, among others, were present at the Conference.
Hosts Nepal will play Bhutan in the opening day's lone match at 5:30 pm at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu.
Read: SAFF U-15 Women’s: Runners-up Bangladesh Football team return home Friday
Bangladesh will start their campaign taking on the Maldives on Wednesday (Sept 7) at 5:30 pm while two arch-rivals India and Pakistan will meet each other in the day’s other match at 1pm.
In the remaining group matches, Bangladesh will face Pakistan on Sept 10 at 1pm and will meet India on Sept 13 at 5:30 pm.
On completion of group matches, top two teams from each of the groups will play in the semifinals on Sept 16.
The final match will held on Sept 19 at 5 pm.
Bangladesh to sign PPA with Indian companies to purchase 500 MW electricity from Nepal
Bangladesh is going to sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Indian companies GMR Karnali Hydropower Company Limited and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) to buy 500 MW of electricity.
In the joint steering committee (JSC) meeting between the two countries held last Thursday, the Bangladeshi side expressed its commitment to sign a PPA with the Indian companies, according to the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation of Nepal, as reported by Kathmandu-based news portal Urja Khabar.
The signing is expected to take place within the month of September, that features the visit of the Bangladesh prime minister to Delhi.
The PPA is sought to be a strategic move to carry out cross-border energy trade between Nepal and Bangladesh. Bangladesh has been consistently expressing its interest in purchasing electricity from Nepal.
Bangladesh industry insiders said the import of 500 MW of electricity will be an addition to the country’s current generation capacity of over 25,000 MW of which more than 40 percent remains unutilized, while the power utilities have to resort to about 2000 MW of loadshedding daily under a rationing programme due to shortage of primary fuel.
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They also said although Bangladesh will import electricity from Nepal, it has to sign PPA with two Indian companies as the Indian generation company GMR will generate electricity from Nepal while the NVVN will supply it through Indian territory.
As per a bilateral arrangement between Dhaka and New Delhi, if Bangladesh wants to import power that will come from Indian territory, it has to purchase it from an Indian company, they said.
GMR Karnali Hydropower Company Limited is a subsidiary of the New Delhi-based GMR Group while NVVN is a power trading in the country formed by Indian state-owned NTPC Ltd in the year 2002.
It may be mentioned that the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCPP) in a meeting in December 2019 approved the proposal of the Power Division to import 500MW electricity from the Indian company’s power plant in Nepal.
The bulk electricity will be imported through Indian company NVVN complying with the Indian regulatory commission’s terms and conditions.
As per the proposal, Bangladesh will import the electricity from Indian firm GMR at a tariff rate of $7.7172 (equivalent to Tk 7.36 if current US dollar rate is considered at Tk 95.49) per kilowatt hour (each unit) for over a period of 25 years.
For the import, the government will have to pay a total amount of over Tk 40,000 crore to GMR through NVVN over the period, said the Power Division sources.
Under the Power and Energy Increase of Speedy Supply Act (SPA) 2018, now the BPDB will sign power sales agreement with the NVVN to import the electricity from the GMR.
The Nepalese news portal reports that the Thursday meeting also reached a five-point bilateral consensus on energy cooperation between the two countries.
The discussion has pointed out the possibility that Bangladesh could utilize the unexploited capacity of its high voltage direct current structure at Veramara power plant to import 40-50 MW of electricity from Nepal in the initial phase.
With this possibility in place, the energy authorities of the two countries, Nepal Electricity Authority and Bangladesh Power Development Board will be requesting the Indian NVVN to sign a trilateral PPA.
Also read: Office timing rescheduled for 8:00am to 3:00pm to save electricity
Similarly, Nepal will be providing the environmental assessment report of 683 MW Sunkoshi-3 Hydropower Project to Bangladesh. In this regard, Bangladesh has consented to come up with necessary comments over the report soon to expedite forming a joint team to take forward the project construction.
Nepal and Bangladesh would like to initiate a trilateral agreement with India to construct a dedicated transmission line on the Indian land, prepare an agreement draft for cooperation in renewable energy including solar home systems, collaborate on providing training and make a future guideline for bilateral capacity building, according to the clauses that the two countries consented to in Thursday's meeting, reports the Urja Khabar.
BFF picks 27 players for FIFA friendlies against Cambodia, Nepal
The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has initially picked 27 players for two FIFA international friendlies against Cambodia and Nepal.
Bangladesh will face hosts Cambodia on September 22 and will play against Nepal on September 27 on their home soil.
Javier Fernandes Cabrera, Spanish head coach of the Bangladesh national football team, announced a 27-member preliminary squad at a press conference in Dhaka Thursday.
Team manager Iqbal Hossain, BFF General Secretary Abu Nayem Shohag and BFF Technical Director Paul Thomas Smalley were also present.
Twelve players taken from BPL champions Bashundhara Kings, four from Saif SC, three each from Dhaka Abahani and Sheikh Russel, two from Sheikh Jamal and one each from Dhaka Mohammedan, Chittagong Abahani and Police FC made it to the squad.
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Selected Players
Goalkeepers: Anisur Rahman Zico, Mahfuz Hasan Pritom, Ashraful Islam Rana and Mohammad Naim
Defenders: Yeasin Arafat, Bishwanath Ghosh, Tareq Kazi, Rimon Hossain, Tutul Hossain Badsha, Riyadul Hasan, Rahmat Mia, Rayhan Hasan and Isa Faisal
Midfielders: Sohel Rana, Atikur Rahman Fahad, Masuk Mia Zony, Biplu Ahmed, Mohammad Ibrahim, Rakib Hossain, Jamal Bhuiyan, Hemanta Vincent Biswas, Faisal Ahmed Fahim and Sohel Rana Jr.
Forwards: Sumon Reza, Motin Mia, Sajjad Hossain and Shahrier Emon.
PM offers Chattogram-Mongla ports for use by Nepal
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday reiterated that Nepal can take the advantage of using Bangladesh's Mongla and Chattogram seaports.
She said this when a visiting Nepalese parliamentary delegation, headed by Pabitra Niruola Kharel, Chairperson of International Relations Committee at House of Representatives of Federal Parliament of Nepal, paid a courtesy call on her at her official residence Ganobhaban.
The premier said Bangladesh is developing Saidpur airport as a regional airport which the neighboring countries can use, said a press release of the PMO Press Wing.
She said her government attaches great importance to maintaining good relations with neighboring countries, including Nepal.
Hasina expressed her gratitude to the leadership and the people of Nepal for supporting Bangladesh during its liberation war in 1971.
She expressed satisfaction that the delegation visited Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi and Bangladesh Parliament.
Read: PM: Multitalented Sheikh Kamal led very simple life
The Nepalese delegation stressed the two countries may further consolidate their cooperation in sectors like Power, Hydroelectricity, Tourism, Education, ICT, Connectivity, and People to People contact.
They noted with great satisfaction that Nepal and Bangladesh have been enjoying cordial relations over the years. They mentioned that this year holds significant importance for both countries as they are celebrating the 50th year of establishing diplomatic relations.
They emphasized high-level visits on a regular basis to strengthen the friendly ties.
The visiting team appreciated PM Hasina for her visionary leadership and the recent socio-economic development, which they termed as very impressive.
At the outset, the Nepalese delegation thanked the government for arranging an excellent programme for them.
The meeting ended with a goodwill gesture of handing over gifts from both sides.
Among other Nepalese delegation members, Chandtara Kumari MP, Dr Deepak Prakash Bhatt MP, Dev Prasad Timalsena MP, Lila Devi Sitaula MP, Narad Muni Rana MP, and Sarala Kumari Yadav MP, were present in the meeting.
The visiting team also met the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before travelling toTungipara through the iconic Padma Bridge on Friday.
International art exhibition held in Kathmandu paying tribute to Sultan
An international art exhibition in memory of world-famous Bangladeshi artist, the late SM Sultan, was held at Mithila Yain Art Gallery in central Kathmandu, Nepal Friday.
Sujata Koirala MP, former deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Nepal, inaugurated the exhibition.
Padma Bridge reflects Bangladesh’s enormous confidence under Hasina’s leadership: Nepal
Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said the inauguration of Padma Multipurpose Bridge will unleash new opportunities for the socioeconomic development of Bangladesh and enhance connectivity in the region.
“Completion of this new mega project reflects the enormous confidence that Bangladesh has achieved under your leadership,” he said in a message to his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina who inaugurated the bridge on Saturday.
Read: Padma Bridge symbol of Bangladesh’s “economic strength, confidence”
The Nepalese Prime Minister said the bridge connects southwestern districts of Bangladesh through roads and railways with the capital and other areas of Bangladesh.
He extended his heartfelt felicitations to Prime Minister Hasina, her government and the people of Bangladesh on the completion of the Padma bridge project.
The Prime Minister became the first person to cross the Padma Bridge by paying toll.