Nepal evacuates 253 students stranded in Israel
Kathmandu (PTI): Nepal's Foreign Minister N P Saud on Thursday left Israel along with 253 students who were stranded in the war-torn country following the surprise multifront attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, officials here said.
"Rescue aircraft has just taken off from Ben Gurion Airport Tel Aviv," Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on X.
It thanked Israeli authorities for their prompt support in relocating Nepali nationals to safe zone, movement to airport, flight clearance and other procedures.
"We commend (the) tireless works of our Embassy in Tel Aviv and duly acknowledge support and cooperation received from various agencies back home to make this possible," the ministry said in another post.
The flight is expected to arrive in Kathmandu at 1.30 am on Thursday, according to the secretariat of Foreign Minister Saud, who arrived in Israel on board the same aircraft earlier in the day.
Ten Nepalese students were killed when Hamas launched a sudden strike at a farm in Israel's Kibbutz.
There were 17 Nepalese students on the farm where the Hamas launched the attack. Ten Nepalese nationals were killed, six escaped and one went missing in the incident.
Four of the students who sustained injuries in the incident are currently undergoing treatment in a hospital with the assistance of the Israeli government.
After the killing of 10 students of agriculture working as interns in Israel under a learn and earn scheme, the Nepal government with the assistance from Israel military relocated the remaining Nepalese students to a safe zone.
Besides 265 agriculture students, who have gone to Israel from different universities in Nepal under the 'Learn and Earn' internship programme, there are 450 other Nepalese working in different fields in Israel.
Israel has vowed an unprecedented offensive against Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, after its fighters broke through the border fence and stormed into the country's south through air, land and sea on October 7. The conflict that has already claimed more than 2,500 lives on both sides.
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Karnataka caste survey report likely to be submitted by April-end, says Minister Tangadagi
Bengaluru: The report of the caste survey conducted by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes is in the final stages of compilation and is likely to be submitted to the state government by the end of April, Backward Classes Welfare Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi said.
Tangadagi said the Commission is currently analysing the collected data. “Based on its findings, recommendations will be made to the government,” The Indian Express quoted him as saying.
The latest Socio-Economic and Educational Survey was conducted between September and October last year, making it the second such exercise commissioned by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during his two terms in office.
On the implementation of the survey report, which was one of the assurances in the Congress manifesto, Tangadagi reportedly said that it would be implemented once it is submitted to the government. “We are hopeful that it will be submitted to the government by the end of March or early April,” he said.
Earlier, the government had expected the Commission to submit the report by the end of February.
The 2025 survey was commissioned after the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government decided to scrap the findings of a caste enumeration exercise carried out in 2015 under former Commission chairman H Kantharaj. The government had stated that the data from the earlier survey had become outdated, making its recommendations difficult to implement.
However, there had been speculation that the findings were dropped owing to pressure from dominant communities such as Lingayats and Vokkaligas.
The survey carried out last year was marred by protests from a section of teachers who objected to carrying out the survey. Mid-term school vacations were also extended for schools to allow teachers to complete enumeration. The latest survey covered around 6.14 crore people, compared to 5.98 crore people covered in the previous exercise.
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