Kathmandu, Nov 17 (PTI) Nepal launched e-passport services on Wednesday with a 102-year-old academician and cultural expert becoming the first person to get the chip-based identification document.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Khadka inaugurated the first e-passport personalisation centre at Tripureshwor in Kathmandu.

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At the function, the minister handed over the first Nepali e-passport to litterateur Satya Mohan Joshi.

Nepal launched machine-readable passports in 2010, replacing the handwritten travel documents. The handwritten passports were completely phased in 2015.

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Applicants for fresh passports can apply for the e-passports from November 18 onwards. However, the machine-readable passports will remain valid till 2031.

The e-passports will ensure enhanced security with installed chips consisting of biometric data, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)