NRNA conference begins in Janakpur

Kathmandu, 14 Oct: For the first time, the annual conference of non-resident Nepali Association (NRNA) was held outside the Valley in trouble infested tarai in Janakpur Monday.
President Dr Ram Baran Yadav who hails from Dhanusha, where Janakpur is located, launched the conference warning regional politics will propel conflict.
The conference slogan is: Nepalis for Nepalis.
Seventy participants from 20 countries are attending.
Nnnn

Nepal seeks to rejoin IMF programme

Kathmandu , 14 Oct: Nepal has formally expressed interest in re-entering the Poverty Reduction and Growth facility, a programme of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that ensures IMF’s close surveillance of the country’s financial discipline and supports it to maintain financial stability, Milan Mani Sharma reports from Washington DC in The Kathmandu Post.
The Nepali delegation made the request to IMF Sunday after bilateral and multilateral donors from whom it had requested budgetary and more development assistance suggested the need for reliable international surveillance to ensure that Nepal practices a prudent financial system.
According to a source, UNF said it was positive in restarting the PRGF programme, but the final decision to this effect would be taken only after reviewing the financial report of the last fiscal year when Nepal remained out of the PRGF programme following its expiry.
Nepal has joined the IMF’s PRGF programme in 2003 and qualified for a standby credit worth US $ 73.9 million to maintain financial stability. The programme expired 2007.
A Nepali official said an IMF delegation would be visiting Nepal in November to take sock of the country’s financial status.
nnnn

Nepalis asked to quit Assam

Kathmandu, 14 Oct: The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) has called for the expulsion of Nepali immigrants from the Indian state, The Kathmandu Post reports quoting agency reports from New Delhi.
Not only Nepalis, Bangladeshi refugees must also be identified and deported, ULFA Chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa told a local news agency.
Rajkhowa, who made the remark Sunday in an email interview, warned that this outfit would not tolerate any kind of ‘intrusion’ in Assam.
Nepali migrant organizations, however, have said the statement by ULFA should not be taken seriously.
Nnnn