PM CUTS SHORT RUSSIA VISIT

Kathmandu, 25 Nov.: Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal cut short his Russia visit by one day and is returning home Thursday at 11.30 in the morning.
He was originally scheduled to return Friday from St. Petersburg where he attended a conference of 13 tiger range countries to conserve the dwindling population of the Royal Bengal Tiger.
Nepal skipped a retreat to return home sooner in the midst of a protracted political crisis.
The premier held discussions with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Wednesday in the sidelines of the conference ad discussed bilateral ties.
Nepal broke a public pledge not to travel abroad as a caretaker to attend the conference of tiger range countries.
He’s been a caretaker after resigning 3- June on Maoist pressure.
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GROUP DISCUSSIONS CONTINUE AT MAOIST PLENUM

Kathmandu, 25 Nov.: Group discussions continued for the second
day Thursday at the closed door session of the 6th Maoist plenum at Palungtar in Gorkha .
Delegates have been divided into 30 groups for discussion
and debate on three proposals for the party’s future party strategy amid
an extended political crisis.
Prairman Prachanda and Vice-chairmen Dr. Baburam Bhattarai
and Mohan Baidya have presented their proposals.
Representatives of four of 10 state committees presented their views
Wednesday.
Thursday is the fourth day of the plenum scheduled originally for five days; the plenum has been extended two more days.
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PRESIDENT, SPEAKER CONSULTATIONS

Kathmandu, 25 Nov.: President Dr Ram Baran Yadav and Speaker Subash Nemwang held consultations Wednesday—their first since Friday’s brawl in parliament when Maoists prevented Finance Minister Surendra
Pandey from presenting an annual budget for the remaining eight months of the current fiscal year.
Nemwang appraised the president on convening a budget session of parliament to approve an ordinance on the annual budget issued through ordinance.
The ordinance has to be approved by parliament in two months after promulgation.
They also discussed convening a session of the legislature of elect a successor of Caretaker Prime Minster Madhav Kumar Nepal.
The speaker briefed the president on the brawl in parliament.
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HORA PRASAD JOSHI DEAD

Kathmandu, 25 Nov.: Hora Prasad Joshi, 86, died Tuesday
after a protracted illness.
He was law minister in the 11959 government of Prime Minister
B.P. Koirala.
Joshi was a gifted footballer and cricketer.
He was the first member-secretary of the predecessor of National Sorts Council.
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BIG HASH HAUL

Kathmandu, 25 Nov.: Police Wednesday recovered 155 kg refined
Hash worth millions of rupees from a forest in Hattiban near
Kirtipur.
The hash was concealed in photo frames.
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ANOTHER SHOOTING INCIDENT IN BARA

Kathmandu, 25 Nov.: A cloth trader was shot and injured at
Lipnimal in Bara Wednesday night while returning home.
He’s undergoing treatment for two bullet wounds at Narayani Anchal Hospital.
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DONORS EXPRESS CONCERN

Kathmandu, 25 Nov.: Donors expressed concern Tuesday on the negative development impact stemming from the slow progress in forming a new government, implementing the peace process, and writing the new constitution.
Donors recognized the difficult circumstances under which the budget was promulgated by ordinance and were glad a crisis had been averted for now.
USAID, on behalf of donors, except India, released a statement.



Full Statement

The international donor community would like to communicate to Nepal’s political leaders our growing concern regarding the negative development impact stemming from the slow progress in forming a new government, implementing the peace process, and writing the new constitution. The donors recognize the difficult circumstances under which the budget was promulgated by Ordinance and are glad a crisis has been averted for now. We further encourage leaders to renew their focus on the long-term critical issues affecting Nepal’s development and economy—particularly corruption, ownership and accountability; slow progress in filling key positions in important public offices; and the security environment. While development progress continues in certain sectors, the ongoing political impasse has stalled or slowed many development projects and may negatively impact or limit future donor assistance.

Executive leadership at both the Prime Minister and ministry level along with a genuine commitment to the peace process and to transparency and accountability will significantly accelerate progress in nearly every development sector. The most effective programs are designed in strong partnership with the Government. While senior civil servants provide substantial input and guidance, engagement at the political level is often necessary. In addition, numerous key senior positions remain vacant limiting the effectiveness of the Nepal Government and reducing donor confidence, including the Head of Supreme Audit Authority (Auditor General), Chief Election Commissioner, and Chief of the CIAA (Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority) as well as significant numbers of leadership positions at the Village Development Committees

While progress continues, the slow pace in implementing the peace process combined with the continued care-taker status of the government, lack of development leadership significantly reduces most donors’ ability to secure future resources for Nepal. Each donor institution is ultimately answerable to its own government and citizens or to its senior management at headquarters. Nepal’s unstable political situation has made it increasingly difficult for many donors to justify why Nepal should receive support in a world where there are many competing demands for limited development resources. The impact of reduced donor funding may not always be immediately apparent, however, the long term consequences for Nepal’s development are substantial.

The donor community remains committed to supporting Nepal through this challenging time and strengthening the ability of individual Nepalese to improve their living standards. We urge the leaders of Nepal to bring an end to the political deadlock, complete the peace process and effectively deal with the other ongoing issues constraining Nepal’s development in order to create an environment in which foreign assistance can most effectively be implemented for the betterment of Nepal and its people.

Donors participating included: Asian Development Bank, Canadian International Development Agency, Embassy of Denmark, Embassy of Finland, Embassy of Germany, Embassy of Norway, European Union, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Embassy of Switzerland, U.K. Department for International Development, the United States Agency for International Development, and the World Bank.
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75M WORLD BANK INVESTMENT TO IMPROVE ROADS
Kathmandu, 24 Nov.: World Bank Wednesday approved an additional $ 75 million assistance for the Road Sector Development Project (RSDP) to expand the road network in remote districts.
The extra funding of US$ 41.26 million credit and a grant of US$ 33.74 million comes from the International Development Association, the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm.
The RSDP was launched early 2008 with an original grant of US$ 42.6 million.
The money will be spent on improving all-weather road access in remote districts of the Western Region and carrying out periodic maintenance of the national strategic roads network, according to a press release issued by the World Bank.

With this support, the government will extend and complete the upgrading of 405 km of dry season roads to all-weather standard and connect the district headquarters of Darchula, Bajhang, Kalikot, Jumla, Jajarkot and Rukum to the country’s strategic road network. These roads are in addition to the 297 km being upgraded in the ongoing phase of the project.

The financial assistance will also pay for rehabilitation of roads in Dailekh, Darchula, Baitadi, Bajhang and Kalikot which were damaged by the monsoon floods last year.

“The RSDP has exceeded its original targets despite often difficult conditions,” said Susan Goldmark, World Bank Country Director for Nepal. “This remarkable progress speaks to the fact that roads are a high priority for people living in remote areas and that they find ways to overcome differences to achieve their collective interests. This additional financing will help over 1.4 million more Nepalis to benefit from all-weather roads.”

The RSDP will also support periodic maintenance of 2,100 km of blacktopped strategic roads selected on the basis of the government’s maintenance priorities and its annual road condition surveys. The project will continue to support institutional strengthening of the Department of Roads and the Roads Board of Nepal besides supporting the National Vigilance Centre in carrying out technical audits of the roads.

“Nepal has the second lowest road network density in South Asia,” said Surendra Govinda Joshi, transport specialist, WB. “Only about 40 percent of the population has access to paved roads within a walking distance of 20 minutes. At least 17 districts are still deprived of all-weather access to the main transport network.”
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