GIRL'S HONESTY RAISES QUESTIONS

PM IGNORES SUMMONSOF PARLIAMENT’S STATE AFFAIRS COMMTTEE

Kathmandu, 23 April: NC members of parliament’s state affairs committee expressed regret Saturday Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal didn’t appear before it to answer questions on developments that led to the resignation of State Finance Minister Lharkyal Lama
Khanal cited a busy schedule for not appearing before the committee.
The committee directed Khanal to make available a copy of a report of a three-member government committee inquiring the circumatances of the agreement.
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$125 MILLION WORLD BANK ID PACKAGE

Kathmandu, 23 April: World Bank has approved a $ 125 million aid package for Nepal under a poverty alleviation programme (PAF) to maintain and enhance food security for vulnerable families and improve access for disadvantaged youth to technical educational and vocational education programmes.
‘Since 2004, PAF has covered Nepal’s 40 poorest districts, directly supporting over nearly 14,900 community organizations and benefiting nearly 530,000 households, of whom 57 percent are from disadvantaged Dalit and Janajati communities,” the Bank said.
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RARE ACT OF HONESTY RAISES QUESTIONS

Kathmandu, 23 April: Anuja Baniyal’s return of money found in a bag left in a bus to the rightful owner has been universally appreciated, Kantipur reports from Dharan.
But Friday, the question arose: Where’s the person who collected the money.
According to Anuja, she returned the bag with Rs. 9.1 million and a diamond necklace to Kathmandu resident Purusottam Pokhrel.
Where’s he. He doesn’t respond to mobile messages, she said and has requested police assistance.
Anuja has also requested an investigation after locating him
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WHEREABOUTS OF MISSING DEMANDED





Kathmandu, 23 April: - The Society of the Families of the Disappeared Fighters by the State (SoFDFS) Friday staged a two-hour sit-in at Kathmandu district administration office demanding the whereabouts of the people made to disappear by the state during a decade long People’s War, The Rising Nepal reports.
"Despite provision for clarifying the status of the disappeared within 60 days of the peace agreement, nothing has been done to that end so far. This situation is very painful for us who have been denied the status of our dear and near ones. Our sit-in is to remind the state of its obligations," SoFDFS vice-chairperson Sabitri Dura said addressing the conclusion of the sit-in.
She demanded with the government and all the parties to pass the Bill on Disappearance from the legislature-parliament and pave the way for the formation of the Commission on Disappearance.
"It is ironic that many people talk about the seized land and property while they keep mum about the fate of the disappeared people. Is property dearer than life?" she asked.
Dura, who is also a lawmaker, said that those who valued property more than life were barring the disappearance bill from getting passed in the parliament.
She demanded that the government should take action against those security personnel who were convicted by the Supreme Court as being involved in making the people to disappear.
She warned that the victim families of the disappeared would resort to powerful movement if the government did not heed to their rightful demands.
Our district correspondents add that the SoFDFS staged the sit-in at distraction administration offices across the country.

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ONLY 25% BUDGET FOR DEVELOPMENT SPENT BY GOVT.

Kathmandu, 23 April: Delayed budget presentation and frequent change of the government have taken a toll on the country’s capital expenditure. With only two-and-a-half months remaining in the current fiscal, the government has only been able spend 25 percent of the total capital expenditure, The Kathmandu Post reports.

Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) statistics show that the government spent just Rs 33 billion of the total allocated capital expenditure of Rs 129 billion. However, regular expenditure stands at Rs 104 billion during the period.

With slow development expenditures, there are doubts whether the government will be able to utilise the maximum of the allocated capital expenditure budget. “Capital expenditure usually soars in the last quarter beginning mid-April,” said Dinesh Devkota, officiating vice-chairman of National Planning Commission. “We are hopeful that most of the allocated budget will be spent, as development project works are underway.”

Because of the government’s failure in spending budget promptly, the government treasury has swollen to Rs 17 billion as of the ninth month of the current fiscal. The figure was at Rs 12 billion in the seventh month.

Whenever there is a delay in the budget presentation or endorsement, development expenditure has always been low. Thanks to a frequent change of the government and the parties’ failure to forge consensus, the last three years saw the annual budget either being presented behind the schedule or endorsed late by the Parliament and the government failing to meet the capital expenditure target.

In 2008-09, the Maoist-led government brought the annual budget late and capital expenditure remained at Rs 73 billion, against the target of Rs 91 billion. Likewise, in 2009-10, the capital expenditure remained at Rs 89 billion against the target of Rs 106 billion. The government has revised the capital expenditure target at 110 billion this year through the mid-term review of the budget. The earlier target was Rs 129 billion. “As there has not been a second assessment about the probable size of the capital expenditure after the mid-term review, we stick to the possibility of spending the revised amount,” said Bodh Raj Niraula, joint secretary of the Finance Ministry.

The government releasing extra amount to the Nepal Oil Corporation for oil import will also help it to show higher capital expenditure this year. “I think the revised target is achievable due to government’s loans to NOC although it is not a productive investment,” said Rameshwor Khanal, former finance secretary.

Apart from delay in the budget presentation, delay in getting programmes endorsed by the National Planning Commission (NPC) also affected the overall capital expenditure. There were several programmes and projects yet to be the approved by the NPC until recently. After the budget presentation through ordinance on Nov. 20, 2010, the finance ministry had told all the ministries to get their programme endorsed by the NPC by Dec. 6, 2010. “Almost all projects have been approved by the NPC,” said Devkota of NPC.

Given the slow capital expenditure, it is not sure whether the government will stick to the budgetary provision that projects will not get more than 40 percent budget in the fourth quarter and 20 percent in the last month. “We are committed to the budgetary provision, but will be flexible on case-by-case basis,” said Niraula “So far, no project has sought our help to release more than 40 percent budget.”

Former finance secretary Khanal also said the government should not adopt a strict approach to implement this provision as long as it benefits the country.
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