MADHAV KUMAR NEPAL WARNS ACTION AGAINST PM KHANAL

MADHAV KUMAR NEPAL SAYS ACTION WILL BE TAKEN AGAINST PRIME MINISTER

Kathmandu, 9 May: Former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal Monday said UML could either take disciplinary action against Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal for undergo self-criticism for indiscipline next month.
Nepal was talking to reporters in Nepalgunj.
The firm critic of Khanal said the premier defied party directive and handed over the home ministry portfolio to Maoists last week in a delayed cabinet expansion and reshuffle.
Action will be taken against him, Nepal said.
Separate meetings of the party politburo and central committee have been scheduled in June after Khanal, who is party chairman, returns from Istanbul where he’s attending a conference of last developed countries.
The Nepal warning came after General Secretary Ishwor Pokhrel said Sunday the issue of appointment of a Maoist home minister isn’t dead in the party.
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PREMIER TO CHAIR A MEETING OF LAND-LOCKED COUNTRIES IN ISTANBUL

Kathmandu, 9 May: Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal will chair the opening session of least developed countries in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday.
The conference of48 least developed countries concludes Thursday.
Khanal opted to attend the meeting even as the country is embroiled in a debate whether or not to extend the tenure of the constituent assembly (CA) after 28 May.
It’s certain the second deadline to promulgate c constitution to institutionalize a declared republic will again be missed.
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SPECIAL COMMITTEE TASK FORCE

Kathmandu, 9 May A four-member task force of four major parties is meeting Monday to work our modality and schedule for the integration of 19,000 plus former combatants.
A scheduled meeting Sunday couldn’t be held because of busy schedule of task force members.
The modality and scheduled is to be submitted for adoption by a special committee on integration, resettlement and supervision headed by the prime minister 15 May ahead before 28 May when a constitution should be promulgated; the deadline will be missed.
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NEPAL TAIWAN UNDERSTANDING IN EYE OF STORM

Kathmandu, 9 May: Finance Ministry officials had a tough time today as confusion prevailed over Nepal’s signing of Anti Money Laundering pact with Taiwan, Kuvera Chalise reports in The Himalayan Times. .

Sources claimed that China had protested Nepal’s signing of the pact with Taiwan, but the Finance Ministry and central bank officials played it down, saying Nepal has signed the pact taking into consideration its One-China Policy. “The signing of the pact was in accordance with diplomatic norms and Nepal’s foreign policy,” said a high-level source at the central bank.

However, Law Secretary Madhav Paudel told THT the MoU violated Nepal’s One-China policy. He hastened to add that it was a diplomatic issue. When contacted, Chinese embassy official Shan Yiduo said he had no idea about the rift caused by the MoU.

Nepal and Taiwan signed a Memorandum of Understanding to combat money laundering on March 28 in Taiwan. According to the MoU, they will share information about suspected money laundering and other cross-border financial crimes, including terrorism funding.

“Nepal has not given Taiwan a separate country status,” the official said, adding that Nepal signed the pact without harming Nepal-China relation.

Nepal and Taiwan are members of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering. They began discussions last year on the MoU during an annual APG conference in Singapore.

Head of the Financial Information Unit of Nepal Rastra Bank, Dharma Raj Sapkota, and director-general of Investigation Bureau under Ministry of Justice of Taiwan, Chang Chi-ping, had signed the MoU.

As Taiwan was designated to help Nepal meet the requirements to join the Egmont Group to counter money laundering, Taiwan has sponsored a training programme for central bank officials of financial intelligence department on how to craft a legal framework for documentation of financial dealings and prevention of money laundering.

Egmont Group membership will qualify Nepal to exchange information — relating to money laundering and terrorism financing — with and among the FIUs around the world. Nepal had applied for Egmont Group membership in January 2010.

The Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units provides a forum to improve cooperation in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and supports the implementation of domestic Anti Money Laundering regimes.
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MORE CREDIBLE CHILD ADOPTION PROCESS
Kathmandu, 9 May:: The Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) is working on the recommendations of the Permanent Bureau of The Hague Conference on

Private International Law to make the adoption process more credible and reliable, The Himalayan Times reports.

The ministry is gearing up to implement recommendations forwarded by the Permanent Bureau.

The Bureau has recommended that the country control the number of adoption files by publicising detailed profiles of adoptable children on their website. It recommended that recipient countries submit an existing file before working on a new file in the adoption process and provide a chance to older children to express their views and experience on the process.

“We will support almost all the points forwarded by the Permanent Bureau but have some problems in implementing recommendations on the financial aspects due to political instability,” said Sher Jung

Karki, undersecretary at the ministry. Recipient states should encourage their development aid bodies to contribute to development of child protection system in Nepal so that Nepal does not have to request adoptive parents and Adoption Accredited Bodies (AAB) to contribute to orphanages (US$ 5,000 and US$ 10,000 respectively).

We have been asked to collect information on the origin of children, including police report and interviews of older children to make the process more reliable and effective, informed Karki.

As per the recommendation, the country will work only with AAB under the Hague Convention and delist agencies that did not process any case in the last ten years. Karki further added they had asked for monitoring the AAB website to ensure accurate information.

The Permanent Bureau, receiving states and organisations will provide assistance to Nepal to develop adequate legal framework for child protection and adoption, mentioned the recommendation, urging the country to recognise the need to make changes and improvements before ratifying the Hague Convention.

The Bureau has also emphasised importance of recipient states being assured that all documentation surrounding the status of the child, adoptability and adoption have been carefully scrutinised and authenticated. They also sought regulation and transparency in costs and fees, and their use
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YOUTH WORK FOR NOB CREATION





Kathmandu, 9 May: At a time when political instability has caused a kind of frustration among the young generation, many youths develop a mindset of going abroad as they perceive that they have no opportunity within the country, The Rising Nepal reports.
Considering the necessity of creating more job opportunities for youths and mobilising them for social reforms, the youth wings of eight political parties initiated a campaign called, "Youth Employment Improvement Campaign" in a joint collaboration.
By rising above the party interest, youths associated with Nepal Tarun Dal, the youth wing of Nepali Congress, Yuba Sangh of CPN-UML, Terai Madesh Yuba Front, Pragatisil Yuba Sangh, Madhesh Yuba Forum, Nepal, Madeshi Yuba, Nepal Loktantrik, Sadbhawana Yuba Manch and Young Communist League (YCL), Nepal launched the joint campaign across the country.
Organising a press meet here Sunday, representatives of the eight youth organizations informed that they were united together by realising the fact that generating employment opportunity was a must in the country.
When a huge number of youths are flying abroad to work as migrant workers, such campaign could be helpful to keep the productive manpower within the country, they said.
Addressing the programme, Uday Shumsher Rana of Tarun Dal said that from a study carried out earlier by the youth wings they reached a conclusion that there was an urgent need to bringing up new effective programmes for youth employment.
Rana claimed, "The state is passing through various social and economical crises as the issues of the youths have been ignored since the beginning."
Krishna Singh of Terai Madhesh Yuba Front said despite the fact that for overall development of the country the youths must be provided with employment opportunities, over two million Nepalese youths were totally jobless.
He said that due to insecurity of employment in Nepal, each year more than millions of youths fly overseas without any vocational training and skills and because of this, many of them suffered a lot in the foreign countries.
He said, "Our campaign will also be safeguarding the interests and welfare of migrant labourers."
They further informed that they had divided 75 districts into 16 regions where they would coordinate with the different local political parties and generate job opportunities at local level.
They said they would make joint effort to create

job opportunities in Nepal and generate alternative opportunities, provide vocational training, make the labourers aware about the potential challenges and opportunities in the foreign employment, pressurise state mechanism to make government policies and programmes more effective and youth oriented.

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