PM KHANAL CUTTING SHORT TURKEY VISIT

PM KHANAL TO CUT SHOT TURKEY VISIT

Kathmandu, 11 May: Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, who is leading the Nepali delegation to a conference of least developed countries, is cutting short his visit to return home.
Khanal left for Turkey Friday night—one day before original schedule-- and has already addressed the conference.
“The prime minister will be home by tomorrow or day after tomorrow as his plane ticket is yet to be confirmed,” Minister Without Portfolio Ghanashyam Bhusal said.
He was originally scheduled to return 15 May.
‘The prime minister will return immediately after his ticket is confirmed,” said chief political advisor Prakash Jwala said.
Khanal left for his foreign tour after becoming government chief 3 February amid opposition in his UML party for delivering the home ministry portfolio to Maoists defying party directive and uncertainly as its almost certain a constitution won’t be promulgated by the 28 May deadline.
The deadline will be missed for the second time in three years.
Major parties haven’t taken firm official stances on how to handle a void after 28 May even as top leaders float ideas in public though speeches.
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RAGING FIRE IN KAILALI DESTROYS FLORA FAUNA

Kathmandu, 11 May: A raging fire at Masauriya in Kailali has destroyed flora and fauna extensively.
Nearly 700 hectares of forest has been destroyed in the last three days.
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SC SAYS GOOD-FOR-PAYMENT RULE BAD

Kathmandu, 11 May:: Stating that the good-for-payment scheme introduced by the government last year to control buying and selling of house and land violated citizens’ right to property guaranteed by the interim constitution, the Supreme Court today quashed the decision, The Himalayan Times reports.

A division bench of Justices Top Bahadur Magar and Bharat Bahadur Karki quashed the scheme and the circulars issued by the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Land Reforms and Management. The SC quashed the decision that was applicable in good-for-payment cheques amounting to Rs 5 million and more.

“The decision and the circulars are against the existing legal provision of Section 1 of Gift and Present Chapter, Section 4 and 14 of the Registration Chapter of the Muluki Ain and Section 8 of the Land Revenue Act. Therefore, the decision and the circulars are hereby quashed through certiorari order,” the apex court stated.

The Financial and Infrastructure Committee of the Cabinet had taken the decision on March 1, 2010, in a bid to curb the practice of acquiring property by making transactions with under-valuation to evade tax had made good-for-payment cheques mandatory before registration pass of the assets. “The government should issue circulars that don’t conflict with the existing legal provisions. If such circulars or decisions directly contradict the law, suitable amendment is required,” the decision stated.

The bench was responding to a writ petition filed by Dambar Prasad Siwakoit, a local from Kathmandu, saying the government decision violated his fundamental rights. He had claimed that producing a bank cheque was impossible, as the existing law allows informal transaction on individual basis. In a written response to SC, the MoF said the decision was taken to control tax evasion and it didn’t wish to infringe upon the people’s fundamental rights.
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NEPALI CHOIR RECOUNTS UK EXPERIENCE
Ksthmandu, 11 May: Members of a Nepali choir, which was accused of absconding from Heathrow Airport, England, on April 27, today recounted their bitter experience, The Himalayan Times reports.

The 10-member choir returned home on May 5 after successfully participating in the Cornwall International Male Voice Choral Festival.

According to Bimal Sherchan, one of the members, they had to wait at the Indian Airlines office at Heathrow Airport for their lost instruments without any success and then waited for hours at Terminal 3 for the festival organisers to turn up.

“We contacted a Nepali known to us at Central London and he provided us lodging,” said team leader Laxman Shesh.

“As the organisers were at the programme venue, our calls to the office were not answered on April 27, then we contacted Nepalaya Lok Kalamancha in Nepal the next day and collected the mobile number of festival director Peter Davies. We called him on April 29 and we were picked up by his men six hours later and reached Cornwall at midnight,” said Sherchan. Laxman Shesh confirmed that everybody had returned on May 5.

“Embarrassed by the rumour of absconding, we shortened our stay there by five days. We also cancelled our folk song programmes for Nepalis there,” added RG Kharel, another member.

“With the guitars and the Madals getting cooled by the climate, our performance was not as good as expected, however, the audience commended our performance,” said Kharel.

The team comprised Parbati Gurung, R G Kharel, Akash Manandhar, Manoj Chhetri, Goma Lamichhane, Prabin Lal Joshi, Dilip Kumar Shrestha and Yuva Raj Shrestha, Sherchan, and Shesh.

The letter awarded by festival chairman DE Peters to the team reads, “The Nepali team representing the Indian sub-continent has successfully performed folk songs. Our only regret is that although they arrived in the UK on April 27, they failed to contact us.” The team claimed that organisers searched them at Terminal 1 despite the documents showing that Terminal 3 as their point of arrival.
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PM CALLS FOR CONTINUOUS SUPPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT





Kathmandu, 11 May - Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal Tuesday shared Nepal’s gains in the implementation of vitamin A and other community-run health programmes aimed at reducing the child malnourishment and mortality rate, with international community, The Rising Nepal reports from Istanbul.
Addressing ‘Equitable Human Development: Investing in Nutrition in LDCs’ held in Istanbul, on the sidelines of the UNLDC IV Conference, PM Khanal said the LDCs are by definition the most vulnerable and weakest segment of the international community.
Low productive capacity, structural constraints, dehumanizing poverty, supply side constraints on trade and economic vulnerabilities continue to be the characteristic features of the LDCs and hit hard on them and adversely affect their socio-economic development and dignified living.
Stating that nutrition is essential for the survival as well as proper physical and mental growth and development of every human being, he said that his country had initiated various innovative, high impact and cost effective community based interventions to improve child survival and invest more to nutrition especially for children and women.
"The nationwide outreach and coverage of biannual vitamin A supplementation, community based treatment of pneumonia and management of diarrhea, high immunization coverage has led to a very drastic reduction in child mortality in Nepal in the past 10 years," said the PM.
He said that the success of National Vitamin A Program is largely due to the hard work and the commitment of the village-based Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs), who are trained on how to organise the distribution, mobilize the community and on record keeping.
The FCHVs are present throughout the country and at present there are more than 48,000 FCHVs in all the 75 districts of Nepal. In each district there is at least one FCHV per

Ward (sub-unit of Village Development Committee (VDC) with approximately 150 households).
PM Khanal said that FCHVs provide information on family planning, immunisation, nutrition, maternal and child health care and treatment of minor injuries. In addition, FCHVs are provided with a first-aid kit with minor first aid medicines and contraceptives. FCHVs are recognised as crucial in the success of many child health program activities and as a result of their work; utilisation of available health services has increased.
Listing the challenges in engaging community workers in implementing the programme, he pointed out the need of predictable and sustainable flow of resource; large scale community-based programs to address the underlying causes of malnutrition holistically to reduce it and strengthening training and expand community based nutrition program, among others.
PM Khanal called upon the development partners for continued and enhanced level of assistance for the effective implementation of such focused and targeted programs of socio-economic development and improved human health.




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NEPAL MOVING TOWARDS STABILITY DEVELOPMENT;PM





Kathmandu, 11 May: Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal Tuesday said that Nepal could graduate from the least developed status within the next five years through a rapid economic development, Shreedhar Acharya reports in The Rising Nepal from Istanbul. .
Talking to Nepali journalists at the office of the LDCs Bureau here, Prime Minister Khanal said that 48 countries, including Nepal, continued to be in the club of the poorest nations because of the past mistakes that happened in the process of global development.
Khanal said that Nepal would witness stability, development and prosperity once the peace and statute writing processes were completed.
He said that the global political and economic architecture evolving over 500 years was unjust.
"This process led to identification of 25 countries as LDCs in 1971 and separate efforts were made for their development," he said.
PM Khanal said that the ongoing conference of LDCs was discussing how to elevate the 24 out of 48 countries from LDCs category.
He said that LDCs were demanding that advanced countries should spend 0.2 per cent of their GDP as per their commitment for the cause of the least developed countries.
"But the rich nations failed to abide by their commitment," he said.
Meanwhile, Khanal also shared with journalists about his meeting with the heads of government and state of different countries.
Khanal said that they expressed encouraging commitments to assist Nepal’s peace process.
"However, it is up to us to conclude the peace and constitution writing processes," he said, adding that the term of the Constituent Assembly could be extended on the basis of political commitment.
He made it clear that the CA would not be dissolved until the nation got the new constitution.
PM Khanal Tuesday met with the Finnish President. They held bilateral talks on mutual cooperation and Nepal’s peace and constitution writing processes.
Finnish President Tarja Halonen said that Finland was ready to extend all possible support to Nepal.
Likewise, USAID deputy director general Donald Steinberg called on PM Khanal. On the occasion, Khanal said that Nepal was aspiring to see a quick economic progress through optimal use of its resources and external support.
Secretary general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi also called on Prime Minister Khanal. They discussed additional UN support for Nepal’s economic development and trade promotion.
Earlier yesterday, PM Khanal met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and discussed Nepal’s transitional politics, peace and constitution.
Khanal appreciated Ban for UN support to Nepal’s peace and development.
Khanal also held talks with the UN General Assembly President, European Commission Chairman, Belgian Prime Minister, and World Trade Organisation Director General
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