VISA ISSUANCE FOR MUSLIMS VISITING SAUDI ARABIA WAIVED

VISA ISSUANCE FEE FOR MUSLIMS VISITING SAUDDI ARABIA WAIVED

Kathmandu, 4 June: Visa issuance fee for Muslims visiting Saudi Arabia has been waived by government.
A cabinet meeting took the decision Saturday.
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CJ REGMI HAMMERS HOME MESSAGE

Kathmandu, 4 June: Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi today hauled government secretaries over the coals for failing to implement court verdicts, The Himalayan Times reports.

“I will strictly monitor verdict implementation through the mechanism I have set up in my secretariat,” CJ Regmi sent a strongly-worded message to secretaries during an interaction at the Supreme Court today.

Due to the government’s lackadaisical approach, a number of court verdicts have been consigned to shelves and there are cases of justice denied due to the state’s failure to execute court decisions.

Stating that the government was yet to execute jail sentence amounting to 80,000 years and rake up fine from criminals to the tune of Rs 4 billion, Regmi said, “Courts don’t issue verdicts for the government to sit on them. It should execute them or people will begin losing faith in us.”

The chief justice also asked the secretaries to summon and seek explanations from those officials who dilly-dally to implement the verdicts.

As many as 25 secretaries, including Chief Secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire, Finance Secretary Krishna Hari Banskota, Law Secretary Madhav Paudel, Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister Trilochan Uprety, Education Secretary Shanker Prasad Pandey, Secretary at the Ministry of Women and Children Ananada Raj Pokhrel and Health Secretary Dr Sudha Sharma, were present at the four-hour interaction.

CJ Regmi also expressed his dissatisfaction over government’s slipshod verdict implementation.

Seniormost Justice Damodar Prasad Sharma said justices want to see convicted criminals in jail. “Isn’t it the job of the government to arrest dacoits, thieves and rapists and send them to jail after a court orders to do so?” asked Sharma, adding court decisions will be as good as nothing if they are not executed. Justice Sharma also took up the issue of lack of security staff at the disposal of junior court officials.

Justice Kalyan Shrestha wondered how the government might have been treating the decisions of quasi-judicial bodies when the government was failing to execute orders issued by the apex court.

Chief Secretary Ghimire admitted that the government had not been able to do enough in relation to implementing court verdicts but added that they were taking needful initiative. Finance Secretary Banskota said he was ready to allocate sufficient budget verdict implementation. Secretary of Law Commission Mohan Banjade called upon the Supreme Court to maintain judicial restraint and refrain from issuing meaningless directive orders.
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PM KHANAL SHOULDN’T RESIGNSAYS MAOIST LEADER





Kathmandu, 4 June UCPN-Maoist Standing Committee member Barsha Man Pun said on Friday that Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal should not resign in haste as he is yet to complete the tasks of peace and constitution, The Rising Nepal reports.
Speaking at an interaction organised by Reporters Club, he said that his party was not in favor of resignation of prime minister without an environment of consensus. However, he may resign after there is a national consensus.
He said that all parties were positive on the Maoists-led national unity government but he added that the party is yet to decide who will be the prime minister of the national consensus government.
"It is not certain at this point that the party chairman will head the next government," Pun said.
Pun said that it is the duty of all the political parties to work to forge national consensus to form the national unity government.
A national unity government is needed to complete the tasks of peace and constitution.
Pun said, "Now it is the turn of Maoists to lead the government in the capacity of the largest party of the country."
He said that the five-point deal was positive to conclude the peace and statute and added that the combatants who were providing security to the party leaders would return and settle in cantonments within a few days.
He said that the Army Integration Special Committee would bring new roadmap soon to conclude the tasks of combatant integration and arms management.

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BANKGROUND ON NEW CHINESE AMBASSADOR
Kathmandu, 4 June:President Dr Ram Baran Yadav on Friday approved the agreemo of new Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Yang Houlan, Anil Giri writes in The Kathmandu Post..
The fact that Yang is the seniormost Chinese official to be posted in Nepal underscores Nepal's growing importance for China.
He is the first Chinese ambassador to Kathmandu with an advanced degree from an American university. "His selection depicts that Beijing wants to extend its leverages in Nepal in a big but nuanced and balanced way and its engagement would probably be multiple and vigorous," a government official said.
Sources said Yang is likely to present his credentials to the president on June 20.
An expert in regional security, Yang has represented Beijing in the six-nation initiative to discourage North Korea from going nuclear.
During his visit to Kathmandu in March, Chinese Chief of Army Staff Gen Chen Bingde had conveyed to Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal and senior government officials that China had accorded Nepal high priority and is all set to send a senior diplomat as its new envoy.
The post has been lying vacant since the former Chinese envoy Qiu Guohong left office on April 6 for his new job at the Chinese foreign ministry.
"The appointment of the senior diplomat, Yang, clearly reflects that China has put Nepal high on its foreign policy priority list and we hope that Beijing will pay more attention to Kathmandu in the days ahead," said Milan Tuladhar, the Foreign Relations Adviser to the PM.
Yang is currently the ambassador for Korean Peninsula Affairs, constantly engaged in tough diplomacy of the six-party talks, a forum that brings together China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and North Korea. Yang also served in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and N Korea.
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NEPALI POPULATION DOUBLES IN HONG KONG IN TWO YEARS

Kathmandu, 4 June: Surprised over the sharp increase in the number of Nepali nationals over past one year, Hong Kong Government recently put forth its concern with Nepali Consulate General Office in Hong Kong, Purna Basnet writes in Republica from Hong Kong.

The concerns of Hong Kong Government came after the number of Nepali nationals living in Hong Kong reached to some 31,000, up from 17,000 two years ago. According to Nepali Consulate in Hong Kong, the Immigration Department of Hong Kong Government itself is stunned by the rise in number of Nepali nationals.
Consular Kiran Shakya informed that Immigration officials in Hong Kong recently inquired with them about latest political situation in Nepal after they found that the number of Nepalis had gone up sharply.

A statistics availed by Immigration Department sources showed that a total 12,000 Nepalis arrived in Honk Kong on dependent visas from March 2009 to May 2010 alone. The statistics also showed the number of Nepalis that stood at 17,555 in February, 2009, reached 29,433 in May, 2010.

Sources at Hong Kong Immigration said the number of Nepalis residing in Hong Kong by taking Hong Kong Identity Card stands at 30,756 as of February, 2011. This does not include the number of Nepalis who are living with refugee status and those claiming they would be tortured if they returned to Nepal.

Shakya said though the growth of Nepalis in Hong Kong looks unnatural there is no ground to cast doubt on the statistics of Hong Kong Immigration.

He said that on an average only two Nepalis a week approached them before but these days one Nepali a day approaches them for verifying their documents.
“The newly-arrived Nepalis are mostly youths. Government officials here seem optimistic as the newly arrived Nepalis possess good English language skills,” said Shakya.

Known as one of the expensive cities in the world, Hong Kong has been an attractive destination for Nepalis in view of social security and income. Only those possessing British Overseas Visa and those serving as Gurkha soldier during British colonial rule can reside permanently in Hong Kong after receiving Hong Kong ID. The flow Nepalis coming to Hong Kong as domestic help or laborer has stopped as Hong Kong government no longer issues such visas.

The process of Nepalis, who possess British Overseas Visas, going to Britain from Hong Kong, has been continuing these days. According to a statistics availed by British Consulate in Hong Kong, over 1,500 Nepalis chose to take British passport in the past one year alone.

Family members of British Gurkha soldiers, mostly from Pokhara, Dharan, Butwal, began living in Hong Kong since 15 years ago. It is believed that the number of Nepalis rose in Hong Kong as Nepali nationals already living in Hong Kong began inviting family members and acquaintances owing to easy availability of job opportunities.

Likewise, the growing divorce rate among Nepalis in Hong Kong has also contributed to the growth of Nepalis there as divorcees tend to marry with Nepali nationals and take them to Hong Kong.
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