DEUBA FACTION REGISTERING NO-TRUST MOTION AGAINST RAM CHANDRA PAUDEL

DEUBA FACTION TO REGISTER NO CONFIDENCE MOTION AGAINST RAM CHANDRA IN NC PP OFFICE TUESDAY

Kathmandu, 16 Aug.: A faction loyal to three time Prime Minister Sher BahadurDeuba, an aspirant for prime minister to succeed outgoing Prime Jhalanath Khanal who resigned Sunday, is registering a no -confidence against parliamentary party (PP) leader Ram Chandra Paudel in the NC PP office later Tuesday.
The faction postponed a decision to register the motion Monday after party President Sushil Koirala asked the group not to register the vote which could divide the main opposition.
The faction claims majority support in the 114-member party.
The PP leader is normally the prime minister in waiting.
Deuba claims he was promised by Koirala last year, after a party general convention, he would be appointed PP leader after lending Koirala support for appointing Paudel party vice-chairman and Krishna Prasad Shitaula general secretary following the closely fought election general
Koirala was elected party president their supporters were elected almost in equal strength.
Koirala denied he gave such an assurance to Deuba.
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CAPITAL’S GARBAGE WON’T BE IMMEDIATELY LIFTED WIIH CONTINUING RAIN

Kathmandu, 16 Aug.: Tons of garbage along the capital’s streets
won’t be immediately cleared, concerned officials said Tuesday.
Garbage has been piling up on streets for two weeks lifted creating a health hazard during the monsoon.
Repeated landslides at Thulo Khola in nearby Nuwakot have been blocking the road to the landfill site at Sishdole landfill site in the district northwest of the capital.
“The landslide in cleared in the afternoon. But the road is blocked immediately with constant rain,” said an official.
Heavy downpour is being recorded every day for several days in Valley and surrounding areas.
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DEUBA FACTION TO REGISTER NO CONFIDENCE MOTION AGAINST RAM CHANDRA IN NC PP OFFICE TUESDAY

Kathmandu, 16 Aug.: A faction loyal to three time Prime Minister Sher BahadurDeuba, an aspirant for prime minister to succeed outgoing Prime Jhalanath Khanal who resigned Sunday, is registering a no -confidence against parliamentary party (PP) leader Ram Chandra Paudel in the NC PP office later Tuesday.
The faction postponed a decision to register the motion Monday after party President Sushil Koirala asked the group not to register the vote which could divide the main opposition.
The faction claims majority support in the 114-member party.
The PP leader is normally the prime minister in waiting.
Deuba claims he was promised by Koirala last year, after a party general convention, he would be appointed PP leader after lending Koirala support for appointing Paudel party vice-chairman and Krishna Prasad Shitaula general secretary following the closely fought election general
Koirala was elected party president and Koirala and Deuba supporters were elected almost in equal strength to the central committee after presidential powers were curtailed through party statute amendment,.
Koirala denied giving such an assurance to Deuba.
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SAKALI FESTIVAL BEGINS IN BUNGAMATI, LALITPUR

Kathmandu, 16 Aug.: Sakali festival, observed every 12 years, began in Bungamati, LalipuR, Monday.
Rudrayani, Bhairav, Ganesh, Brahma, Bishnu, Maheswar, Indrayani, Barahi, Kalika, Natyeswari and Kumar are worshipped.
The festival is observed for one year after it began in 631 BS.
The festival is observed for a year including worship of the gods on Indra jatra and exhibition of various traditional dances in Khokana-Bungmati and in Patan and Kathmandu, RSS reports.
The dances are especially shown at Taleju Bhawani, Hanuman Dhoka and Kalbhairav of Kathmandu and Mul Chowk, Keshav Narayan Chowk and Bhimsen temple of Patan.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

‘I don’t want to believe that the UML can condone this type of thuggery and intimidation. I hope all senior leaders of the party. particularly, thoe who are alleged to support and protest Mr. Basnet, will set the record straight by deploring and condemning his efforts to replace the rule of law with the rule of the bully.

(US Ambassador Scott. H. DeLisi, Republica, 15 Aug.)
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KATHMANDU, Aug 16: International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday noted that Nepal´s financial sector is in severe stress and asked the government to give more teeth to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) so that it could sweep into prompt action if needed.

IMF mainly expressed concern over the limited tools available for NRB - the central monetary authority -- in managing crisis. Currently, the law allows the central bank to liquidate insolvent banks and financial institutions (BFIs). But if crisis surfaced, IMF officials said mere single tool of liquidation will not help safeguard the financial system.


“The NRB will need to adopt a number of intervention actions for effective results and that demands stronger intervention powers than what the law provisions at present,” said John Nelmes, deputy division chief of Asia and Pacific Department of IMF.

Referring to experiences in the wake of 2008 global financial crisis, Nelmes said governments of many countries have empowered their central banks to execute forceful mergers and closure of BFIs, and create new and bridging banks.

If risks deepened, IMF officials said the NRB might need to create a bridging bank wherein it could transfer deposits and assets of troubled institution to safeguard them. “It might need to adopt other tools too to safeguard the financial system. The law in Nepal should allow the central bank to do that,” said Nelmes.

Nelmes, who was in Kathmandu for the two-week long Article IV review, met top government and NRB officials, and private sector representatives. He suggested the NRB not to provide liquidity support to all the BFIs at this juncture.

“Liquidity crisis that hit Nepali financial system is just a symptom, and not the root cause of the problem,” he said, adding that the root of the problem lies in excessive exposure of BFIs to the real estate sector.

“The problem surfaced because an asset price bubble has burst,” Nelmes said, suggesting the NRB to provide liquidity support to only the well-capitalized institutions.

Talking to media persons at the end of the mission, Nelmes on the day said Nepal faces immense challenges on the macroeconomic front as well.

IMF mainly expressed concerns over slackening of non-agricultural sector and high inflation. “Sharp turnaround in balance of payment, from deficit to surplus in 2010/11, is a welcome development, but latest problems in the United States and the European countries could affect Nepal in terms of exports and remittances receipt in the new fiscal year,” said Nelmes.

Given such apprehension, IMF has projected Nepal´s GDP growth in the new fiscal year to remain below 4 percent. The projection is lower than the government target of 5 percent.

IMF has also expressed wariness over government´s optimistic revenue target. If the target is missed, IMF says the government may mobilize additional domestic borrowing, thereby violating prudential norms of limiting such borrowing at 2 percent of GDP.

“To avoid such situation, we have suggested the government to develop contingency plan and prioritize spending to match with resources,” said Sanjaya Panth, IMF´s senior representative to Nepal and India.
The IMF mission also raised serious concerns over soaring oil loss and strongly recommended the government to adopt automatic pricing mechanism.
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MEDIA GOOGLE

‘I don’t want to believe that the UML can condone this type of thuggery and intimidation. I hope all senior leaders of the party. particularly, thoe who are alleged to support and protest Mr. Basnet, will set the record straight by deploring and condemning his efforts to replace the rule of law with the rule of the bully.

(US Ambassador Scott. H. DeLisi, Republica, 15 Aug.)
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IMF SUGGESTS MORE INTERVENTION POWER FOR NRB

Kathmandu, 16 Aug : International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday noted that Nepal´s financial sector is in severe stress and asked the government to give more teeth to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) so that it could sweep into prompt action if needed, Republica reports.

IMF mainly expressed concern over the limited tools available for NRB - the central monetary authority -- in managing crisis. Currently, the law allows the central bank to liquidate insolvent banks and financial institutions (BFIs). But if crisis surfaced, IMF officials said mere single tool of liquidation will not help safeguard the financial system.

“The NRB will need to adopt a number of intervention actions for effective results and that demands stronger intervention powers than what the law provisions at present,” said John Nelmes, deputy division chief of Asia and Pacific Department of IMF.

Referring to experiences in the wake of 2008 global financial crisis, Nelmes said governments of many countries have empowered their central banks to execute forceful mergers and closure of BFIs, and create new and bridging banks.

If risks deepened, IMF officials said the NRB might need to create a bridging bank wherein it could transfer deposits and assets of troubled institution to safeguard them. “It might need to adopt other tools too to safeguard the financial system. The law in Nepal should allow the central bank to do that,” said Nelmes.

Nelmes, who was in Kathmandu for the two-week long Article IV review, met top government and NRB officials, and private sector representatives. He suggested the NRB not to provide liquidity support to all the BFIs at this juncture.

“Liquidity crisis that hit Nepali financial system is just a symptom, and not the root cause of the problem,” he said, adding that the root of the problem lies in excessive exposure of BFIs to the real estate sector.

“The problem surfaced because an asset price bubble has burst,” Nelmes said, suggesting the NRB to provide liquidity support to only the well-capitalized institutions.

Talking to media persons at the end of the mission, Nelmes on the day said Nepal faces immense challenges on the macroeconomic front as well.

IMF mainly expressed concerns over slackening of non-agricultural sector and high inflation. “Sharp turnaround in balance of payment, from deficit to surplus in 2010/11, is a welcome development, but latest problems in the United States and the European countries could affect Nepal in terms of exports and remittances receipt in the new fiscal year,” said Nelmes.

Given such apprehension, IMF has projected Nepal´s GDP growth in the new fiscal year to remain below 4 percent. The projection is lower than the government target of 5 percent.

IMF has also expressed wariness over government´s optimistic revenue target. If the target is missed, IMF says the government may mobilize additional domestic borrowing, thereby violating prudential norms of limiting such borrowing at 2 percent of GDP.

“To avoid such situation, we have suggested the government to develop contingency plan and prioritize spending to match with resources,” said Sanjaya Panth, IMF´s senior representative to Nepal and India.
The IMF mission also raised serious concerns over soaring oil loss and strongly recommended the government to adopt automatic pricing mechanism.
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GOVT. TO ARRANGE JOBS FOR UNEMPLOYED YOUTH

Kathmandu, 16 Aug : The government is all set to initiate employment arrangement process for unemployed youths that have registered themselves at Employment Information Centers (EICs) in Kathmandu and Biratnagar under the Skills for Employment program, Ashok Thapa writes in Republica.

The Department of Labor (DoL), which has been overseeing the program, has already converted EICs in Kathmandu and Biratnagar into Employment Exchange Centers (EECs) from this year to arrange jobs for the unemployed youths.

“We are preparing to recommend the names of the applicants to different business organizations from this year,” said Dr Man Bahadur BK, director general of DoL.
The government has been collecting information details of unemployed youths through the EICs at Labor Offices in all 14 zones across the country.

According to the department, more than 35,000 youths have already registered their applications with personal details. Through the budget for the fiscal year 2011/12, the government has announced to develop National Skill Record to ensure effective information flow between employers and aspiring youths.

“As announced in the budget, we are making final preparation to help the youths find job on the basis of job mapping process,” said BK.

The government has allocated Rs 1 million to initiate the process of recommending jobs to unemployed youths through necessary negotiations with the employers concerned.

DoL recently submitted its proposed annual programs, including the job arrangement program, to the National Planning Commission (NPC) -- the apex policy making body of the government -- for approval.

“We will start implementation of the program once the NPC approves our programs. However, we have already initiated the process of mediating between applicants and the prospective employers,” added BK.

The department is also developing information centers in Biratnagar and Kathmandu as Model Employment Information Centers (MEICs. The government selected these centers in Kathmandu and Biratnagar in the first phases because of high concentration of unemployed youths and industrial enterprises there. According to the department, 2,332 youths from Kathmandu and 2,000 from Biratnagar have applied for the employment scheme.

Meanwhile, the DoL officials are holding talks with individual employers and business associations, including the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), among others to arrange jobs for the applicants.

“Apart from just recommending applicants for jobs, we are also planning to help them get skill-oriented trainings,” said Barun Kumar Jha, director of DoL.
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