PM BHATTARAI LEAVES FOR MALDIVES 8 NOV. LEADING NEPALI TEAM FOR SAARC SUMMIT

PM BHATTARAI LEAVES FOR MALDIVES 8 NOV. LEADING A NEPALI TEAM TO 17TH SAARC SUMMIT
Kathmandu, 4 Nov.: Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai will be paying a 5-day official visit to the Republic of the Maldives from November 8, 2011, at the invitation of the Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday, RSS reports.

The Prime Minister will be leading an 11-member Nepalese delegation to the 17th SAARC Summit being held in the Addu City of the Maldives from November 10-11, 2011. He will address the Summit on November 10, 2011.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha 'Prakash' will be leaving Kathmandu on November 7, 2011 to lead the Nepalese delegation to the 34th Session of the SAARC Council of Ministers to be held in the same city on November 9, 2011.

Similarly, Acting Foreign Secretary Durga Prasad Bhattarai will lead the Nepalese delegation to the 39th Session of the SAARC Standing Committee slated for November 7-8, 2011. Likewise, Joint Secretary (South Asia and SAARC) Bharat Raj Paudyal is leading the Nepalese Delegation to the 42nd Session of the Programming Committee being held on November 6, 2011.

The 17th Summit will review the progress in the implementation of the decisions taken in earlier Summits. Poverty alleviation, economic cooperation, SAARC Development Fund, food security, connectivity, energy and climate change are some of the major issues for deliberation during the Summit. Four regional agreements concerning Rapid Response to Natural Disasters, Seed Bank, Multilateral Recognition of Conformity Assessment and Implementation of Regional Standards are likely to be signed during the Summit.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with his regional counterparts at the sidelines of the Summit. Similarly, the DPM and Minister for Foreign Affairs will also meet his counterparts at the margin of the Summit.

It will be Nepal's turn to host the next SAARC Summit. The Prime Minister and entourage will return to Kathmandu on November 12, 2011.
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NAMES FOR SUPREME COURT JUSTICES BEING RECOMMENDED

Kathmandu, 4 Nov.: The meeting of the Judicial Council on Friday decided to ask the Nepal Bar Association (NBA) and the Tribhuvan University, Faculty of Law, Dean’s Office, to recommend names of people from among the qualified individuals for appointment to the post of justices of the Supreme Court, RSS reports.

The meeting decided to ask the NBA to recommend the names of 15 qualified persons and from the Dean’s Office the names of five qualified people for that purpose.

It also decided to update the roster by asking the Office of the Attorney General, NBA, the Bar Council, the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Dean’s Office to send the list of names of qualified people for that purpose.

A decision was also taken to honour the outstanding judges from among the judges of the Appellate Courts and the District Courts on the occasion of the Judicial Council Day on December 18.

A three-member selection committee has been formed under the chairmanship of Council member Damodar Sharma for selecting the judges to be felicitated on that occasion.
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CIVIL SERVICE ACT BEING AMENDED
Kathmandu, 4 Nov.: The Government has decided to amend the Civil Service Act for the management of those civil servants who have not got their responsibilities as per their post, despite being promoted to the officer level, and send its views and suggestions to this effect to the Public Service Commission, RSS reports.

A meeting between the prime minister, ministers and government secretaries has prepared a proposal related to the amendment to the Act on Friday.

According to the source, the Proposal will be tabled at the Parliament for the approval after the PSC's consent.

According to the Clause 24 (D) of the Public Service Act, those civil servants promoted to the officer level post under the special provision have not got their responsibilities as per their present post since the month of Magh, 2064 BS, said Mr. Lilamani Paudel, Secretary at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers.
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