PM TO INTERACT DIRECTLY WITH RADIO LISTENERS

PM TO INTERACT DIRECTLY WITH RADIO LISTENERS
Kathmandu, 27 Feb.: Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai
interacts directly with radio listeners over his regular monthly
programme Janata Sangha Pradhan Mantri over state-owned
Radio Nepal from 8.15 to 8.45 in the evening Monday.
The premier will answer questions of Radio Nepal listeners for 30 ministers in the first programme launched by any government chief.
Bhattarai also visits his Gorkha constituency every monthly after being elected from a constituency there with the largest majority in parliamentary elections four years ago.
But Bjattarai is fast losing confidence of people with inability of his government to deliver as corruption has mounted amid charges his government s the most corrupt in the country’s history.
Demands for resignation are swelling from within the party and outside ;he reacts saying only he can deliver a delayed peace and constitution and sweeping progress have been made in completing the delayed processes rejected by experts.
“It’s not possible to promulgate the constitution in the remaining three months. From the standpoint of the number of themes settled, any differences have been resolved. But differences remain on important and serious subjects. Chairman of main constitution drafting committee Nilambar Acharya says.
He adds the 28 May deadline to promulgate a constitution will
again be missed.
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RPP CHARIRMAN RANA SAYS NO-CONFIDENCE AGAINST PM SHOULD BE TABLED
Kathmandu, 27 Feb.: Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Chairman Pashupati Shumshere JB Rana today said that a vote of no-confidence motion should be tabled in Parliament against Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai if he did not step down on his own, The Himalayan Times reports.

Addressing a function here, Rana said that the PM was a complete failure to conclude the peace and constitution-drafting processes for which he came to power and added that he should give a way out to the nation.

“It would be better if quits on his own,” Rana said, adding, “If he does not do so he should be

ousted through a vote of no confidence and we have already talked with the

Nepali Congress and UML in this regard.”

Rana said the incumbent government had been failure on maintaining law and order as well as austerity measures. “People do not get gas, petroleum products, electricity and even drinking water and they are fed up with this government,” he said.

On unification between the RPP and Rastriya Janshakti Party (RJP), Rana said preparations had been almost complete to hold the joint national convention in first week of May. He added that unification process in 70 constituencies of eight districts were yet to be over.

He informed that they were holding talks with the Kamal Thapa-led RPP-Nepal. “But we are yet to reach an understanding on federalism and republic,” Rana said. RPP-Nepal has been saying that it would unite with RPP and RJP provided that both the parties accept constitutional monarchy.

Rana, however, said that the thoughts of federalism and republic were the bottom line for unification. He also rapped the three major parties for not seriously working on completing the peace and constitution-drafting processes. “There is no ground to believe what the three major parties have to say as their words do not match with their actions,” he said.

He stressed the need to conclude the peace process and drafting of new constitution by May 27 deadline. He warned that the country would plunge into yet another conflict if the peace and constitution-drafting processes remained incomplete by May-end.
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GARMENT, CARPET EXPORT REBOUND PROPELLILNG DOUBLE DIGIT GROWTH
Kathmandu, 27Feb.: Though labor unrest continues to trouble major industries, Nepali readymade garment and woolen carpet exporters managed to post more than 44 percent rise in exports. The healthy rise in garment and woolen carpet exports also made country´s total exports to grow by 11.2 percent over the first six months of the current fiscal year.

Nepal´s total exports over the first half of 2011/12 jumped to about Rs 36 billion, says a latest report of Nepal Rastra Bank. It was Rs 32.29 billion in the same period last year. Although government officials tag readymade garment as a ´dying industry´, its exports to the third country markets soared by 44.5 percent and touched Rs 2.48 billion during the review period.

Exports of garment have increased to the European countries - mainly Spain, Germany, UK and France, according to Udaya Raj Pandey, president of Garment Association of Nepal (GAN). "We have got no new costumers, but our old clients are placing more demand," he told Republica.

As EU countries have provided zero tariff facility to Nepali products, exports of garment in the European market has increased in recent months. However, no such sign is visible in the US, which previously used to be the largest buyer of the product.
Despite such a healthy export growth, garment remained the country´s second largest export during the review period. Nepal´s largest export during the period was hand-knotted woolen carpet.

According to NRB statistics, exports of woolen carpet during the first six months of 2011/12 stood at Rs 3.36 billion, which was 44.2 percent higher as compared to export figures of same period of last year.

Pashmina - another prime export products - was the country´s third largest exports during the period. Nepal exported pashina products worth Rs 1.52 billion, a rise of 63.5 percent recorded in the same period last year.

Entrepreneurs like Kabindra Nath Thakur, president of Nepal Carpet Exporters Association, however, caution that present rise (in value terms) could be faulty because the central bank figure does not acknowledge some 8 percent rise in value of third country exports has come from depreciation of Nepali currency. "The actual growth in exports is lesser than what the NRB says," Thakur stated.

Irrespective of the situation, the rise in their exports income enabled the country to enjoy 6 percent rise in exports to overseas markets over the first six months. Exports to those markets had declined by a percent in the same period last year.

Likewise, rise in exports of products like zinc sheet (Rs 2.95 billion), textiles (Rs 2.37 billion), jute goods (Rs 2 billion) and polyester yarn (Rs 1.91 billion) helped the country expand its exports to India by almost 14 percent.

Despite encouraging export growth, NRB data shows the total export income for the period did not even suffice to finance import of petroleum products. According to NRB, Nepal imported petroleum products worth Rs 40.60 billion during the period. Gold (Rs 11.61 billion) was the country´s second largest import during the review period, flowed by vehicles and spare parts (Rs 9.45 billion), MS Billet (Rs 8.50 billion) and medicines (Rs 4.98 billion).

Thanks to their increased consumption - country´s imports increased by 16 percent and touched Rs 216.68 billion during the review period. Such higher rise in imports, meanwhile, widened the country´s trade deficit by
about 18 percent to Rs 180.76 billion.
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TEACHERS SUNDAY CLOSED DOWN SCHOOLS NATION-WIDE AMID CLASHES WITH POLICE
Kathmandu, 27 Feb.: Despite the government’s declaration of schools zone as a zone of peace, one of the main stakeholder of school, teachers shut down schools today in the latest instance of defiance of the declaration and violation of the children’s right to education enshrined in the constitution, The Himalayan Times reports.

The school closure, enforced at the call of Teachers’ Union of Nepal and Nepal Educational Republic Forum (NERF), an organisation comprising various teachers’ and school employees’ organisations, affected more than eight million students in around 33,000 schools across the country.

While the teachers and non-teaching school staff continue to trample on the declaration, the government is hesitant to take action against them.

Rose Nath Pande, joint spokesperson at the Ministry of Education, said the ministry cannot take action against the teachers because the ‘schools as a zone of peace’ declaration is yet to be endorsed.

He said the ministry has been trying to address the agitators’ demands through talks. Babu Ram Pokharel, newly elected president of the Private and Boarding Schools Organisation Nepal, said they have extended moral support for the professional organisations of teachers and school employees. “We have to work with them, so we cannot ignore their request to shut the schools for a day in a bid to press the government to address their demands,” he said, but hastened to add that PABSON does not support all of the agitators’ demands.

“We have requested 6,000 member schools in 70 districts to shut as a mark of support for these professionals’ bodies,” Pokharel said.

With final exams round the bend, the schools will have to run additional classes on account of the bandh.

Agitating teachers today staged a rally from Shantibatika to MoE demanding that the government meet their demands. While staging a sit-in in front of the MoE, the teachers clashed with security personnel.

Home Kumar Thapa, president of the Nepal Institutional Schools Teachers’ Union (Nepal ISTU), which leads NERF, today said police arrested some 200 teachers from the MoE premises, while police said detained 55 teachers and released them later.

Hari Dev Yadav, vice president of the Nepal National Teachers’ Organisation (Lalitpur) sustained injuries in his head during a clash with police. He is receiving treatment at the Bir Hospital.

Thapa said the teachers will shut the schools nationwide tomorrow against the arrest of their colleagues from a peaceful protest.

He urged the government to take the teachers’ demands seriously and ward off educational strikes.

Agitating teachers had called students to attend classes on Saturday, a weekly holiday, as part of their nationwide protest.

Thapa said about 60 per cent institutional schools and 70 per cent community schools opened yesterday, while PABSON stated only a few private schools opened that day.

Suprabhat Bhandari, president of the Guardians’ Association of Nepal, said they are against the bandh.

“The teachers’ protest should not affect the children,” he said, urging teachers to change the modality of protest and the government to address the teachers’ demands without delay.

Union to move court

The Nepal National Employees’ Union is to file a writ petition at the Supreme Court on Monday against the school bandh announced for Monday. With the appellate court unable to issue its verdict directing the agitating teachers to call off the closure of schools on Sunday, the teachers are scheduled to shut schools on Monday and rally in all the districts for a few days.
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