PM BHATTARAI FIRST RECIPIENT OF MPG CUSTOMER CARD

PM BHATTARAI FIRST RECIPIENT OF LPG CUSTOMER CARD

Kathmandu, 17 April: Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai will be the first recipient of a LPG cylinder customer card being distributed
by government from Tuesday to the general public in a growing raj o controls amid shortages of essentials.
Such cads are being distributed for the first time by a
government that has failed to ensure gas supply even in more
than four months of continued shortages.
People are being forces to buy cylinders in the black market at
high prices.
State monopoly Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC)
is distributing the cylinders through dealers
functioning as retailers.
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MCC US TEAM IN TOWN

Kathmandu, 17 April:: A US delegation of the
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) arrived in town
Sunday meetings with U.S. Embassy, government officials, and civil society leaders, US embassy said..

James Parks, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal, leads the delegaton
The arrival marks MCC´s first visit to Nepal since the
announcement December last year that Nepal was selected to develop a Threshold Program, US embassy said.
MCC´s senior leadership will introduce the MCC and the
Threshold Program to the Government of Nepal, civil society groups, and donor organizations, and will gather information about the economic issues of Nepal.


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DIVIDED MADESH UNACCEPTABLE TO MADESHIS
Kathmandu, 17 April: At a time when major political parties are busy discussing contentious issues of constitution writing, lawmakers from Madhes-based political parties have warned that they would not accept a divided Madhes in the federal system, Republica reports.

A meeting of Madhesi lawmakers held at Singha Durbar on Monday afternoon concluded that state restructuring must be in accordance with the agreements reached between the government and Madhes-based political parties in the past.

“The interim constitution clearly states that there would be various autonomous provinces including Madhes. So, one must not think beyond that,” said Chairman of Madhesi People´s Rights Forum (MPRF) Upendra Yadav, who was present at the meeting.

According to Madhesi leaders, the meeting concluded that conspiracy is being hatched to weaken Madhes by carving out more than one state in Madhes.

“Madhes must not be divided. Conspiracy is being hatched against autonomous Madhes state and this will not be acceptable to us,” said a Madhesi leader on condition of anonymity.

Madhesi leaders said that a new constitution without federalism would be worthless and that Madhesis would not accept such a constitution.

“Madhesi people will again take to the streets if the constitution does not guarantee an autonomous Madhes state,” Yadav told Republica, adding, “And, such a constitution can´t be implemented in Madhes.”

The leaders also said that the Business Advisory Committee must not extend the deadline given to political parties to resolve contentious issues of constitution writing. The deadline expires on Tuesday.

Lawmakers from MPRF, MPRF-Republican, Tarai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP), TMDP-Nepal, Sadbhawana Party (SP), SP-Anandi Devi, Rastriya Sadbhawana Party and Madhesi lawmakers from UCPN (Maoist) were present at the meeting.

Another Madhesi leader, who was present in the meeting, said they would hold discussions with Madhesi lawmakers associated with Nepali Congress (NC) to form a common stance on state restructuring.
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GOVT. DRAFTING NEW EXPORT IMPORT ACT
Kathmandu, 17 April : In a bid to make the law governing country´s overseas trade more effective and incorporate service trade, the government has drafted new Export and Import Act (EIA) to replace the existing Export and Import Control Act (EICA) enacted in 1957, Bhoj Raj Poudel writes in Republica.

“The first draft is ready, it has already been circulated among stakeholders and concerned officials for necessary consultation,” an official of the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) told Republica.

He told Republica that the need for a new Act was felt mainly as the previous Act, which has no provision for service trade, has become obsolete in present context. “The new law will have specific provisions for export and import of services,” the official said.

The government has identified seven services that have comparative advantage for export. The National Trade Integration Strategy (NTIS) -- a blueprint of the government to boost country´s export, identifies tourism, labor, information and technology, healthcare, education, engineering and hydroelectricity as service areas having export potential.

“Unlike the previous Act, the new draft aims to facilitate export and import,” the official, who is also reviewing the draft of the new Act, said. “The inclusion of the word ´control´ in the previous Act had started to give negative connotation in the present context of bilateral and multilateral trade.” The official, however, refused to divulge further details.

The existing Act was prepared at a time when Nepal´s trade volume was very low. It has not been amended after its ratification in February, 1957. Among others, the existing Act allows the government to open and prevent export and import of goods if it deems necessary.

“The draft proposes the government to play facilitator´s role in import/export trade,” the official disclosed. However, it will have a clause that allows the government to regulate trade of sensitive goods and services.

MoCS, which is pushing for early finalization of the draft Act, is also reviewing Foreign Direct Investment and One Window Policy in order to make it up-to-date. “This is also an effort to make all the Acts and policies coherent with each other,” the official said.
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PM’S AIDE SAYS HISBOSS WON’T RESIGN

Kathmandu ,17 April : Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai’s political advisor Devendra Paudel said on Monday that the prime minister would not resign at the moment but is ready to clear the way once consensus builds up for the formation of a national unity government, The Rising Nepal reports.
Speaking at an interaction organized by Media Vision in the capital, he urged the Nepali Congress (NC) and the CPN-UML to join the government led by Dr. Bhattarai to conclude the task of constitution drafting.
He said that the prime minister was ready to step down following a political consensus to form a new national unity government.
He said that the government led by Dr Bhattarai would take the shape of national consensus government.
Poudel said this government was not formed on the basis of an agreement among the UCPN-Maoist, the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML but was formed on the basis of the four-point agreement.
He said that all parties should support the government to resolve the disputed issues of constitution and promulgate the new constitution within the stipulated May 27 deadline.
CPN UML leader Bharat Mohan Adhikari said that it was the turn of NC to lead the new government and added that the UCPN-Maoist and UML should give NC a chance for the same.
He said that as the UCPN-Maoist and UML have already led the government twice each in the past, NC’s demand to lead the government this time around is quite logical.
"As a second largest political party in the Constituent Assembly, NC should be given the opportunity," he said.
Adhikari said that Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai should step down to pave the way for a national unity government.
He said that his party was in favour of a national unity government.
Chairman of Madheshi Janadhikar Forum Nepal Upendra Yadav said that the parties should reach consensus to promulgate the new constitution.
He said that it was the responsibility of all the parties to resolve the disputed issues of state restructuring, system of governance system, electoral model and judicial system in the new constitution.
He alleged that the big parties had focused only on the formation of the government by neglecting the peace and the constitution writing process.
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EXPLAIN CLIMATE ISSUES SIMPLY

Kathmandu, 17 April : Constituent Assembly members and climate change experts at an interaction Monday underscored that there should be a meaningful transformation of the commitments made in the field of climate change and related issues into practice, The Rising Nepal reports.
Disseminating scientific information to the concerned stakeholders was a challenging task of line agencies to materialize the policies and programmes regarding the climate change issues and its adverse impact in the society, they said at programme on ‘Discussion with Parliamentarians on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security in Nepal’ jointly organised by Next Generation Parliamentary Group, HIMCCA, Climate Agriculture and Food Security, CGIAR and the Communicator.
CA member and president of CA thematic committee on Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles Binda Pandey said that the experts’ views regarding climate change and food security should be communicated properly to the grassroots level so that the people including farmers could take benefit. "Jargons and languages of the climate change issues need to be presented in a simplified way for wider consumption of the information."
CA member Pari Thapa said that the climate change and food security issues should be incorporated in the national security policies of the state.
CA member Sunil Babu Panta said that the government should inform to the public about its investment in tackling with the climate change impact.
CA member Ang Dawa Sherpa said that the policy makers should acknowledge the indigenous knowledge to mitigate the adverse impact of climate change.
Dr. Gopal Bhatta of CGIAR said that the farmers should be made carbon smart, nitrogen smart, energy smart, knowledge smart, water smart to mitigate adverse impact of climate change.
Joint secretary of Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives Dr. Hari Dahal and joint secretary of Ministry of Environment Battu Krishna Upreti presented separate working papers in the programme while former ministers Keshav Badal and Ganesh Shah, experts Dr. Tek Bahadur Gurung, Dr. Jaya

Bahadur Gurung and Dr. Ram Mohan Shrestha, among others, expressed their views on the topic.
Climate change poses an immediate and unprecedented threat to the rural livelihoods and food security of the many smallholder farmers who depend on agriculture. These climatic changes play into a larger set of interdependent processes: while climatic change affects agriculture and food security, food production systems and natural resource management also affect the climate system. In this way, climate change, agriculture and food security are further shaped by economic policies, institutional frameworks, and demographic change.
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