TOP CHINESE WOMEN'S TEAM, ARRIVES MONDAY

TOP CHINESE WOMEN’S TEAM ARRIVES MONDAY
Kathmandu, 2 April: A 16-memeber Chinese delegation headed by
Vice Chairman of Standing Committee of the 11th National People´s Committee Chen Zhili is arriving Monday for a five-day visit

Chen, the president of All China Women’s Federation, will be the guest of
Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Purna Kumari Subedi.

The team will hold meetings with Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai, Speaker Subas Nembang, Deputy Speaker Subedi and other senior government officials and political leaders.
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NA HOSTING SOUTH ASIAN REGIONAL DISASTER MAANAGEMENT MEETMs hosi
Kathmandu, 2 April: Nepali Army (NC) is hosting a SAARC three-day seminar on
disaster management and humanitarian assistance in the capital city from
Thursday.
Army officials and regional experts are participating.
Lt Gen Nepal Bhushan Chand participants will discuss practices to deal
with disaster management and humanitarian assistance.
The meeting will identify areas of bilateral and multilateral military assistance for disaster management and mobilisation of humanitarian assistance.
South Asia is prone to disasters eapecially during the annual monsoon rais from June to September.
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APRIL FOOL BOMB HOAX DISRUPTS NAC FLIGHT
Kathmandu, 2 April: An April Fool bomb hoax from Malaysia Sunday delayed for two hours a Boeing flight of state airlines Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)to Dubai
The flight was delayed for two hours before the aircraft finally took off from the Nepalese capital in the evening.
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NOC DELAYS REPORT ON LPG SAFETY
Kathmandu, 2 April: Ministry of Commerce and Supplies has shown concern for the delay in improving safety measures of bottling plants. It has directed Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) to initiate activity to improve the safety of bottling plants within 15 days, a source at the ministry said, The Himalayan Times reports.

“But NOC has turned a deaf ear regarding the directive,” said the source. It seems that minister for commerce and supplies Lekh Raj Bhatta will be branded a failure due to NOC, he lamented.

There are 4.5 million cylinders in the market but no one can ensure the safety and quality of the cylinders supplied by various bottling plants. “The ministry had directed NOC to ensure quality and introduce an automatic system in bottling plants keeping in mind complaints regarding the supply of low weight cylinders,” said spokesperson at the ministry Deepak Subedi.

A team of bottlers had visited India to learn about the safety measures set by Indian Oil Corporation, said a NOC official. “But, bottling plants do not seem to be serious in ensuring the quality of cooking gas and implementing safety measures.”

The government has remained a mute spectator to all the irregularities of bottling plants though the Parliament, Ministry of Commerce and Supplies and Nepal Oil Corporation know that most of the bottling plants are supplying sub-standard cooking gas cylinders to consumers.

However, the ministry said it will collect the progress report regarding improvement in bottling plants from NOC by Tuesday. “The corporation has pledged to submit a progress report on Tuesday,” said spokesperson Subedi, adding that the ministry is committed to implementing reform agendas to safeguard consumer rights.

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has failed to submit a feasibility report to chief secretary regarding rebranding all cylinders under a single ‘NOC’ brand even though chief secretary directed it to submit the report at earliest. Chief secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire had directed NOC to study on possibilities of converting all 42 brands of cooking gas into a single ‘NOC’ brand. NOC officials say they are busy working on the

report but nothing concrete has materialised said a high level official at the ministry.
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WEST SETI PROJECT FOR CHINA APPROVED AFTER DELAY AND QUESTIONS
Kathmandu, 2 April: In the midst of doubt and confusion regarding the Memorandum of Understanding signed between China Three Gorges International and the Ministry of Energy, the parliamentary committee on Natural Resources and Means today directed the government to implement West Seti Hydro Project (750 MW), Ramesh Prasad Bhusal writes in The Himalayan Tins reports.

Committee members said they were not against the project, but were curious about lack of transparency shrouding such a big deal. “We have not uttered a single word against implementation of the project, but our probe shows major flaws in the MoU and the government should amend it to ensure project implementation,” said Gagan Thapa, coordinator of the sub-committee formed to probe the MoU.

The MoU became controversial after the parliamentary committee directed the ministry not to implement the project until its final decision. The sub-committee took 20 days to finalise the detailed report, which the full committee endorsed today, directing the government to go ahead with the project.”

“We have been presented as a group against development, but we have now directed the government to implement the project and if it fails to implement it in future, we wont’ take responsibility for failure,” said Shanta Chaudhary, Chairperson of the Committee.

Though most members said they favoured project implementation, they were unconvinced the government would implement the project, stating that the MoU was weak and the documents sent by the ministry showed lack of clarity on major points in the MoU.

The ministry had not even informed the Ministry of Finance before signing the billion dollar deal and had even lied that a letter had been sent to Nepal Investment Board.

“As per existing laws every agency must take consent from the ministry while taking loan or grant, but neither the Finance Ministry nor the Investment Board was officially informed. How can a project with such a weak base be implemented?” Thapa questioned.

The committee said there was still some confusion, but considering the urgency of the project, bilateral relations with the Chinese government and the need to ensure reliability of the government of Nepal, the project has been given the go ahead. The panel said there shouldn’t be obstacle in implementing the project.
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