MEDIA GOOGLE "I have no desire to stay in the government even for a second if the parties forge consensus." (ML General Secretary CP Mainali said quoting PM Bhattarai, The Kathmandu Post, 6 Aug.) nnnn DPM SHRESTHA MEETS BANGLADESH PM Kathmandu, 6 Aug.: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha met with Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina at her official residence in Dhaka on Sunday, The Kathmandu Post reports. During the meeting, the duo exchanged views on enhancing bilateral cooperation on connectivity, trade and transit, tourism promotion and people-to-people contact. At the invitation of his counterpart Dipu Moni, DPM Shrestha is currently in Dhaka to attend the two-day International Conference on "People's Empowerment and Development". The conference is being attended by high-level delegations from 60 countries, including ministerial delegations from Bhutan, India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka from the SAARC region and top officials from the UN and other international organisations, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The conference will focus on elements essential for peace and empowerment such as eradicating poverty and hunger, reducing inequality and accelerating social development. Speaking at the inaugural session of the conference, DPM Shrestha underlined the need for concerted international efforts to create an inclusive society that promotes harmony and peace and takes care of special needs of its ethnic minorities and indigenous tribes who have been historically excluded from the mainstream. He also stressed that peace, freedom, stability and development could only be achieved by working together with a true spirit of partnership and that a perfect human society would only be possible after bridging the gap between the haves and the have-nots, the developed and the underdeveloped and the powerful and the powerless. DPM Shrestha also led a panel discussion on "Mitigating Deprivation" at the conference. nnnn