NC CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEET BEGINS UPDATE Kathmandu, 3 April: NC Vice President Ram Chandra Paudel presented a political proposal at the party’s Central Working Committee (CWC) that began Wednesday. General Secretary Prakash Man Singh presented his report. Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula presented a draft to amend the party’s statute. Discussions in the reports will begin Thursday. nnnn SAARC CHIEF SAYS NEPAL SHOULD LOBBY TO HOST REGIONAL SUMMIT Kathmandu, 3 April: : Secretary General of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation SAARC, Ahmed Saleem has emphasized on the need for Nepal to make efforts for hosting SAARC summit while stating that Nepal has a key role for the 18 th SAARC, RSS reports. summit. At a press meet organized today at the SAARC Secretariat to inform about the two-day third ministerial meeting on poverty alleviation to be started from tomorrow, he said although the summit could not be held in 2012 due to various reasons, the SAARC Standing Committee and Ministerial Meeting should be held before the summit. He said the SAARC chair the Maldives had frequently proposed for the standing committee and council of ministers' meeting, but member countries informed that the dates were not suitable to them. As Nepal and Maldives are preparing for elections, the summit cannot be held before the general election, he said, adding Nepal could play a key role in making the SAARC strong and dynamic as a founding member. He was also hopeful that the 18th summit would be held in Nepal after the CA elections soon. The secretary general showed concern as no date was declared of the summit even after 15 months of the 17th summit. The 17th summit in Maldives had declared the next summit in Nepal. The ministerial meeting on poverty alleviation reviewed the meeting held five years ago in Maldives The goal fulfillment of SAARC development, documents on regional poverty, regional and sub-regional investment project and SAARC development target after 2015 will be discussed, said Saleem. SAARC Director Dhan Bahadur Oli said the meeting would also discuss food security and nutrition, as well as drawing investment for establishment of handicraft village in all SAARC countries. Present in the meeting were 31 delegates including all the ministers and representatives of eight countries of SAARC. nnnn