Others
Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise “Universal Access and Human Rights”
WORLD AIDS DAY On Right Track
Given a guarantee to basic human rights and regular availability of medicines for people living with HIV, it is possible to stabilize the HIV epidemic. This is what the recently released UNAIDS Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic reveals. The report shows that the total number of people living with HIV is stabilizing worldwide. Despite continuous political instability and frequent changes in the governments, Nepal has also achieved a major progress in stabilizing HIV infections. Interestingly, Nepal has also succeeded in decreasing new HIV infections by more than 25% over the last one decade. As the World’s AIDS Day was celebrated on December 1, fundamental rights of people living with HIV and their access to medicines remain a challenge for Nepal towards meeting UNAIDS’ vision: Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths. With the slogan of Stop AIDS: Keep the Promises, Universal Access and Human Rights, the World AIDS day has celebrated in Nepal.
By By KESHAB POUDEL and YOGESH GYAWALI in Kathmandu and Umid Bagchand and Sita Mademba reporting from Dhangadhi and Dharan
http://spotlightnepal.com/sln/Others.aspx?ArticleID=532
Monday, December 6, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Delhi Police Arrested A Nepali Maoist
News A Nepali Maoist was arrested by New Delhi Police with huge explosive.
Friday, December 3, 2010
WikiLeaks Discloses Nepal
Opinion Analyst Dipal Gyawali writes, "Everyone is groping in the dark to find the answers: when, how and why did we go so horribly wrong? Some insights might soon be forthcoming in two thousand plus secret US embassy cables from Kathmandu in the WikiLeaks website sent during the tenures of Ambassadors Michael Malinowski, James Moriarty and Nancy Powell. They cover events from early 2002 till February this year and hopefully will cover the Kangressi infighting between the Girijangress and Deupangress factions that led to their dissolving the discredited Third Parliament. That enmity continues till today, has paralysed its collective leadership and, as a consequence, contributed to the ennui of the Constituent Assembly itself.
Monday, November 29, 2010
WikiLeaks Discloses 2278 cables from Kathmandu to US
News At a time when the activities of Nepal's two big neighbors India and China grow in Nepal, the US too seems to have been sensetive in this part of the region which is known for the great game in 29th century. After discloser of WikiLeaks that US embassy in Kathmandu sends 2278 cables from Kathmandu, there will be more activities of Nepal's other two neighbors which claim that they have genuine security interest in Nepal.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Indo China Shadow Boxing Over Lanka
News
Sri Lankan journalist Gamini Weerakoon writes about growing India-China competition in Sri Lanka.
The visit of Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna to Sri Lanka closely followed by Pakistan President Asif Zardari may be seen by some as the success of the Rajapaksa government’s foreign policy, particularly in the South Asian region but a different view is held by others who see Sri Lanka becoming a backyard for play by the regional powers.
Sri Lankan journalist Gamini Weerakoon writes about growing India-China competition in Sri Lanka.
The visit of Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna to Sri Lanka closely followed by Pakistan President Asif Zardari may be seen by some as the success of the Rajapaksa government’s foreign policy, particularly in the South Asian region but a different view is held by others who see Sri Lanka becoming a backyard for play by the regional powers.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Maoist should led the new government: professor Muni
India's professor SD Muni suggested that Nepal's Maoist should be leading the new government.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Study reveals immense importance of ‘invisible’ water to urban poor
A key water resource that will grow in importance as climate change takes hold is currently going largely unmeasured — with big implications for poor communities in developing nations, says research published today (15 November 2010).
The International Institute for Environment and Development’s study shows that hundreds of millions of urban people in such countries already depend on this hidden resource.
Water taken directly from wells rather than being piped to users from surface-water supplies such as rivers and reservoirs is rarely taken into account, and it is therefore being used invisibly.
This might mean that it is being used unsustainably but it might also mean that groundwater has even greater potential to supply poor communities than is currently thought.
The study estimates that almost a third of urban households in sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia rely on groundwater from local wells, and the share is considerably higher among poorer households.
It warns that policymakers, donors and others have neglected poor people’s dependence on wells, and it urges action to ensure that people can use groundwater in a safe and sustainable way.
“The policy trend is to promote the use of piped water but as our research shows, large proportions of urban populations are not served and must supply themselves with groundwater from wells,” says co-author Dr Jenny Grönwall. “Unfortunately most official statistics, including those that measure progress towards the UN Millennium Development Goal on water, fail to acknowledge the value of different kinds of wells.”
Grönwall adds: “It is critical that the neglect of this resource ends, as research suggests that climate change will make groundwater increase in importance in large parts of the world, not least in the urban areas of developing nations.”
One problem is that the UN Millennium Development Goal system defines wells as being ‘improved’ or ‘unimproved’ when these terms do not reflect real differences in the importance of wells and can in fact condemn vital sources of water.
One of the reasons that groundwater gets neglected is an assumption that it is of poor quality or likely to be contaminated, especially if a well is located close to a latrine.
“It is a misconception that sanitation facilities near wells will automatically cause disease and that such wells deserve to be shut down,” says co-author Dr Martin Mulenga. “In reality, transmission routes for harmful microbes are much more complex.”
The researchers say that, overall, a greater availability of well-water can be better for people’s health as it promotes good hygiene, and not all water used must be of potable standard.
“Household treatment and good hygiene practices such as hand-washing may still need to be promoted to reduce health risks,” says co-author Dr Martin Mulenga. “Governments and donor agencies should take steps to enable poor communities to use groundwater in a safe and sustainable way, rather than discouraging their use of this resource.”
The researchers call for better monitoring of urban groundwater resources and wells and for groundwater to be included more often in plans and policies for integrated water resource management. Measures to improve recharge of aquifers and to protect both groundwater and wells from pollution are urgent.
“While water privatization and regional water scarcities grab the limelight, this study shows that a large share of the world’s poorest urban dwellers actually depend on local wells,” says Dr Gordon McGranahan, head of IIED’s Human Settlements Group.
“Far more needs to be done to support the efforts of local households and communities, and to make water supplies from wells more reliable and safe. This will be a challenge for water sector organizations more accustomed to working through large utilities and regional water resource authorities.”
The research — which includes extended case-studies of Bangalore, India and Lusaka, Zambia — adds that self-supply from local wells can be a cheaper alternative to piped supplies in situations where infrastructure for house connections is unfeasible or too costly.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
INDIA-NEPAL RELATIONS: A PERSPECTIVE FROM NEPAL
Chiran Jung Thapa email: chiranjthap@gmail.com An Indian national with longstanding ties with Nepal recently remarked – “Indian policy in Nepal appears as if oceans separate the two countries. For a country that aspires to be a world power and a Security Council member, its public diplomacy and relationship capabilities remain infantile and its behaviour towards smaller neighbors juvenile.” These sentiments resonate with Nepalese. Views expressed by the author are his own. Follow: http://www.ipcs.org/article/nepal/india-nepal-relations-a-perspective-from-nepal-3260.html | |
Friday, November 5, 2010
Nepal Launched NAPA
Prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal launched National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA) to climate change. Started in May 2009, it took 16 months to finalize the document. Following the official launching, Nepal can now seek much needed fund for adaptation programs.
“Climate change adaptation is our national priority. The NAPA has been prepared to address climate vulnerabilities and advance our human development agenda. NAPA is a product of an intensive nationwide consultative process involving all relevant sectors,” said prime minister Nepal launching the document.
With support from Embassy of Denmark, United Kingdom’s Department of International Development, Global Environment Facility and UNDP Nepal country office, Nepal’s NAPA document is prepared after intensive consolations among all the stake holders.
“I consider that NAPA process was also instrumental in enhancing public awareness, institutional development and capacity building, developing implementation frame work and establishing coordination mechanisms. I am proud to say that this is the document which is finalized incorporating the voices of people,” said Thakur Prasad Sharma, minister of Environment.
As the impacts of the climate change are more prone in landlocked and mountainous country like Nepal, managing the adverse impacts of climate change on livelihoods, agriculture, water resources, energy, health, bio-diversity and national well being is a tremendous challenge. To address these, there require a comprehensive national adaptation agenda.
“Nepal prepared the NAPA through thematic working group approached by engaging line ministries and departments, local governments, academe, and non-governmental organizations, youth, women, indigenous communities and civil society representatives. Over 2500 people participated at different stages of NAPA preparation in particular the consultation programs during the last 15 months,” said Ganesh Raj Joshi, Ph.D, secretary to Ministry of Environment. “ Nepal is establishing a knowledge management platform and has constituted a multi-stakeholder coordination mechanism named Multi-Stake holder Climate Change Initiative Coordination Committee in April 2010 to serve as a platform for ensuring regular dialogue and consultations and ensue functional level coordination on climate change related policies, plans, financing, programs, projects and activities.”
“This NAPA was prepared by the NAPA project team with the collective efforts and contributions from six thematic working group coordinators, facilitators, TWG members, and with contribution from several organizations and individuals,” said Purushottam Ghimire, joint secretary and National Project Director.
Nepal’s Progress in HDI
At a time when Nepal has been facing a grim picture in politics, there is reason to rejoice in overall development indicators. The recently published Human Development Report and a study on Child Poverty Disparities in Nepal showed some positive signs.
The Human Development Report highlights that Nepal is one of the fastest movers in the Human Development Report Index since 1970 and is 3rd among the Top Ten Movers list in terms of progress in health and education. Between 1970 and 2010, Nepal’s HDI value increased from 0.210 to 0.428, an average increase of 104 percent, while Nepal’s Gross National income per capita increased by 94 percent during the same period. The gap between Nepal’s life expectancy and the global average has narrowed down by 87 percent over the past 40 years.
Launched by the vice chairman of National Planning Commission Dr. Jagadish Chandra Pokharel, the report says Nepal’s impressive progress in health and education can be traced to major public policy efforts such as the Free primary education for all children, legislation as far as back 1971 and the extension of primary health care through community participation, local mobilization of resources and decentralization.
The report also reveals that the economic growth has been modest and a lack of employment opportunities had led many Nepalese seek opportunities abroad. Nepal is still a poor country with an HDI value for 2010 of 0.428- keeping the country in the Low Human Development Category- ranking 138 out of 169 countries and territories listed.
Continuing inequality remain a major reasons for Nepal’s HDI position. According to the Human Development Report 2010, large disparities remain between boys and girls in school attendance as well as in the quality of education between urban and rural areas and across ethnic groups. Major health challenges remain, related to communicable diseases and malnutrition. Large disparities separate regions and groups, with quasi-feudal oligarchic system and caste based discriminations continuing to marginalize some.
“Nepal needs to learn from its own success in health and education and apply the same determination to tackle the areas in which it is still lagging behind,” said UNDP country director Ms. Anne-Isabelle Degryse-Blateau.” Addressing inequalities across gender, regions, groups remains a priority to ensure that no Nepali child, women, youth or person living in remote areas or from any particular groups is left behind, and also to ensure every Nepali can enjoy his or her fundamental rights and can actively participate in moving Nepal out of Low Human Development Category.”
But, children are seen to be the most affected by poverty and inequality and remain disproportionately poor according to the NPC/UNICEF report on Child Poverty and Disparities. Indicators on malnutrition and sanitation are particularly noticeable.
“ Malnutrition is a real obstacle to the survival , growth and development of children,” said Gillian Mellsop, UNICEF Representatives,” and the serious effects of under-nutrition at a young age can be irreversible, and can ultimately hinder the development status of the whole nation.”
According to the report, over half of Nepal’s children (55.7 percent) defecate in open spaces. Recent calculations by WHO estimates, that about 13,000 children aged less than five years die each year in Nepal from diarrheal diseases and further 13,000 from Acute Respiratory Infection.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
China-India Relations Are No Good
Relations between India and China have deteriorated in last 18 months and are unlikely to get better, a former US Ambassador to India has said and he shared the perception of many Indian strategic thinkers that Bejing is using Pakistan to slow India's rise.
"I think it's fair to say now that China-India relations are not very good and in fact have been deteriorating for about last 18 months," Robert Blackwill, former US Ambassador to India said in a conference call with reporters in a briefing on Obama's India visit.
"The Indians have a long list of Chinese transgressions, which in my judgement are accurate, having to do with Chinese policy on Kashmir and on the border dispute between the two countries and the so-called 'ring of pearls' of Chinese quasi-military installations in Bangladesh and in Sri Lanka and in Pakistan and so forth," he said.
Blackwill is currently the Henry Kissinger Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations -- a prestigious US-based think tank.
"So the relations aren't very good between the two. The Prime Minister keeps saying, and I think deeply believes, that there's no reason why India and China could not have a good long-term relationship. But it isn't clear that same degree of enthusiasm for that end state is felt in Beijing," he said.
Many Indian strategists think there's some evidence that China's preoccupation with Pakistan and its long-time close links is closely connected to the Chinese realisation that if India is preoccupied, if not pinned down by cross-border terrorism from Pakistan and problems in the India-Pakistan relation, that it will slow the rise of India as a great power.
"In other words, China using Pakistan to slow India's rise," Blackwill said.
"So China-India relations are not good, and I myself don't think they're going to get very much better on the geopolitical and security side. Now on the economic side, they're thriving, and of course, that's good for both countries," he said.
"The Indians have no interest in thoughts of containing China, a concept that one sees in the American media from time to time. No way faster to clear a Delhi drawing room than to begin to talk about containing China.
"But what India would like is an agreement with the US that over the long term, the US and India will keep in close touch, both to the issue of Chinese behaviour and trying to decipher it, and second, close touch on trying to shape Chinese external behaviour in a positive way," Blackwill said.
Blackwill, the former US Ambassador to India, said that "so that's what the Chinese national security elite is waiting to hear from the Obama administration, which is, do you see us as a partner, if not the most important partner in Asia, in trying to help manage the rise of Chinese power, not in a confrontational way, but in a way that seeks to find instruments to produce Chinese behaviour which is more congenial to both US and Indian long-term vital national security interests?"
"That wish on the part of India to have that informal understanding with the Americans has been accelerated and intensified by Chinese external behaviour over the last year and a half, including, again, to add more, the South China Sea and so forth. So that's the way India sees China," he said.
"I think it would be true to say that the Indians regard the rise of Chinese power, at least most of the Indians, the national security experts -- the rise of Chinese power as the most important of the long-term strategic challenges facing India.
"And since at least I believe the rise of Chinese power is the most important long-term challenge strategic challenge facing the US, we ought to have a lot to talk about with the Indians," he said. (Indian Express)
Nepal: Caught Between China and India
Nepal may be most famous for its majestic Himalayan peaks, but much of the country is a vast stretch of plains, the terai, which have long been underdeveloped and largely ignored by the two powers on either side. No longer. India has just launched a plan to spend $361 million over the next several years on roads and rail links in the terai, announcing the grants just before Nepali President Ram Baran Yadav made his Feb. 15 official visit to New Delhi. China, meanwhile, recently increased its annual aid to Nepal by 50% to about $22 million.
The money is certainly welcome in Nepal, which has the lowest per capita income in South Asia. But the jockeying for influence between China and India may be undermining Nepal's fragile democracy, as the country's 24 political parties trade charges of being pawns of one or the other. Even a tiny royalist party, supporters of Nepal's deposed King Gyanendra, have gotten into the act, staging a rally in Kathmandu on Feb. 22 that shut down the capital for a day. Meanwhile, the parties are debating complex constitutional issues, including a proposed federal system of 14 ethnicity-based states. Nepal's interim constitution will expire on May 28, and if its politicians cannot agree on a new one by then, the constituent assembly will be dissolved, new elections will be called and, many observers fear, the country will enter a period of deep uncertainty. Says Nihar Nayak, a researcher with the New Delhi–based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses: "They are moving toward a political crisis."
India, for its part, maintains that it has always had a "very deep and vast relationship" with Nepal based on its shared cultural ties. Both countries have a majority Hindu population, and they share millions of cross-border migrant workers. But the character of that relationship has changed. India used to engage Nepal only at the highest levels, in meetings between bureaucrats, ministers and — until Gyanendra stepped down in 2008 — representatives of the King. That has changed dramatically over the last few years, since Nepal's Maoists came to power in a 2006 peace agreement that ended the monarchy, halted a decade-long insurgency and set the country on the road to democracy. The Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known as Prachanda, has cultivated close diplomatic ties with China. In the meantime, India's government changed too: the ruling Congress Party severed its parliamentary alliance with the leftist parties in 2008, resulting in the closing of a key channel of communication to Nepal.
Recent security concerns, however, have given India new reasons to reassert itself in Nepal by investing in infrastructure as well as more troops on the border. Security experts say that that jihadist groups in the region exploit the porous border between India and Nepal, and they worry that India's Maoist insurgency may do the same. "That is their biggest concern," says Nayak.
China's main interest in Nepal has always been led by its concerns over Tibet, which has been ruled by China since 1950. Beijing's involvement with Nepal grew much more intense after the March 2008 ethnic Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, which deeply embarrassed the Beijing government on the eve of its expensive Olympic Games. There are an estimated 20,000 Tibetans living in Nepal but, with China pushing Nepal to tighten its border with Tibet, the number of new refugees reaching Nepal has dropped to about 500 from an annual figure of around 2,500. But it too has increased its focus on economic ties — trade between China and Nepal has quadrupled since 2003. This week, China said it would restart the tourist bus route between the Tibetan capital Lhasa and Nepal's capital Kathmandu. It had suspended the service in 2006.
The apparent jostling for influence is making Nepal's tricky politics even trickier. By far the most difficult issue left unresolved since the 2006 peace talks is the integration of the former Maoist guerrilla fighters into Nepal's army, a conflict that led to Prachanda's resignation as Prime Minister last year. India's military academies have historically been the training ground for Nepal's top officers — the Nepali army chief graduated from the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun — so the Maoists have long claimed, most famously in a fiery speech by Prachanda in December, that India backs the Nepal army and wants to restore the monarchy. Ironically, the influence of India is the one point on which the former King and the Maoist former Prime Minister agree. When Gyanendra was on the throne, he too chafed at any hint of excessive Indian influence. It may be an inevitable dilemma for a small country squeezed between two giants — and one that Nepal has less than three months to resolve. (Times)
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1967859,00.html#ixzz14KRUAo4Q
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
How Obama Saved Capitalism and Lost the Midterms read the article by
By TIMOTHY EGAN
If I were one of the big corporate donors who bankrolled the Republican tide that carried into office more than 50 new Republicans in the House, I would be wary of what you just bought.
For no matter your view of President Obama, he effectively saved capitalism. And for that, he paid a terrible political price.
Suppose you had $100,000 to invest on the day Barack Obama was inaugurated. Why bet on a liberal Democrat? Here’s why: the presidency of George W. Bush produced the worst stock market decline of any president in history. The net worth of American households collapsed as Bush slipped away. And if you needed a loan to buy a house or stay in business, private sector borrowing was dead when he handed over power.
As of election day, Nov. 2, 2010, your $100,000 was worth about $177,000 if invested strictly in the NASDAQ average for the entirety of the Obama administration, and $148,000 if bet on the Standard & Poors 500 major companies. This works out to returns of 77 percent and 48 percent.
But markets, though forward-looking, are not considered accurate measurements of the economy, and the Great Recession skewed the Bush numbers. O.K. How about looking at the big financial institutions that keep the motors of capitalism running — banks and auto companies?
The banking system was resuscitated by $700 billion in bailouts started by Bush (a fact unknown by a majority of Americans), and finished by Obama, with help from the Federal Reserve. It worked. The government is expected to break even on a risky bet to stabilize the global free market system. Had Obama followed the populist instincts of many in his party, the underpinnings of big capitalism could have collapsed. He did this without nationalizing banks, as other Democrats had urged.
Saving the American auto industry, which has been a huge drag on Obama’s political capital, is a monumental achievement that few appreciate, unless you live in Michigan. After getting their taxpayer lifeline from Obama, both General Motors and Chrysler are now making money by making cars. New plants are even scheduled to open. More than 1 million jobs would have disappeared had the domestic auto sector been liquidated.
“An apology is due Barack Obama,” wrote The Economist, which had opposed the $86 billion auto bailout. As for Government Motors: after emerging from bankruptcy, it will go public with a new stock offering in just a few weeks, and the United States government, with its 60 percent share of common stock, stands to make a profit. Yes, an industry was saved, and the government will probably make money on the deal — one of Obama’s signature economic successes.
Interest rates are at record lows. Corporate profits are lighting up boardrooms; it is one of the best years for earnings in a decade.
All of the above is good for capitalism, and should end any serious-minded discussion about Obama the socialist. But more than anything, the fact that the president took on the structural flaws of a broken free enterprise system instead of focusing on things that the average voter could understand explains why his party was routed on Tuesday. Obama got on the wrong side of voter anxiety in a decade of diminished fortunes.
“We have done things that people don’t even know about,” Obama told Jon Stewart. Certainly. The three signature accomplishments of his first two years — a health care law that will make life easier for millions of people, financial reform that attempts to level the playing field with Wall Street, and the $814 billion stimulus package — have all been recast as big government blunders, rejected by the emerging majority.
But each of them, in its way, should strengthen the system. The health law will hold costs down, while giving millions the chance at getting care, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Financial reform seeks to prevent the kind of meltdown that caused the global economic collapse. And the stimulus, though it drastically raised the deficit, saved about 3 million jobs, again according to the CBO. It also gave a majority of taxpayers a one-time cut — even if 90 percent of Americans don’t know that, either.
Of course, nobody gets credit for preventing a plane crash. “It could have been much worse!” is not a rallying cry. And, more telling, despite a meager uptick in job growth this year, the unemployment rate rose from 7.6 percent in the month Obama took office to 9.6 today.
Billions of profits, windfalls in the stock market, a stable banking system — but no jobs.
Of course, the big money interests who benefited from Obama’s initiatives have shown no appreciation. Obama, as a senator, voted against the initial bailout of AIG, the reckless insurance giant. As president, he extended them treasury loans at a time when economists said he must — or risk further meltdown. Their response was to give themselves $165 million in executive bonuses, and funnel money to Republicans this year.
Money flows one way, to power, now held by the party that promises tax cuts and deregulation — which should please big business even more.
President Franklin Roosevelt also saved capitalism, in part by a bank “holiday” in 1933, at a time when the free enterprise system had failed. Unlike Obama, he was rewarded with midterm gains for his own party because a majority liked where he was taking the country. The bank holiday was incidental to a larger public works campaign.
Obama can recast himself as the consumer’s best friend, and welcome the animus of Wall Street. He should hector the companies sitting on piles of cash but not hiring new workers. For those who do hire, and create new jobs, he can offer tax incentives. He should finger the financial giants for refusing to clean up their own mess in the foreclosure crisis. He should point to the long overdue protections for credit card holders that came with reform.
And he should veto, veto, veto any bill that attempts to roll back some of the basic protections for people against the institutions that have so much control over their lives – insurance companies, Wall Street and big oil.
They will whine a fierce storm, the manipulators of great wealth. A war on business, they will claim. Not even close. Obama saved them, and the biggest cost was to him. (NY Times)
For details follow:
Friday, October 29, 2010
ADB will continue to work In Nepal
– The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will continue to work closely with the Government of Nepal and stakeholders in helping to reduce poverty and promote inclusive growth for all Nepalis, said Mr. Sultan H. Rahman, Director General of ADB’s South Asia department.
ADB’s commitment to assist Nepal is in line with its Country Partnership Strategy 2010 – 2012 for the country, which is anchored in the four strategic pillars of broad-based inclusive growth, social development, governance and capacity building and climate change. We will continue to focus on these core areas in our efforts to help alleviate poverty and uplift the standard of living of Nepalis, the majority of whom still have to make ends meet, said Mr. Rahman, at the end of a three-day official visit to the country.
Mr. Rahman added that ADB has been closely following the developments in Nepal with keen interest and appreciates the challenging and complex political transition the country is undergoing. “Nepal still faces formidable development challenges. It must transform the challenges into opportunities by consolidating the peace process and focusing on effective implementation of projects on the ground,” added Mr. Rahman, who used to head ADB’s Resident Mission in Nepal from 2003-2006.
During his visit, Mr. Rahman met with Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Planning and Works, Finance Minister, Governor of the Central Bank of Nepal, and other senior Government officials. He also met with development partners, media and leaders of major political parties.
Mr. Rahman who also met with the Secretary General of SAARC, said that Nepal has much to gain from regional cooperation and integration through promotion of intra-regional trade and investment.
During his meetings with development partners, Mr. Rahman discussed the current situation in Nepal and how best development partners can work together for Nepal’s development. He also highlighted the importance of a closer collaboration among development partners and the Government in strengthening the capacity of public institutions, especially at the local level, in the key areas of public financial management, public procurement and governance risk management.
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members – 48 from the region. In 2009, it approved a total of $16.1 billion in financing operations through loans, grants, guarantees, a trade finance facilitation program, equity investments, and technical assistance projects. ADB also mobilized cofinancing amounting to $3.2 billion.
ADB will continue to work In Nepal
– The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will continue to work closely with the Government of Nepal and stakeholders in helping to reduce poverty and promote inclusive growth for all Nepalis, said Mr. Sultan H. Rahman, Director General of ADB’s South Asia department.
ADB’s commitment to assist Nepal is in line with its Country Partnership Strategy 2010 – 2012 for the country, which is anchored in the four strategic pillars of broad-based inclusive growth, social development, governance and capacity building and climate change. We will continue to focus on these core areas in our efforts to help alleviate poverty and uplift the standard of living of Nepalis, the majority of whom still have to make ends meet, said Mr. Rahman, at the end of a three-day official visit to the country.
Mr. Rahman added that ADB has been closely following the developments in Nepal with keen interest and appreciates the challenging and complex political transition the country is undergoing. “Nepal still faces formidable development challenges. It must transform the challenges into opportunities by consolidating the peace process and focusing on effective implementation of projects on the ground,” added Mr. Rahman, who used to head ADB’s Resident Mission in Nepal from 2003-2006.
During his visit, Mr. Rahman met with Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Planning and Works, Finance Minister, Governor of the Central Bank of Nepal, and other senior Government officials. He also met with development partners, media and leaders of major political parties.
Mr. Rahman who also met with the Secretary General of SAARC, said that Nepal has much to gain from regional cooperation and integration through promotion of intra-regional trade and investment.
During his meetings with development partners, Mr. Rahman discussed the current situation in Nepal and how best development partners can work together for Nepal’s development. He also highlighted the importance of a closer collaboration among development partners and the Government in strengthening the capacity of public institutions, especially at the local level, in the key areas of public financial management, public procurement and governance risk management.
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members – 48 from the region. In 2009, it approved a total of $16.1 billion in financing operations through loans, grants, guarantees, a trade finance facilitation program, equity investments, and technical assistance projects. ADB also mobilized cofinancing amounting to $3.2 billion.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Severe Load Shedding After Tihar
Nepal Electricity Authority is going to announce a sever load sheeding following the end of Tihar or second week of November. In first phase till December, there will be load shedding of up to 6 to 8 hours. According to NEA, the load shedding will go up to 16 hours a day in February due to lack of water.
During the winter session, Nepal’s power supply covers only 40 percent of the demand of electricity.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Row Over Nepal’s Maoist China trip
The row between Nepal’s caretaker government and the opposition Maoist party over the visit of some Maoist commander to China shoot up with the government seeking an explanation from the UNNMIN. However, the Maoist termed it as interference.
Rakam Chemjong, the peace and reconstruction minister, has asked the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN), the UN body monitoring the arms and fighters of the Maoists’ People’s Liberation Army (PLA), information regarding the visit of some Maoist PLA.
As there grow tensions between Nepal’s two neighbors, one can see the implications in various manifestations. Last month, there was controversy over telephone conversation of Maoist leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara.
Although Maoist leaders claimed that the visit was persona, Nagarik, a Nepali daily, reported that 11 Maoist leaders, including three MPs and several PLA officials, had visited China clandestinely.
Though the Maoists tried to downplay the visit, saying it was a personal one made when then were on holiday. The daily reported Tuesday that two of the MPs had used a diplomatic passport, which is meant to be used only during official visits.
The two MPs are former PLA deputy commander and peace and reconstruction minister Janardan Sharma and Barsha Man Pun Ananta.
Nagarik also said that Ananta, who is part of the special committee entrusted with rehabilitating over 19,500 PLA soldiers by mid-January, had returned to Nepal only to leave on a fresh junket Monday to Switzerland.
Rivals on the roof of the world
Nepal, China and India
Rivals on the roof of the world
EARLY in September a group of Nepali newspaper editors were having dinner when, one by one, their phones started ringing. The man on the other end, whom they said was the Indian ambassador, Rakesh Sood, wanted to know whether their papers would be running stories on a sensational audio recording then doing the rounds. The recording purports to be an intercepted telephone call between a senior Maoist leader, Krishna Mahara, and an unknown man, Chinese from his accent; the two are discussing the use of $6.75m to bribe members of parliament to elect a Maoist prime minister.
A great deal about this story is murky. It has not been confirmed either by Mr Sood or Mr Mahara. The Chinese embassy has denied any involvement and the tape’s authenticity has not been established. Still, two things are clear. First, the intrigue comes at a sensitive time for Nepal’s ailing peace process, which is meant to end ten years of Maoist insurgency. United Nations’ monitoring of the process came up for renewal this week. Second, it shows that Nepal’s domestic tussles are increasingly sucking in India and China, the rival powers that surround the country. Aptly enough, just when the editors received the calls supposedly from the ambassador of one giant neighbour, they were dining with the ambassador of the other.
India has long been influential in Nepal, which it regards as a buffer against China. Roughly half of Nepal’s trade is with its southern neighbour and the country ties its currency to the Indian rupee. In contrast, China has played a low-key role in Nepal until recently. But the emergence of the Maoists as the largest party has shifted the balance, with India becoming more closely aligned with the anti-Maoist faction. The prime minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal, says India’s government distrusts them and wants the party to make sweeping changes to its organisation and beliefs.
Parliamentary elections in 2008 gave the Maoists 40% of members of parliament, twice as many as their nearest rival. During a brief stint in government, the Maoists cultivated closer relations with China, much to India’s alarm.
The Maoist-led coalition collapsed last year, to be replaced by an anti-Maoist one backed by India and—some think—cobbled together by it. But the new government has been unable to impose its authority. The process of integrating former Maoist fighters has stalled, along with attempts to write a new constitution. Anti-Maoists are challenging the peace agreements while parliament has been deadlocked since June over the election of a new prime minister.
Political paralysis has given rise to accusations of meddling by India. Last month, for example, after a round of voting for the new prime minister, one MP said his daughter stood to lose her scholarship in India if he voted Maoist. Senior staff at the country’s largest newspaper group, which Indian diplomats think hostile to their country, say they have been unable to get newsprint through India and that Indian companies have been asked to withdraw advertising.
Indian diplomats say such claims are false and that they are victims of a smear. But politicians of all stripes think India is trying to micro-manage Nepal and anti-Indian sentiment runs high. Indian diplomats “swagger around like viceroys,” complains Ramesh Nath Pandey, a conservative former foreign minister.
Meanwhile the peace process is foundering, dragging both sides into the mire. Under agreements signed in 2006, the United Nations monitors the behaviour of the former combatants. But this week the Nepali government wrote to the UN secretary general, without consulting the Maoists, indicating that it wanted the army exempted from monitoring, which the Maoists reject. Although the UN mandate was renewed for four months, the ceasefire is looking ever more threadbare.
Being sandwiched between two giants might seem promising for a poor country. With skill, Nepal could play one off against the other. Instead, with peace in the balance and fears growing that both neighbours are vying to pick the next prime minister, Nepal risks being ground between their vaulting regional ambitions.
(Source: The Economist)
Saturday, October 23, 2010
India summons Nepal envoy for attack on ambassador
In an unusual gesture, the ministry this week summoned the Nepali ambassador to India, Rukma Shumsher Rana, calling the incident a "gross violation of diplomatic norms," the Kathmandu Post daily reported on Saturday. Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and Joint Secretary Satish Mehta reportedly met the Nepali envoy at the South Block in New Delhi, saying that with the close ties India and Nepal enjoyed, such an incident should have never taken place.
The summoning came after the external affairs ministry sent a letter of protest to Nepal's foreign ministry on Oct 12, calling the attack against Indian ambassador Rakesh Sood a breach of the Vienna Convention that guides diplomatic privileges and immunities but the caretaker government failed to take any action against the culprits or even offer a formal apology.
The summoning came after the external affairs ministry sent a letter of protest to Nepal's foreign ministry on Oct 12, calling the attack against Indian ambassador Rakesh Sood a breach of the Vienna Convention that guides diplomatic privileges and immunities but the caretaker government failed to take any action against the culprits or even offer a formal apology.
India- China closer On Climate Change
Despite their differences on many issues, India and China are looking closer in dealing climate change issues. India’s environment minister and chief climate change negotiator Jairam Ramesh recently said in his interview to Time magazine that he look upon cooperation in environment as a strategic tool for building regional ties with our neighbors. We are looking at regional programs in glaciology with China, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan. India has given $1 million to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Coastal Zone Management Center in the Maldives, and $1 million to the SAARC Forestry Center in Thimpu. We also have [signed] the SAARC convention on environment in April this year, and we have a joint Sundarbans Eco-System Forum between India and Bangladesh.
His statement came when climate change negotiations ended in Tianjin, China with another bleak note. The gathering was the final meeting before the U.N. Climate Change Conference gets underway in Cancun in November, and the first time that such a high-level meeting has been convened in China. As in the past, the U.S. and China continued to lock horns on an emissions target, with the U.S. deputy special envoy for climate change hinting that the U.S. might go outside the ambit of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to forge a new deal with other key economies.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2025113,00.html#ixzz13B3FnhUa
Friday, October 22, 2010
Indian and China hover over Nepal
By Sudha Ramachandran
None of the candidates in the fray has been able to secure a simple majority in the 601-seat parliament in around 12 rounds of voting so far.
Former prime minister and Maoist chief Pushpa Kumar Dahal, aka Prachanda, contested in seven rounds but failed to secure the required number of votes in any, although his party, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), is the largest in parliament. Visit following website at Asia Times Online to read detailed story:
In the most recent round, the lone candidate, the Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Paudel, managed to get just 89 votes. The Maoists, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) (CPN-UML) and three Madhesi parties stayed out of the vote, having reached an agreement to work towards formation of a national government as a way out of the impasse.
UN Optimists on Nepal’s Peace Process
After looking the report given by under Secretary General of Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe, Security Council sees certain hope. After his visit to Nepal, certain drastic political steps have been already taken by both the government and Maoist.
Pascoe visited Nepal on 6 and 7 October on behalf of the Secretary-General and held extensive consultations with key stakeholders in the peace process as part of the preparations to brief the Security Council, which had requested the report on progress in the implementation of the Four-Point Agreement of 13 September between the Government of Nepal and the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M). In the same resolution, the Council explicitly stated that UNMIN’s mandate would terminate on 15 January.
According to a press release by UNMIN, the members of the Security Council welcomed the recent visit to Nepal by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe to assess progress ahead of the United Nations Mission in Nepal’s (UNMIN) termination on 15 January 2011.
The members of the Security Council recalled the commitment of the Nepalese political parties to implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and noted recent developments in Nepal’s peace process, including the renewed efforts of the Special Committee for supervision, integration and rehabilitation of Maoist Army personnel, and the establishment of its secretariat that will take forward the integration and rehabilitation process.
“The members of the Security Council underlined the importance of the agreement and implementation of a clear work plan from the Special Committee that includes timelines and benchmarks and arrangements for the management of any of UNMIN’s residual tasks, following its termination, “said press release.
The members of the Security Council reaffirmed its support for Nepal’s peace process and underscored the need for continued progress in the remaining three months of UNMIN’s mandate, in accordance with resolution 1939 (2010).
The members of the Security Council called on the caretaker government and all political parties to redouble their efforts and continue to work together in the spirit of compromise to fulfill their commitments.
The members of the Security Council welcomed the prospect of a further update on progress following a possible visit by Mr. Pascoe in December.
The members of the Security Council appreciated the ongoing efforts of UNMIN and the Secretary-General’s Representative, Karin Landgren and her team in assisting the people of Nepal.
While addressing the press conference earlier in Nepal Pascoe said,“ there is no doubt that the 15 January deadline for UNMIN’s withdrawal has created a new sense of urgency among the parties, and more focused thinking on how to end the prolonged stasis is taking place. “It is still possible for the parties to meet their targets in time but, as I stressed to all those I met during my visit, it will require translating this new-found sense of urgency into decision-making and concrete action.”
The Under-Secretary-General said that despite recent progress and important steps in the peace process, a political impasse remains and no breakthrough has been achieved. “If the parties fail to manage their differences in order to complete this common agenda, it is they and the people of Nepal that stand to lose,” Pascoe said.
Pascoe stressed that “dialogue continues across Nepal's political fault lines,” adding that many of his interlocutors in Nepal told him that a political breakthrough was possible in early November, after the end of the current holiday period in Nepal. “We also believe this is possible if the parties exhibit the necessary flexibility and will,” he said.
“Progress on forming a consensus government or on the substantive issues related to integration and rehabilitation could provide the critical momentum for a breakthrough,” Pascoe added.
The Under-Secretary-General said that during the time remaining, UNMIN’s priority will continue to be working with the parties to ensure its smooth withdrawal, adding that the UN would follow closely developments on the ground. Pascoe added that the UN’s engagement with Nepal would continue after UNMIN’s withdrawal.
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