Khabar Online

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister KP Sharma Oli (File Photo)

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Khadga Prasad Oli has said Nepal’s preparations for next week’s 14th SAARC Summit won’t be affected even if there is a change in the government before that.

"Nepal will attend the Summit even if there is change in the government," he said.

Oli, however, added that a person who is knowledgeable on regional issues should attend the Summit.

Oli said that this time Nepal will press for the implementation of earlier agreements made by the SAARC leaders. Oli said he would be leaving for New Delhi to attend the Summit on March 31.

He informed that this year’s SAARC will decide to set up SAARC University, telemedicine project and museum for handicrafts, among others. He also informed an umbrella SAARC Development Fund is also in the offing.

On the sidelines of the meeting, he said he will meet with Bhutanese minister on refugee issues.

The 14th SAARC Summit is going to be held in New Delhi on April 3-4. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala will leave for New Delhi on April 1 and lead the Nepali delegation at the regional summit. This year, Afghanistan will be welcomed as the eighth member of the regional group. Likewise, the US, EU, China, Japan and South Korea will attend the summit as observers.

Retired British Gurkha soldiers are organising protest march towards British parliament demanding equal pay and perks to all ex-British Gurkhas.

A press release issued by the British-Gurkha Army Ex-Servicemen’s Organisation (GAESO) said the protest is part of a spectacular week of activities in London by the Gurkhas who are asking for justice and equal treatment for all Gurkhas.

Over 5,000 Gurkha veterans led by Victoria Cross holder Capt Ram Bahadur Limbu will participate in the protest programme.

They are organising protest programme as the recent government announcements giving citizenship rights and fairer pensions only apply to currently serving Gurkha soldiers and those who retired after 1997.

Retired Gurkha soldiers have been demanding equal treatment with their UK counterparts, the right to live in the UK and for emergency payments to be paid to the poorest and most vulnerable veterans.

“Dozens of MPs and members of the House of Lords are expected to come out of the Houses of Parliament at the time of the gathering as a sign of their support for the Gurkhas,” the statement added.

World Water Day is being observed today with the theme, ‘Water Scarcity’ by organising various programmes.

The day is observed worldwide ever since the United Nations General Assembly declared 22 March as the World Water Day in December 1992.

According to statistics, an estimated 425 million children under the age of 18 continue to face water shortages. Women and girls are often tasked with fetching water, putting extra pressure on their well being and leaving many girls out of school.

A view of the Bhote Koshi river (File Photo)

“An estimated 1.2 billion people have gained access to safe water since 1990. Yet, every year, unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation contribute to the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million children under the age of five as a result of diarrhea,” said a statement issued by UNICEF.

According to senior Divisional Engineer of Water and Energy Commission, Sanjaya Dhungel, rapid development of industries, population growth and mismanagement were some causes of the scarcity of water.

According to the data of the National Planning Commission, only 71 percent Nepali have access of water.

According to Dhungel, the National Water Plan of 2005 targets to provide potable water to 85 percent people by 2007, 90 percent by 2012 and 100 percent by 2017.

Similarly, in irrigation, the plan aims to have irrigation facility to 49 percent arable land by 2007 and to 67 percent by 2027. In 2005, only 30 percent arable land was under irrigation.

In hydropower, the aim is to produce 700 MW by 2007, 2100 MW by 2017 and 4000 MW by 2027 for internal consumption. The government has plans to provide electricity to all people by 2027.

The chairman of CPN-Maoist Prachanda today warned that the ongoing peace process might be affected if the government didn’t ban Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF).
Talking to the journalists at Nepalgunj airport today before leaving for Jumla to address a mass meet there, Prachanda said: “MJF should be banned, its leaders and activists arrested immediately and action must be initiated against them.”
Stating that formation of an interim government will be hindered if the activities of MJF are not controlled immediately, Prachanda stated that this would also affect the House session. He added that the Maoists would be compelled to launch another agitation if the government didn’t initiate stern action against the criminal activities going on in the name of MJF.
Claiming that the national and international reactionary forces and terrorist groups were behind the Rautahat incident of Wednesday, Prachanda said: “That was well organised conspiracy. Some super powers were behind the execution of the conspiracy.”
Stating that cross firing hadn’t occurred in Rautahat, Prachanda added: “There was no exchange of fire, our cadres were targeted and shot dead. The 303 rifle and automatic guns were used in yesterday’s incident in Rautahat.” Prachanda stated that condolence meets would be organised nationwide today.

Washington, March 21: Under-fire World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz hailed unanimous support from the bank’s board for his campaign against corruption, and played down tensions over the policy. Speaking to reporters, he said a watered-down strategy paper to fight graft in the bank’s lending to poorer countries had been given full backing by national directors on the board. “We’ve had several engagements of the board on this paper. We had clear unanimity, there’s no question about it,” said Wolfowitz, who has been attacked for focusing more on corruption than on global development. “This issue of governance is a critical issue for development,” the former deputy Pentagon chief stressed, highlighting the bank’s anti-graft work in Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Leaked minutes from a January board meeting showed the national representatives in open revolt against Wolfowitz, who was controversially nominated two years ago by the US government to succeed James Wolfensohn. But Eckhard Deutscher, Germany’s representative on the World Bank board, underscored “good relations” between management and directors over the latest version of the corruption strategy. “Now, a lot of work still lies before the implementation. I must say I’m happy that we came to such a broad, common conclusion,” the German official said. Wolfowitz already had to alter his contentious drive after a chorus of criticism from both rich and poor nations at the bank’s annual meeting, in Singapore, in September. Details of the new campaign are yet to be fleshed out, but the strategy emphasizes the need to engage more with civil society, the private sector and the media in the World Bank’s client countries. However, Wolfowitz has been forced to backtrack from initial plans to bypass national governments more, in a bid to ensure that aid gets to the deserving. “We have to get involved. But in getting involved, we bring money, but we also need to work with governments to improve governance,” he said. A country like Liberia, now run by Africa’s first elected female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, had the “goodwill” to fight corruption but limited means “to stop money disappearing into somebody’s bank account” without outside help. Countries like Britain, France and Germany were all wary about attaching restrictive conditions to the World Bank’s multibillion-dollar development assistance. But Wolfowitz insisted that some of the most vocal critics of the strategy, such as Britain, did not disagree with its general aim to quell corruption. “We’ve had frankly consistent support from the UK on the matter of governance,” he said. In a February report, the World Bank said it had investigated more than 400 cases of corruption in its lending projects in recent years and punished more than 100 people and companies for financial wrongdoing. In earlier decades, some kleptocratic leaders in developing world personally enriched themselves with the help of largesse from organizations like the World Bank. But civil society groups have led criticism that Wolfowitz risks endangering the very impoverished people who are meant to benefit from reforms. He insisted it was possible to marry clean lending with anti-poverty work. “We can’t sit around and wait three or five years for the governance situation to be perfect. We have to produce some results and do it in a way that keeps track of where the money’s going,” he said.

The eight parties have begun discussion on the formation of the interim government and announcement of the polls date Friday morning.

The top leaders of the eight parties reached the prime minister’s official residence in Baluwatar at around 10:30 this morning for an eight-party meeting for the formation of the interim government and announcement of the constituent assembly polls slated for mid-June. The meeting will also discuss the security of the Maoist leaders.

Earlier this morning, the UML and Maoists held separate meetings and finalised their agendas for the eight party meeting. UML’s standing committee meeting decided to demand the formation of interim government and announcement of the polls date by this evening.

On Thursday, Nepali congress leader Dr Shekhar Koirala had said the parties have agreed on the portfolios of the ministries in the interim government. He had said the UML, Nepali Congress and the Maoists would be given five ministries each, Nepal Congress-Democratic would get three and Peoples’ Front Nepal, Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandi-devi) and Left Front one each. Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, which is participating in the meeting, has decided not to join the coalition government. It is expected that Nepali Congress will hold important ministries like home, defence and finance.