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VOL. 28, NO. 08, Oct 24 , 2008 (Kartik 08 2065 B.S.)
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PRESIDENT DR RAMBARAN YADAV inaugurated the Pashupati Festival '08 in Kathmandu on Friday (Oct 17). The festival is being organized with a view to familiarize Pashupatinath, a popular Hindu shrine which is a UNESCO world heritage site, among foreigners as a tourist attraction. Speaking at the opening ceremony, President Yadav expressed hope that the festival would be instrumental in promoting religious tourism in Nepal. He also said the event would further consolidate the friendly relations between Nepal and India. The festival is jointly organized by Pashupati Area Development Committee and Manav Dharma Sewa Samiti. According to Sunil Baidya, secretary of the organizing committee, around 50,000 people from are expected to visit Pashupati area from India alone during the festival. A number of Indian religious gurus and a minister from India's Uttarakhand state were present at the opening ceremony. Regions ceremonies, documentary shows and lectures from Hindu religious gurus will be some of the highlights of the event.
UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL Ban Ki-moon has expressed eagerness to visit Nepal in the last week of this month during which time the festival of Tihar also falls, reports said. According to the report, he would come to Nepal via India and will meet President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Constituent Assembly chairman Subhash Nemwang including ministers, lawmakers, politicians of various political parties and high-level government officials. However, UN Secretary General Ban hasn’t formally informed about his plans to Nepal government. PM Dahal had invited UN Secretary General to come on a visit of Nepal during their meeting at the sidelines of the 63rd session of the United National General Assembly in New York two weeks ago. The head of the world body had reportedly agreed to visit Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, who is considered to be the apostle of peace.
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, WHICH HAS already contributed Euro 2 million to provide relief to the victims of the Bihar and Nepal floods, has now allocated an additional Euro 3.5 million for Bihar and Euro 1 million for Nepal to address the continuing urgent needs. A press statement issued by the Commission said these funds would be used for food, shelter, water and sanitation, primary health and protection. The assistance will be channelled through the European Commission's partners in the area; non governmental organizations (NGOs) and United Nations (UN) agencies. The assistance is in response to the events in August, when an embankment on the Kosi River collapsed leading to heavy flooding in Nepal and the Indian State of Bihar.
NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION (NHRC) has said the successive governments did very little to act on its recommendations regarding cases of human rights violations. In its annual report submitted to President Dr Ram Baran Yadav on Wednesday (Oct 16), the rights watchdog said its recommendations on finding out the status of involuntarily disappeared and abducted people, resettlement of conflict victims and returning of properties seized by the Maoists and others during the decade-long insurgency have not been implemented yet.
FOREIGN MINISTER UPENDRA YADAV has said that the United Nations has agreed to increase the number of officers of Nepali Army (NA) in its peacekeeping missions. “Currently, the number of officer level staffs from NA in the UN peacekeeping forces is very low. It will now be increased,” Yadav told reporters at Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA). Yadav returned from the United States, Tuesday, after attending the 63rd session of the UN general assembly. The number of NA soldiers sent every year on UN peacekeeping missions would be increased from current 3700 to 5000, said the minister.
THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT ON Tuesday (Oct 15) pledged to review the resettlement cases of more than 2,000 former Gurkha soldiers before the end of this year. During the third reading of a bill in the upper chamber House of Lords which aims to change the rules, Lord William Brett for the government said "urgent action" was being taken to review all cases by the end of the year, APF reports. The bill was introduced in the upper house of parliament long before the High Court's ruling last month. But ministers still have to pass a law encapsulating the court's ruling, the report said, adding that one way of doing so could be for the government to support the bill, introduced by Lord John Lee, the Liberal Democrat party's defense spokesman. Gurkha veterans, supported by campaigners like actress Joanna Lumley, have waged a lengthy battle for them to settle in UK which culminated when the High Court on Sept 30 said the current policy should be reviewed.
A 4-MEMBER DELEGATION OF China Study Center-Nepal (CSC) led by CSC chairman Madan Regmi left for China at the invitation of China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), China's think tank of global standing. The members of the delegation are Dr. Upendra Gautam, General Secretary of CSC, Dr. Bhim Raj Adhikari, member of CSC and Vice-chairman of CSC Chitwan Unit and Basudev Dhakal, member, CSC. During the week-long visit the CSC delegation will participate in a bilateral workshop with CICIR. It is scheduled to meet with the senior officials at the International Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Development Research Center of the State Council, Institute of Asia -Pacific Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and major media organizations in China.
